Isaiah 3:7

Isa 3:7 In that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be an healer; for in my house [is] neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people.

Ver. 7. In that day shall he swear, saying.] It is come to pass in some places at this day, Ut ambigant prudentiores, otium, an officium aliquod Reip. sint persecuturi, that wise men doubt whether they had best bear office or not; but true goodness is public spirited, though to private disadvantage.

I will not be an healer,] i.e., A ruler. I will not be a binder up, {a} or a surgeon, for this State is no better than a great spittle; the whole head is sick and the whole heart heavy, &c. I dare not therefore meddle with it, since it is incurable, incorrigible. The Septuagint render it, I will not be thy prince. A king hath his name in Greek from healing, {b} as Plutarch observeth, because he is to be the physician or surgeon of the commonwealth.

In mine house is neither bread nor clothing.] I have not for mine own, much less for you. A prince had need to be well underlaid, that he may not need to pill and poll his subjects, or in judging to gape after gain.

{a} In caducum parietem non inclinabo.

{b} ‘Aναξ from ακος medela cure.

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.

Fear shall rather cause him to forswear himself, than to take such a dangerous charge upon him.

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

swear--literally, "lift up," namely, his hand; the gesture used in solemn attestation. Or, his voice, that is, answer; so Vulgate.

healer--of the body politic, incurably diseased (Isa 1:6).

neither . . . clothing--so as to relieve the people and maintain a ruler's dignity. A nation's state must be bad indeed, when none among men, naturally ambitious, is willing to accept office.

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 7. In that day shall he swear - "Then shall he openly declare"] The Septuagint, Syriac, and Jerome, read וישא veyissa, adding the conjunction, which seems necessary in this place.

I will not be a healer] I am not a leche. - Old MS. Bible. Leech was the ancient English word for a physician.

For in my house is neither bread nor clothing - "For in my house is neither bread nor raiment"] "It is customary through all the East," says Sir J. Chardin, "to gather together an immense quantity of furniture and clothes; for their fashions never alter." Princes and great men are obliged to have a great stock of such things in readiness for presents upon all occasions. "The kings of Persia," says the same author, "have great wardrobes, where there are always many hundreds of habits ready, designed for presents, and sorted," Harmer, Observ., II. 11 and 88. A great quantity of provision for the table was equally necessary. The daily provision for Solomon's household, whose attendants were exceedingly numerous, was proportionately great, 1Kg 4:22-23. Even Nehemiah, in his strait circumstances, had a large supply daily for his table; at which he received a hundred and fifty of the Jews and rulers, besides those that came from among the neighbouring heathen, Neh 5:17-18.

This explains the meaning of the excuse made by him that is desired to undertake the government. He alleges that he has not wherewithal to support the dignity of the station, by such acts of liberality and hospitality as the law of custom required of persons of superior rank. See Harmer's Observations, I. 340, II. 88.

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

7. swear] better, protest, lit. “lift up (sc. his voice).”

healer] lit. “binder-up” (of the wounds of the state), see Isa_1:6

in my house … clothing] “I am as poor as any of you.”

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.

In that day shall he swear,.... Or "lift up", that is, his hand (e), which was a gesture used in swearing, and therefore is so rendered; the meaning is, that he shall at once immediately give an answer, and for the solemn confirmation of it shall say an oath with it, saying,

I will not be a healer, or "a binder"; that is, of wounds, of political wounds, made in the nation, and which were incurable. See Isa 1:6 for the meaning is, that he neither was fit to be, nor could he be, a healer of the distempered state of the nation, it was so desperately bad. The Targum is,

"I am not fit to be a head or governor;''

and so Kimchi explains it of a governor, who, he says, is so called, because he binds and imprisons those that transgress his commands; and to this sense Jarchi and Abarbinel:

for in my house is neither bread nor clothing; not a sufficiency of either to support such grandeur and dignity; not enough to keep a proper table, and a suitable equipage:

make me not a ruler of the people; this shows that the state of the nation must be very bad indeed, that men, who are naturally ambitious of power and honour, should refuse government when offered to them.

(e) "attollet manum", Piscator.

