Isaiah 5:15

Isa 5:15 And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled:

Ver. 15. And the mean man shall be brought down, &c.] Here the prophet, before he comes to the third denunciation (for this part of the chapter, like Ezekiel’s roll, is full of lamentation, and mourning, and woe, Eze 2:10), inserteth three good effects of the fore-threatened punishments: {a} - 1. That the wicked shall be thereby tamed (in this verse); 2. That God’s glory shall be asserted; {Isa 5:16} and 3. That God’s poor people shall be graciously provided for; {Isa 5:17} see for this verse, Isa 2:9.

And the eyes of the haughty.] See on Isa 2:11.

{a} Piscat.

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 5:15-17. And the mean man, &c. — All of them, both high and low, shall be brought to destruction. But the Lord shall be exalted in judgment — By the execution of his just judgment upon his incorrigible enemies. And God that is holy shall be sanctified — Shall appear to be a holy God; in righteousness — That is, by displaying his righteousness, or executing his righteous judgments. Then, &c. — When God shall have finished that work of judgment upon the ungodly, he will extend mercy to the remainder; the lambs — The poor and harmless people, who shall be left in the land, when the rich are carried into captivity, as it happened 2Ki 25:12; shall feed after their manner — Or, without restraint, as Bishop Lowth renders it. And the waste places of the fat ones — The lands left by their owners, the rich and great men, who were either slain or carried into captivity; shall strangers eat — The poor Israelites who were left in the land to be vine-dressers and husbandmen, who are called strangers, because they were so in reference to that land, not being the proper owners of it, nor related to them. Vitringa is of opinion that this verse “refers to the first disciples of Jesus Christ, who, seeing and deploring the destruction of the Jews, should rest safely under the protection of God; while, according to the next clause, the Gentiles should be brought into the communion of the church, and rejoice in those benefits, prerogatives, and privileges, whereof the carnal, rich, and luxurious Jews were deprived.” See Joh 10:16.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(Compare Isa 2:9, Isa 2:11, Isa 2:17). All ranks, "mean" and "mighty" alike; so "honorable" and "multitude" (Isa 5:13).

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

(15) The mean man shall be brought.—The recurrence of the burden of Isa_2:9; Isa_2:11-12; Isa_2:17, connects Isaiah 5 with the earlier portion of the introduction.

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

15, 16. A reminiscence of the refrain in ch. Isa_2:9; Isa_2:11; Isa_2:17; but with significant modifications. These verses seem to interrupt the connexion of Isa_5:17 with Isa_5:14, and are either parenthetical or interpolated.

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.

And the mean man shall be brought down,.... To hell, or the grave, as well as the rich and noble:

and the mighty man shall be humbled; laid low in the dust, and be equal to the poor; for, in the grave, princes and peasants are alike; or they shall be all alike, in the same low and miserable condition:

and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled; when famine and distress, ruin and misery, come upon them, then shall the pride of those be abased, as it was; who boasted of their riches and honour, of their descent and parentage, as the children of Abraham, and as being free men, and never in bondage; of their righteousness and good works; not submitting to the righteousness of Christ; but despising it, and looking with disdain upon, and treating with contempt, such as they thought less holy than themselves. The Scribes and Pharisees, the members of the sanhedrim, and rulers of the people, together with the whole body of the nation, are meant; who were all of the same cast and complexion, being conceited of themselves, and proud boasters.

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

And the mean man ... the mighty man - The expressions here mean that “all” ranks would be subdued and punished; see the note at Isa 2:9.

The eyes of the lofty ... - see Isa 2:11, note; Isa 2:17, note.

Shall be exalted in judgment - In his justice; he shall so manifest his justice as to be exalted in the view of tbe people.

Shall be sanctified - Shall be “regarded” as holy. He shall so manifest his righteousness in his dealings, that it shall be seen and felt that he is a holy God.

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

All of them, both high and low, shall be brought to destruction.

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

And the mean man, hall be brought down; rather, so the mean man is brought down; i.e. in this way, by the Captivity and the consequent sufferings and deaths, both high and low are brought down and humbled, while God is exalted in man"s sight. The future is throughout spoken of as present. (comp. Isa_2:9, Isa_2:11, Isa_2:17)

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

The mighty - All of them, both high and low, shall be brought to destruction.

