Now therefore, what have I here, saith the LORD, that my people is taken away for naught? they that rule over them make them to howl, saith the LORD; and my name continually every day [is] blasphemed.
5. Now therefore ] Rather, But now, accentuating the gravity of the present situation. Exile and oppression were indeed no new experiences for Israel ( Isa 52:4), but no such overwhelming disaster as this had ever befallen it hitherto.
what have I here &c. ] The sentence may be variously understood. The main idea obviously is that the state of things described in what follows is not to be endured, being inconsistent with the honour of Jehovah. The formula “What is there to me?” expresses a strong sense of incongruity between what is and what ought to be (see Isa 3:15, Isa 22:1; Isa 22:16), and we may render either, “What am I about (Isa 22:1) here (in Babylonia)?” or, more generally, “What do I find here?” i.e. in the existing position of affairs, as contrasted with the historic parallels in Isa 52:4. The last is perhaps to be preferred. The meaning can hardly be, “What have I to do here (ch. Isa 22:16) now that my people is taken away?”
that (better for) my people is taken away ] destroyed outright (ch. Isa 53:8).
they that rule over them (the Chaldans) make them to howl (R.V. do howl)] The R.V. rightly avoids the causative sense of the verb, which has no support in usage. On the other hand, it is nowhere else used of a shout of exultation, as it must be here; comp. with Gesenius and others, “laetis ululare triumphis” (Lucan, 6, 261). In Syriac also the word appears occasionally to undergo a similar modification.
my name is blasphemed ] lit. despised. (The form should probably be pointed as part. Pual.) The meaning is that the calamities of Israel were attributed by the heathen to the impotence of their God, and thus the majesty of Jehovah was impaired, a thought frequently expressed by Ezekiel (see Eze 36:20 &c.). The words are cited in Rom 2:24.
continually all the day ] (R.V.), as ch. Isa 51:13.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Now, therefore, what have I here? – In Babylon, referring to the captivity of the Jews there. The idea is, that a state of things existed there which demanded his interposition as really as it did when his people had been oppressed by the Egyptians, or by the Assyrian. His people had been taken away for nought; they were subject to cruel oppressions; and his own name was continually blasphemed. In this state of things, it is inferred, that he would certainly come to their rescue, and that his own perfections as well as their welfare demanded that he should interpose to redeem them. The phrase, what have I here? is equivalent to saying, what shall I do? what am I properly called on to do? or what reason is there now in Babylon for my interposition to rescue my people? It is implied, that such was the state of things, that God felt that there was something that demanded his interposition.
That my people is taken away for nought – This was one thing existing in Babylon that demanded his interposition. His people had been made captive by the Chaldeans, and were now suffering under their oppressions. This had been done for nought; that is, it had been done without any just claim. It was on their part a mere act of gross and severe oppression, and this demanded the interposition of a righteous God.
They that rule over them make them to howl – Lowth renders this, They that are lords over them make their boast of it. Noyes renders it, And their tyrants exult. The Septuagint renders it, My people are taken away for nought: wonder ye, and raise a mournful cry ( ololuzete). Jerome renders it, Their lords act unjustly, and they therefore howl when they are delivered to torments. Aben Ezra supposes that by their lords here, or those who rule over them, are meant the rulers of the Jewish people, and that the idea is, that they lament and howl over the calamities and oppressions of the people. But it is probable, after all, that our translators have given the true sense of the text, and that the idea is, that they were suffering such grievous oppressions in Babylon as to make them lift up the cry of lamentation and of grief. This was a reason why God should interpose as he had done in former times, and bring deliverance.
And my name continually every day is blasphemed – That is, in Babylon. The proud and oppressive Babylonians delight to add to the sorrows of the exiles by reproaching the name of their God, and by saying that he was unable to defend them and their city from ruin. This is the third reason why God would interpose to rescue them. The three reasons in this verse are, that they had been taken away for nought; that they were suffering grievous and painful oppression; and that the name of God was reproached. On all these accounts he felt that he had something to do in Babylon, and that his interposition was demanded.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 52:5
My name continually every day is blasphemed.
—
God pitiful, yet indignant
1. The captives are so dispirited that they cannot praise Him; but, instead of that, they are continually howling, which grieves Him, and moves His pity.
