Isaiah 58:13

If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(13) If thou turn away thy foot.—The teaching of Isaiah 56:4-7, as to the Sabbath is resumed. The form of the phrase implies the idea that the Sabbath is as holy ground, on which no profane foot must tread (Exodus 3:5).

Thy pleasure.—Better, thy business.

Nor speaking thine own words.—Literally, speak words, as in Hosea 10:4, for idle unprofitable talk (Proverbs 10:19, Ecclesiastes 5:3).

Benson Commentary

Isaiah 58:13. If thou turn away — If thou take no unnecessary journeys, nor do any servile works on the sabbath day; or, metaphorically, if thou keep thy mind and affections disengaged, and free from secular cares and concerns, and restrain thyself from whatever might profane it; from doing thy pleasure on my holy day — From taking the liberty of doing what thou pleasest, without the control and restraint of conscience and the law of God; or from indulging thyself in the pleasures of sense and carnal delights; and call the sabbath a delight — Not looking on the duties of it as a burden and drudgery, but performing them with cheerfulness, and delighting in all its ordinances and services; the holy of the Lord — Or, to the Lord, that is, dedicated to him, consecrated to his service; honourable — Namely, the chief of days, worthy of all honour, and therefore honourable because holy: and shalt honour him — That is, The Lord, whose day it is; not doing thine own ways — Or works, or pursuing thy usual course of life, or thy worldly business; nor speaking thine own words — The words that are thine own, in opposition to what God commands to be spoken; words proceeding from the corruption of human nature, or the vanity of the human mind; or, not speaking words unsuitable to the work of the day, tending neither to thy edification nor comfort.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

58:13,14 The sabbath is a sign between God and his professing people; his appointing it is a sign of his favour to them; and their observing it is a sign of their obedience to him. We must turn from travelling on that day; from doing our pleasure on that holy day, without the control and restraint of conscience; or from indulging in the pleasures of sense. On sabbath days we must not follow our callings, or our pleasures. In all we say and do, we must put a difference between this day and other days. Even in Old Testament times the sabbath was called the Lord's day, and is fitly called so still; and for a further reason, it is the Lord Christ's day, Re 1:10. If we thus remember the sabbath day to keep it holy, we shall have the comfort and profit of it, and have reason to say, It is good to draw near to God.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath - The evident meaning of this is, that they were sacredly to observe the Sabbath, and not to violate or pollute it (see the notes at Isaiah 56:2). The idea, says Grotius, is, that they were not to travel on the Sabbath day on ordinary journeys. The 'foot' is spoken of as the instrument of motion and travel. 'Ponder the paths of thy feet' Proverbs 4:26; that is, observe attentively thy goings. 'Remove thy foot from evil' Proverbs 4:27; that is, abstain from evil, do not go to execute evil. So here, to restrain the foot from the Sabbath, is not to have the foot employed on the Sabbath; not to be engaged in traveling, or in the ordinary active employments of life, either for business or pleasure.

From doing thy pleasure on my holy day - Two things may here be observed:

1. God claims the day as his, and as holy on that account. While all time is his, and while he requires all time to be profitably and usefully employed, he calls the Sabbath especially his own - a day which is to be observed with reference to himself, and which is to be regarded as belonging to him. To take the hours of that day, therefore, for our pleasure, or for work which is not necessary or merciful, is to rob God of that which he claims as his own.

2. We are not to do our own pleasure on that day. That is, we are not to pursue our ordinary plans of amusement; we are not to devote it to feasting, to riot, or to revelry. It is true that they who love the Sabbath as they should will find 'pleasure' in observing it, for they have happiness in the service of God. But the idea is, here, that we are to do the things which God requires, and to consult his will in the observance. It is remarkable that the thing here adverted to, is the very way in which the Sabbath is commonly violated. It is not extensively a day of business, for the propriety of a periodical cessation from toil is so obvious, that people will have such days recurring at moderate intervals. But it is a day of pastime and amusement; a day not merely of relaxation from toil, but also of relaxation from the restraints of temperance and virtue. And while the Sabbath is God's great ordinance for perpetuating religion and virtue, it is also, by perversion, made Satan's great ordinance for perpetuating intemperance, dissipation, and sensuality.

