Isaiah 65:15

Isa 65:15 And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the Lord GOD shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name:

Ver. 15. And ye shall leave your name for a curse.] So that when mine elect shall denounce my curse against any one, they shall say, God make thee such another as was such a cursed wretch. See Jer 24:9; Jer 29:22; Jer 44:8; Zec 8:13, {See Trapp on "Zec 8:13"} Iadaeus sim si fallo, say the Turks at this day; As hard-hearted and unhappy as a Jew, say we.

And call his servants by another name.] Jews inwardly, Israelites indeed, Christians, a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people. {1Pe 2:9} The wicked, when they die, go out in a snuff, leave a stench behind them, as they say the devil doth when he goeth out of a room; but when the saints depart, they leave a sweet smell behind them, as those lamps do that are fed with aromatical oil. Yea, it is more than probable that in the next world we shall look upon Bradford and such with thoughts of extraordinary love and sweetness through all eternity, as Bonner and such with execration and everlasting detestation.

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.

65:15 The new name given to the faithful represents a new identity and a deeper relationship with the Lord (see also 62:2).

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

Meaning, that he would call the Gentiles, who should abhor even the very name of the Jews for their infidelities’ sake.

Than by the name of the Jews.

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

curse--The name of "Jew" has been for long a formula of execration (compare Jer 29:22); if one wishes to curse another, he can utter nothing worse than this, "God make thee what the Jew is!" Contrast the formula (Gen 48:20) [MAURER].

my chosen--the elect Church, gathered from Jews and Gentiles, called by "another name," Christians (Act 11:26). However (see on Isa 65:13), as "My chosen," or "elect," in Isa 65:3, refers to the "seed of Jacob," the believing Jews, hereafter about to possess their land (Isa 65:19, Isa 65:22), are ultimately meant by "My chosen," as contrasted with the unbelieving Jews ("ye"). These elect Jews shall be called by "another," or a new name, that is, shall no longer be "forsaken" of God for unbelief, but shall be His "delight" and "married" to Him (Isa 62:2, Isa 62:4).

thee--unbelieving Israel. Isaiah here speaks of God, whereas in the preceding sentences God Himself spake. This change of persons marks without design how completely the prophet realized God with him and in him, so that he passes, without formally announcing it, from God's words to his own, and vice versa, both alike being from God.

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 15. Shall slay thee - "Shall slay you"] For והמיתך vehemithecha, shall slay thee, the Septuagint and Chaldee read והמיתכם vehemithechem, shall slay you, plural.

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

(15) Ye shall leave your name for a curse . . .—The phrase has parallels in Num_5:21; Zec_8:13; Jer_29:22, the thought in each case being that the person named is under so heavy a penalty from the wrath of Jehovah that he becomes a representative instance of what that wrath can accomplish, and because the old name, say of Jacob or of Judah, has been thus identified with evil. He will call His chosen ones, the true Israel, as by another name, which shall be for blessing, and not for cursing. (Comp. Isa_62:2, Rev_2:17; Rev_3:12.)

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

15. Their names shall be used in a formula of imprecation. Comp. in illustration Jer_29:22 : “And from them shall be taken a curse for all the captivity of Judah … saying, ‘Jehovah make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire!’.” Have we such a formula quoted in the clause following, “and the Lord Jehovah shall slay thee”? It is objected (1) that the formula would be incomplete, the essential words—“like so-and-so”—being omitted; (2) the “and” is unaccounted for, while to remove it would leave a perf. with a precative sense, a usage which is very doubtful in Hebr. (Driver, Tenses, § 20). On the other hand, the use of 2nd pers. sing. rather favours the view that the words are meant as a specimen of the curse.

and call his servants by another name] The LXX. (Cod. Vat.), with slight modifications of the text, reads: “And on my servants shall be called a new name” (τοῖς δὲ δουλεύουσί μοι κληθήσεται ὄνομα καινόν). The καινόν is no doubt a slip; but the change of “his” to “my” is an obvious improvement, and may safely be adopted. The promise must not be taken too literally, nor too closely connected with the preceding threat. It is hardly conceivable that the prophet contemplates the abrogation of the name “Israel,” because it has been degraded by unworthy Israelites (Cheyne, Comm.). This would be implied only if the name “Israel” were that which is to remain for a curse, which is again a too violent interpretation. The “other name” is contrasted, not with that which both parties had borne in common, but with names such as “Forsaken,” which describe the present condition of the true believers. Cf. ch. Isa_62:2; Isa_62:4; Isa_62:12.

