Isaiah 42:25

Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(25) The fury of his anger.—Better, the burning heat of His wrath, and the violence of war. Historically, the words seem to find a better fulfiment in the “wars and rumours of wars” (Matthew 24:6) than in the long equable continuance of the exile.

Benson Commentary

Isaiah 42:25. Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury, &c. — Most grievous judgments. It hath set him on fire round about — This was literally fulfilled when the Chaldean army took their city, and burned both it and their temple. Yet he knew it not — Considered it not: they were secure and stupid under God’s judgments; neither fearing them when threatened, nor truly sensible of God’s hand in them, of the causes of God’s displeasure, or of the means of cure. The reader will easily observe, that “the force and elegance of the metaphor in this verse are very great. Of all natural evils which affect the human mind, which arouse and awaken it, none do so with greater quickness than fire, than a mighty flame encompassing a man on every side. No sleep, no lethargy is so great, which this will not shake off; and yet the stupor and insensibility of the Jews are here represented to be so great, that in the midst of the fire and flame, which they might and ought to think kindled by God, they inquired not into the causes of this judgment. They knew them not, nor considered them; but, persisting in their impenitence and stupidity, applied not to God in faith and repentance, nor humbled themselves before him.” See Vitringa.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

42:18-25 Observe the call given to this people, and the character given of them. Multitudes are ruined for want of observing that which they cannot but see; they perish, not through ignorance, but carelessness. The Lord is well-pleased in the making known his own righteousness. For their sins they were spoiled of all their possessions. This fully came to pass in the destruction of the Jewish nation. There is no resisting, nor escaping God's anger. See the mischief sin makes; it provokes God to anger. And those not humbled by lesser judgments, must expect greater. Alas! how many professed Christians are blind as the benighted heathen! While the Lord is well-pleased in saving sinners through the righteousness of Christ he will also glorify his justice, by punishing all proud despisers. Seeing God has poured out his wrath on his once-favoured people, because of their sins, let us fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of us should be found to come short of it.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger - His righteous indignation in the overturning of their nation, the destruction of their temple and city, and in carrying them captive into a distant land.

And it hath set him on fire - That is, the fury of Yahweh kindled the flame of war all around the Jewish nation, and spread desolation everywhere.

Yet he knew not - They refused to attend to it, and lay it to heart. They pursued their ways of wickedness, regardless of the threatening judgments, and the impending wrath of God. They did not consider that these evils were inflicted for their crimes, nor did they turn from their sins when they were thus threatened with the wrath of God.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

25. him—Israel (Isa 42:24).

strength of battle—violence of war.

it—the battle or war (compare Isa 10:16).

knew not—knew not the lesson of repentance which the judgment was intended to teach (Isa 5:13; 9:13; Jer 5:3).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The fury of his anger, and the strength of battle; most grievous judgments.

Yet he knew not; they were secure and stupid under God’s judgments, neither fearing them when threatened, nor truly sensible of God’s hand in them, and of the causes of God’s displeasure against them, and of the means of cure.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger,.... The Lord was angry with these people for their rejection of the Messiah, and contempt of his Gospel; and therefore his wrath came upon them to the uttermost, not in some small drops, but in great abundance, to the utter ruin of their nation, city, and temple. Josephus says (e),

"the Romans came to subdue Palestine, but their coming was the pouring out of the heat of the wrath of the Lord:''

and the strength of battle; or "war"; all the miseries and calamities that are the effects of war. The Targum is,

"he hath brought upon them the strength of his warriors;''

the Roman soldiers:

and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart; the Roman army set fire first to the lower part of the city of Jerusalem, and then the higher (f), and wholly consumed it; and yet this has not to this day brought this people to lay it to heart, to consider and observe the true reason of it, their rejection of the Messiah.

(e) Josephus apud Forerium in loc. (f) Josephus de Bello Jud. l. 7. c. 7. sect. 2. and c. 8. sect. 5.

Geneva Study Bible

Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

25. Therefore should be simply and. the strength of battle] the violence of war, which (as in ch. Isaiah 9:18 ff. etc.) is compared to a fire. he knew not] i.e. “understood it not;” hardly, “heeded it not.” Israel felt its calamities keenly enough, but did not comprehend their significance, as a visitation from Jehovah. Note the contrast in ch. Isaiah 43:2.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 25. - Therefore he hath poured upon him... the strength of battle; i.e. for this cause, on account of their iniquities, did God bring upon his people the scourge of foreign war, and allow the Babylonians to waste Judaea, to destroy Jerusalem, and to lead into captivity the entire nation (comp. 2 Chronicles 36:14-17). It hath set him on fire; rather, it (i.e. the war)set him on fire. The reference is, perhaps, especially to the burning of Jerusalem by Nebuzar-adan (2 Kings 25:9); but the phrase will cover also the general devastation of the land both before and after this event (Jeremiah 39-42.), He knew not; rather, he took no notice; he did not change his ways on account of the chastisement. The prophet's view is that Israel, as a whole, was not greatly bettered by the Captivity, at any rate up to the time which he takes for his standpoint, and at which he supposes him. self to be addressing them.



Isaiah 42:25

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

When they ceased to be deaf to this crying contradiction, they would recognise with penitence that it was but the merited punishment of God. "Who among you will give ear to this, attend, and hear afar off? Who has give up Jacob to plundering, and Israel to the spoilers? Is it not Jehovah, against whom we have sinned? and they would not walk in His ways, and hearkened not to His law. Then He poured upon it in burning heat His wrath, and the strength of the fury of war: and this set it in flames round about, and it did not come to be recognised; it set it on fire, and it did not lay it to heart." The question in Isaiah 42:23 has not the force of a negative sentence, "No one does this," but of a wish, "O that one would" (as in 2 Samuel 23:15; 2 Samuel 15:4; Ges. 136, 1). If they had but an inward ear for the contradiction which the state of Israel presented to its true calling, and the earlier manifestations of divine mercy, and would but give up their previous deafness for the time to come: this must lead to the knowledge and confession expressed in Isaiah 42:24. The names Jacob and Israel here follow one another in the same order as in Isaiah 29:23; Isaiah 40:27 (compare Isaiah 41:8, where this would have been impracticable). זוּ belongs to לו in the sense of cui. The punctuation does not acknowledge this relative use of זו (on which, see at Isaiah 43:21), and therefore puts the athnach in the wrong place (see Rashi). In the words "we have sinned" the prophet identifies himself with the exiles, in whose sin he knew and felt that he was really involved (cf., Isaiah 6:5). The objective affirmation which follows applies to the former generations, who had sinned on till the measure became full. הלוך takes the place of the object to אבוּ (see Isaiah 1:17); the more usual expression would be ללכת; the inverted order of the words makes the assertion all the more energetic. In Isaiah 42:25 the genitive relation אפּו חמת is avoided, probably in favour of the similar ring of חמה and מלחמה. חמה is either the accusative of the object, and אפּו a subordinate statement of what constituted the burning heat (cf., Ewald, 287, k), or else an accusative, of more precise definition equals בּחמה in Isaiah 66:15 (Ges. 118, 3). The outpouring is also connected by zeugma with the "violence of war." The milchâmâh then becomes the subject. The war-fury raged without result. Israel was not brought to reflection.