And call the Sabbath a delight - This appropriately expresses the feelings of all who have any just views of the Sabbath. To them it is not wearisome, nor are its hours heavy. They love the day of sweet and holy rest. They esteem it a privilege, not a task, to be permitted once a week to disburden their minds of the cares, and toils, and anxieties of life. It is a 'delight' to them to recall the memory of the institution of the Sabbath, when God rested from his labors; to recall the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, to the memory of which the Christian Sabbath is consecrated; to be permitted to devote a whole day to prayer and praise, to the public and private worship of God, to services that expand the intellect and purify the heart. To the father of a family it is the source of unspeakable delight that he may conduct his children to the house of God, and that he may instruct them in the ways of religion. To the Christian man of business, the farmer, and the professional man, it is a pleasure that he may suspend his cares, and may uninterruptedly think of God and of heaven. To all who have any just feeling, the Sabbath is a 'delight;' and for them to be compelled to forego its sacred rest would be an unspeakable calamity.

The holy of the Lord, honorable - This more properly means, 'and call the holy of Yahweh honorable.' That is, it does not mean that they who observed the Sabbath would call it 'holy to Yahweh and honorable;' but it means that the Sabbath was, in fact, 'the holy of Yahweh,' and that they would regard it as 'honorable.' A slight inspection of the Hebrew will show that this is the sense. They who keep the Sabbath aright will esteem it a day "to be honored" (מכבד mekubâd).

And shalt honor him - Or rather, shalt honor it; to wit, the Sabbath. The Hebrew will bear either construction, but the connection seems to require us to understand it of the Sabbath rather than of the Lord.

Not doing thine own ways - This is evidently explanatory of the phrase in the beginning of the verse. 'if thou turn away thy foot.' So the Septuagint understands it: Οὐκ άρεῖς τὸς πόδα σου ἐπ ̓ ἔργῳ Ouk areis ton poda sou ep' ergō - 'And will not lift up thy foot to any work.' They were not to engage in secular labor, or in the execution of their own plans, but were to regard the day as belonging to God, and to be employed in his service alone.

Nor finding thine own pleasure - The Chaldee renders this, 'And shalt not provide on that day those things which are necessary for thee.'

Nor speaking thine own words - Lowth and Noyes render this, 'From speaking vain words.' The Septuagint, 'Nor utter a word in anger from thy mouth.' The Chaldee renders it, 'Words of violence.' It is necessary to add some epithet to make out the sense, as the Hebrew is literally, 'and to speak a word.' Probably our common translation has expressed the true sense, as in the previous members of the verse the phrase 'thine own' thrice occurs. And according to this, the sense is, that on the Sabbath our conversation is to be such as becomes a day which belongs to God. It is not less important that our conversation should be right on the Sabbath than it is that our conduct should be.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

13. (Isa 56:2; Ne 13:15-22). The Sabbath, even under the new dispensation, was to be obligatory (Isa 66:23).

foot—the instrument of motion (compare Pr 4:27); men are not to travel for mere pleasure on the Sabbath (Ac 1:12). The Jews were forbidden to travel on it farther than the tabernacle or temple. If thou keep thy foot from going on thy own ways and "doing thy pleasure," &c. (Ex 20:10, 11).

my holy day—God claims it as His day; to take it for our pleasure is to rob Him of His own. This is the very way in which the Sabbath is mostly broken; it is made a day of carnal pleasure instead of spiritual "delight."

holy of the Lord—not the predicate, but the subject; "if thou call the holy (day) of Jehovah honorable"; if thou treat it as a day to be honored.

him—or else, it, the Sabbath.

not doing … own way—answering to, "turn away thy foot from the Sabbath."

nor finding … pleasure—answering to, "doing thy pleasure." "To keep the Sabbath in an idle manner is the sabbath of oxen and asses; to pass it in a jovial manner is the sabbath of the golden calf, when the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose again to play; to keep it in surfeiting and wantonness is the sabbath of Satan, the devil's holiday" [Bishop Andrewes].

nor speaking … words—answering to, "call Sabbath a delight … honorable." Man's "own words" would "call" it a "weariness"; it is the spiritual nature given from above which "calls it a delight" (Am 8:5; Mal 1:13).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

If thou turn away thy foot: this is taken either properly, i.e. If thou take no unnecessary journeys, or do any servile works, either of hand or foot, that are forbidden on the sabbath day, the instrument being here put for the work; or metaphorically, i.e. If thou keep thy mind and affections clear, and restrain thyself from whatever may profane it, as David did concerning the word, Psalm 119:101. Feet are often put for the affections, Ecclesiastes 5:1, because the mind is moved by the affections, as the body is by the feet; If we do not let our thoughts be extravagant either upon impertinencies or unlawful things. The sum is, If thou be careful not to break the sabbath.

