Isaiah 54:14

Isa 54:14 In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.

Ver. 14. In righteousness shalt thou be established.] Righteousness is here opposed to oppression. Regiment without righteousness, is but robbery with authority.

For thou shalt not fear.] Or, That thou mayest not fear.

And from terror.] Tyranny is terrible.

For it shall not come near thee.] See Psa 32:6. {See trapp on "Psa 32:6"}

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.

54:14 Jerusalem would again be a righteous city, secure under a government that is just and fair (see 1:26).

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

In stability and sureness, so that it shall stand forever.

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

righteousness--the characteristic of the reign of Messiah (Isa 11:4-5; Psa 72:2, Psa 72:4; Rev 19:11).

far from oppression, &c.--far from suffering oppression; "for thou shall have nothing to fear."

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

(14) Thou shalt be far from oppression . . .—On the assumption of Isaiah’s authorship the words stand out in contrast with his own experience of the “oppression” of Ahaz, of the “fear” and “terror” caused by Sargon and Sennacherib.

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

14. In righteousness shalt thou be established] (lit. shalt thou establish thyself) cf. Pro_24:3. “Righteousness” may describe the character of the citizens, but more probably it means that the position of the commonwealth is unassailable because based on right—on conformity to the divine order (see Isa_54:17).

thou shalt be far from oppression] lit. be thou far from oppression (R.V. marg.), i.e. let it be far from thy thoughts. Here it is obvious from the context that “oppression” is not wrong perpetrated within the city, but external oppression which might be inflicted by its enemies.

thou shalt not fear] i.e. hast no cause to fear.

terror] or destruction.

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 righteousness shalt thou be established,.... In the righteousness of Christ, from whence flows the peace before spoken of, and which is the stability of the church of Christ, and the security of it and its members from condemnation. The doctrine of justification by Christ's righteousness is, as Luther calls it, "articulus stantis vel cadentis ecclesiae", the article of the church, by which, as it is held fast or neglected, it stands or falls: or be established in exercising righteousness, doing justice and judgment, which, as it is the support and establishment of a kingdom and state, so of the church; for if purity of manners, holiness and righteousness, are neglected, a church soon comes to decay and ruin; but such will be the holiness of the professors of religion in the latter day, that every pot and vessel in it shall be holiness to the Lord, Zac 14:20,

thou shalt be far from oppression, for thou shall not fear; so far from it, that thou shalt not be in the least afraid of it, neither from within nor from without; not from false teachers that oppress the mind with legal doctrine; nor from persecutors that oppress and injure in person and property: the church will be now free from the oppression and tyranny of Rome, or mystical Babylon, which will now fall, and from the persecution of the antichristian states, on whom the vials of God's wrath will be poured, and so the church will be no more in fear of them; the words may be rendered, "therefore thou shalt not fear" (b); there will be no cause for it, no occasion of it:

and from terror; it shall not come near thee; the terror of the antichristian beast and powers, which shall be no more, after their last effort next mentioned.

(b) "quare non timebis, vel ideo non metues", Vitringa; "quare ne timeas", Forerius.

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

In righteousness shalt thou be established - This is language which is appropriately addressed to a city or commonwealth. The idea is, that it would not be built up by fraud, and rapine, and conquest, as many cities had been, but by the prevalence of justice.

Thou shalt be far from oppressions - That is, thou shalt be far from being oppressed by others. So the connection demands. The Hebrew would bear an active signification, so that it might be read, ‘be thou far from oppression,’ that is, be far from oppressing others. But the design of the prophet is rather to promise than to command; and the idea is, that they should have no occasion to fear the violence of others anymore.

For it shall not come near thee - This doubtless refers to the security, perpetuity, and prosperity of the church under the Messiah.

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

Thee. The Cutheans rendered the Jews suspected, 1 Esdras iv. 2., and vi. 1

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).

In righteousness; either,

1. As the means of thy establishment. This kingdom shall not be set up and settled by fraud or tyranny, as other kingdoms frequently are, but by justice. Or rather,

2. As the effect of the establishment. Thine affairs shall be managed with righteousness, which is the glory and felicity of any society, and not with oppression, as it follows. Justice shall be freely and impartially executed.

Thou shalt be far from oppression; either by thine own governors, or by foreign powers.

Thou shalt not fear; thou shalt neither have any just cause of fear, nor be given up to the torment of fear without cause.

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

In righteousness shalt thou be established; rather, through righteousness. "There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked"; (Isa_48:22) and conversely, where righteousness abounds, peace prevails, and the nation "is established." Thou shalt be far from oppression; rather, be thou far from anxiety (Delitzsch). Thou shalt not fear; rather, thou needest not fear. There is no danger nothing to be afraid of. "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain". (Isa_11:9) So long as thou art "established through righteousness," there shall no harm happen unto thee.

The secret of stability.

"Through righteousness shalt thou be established." J.A. Alexander paraphrases thus: "When once established by the exercise of righteousness on my part and your own, you may put far off all dread of oppression, for you have no cause to fear it, and of destruction, for it shall not come nigh you". (comp. Isa_32:16, Isa_32:17) It is not assumed that the restored Jerusalem would have no enemies, only that they would have no commission from God to destroy, as the Assyrians and Babylonians had. There are two sides of righteousness regarded as the ground of the Church"s, or the Christian"s, stability and security.

I RIGHTEOUSNESS AS THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD. This is clearly in the thought of the prophet, for he has been giving large promises from God, and naturally reminds of the righteousness, or faithfulness, of God as the assurance that he will keep his word. The same ground of confidence is presented by the apostle. "Though we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself." God"s righteousness is our security, because it guarantees that he never promises

(1) more than he intends to perform;

(2) more than he can perform; and

(3) more than he will perform.

