the commander of fifty and the dignitary, the counselor, the cunning magician, and the clever enchanter. the captain of fiftyThis phrase refers to a military leader responsible for a group of fifty soldiers. In ancient Israel, such a position was significant, indicating a structured military hierarchy. The Hebrew word for "captain" is "sar," which denotes a leader or prince. This role was crucial for maintaining order and defense, reflecting the importance of leadership and governance in society. The mention of "fifty" suggests a manageable unit, emphasizing the need for effective leadership even in smaller groups. Historically, this highlights the organized nature of ancient Israelite society and the value placed on military readiness. and the dignitary
The term "dignitary" refers to a person of high rank or position, often involved in governance or administration. The Hebrew word "nasa" implies someone who is lifted up or exalted, indicating their esteemed status. In the context of Isaiah, the removal of such figures signifies a loss of societal structure and order. This reflects the biblical theme of the consequences of turning away from God, as leadership and wisdom are seen as divine gifts. The absence of dignitaries would lead to chaos and instability, underscoring the importance of righteous and God-fearing leaders. the counselor
A counselor in biblical terms is someone who provides wisdom and guidance. The Hebrew word "yoetz" suggests an advisor or consultant, often sought for their insight and understanding. In ancient Israel, counselors played a vital role in decision-making processes, both in royal courts and among the people. The removal of counselors, as prophesied by Isaiah, indicates a society deprived of wisdom and direction. This serves as a warning of the spiritual and moral decline that results from ignoring God's commandments and the value of seeking divine wisdom in all aspects of life. the cunning magician
The phrase "cunning magician" refers to individuals skilled in the arts of magic or sorcery. The Hebrew word "chakam" means wise or skillful, while "charash" refers to an enchanter or magician. In the biblical context, such practices were often associated with paganism and were condemned by God. The presence of magicians in society indicates a reliance on human or demonic powers rather than on God. Isaiah's mention of their removal signifies a purging of ungodly influences, highlighting the need for spiritual purity and reliance on God's power alone. and the clever enchanter
Similar to the magician, the "clever enchanter" is someone who practices divination or sorcery. The Hebrew word "navon" means discerning or intelligent, while "lachash" refers to whispering or enchanting. Enchanters were believed to have the ability to manipulate spiritual forces, often leading people away from true faith in God. Isaiah's prophecy of their removal serves as a call to return to God and reject false practices. It underscores the biblical principle that true wisdom and power come from God, and reliance on anything else leads to spiritual downfall. Persons / Places / Events 1. Captain of FiftyA military leader responsible for a group of fifty soldiers, symbolizing authority and leadership within the community. 2. DignitaryA person of high rank or position, often involved in governance or societal leadership. 3. CounselorAn advisor or someone who provides guidance, often in political or personal matters. 4. Cunning MagicianA practitioner of magic or sorcery, representing those who rely on occult practices. 5. Clever EnchanterSomeone skilled in enchantments or spells, indicating reliance on supernatural powers outside of God. Teaching Points The Role of LeadershipGod holds leaders accountable for their influence on society. We should pray for and support leaders who seek wisdom and justice. The Danger of False GuidanceReliance on sorcery and enchantments leads people away from God. Christians are called to seek guidance through prayer and Scripture, not through occult practices. The Importance of Godly CounselSurrounding ourselves with wise and godly counselors can help us make decisions that honor God. We should seek advice from those who are grounded in biblical truth. The Consequences of IdolatryTurning to other sources of power or guidance, such as magicians or enchanters, is a form of idolatry. We must remain faithful to God as our ultimate source of wisdom and strength. The Call to DiscernmentChristians must discern between true and false sources of wisdom. This requires a deep understanding of Scripture and a commitment to living according to God’s principles. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the role of a "captain of fifty" in Isaiah 3:3 reflect the societal structure and leadership responsibilities in ancient Israel? 2. In what ways can we apply the principle of seeking godly counsel in our daily decision-making? 3. How does the Bible's condemnation of sorcery and enchantments in Deuteronomy 18:10-12 relate to the practices mentioned in Isaiah 3:3? 4. What are some modern-day equivalents of "cunning magicians" and "clever enchanters," and how can Christians guard against their influence? 