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Isaiah 56

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The Call to Justice and Obedience 1–2

1
Thus saith Jehovah, Keep ye justice, and do righteousness; for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. ​
2
Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that holdeth it fast; that keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil. ​

God Welcomes the Outsider 3–8

3
Neither let the foreigner, that hath joined himself to Jehovah, speak, saying, Jehovah will surely separate me from his people; neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. ​
4
For thus saith Jehovah of the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and hold fast my covenant:
5
Unto them will I give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name better than of sons and of daughters; I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. ​
6
Also the foreigners that join themselves to Jehovah, to minister unto him, and to love the name of Jehovah, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, and holdeth fast my covenant; ​
7
even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. ​
8
The Lord Jehovah, who gathereth the outcasts of Israel, saith, Yet will I gather others to him, besides his own that are gathered. ​

Judgment on Corrupt Shepherds 9–12

9
All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in the forest. ​
10
His watchmen are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber. ​
11
Yea, the dogs are greedy, they can never have enough; and these are shepherds that cannot understand: they have all turned to their own way, each one to his gain, from every quarter. ​
12
Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to-morrow shall be as this day, a day great beyond measure. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Isaiah 56

Verse 1

do justice — The same word, tsedaqah, names both what the people are to do ('justice') and what the LORD is about to reveal ('my righteousness'). The nearness is the one of Isa 51:5, 'My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth'. Paul writes, 'therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith' (Rom 1:17).

Verse 2

keepeth the sabbath from polluting it — Shamar, to keep, is the verb of 'Keep ye judgment' in v.1, so the sabbath is kept as justice is. It is 'a sign between me and you' (Ex 31:13). 'Layeth hold' (chazaq) is repeated in 'taketh hold of my covenant' (v.6), so the sabbath is a part of the covenant itself.

Verse 3

the eunuch — Saris, a court officer, here the picture of childlessness: 'I am a dry tree'. The law shut such a man out of 'the congregation of the LORD' (Deut 23:1), as it did the Ammonite and Moabite (Deut 23:3). An Ethiopian eunuch 'had come to Jerusalem for to worship' and 'read Esaias the prophet' (Acts 8:27–28).

Verse 5

a place and a name — 'Place' is yad, literally 'hand', the word for a monument: Absalom raised a pillar because 'I have no son to keep my name in remembrance', and it 'is called unto this day, Absalom's place' (2 Sam 18:18). The eunuch receives a better memorial than sons: 'an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off'.

Verse 6

to serve him — Sharat, to minister, the service of priests and Levites. The Levites were 'joined unto thee, and minister unto thee' (Num 18:2), the two verbs (lavah, sharat) now used of the sons of the stranger who 'join themselves' here. Paul says of the Gentiles, 'ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints' (Eph 2:19).

Verse 7

an house of prayer for all people — At the dedication Solomon asked that the stranger 'come and pray toward this house' (1 Kgs 8:41–42). Christ quotes the verse in the temple: 'My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves' (Mark 11:17). 'Prayer' is tephillah.

Verse 8

which gathereth the outcasts of Israel — Qavats, to gather, three times in this verse. The LORD who gathers Israel's outcasts (Ps 147:2; Isa 11:12) will gather 'others to him', answering the strangers of vv.3–7. Christ says, 'other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring' (John 10:16).

Verse 9

come to devour — The summons matches Jer 12:9, 'assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour', which is followed at once by 'Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard' (Jer 12:10). Here too the shepherds are the subject of vv.10–11. 'Devour' is akal, to eat.

Verse 10

dumb dogs, they cannot bark — The 'watchmen' (tsaphah) were to sound a warning, as in Ezek 33:6, 'blow not the trumpet'. 'Bark' (nabach) and 'sleeping' (hazah) occur nowhere else in the KJV's tagged text. Christ uses the same figure of blindness for teachers: 'blind leaders of the blind' (Matt 15:14).

Verse 11

shepherds that cannot understand — Ra'ah, to shepherd, so the charge matches Ezek 34:2, 'Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves!' 'Greedy' is literally 'strong of appetite', and 'can never have enough' is literally 'know not satiety'. 'Cannot understand' is bin, to discern.

Verse 12

to morrow shall be as this day — Wine (yayin) and strong drink (shekar) fill the revellers' plan, the same spirit as 'let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die' (Isa 22:13). Their confidence in tomorrow is met by 'Boast not thyself of to morrow' (Prov 27:1) and 'this night thy soul shall be required of thee' (Luke 12:20).