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

In that day shall he swear - Hebrew, ישׁא yı̂shā' ‘Shall he lift up’ - that is, the voice, or the hand. To lift up the hand was one of the modes of taking an oath. Perhaps it means only that he should lift up “the voice” - that is, “should answer;” compare Num 14:1. The Vulgate, the Septuagint, and the Chaldee, read it simply ‘he shall answer.’

I will not be an healer - Hebrew, ‘a binder up,’ Isa 1:6. The Vulgate renders it, ‘I am not a physician.’ The Septuagint and the Chaldee, ‘I am not sufficient to be a leader.’ The meaning is, that the state of affairs was so ruinous and calamitous that he would not attempt to restore them; as if, in the body, disease should have so far progressed that he would not undertake to restore the person, and have him “die” under his hands, so as to expose himself to the reproach of being an unsuccessfill and unskillful physician.

Is neither bread nor clothing - I am not rich. I have not the means of providing for the needs of the people, or to maintain the rank of a ruler. ‘It is customary,’ says Sir John Chardin, ‘to gather together an immense quantity of clothes, for their fashions never alter.’ ‘The kings of Persia have great wardrobes, where they have always many hundreds of habits ready, designed for presents, and sorted.’ - “Lowth.” The description here is one of very great calamity and anarchy. So great would be the ruin and danger, that men would be unwilling to be chosen to the office of princes and rulers, and none could be found who would desire to possess the highest honors of the nation. Generally men “aspire” to office; here they were unwilling, on account of the disordered and ruined state of affairs, even to accept of it.

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

Clothing. The indigent were excluded from dignities, for fear lest they should seek to enrich themselves by unjustifiable means, Exodus xviii. 22. (Plut.[Plutarch?] in Sol.) (Pliny, [Natural History?] xvi. 19.) (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

He shall swear, Heb. he shall lift up; understand either,

1. His voice; he shall cry aloud, to show his earnestness in refusing the offer; or,

2. His hand, which was the usual gesture in swearing, Gen 14:22; Deu 32:40, &c., to show his resolvedness.

An healer; a repairer of the ruins of the state.

In my house is neither bread nor clothing; I have not sufficient provisions, either of food or raiment, for my own family; much less, as you falsely suppose, for the discharge of so high a trust.

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

In that day shall he swear; or, lift up his voice speaking with emotion (Kay). I will not be a healer; literally, a binder-up; (comp. Isa_1:6) "I will not undertake to heal the calamities of the state." In my house is neither bread nor clothing; i.e. "I am not a wealthy man; I have no stores laid up; I am quite unfit to be the people"s ruler." Make me not; or, ye shall not make me. The decently clad man entirely declines to be advanced to the helm of the state.

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

An healer - A repairer of the ruins of the state.

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

This verse contains the refusal of the invitation given in the one preceding. “In that day he shall lift up (his voice in reply) saying I will not be a healer, and in my house there is no bread, and there is no clothing; ye shall not make me a ruler of people.” In that day may either mean at once, without deliberation, or continue the narrative without special emphasis. Some supply hand after lift up, as a gesture of swearing, or the name of God as in the third commandment, and understand the phrase to mean that he shall swear. But the great majority of writers supply voice, some in the specific sense of answering, or in the simple sense of uttering, but others with more probability in that of speaking with a loud voice, or distinctly and with emphasis, he shall protest, or openly declare. The whole connection seems to show that this is a profession of great poverty, which, if true, shows more clearly the condition of the people, and if false, the general aversion to office. The last clause does not simply mean do not make me, but you must not, or you shall not make me a ruler.

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

He shall swear on that day [lit. he will raise. The word יִשָּׂא] is only an expression of swearing; he will swear to them, I will not be a ‘Chovesh.’ I will not be one of those confined to the study hall, since, in my house there is neither bread nor clothing; I have understanding neither of the Mishnah nor of the Aggadah. Another explanation according to the simple meaning is: I will not be a confiner; I will not be a judge, who confines the convicts to prison.

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.

יִשא He will swear (comp. לא תשא את שם יי thou shalt not swear by the name of the Lord, Exod. 20:7).

חובש Ruler. It is the same verb as in הובש מכה ‘ dressing a wound;’ comp. עֶצֶר power (Judg. 18:7).

There is no clothing. Even for myself.

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.