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 ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen,.... Execrable and abominable to them, as the name of a Jew is to this day, and in all places; for their unbelief and impenitence, for their perfidy and insincerity, for their tricking and covetousness, and other crimes they are addicted to; see Jer 24:9,

for the Lord God shall slay them; by the sword of the Romans, and by his judgments, which continue upon them; the Targum says, with the second death; and so Jarchi interprets it of eternal death, which is the just wages of sin:

and call his servants by another name; a new name, as the Septuagint and Arabic versions; the name of the people of God, the Gentiles formerly were not called by; but now all that believe in Christ, whether Jews or Gentiles, are his people; the name of the sons of God, a name better than that of sons and daughters of the greatest potentate; the name which the mouth of the Lord calls, "Hephzibah" and "Beulah", being delighted in by the Lord, and married to him; or rather the name of Christians, first given to the disciples of Christ at Antioch, and ever since continued, Act 11:26.

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

And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen - To my people; to those whom I have selected to be my friends. The word rendered here ‘curse’ (שׁבועה shebû‛âh) means properly “an oath,” or “a swearing”; and then “an imprecation” or “a curse” (see Num 5:21; Dan 9:11). The sense here seems to be, that their punishment would be so great that it would become the subject of imprecation when others wished to bind themselves in the most solemn manner by an oath. The pious, who wished to confirm a promise or a covenant in the most solemn manner, would say, ‘If we do not perform the promise, then let us experience the same punishment at the hand of God which they have done’ (compare Jer 29:22). Or it may mean, that their name would be used proverbially, like that of Sodom, as a signal example of wickedness and of the abhorrence of God.

And call his servants by another name - So disgraceful and dishonorable shall be that name, that Yahweh will apply another name to his people. Is there not an allusion here to the designed change of the name by which the people of God are known? Has it not been by the special providence of God that his true people are now known by another appellation? Is there any name on earth now that is more the subject of reproach and execration than all the appellations by which his ancient people were known? The name Jew - what ideas does it convey to all the nations of the earth? It is connected with reproach; a name regarded as belonging to a people accursed by God; a name more universally detested than any other known among people. And was it not because this name would be thus dishonored, reproached, and despised, that another was given to the true people of God - the name CHRISTIAN - an honored name - denoting true attachment to the Messiah?

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

Execration. They can wish to be preserved from nothing worse. --- Name. The faithful shall be no longer called Jews. (Calmet) --- They shall be hated, while the name of Christian shall point out God’s servants. (Worthington)

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).

Your name shall rot, as Pro 10:7, or only be used when men would curse others, saying, Let them be made like such persons. As the names of Leah and Rachel, Rth 4:11, and others of God’s servants, were used in blessing; so your names shall only be used in cursing; or when men will curse themselves, they shall use your names as examples of the eminent wrath of God upon sinners. For you shall not perish by an ordinary hand, but by the hand of the

Lord God; and as is the God, so is his justice, so is his strength; yea, God himself shall look upon your name as accursed, and not suffer his people to be called by it; they shall not be called Jews, but Christians, Act 11:26, the children of God, Joh 1:12. So detestable a sin is idolatry, that God will not suffer himself to be called by a name given to idols, how proper soever it be to express his perfection, Hos 2:16,17; nor yet suffer his own people to be called by a name by which idolaters are known.

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

15, 16. Ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen — “Name for a curse,” is that by which an imprecation is called on one’s own head if he do not what he pledges to do, or if he do what he pledges himself not to do. Canaan is such a curse; “let what Canaan imports befall me, if,” etc.

He who blesseth — That is, one who invokes blessings on himself does so in the name, or in the personal attributes, of the true God. He neither needs nor desires any blessing except as the God of truth is willing to bestow it. Calling for a blessing in the name of an idol is invoking a curse. So then, every oath made, or any good asked for, is valid, is acceptable, only as it is made or asked in the name of the God of truth. Swearing and blessing, in this sense, are therefore acts of worship of the God of truth. They are acts of self-consecration and prayer to him. When these become universal with Jew and Gentile, then, and by very reason of their being so, the former troubles are forgotten. There is no more retribution for sin. All have become the spiritual Israel — the faithful followers of the true God.

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

Ye shall leave your name for a curse. (comp. Jer_29:22) In their formulas of imprecation the Jews were in the habit of saying, "The Lord make thee like" this or that person, or this or that class of persons. The name of the exiles should be used in this manner. Unto my chosen (see the comment on ver. 9). The Lord God shall slay thee (see the comment on ver. 12). Some, however, take the words as part of the formula of imprecation. And call his servants by another name. (compare what is said of "new name" in Isa_62:2)

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

A curse - They shall use your names as examples, of the eminent wrath of God upon sinners. Another name - He will not suffer his own people to be called by a name by which idolaters are known.

