Isaiah 29:13

Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Lord	אֲדֹנָ֗י 'a.do.Nai	H136	the Lord (used as a proper name of God only) · proper noun, a title
said	וַיֹּ֣אמֶר vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Forasmuch	יַ֚עַן Ya.'an	H3282	properly · conjunction
people	הָעָ֣ם ha.'Am	H5971	a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
near	נִגַּשׁ֙ ni.Gash	H5066	to be or come (causatively · verb, niphal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
mouth	בְּפִ֤יו be.Fiv	H6310	the mouth (as the means of blowing) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
lips	וּבִשְׂפָתָיו֙ u.vis.fa.Tav	H8193	the lip (as a natural boundary) · conjunction + preposition + noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
honour	כִּבְּד֔וּנִי ki.be.Du.ni	H3513	to be heavy · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person common plural + pronominal suffix
removed	רִחַ֣ק ri.Chak	H7368	to widen (in any direction) · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
heart	וְלִבּ֖וֹ ve.li.Bo	H3820	the heart · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
far	רָחַק râchaq	H7368	to widen (in any direction)
fear	יִרְאָתָם֙ yir.'a.Tam	H3374	fear (also used as infinitive) · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
taught	מְלֻמָּדָֽה me.lu.ma.Dah	H3925	properly · verb, pual passive participle, feminine singular absolute
precept	מִצְוַ֥ת mitz.Vat	H4687	a command · noun, common feminine singular construct
men	אֲנָשִׁ֖ים 'a.na.Shim	H582	a man in general (singly or collectively) · noun, common masculine plural absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Jeremiah 12:2 Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their…
Ezekiel 33:31-33 And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for…
Mark 7:2-13 And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault.
Matthew 15:2-9 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
Jeremiah 3:10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.
Isaiah 58:2-3 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they as…
Proverbs 30:6 Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.
Jeremiah 5:2 And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 29:9-16

Here, I. The prophet stands amazed at the stupidity of the greatest part of the Jewish nation. They had Levites, who taught the good knowledge of the Lord and had encouragement from Hezekiah in doing so, Ch2 30:22. They had prophets, who brought them messages immediately from God, and signified to them what were the causes and what would be the effects of God's displeasure against them. Now, one would think, surely this great nation, that has all the advantages of divine revelation, is a wise and understanding people, Deu 4:6. But, alas! it was quite otherwise, Isa 29:9. The prophet addresses himself to the sober thinking part of them, calling upon them to be affected with the general carele…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Isaiah 29:13

precept of men--instead of the precepts of God, given by His prophets; also worship external, and by rule, not heartfelt as God requires (Joh 4:24). Compare Christ's quotation of this verse from the Septuagint.

John Gill on Isaiah 29:13

Wherefore the Lord said,.... Concerning the hypocritical people of the Jews in Christ's time, as the words are applied by our Lord himself, Matthew 15:7, Forasmuch as this people draw near to me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me; Kimchi observes, there is a double reading of the word rendered "draw near": in one reading of it, it signifies to be "afflicted"; and then the sense is, "when this people are afflicted, with their mouth, and with their lips, they honour me"; that is, when they are in distress, they pray unto him, and profess a great regard for him, speak honourably of him, and reverently to him, hoping he will help and relieve them; see Isaiah 26:16 but the other…

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John Calvin on Isaiah 29:13

Therefore the Lord saith. The Prophet shews that the Lord, in acting with such severity towards his people, will proceed on the most righteous grounds; though it was a severe and dreadful chastisement that their minds should be stupefied by the hand of God. [270] Now, since men are so fool-hardy and obstinate, that they do not hesitate to contend with him, as if he were unjustly severe, the Prophet shews that God has acted the part of a righteous judge, and that the blame lies wholly on men, who have provoked him by their baseness and wickedness. Because this people draweth near with their mouth. He shews that the people have deserved this punishment chiefly on account of their hypocrisy an…

The Church Fathers

Though we never withdraw ourselves from the Lord since he is wholly everywhere, we nonetheless become distant when we are displaced through the nature of our deeds.
— Cassiodorus, EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS 94:1

Suppose someone says, "We are Christians too; we believe in the Lord, the Savior." But it is necessary to believe in deed and not in word, not with the tongue but with the heart, lest it also be said to us, "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me."
— Maximus of Turin, SERMON 102:3

What is this obstinacy or what is this presumption to place human tradition before the divine plan and not to notice that God is offended and angered as often as human tradition subverts and disregards the divine precepts? He cries and says through Isaiah, the prophet, "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far separated from me. In vain, moreover, they honor me, teaching the commandments and doctrines of men."
— Cyprian, Epistle LXXIII:3

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Idolatry — Image-worship or divine honour paid to any created object. Paul describes the origin of idolatry in Rom. 1:21-25: men forsook God, and sank into ignorance and moral corruption (1:28). The forms of…
Sennacherib — Sin (the god) sends many brothers, son of Sargon, whom he succeeded on the throne of Assyria (B.C. 705), in the 23rd year of Hezekiah. “Like the Persian Xerxes, he was weak and vainglorious, cowardly…
Character Of The Wicked · Hypocritical — Hypocritical
Formalism · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Heart, Character Of The Unrenewed · Far from God — Far from God
Hypocrisy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Hypocrites · Described as: Using but lip-worship — Described as: Using but lip-worship
Jews, The · National character of: Prone to formality in religion — National character of: Prone to formality in religion
Quotations And Allusions · with — with
Reverence · 4:10;5:29;6:2,13;10:12,20,21;13:4;14:23;28:49,58; — 4:10;5:29;6:2,13;10:12,20,21;13:4;14:23;28:49,58;

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Isaiah 29:13

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 29:9-16

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Isaiah 29:13

John Gill on Isaiah 29:13

John Calvin on Isaiah 29:13

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Isaiah 29:13

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 29:9-16

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Isaiah 29:13

John Gill on Isaiah 29:13

John Calvin on Isaiah 29:13

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Isaiah 29:13-14

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Isaiah 29:13

Rashi on Isaiah 29:13