Isaiah 1:23

Isa 1:23 Thy princes [are] rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.

Ver. 23. Thy princes are rebellious.] Or, Revolters, apostates. There is an elegance in the original, such as this prophet is full of: Ac si dicas primi sunt pravi vel perversi. So saith Calvin here: Episcopi may be called Aposcopi, Cardinales Carnales vel Carpinales, carpet men; Canonici Cenonici, Praepositi praeposteri, &c. This note A Lapide is very angry at - et lapides loquitur.

And companions of thieves.] While they not only suffered such to go unpunished, but also shared with them. {as Psa 50:18} Cato complained that in his time some thieves stood at the bar in cold irons, when others, and worse, sat on the bench with gold chains about their necks. The bold pirate told Alexander to his teeth that he was the arch-pirate of the world. And what shall we think of Pope Alexander, who, in 1505 AD, sent a bull of pardons for many, dispensing thereby with such as kept away, or by any fraud had gotten the goods of other men, which they should now retain still, without scruple of conscience, so as they paid a rateable portion thereof to his Holiness’s receivers? {a} And at this day Popish priests will absolve a thief of his wickedness, if they may have half with him of the stolen goods. {b}

Every one loveth gifts.] Not only taketh; although in taking also the Greek proverb saith, ουτε παντα, ουτε παντη, ουτε παρα παντων, great care and caution should be used. Olim didici quid sint munera, said a grave man. See Deu 16:19.

And followeth after rewards.] As a hunter his game, or a merchant his gain, or a martialist his enemy. Sectantur retributiones - i.e., Collidunt inter se indices, saith the Chaldee paraphrast: The judges conspire, saying one to another, Help thou me in judging against the poor, and I will do as much for thee another time.

They judge not the fatherless.] Because friendless, penniless. Sed pupillos laedere, est pupillam oculi Dei contingere.

Neither doth the cause of the widow come before them.] The widow cannot speak for herself (in the original she hath her name from dumbness), and hath no money to make room for her. Hence her cause is slighted.

{a} Speed, 992.

{b} Scultet. in loc.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Isa_1:23

Thy princes are rebellious . . . everyone loveth gifts

Rebellious princes

Instead of suppressing rebellion, they were rebels themselves.

(J. A. Alexander.)

The rebellious princes

I. THE PROFIT OF THEIR PLACES IS ALL THEIR AIM. They love gifts, and follow after rewards; they set their hearts upon their salary, the fees and perquisites of their offices, and are greedy of them, and never think they can get enough. Presents and gratuities will blind their eyes at any time, and make them pervert judgment (Hos_4:18).

II. THE DUTY OF THEM PLACES IS NONE OF THEIR CARE. They ought to protect those that are injured, and take cognisance of the appeals made to them; why else were they preferred? But they judge not the fatherless, take no care to guard the orphans, nor doth the cause of the widow come unto them, because the poor widow has no bribe to give. Those will have a great deal to answer for, who when they should be the patrons of the oppressed are their greatest oppressors. (M. Henry.)

Audacious corruption

Catiline, being prosecuted for some great offence, corrupted the judges. When they had given their verdict, though he was acquitted only by a majority of two, he said he had put himself to a needless expense in bribing one of those judges, for it would have been sufficient to have had a majority of one. (Plutarch.)

Political corruption in England

The machinery of both sides [Whig and Tory] was unlimited bribery. The degradation of the briber was as great as that of the bribed. Berkeley writes in 1721:--This corruption has become a national crime, having infected the lowest as well as the highest amongst us. (Knights England.)

Francis Bacon

He was charged by the Commons before the Lords, with twenty-two acts of bribery and corruption. He attempted no defence. He made a distinct confession in writing of the charges brought against him. And when a deputation of peers asked if that confession was his own voluntary act, he replied: It is my act, my hand, my heart. O my lords, spare a broken reed. (Knights England.)

Corruption in the reign of James I.

It was an age of universal abuses. Local magistrates were influenced by the pettiest gifts, and were called basket justices. (Knights England.)

