The LORD enters into
judgment with the elders and princes of His people, "It is you who
have devoured the vineyard. The plunder of the poor is in your houses.": (Enter
- Job 22:4; 34:23; Ps 143:2) (Elders Is 3:2,3) (Devoured - Is 5:7;
Job 24:2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7; Je 5:27; Amos 4:1; Mic 2:2; 6:10;
Mt 21:33)
The LORD enters into judgment
with the elders ("the ancients") and princes of His people
- Notice first it is Jehovah Himself Who brings the just judgment.
Rightly does the psalmist plead with God...
do not enter into judgment with
Your servant, for in Your sight no man living is righteous. (Ps 143:2)
The leaders are the focus of
God's judgment and deserve to be judged first because of the greater
responsibility they bore as leaders to see to the welfare of the
nation and the fair administration of the government.
Devoured the vineyard -
The leaders and officials in Judah instead of caring for His vineyard
have ruined it.
Devoured (01197)(ba'ar)
(90v in the OT and 17 times in Isaiah - Is 1:31; 3:14; 4:4; 5:5; 6:13;
9:18; 10:17; 19:11; 30:27, 33; 34:9; 40:16; 42:25; 43:2; 44:15; 50:11;
62:1) means burned up, "eaten up", consumed (as with fire), and
in context pictures the pervasiveness of the perfidy perpetrated by
the leaders against the people (vineyard). Young renders it
those you "have depastured".
Vineyard (03754)
(kerem) literally describes a plot of land on which grapes were
grown and which needs to be cultivated and tended, functions the
elders and princes failed to perform for the nation in general and specifically
for the poor. See Isa 5:1, 7-
note
where the "vineyard" = God's people, the nation of Israel,
cp Ps 80:8-18, 14,15; a choice vine = Je 2:21; Je 12:10; Ezek 15:6, 7,
8; Ho 10:1)
Plunder (01500)(gezelah)
describes that which is stolen or taken by force, stealth or
deception. Ezekiel explains that the righteous person avoids
this robbery or plunder (Ezek 18:7), but the evil person engages in it
(Ezek. 18:12; 33:15). The plunder of those in Judah witnessed
to their stealing from their neighbors.
The
Septuagint (LXX)
translates gezelah
in this verse with harpage which describes the action of
carrying off someone's belongings by force or seizure and in context
describes the product of what has been seized from the poor.
Poor (06041)
(aniy) (78v in the OT and 13 times in Isaiah - Is. 3:14, 15;
10:2, 30; 14:32; 26:6; 32:7; 41:17; 49:13; 51:21; 54:11; 58:7; 66:2)
means to be low and thus lowly in the world's estimation. These are the afflicted, the humble, those who are suffering or in a state
of poverty, oppression or misery especially because of lack of
finances. These are
those in society who are without (sufficient) property and therefore
dependent on others.
The
Septuagint
translates aniy in this verse with the Greek word
ptochos [word study]
(from ptosso =crouch,
cringe, cower down or hide oneself for fear, a picture of one
crouching and cowering like a beggar with a tin cup to receive the
pennies dropped in!) is an adjective which describes one who crouches
and cowers and is used as a noun to mean beggar. These poor
were unable to meet their basic needs and so were forced to depend on
others or on society.
Motyer remarks that ...
It was a mark of true
Israelite social morality to copy the Lord in his concern for the poor
(Lv 19:10; Dt 15:7, 8, 9, 10, 11). They had forsaken
both the letter and the spirit of the law. (Motyer, J. A. The
Prophecy of Isaiah: An Introduction & Commentary. Downers Grove, Ill.:
InterVarsity Press)
The Mosaic Law was very
clear about how the poor were to be treated...
You shall not oppress a hired
servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your countrymen or
one of your aliens who is in your land in your towns. You shall give
him his wages on his day before the sun sets, for he is poor and sets
his heart on it; so that he may not cry against you to the LORD and it
become sin in you. (Dt 24:14,15)
If there is a poor man with you,
one of your brothers, in any of your towns in your land which the LORD
your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close
your hand from your poor brother; but you shall freely open your hand
to him, and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in
whatever he lacks. (Dt 15:7, 8, cp the NT teaching 1Jn 3:7, Acts 9:36;
10:4, 31; 24:17; Jas 1:27; 2:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
Now in case a countryman of yours
becomes poor and his means with regard to you falter, then you are to
sustain him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with
you. 'Do not take usurious interest from him (Dt 23:20), but revere
your God, that your countryman may live with you. 'You shall not
give him your silver at interest, nor your food for gain. (Lv 25:35,
36, 37)
Ed Young remarks that...
This particular sin is singled out
as an example of the lack of responsibility, the injustice and
greediness of those who were in authority. It is a peculiar example of
cruelty, and, for that reason, God will come to exact vengeance upon
those who have been guilty of it.
Martin concludes that...
A materialistic, oppressive spirit
was symptomatic of the leaders’ self-centeredness. Rather than seeing
their leadership positions as service opportunities they saw them as
means of making money at the expense of others.
(Walvoord,
J. F., Zuck, R. B., et al: The Bible Knowledge Commentary. 1985.
Victor or
Logos)
Roland
Q. Leavell writes that...
A social sin which was prevalent in
Judah and Israel, a sin which aroused the prophets to indignant
denunciation, was that of accursed greed for land and money. They were
not inveighing against private ownership nor were they advocating
socialism. They preached against an economic order which fostered
mortgages and such heavy taxation that poor people were reduced to
practical slavery. The merchants had two standards of measurement, a
big measure to buy with and a small one to sell by. Worse than that,
they put the bad wheat on the bottom of the bushel measure and the
good on the top (Amos 8:5, 6). Isaiah was genuinely aroused. When
greed of gain and covetousness were sapping the moral strength of the
people and the nation, he thundered (the words in Isa 3:14, 15)
