Commentary on Isaiah, Commentary on Isaiah · Chapter 1 · Verse 5 – Verse 6
Verſ. 5. Wherefore ſhould ye be ſmitten any more? for you fall away more and more: the whole head is ſicke, and the whole heart is heauie.
WHerefore ſhould] &c. Some do turne it, vponupon what? or, in what part? And they take it as if the Lord ſhould ſay, There are no more plagues left to ſtrike you withal. For hee had tried ſo many waies to bring them into the right way, that there was no chaſtiſement left. But I had rather interpret it, Wherefore, or, to what purpoſe? As alſo the Hebrew word importes ſo much; and withall I take it that the ſenſe ſeemes to agree beſt thereto. For ſo we are wont to ſay, wherefore; to what purpoſe, &c. His meaning is then, that the Iewes are growne to ſuch a pitch of wickednes and vngodlines, that it is impoſſible to make them become any whit better. We know by experience that after deſperate men hauehave once hardned their hearts, then they will rather be broken all to peeces then receiue any correction. Now he complaines that there was ſuch an obſtinacie in them, euen as if the Phyſitian hauing aſſaied all good remedies to cure his diſeaſed patient, ſhould begin to ſay at the laſt, All the skill I hauehave, will doe no good. And withall hee accuſeth them of extreame malice: for when the wicked are come to that paſſe that chaſtiſements will not humble them, then are they come to the very top of all wickednes. So then it is as much as if the Lord had ſaid, I ſee very well, that though I ſhould correct you neuer ſo much, yet I ſhall do you no good. For queſtionleſſe things are then become wholly deſperate when the chaſtiſements and calamities which God vſeth as remedies to heale our vices, will profit vsus nothing. And yet for all that the Lord is ſo farre off from ceaſing to puniſh ſuch ſtil, that (which more is) it ſtirres vp and inflames his wrath ſo much the more againſt vsus: For there is nothing more burthenſome to him, then ſuch an obſtinacie. Notwithſtanding it is rightly ſaid, that he loſeth his labour, when he cannot thereby draw vsus to repentance: and that all the remedies hee applies to a people ſo vtterly paſt cure are in vaine. So then he is ſo farre off from ſparing ſuch, that hee not onelyonly doubles his blowes and afflictions vponupon them, trying all meanes poſſible: but he is conſtrained neuer to giuegive ouer till he hath vtterly conſumed them. But then indeede he plaies not the part of a Phyſitian, but rather of the Surgion: which is the cauſe why he ſo laments here, that his chaſtiſements ſhall now become vnprofitable to the people.
You fall away.] This is a confirmation of the former ſentence, ſo that I diſtinguiſh this member from the former, which others notwithſtanding doe conioyne together. As if he ſhould ſay, You wil be ſo far off from ceaſing to erre, that (which worſe is) you augment your wickedneſſes more and more, for I ſee you are ſo carried away to doe euill, as if yee had laid your heads together, deliberately to conſpire thereof in your minds: ſo that there is no hope at al left of any moderation. Now God in this ſpeech purpoſed to manifeſt vntounto al men how incorrigible their ſpirit was, to the end they might pretend no excuſes afterwards.
The whole head.] Others tranſlate, EueryEvery head: and thinke that the princes and great men among the people are here meant by theſe particular names. But for mine owne part, I rather agree to their opinion, who tranſlate, all the head. For me thinks it is a plaine ſimilitude, taken from the body of man; to wit, when the bodie is ſo ſore afflicted, that there is no hope of health left. Now he names two principall partes whereupon the health of the whole bodie depends: and hereby he declares the extremitie of the diſeaſes, wherewith this wretched people was vtterly ſpent. It was not ſome part or common member of the bodie then, which was pained, but the heart was wounded; and the head very ſore diſeaſed: in a word, that the vitall parts (as they are called) were ſo putrified and infected, that they were incurable. But the Interpreters doe not agree in this behalfe: for ſome referre this ſicknes to ſins: others, to puniſhments. To ſinnes thus; You are alreadie become a rotten and ſtinking bodie; wherein nothing that is whole and ſound is left: wickednes and ſinne hath gotten the ſwinge amongſt you, by the infection whereof all is defiled and corrupt. But I had rather vnderſtand it of the puniſhments: for the Lord doubtles ſtil purſues this complaint: namely, that the people are ſo rooted in obſtinacie, that they cannot bee brought to amendment of life for any plague inflicted vponupon them; and that howſoeuer they had been ſmitten euen to death (at the leaſt wiſe, rent and torne in peeces with ſore blowes in a fearefull maner) yet that they became neuer the wiſer for all that.
Verſ. 6. Euen from the ſole of the foote vntounto the head, there is nothing whole therein, but wounds, and ſwelling, and ſores full of corruption: they hauehave not been wrapped nor bound vp, nor mollified with oyle.
THeſe words alſo hauehave affinitie with the former, wherein hee ſtill proſecutes the very ſame matter vnderunder the ſame ſimilitude and manner of ſpeech. Thoſe who referre the firſt part vntounto ſinnes, doe not ſufficiently waigh the remainder of ye text that followes. Let vsus grant that the people corrupted with vices are compared to a ſicke bodie: what coherence will there be touching the things which by and by follow, to wit, that their wounds were not wrapped nor mollified with oyle? It appeares therefore that the Prophet ſpeakes of the afflictions wherewith the people were almoſt conſumed. And he alſo ſets forth this continuall languiſhing in them, as a teſtimonie of their extreame hardning. He calles the wound Corrupt, from whence flowes a continuall infection, as if a ſpring (deepe in the earth) ſhould continually ſend forth new ſtreames of venome. So that by this ſimilitude, he ſhewes that the maladie is incurable, ſeeing the corrupt water which is in it runnes without ſtay. The amplification alſo is not ſmall, when hee ſaith, there were no remedies applied thereunto. For the three ſimilitudes which he cōioynes together, tend al to one end, namely, that this people were in ſo miſerable a plight, that they were without any hope of comfort, without conſolation and without remedie. So that in ſuch kinds of puniſhments, one might eaſily diſcerne the extreame ſeueritie of God.