Corruption checked by Act of Parliament

[In 1275 Parliament enacted] that no kings officer should take any reward to do his office, such enactment being one of the many proofs of the inefficiency of law to restrain corruption; for within fourteen years there were only two judges out of fifteen who were not found guilty of the grossest extortions. (Knights England.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In Isa 1:23 the prophet says this without a figure: "Thy rulers are rebellious, and companions of thieves; every one loveth presents, and hunteth after payment; the orphan they right not, and the cause of the widow has no access to them." In two words the prophet depicts the contemptible baseness of the national rulers (sârim). He describes first of all their baseness in relation to God, with the alliterative sorerim: rebellious, refractory; and then, in relation to men, companions of thieves, inasmuch as they allowed themselves to be bribed by presents of stolen goods to acts of injustice towards those who had been robbed. They not only willingly accepted such bribes, and that not merely a few of them, but every individual belonging to the rank of princes (Cullo, equivalent to haccol, the whole: every one loveth gifts); but they went eagerly in pursuit of them (rodeph). It was not peace (shâlom) that they hunted after (Psa 34:16), but shalmonimshalmonim, things that would pacify their avarice; not what was good, but compensation for their partiality. - This was the existing state of Jerusalem, and therefore it would hardly be likely to take the way of mercy opened before it in Isa 1:18; consequently Jehovah would avail himself of other means of setting it right.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

That is, they maintain the wicked and the extortioners: and not only do not punish them, but are themselves such.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

companions of thieves--by connivance (Pro 29:24).

gifts-- (Eze 22:12). A nation's corruption begins with its rulers.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 23. Companions of thieves - "Associates"] The Septuagint, Vulgate, and four MSS., read חברי chabrey without the conjunction ו vau.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(23) Thy princes are rebellious.—The Hebrew words present an alliterative paronomasia (sârim, sôrerîm), which may be represented by “Thy rulers are rebels.” Here, as before, we note the “influence of Hosea (Hos_9:15), from whom the words are cited.

Companions of thieves.—We seem almost to be reading a report of the state of police in a provincial city under the government of Turkey as it is, or of Naples or Sicily as they were. The kadi himself is in secret partnership with the brigands who infest the highways. Nothing can be done without baksheesh, and the robbers who have the plunder can bribe more heavily than the man whom they have robbed. (Comp. Mic_7:3.) To the complaints of the widow and the orphan the judges turned a deaf ear, and put off the hearing of their cause with indefinite procrastination. There is, perhaps, a touch of irony in the word for “bribes” (shalmônîm, as if “peace gifts”), which were sought after, instead of shalôm, the true peace itself.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

23. Thy princes are rebellious] In the Heb. a paronomasia, borrowed from Hos_9:15. The “princes” (sârîm) are the civil and military officials of the monarchical constitution, as distinguished from the zìqçnîm (sheikhs or elders) of the old tribal system. The charge brought against them is that as a class they are corrupted by systematic bribery. They are companions of thieves, conniving at extortion and receiving in return a share of the spoil. Hence the fatherless and widows, having no bribes to offer, can obtain no redress; they cannot even find access to the seat of judgment.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thy princes are rebellious,.... Stubborn and obstinate, refused to receive and acknowledge the Messiah; such were the Jewish rulers, civil and ecclesiastical, in the times of Christ.

And companions of thieves: who devoured widows' houses; made the temple, which was a house of prayer, a den of thieves; and took away the key of knowledge from the people, and would not suffer them to attend the ministry of the Gospel, Mat 21:13.

everyone loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards. The Targum paraphrases it,

"everyone says to his neighbour, do me a favour in my cause, I will return "it" to thee in thy cause;''

and so justice was perverted:

they judge not the fatherless; that is, either they do not take their cause in hand at all, or, if they do, do not do them justice, but wrong them of their goods and estates, which, of right, belong to them:

neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them; there being no money to be got by undertaking it; see the case of the unjust judge, a picture of judges in those times, Luk 18:2.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Thy princes ... - This is an explanation of the previous verse. Princes mean here those attached to the royal family; those who by rank, or office, had an influence over the people.

Rebellious - Against God. The corruption of a nation commonly begins with the rulers.

Companions of thieves - That is, they connive at the doings of robbers; they do not bring them to justice; they are their accomplices, and are easily bribed to acquit them.

Every one loveth gifts - Every magistrate can be bribed.

Followeth afar rewards - רדף rodēph. This word denotes the act of pursuing after in order to obtain something; and means here that they made it an object to obtain rewards by selling or betraying justice They sell justice to the highest bidder. No more distressing condition of a people can be conceived than this, where justice could not be secured between man and man, and where the wicked could oppress the poor, the widow, and the orphan, as much as they pleased, because they knew they could bribe the judge.

They judge not - They do not render justice to; Isa 1:17. The Chaldee has well expressed the sense of a part of this verse: ‘They say, each one to his neighbor, Favour me in my judgment, or do me good in it, and I will recompense you in your cause.’

