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Selected Verse: Isaiah 3:15 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Isa 3:15 |
King James |
What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord GOD of hosts. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
What right have ye to beat, &c. (Psa 94:5; Mic 3:2-3).
grind--by exactions, so as to leave them nothing.
faces--persons; with the additional idea of it being openly and palpably done. "Presence," equivalent to "face" (Hebrew). |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
What mean ye - What is your object? Or, What advantage is it to you? Or, By what right or pretence do you do this?
Beat my people to pieces - That is, that you trample on them; or cruelly oppress them; Psa 94:5.
And grind the faces of the poor - This is an expression also denoting great oppression. It is taken from the act of grinding a substance on a stone until it is worn away and nothing is left. So, by their cruel exactions, by their injustice to the poor, they exhausted their little property until nothing was left. The word "faces" here is synonymous with "persons" - or with the poor themselves. The word "face" is often used in the sense of "person;" Exo 33:14; Sa2 18:11. A similar description, though in still stronger language, is found in Mic 3:2-3 :
Who pluck off their skin from off them,
And their flesh from off their bones;
Who also eat the flesh of my people,
And flay their skin from off them;
And they break their bones, and chop them in pieces,
As for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
And grind the faces - The expression and the image is strong, to denote grievous oppression but is exceeded by the prophet Micah, Mic 3:1-3 : -
"Hear, I pray you, ye chiefs of Jacob,
And ye princes of the house of Israel:
Is it not yours to know what is right?
Ye that hate good and love evil:
Who tear their skins from off them,
And their flesh from off their bones;
Who devour the flesh of my people;
And flay from off them their skin;
And their bones they dash in pieces;
And chop them asunder, as morsels for the pot:
And as flesh thrown into the midst of the caldron."
In the last line but one, for כאשר keasher, read, by the transposition of a letter, כשאר kisher, with the Septuagint and Chaldee. |
2 Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;
3 Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.
5 They break in pieces thy people, O LORD, and afflict thine heritage.
2 Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;
3 Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.
11 And Joab said unto the man that told him, And, behold, thou sawest him, and why didst thou not smite him there to the ground? and I would have given thee ten shekels of silver, and a girdle.
14 And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.
5 They break in pieces thy people, O LORD, and afflict thine heritage.
1 And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment?
2 Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;
3 Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.