Isaiah 43:28

Isa 43:28 Therefore I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary, and have given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches.

Ver. 28. Therefore I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary.] Or, Of holiness; that is, those that under a pretence of religion affected a kind of hierarchy, as did the scribes and Pharisees, who, with the whole Jewish state, were taken away by the Romans, both their place and their nation, as they had feared. {Joh 11:48}

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_43:28

Therefore I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary

Holy princes

Then I profaned holy princes, and gave up Jacob to the ban, and Israel to revilings.

Holy princes are the hierarchs (1Ch_24:5), the highest spiritual authorities in distinction from the secular. Their profanation consisted in their being ruthlessly dragged into a foreign land, where their official work ceased of necessity. So the heads of religion fared, and the whole nation, bearing the honourable names of Jacob and Israel, fell victim to the cursing and revilings of heathen nations. (F. Delitzsch, D. D.)

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

That is, rejected, abhorred, and destroyed them in the wilderness and at other times.

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

profaned the princes-- (Psa 89:39; Lam 2:2, Lam 2:6-7). I have esteemed, or treated, them as persons not sacred. I have left them to suffer the same treatment as the common people, stripped of their holy office and in captivity.

princes of the sanctuary--"governors of" it (Ch1 24:5); directing its holy services; priests.

curse--Hebrew, cherim, a "solemn anathema," or "excommunication."

reproaches-- (Psa 123:3-4).

Next: Isaiah Chapter 44

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 28. I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary - "Thy princes have profaned my sanctuary"] Instead of ואחלל שרי vaachallel sarey, read ויחללו שריך vayechalelu sareycha. So the Syriac and Septuagint, και εμιαναν οἱ αρχοντες τα ἁγια μου, "the rulers have defiled my holy things." קדשי kodshi, Houbigant. οι αρχοντεςσου, "thy rulers," MSS. Pachom. and I. D. II. and Marchal.

To reproaches - "To reproach"] לגדופה ligeduphah, in the singular number; so an ancient MS. and the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate. And, alas! what a curse do they still bear, and what reproach do they still suffer! No national crimes have ever equalled those of the Jewish nation, for no nation ever had such privileges to neglect, despise, sin against. When shall this severity of God towards this people have an end? Answ. Whenever, with one heart, they turn to him, and receive the doctrine of the Lord Jesus; and not till then.

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

(28) I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary.—Better, holy princes. The title is given to the chief priests in 1Ch_24:5. In the exile their priestly functions were in abeyance. They were practically desecrated.

The curse.—The cherem, or ban, answering to the anathema. The state described answers to that of Hos_3:4.

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

28. Therefore I have profaned] is better than R.V. “Therefore I will profane,” although it requires the change of a vowel. The verb (like the one following) is pointed as a cohortative, and as this appears sometimes to express the idea of compulsion (see Driver, Tenses, §§ 51–53) we may perhaps venture to render: and so I had to profane.

the princes of the sanctuary] Better: consecrated princes. The priests are so named in 1Ch_24:5; it is doubtful whether here priests or kings or both are meant, the consecration by anointing being common to both.

and have given … curse] Render: and had to deliver (see on last clause) Jacob to the ban. R.V. changes the translation for the worse.

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.

Therefore I have profaned - The princes of the sanctuary, that is, the priests, were by their office regarded as sacred, or set apart to the service of God. To depose them from that office, to subject them to punishment, and to send them into captivity, was, therefore, regarded as profaning them. They were stripped of their office, and robes, and honors, and reduced to the same condition, and compelled to meet with the same treatment, as the common people. The sense is, that he had made them common (for so the word חלל châlal is used in Exo 31:14; Exo 19:22; Lev 19:8; Lev 21:9; Mal 1:12; Mal 2:2); he did not regard their office; he used them all alike.

The princes of the sanctuary - Margin, ‘Holy princes.’ It means, either those who presided over and directed the services of the sanctuary, called in 1Ch 24:5, ‘governors of the sanctuary;’ or those who were holy in office. The Septuagint renders it, Οἱ ἄρχοντες τὰ ἅγια μον Hoi archontes ta hagia mou - ‘Who preside over my holy things,’ or my sanctuary. Vulgate, Principes sanctos - ‘Holy princes.’ The Syriac, ‘Thy princes have profaned the sanctuary.’ The sense is, that God had disregarded the official character of those who were set apart to the sacred office, and had punished them in common with the people at large for their sins.