From the sabbath; or for the sabbath’s sake, whether we understand it more largely, of the occasional sabbath in solemn humiliations or otherwise set apart for sacred services, which is called a sabbath, Leviticus 16:31 23:32. Days of this nature were set apart before the captivity, Isaiah 22:12 Jeremiah 36:9, and also in the captivity, Zechariah 7:5. And thus it may be pertinent to the occasion of this discourse, Isaiah 58:3. And further, though sabbath be here only mentioned, yet it may take in every institution of God that they were in a capacity of observing during their captivity; thus I conceive it is understood Isaiah 56:1,2. Or whether we take it more particularly, for the weekly sabbath, such a carriage doth God expect as doth become it. From doing thy pleasure, satisfying thy lusts, and the corruption of thy will, on my holy day, i.e. on my sabbath, which is a holy day. A delight; full of delights in thy judgment, not looking on it as a burden; and practice, performing the duties of it with cheerfulness, delighting in the ordinances of it: and so the sabbath by a metonymy is put for the works of the sabbath, the time being put for the things that ought to be done in that time; therefore calling here is not only a verbal, but affectionate calling, the understanding assenting, the will consenting, and the actions conforming thereto: this delight appears in the saints of God, in their breathings after it, as it did frequently in David, Psalm 27:4 36:8 42:1, with many more.

The holy of the Lord; or to the Lord, i.e. dedicated to him, consecrated to his service. The Jews had a law that no man might take from the sabbath to add to the profane days but he might on the contrary.

Honourable, viz. the chief of days; worthy of all honour, and therefore honourable, because holy; and so shall honour, either it, i.e. the day; or him, i.e. the Lord, whose day it is. For to sanctify God and to sanctify his day is all one; compare Isaiah 8:13, with Exodus 20:8; thus esteem it an honour as well as a pleasure.

Not doing thine own ways, or works, or course of life; a man’s whole course being described by a way or walk, Genesis 17:1 Ephesians 5:8.

Nor speaking thine own words, viz. that are properly thine own, i.e. thine own in opposition to what God commands, proceeding from the corruption of nature, and vanity of the mind; or not speaking words, i.e. vainly, impertinently, and not suitable to the work of the day, tending neither to thy profit nor pleasure; or rather injurious, revengeful, or reproachful words, contrary to rest, quiet, and sedate composedness of the sabbath. And thus it refers to what was their usual practice upon their solemn assemblies or sabbaths towards their poor brethren, which they are charged with, Isaiah 58:3, and is called speaking vanity, Isaiah 58:9; see there; and accordingly the LXX. render it, if thou speak not a word in anger.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath,.... From walking and working on that day; or withdrawest thy mind and affections from all worldly things; the affections being that to the mind as the feet are to the body, which carry it here and there. The time of worship, under the Gospel dispensation, is here expressed in Old Testament language, as the service of it usually is in prophetic writings; though its proper name is the Lord's day, Revelation 1:10, and is here instanced in, and put for all religious institutions and services to be attended unto, and which will be with greater strictness in the times referred to:

from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; that is, if thou turnest away, or dost abstain from doing thine own servile work, the business of thy calling; which may be agreeable for the sake of the profit of it; or from recreations and amusements, which may be lawfully indulged on another day:

and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of God, and honourable; take delight and pleasure in the service of it; in all the duties of religion, private and public, to be observed on that day; in reading and hearing the word, and meditation on it; in prayer, and in attendance on all ordinances; and reckon it as separated for holy use and employment, and on that account honourable; and so have it in high esteem, and desire the return of it, and not think the service of it long and tedious, when enjoyed, and wish it was over: or, "for the Holy One of God, and honourable"; that is, for the sake of Christ, the Holy One of God, in both his natures, and honourable in his person and office; accounting the sabbath a delight, in remembrance of the great work of redemption and salvation wrought out by him:

and shall honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words; honour the Lord on that day, by not attending to any secular business, or walking abroad in the fields, to the neglect of private duties or public worship; by not seeking the gratification of the fleshly and sensual part, or indulging to those things which are agreeable to it; and by not speaking such words, or talking of such things, as relate to worldly affairs, or the things of civil life, but walking in the ways of the Lord, doing those things which are well pleasing in his sight, and conversing about spiritual and heavenly things; by such means God is honoured on his own day; and the reverse of this is a dishonouring him. The Jews (o) make this honour to lie chiefly in wearing other clothes on this day than on a weekday, and not walking as on other days, or talking as on them; yet they allow of thoughts, though not of words, about worldly things.

(o) T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 113. 1, 2. & 119. 1. & 150. 1.

Geneva Study Bible

If thou shalt {o} turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thy own ways, nor finding thy own pleasure, nor speaking thy own words:

(o) If you refrain yourself from your wicked works.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

13, 14. A promise attached to the strict and cheerful observation of the Sabbath. See on ch. Isaiah 56:2.

If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath] treating it as “holy ground” (ἄβατος). The metaphor is translated into literal terms in the following clause.

from doing thy pleasure] so as not to do thy business (as Isaiah 58:3).

call the sabbath a delight] Great stress is laid on heartiness in the observance of this command; for a contrast see Amos 8:5. The next clause must be translated as in R.V. and [sc. call] the holy of the LORD honourable, and shalt honour it. “The holy of Jehovah” is a remarkable designation for the Sabbath, and all the expressions of the clause are peculiar.

not doing thine own ways] so as not to do after thy wont (Cheyne). For pleasure render, as before, business.

nor speaking thine own words] Lit. a word, i.e. “idle words”; cf. Hosea 10:4.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 13, 14. - A STRICT OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH ENJOINED. While the fasting of the day only required to be spiritualized, the sabbath observance needed both spiritualizing and increased strictness. From 2 Chronicles 36:21 we learn that the sabbatical years had been little observed during the later Jewish kingdom; and it would Seem from the present passage (comp. Jeremiah 17:21-23) that even the observance of the sabbath itself had been neglected. Not that the neglect was total. The sacrifices proper to the sabbath were duly offered - the "solemn assembly" was duly called and attended (Isaiah 1:13); but during the rest of the day business flowed in its usual course - the complete sanctification of the entire day was set aside. We find a similar laxity prevalent after the return from the Captivity (Nehemiah 10:31; Nehemiah 13:15, 16). Verse 13. - If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath; i.e. treat it with reverence, as if it were "holy ground" (Exodus 3:5; Proverbs 4:27). From doing thy pleasure; rather, from doing thy business - the same expression as in ver. 3. It is by "business," not by pleasure, that the sabbath was polluted both in the time of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 17:21-23) and of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 10:31, etc.). And call the sabbath a delight. This is the spiritualization of the sabbath - "to call" and feel it "a delight," a real satisfaction to the soul, not a weariness (Amos 8:5), as it was to many. And shalt honour him; rather, and shalt honour it; i.e. the sabbath, which is made masculine here, as in Isaiah 56:2. The sabbath was to be honoured by men not pursuing their own ordinary ways, or engaging in their regular business, or even carrying on their ordinary everyday talk. Literally, the command is, not to "speak words;" but no Jews were ever such strict sabbatarians as to understand this as prohibiting all speech on the sabbath. Some have held that sabbatical talk should be scanty, limited, restrained as much as possible; but even for this there is no warrant. It is the quality, rather than the quantity, of the words uttered that is of real importance. Isaiah 58:13