2. The natives are so insolent that they will not praise Him; but, instead of that, they are continually blaspheming, which affronts Him and moves His anger. (M. Henry.)
Blasphemy
I. ITS NATURE.
II. ITS GUILT.
III. ITS AWFUL PREVALENCE.
IV. ITS CERTAIN PUNISHMENT. (J. Lyre, D. D.)
Blaspheming Gods name
I. WHAT IS MEANT BY THE NAME OF THE LORD? His perfections, titles, etc.
II. THE VARIOUS WAYS IN WHICH IT IS BLASPHEMED.
1. By denying His existence (Psa 10:4; Psa 14:1; Psa 53:1).
2. By denying His sovereignty (Job 21:14-15; Exo 5:2).
3. By denying His truth (Gen 3:4; Isa 36:15; 2Pe 3:3-4).
4. By denying His power (2Ki 7:2; 2Ki 18:30; 2Ki 18:32-35; Psa 78:19-20).
5. By denying His omnipotence and omniscience (Job 22:13-14; Psa 10:11; Psa 73:11; Psa 94:7; Isa 29:15; Eze 8:12).
6. By accusing Him of injustice (Jer 12:1; Eze 18:25; Mal 2:17; Mal 3:15).
7. By murmuring against His dispensations (Isa 45:9; Exo 14:11-12).
8. By false swearing, oaths and curses, etc.
III. THE EXCUSES USUALLY MADE FOR IT. Ignorance, custom, example, surprise, passion, confirmation of what is said, meaning no harm, inconsistencies of professors, etc. (2Sa 12:14; Eze 36:20; Rom 2:24; 2Pe 2:2).
IV. THE EVIL CONSEQUENCES OF IT. Destroys the little remains of the fear of God. Leads to the disobedience of all His commands. Sets a horrid example to others, especially to the young.
V. THE POWERFUL ARGUMENTS AGAINST IT. The Lord is our glorious and lawful Sovereign, who sees and hears all things. He is a holy and jealous God, before whose bar we must appear, He is fully able to punish, and has assured us that He will (2Ki 19:22; 2Ki 19:28, Isa 37:23; Isa 37:36-38;Eze 20:27; Eze 20:33; Eze 35:12-14). (A. Tucker.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 5. They that rule over them – “They that are lords over them”] For moshelo, singular, in the text, more than a hundred and twenty MSS. (De Rossi says, codices innumeri, “numberless copies”) have moshelaiv, plural, according to the Masoretical correction in the margin; which shows that the Masoretes often superstitiously retained apparent mistakes in the text, even when they had sufficient evidence to authorize the introduction of the true reading.
Make them to howl – “Make their boast of it”] For yeheililu, “make them to howl,” five MSS., (two ancient,) have yehalelu, “make their boast;” which is confirmed by the Chaldee paraphrast, who renders it mishtabbechin. Ulaloo is not only the cry itself, but also the name of the funeral song of the Irish. The Arabs have a cry very much resembling this.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
What have I here? Heb. What to me here? the sense is either,
1. What do I here? Why do I sit still here, and not go to Babylon to punish the Babylonians, and to deliver my people? Or,
2. What honour have I by suffering this injury to be done to my people?
Is taken away, were carried away captive by the Babylonians,
for nought; without any provocation or pretence of right. See before on Isa 52:3. They that rule over then, who by their office are obliged to deal justly and tenderly with their subjects,
make them to howl, by their tyrannical and unmerciful usage of them.
My name continually every day is blasphemed; instead of that praise and service which the Babylonians owe me for all their successes and conquests, they blaspheme me, as if I wanted either power or good-will to save my people out of their hands.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5. what have I herethat is,what am I called on to do? The fact “that My people is takenaway (into captivity; Isa 49:24;Isa 49:25) for naught” (bygratuitous oppression, Isa52:4; also Isa 52:3, andsee on Isa 52:3) demands Myinterposition.
they that ruleor”tyrannize,” namely, Babylon, literal and mystical.
make . . . to howlor,raise a cry of exultation over them [MAURER].
blasphemednamely, inBabylon: God’s reason for delivering His people, not their goodness,but for the sake of His holy name (Eze 20:9;Eze 20:14).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Now therefore what have I here, saith the Lord, that my people is taken away for nought?…. Or what do I get by it, that my people should be taken and held in captivity without cause? I am no gainer, but a loser by it, as it afterwards appears; and therefore why should I sit still, and delay the deliverance of my people any longer? but as I have delivered Israel out of Egypt, and the Jews from Babylon, so will I deliver my people out of mystical Babylon, spiritually called Sodom and Egypt.