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

The prophet now repeats a thought which formed one of the refrains of the second prophetic address (Isa 2:9, Isa 2:11, cf., Isa 2:17). It acquires here a still deeper sense, from the context in which it stands. "Then are mean men bowed down, and lords humbled, and the eyes of lofty men are humbled. And Jehovah of hosts shows Himself exalted in judgment, and God the Holy One sanctifies Himself in righteousness." That which had exalted itself from earth to heaven, would be cast down earthwards into hell. The consecutive futures depict the coming events, which are here represented as historically present, as the direct sequel of what is also represented as present in Isa 5:14 : Hades opens, and then both low and lofty in Jerusalem sink down, and the soaring eyes now wander about in horrible depths. God, who is both exalted and holy in Himself, demanded that as the exalted One He should be exalted, and that as the Holy One He should be sanctified. But Jerusalem had not done that; He would therefore prove Himself the exalted One by the execution of justice, and sanctify Himself (nikdash is to be rendered as a reflective verb, according to Eze 36:23; Eze 38:23) by the manifestation of righteousness, in consequence of which the people of Jerusalem would have to give Him glory against their will, as forming part of "the things under the earth" (Phi 2:10). Jerusalem has been swallowed up twice in this manner by Hades; once in the Chaldean war, and again in the Roman. But the invisible background of these outward events was the fact, that it had already fallen under the power of hell. And now, even in a more literal sense, ancient Jerusalem, like the company of Korah (Num 16:30, Num 16:33), has gone underground. Just as Babylon and Nineveh, the ruins of which are dug out of the inexhaustible mine of their far-stretching foundation and soil, have sunk beneath the ground; so do men walk about in modern Jerusalem over the ancient Jerusalem, which lies buried beneath; and many an enigma of topography will remain an enigma until ancient Jerusalem has been dug out of the earth again.

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.)

To the description of the punishment the Prophet now adds that of its design and ultimate effect, to wit, the humiliation of man and the exaltation of God (vs. 15, 16). The former is here foretold in terms almost identical with those of Isa 2:9. “And man is brought low and man is cast down and the eyes of the lofty (or haughty) are cast down.” ‘Let a man be ever so high, death will bring him low; ever so mean, death will bring him lower’ (Matthew Henry.)

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

Man will be forced to bend down, and mankind will be humbled

The phrases used together mean the same thing and are used together for emphasis. This can be stated in active form. See how you translated similar words in Isaiah 2:9. AT: "God will make every person bow down and be humble" (See: Parallelism and Active or Passive)

Man will be forced to bend down, and mankind will be humbled

Future events are spoken of as if they have already happened. (See: Predictive Past)

Man will be forced to bend down

Bending down often symbolizes being humiliated. (See: Symbolic Action)

the eyes of the lofty will be cast down

Looking down is often a sign of being ashamed. See how you translated similar words in Isaiah 2:11. AT: "the eyes of proud people will look down in shame" or "people who were proud are now ashamed" (See: Metonymy)

the lofty

Here proud, arrogant people are spoken of as if they are high above other people. AT: "proud" (See: Metaphor)

Yahweh of hosts will be exalted in his justice

This can be stated in active form. AT: "People will praise Yahweh of hosts because he is just" (See: Active or Passive)

Yahweh of hosts

See how you translated this in Isaiah 1:9.

will be exalted

Being honored is spoken of as if it were being lifted high. AT: "will be greatly honored" (See: Metaphor)

the sheep will feed as in their own pasture

Yahweh will destroy the city of Jerusalem, which was called a "vineyard" in Isaiah 5:1. It will become good for nothing except for sheep to eat grass there.

graze

eat grass

in the ruins, lambs will graze as foreigners

That is, the lambs will graze there. The land will be worthless for any other use. (See: Simile)

translationWords

humble

Yahweh of hosts

exalt

just

Holy One

righteous

lamb

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

And man shall be humbled... and the strong of men shall be weakened. [after Jonathan]. According to the Midrashic interpretation (Sotah 48a), this is the Holy One, blessed be He. They caused Him to appear as a man who is stunned. [The expression originates in Jeremiah 14:9]. And so Scripture states (Deut. 32:18): “The Rock that begot you, you have weakened (תֶּשִׁי),” [interpreting the word as originating from תָּשׁ, weak,] and Scripture states [further] (Ecclesiastes 10:18): “Through slothfulness, the One Who frames His upper chambers will become impoverished.”

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.

And the mean man, etc. And all men of the nations which surround Judah will be humbled.

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.