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The third part of the prophecy now adds to the duties of human love the duty of keeping the Sabbath, together with equally great promises; i.e., it adds the duties of the first table to those of the second, for the service of works is sanctified by the service of worship. "If thou hold back thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy business on my holy day, and callest the Sabbath a delight, the holy of Jehovah, reverer, and honourest it, not doing thine own ways, not pursuing thy business and speaking words: then wilt thou have delight in Jehovah, and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the land, and make thee enjoy the inheritance of Jacob thy forefather, for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it." The duty of keeping the Sabbath is also enforced by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 17:19.) and Ezekiel (Ezekiel 20:12., Ezekiel 22:8, Ezekiel 22:26), and the neglect of this duty severely condemned. Chapter 56 has already shown the importance attached to it by our prophet. The Sabbath, above all other institutions appointed by the law, was the true means of uniting and sustaining Israel as a religious community, more especially in exile, where a great part of the worship necessarily feel into abeyance on account of its intimate connection with Jerusalem and the holy land; but whilst it was a Mosaic institution so far as its legal appointments were concerned, it rested, in a way which reached even beyond the rite of circumcision, upon a basis much older than that of the law, being a ceremonial copy of the Sabbath of creation, which was the divine rest established by God as the true object of all motion; for God entered into Himself again after He had created the world out of Himself, that all created things might enter into Him. In order that this, the great end set before all creation, and especially before mankind, viz., entrance into the rest of God, might be secured, the keeping of the Sabbath prescribed by the law was a divine method of education, which put an end every week to the ordinary avocations of the people, with their secular influence and their tendency to fix the mind on outward things, and was designed by the strict prohibition of all work to force them to enter into themselves and occupy their minds with God and His word. The prophet does not hedge round this commandment to keep the Sabbath with any new precepts, but merely demands for its observance full truth answering to the spirit of the letter. "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath" is equivalent to, if thou do not tread upon its holy ground with a foot occupied with its everyday work.

עשׂות which follows is not elliptical ( equals מעשׂות answering to משּׁבּת, an unnecessary and mistaken assumption), but an explanatory permutative of the object "thy foot:" "turn away thy foot," viz., from attending to thy business (a defective plural) on my holy day. Again, if thou call (i.e., from inward contemplation and esteem) the Sabbath a pleasure (‛ōneg, because it leads thee to God, and not a burden because it leads thee away from thine everyday life; cf., Amos 8:5) and the holy one of Jehovah (on this masculine personification of the Sabbath, see Isaiah 56:2), "mekhubbâd," honoured equals honourable, honorandus, and if thou truly honourest him, whom Jehovah has invested with the splendour of His own glory (Genesis 2:3 : "and sanctified it"), "not" (מן equals ὥστε μὴ) "to perform thy ways" (the ordinary ways which relate to self-preservation, not to God), "not to attend to thine own business' (see at Isaiah 58:3) "and make words," viz., words of vain useless character and needless multitude (דּבּר־דּברas in Hosea 10:4, denoting unspiritual gossip and boasting);

(Note: Hitzig observes, that "the law of the Sabbath has already received the Jewish addition, 'speaking is work.' " But from the premiss that the sabbatical rest of God was rest from speaking His creating word (Psalm 33:6), all the conclusion that tradition has ever drawn is, that on the Sabbath men must to a certain extent rest מהדבור as well as ממעשׂה; and when R. Simon b. Jochai exclaimed to his loquacious old mother on the Sabbath, "Keeping the Sabbath means keeping silence," his meaning was not that talking in itself was working and therefore all conversation was forbidden on the Sabbath. Tradition never went as far as this. The rabbinical exposition of the passage before us is the following: "Let not thy talking on the Sabbath be the same as that on working days;" and when it is stated once in the Jerusalem Talmud that the Rabbins could hardly bring themselves to allow of friendly greetings on the Sabbath, it certainly follows from this, that they did not forbid them. Even the author of the ש לה (הברית לוחות שׂני) with its excessive ceremonial stringency goes no further than this, that on the Sabbath men must abstain from חול דברי. And is it possible that our prophet can have been more stringent than the strictest traditionalists, and wished to make the keeper of the Sabbath a Carthusian monk? There could not be a more thorough perversion of the spirit of prophecy than this.)

then, just as the Sabbath is thy pleasure, so wilt thou have thy pleasure in Jehovah, i.e., enjoy His delightful fellowship (על־ה תּתענּג, a promise as in Job 22:26), and He will reward thee for thy renunciation of earthly advantages with a victorious reign, with an unapproachable possession of the high places of the land - i.e., chiefly, though not exclusively, of the promised land, which shall then be restored to thee - and with the free and undisputed usufruct of the inheritance promised to thy forefather Jacob (Psalm 105:10-11; Deuteronomy 32:13 and Deuteronomy 33:29) - this will be thy glorious reward, for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it. Thus does Isaiah confirm the predictions of Isaiah 1:20 and Isaiah 40:25 (compare Isaiah 24:3).