Isaiah 50:3

Isa 50:3 I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.

Ver. 3. I clothe the heavens with blackness.] I did so in that three days’ darkness in Egypt, {Exo 10:21-22} and shall do so again at the time of my passion. I can therefore, doubtless, deliver you, not only from Babylon, but from sin, death, and hell, by giving you an entrance into heaven by the waters of baptism, and by bringing you out of darkness into my marvellous light. {1Pe 2:9}

And make sackcloth their covering.] Ita ut coelum pullata veste obtensum fuisse dixeris. So Rev 6:12.

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.

50:3 Phenomena such as darkness and the wearing of clothes of mourning were associated with the day of the Lord (13:10; see study note on 2:5-22). The mention of darkness might allude to the plague of darkness in Egypt (Exod 10:21).

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

As I did in Egypt in token of my displeasure, Exod. 10:21.

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

heavens . . . blackness--another of the judgments on Egypt to be repeated hereafter on the last enemy of God's people (Exo 10:21).

sackcloth-- (Rev 6:12).

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

3. Comp. Exo_10:21 with blackness] with murky storm-clouds. The word, which occurs only here, denotes (like sackcloth in the next clause) the garb of mourning. Cf. Rev_6:12.

The strophe ends somewhat abruptly, and the thought is perhaps incomplete.

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.

I clothe the heavens with blackness,.... With gross and thick darkness; perhaps referring to the three days' darkness the Egyptians were in, Exo 10:12, or with thick and black clouds, as in tempestuous weather frequently; or by eclipses of the sun; there was an extraordinary instance of great darkness at the time of Christ's crucifixion, Mat 27:45.

and I make sackcloth their covering; that being black, and used in times of mourning; the allusion may be to the tents of Kedar, which were covered with sackcloth, or such like black stuff. The fall of the Pagan empire, through the power of Christ and his Gospel, is signified by the sun becoming black as sackcloth of hair, Rev 6:12. Jarchi interprets this parabolically of the princes of the nations, when the Lord shall come to take vengeance upon them; as Kimchi does the sea, and the rivers, in the preceding verse, of the good things of the nations of the world, which they had in great abundance, and should be destroyed.

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

I clothe the heavens with blackness - With the dark clouds of a tempest - perhaps with an allusion to the remarkable clouds and tempests that encircled the brow of Sinai when he gave the law. Or possibly alluding to the thick darkness which he brought over the land of Egypt (Exo 10:21; Grotius). In the previous verse, he had stated what he did on the earth, and referred to the exhibitions of his great power there. He here refers to the exhibition of his power in the sky; and the argument is, that he who had thus the power to spread darkness over the face of the sky, had power also to deliver his people.

I make sackcloth their covering - Alluding to the clouds. Sackcloth was a coarse and dark cloth which was usually worn as an emblem of mourning (see the note at Isa 3:24). The same image is used in Rev 6:12 : ‘And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair.’ To say, therefore, that the heavens were clothed with sackcloth, is one of the most striking and impressive figures which can be conceived.

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

I clothe the heavens with blackness; or, I will or can clothe &c. What I once did in Egypt, when I drew black curtains before all the heavenly lights, and caused an unparalleled and amazing darkness for three days together, to the great terror of mine enemies, so I can and will do still when it is necessary to save my people. And therefore you have no reason to distrust me.

I make sackcloth their covering; I cover them with thick and dark clouds, black as sackcloth, as is said, Rev 6:12, or as that stuff of which the tents of Kedar were made, Son 1:5. From this and some other expressions it appears that they wore a black sackcloth, which also was most suitable to the state of mourners, by whom it was used.

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

3. I clothe the heavens with blackness — As at Sinai, but I cause the terror stricken still to live, and lay before them my commands. Should not such a husband, such a father, helper, friend, be worthy of confidence?

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

I clothe the heavens with blackness. (comp. Jer_4:28 Eze_32:7, 8 Joe_2:10 Joe_3:15 Mat_24:29 Luk_21:25 Rev_6:12) The Egyptian plague of darkness (Exo_10:21-23) is not adequate to the expressions here used. God means to assert his power of leaving all nature in absolute darkness, if he so choose a power necessarily belonging to him who said, "Let there be light; and there was light". (Gen_1:3) I make sackcloth their covering. (see Rev_6:12, "The sun became black as sackcloth of hair

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

I clothe - When it is necessary to save my people, I cover them with thick and dark clouds black as sackcloth, Rev. vi, 12.

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

The description of Jehovah’s power, as displayed in His control of the elements, is still continued. “I will clothe the heavens in blackness.” The Hebrew noun, according to its etymology, denotes not merely a black color, but such a color used as a sign of mourning. Thus understood, it corresponds exactly to the following words, where the customary mourning dress of ancient times is mentioned. “And sackcloth I will place (or make) their covering.” The reference of this verse to the plague of darkness in the land of Egypt is admissible only in the sense explained above with respect to the passage of the Red Sea, namely, as a particular allusion comprehended in a general description. Some writers understand it as referring to the usual phenomena of storms, or even to the obscuration of the sky by clouds; but it is inconceivable that such an every-day occurrence should be coupled with the drying up of seas and rivers, as a proof of God’s power over nature and the elements. The sense required by the connection is that of an extraordinary darkness (such as that of an eclipse), or even an extinction of the heavenly bodies, as in Isa 13:10.

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

I clothe the heavens The host of the heavens, the princes of the heathens (nations [Mss. and K’li Paz]), when I come to mete out retribution upon the nations.

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.

מלבוש קדרׂות ═ קדרות With black cloth, that is, with clouds. Some understand it to refer to an eclipse of the sun, when the sky becomes obscure in the middle of the day, and appears as if covered with sackcloth, which is usually black.

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.