Isaiah 30:15 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 30:15
For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.
force (literally or figuratively) · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
would
אֲבִיתֶֽם'a.vi.Tem
H14
to breathe after · verb, qal perfect, 2nd person masculine plural
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
Isaiah 26:3-4 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Isaiah 32:17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.
Psalms 125:1-2 They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.
Jeremiah 3:22-23 Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God.
1 Chronicles 5:20 And they were helped against them, and the Hagarites were delivered into their hand, and all that were with them: for they cried to God in t…
John 5:40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.
2 Chronicles 16:8 Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host, with very many chariots and horsemen? yet, because thou didst rely on the LORD, he deliv…
Luke 13:34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children t…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 30:8-17
Here, I. The preface is very awful. The prophet must not only preach this, but he must write it (Isa 30:8), write it in a table, to be hung up and exposed to public view; he must carefully note it, not in loose papers which might be lost or torn, but in a book, to be preserved for posterity, in perpetuam rei memoriam - for a standing testimony against this wicked generation; let it remain not only to the next succeeding ages, but for ever and ever, while the world stands; and so it shall, for the book of the scriptures no doubt, shall continue, and be read, to the end of time. Let it be written, 1. To shame the men of the present age, who would not hear and heed it when it was spoken. Let it…
returning and rest--turning back from your embassy to Egypt, and ceasing from warlike preparations.
quietness--answering to "wait for Him (God)" (Isa 30:18).
John Gill on Isaiah 30:15
For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel,.... This is still repeated, though displeasing to the carnal Jews, who, notwithstanding their ill behaviour to the Lord, condescends to give them the best advice, as follows:
in returning and rest shall ye be saved; or "may be saved" (o); this is the right and the only way, namely, by "returning" from their evil ways, particularly their purpose of going to Egypt for help, and by returning to God by repentance and reformation, and to his worship and ordinances; and so the Targum,
"if ye return to my law;''
and by "resting" quietly at home, and reposing their trust in the Lord:
in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength; in a…
For thus saith the Lord. Here he describes one kind of contempt of God; for when warnings are addressed to hypocrites in general terms, they commonly produce little effect. In addition to the general doctrine, therefore, the prophets specify particular instances, which they specially accommodate to the conduct of those with whom they have to do, so as always to aim at a definite object. They might have wrangled and urged, "Why do you accuse us of so great impiety, as if we rejected the word of the Lord?" He therefore brings forward this class, in order to strike their consciences and cut short their idle sophistry. "Was it not the word of the Lord, In hope and silence shall be your strength?…
The Church Fathers
Let us, then, devoutly think over these truths, dearest brothers, while it is still within our power to do so with the help of God. As we shudder at the wounds of our sins as at deadly poisons, let us apply ourselves to almsgiving, prayer and fasting. Above all, by a charity that loves not only friends but even enemies, let us have recourse to the mercy of that heavenly Physician to recover the health of our souls as if by spiritual remedies. For he himself said, "I take no pleasure in the death of the sinner, but rather in the wicked man's conversion, that he may live"; and again: "When you groan and are converted, you shall be saved." In his goodness may he lead us to this salvation, who together with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.
It is never too late to repent. You may have gone down from Jerusalem and may have been wounded on the way; yet the Samaritan will set you upon his beast and will bring you to the inn and will take care of you. Even if you are lying in your grave, the Lord will raise you though your flesh may stink. At least imitate those blind men for whose sake the Savior left his home and heritage and came to Jericho. They were sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death when the light shone upon them. For when they learned that it was the Lord who was passing by, they began to cry out, saying, "You son of David, have mercy on us." You too will have your sight restored, if you cry to him and cast away your filthy garments at his call. "When you shall turn and repent then shall you be saved, and then shall you know where you have been."
So useful are trials for Christians that through them, our spirit becomes a sacrifice to God. For it is written in the psalm: "The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." Enlightened by this and innumerable other texts of this type, let us hasten as rapidly as possible to be converted to God absolutely.… Converted, let us never despair of the forgiveness of sins, holding on to the faithful promise of the Lord who says, "In returning and rest, you will be saved." Let us put up with the pressures and trials of the present time with patient courage, and let us never depart from the fear of the Lord. For the apostle commands us to "endure in affliction." He bears witness that the correction of the present time is of great avail to us for avoiding the punishment of the future judgment, saying, "But since we are being judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world."
Dictionary and topics
Hezekiah — Whom Jehovah has strengthened. (1.) Son of Ahaz (2 Kings 18:1; 2 Chr. 29:1), whom he succeeded on the throne of the kingdom of Judah. He reigned twenty-nine years (B.C. 726-697). The history of this…
Confidence · FALSE — FALSE
War · Threatens — Threatens
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).
Into such small sherds, a heap thus scattered hither and thither, would the kingdom of Judah be broken up, in consequence of its ungodly thirst for self-liberation. "For thus saith the Lord Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, Through turning and rest ye would be helped; your strength would show itself in quietness and confidence; but ye would not. And ye said, No, but we will fly upon horses; therefore ye shall flee: and, We will ride upon racehorses; therefore your pursuers will race. A thousand, ye will flee from the threatening of one, from the threatening of five, until ye are reduced to a remnant, like a pine upon the top of the mountain, and like a banner upon the hill." The conditions up…
The people of Judah needed to repent of their sinful ways (30:12-14), returning to the Lord, in order to be rescued. • Trust in the Lord would bring quietness and confidence, unlike their frantic negotiations with Egypt.
Rashi on Isaiah 30:15
For so said the Holy One, blessed be He, to you long ago, “You need not seek for yourselves the strength of Egypt and waste your money, for with tranquility and restfulness you shall have salvation, without any toil, if you listen to Me.”
with tranquility (בְּשׁוּבָה) an expression of restfulness and tranquility, Comp. (Num. 10:36): “Rest (שׁוּבָה), O Lord, with the ten thousands of the thousands of Israel.”
with quietude that comes to you from Me, and with trust, shall be your might.
