8 The Lord sends a message against Jacob , And it falls on Israel . 9 And all the people know it, That is, Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria , Asserting in pride and in arrogance of heart : 10 "The bricks have fallen down , But we will rebuild with smooth stones ; The sycamores have been cut down , But we will replace them with cedars ." 11 Therefore the Lord raises against them adversaries from Rezin And spurs their enemies on, 12 The Arameans on the east and the Philistines on the west ; And they devour Israel with gaping jaws . In spite of all this , His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out. 13 Yet the people do not turn back to Him who struck them, Nor do they seek the Lord of hosts . 14 So the Lord cuts off head and tail from Israel , Both palm branch and bulrush in a single day . 15 The head is the elder and honorable e man, And the prophet who teaches falsehood is the tail . 16 For those who guide this people are leading them astray ; And those who are guided by them are brought to confusion . 17 Therefore e the Lord does not take pleasure in their young men , Nor does He have pity on their orphans or their widows ; For every one of them is godless and an evildoer , And every mouth is speaking foolishness . In spite of all this , His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out. 18 For wickedness burns like a fire ; It consumes briars and thorns ; It even sets the thickets of the forest aflame And they roll upward in a column of smoke . 19 By the fury of the Lord of hosts the land is burned up, And the people are like fuel for the fire ; No man spares his brother . 20 They slice off what is on the right hand but still are hungry , And they eat what is on the left hand but they are not satisfied ; Each of them eats the flesh of his own arm . 21 Manasseh devours Ephraim , and Ephraim Manasseh , And together they are against Judah . In spite of all this , His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Isaiah 9:8-21
Commentary on Isaiah 9:8-21
(Read Isaiah 9:8-21)
Those are ripening apace for ruin, whose hearts are unhumbled under humbling providences. For that which God designs, in smiting us, is, to turn us to himself; and if this point be not gained by lesser judgments, greater may be expected. The leaders of the people misled them. We have reason to be afraid of those that speak well of us, when we do ill. Wickedness was universal, all were infected with it. They shall be in trouble, and see no way out; and when men's ways displease the Lord, he makes even their friends to be at war with them. God would take away those they thought to have help from. Their rulers were the head. Their false prophets were the tail and the rush, the most despicable. In these civil contests, men preyed on near relations who were as their own flesh. The people turn not to Him who smites them, therefore he continues to smite: for when God judges, he will overcome; and the proudest, stoutest sinner shall either bend or break.