Isaiah 32:6

Isa 32:6 For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.

Ver. 6. For the vile person will speak villany.] Why then should he be advanced to great places why should he be smoothed and soothed up with high titles? "The adversary and the enemy is this wicked Haman," said Esther. {Isa 7:6} Before, some had styled him noble, others great, and some perhaps virtuous; only Esther giveth him his own - Pessimus iste, "That most wicked Haman"; so, "Go, tell that fox," saith our Saviour; and God shall smite thee, "thou whited wall," saith St Paul to Ananias, &c. Nomina rebus consentanea imponentur. A spade shall be called a spade, a fool a fool; there shall not be nomen inane, crimen immane, sedes prima et vita ima, ingens authoritas et nutans stabilitas, &c. {a}

And his heart will work iniquity.] Exegesis flagitiosi, the true portraiture of an evil magistrate, Iudex locusta civitatis est malus. An evil judge is the locust of the state.

{a} Bernard.

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_32:6-7

For the vile person will speak villany

The outer life according to the inner

A vile person and a churl will do mischief; and the more if he be preferred, and have power in his hand.

His honours will make him worse, and not better. See the character of these base, ill-conditioned men.

1. They are always plotting some unjust thing or other; designing ill either to particular persons or to the public, and contriving how to bring it about; and so many silly piques they have to gratify, and mean revenges, that there appears not in them the least spark of generosity. Observe, there is the work of the heart, as well as the work of the hands. As thoughts are words to God, so designs are works in His account. See what pains sinners take in sin; they labour it, their hearts are intent upon it, and with a great deal of art and application they work iniquity. They devise wicked devices with all the subtlety of the old serpent.

2. They carry on their plots by trick and dissimulation. When they are meditating iniquity, they practise hypocrisy, feign themselves just men. The most abominable mischiefs shall be disguised with the most plausible pretences of devotion to God, regard to man, and concern for some common good. Those are the vilest of men that intend the worst mischief when they speak fair.

3. They speak villany. When they are in a passion, you will see what they are by the base, ill language they give to those about them, which no way becomes men of rank and honour. Or, in giving verdict or judgment, they villainously put false colours upon things to pervert justice.

4. They affront God, who is a righteous God and loveth righteousness. They utter error against the Lord, and therein they practise profaneness. They give an unjust sentence, and then profanely make use of the name of God for the ratification of it. Nothing can be more impudently done against God than to patronise wickedness with His name.

5. They abuse mankind, those particularly whom they are bound to protect and relieve.

6. These churls and vile persons have always ill instruments about them, that are ready to serve their villainous purposes--the instruments of the churl are evil. (M. Henry.)

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

32:6 Because they do not care about God’s standards of justice and righteousness, fools have no regard for those who are hungry or thirsty (see 1:17; 58:7, 10).

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

vile . . . villainy--rather, "the (irreligious) fool . . . (his) folly."

will speak--rather, "present"; for (so far is the "fool" from deserving the epithet "noble-minded") the fool "speaketh" folly and "worketh," &c.

hypocrisy--rather, "profligacy" [HORSLEY].

error--impiety, perverse arguments.

hungry--spiritually (Mat 5:6).

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 6. The vile person will speak villany - "The fool will still utter folly"] A sort of proverbial saying, which Euripides (Bacchae, 369) has expressed in the very same manner and words: Μωρα γαρ μωρος λεγει· "The fool speaks folly." Of this kind of simple and unadorned proverb or parable, see De S. Poes, Hebr. Praelect. xxiv.

Against the Lord - "Against JEHOVAH"] For אל El, two MSS. read אל al, more properly; but both are of nearly the same meaning.

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

(6) The vile person will speak villany.—Another echo, like that of Isa_28:23-29, of the teaching of the Book of Proverbs. In that better day men would learn to see men as they are, and not as they pretend to be. “By their fruits ye shall know them” was to be one of the blessings of the reign of the true king (Mat_7:20).

To utter error against the Lord.—The “error” is either that of “heresy,” or of hollow profession, or of open scoffing. In either case it finds its practical outcome, like the hypocrisy of the Pharisees (Mat_23:14), in violence and wrong towards the poor and weak.