They that rule over them cause them to howl, saith the Lord; they that hath carried them captive, and exercised a tyrannical power over them, cause them to howl under their bondage and slavery, as the Israelites formerly in Egypt; wherefore the Lord is moved with compassion to them, and since neither he nor they were gainers, but losers by their captivity, he determines to deliver them: or it may be rendered, “they cause its rulers to howl” i, or his rulers howl; not the common people only, but their governors, civil and ecclesiastical; so Aben Ezra interprets it not of Heathen rulers, but of the great men of Israel:
and my name continually every day is blasphemed; by ascribing their extent of power and authority, their dominions and conquests, not to the Lord, but to their idols, whom they worship, to such or such a saint; opening their mouths in blasphemy against God, his name and tabernacle, and his people, Re 13:5. The Targum is,
“and always, all the day, because of the worship of my name, they provoke.”
The Septuagint is, “for you always my name is blasphemed among the Gentiles”; see Ro 2:24.
i “dominatores ejus ululare facient”, Montanus; “dominus ipsius ejulant”, Junius Tremellius, Vitringa “ululant”, Piscator; “qui habent potestatem in eum ejulant”, Cocceius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
5. What have I here? He follows out and confirms what I have already said, that it; is not reasonable that he should silently permit his people to be any longer oppressed. By these words he reproves, in some measure, his own delay; as if he had said, “Shall I not stretch out my hand? Shall I not avenge my people? If Pharaoh did not hinder me, though he was a lawful master, shall the violence of robbers hinder me?” He next enumerates the reasons which ought to move him to bring back the people.
That my people should be carried away for nought. There must be understood an implied contrast to the participle “carried away;” for the Egyptians did not “carry away” Jacob by force; he came down to it of his own accord when he was pressed by famine, yet he was delivered from it; (39) how much more shall he be rescued out of the hand of those who tore him from his native country, and carried him by violence into captivity?
That they should cause them to howl. In order to express more forcibly the baseness of this conduct, he says that they are constrained to howl without ceasing. Some translate the vero as neuter; (40) but I think that it is intended to express the strength of their hatred, and therefore I consider it to be an active verb, expressive of the violence which the Babylonians exercised towards the Jews; for they not only ruled unjustly over them, but also treated them harshly. To “howl” is more than to sigh or weep; for there is reason to believe that the pain which sends forth loud and strong cries is exceedingly severe. The metaphor is taken from wild beasts, and denotes extreme despair.
The third and principal reason why the Lord will deliver his people is, that his name is continually exposed to the reproach and blasphemy of wicked men. For the sake of his own honor the Lord preserves the Church, and defends the pure worship of his name. Because wicked men seize on the Church’s calamitous state as a reason for blasphemy, and insolently mock God, with good reason does he say, that by delivering his people, he will plead his own cause. I do not here relate the various interpretations, or stay to refute them; for it will be enough for me to have briefly explained the Prophet’s real meaning.
(39) “ Toutes fois sa posterite en a este delivree.” “Yet his posterity was delivered from it.”
(40) That is, that the verb means “to howl,” instead of “to cause to howl.” — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
BLASPHEMY
Isa. 52:5. My name continually every day is blasphemed.
The proud and oppressive Babylonians delighted to add to the sorrows of the exiled Jews, by reproaching the name of their God, and by saying that He was unable to defend them and their city from ruin. This sin is awfully prevalent.
I. What is meant by the name of the Lord? His perfections, titles, word, &c.
II. The various ways in which it is blasphemed.
1. By denying His existence (Psa. 10:4; Psa. 14:1; Psa. 53:1).
2. By denying His sovereignty (Job. 21:14-15; Exo. 5:2).
3. By denying His truth (Gen. 3:4; Isa. 36:15; 2Pe. 3:3-4).
4. By denying His power (2Ki. 7:2; Psa. 78:19-20; Isa. 36:15; Isa. 36:18-20, and 2Ki. 18:30; 2Ki. 18:32-35).
5. By denying His omnipresence and omniscience (Job. 22:13-14; Psa. 10:11; Psa. 73:11; Psa. 94:7; Isa. 29:15; Eze. 8:12).