And have given Jacob to the curse - The Septuagint renders it, ‘I have given Jacob to be destroyed’ (ἀπωλέσαι apōlesai). The Hebrew word here (חרם chērem), is that which is commonly used to denote a solemn anathema, excommunication, or devotion to destruction (see the note at Isa 34:5).

To reproaches - The reproach, contempt, and scorn which they met with in their captivity, and in a land of strangers (compare Psa 137:3-4).

Thus far God states the reasons why he had punished the nation. It had been on account of the national irreligion and sins, and the destruction had come upon all, but pre-eminently on the priests and the rulers. In the arbitrary division which is made in the Bible into chapters, a very improper separation has been made by making the chapter close here. The sense of the whole passage is materially injured by this division, and the scope of the whole argument is forgotten. The design of the entire argument is, to show that God would not leave his people; that though he punished them, he would not utterly destroy them; and that he would appear again for their rescue, and restore them to their own land. This argument is prosecuted in the following chapter; and in the commencement of that chapter the thought is pursued, that though God had thus punished them, yet he would appear and save them. The beginning of that chapter is properly the continuation and completion of the argument urged here, and this chapter should have closed at what is now Isa 44:5.

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

Profaned, or declared such, (Haydock) Nadab, &c., (Leviticus x. 1.; Calmet) or Moses and Aaron. (Menochius) --- Septuagint, "and the princes defiled my holy things." (Haydock) --- Slaughter. Hebrew, "anathema." Yet I will re-establish all. (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).

I have profaned; as they have made themselves profane, so I have dealt with them as such, without any regard to the sacredness and dignity of their functions. I have exposed them to contempt and destruction.

The princes of the sanctuary; the highest and best of your priests, whose persons were most sacred, and therefore supposed by themselves and others to be the furthest from danger.

To the curse; to utter destruction, to which persons or things accursed were devoted, of which this Hebrew word is constantly used. To reproaches; to be the objects of their enemies’ scorn and reproaches.

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

28. Therefore I have profaned — Have esteemed less than sacred.

The princes of the sanctuary — Because of the stains upon them. Your princes in themselves are of little honour to you. The so-called least sin is my abhorrence. It is such in the gross as sends Jacob to the curse. The curse of exile becomes a solemn anathema.

Israel to reproaches — That is, such as are endured in exile life.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Therefore I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary. The "princes of the sanctuary" (literally, "princes of holiness") are the principal members of the priesthood, who were carried into captivity with the rest of the people, (2Ki_25:18) and deprived of their functions, as a part of the punishment due to Israel for its sins. Israel itself was at the same time given to the curse of a severe bondage and to the reproaches of the neighboring nation.

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

Therefore - I have exposed them to contempt and destruction. Princes - The highest and best of your priests. Curse - To utter destruction, to which persons or things accursed were devoted.

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

Consequently the all-holy One was obliged to do what had taken place. "Then I profaned holy princes, and gave up Jacob to the curse, and Israel to blasphemies." ואחלל might be an imperfect, like ואכל, "I ate," in Isa 44:19, and ואבּיט, "I looked," in Isa 63:5; but ואתּנה by the side of it shows that the pointing sprang out of the future interpretation contained in the Targum; so that as the latter is to be rejected, we must substitute ואחלל, ואתּנה (Ges. 49, 2). The "holy princes" (sârē qōdesh) are the hierarchs, as in Ch1 24:5, the supreme spiritual rulers as distinguished from the temporal rulers. The profanation referred to was the fact that they were ruthlessly hurried off into a strange land, where their official labours were necessarily suspended. This was the fate of the leaders of the worship; and the whole nation, which bore the honourable names of Jacob and Israel, was give up to the ban (chērem) and the blasphemies (giddūphı̄m) of the nations of the world.

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.)

“And I will profane the holy chiefs, and will give up Jacob to the curse and Israel to reproaches.” The character just given of the people in all ages is urged not only as a proof that God’s compassion must be perfectly gratuitous, but also as a reason for the strokes which they experienced. This last phrase is descriptive of the same persons called interpreters in v. 27, namely, all the official representatives and leaders of the holy (i.e., consecrated and peculiar) people.

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

And I profane the holy princes because of your iniquities.

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.

The princes of the sanctuary. The priests; comp. 1 Chron. 24:5

Yet now hear, etc. This evil I have brought upon thee for thy wickedness,

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.