Isaiah 3:11

Isa 3:11 Woe unto the wicked! [it shall be] ill [with him]: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.

Ver. 11. Woe to the wicked.] This sentence should ever sound in the wicked man’s ears for a powerful retentive from wickedness, considering the evil consequence thereof, that doleful ουαι ουαι; woe and alas for evermore! And when thou art making, saith one, a covenant with sin, say to thy soul, as Boaz said to his kinsman, "At what time thou buyest it, thou must have Ruth with it." {Rth 4:4} If thou wilt have the pleasure of sin, the ways of wickedness, thou must also have the vengeance and wrath of God with it, and let thy soul answer as he here doth: No, I may not do it; I shall mar and spoil a better inheritance; I shall inherit a curse, &c. Look, saith Mr Bradford, {a} martyr, to the tag tied to God’s law, the malediction, which is such as cannot but make us to cast our currish tails between our legs, if we believe it.

It shall go ill with him.] Utcunque sibi de rebus praesentibus gratuletur. {b} Though he stroke himself on the head, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imaginations of my heart, to add drunkenness to thirst. {Deu 29:19} Tell him from me, saith God, Evil, sc., shall betide him; yea, "an evil, an only evil," awaiteth him, {Eze 7:5} let him look for it.

The reward of his hands shall be given him.] He shall reap as he sowed, drink as he brewed. {Gal 6:7-8}

“ Mox ant poena manet miseros, ant palma beatos;

Quisque sum vitae semina iacta metet. ”

{a} Serm. of Repentance, pp. 57, 58.

{b} Jun.

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_3:11

Woe unto the wicked!--

All things conspire for evil to the sinner

As all events are to be made public under Gods moral government, it is for His own interest, as well as for the interest of His creatures, that He should apprise them fully of His character and of the principles of His government.

As all events are to be made known, both for the vindication of Gods character and for the instruction of all moral agents, it follows that the destruction of the wicked will be aggravated by every accession of light to their minds. Every new revelation of Gods works or ways which is made to them must conspire,

(1) to enlighten their minds, and,

(2) by consequence, to deepen their guilt and enhance and aggravate their doom.

1. Men will be held responsible for mercies abused. Hence those things which most please sinners, and which they call their good things, are charged to their account, and they must be held to the strictest accountability for their use or abuse of all their good things.

2. If these are facts, then sinners are getting deeply in debt. Everything, therefore, that now pleases the sinner so much will swell the mass of things that shall agonise him at the judgment day, and throughout his eternal existence.

3. The same principle applies to the entire course of Gods discipline towards you, embracing the various rebukes of His providence. All these are measures taken for your good, but if you will not improve them, they will only work out your deeper ruin. How marvellous that wicked men should suppose that these light afflictions are the proper punishment of sin! No; these are only Gods means of discipline, employed here in this life for the good of mens souls. Instead of being themselves the retribution due for sin, they are only the guarantees sent on beforehand by the great King, involving His pledge that He will punish sin unless He can secure repentance.

4. All your infirmities and all your sins; also the sins of those who live near you so that you can see the course of Gods dealings with them; indeed, the whole history of sin in the universe so far as known to you,--all conspire to heighten your responsibility and aggravate the guilt of your sin. For all these things serve to show you the real evil and wrong of sin; they serve to reveal Gods hatred of sin, and to assure you that He must and will punish it. Remarks:--

(1) All things work together for good to the Christian, and ultimately, when he comes to see how all things have had this result, he will regret nothing he has ever done, although he may greatly blame himself for all his sins. It is often the case that Christians here learn lessons of deep experience under their sins. They are deeply affected when they see how God overrules even their sins for good to themselves and to others. But nothing of this sort happens to sinners. They are not of those that love God, and they have no reason to expect that God will make all things work together for their good. Hence they must both blame themselves and also regret everything they have ever done.

(2) Sinners have never any good reasons for joy.

(3) Sinners procure this result to themselves. God gave you voluntary powers, that, on your own responsibility, you might use them for your own welfare. He gave you His Son, and in Him an offered salvation, that you might lay hold of everlasting life. He gave you a Bible, that you might read it and become wise unto salvation. He gave you these and a thousand other blessings, that they might be improved, and if you will not improve them, you have no right to complain of God.

(4) Sinners need not be stumbled by any calamities whatever which befall Gods real children. Let them not trouble themselves about this matter. The

Lord knoweth them that are His, and they shall never lack His constant care.

(5) All events that transpire in this world or the next will only make the great gulf fixed between saints and sinners the deeper and the broader--will only make the saints more holy and more happy, the sinners more sinful and more wretched.