6. By accusing Him of injustice (Jer. 12:1; Eze. 18:25; Eze. 33:17; Mal. 2:17; Mal. 3:15).
7. By murmuring against His dispensations (Isa. 45:9; Exo. 14:11-12).
8. By false swearing, oaths, and curses, &c.
III. The excuses usually made for it. Ignorance, custom, example, surprise, passion, confirmation of what is said, meaning no harm, inconsistencies of professors, &c. (2 Samuel 12, 14; Eze. 36:20; Rom. 2:24; 2Pe. 2:2).
IV. The evil consequences of it. Destroys the little remains of the fear of God. Leads to the disobedience of all His commands. Sets a horrid example to others, especially to the young, &c.
V. The powerful arguments against it. The Lord is our glorious and lawful Sovereign, who sees and hears all things. He is a holy and jealous God, before whose bar we must appear. He is fully able to punish, and has assured us that He will (2Ki. 19:22; 2Ki. 19:28; Isa. 37:23; Isa. 37:36-38; Eze. 20:27; Eze. 20:33; Eze. 35:12-14).Alfred Tucker.
Blasphemy. I. Its nature. II. Its guilt. III. Its awful prevalence. IV. Its certain punishment.J. Lyth, D.D.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(5) What have I here . . .?i.e., What have I to do? As in Gen. 11:4, Jehovah is represented as deliberating after the manner of men. Again the people have been gratuitously, wantonly attacked; and their groans mingle with the taunting blasphemies of their conquerors. Has not the time come for Him to vindicate His outraged Majesty?
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 52:5 Now therefore, what have I here, saith the LORD, that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them make them to howl, saith the LORD; and my name continually every day [is] blasphemed.
Ver. 5. Now, therefore, what have I here? ] Cui bono? To what purpose or profit? For what wealth or worth suffer I my poor people to lie captives here at Babylon? Or, as others a sense it, what make I here any longer at Jerusalem when my poor people are in durance at Babylon? Why hasten I not to help them out?
They that rule over them, make them to howl,
And my name continually every day (or, all the day long) is blasphemed.] That is all I get by the bargain.
a Piscator.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
what have I here . . . ? = what do I here? What He did in the circumstances of Isa 52:4 we know. What He will do in these new circumstances we are about to be told.
is = hath been.
My name, &c. Quoted in Rom 2:24.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
what: Isa 22:16, Jdg 18:3
people: Isa 52:3, Psa 44:12
make: Isa 47:6, Isa 51:20, Isa 51:23, Exo 1:13-16, Exo 2:23, Exo 2:24, Exo 3:7, Psa 137:1, Psa 137:2, Jer 50:17, Lam 1:21, Lam 2:3, Lam 5:13-15, Zep 1:10
my name: Isa 37:6, Isa 37:28, Psa 44:16, Psa 74:10, Psa 74:18, Psa 74:22, Psa 74:23, Eze 20:9, Eze 20:14, Eze 36:20-23, Rom 2:24
Reciprocal: Exo 1:14 – was with rigour Exo 6:3 – Jehovah 2Sa 12:14 – by this deed Job 24:12 – groan Psa 94:5 – break Psa 107:12 – he brought Isa 13:6 – Howl ye Isa 19:20 – they shall Isa 42:22 – a people Isa 45:13 – he shall build Isa 48:11 – for how Jer 15:13 – without Hos 7:14 – when 1Ti 6:1 – that the
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
52:5 Now therefore, what have I here, saith the LORD, that my people is taken away for nothing? they that rule over them make them to wail, saith the LORD; and my name continually every day [is] {f} blasphemed.
(f) That is, by the wicked, who think that I have no power to deliver them.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Yahweh reflected on the present situation: What have we here? Israel was in captivity but not because God had to give her over to a superior person. Furthermore, Israel’s leaders wailed because of the shame of their defeat. Finally, the victors held Yahweh’s name in contempt because they concluded He was weaker than their strongest gods.