the hollow hand or palm (so of the paw of an animal · noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
defiled
נְגֹאֲל֣וּne.go.'a.Lu
H1351
to soil or (figuratively) desecrate · verb, niphal perfect, 3rd person common plural
blood
בַדָּ֔םva.Dam
H1818
blood (as that which when shed causes death) of man or… · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
fingers
וְאֶצְבְּעוֹתֵיכֶ֖םve.'etz.be.'o.tei.Khem
H676
something to sieze with · conjunction + noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
iniquity
בֶּֽעָוֹ֑ןbe.'a.Von
H5771
perversity · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
lips
שִׂפְתֽוֹתֵיכֶם֙sif.to.tei.Khem
H8193
the lip (as a natural boundary) · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
spoken
דִּבְּרוּdi.be.ru-
H1696
perhaps properly · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person common plural
lies
שֶׁ֔קֶרShe.ker
H8267
an untruth · noun, common masculine singular absolute
tongue
לְשׁוֹנְכֶ֖םle.shon.Khem
H3956
the tongue (of man or animals) · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
muttered
תֶהְגֶּֽהteh.Geh
H1897
to murmur (in pleasure or anger) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
perverseness
עַוְלָ֥ה'av.Lah
H5766
(moral) evil · noun, common feminine singular 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
Isaiah 1:15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of…
Ezekiel 13:8 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord GOD.
Jeremiah 2:34 Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents: I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these.
Isaiah 1:21 How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
Jeremiah 2:30 In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.
Jeremiah 7:8 Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.
Ezekiel 7:23 Make a chain: for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence.
Ezekiel 9:9 Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 59:1-8
The prophet here rectifies the mistake of those who had been quarrelling with God because they had not the deliverances wrought for them which they had been often fasting and praying for, Isa 58:3. Now here he shows,
I. That it was not owing to God. They had no reason to lay the fault upon him that they were not saved out of the hands of their enemies; for, 1. He was still as able to help as ever: His hand is not shortened, his power is not at all lessened, straitened, or abridged. Whether we consider the extent of his power or the efficacy of it, God can reach as far as ever and with as strong a hand as ever. Note, The church's salvation comes from the hand of God, and that has not waxed we…
(Isa 1:15; Rom 3:13-15).
hands . . . fingers--Not merely the "hands" perpetrate deeds of grosser enormity ("blood"), but the "fingers" commit more minute acts of "iniquity."
lips . . . tongue--The lips "speak" openly "lies," the tongue "mutters" malicious insinuations ("perverseness"; perverse misrepresentations of others) (Jer 6:28; Jer 9:4).
Adam Clarke on Isaiah 59:3
Your tongue "And your tongue" - An ancient MS., and the Septuagint and Vulgate, add the conjunction.
John Gill on Isaiah 59:3
For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity,.... From a general charge, the prophet proceeds to a particular enumeration of sins they were guilty of; and idolatry not being mentioned, as Jerom observes, shows that the prophecy belongs to other times than Isaiah's, when that sin greatly prevailed. He begins the account with the sin of shedding blood; the blood of innocents, as the Targum; designing either the sin of murder, now frequently committed in Christian nations; or wars between Christian princes, by means of which much blood is shed; or persecutions of Christian brethren, by casting them into prisons, which have issued in their death; and at least want of bro…
(V. 3, 4.) For your hands are polluted with blood, and your fingers with iniquity: your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wickedness. There is no one who calls for justice, nor is there anyone who truly judges: but they trust in nothingness, and speak vanities. LXX: For your hands are polluted with blood, and your fingers with sins. Your lips are polluted with iniquity, and your tongue meditates injustice. No one speaks the truth: there is no fair judgment. They trust in empty things, and speak worthless words, injustices and sins. What he has mentioned generally above, he now explains in detail. And it should be considered that he does not accuse them of idolatry, which they were practicing in the time of Isaiah, but rather of shedding blood, about which he had already spoken: The righteous is perishing, and there is no one who takes it to heart. The upright are taken away, and no one understands in his heart. For the righteous man is taken away from the face of wickedness: his grave shall be in peace, and his tomb shall be with honour. Though their hands have not injured in any wise the Lord, yet they take upon them to cry out with blasphemous voices, saying: His blood be upon us and upon our children. His death shall therefore bear witness against them, and their hands shall be defiled. Of whom the same Prophet testifies, saying: If ye stretch forth your hands against me, I will not hear you. Your hands are full of blood. Your lips and tongue speak iniquity and lies, claiming to be Christ's chosen ones but behaving as Antichrists. There is no one among your people who cries out for justice and judges according to truth, or in the Hebrew language, faith in Christ. Instead, they trust in nothingness and speak empty words. Therefore, the Apostle commands us not to pay attention to Jewish fables and the commandments of those who turn away from the truth. For truly they trust in nothing, and they follow vanities, in which is fulfilled the prophecy of the Lord: I am come in my Father's name, and you receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him you will receive. (John 5:43).
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
Blood · Shedding of human: Defiling to the person — Shedding of human: Defiling to the person
Falsehood · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Hands, The · Of the wicked, described as: Bloody — Of the wicked, described as: Bloody
Homicide · 24:22; — 24:22;
Lying · A hindrance to prayer — A hindrance to prayer
Murder · Defiles the: Hands — Defiles the: Hands
Prayer, Answers To · Denied to those who: Are blood shedders — Denied to those who: Are blood shedders
Sin · Described as: Defiling — Described as: Defiling
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).
John Calvin on Isaiah 59:3
For your hands. He now brings forward their actions, that they may not practice evasion, or call in question what are those sins which have "caused the separation." He therefore takes away from them every excuse, by bringing forward particular instances, as if their shameful life were exhibited on an open stage. Now, he speaks in the second person, because, like an advocate, he argues and pleads the cause of God, and therefore speaks of himself as not belonging to the rank of the wicked, with whom he did not wish to be classed, though he was not entirely free from sin, but feared and served God, and enjoyed liberty of conscience. No man could be at liberty to condemn others, who was involved…
The sins of Israel are sins in words and deeds. "For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips speak lies, your tongue murmurs wickedness." The verb גּאל, to spot (see Isa 63:3), is a later softening down of גּעל (e.g., Sa2 1:21); and in the place of the niphal נגאל (Zep 3:1), we have here, as in Lam 4:14, the double passive form נגאל, compounded of niphal and pual. The post-biblical nithpal, compounded of the niphal and the hithpael, is a mixed form of the same kind, though we also meet with it in a few biblical passages (Deu 21:8; Pro 27:15; Eze 23:48). The verb hâgâh (lxx μελετᾶ) combines the two meanings of "thought" (meditation or reflection), and o…