5. How can we support and pray for our leaders to ensure they seek wisdom and justice in their roles? Connections to Other Scriptures 1 Samuel 8:11-12This passage describes the establishment of a monarchy in Israel, where leaders like captains and dignitaries are appointed, reflecting the societal structure mentioned in Isaiah 3:3. Proverbs 11:14Highlights the importance of wise counsel, contrasting the role of a godly counselor with the negative connotations of magicians and enchanters. Deuteronomy 18:10-12Condemns practices like sorcery and enchantments, aligning with the negative portrayal of magicians and enchanters in Isaiah 3:3. People IsaiahPlaces Jerusalem, Sodom, ZionTopics Accepted, Artificer, Artificers, Artisan, Captain, Charmer, Charmers, Charms, Clever, Counsellor, Counselor, Craftsman, Cunning, Eloquent, Enchanter, Enchantments, Expert, Faces, Fifty, Guide, Honorable, Honourable, Intelligent, Magician, Makes, Orator, Position, Powers, Rank, Secret, Skilful, Skilled, Skillful, Versed, Wise, Wonder-workerDictionary of Bible Themes Isaiah 3:3 5489 rank
5531 skill Isaiah 3:1-3 5245 captain
5714 men Isaiah 3:1-7 5700 headship Library A Paradox of Selling and Buying
'Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money.'--ISAIAH iii. 3. THE first reference of these words is of course to the Captivity. They come in the midst of a grand prophecy of freedom, all full of leaping gladness and buoyant hope. The Seer speaks to the captives; they had 'sold themselves for nought.' What had they gained by their departure from God?--bondage. What had they won in exchange for their freedom?-- only the hard service of Babylon. As Deuteronomy puts it: …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureMarching Orders
'Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord. 12. For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your reward.'--ISAIAH iii. 11, 12. These ringing notes are parts of a highly poetic picture of that great deliverance which inspired this prophet's most exalted strains. It is described with constant allusion to the first Exodus, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture The Christian view of Sorrow
"A man of sorrow, and acquainted with grief" Is. Iii. 3. There is one great distinction between the productions of Heathen and of Christian art. While the first exhibits the perfection of physical form and of intellectual beauty, the latter expresses, also, the majesty of sorrow, the grandeur of endurance, the idea of triumph refined from agony. In all those shapes of old there is nothing like the glory of the martyr; the sublimity of patience and resignation; the dignity of the thorn-crowned Jesus. …
E. H. Chapin—The Crown of Thorns The Personal History of Herod - the Two Worlds in Jerusalem.
It is an intensely painful history, [581] in the course of which Herod made his way to the throne. We look back nearly two and a half centuries to where, with the empire of Alexander, Palestine fell to his successors. For nearly a century and a half it continued the battle-field of the Egyptian and Syrian kings (the Ptolemies and the Seleucidæ). At last it was a corrupt High-Priesthood - with which virtually the government of the land had all along lain - that betrayed Israel's precious trust. …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah How those are to be Admonished who Praise the Unlawful Things of which they are Conscious, and those who While Condemning Them, in no Wise Guard
(Admonition 32.) Differently to be admonished are they who even praise the unlawful things which they do, and those who censure what is wrong, and yet avoid it not. For they who even praise the unlawful things which they do are to be admonished to consider how for the most part they offend more by the mouth than by deeds. For by deeds they perpetrate wrong things in their own persons only; but with the mouth they bring out wickedness in the persons of as many as there are souls of hearers, to …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great "But Whereunto Shall I Liken this Generation?"
Matth. xi. 16.--"But whereunto shall I liken this generation?" When our Lord Jesus, who had the tongue of the learned, and spoke as never man spake, did now and then find a difficulty to express the matter herein contained. "What shall we do?" The matter indeed is of great importance, a soul matter, and therefore of great moment, a mystery, and therefore not easily expressed. No doubt he knows how to paint out this to the life, that we might rather behold it with our eyes, than hear it with our …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning Brief Memoir of Thomas Watson
Compiled by C. H. Spurgeon Thomas Watson's Body of Practical Divinity is one of the most precious of the peerless works of the Puritans; and those best acquainted with it prize it most. Watson was one of the most concise, racy, illustrative, and suggestive of those eminent divines who made the Puritan age the Augustan period of evangelical literature. There is a happy union of sound doctrine, heart-searching experience and practical wisdom throughout all his works, and his Body of Divinity is, beyond …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity Of Civil Government.
OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT. This chapter consists of two principal heads,--I. General discourse on the necessity, dignity, and use of Civil Government, in opposition to the frantic proceedings of the Anabaptists, sec. 1-3. II. A special exposition of the three leading parts of which Civil Government consists, sec. 4-32. The first part treats of the function of Magistrates, whose authority and calling is proved, sec. 4-7. Next, the three Forms of civil government are added, sec. 8. Thirdly, Consideration …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion Letter Li to the virgin Sophia
To the Virgin Sophia He praises her for having despised the glory of the world: and, setting forth the praises, privileges, and rewards of Religious Virgins, exhorts her to persevere. Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, to the Virgin Sophia, that she may keep the title of virginity and attain its reward. I. Favour is deceitful and beauty is vain; but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised (Prov. xxxi. 31). I rejoice with you, my daughter, in the glory of your virtue, whereby, as I hear, you …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux "All Our Righteousnesses are as Filthy Rags, and we all do Fade as a Leaf, and Our Iniquities, Like the Wind, have Taken us Away. "
Isaiah lxiv. 6, 7.--"All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and we all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." Not only are the direct breaches of the command uncleanness, and men originally and actually unclean, but even our holy actions, our commanded duties. Take a man's civility, religion, and all his universal inherent righteousness,--all are filthy rags. And here the church confesseth nothing but what God accuseth her of, Isa. lxvi. 8, and chap. i. ver. …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning "Thou Shalt Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother. "
From this Commandment we learn that after the excellent works of the first three Commandments there are no better works than to obey and serve all those who are set over us as superiors. For this reason also disobedience is a greater sin than murder, unchastity, theft and dishonesty, and all that these may include. For we can in no better way learn how to distinguish between greater and lesser sins than by noting the order of the Commandments of God, although there are distinctions also within the …
Dr. Martin Luther—A Treatise on Good Works Concerning Salutations and Recreations, &C.
Concerning Salutations and Recreations, &c. [1273] Seeing the chief end of all religion is to redeem men from the spirit and vain conversation of this world and to lead into inward communion with God, before whom if we fear always we are accounted happy; therefore all the vain customs and habits thereof, both in word and deed, are to be rejected and forsaken by those who come to this fear; such as taking off the hat to a man, the bowings and cringings of the body, and such other salutations of that …
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity A Sermon on Isaiah xxvi. By John Knox.
[In the Prospectus of our Publication it was stated, that one discourse, at least, would be given in each number. A strict adherence to this arrangement, however, it is found, would exclude from our pages some of the most talented discourses of our early Divines; and it is therefore deemed expedient to depart from it as occasion may require. The following Sermon will occupy two numbers, and we hope, that from its intrinsic value, its historical interest, and the illustrious name of its author, it …
John Knox—The Pulpit Of The Reformation, Nos. 1, 2 and 3. The Prophet Micah.
PRELIMINARY REMARKS. Micah signifies: "Who is like Jehovah;" and by this name, the prophet is consecrated to the incomparable God, just as Hosea was to the helping God, and Nahum to the comforting God. He prophesied, according to the inscription, under Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. We are not, however, entitled, on this account, to dissever his prophecies, and to assign particular discourses to the reign of each of these kings. On the contrary, the entire collection forms only one whole. At …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament Isaiah
CHAPTERS I-XXXIX Isaiah is the most regal of the prophets. His words and thoughts are those of a man whose eyes had seen the King, vi. 5. The times in which he lived were big with political problems, which he met as a statesman who saw the large meaning of events, and as a prophet who read a divine purpose in history. Unlike his younger contemporary Micah, he was, in all probability, an aristocrat; and during his long ministry (740-701 B.C., possibly, but not probably later) he bore testimony, as …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Isaiah 3:3 NIVIsaiah 3:3 NLTIsaiah 3:3 ESVIsaiah 3:3 NASBIsaiah 3:3 KJV
Isaiah 3:3 Commentaries
Bible Hub |