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

6. The characteristics of the “fool.” Render: For a fool speaks folly and his heart works (LXX. “meditates”) mischief, to practise impiety (cf. Isa_9:17) and to speak error (Isa_29:24) against Jehovah, &c. The fool here depicted is a free thinker, a practical atheist, as in Psa_14:1; the baneful effect of his principles is seen in his conduct towards his fellow-men, in his pitiless and cruel selfishness.

to make empty …] to deprive the destitute of their scanty subsistence.

6–8. The two types contrasted in their conduct.

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.

For the vile person will speak villainy,.... Or, "a fool will utter folly" (g); a man that has no understanding of Gospel truths himself can not deliver them to others; he will only speak foolish things, concerning the purity of human nature, the power of man's free will, the sufficiency of his own righteousness to justify him, and the merits of good works, and the like; and therefore such a man is a very improper one to be a guide and governor in the church of God:

and his heart will work iniquity; forge and devise it within himself; will form schemes of false doctrine, discipline, and worship, disagreeable to the word of God:

to practise hypocrisy; to make men believe he is a very devout and religious man, when he has no good thing in him, and to put others upon a profession of religion that have none; which things are commonly done by foolish and ignorant preachers:

and to utter error against the Lord; such doctrines as are contrary to the free, rich, sovereign grace of God; to the deity, personality, sonship, offices, blood, sacrifice, and righteousness of Christ, and so to the person and operations of the blessed Spirit:

to make empty the soul of the hungry; and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail; the "hungry" and "thirsty" are such as hunger and thirst after, and earnestly desire, the sincere milk of the word for their spiritual nourishment and growth; whose "souls" become "empty", and their "drink" fails, when the doctrines of grace are not dispensed unto them, but false and unedifying doctrines are delivered, so that their souls sink and faint, and are ready to die away, for want of the bread of the Gospel; agreeably to this sense, the Targum paraphrases the words thus,

"to make the soul of the righteous weary, who desire doctrine, as a hungry man bread; and the words of the law, which are as water to him that is thirsty, they think to cause to cease.''

(g) "nam stultus stultitiam loquetur", Pagninus, Montanus.

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

For the vile person - Hebrew, ‘The fool.’ This word more properly expresses the idea than ‘vile person.’ The Hebrews Used the name fool to denote not only one destitute of understanding, but a knave, a dishonest man - regarding sin as the highest folly (see 1Sa 25:25; 2Sa 3:33; Job 2:10).

Will speak villainy - Hebrew, ‘Will speak folly.’ That is, he will act in accordance with his nature; it is his nature to speak folly, and he will do it. Under a wicked and unjust administration such persons might be the subjects flattery Isa 32:5, and might be raised to office and power. But under the administration of a virtuous king they would not be admitted to favor; and the reason was, that they would act out their nature, and would corrupt all around them. A monarch, therefore, who regarded the honor of his own throne, and the welfare of his subjects, would exclude them from his counsels.

To make empty the soul of the hungry - Probably this refers to spiritual hunger and thirst; and means that such a person would take away the means of knowledge from the people, and leave them to error, ignorance, and want. The sense is, that if such persons were raised to office, they would corrupt the nation and destroy their confidence in God; and this was a reason why a virtuous prince would exclude them from any participation in his government.

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

For the vile person will speak villany: so this is a reason of the assertion, Isa 32:5; either thus, Such shall not be advanced to places of trust and dignity; for if they were, they would abuse them by unjust sentences and practices. Or thus, Men shall no longer be miscalled; for every one will discover what he is by his Words and actions; which also shall be narrowly observed. But these and the following words are and may be otherwise rendered: But (as this particle oft signifies) he shall be called or said to be (which words are easily understood out of the former verse, as is very frequent in Scripture) a fool, who (which relative particle is understood in very many places) shall speak villany, and whose heart shall work iniquity, &c.

His heart will work iniquity; he will, from time to time, be devising wickedness, that he may execute it when he hath opportunity.

To practise hypocrisy: to, do bad things, but with a pretence of religion and justice, which he shall use to keep himself from the disfavour of his prince, and from the lash of the law. Or, to practise profaneness or wickedness, as this word, at least sometimes, seems to signify.

To utter error against the Lord; to pass unjust sentences, which is directly contrary to the will and command of God.

To make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail; whereby they take away the bread and drink of the poor, and give it to their rich oppressors.

