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Text -- Isaiah 59:3 (NET)

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Context
59:3 For your hands are stained with blood and your fingers with sin; your lips speak lies, your tongue utters malicious words.
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics

Dictionary Themes and Topics: Wicked | Sin | PERVERSE | MUTTER | Lies and Deceits | Isaiah, The Book of | Isaiah | ISAIAH, 1-7 | Homicide | DEFILE; DEFILEMENT | more
Table of Contents

Word/Phrase Notes
Wesley , JFB , Clarke , Calvin , TSK

Word/Phrase Notes
Barnes , Poole , Gill

Verse Notes / Footnotes
, Geneva Bible

Verse Range Notes
TSK Synopsis , MHCC , Matthew Henry , Keil-Delitzsch , Constable , Guzik

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Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Wesley: Isa 59:3 - -- Perverse words are such as are contrary to God's word. Words every way contrary to God's will.

Perverse words are such as are contrary to God's word. Words every way contrary to God's will.

JFB: Isa 59:3 - -- (Isa 1:15; Rom 3:13-15).

JFB: Isa 59:3 - -- Not merely the "hands" perpetrate deeds of grosser enormity ("blood"), but the "fingers" commit more minute acts of "iniquity."

Not merely the "hands" perpetrate deeds of grosser enormity ("blood"), but the "fingers" commit more minute acts of "iniquity."

JFB: Isa 59:3 - -- The lips "speak" openly "lies," the tongue "mutters" malicious insinuations ("perverseness"; perverse misrepresentations of others) (Jer 6:28; Jer 9:4...

The lips "speak" openly "lies," the tongue "mutters" malicious insinuations ("perverseness"; perverse misrepresentations of others) (Jer 6:28; Jer 9:4).

Clarke: Isa 59:3 - -- Your tongue "And your tongue"- An ancient MS., and the Septuagint and Vulgate, add the conjunction.

Your tongue "And your tongue"- An ancient MS., and the Septuagint and Vulgate, add the conjunction.

Calvin: Isa 59:3 - -- 3.For your hands He now brings forward their actions, that they may not practice evasion, or call in question what are those sins which have “cause...

3.For your hands He now brings forward their actions, that they may not practice evasion, or call in question what are those sins which have “caused the separation.” He therefore takes away from them every excuse, by bringing forward particular instances, as if their shameful life were exhibited on an open stage. Now, he speaks in the second person, because, like an advocate, he argues and pleads the cause of God, and therefore speaks of himself as not belonging to the rank of the wicked, with whom he did not wish to be classed, though he was not entirely free from sin, but feared and served God, and enjoyed liberty of conscience. No man could be at liberty to condemn others, who was involved in the guilt of the same vices; and no man could be qualified for pleading the cause of God, who deprived himself of his right by living wickedly. We must be unlike those whom we reprove, if we do not wish to expose our doctrine to ridicule, and to be reckoned impudent; and, on the other band, when we serve God with a pure conscience, our doctrine obtains weight and authority, and holds even adversaries to be more fully convicted.

Are polluted with blood The picture which he gives of the wicked life of the people is not superfluous; for men seek various subterfuges, and cannot be reduced to a state of obedience, unless they have previously acknowledged their sins. By mentioning blood, he does not mean that murders have been everywhere committed; but by this word he describes the cruelty, extortions, violence, and enormities, which were perpetrated by hypocrites against the poor and defenseless; for they had not to deal with robbers and assassins, but with the king and the nobles, who were highly respected and honored. He calls them manslayers, because they cruelly harassed the innocent, and seized by force and violence the property of others; and so, immediately afterwards he uses the word “iniquity” instead of “blood.”

And your fingers with iniquity Though he appears to extend the discourse farther, yet it is a repetition, or rather, a reduplication, such as is frequently employed by Hebrew writers, accompanied by amplification; for he expresses more by “fingers” than by “hands;“ as if he had said that not even the smallest part was free from unjust violence. 130

Your lips have uttered falsehood Next, he takes notice of one kind of wickedness, that is, when men deceive each other by tricks, or falsehood, or perjury; for that iniquity by which we wound our neighbors is most frequently defended either by cruelty as a body­guard, or by cheating and falsehood. Here the Prophet takes a rapid view of the second table, and, from the crimes which they commit against it, he shows that they are wicked and destitute of all fear of God; for cruelty and treachery, by which human society is infringed, proceed from contempt of God. Thus from “the hands,” that is, from extortion and violence, he descends to falsehoods and deceitful practices, to perjuries and crafty devices, by which we take advantage of our neighbors.

TSK: Isa 59:3 - -- your hands : Isa 1:15, Isa 1:21; Jer 2:30,Jer 2:34, Jer 22:17; Eze 7:23, Eze 9:9, Eze 22:2, Eze 35:6; Hos 4:2; Mic 3:10-12, Mic 7:2; Mat 27:4 your lip...

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Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: Isa 59:3 - -- For your hands are defiled with blood - The prophet proceeds here more particularly to specify the sins of which they were guilty; and in order...