(6) What an infinite folly is it to judge of things only by their relations to this life!

(7) Gods conduct in all this is just and righteous altogether. (C. G. Finny.)

The wicked man digs his own hell

We must not think of hell as a Divine invention; may we not say it reverently? it is an invention totally human. All evil digs and eats its own perdition; all evil chokes its throat with brimstone of its own finding. (J. Parker, D. D.)

Presumptuous disobedience

Steel-headed hammers are not allowed to be used inside powder mills, copper ones being used instead, there being no fear of drawing fires with them. Two carpenters, going into a powder mill to do some repairs, though fully acquainted with the regulations, persisted in using a steel hammer, with the result that a spark flew from the hammer head, and in a moment, with a dull, heavy roar, the mill and the men were blown to atoms.

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

3:11 The wicked who practice and execute injustice will receive God’s just punishment.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

ill--antithesis to "well" (Isa 3:10); emphatic ellipsis of the words italicized. "Ill!"

hands--his conduct; "hands" being the instrument of acts (Ecc 8:12-13).

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 11. Wo unto the wicked] לרשע lerasha, the man who is,

1. Evil in his heart.

2. Evil in his purposes.

3. Evil in his life.

As he is wicked, he does that which is wicked; and is influenced by the wicked one, of whom he is the servant and the son. It shall be ill with him, רע ra; in a single word say to him - evil! Of him you can speak no good; and to him you can speak no good - all is evil, in him - before him - after him - round about him - above him - below him. Evil in time - evil through eternity!

The reward of his hands.] What he has deserved he shall get. He shall be paid that for which he has laboured, and his reward shall be in proportion to his work. O, what a lot is that of the wicked! Cursed in time, and accursed through eternity!

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

Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him,.... In time, and to eternity, in times of public calamity, and under all afflictions, and adverse dispensations of Providence; he has no God to go to; all that befalls him is in wrath; at death he is driven away in his wickedness; at judgment he will be bid to depart as cursed, and his portion will be in the lake of fire, with devils and damned spirits for ever. Some (l) render it, "woe to the wicked, evil"; or who is evil, who is exceedingly bad, a very great sinner, the chief of sinners, such as the Sodomites were, sinners before the Lord exceedingly, Gen 13:13 to whom these men are compared, Isa 3:9. So the Targum,

"woe to the ungodly, whose works are evil:''

the Jews, as they distinguish between a good man and a righteous man, so between a wicked man and an evil man; there are, say they (m), a righteous good man, and a righteous man that is not good; but he that is good to God, and good to men, he is a righteous good man; he that is good to God, and not good to men, he is a righteous man, that is not good; and there are a wicked evil man, and a wicked man that is not evil; he that is evil to God, and evil to men, he is a wicked evil man; he that is evil to God, and not evil to men, he is a wicked man that is not evil. See Rom 5:7.

for the reward of his hands shall be given him; in righteous judgment, in strict justice, as a just recompense of reward; nor shall he have reason to complain of unrighteousness in God.

(l) "vae impio malo", Munster, Vatablus; so Ben Melech. (m) T. Bab. Kiddushin, fol. 40. 1.

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

Wo unto the wicked - To all the wicked - but here having particular reference to the Jews whom Isaiah was addressing.

It shall be ill with him - The word “ill” is the only word here in the original. It is an emphatic mode of speaking - expressing deep abhorrence and suddenness of denunciation. ‘Woe to the impious! Ill!’

For the reward of his hands - Of his conduct. The hands are the instruments by which we accomplish anything, and hence, they are put for the whole man.

Shall be given him - That is, shall be repaid to him; or he shall be justly recompensed for his crimes. This is the principle on which God rules the world. It shall be well here and hereafter, with those who obey God; it shall be ill here and forever, with those who disobey him.

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

Woe unto the wicked! these heavy judgments are designed against them, and shall certainly find them out, though here they be mixed with the righteous.

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

This is the converse of the foregoing proposition, a threatening corresponding to the promise. “Woe unto the wicked, (it shall be) ill (with him), for the thing done by his hand shall be done to him.”

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

Woe to the wicked [who does] evil For he is bad to himself and to others; he brings about harm to himself and to others. [This is found] in Tanchuma (Emor 5). This verse refers back to: Say to the righteous that he is good and woe is to the wicked [who does evil].

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.

רע. Bad. According to some it is in apposition to אוי woe. Woe, evil, etc. I take it rather as an attribute to רשע woe to the hardened sinner.

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.