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

For the vile person will speak villany, etc.; rather, for the fool speaketh folly, and his heart doeth wickedness, practising profanity and uttering error against Jehocab, making empty the soul of the hungry yea, the drink of the thirsty will he cause to fail. The prophet seems to have the portrait of Nabal in his mind, and to take him as the type of a class.

The correction of social confusions.

"When men"s eyes are opened, they will no longer confound the essential distinctions of moral character, because they will no longer be deceived by mere appearances (J. A. Alexander)." A due discrimination of character would be made in the times of the Messiah, and persons and things would be called by their appropriate names" (comp. Mal_3:18 Mat_23:13-33 Eph_5:5) (Henderson). "The differences between good and evil, virtue and vice, shall be kept up, and no more confounded by those who put darkness for light and light for darkness" (Matthew Henry). These sentences show that the subject introduced is the influence of a righteous reign in helping men to see things as they really are, and to estimate persons according to their true worth, and not according to the mere show they may make. We deal specially with those confusions which come by false judgments of persons, and these take the following, among other forms.

I ADMIRATION OF TALENTS BLINDS US TO BADNESS OF CHARACTER. What is thought to be "genius" is too often allowed to excuse all sorts of laxity. The men who can astonish and amuse us may be unclean, untruthful, injurious; but we readily pass all this by. When righteousness reigns, talent will have to go with character, or men will count it to be Satanic agency. What a man can do must never be separated from what the man is.

II THE COMMAND OF WEALTH BRINGS FLATTERERS TO BAD MEN. There is no more painful sign of the moral deterioration of a race, than its worship of the rich because they are rich. Money can never make goodness. Wealth is not the stability of a nation. Its hope lies wholly in its good men. Yet the rich man may be violent, rude, masterful, cruel; nevertheless, multitudes will fawn on him, and call the Vile person liberal." When righteousness reigns, that confusion will be rectified, and the rich man shall have worship only if he deserves it for what he is.

III THE RANK AND SOCIAL POSITION OF MEN NOW BEWILDER THEIR FELLOWS, AND MAKE TRUE ESTIMATES NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE. Well does Robert Burns remind us that "The rank is but the guinea-stamp, A man"s a man for a" that.

No word of bitterness need be spoken concerning those to whom God has entrusted talents, or wealth, or social position. The point to enforce is simply the peril of letting these things confuse our ideas of moral character and moral worth. Evil is evil, and must be denounced as evil, in the genius, the man of wealth, and the man of title. Let Christ reign, and sin will be called sin, wherever it is found. He will strip all disguises off, and show us things as they are, and men as they are. The Lord hasten his coming! R.T.

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

Villainy - Men shall no longer be miscalled; for every one will discover what he is by his words and actions. Will work - He will, from time to time, be advising wickedness, that he may execute it when he hath opportunity. To practice - To do bad things, tho' with a pretense of religion and justice. To utter - To pass unjust sentence, directly contrary to the command of God. Cause the drink - Whereby they take away the bread and the drink of the poor.

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

The Prophet now defines his own expressions, or describes the characters which they denote. “The fool (is one who) will speak folly (in the strongest and worst sense), and his heart will do iniquity, to do wickedness and to speak error unto (or against) Jehovah (while at the same time he is merciless and cruel towards his fellow-men), to starve (or leave empty) the soul of the hungry, and the drink of the thirsty he will suffer to fail.” The futures in this verse express the idea of habitual action; he does and will do so. The infinitives convey the same idea in a different form, by making prominent the design and effect of their unlawful course. The common version, work and practice needlessly departs from the form of the original, in which the same verb is repeated.

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

speaks villainy (יְדַבֵּר) like מְדַבֵּר, a present tense.

works iniquity (יַעֲשֶׂה) Gathers thoughts of iniquity. Comp. (Deut. 8:17) “Gathered (עָשָׂה) for me this wealth.”

to practice flattery (לֲַעֲשׂוֹת) He thinks thoughts how he can practice flattery. חֹנֵף is a noun; therefore, the accent is on the first syllable, it is vowelized with a ‘pattah’ (now called a ‘segol’).

and the drink of the thirsty he causes to fail According to the simple meaning, they rob the poor. The Targum, (however, paraphrases:) The words of the Torah, which are like water to the thirsty, they plan to nullify.

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.

For the vile person, etc. This refers to the officers of Ahaz.

תועה Error. It is a noun; the forms of nouns are manifold.

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.