For your hands are defiled with blood - The prophet proceeds here more particularly to specify the sins of which they were guilty; and in order to show the extent and depth of their depravity, he specifies the various members of the body - the hands, the fingers, the lips, the tongue, the feet as the agents by which people commit iniquity. See a similar argument on the subject of depravity in Rom 3:13-15, where a part of the description which the prophet here gives is quoted by Paul, and applied to the Jews in his own time. The phrase ‘ your hands are defiled with blood,’ means with the blood of the innocent; that is, they were guilty of murder, oppression, and cruelty. See a similar statement in Isa 1:15, where the phrase ‘ your hands are full of blood’ occurs. The word rendered here ‘ defiled’ ( גאל gā'al ) means commonly to redeem, to ransom; then to avenge, or to demand and inflict punishment for bloodshed. In the sense of defiling it occurs only in the later Hebrew writers - perhaps used in this sense because those who were avengers became covered, that is, defiled with blood.

And your fingers with iniquity - The fingers in the Scriptures are represented as the agents by which any purpose is executed Isa 2:8, ‘ Which their own fingers have made’ (compare Isa 17:8). Some have supposed that the phrase used here means the same as the preceding, that they were guilty of murder and cruelty. But it seems more probable that the idea suggested by Grotius is the true sense, that it means that they were guilty of rapine and theft. The fingers are the instruments by which theft - especially the lighter and more delicate kinds of theft - is executed. Thus we use the word ‘ light-fingered’ to denote anyone who is dexterous in taking and conveying away anything, or anyone who is addicted to petty thefts.

Your lips have spoken lies - The nation is false, and no confidence can be reposed in the declarations which are made.

Your tongue hath muttered - On the word rendered ‘ muttered’ ( הגה hâgâh ), see the notes at Isa 8:19. Probably there is included in the word here, the idea that they not only spoke evil, but that they did it with a complaining, discontented, or malicious spirit. It may also mean that they calumniated the government of God, and complained of his laws; or it may mean, as Grotius supposes, that they calumniated others - that is, that slander abounded among them.

Perverseness - Hebrew, עולה ‛avlâh - ‘ Evil ‘ - the word from which our word evil is derived.

Poole: Isa 59:3 - -- Your hands are defiled with blood: here the prophet comes from a more general to a more particular charge against them; by blood we are to understand...

Your hands are defiled with blood: here the prophet comes from a more general to a more particular charge against them; by blood we are to understand either murders and bloodshed properly so called; or ways of injustice, extortion, oppression, and cruelties, whereby men are deprived of a livelihood; hence hating our brother is called murder, 1Jo 3:15 , and the inhabitants of Jerusalem called murderers. See how the prophet phraseth their oppression, Mic 3:1-3 .

Your fingers: this is not added to protract the discourse, but to aggravate their sin: q.d. Not only your hands, but your fingers; you are not free from the least part of injustice.

Your lips have spoken lies not only properly so called, but perjuries, and wronging’ your neighbours by slanders and false accusations; wherein he shows they did not only offer violence by the hand, but they had ways of circumventing with their lips.

Your tongue hath muttered: the verb doth properly signify to muse , or meditate ; then the meaning is, that what they mutter, or utter with the tongue, they do it out of premeditated malice, from a perverse spirit; you may have a larger comment upon this Jer 9:3-6 .

Perverseness: perverse words are such as are contrary to God’ s word, and it is put here in the abstract, to intimate that their words were every way contrary to God’ s will.

Gill: Isa 59:3 - -- For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity,.... From a general charge, the prophet proceeds to a particular enumeration of ...

For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity,.... From a general charge, the prophet proceeds to a particular enumeration of sins they were guilty of; and idolatry not being mentioned, as Jerom observes, shows that the prophecy belongs to other times than Isaiah's, when that sin greatly prevailed. He begins the account with the sin of shedding blood; the blood of innocents, as the Targum; designing either the sin of murder, now frequently committed in Christian nations; or wars between Christian princes, by means of which much blood is shed; or persecutions of Christian brethren, by casting them into prisons, which have issued in their death; and at least want of brotherly love, or, the hatred of brethren, which is called murder, 1Jo 3:15 a prevailing sin in the present Sardian state; and which will not be removed till the spiritual reign or Philadelphian state takes place: and this sin is of a defiling nature; it "defiles" the "hands" or actions; and without love all works signify nothing, 1Co 13:1, yea, even their "fingers" are said to be defiled "with iniquity"; meaning either their lesser actions; or rather those more curiously and nicely performed, and seemingly more agreeable to the divine will; and yet defiled with some sin or other, as hypocrisy, vain glory, or the like: or it may be this may design the same as putting forth the fingers, and smiting with the fist, Isa 58:4, as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe; and so may have respect to some sort of persecution of their brethren for conscience sake, as there.

Your lips have spoken lies: or "falsehood" q; that is, false doctrines, so called because contrary to the word of truth, and which deceive men:

your tongue hath muttered perverseness: that which is a perversion of the Gospel of Christ, and of the souls of men; what is contrary to the sacred Scriptures, the standard of faith and practice, and that premeditated, as the word r signifies; done with design, and on purpose: the abounding of errors and heresies in the present day, openly taught and divulged, to the ruin of souls, seems here to be pointed at. In the Talmud s these are explained of the several sorts of men in a court of judicature; the "hands" of the judges; the "fingers" of, the Scribes; the "lips" of advocates and solicitors; and the "tongue" of adversaries, or the contending parties.

