Isaiah 32 — with JFB Commentary
The King James text with the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown commentary (1871, public domain) directly beneath the verses it explains. Verses without a JFB note stand alone.
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1Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.
CHAPTER 32
Is 32:1-20. Messiah's Kingdom; Desolations, to Be Succeeded by Lasting Peace, the Spirit Having Been Poured Out.
The times of purity and happiness which shall follow the defeat of the enemies of Jehovah's people (Is 32:1-8). The period of wrath before that happy state (Is 32:9-14). The assurance of the final prosperity of the Church is repeated (Is 32:15-20).
1. king--not Hezekiah, who was already on the throne, whereas a future time is contemplated. If he be meant at all, it can only be as a type of Messiah the King, to whom alone the language is fully applicable (Ho 3:5; Zec 9:9; see on Is 11:3-5). The kingdom shall be transferred from the world kings, who have exercised their power against God, instead of for God, to the rightful King of kings (Eze 21:27; Da 7:13, 14).
princes--subordinate; referring to all in authority under Christ in the coming kingdom on earth, for example, the apostles, &c. (Lu 22:30; 1Co 6:2; 2Ti 2:12; Re 2:26, 27; 3:21).
2And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
2. a man--rather, the man Christ [Lowth]; it is as "the Son of man" He is to reign, as it was as Son of man He suffered (Mt 26:64; Joh 5:27; 19:5). Not as Maurer explains, "every one of the princes shall be," &c.
rivers--as refreshing as water and the cool shade are to the heated traveller (Is 35:6, 7; 41:18).
3And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken.
3. them that see--the seers or prophets.
them that hear--the people under instruction (Is 35:5, 6).
4The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.
4. rash--rather, "the hasty"; contrast "shall not make haste" (Is 28:16); the reckless who will not take time to weigh religious truth aright. Or else, the well-instructed [Horsley].
stammers--those who speak confusedly on divine things (compare Ex 4:10-12; Jr 1:6; Mt 10:19, 20). Or, rather, those drunken scorners who in stammering style imitated Isaiah's warnings to mock them [Maurer] (Is 28:7-11, 13, 14, 22; 29:20); in this view, translate, "speak uprightly" (agreeably to the divine law); not as English Version, referring to the distinctness of articulation, "plainly."
5The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful.
5. vile--rather, "fool" [Lowth]; that is, ungodly (Psa 14:1; 74:18).
liberal--rather, "noble-minded."
churl--rather, "fraudulent" [Gesenius].
bountiful--religiously. The atheistic churl, who envies the believer his hope "full of immortality," shall no longer be held as a patriot struggling for the emancipation of mankind from superstition [Horsley].
6For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.
6. vile ... villainy--rather, "the (irreligious) fool ... (his) folly."
will speak--rather, "present"; for (so far is the "fool" from deserving the epithet "noble-minded") the fool "speaketh" folly and "worketh," &c.
hypocrisy--rather, "profligacy" [Horsley].
error--impiety, perverse arguments.
hungry--spiritually (Mt 5:6).
7The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.
7. churl--"the fraudulent"; this verse refers to the last clause of Is 32:5; as Is 32:6 referred to its first clause.
speaketh right--pleadeth a just cause (Is 29:21); spiritually, "the poor man's cause" is the divine doctrine, his rule of faith and practice.
8But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.
8. liberal--rather, "noble-minded."
stand--shall be approved under the government of the righteous King.
9Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech.
9-20. Address to the women of Jerusalem who troubled themselves little about the political signs of the times, but lived a life of self-indulgence (Is 3:16-23); the failure of food through the devastations of the enemy is here foretold, being what was most likely to affect them as mothers of families, heretofore accustomed to every luxury. Vitringa understands "women--daughters" as the cities and villages of Judea (Eze 16:1-63). See Am 6:1.
10Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come.
9-20. Address to the women of Jerusalem who troubled themselves little about the political signs of the times, but lived a life of self-indulgence (Is 3:16-23); the failure of food through the devastations of the enemy is here foretold, being what was most likely to affect them as mothers of families, heretofore accustomed to every luxury. Vitringa understands "women--daughters" as the cities and villages of Judea (Eze 16:1-63). See Am 6:1.
11Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones: strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.
9-20. Address to the women of Jerusalem who troubled themselves little about the political signs of the times, but lived a life of self-indulgence (Is 3:16-23); the failure of food through the devastations of the enemy is here foretold, being what was most likely to affect them as mothers of families, heretofore accustomed to every luxury. Vitringa understands "women--daughters" as the cities and villages of Judea (Eze 16:1-63). See Am 6:1.
12They shall lament for the teats, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.
9-20. Address to the women of Jerusalem who troubled themselves little about the political signs of the times, but lived a life of self-indulgence (Is 3:16-23); the failure of food through the devastations of the enemy is here foretold, being what was most likely to affect them as mothers of families, heretofore accustomed to every luxury. Vitringa understands "women--daughters" as the cities and villages of Judea (Eze 16:1-63). See Am 6:1.
13Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city:
9-20. Address to the women of Jerusalem who troubled themselves little about the political signs of the times, but lived a life of self-indulgence (Is 3:16-23); the failure of food through the devastations of the enemy is here foretold, being what was most likely to affect them as mothers of families, heretofore accustomed to every luxury. Vitringa understands "women--daughters" as the cities and villages of Judea (Eze 16:1-63). See Am 6:1.
14Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;
9-20. Address to the women of Jerusalem who troubled themselves little about the political signs of the times, but lived a life of self-indulgence (Is 3:16-23); the failure of food through the devastations of the enemy is here foretold, being what was most likely to affect them as mothers of families, heretofore accustomed to every luxury. Vitringa understands "women--daughters" as the cities and villages of Judea (Eze 16:1-63). See Am 6:1.
15Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.
9-20. Address to the women of Jerusalem who troubled themselves little about the political signs of the times, but lived a life of self-indulgence (Is 3:16-23); the failure of food through the devastations of the enemy is here foretold, being what was most likely to affect them as mothers of families, heretofore accustomed to every luxury. Vitringa understands "women--daughters" as the cities and villages of Judea (Eze 16:1-63). See Am 6:1.
16Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.
9-20. Address to the women of Jerusalem who troubled themselves little about the political signs of the times, but lived a life of self-indulgence (Is 3:16-23); the failure of food through the devastations of the enemy is here foretold, being what was most likely to affect them as mothers of families, heretofore accustomed to every luxury. Vitringa understands "women--daughters" as the cities and villages of Judea (Eze 16:1-63). See Am 6:1.
17And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.
9-20. Address to the women of Jerusalem who troubled themselves little about the political signs of the times, but lived a life of self-indulgence (Is 3:16-23); the failure of food through the devastations of the enemy is here foretold, being what was most likely to affect them as mothers of families, heretofore accustomed to every luxury. Vitringa understands "women--daughters" as the cities and villages of Judea (Eze 16:1-63). See Am 6:1.
18And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;
9-20. Address to the women of Jerusalem who troubled themselves little about the political signs of the times, but lived a life of self-indulgence (Is 3:16-23); the failure of food through the devastations of the enemy is here foretold, being what was most likely to affect them as mothers of families, heretofore accustomed to every luxury. Vitringa understands "women--daughters" as the cities and villages of Judea (Eze 16:1-63). See Am 6:1.
19When it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place.
9-20. Address to the women of Jerusalem who troubled themselves little about the political signs of the times, but lived a life of self-indulgence (Is 3:16-23); the failure of food through the devastations of the enemy is here foretold, being what was most likely to affect them as mothers of families, heretofore accustomed to every luxury. Vitringa understands "women--daughters" as the cities and villages of Judea (Eze 16:1-63). See Am 6:1.
20Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.
9-20. Address to the women of Jerusalem who troubled themselves little about the political signs of the times, but lived a life of self-indulgence (Is 3:16-23); the failure of food through the devastations of the enemy is here foretold, being what was most likely to affect them as mothers of families, heretofore accustomed to every luxury. Vitringa understands "women--daughters" as the cities and villages of Judea (Eze 16:1-63). See Am 6:1.