Isaiah 58:2 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 58:2
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 ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.
properly · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural + paragogic nun
daily
י֥וֹםYom
H3117
a day (as the warm hours) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
delight
יֶחְפָּצ֑וּןyech.pa.Tzun
H2654
properly · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural + paragogic nun
know
וְדַ֥עַתve.Da.'at
H1847
knowledge · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct
ways
דְּרָכַ֖יde.ra.Khai
H1870
a road (as trodden) · noun, common both genders plural construct + pronominal suffix
nation
כְּג֞וֹיke.Goy
H1471
a foreign nation · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
did
עָשָׂ֗ה'a.Sah
H6213
to do or make · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
righteousness
צְדָקָ֣הtze.da.Kah
H6666
rightness (abstractly) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
forsook
עָזָ֔ב'a.Zav
H5800
to loosen · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
ordinance
וּמִשְׁפַּ֤טu.mish.Pat
H4941
properly · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct
God
אֱלֹהָיו֙'e.lo.Hav
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
ask
יִשְׁאָל֙וּנִי֙yish.'a.Lu.ni
H7592
to inquire · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural + pronominal suffix
ordinances
מִשְׁפְּטֵיmish.pe.tei-
H4941
properly · noun, common masculine plural construct
justice
צֶ֔דֶקTze.dek
H6664
the right (natural · noun, common masculine singular absolute
delight
יֶחְפָּצֽוּןyech.pa.Tzun
H2654
properly · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural + paragogic nun
approaching
קִרְבַ֥תkir.Vat
H7132
approach · noun, common feminine singular construct
God
אֱלֹהִ֖ים'E.lo.Him
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · 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
Titus 1:16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
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 he…
Matthew 15:7-9 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
Mark 4:16-17 And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness;
James 1:21-22 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your…
1 Peter 2:1-2 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,
1 Samuel 15:21-25 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LO…
Ezekiel 33:30-33 Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 58:1-2
When our Lord Jesus promised to send the Comforter he added, When he shall come he shall convince (Joh 16:7, Joh 16:8); for conviction must prepare for comfort, and must also separate between the precious and the vile, and mark out those to whom comfort does not belong. God had appointed this prophet to comfort his people (Isa 40:1); here he appoints him to convince them, and show them their sins.
I. He must tell them how very bad they really were, Isa 58:1. 1. He must deal faithfully and plainly with them. "Though they are called the people of God and the house of Jacob, though they wear an honourable title and character, by which they are interested in many glorious privileges, yet do not…
Put the stop at "ways"; and connect "as a nation that," &c. with what follows; "As a nation that did righteousness," thus answers to, "they ask of Me just judgments" (that is, as a matter of justice due to them, salvation to themselves, and destruction to their enemies); and "forsook not the ordinance of their God," answers to "they desire the drawing near of God" (that God would draw near to exercise those "just judgments" in behalf of them, and against their enemies) [MAURER]. So JEROME, "In the confidence, as it were, of a good conscience, they demand a just judgment, in the language of the saints: Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in mine integrity." So in Mal 2:17, they affect to be s…
Cry aloud, spare not - Never was a louder cry against the hypocrisy, nor a more cutting reproof of the wickedness, of a people professing a national established religion, having all the forms of godliness without a particle of its power. This chapter has been often appointed to be read on political fast days for the success of wars carried on for - God knows what purposes, and originating in - God knows what motives. Politically speaking, was ever any thing more injudicious?
John Gill
The Church Fathers
These words about the calling of those from Israel can be transferred and come to be understood in another good and highly useful way.… For I think the scope of the prophecy is to be unveiled to those who are prayerful, as will become clear from what follows. … There were those among them who received a reputation for piety and behaved shamefully without being noticed, decorating themselves on the outside and gaining a reputation of gentleness. They undertook fasts and made prayers, thinking that through this they could turn aside God's anger.… Here they learn what their sins are and that they must turn from these if they want to be rewarded by God and become worthy of his sparing them.
(Verse 2) They search for me day after day and desire to know my ways, like a nation that has done righteousness and has not forsaken the judgment of their God. LXX likewise. This specifically applies to the Jews, who run to the synagogues every day and meditate on the law of God, desiring to know what Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the other saints have done, and diligently studying the books of the Prophets and Moses, reciting the divine commands. To them, the following is most fittingly applied: The wicked seek me out but will not find me. For thus it is written: Everyone who seeks, finds (Matt. VII): whoever does not find, is convicted of seeking badly; for the Lord is found by those who seek Him in goodness, and is revealed to those who are not incredulous towards Him. Therefore, for those who have forsaken the justice and judgment of God, by what names is Christ revealed, as the Psalmist says: O God, give your judgment to the king, and your justice to the king's son (Ps. LXXI, 1): for Christ has become for us redemption, holiness, and righteousness (I Cor. I): in vain do they boast of knowledge of the law, when the holy one boasts not in knowledge of the Scriptures, but in works, saying: I have run the way of your commandments, when you have enlarged my heart (Ps. CXVIII, 31).
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
Affections · Of the wicked, not sincerely set on God — Of the wicked, not sincerely set on God
Affections, The · Of the wicked, not sincerely set on God — Of the wicked, not sincerely set on God
Delighting In God · Hypocrites: Pretend to — Hypocrites: Pretend to
Hypocrisy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Hypocrites · Described as: Apparently zealous in the things of God — Described as: Apparently zealous in the things of God
Seeking God · The wicked: Sometimes pretend to — The wicked: Sometimes pretend to
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).
on Isaiah 58:2
Yet they seek me daily,.... Which may be considered as an acknowledgment of their external piety; or as a caution to the prophet not to be imposed upon by outward appearances; or as a reason why they should be rebuked sharply: they sought the Lord, either by prayer, or in the ministry of the word; they sought doctrine, as the Targum; they sought him, and that every day, or, however, every Lord's day; and yet they did not seek him with that diligence and intenseness of spirit, with their whole hearts, cordially and sincerely, as they ought to have done; they sought themselves, and the honour of men, rather than the Lord and his glory:
and delight to know my ways; not only his ways of creatio…
Yet they seek me daily. Here he intended to take away every ground of objection from hypocrites, who had their answers ready. "We fear, serve, and love God, and seek him with the whole heart. Why do you rebuke us as if we were irreligious persons; for we wish to regulate our life according to the injunctions of the Law." To meet this objection, he affirms that they do nothing in a pure or sincere manner, that everything is pretended and hypocritical, and consequently is of no value before God, who demands the whole heart. (Genesis 17:1)
It is proper to observe this order which the Prophet has followed. After having threatened war against wicked men and hypocrites, he now rebukes them severe…
they act so pious (literally they seek me): They may have been truly committed to a religious form, but they failed to truly meet God in their religious activities.
Rashi on Isaiah 58:2
Yet they seek Me daily Like the matter that is stated (Ps. 78:36): “And they beguiled Him with their mouth.”
and they wish to know My ways They wish to ask instructions of the wise men as if they wished to fulfill them.
like a nation that performed righteousness, etc. In this manner they constantly ask Me ordinances of righteousness, but they do not intend to fulfill them, and when they fast and are not answered, they say, “Why have we fasted, and You did not see?” But I say, “Behold, on the day of your fast you pursue business,” all the affairs of your necessities you toil to pursue, even robbery and violence.