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Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

Geneva Bible: Isa 59:3 For your hands are defiled with ( a ) blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath uttered perverseness. ( a )...

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Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: Isa 59:1-21 - --1 The calamities of the Jews not owing to want of saving power in God, but to their own enormous sins.16 Salvation is only of God.20 The covenant of t...

MHCC: Isa 59:1-8 - --If our prayers are not answered, and the salvation we wait for is not wrought for us, it is not because God is weary of hearing prayer, but because we...

Matthew Henry: Isa 59:1-8 - -- The prophet here rectifies the mistake of those who had been quarrelling with God because they had not the deliverances wrought for them which they ...

Keil-Delitzsch: Isa 59:3 - -- The sins of Israel are sins in words and deeds. "For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips speak lies, your ...

Constable: Isa 56:1--66:24 - --V. Israel's future transformation chs. 56--66 The last major section of Isaiah deals with the necessity of livin...

Constable: Isa 56:1--59:21 - --A. Recognition of human inability chs. 56-59 It is important that God's people demonstrate righteousness...

Constable: Isa 58:1--59:21 - --2. The relationship of righteousness and ritual chs. 58-59 The structure of this section is simi...

Constable: Isa 59:1-15 - --What Israel did 59:1-15a As mentioned above, this second segment of the section dealing ...

Constable: Isa 59:1-8 - --Isaiah's evidence 59:1-8 "This passage describes the appalling moral breakdown of Jewish society--which perfectly accords with what we know of the deg...

Guzik: Isa 59:1-21 - --Isaiah 59 - The Reality Check A. The sin God sees. 1. (1) The problem of God's people: what the cause is not. Behold, the Lord's hand is not short...

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Introduction / Outline

JFB: Isaiah (Book Introduction) ISAIAH, son of Amoz (not Amos); contemporary of Jonah, Amos, Hosea, in Israel, but younger than they; and of Micah, in Judah. His call to a higher deg...

JFB: Isaiah (Outline) PARABLE OF JEHOVAH'S VINEYARD. (Isa. 5:1-30) SIX DISTINCT WOES AGAINST CRIMES. (Isa. 5:8-23) (Lev 25:13; Mic 2:2). The jubilee restoration of posses...

TSK: Isaiah (Book Introduction) Isaiah has, with singular propriety, been denominated the Evangelical Prophet, on account of the number and variety of his prophecies concerning the a...

TSK: Isaiah 59 (Chapter Introduction) Overview Isa 59:1, The calamities of the Jews not owing to want of saving power in God, but to their own enormous sins; Isa 59:16, Salvation is on...

Poole: Isaiah (Book Introduction) THE ARGUMENT THE teachers of the ancient church were of two sorts: 1. Ordinary, the priests and Levites. 2. Extraordinary, the prophets. These we...

Poole: Isaiah 59 (Chapter Introduction) CHAPTER 59 Sin separates between God and us, Isa 59:1,2 . Murder, theft, falsehood, injustice, cruelty, Isa 59:3-8 . Calamity for sin, Isa 59:9-15 ...

MHCC: Isaiah (Book Introduction) Isaiah prophesied in the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. He has been well called the evangelical prophet, on account of his numerous and...

MHCC: Isaiah 59 (Chapter Introduction) (Isa 59:1-8) Reproofs of sin and wickedness. (Isa 59:9-15) Confession of sin, and lamentation for the consequences. (Isa 59:16-21) Promises of deliv...

Matthew Henry: Isaiah (Book Introduction) An Exposition, With Practical Observations, of The Book of the Prophet Isaiah Prophet is a title that sounds very great to those that understand it, t...

Matthew Henry: Isaiah 59 (Chapter Introduction) In this chapter we have sin appearing exceedingly sinful, and grace appearing exceedingly gracious; and, as what is here said of the sinner's sin (...

Constable: Isaiah (Book Introduction) Introduction Title and writer The title of this book of the Bible, as is true of the o...

Constable: Isaiah (Outline) Outline I. Introduction chs. 1-5 A. Israel's condition and God's solution ch. 1 ...

Constable: Isaiah Isaiah Bibliography Alexander, Joseph Addison. Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah. 1846, 1847. Revised ed. ...

Haydock: Isaiah (Book Introduction) THE PROPHECY OF ISAIAS. INTRODUCTION. This inspired writer is called by the Holy Ghost, (Ecclesiasticus xlviii. 25.) the great prophet; from t...

Gill: Isaiah (Book Introduction) INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH This book is called, in the New Testament, sometimes "the Book of the Words of the Prophet Esaias", Luk 3:4 sometimes only t...

Gill: Isaiah 59 (Chapter Introduction) INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 59 As the former chapter declares the hypocrisy and formality of professors of religion; this expresses the errors and heres...

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