Teks -- Isaiah 59:8 (NET)

59:8 They are unfamiliar with peace; their deeds are unjust. They use deceitful methods, and whoever deals with them is unfamiliar with peace.

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Wesley: Isa 59:8 - The way of peace

They live in continual contentions, and discords.

Wesley: Isa 59:8 - Judgment

No justice, equity, faith, or integrity.

JFB: Isa 59:8 - peace

Whether in relation to God, to their own conscience, or to their fellow men (Isa 57:20-21).

JFB: Isa 59:8 - judgment

Justice.

JFB: Isa 59:8 - crooked

The opposite of "straightforward" (Pro 2:15; Pro 28:18).

Clarke: Isa 59:8

Whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace "Whoever goeth in them knoweth not peace"- For בה bah , singular, read בם bam , plural, with the Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, and Chaldee. The ה he is upon a rasure in one MS. Or, for נתיבתיהם nethibotheyhem , plural, we must read נתיבתם nethibatham , singular, as it is in an ancient MS., to preserve the grammatical concord. - L.

Calvin: Isa 59:8 - The way of peace they know not // And judgment is not in their steps // Whosoever walketh by them

8.The way of peace they know not Some give an ingenious interpretation of the word “peace” as meaning a “peaceful” conscience; because the wicked must endure continual agony. But the Prophet summons wicked men to judgment, in order to show, by the transgression of the Second Table, that they have no sincerity and no kindness, and, in a word, that they are ἀστόργους without natural affection. He says that “they know not the way of peace;“ because their cruelty deprives them of justice and equity, by which human society is maintained, the very food of which is mutual peace and kindness; for justice and integrity are nourished by peace. And if every person, with unbridled rage, rush on his neighbors and attack them, there is then open war; for harmony cannot be preserved among us, unless equity be observed by every individual. ¹³⁸

And judgment is not in their steps What he had just before said is expressed more clearly by the word “Judgment;” as if he had said, that they excite terror wherever they go, because they lay aside all integrity.

Whosoever walketh by them The last clause may be taken in various senses; either, “Whosoever walketh in them shall also be a stranger to peace,” or, “He who falleth into the hands of the wicked shall find them to be savage and barbarous.” Either of those meanings is admissible, and I do not think it worth while to dispute much about them. Thus, after having spoken in general terms, and after having shown that it is not God who prevents the Jews from being prosperous, the Prophet descends to particulars, by which he explains more fully the manner in which they have become estranged from God, and have rendered themselves unworthy of his favor.

Here arises a difficulty; for Paul (Rom 3:17) quotes this passage for the purpose of condemning all mankind as being sinful and corrupted, and as having nothing good; while the Prophet appears to apply it especially to the men of his own time. But the answer is easy; for, while he expressly addresses the Jews, who thought that they were holier than other men, the Gentiles must also be included along with them. If it be objected that the Gentiles, while they live uprightly, “are a law to themselves,” (Rom 2:14) and that “uncircumcision is counted as circumcision,” (Rom 2:26) I reply that the Prophet represents God as complaining of all who have not been renewed by the Spirit of God. In this manner no man can be excepted, if he be viewed in his own nature; but the Prophet speaks of himself as not belonging to their number, because he had been regenerated and was guided by the Spirit of God.

Paul’s quotation of this passage was therefore appropriate; because he intended to show what sort of men they are whom God hath forsaken, and who are under the influence of their own nature. Although the depravity of men does not always break out into gross vice, and the Prophet’s design is to rebuke a very corrupt age; yet whenever crimes become so prevalent, we may behold, as in a mirror, what a pool and how deep a pool of every evil thing is the nature of man. And yet this discourse was undoubtedly very distasteful to the Jews, who were puffed up with vain glorying of the family from which they were descended; but since even they were not spared by the Spirit of God, there is no reason why other nations, who are not less sinful by nature, should wallow in their pleasures.

TSK: Isa 59:8 - way // no // judgment // crooked // whosoever

way : Pro 3:17; Luk 1:79; Rom 3:17

no : Isa 59:14, Isa 59:15, Isa 5:7; Jer 5:1; Hos 4:1, Hos 4:2; Amo 6:1-6; Mat 23:23

judgment : or, right, Psa 58:1, Psa 58:2

crooked : Psa 125:5; Pro 2:15, Pro 28:18

whosoever : Isa 48:22, Isa 57:20,Isa 57:21

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per Ayat)

Poole: Isa 59:8 - The way of peace they know not // There is no judgment // in their goings // They have made them crooked paths

The way of peace they know not they are of such turbulent spirits, living in such continual contentions and discords, that, breaking in pieces the very bonds of society, they neither know,

1. How to make and keep peace; neither,

2. Do they feel or enjoy the sweet fruits of it; and therefore by consequence,

3. They take not the course that leads to prosperity and happiness. They are not friends to peace.

There is no judgment i.e. no justice, equity, faith, or integrity, which are the foundation of judgment,

in their goings as paths did note their habitual way or manner of living, so goings do signify their actual progress in that way, or their works; thus Job 14:16 .

They have made them crooked paths they walk by no rule, which should discover the crooked from the straight; they are full of unevennesses and uncertainties, contrary to what David speaks, Psa 26:12 . The LXX. render it perverse . Moses joins them both together, Deu 32:5 ; and so doth Solomon, speaking what wisdom shall deliver from, Pro 2:15 ; and it stands in opposition to them that walk uprightly, Pro 28:18 . It may note,

1. Their hypocrisy, that pretend one thing and do another, that oppress under a pretence of justice. Or,

2. Their professed and owned irregularities and deviations from the rule of justice. Shall not know peace, i.e. shall not experience it; whosoever do as they do will be turbulent and perverse, as they are, and have as little peace within, or happiness without, as they have, Isa 57:21 . They shall be poisoned by having converse with them, as in Isa 59:5 , which the next words do intimate.

Haydock: Isa 59:8 - Peace

Peace, or prosperity. They quarrel with all, and ruin themselves, Psalm xiii.

Gill: Isa 59:8 - The way of peace they know not // and there is no judgment in their goings // they have made them crooked paths // whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace

The way of peace they know not,.... Neither the way of peace with God, supposing it is to be made by man, and not by Christ; and are ignorant of the steps and methods taken to procure it; nor do they know the way of peace of conscience, or how to attain to that which is true and solid; nor the way to eternal peace and happiness, which is alone by Christ, and the Gospel of peace reveals, to which they are strangers; nor the way of peace among men, which they are unconcerned about, and do not seek after, make use of no methods to promote, secure, and establish it; but all the reverse:

and there is no judgment in their goings; no justice in their actions, in their dealings with men; no judgment in their religious duties, which are done without any regard to the divine rule, or without being able to give a reason for them; they have no judgment in matters of doctrine or worship; they have no discerning of true and false doctrines, and between that which is spiritual and superstitious in worship; they have no knowledge of the word of God, which should be their guide both in faith and practice; but this they do not attend unto:

they have made them crooked paths: they have devised paths and modes of worship of their own, in which they walk, and which they observe, that are not according to the rule of the word; but deviate from it; and so may be said to be crooked, as not agreeable to that:

whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace; the way of peace with God, as before; or he shall not have any experience of true, solid, and substantial peace in his own conscience now, and shall not attain to eternal peace hereafter.