"Put not your trust in princes, nor in the sons of men," for there is no basis of righteousness" in their promises. Trust God utterly, for he is "righteous.

II RIGHTEOUSNESS AS THE OBEDIENCE AND HOLINESS OF MAN. We might have preserved the covenant-figure, and said the "faithfulness" of man. Righteous keeping of covenant was the one condition of stability for the Jewish nation; but this was an illustration of the truth that good is, in its nature as arranged by God, of necessity permanent. It has no element of weakness or decay in it. There are no foes that can overcome it. "What can harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?" Restored Jerusalem must learn the old lesson, "The reformation of manners, the restoration of purity, the due administration of public justice, and the prevailing of honesty and fair dealing among men, are the strength and stability of any Church or state. The kingdom of God, set up by the gospel of Christ, is not meat and drink, but it is righteousness and peace, holiness and love." Of the workers of righteousness it may always be said, "They that do such things shall never be moved. 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.

Established - Thine affairs shall be managed with righteousness, which is the glory of any society. Oppression - Either by thine own governors, or by foreign powers.

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

In perfect keeping with this grace through righteousness, Jerusalem will then stand firm and impregnable. "Through righteousness wilt thou be fortified: be far from anxiety, for thou hast nothing to fear; and from terror, for it will not come near thee. Behold, men crowd together in crowds; my will is not there. Who crowd together against thee? - he shall fall by thee." Both the thought and action of Jerusalem will be righteousness then, and it will thereby acquire strength; תּכּונני is a pausal future hithpalel, with the ת of the reflective opening syllable assimilated (Ges. 53, 2, b). With this reciprocal influence of its moral character and imparted glory, it can, and is to keep far away from all thought of oppression and terror; for, through divine grace and a corresponding divine nature, it has nothing to fear. הן (Isa 54:15), when pointing to any transaction as possible (as, for example, in Job 12:14; Job 23:8), acquires almost the significance of a conditional particle (Ewald, 103, g). The equally hypothetical parallel clause is clothed in the form of an interrogative. For the verb gūr, the meaning "to gather together" (related to אגר), more especially to join together with hostile intention (cf., συνάγεσθαι, Rev 19:19; Rev 20:8), is sustained by Psa 56:7; Psa 59:4; and with גּרה, lacessere, it has nothing to do (Hitzig and Ewald). אתּך has the force of contra te, as in the case of verbs of combat. The first apodosis is this: "but it takes place entirely away from me," i.e., without and against my will; מאותי = מאתּי (as in Isa 59:21), and אותם = אתּם, are no sure signs of a later usage; for this alternation of the two forms of את is met with as early as Jos 14:12. The second apodosis is, "he will fall upon (or against) thee," or, as we should say, "founder," or "be wrecked." It is far more likely that this is the meaning of the words, than that they mean "he will fall to thy lot" (על נפל, like ל נפל elsewhere, to fall to a person); for the context here is a totally different one from Isa 45:14, and we look for nothing more than a declaration of the utter failure and ruin of the undertaking.

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.)

“In righteousness shalt thou be established: be far from oppression, for thou shalt not fear, and from destruction, for it shall not come near to thee.” An additional promise of complete security, made more emphatic by its repetition in a variety of forms. By ‘righteousness’, some understand the righteousness or faithfulness of God, securing the performance of His promises; others, the justice of the government itself, or the practice of righteousness among the people. The first, however, comprehends the others as its necessary consequences, public and private virtue being always represented in Scripture as the fruit of divine influence. (Compare Isa 1:27; Isa 9:6; Isa 11:5; Isa 16:5). Of the next clause there are several interpretations. The ancient versions understand it as a warning or dissuasion from the practice of oppression. But this does not agree with the context, which is evidently meant to be consolatory and encouraging. The explanation which has been most generally acquiesced in, is the one which supposes the imperative to represent the future, or a promise to be clothed in the form of a command: ‘Be far from oppression’, (i.e., thou shalt be far from it). Examples of this idiom are supposed to occur in Gen 42:18; Deu 32:50; Pro 20:13. ‘Be far from oppression’ is not a promise of exemption from it, for that follows in the next clause, which the modern interpreters correctly understand as meaning, ‘thou hast no cause to fear’. ‘Be far from oppression’, (i.e., far from apprehending it). The whole may then be paraphrased as follows: ‘When once established by the exercise of righteousness on my part and your own, you may put far off all dread of oppression, for you have no cause to fear it, and of destruction, for it shall not come nigh you.’ With the promise of this clause, compare Isa 32:16 and Isa 62:12. The truth of the promise, in its true sense, is vindicated by the fact that it relates to the course of the new dispensation as a whole, with special reference to its final consummation.

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

go far away from oppression [Although grammatically this is the imperative, here it is the future,] like (supra 52:2) “Shake yourself from the dust.” You will be far away from those who oppress you.

Printed editions of Rashi contain the following addendum: (go far away from oppression You will stay far from oppressing other peoples in the manner the wicked do, that they accumulate money through robbery, but you will not need to rob, for you will not fear poverty or straits, or ruin, for it shall neither come nor shall it approach you. [Abarbanel])

(With righteousness that you will perform, you will be established with an everlasting redemption, and you will be far from people’s oppression for you will not fear; you will not even have terror or fear of them, and you will be far from ruin, for it will not come near you. [Ayalah Sheluchah])

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.

תכנני Shalt thou be established. It is Hithpael. The ת is omitted and compensated by the Dagesh in the כ. In righteousness, etc. Israel will do justice to all, and will oppress no people, as the heathen nations are used to do.

Thou shalt not fear. For the sin of oppression and violence deprives the state of its power.

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.