The cause of the widow come unto them - Or, rather, come before them. They would not take up her cause, but rather the cause of those who were esteemed able to offer a bribe, and from whom a gift might be expected, if a decision was made in their favor.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Thy princes are rebellious against me, their sovereign Lord; they cast off my yoke, and make their own wills and lusts the rule of their life and government.

Companions of thieves; partly by giving them connivance and countenance, and receiving a recompence from them for it; and partly by practising the same violence, and cruelty, and injustice that thieves use.

Loveth gifts, i.e. bribes given to pervert justice, which are severely forbidden, Deu 10:17; 27:25.

Followeth after rewards; pursuing them with all eagerness, and by all means possible.

They judge not the fatherless, & c.; they are so far from doing them justice, that they will not so much as give them a fair hearing of their cause, because they cannot make their way to them by gifts.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Thy princes are rebellious; i.e. "rebels against their true King, Jehovah." Companions of thieves. Leagued with those who are engaged in filching away the inheritance of the widow and the orphan by chicane in the law courts (see above, vers. 15-17; and compare the Homiletics on vers. 16-20). Gifts... rewards; i.e. "bribes, "given and taken on the condition of their perverting justice. (comp. Jer_22:17 Eze_22:12 Mic_3:11 Mic_7:3) They judge not the fatherless, etc. They dismiss the orphan"s complaint without hearing it, and are so noted for perversion of justice that the widow does not even bring her cause before them.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rebellious - Against me their sovereign Lord. Companions of thieves - Partly by giving them connivance and countenance, and partly by practicing the same violence, and cruelty, and injustice that thieves used to do. Gifts - That is, bribes given to pervert justice.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The same idea is now expressed in literal terms, and with special application to magistrates and rulers. They who were bound officially to suppress disorder and protect the helpless, were themselves greedy of gain, rebellious against God, and tyrannical towards man. “Thy rulers are rebels and fellows of thieves” (not merely like them or belonging to the same class, but accomplices, partakers of their sin), “every one of them loving a bribe” (the participle denoting present and habitual action) “and pursuing rewards. The fatherless” (as being unable to reward them, or as an object of cupidity to others) “they judge not, and the cause of the widow cometh not unto them,” or before them; they will not hear it; they will not act as judges for their benefit. They are not simply unjust judges, they are no judges at all, they will not act as such, except when they can profit by it.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

Isaiah speaks Yahweh's words to the people of Judah in the form of a poem. (See: Parallelism)

Your princes are rebels

"Your leaders rebel against God"

companions of thieves

"they are friends with people who steal from others"

bribes ... payoffs

People give "bribes" as gifts to dishonest rulers so the rulers will then act unjustly. Rulers receive "payoffs" as gifts from those who make profits from unjust laws that the ruler has passed.

runs after payoffs

A person eagerly desiring for someone to give him a bribe is spoken of as if the payoff were running away and the person were running after it. AT: "everyone desires for someone to pay money to them to make dishonest decisions" (See: Metaphor)

They do not defend the fatherless

"they do not protect those who do not have fathers"

nor does the widow's legal plea come before them

"nor do they listen when widows go to them for help against those who break the law" or "and they do not help widows who go to them for help against those who break the law"

translationWords

prince

rebel

bribe

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

rebellious Deviating from the straight path.

and runs after payments This word is similar to the Talmudic תַּשְׁלוּמִין. Jonathan paraphrases: One man says to another, Do me a favor in my case, and I will repay you in your case. This refers to a judge who was a robber, and the robbery victim complains about him before another judge. This one says to him, Declare me innocent today, and I will repay you when they complain about you before me. This is the meaning of running after payments.

and the quarrel of the widow does not come to them The widow comes to complain, and the orphan is coming out, when this one meets him and asks him, What did you accomplish in your case? He replies, All day long I toiled at work, but I did not accomplish anything. And this one turns around and says, If this one, who is a man, did not accomplish anything, surely I will not. This is the meaning of, “the orphan they do not judge, and the quarrel of the widow does not come to them” at all.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

שלמנים Rewards. (Comp. Exod. 22:5). They perverted judgment; the judge said, Give me such and such a sum, and it shall stand thee in good part in thy lawsuit with thy neighbour.

To the orphan—of whom they are not afraid. They judge not. That is, they do not render justice.

The cause of the widow—which she has to bring forward. Doth not come unto them: they do not like to hear her cause, therefore it does not come before them.

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.