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

“And ye shall leave your name for an oath to my chosen ones, and the Lord Jehovah shall slay thee, and shall call His servants by another name (literally, call another name to them).” The object of address is still the body of the Jewish nation, from which the believing remnant are distinguished by the names, ‘my chosen’ and ‘my servants’. ‘Oath’ is here put for curse, as it is added to it in Dan 9:11, and the two are combined in Num 5:21, where the oath of cursing may be regarded as the complete expression of which oath is here an ellipsis. To leave one’s name for a curse, according to Old Testament usage, is something more than to leave it to be cursed. The sense is that the name shall be used as a formula of cursing, so that men shall be able to wish nothing worse to others than a like character and fate. This is clear from Jer 29:22 compared with Zec 3:2, as well as from the converse or correlative promise to the patriarchs and their children that a like use should be made of their names as a formula of blessing (Gen 22:18; Gen 48:20). As in other cases where the use of names is the subject of discourse, there is no need of supposing that any actual practice is predicted, but merely that the character and fate of those addressed will be so bad as justly to admit of such an application. As the phrase ‘your name’ shows that the object of address is a plurality of persons bearing one name, or in other words an organized community, so the singular form ‘slay thee’ is entirely appropriate to this collective or ideal person. Of the last clause there are three interpretations. The rabbinical expounders understand it as the converse of the other clause. ‘As your name is to be a name of cursing, so my servants are to have another name,’ (i.e., a name of blessing, or a name by which men shall bless). Others give it a more general sense, as meaning their condition shall be altogether different. A third opinion is that it relates to the substitution of the Christian name for that of Jew, as a distinctive designation of God’s people. The full sense of the clause can only be obtained by combining all these explanations, or at least a part of each. The first is obviously implied, if not expressed. The second is established by analogy and usage, and the almost unanimous consent of all interpreters. The only question is in reference to the last, which is of course rejected with contempt by the neologists, and regarded as fanciful by some Christian writers. These have been influenced in part by the erroneous assumption that if this is not the whole sense of the words, it cannot be a part of it. But this is only true in cases where the two proposed are incompatible. The true state of the case is this: According to the usage of the prophecies the promise of another name imports a different character and state, and in this sense the promise has been fully verified. But in addition to this general fulfillment, which no one calls in question, it is matter of history that the Jewish commonwealth or nation is destroyed; that the name of Jew has been for centuries a by-word and a formula of execration, and that they who have succeeded to the spiritual honours of this once favored race, although they claim historical identity therewith, have never borne its name, but another, which from its very nature could have no existence until Christ had come, and which in the common parlance of the Christian world is treated as the opposite of Jew. Now all this must be set aside as mere fortuitous coincidence, or it must be accounted for precisely in the same way that we all account for similar coincidences between the history of Christ and the Old Testament in minor points, where all admit that the direct sense of the prophecy is more extensive. As examples, may be mentioned John the Baptist’s preaching in a literal wilderness, our Savior’s riding on a literal ass, His literally opening the eyes of the blind, when it is evident to every reader of the original passage that it predicts events of a far more extensive and more elevated nature. While I fully believe that this verse assures God’s servants of a very different fate from that of the unbelieving Jews, I have no doubt that it also has respect to the destruction of the Jewish state and the repudiation of its name by the true church or Israel of God.

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

General Information:

Yahweh continues speaking to those in Israel who worship idols.

will be blessed by me, the God of truth

This can be stated in active form. AT: "I, the God who always speaks the truth, will bless him" (See: Active or Passive)

the former troubles will be forgotten ... will be hidden

These clauses can be stated in active form. AT: "they will forget the former troubles, for these troubles will be out of my memory" (See: Active or Passive)

they will be hidden from my eyes

"hidden from my eyes" represents the attention and memory of Yahweh. AT: "I will not even think about them again" (See: Idiom and Personification)

translationWords

name

curse

chosen one

Lord Yahweh

servant

bless

earth

God

true

oath

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

your name for an oath From your name shall be taken a curse and an oath for generations, “If it does not befall me as it befell So-and-so.”

and...shall slay you an eternal death.

but to His servants He shall call another name A good name and a mention for a blessing.

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 ye shall leave your name for a curse. Comp. The Lord make thee a curse and an oath (Num. 5:21); The Lord make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab (Jer. 29:22). The Lord God shall slay thee. Thus they will say to each other.

Another name. That is, a better name.

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.