Chapter Fifty-Seven

From the end of the preceding (Isa 56:10) and to the penultimate verse of chapter 59 (Isa 59:19) there is one denunciatory discourse of the prophet, in which he exposes the sins and transgressions of Israel, and even exposes the true meaning of those seeming virtues of Israel in which he thought to find self-justification and even saw a special merit before the Lord (fasting and almsgiving).

1–2. Introduction to the discourse. 3–12. Powerful denunciation of Israel for its infidelity to the Lord and religious apostasy. 13–19. A ray of light from Divine mercy even toward unworthy Israel. 20–21. Concluding sentence on the destruction of the unrepentant sinners.

Isaiah 57:1. The righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart; and devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous man is taken away from evil. “The righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart... no one understands that the righteous man is taken away from evil.” Characterizing the deep religious and moral fall and corruption of his contemporaries, the prophet notes the complete indifference of the people to such significant events as the premature death of righteous men, in which one should see a divine punishment and instruction of the wicked. For the elucidation of the matter here it is necessary to bear in mind that peculiarity of old covenant worldview by virtue of which the “righteous” man is usually rewarded with longevity (Exod 20:12; 1 Sam 3:14; Prov 3:1-2). If, then, commonly recognized righteous men are now often taken away by God from the living, the cause of this lies not in them, but in us, namely in our sinfulness, creating a heavy atmosphere for the righteous. That is why the Lord takes such righteous men to Himself, depriving us of their wholesome influence and instructive example.

Isaiah 57:2. He enters into peace; they rest on their beds, each who walked uprightly. “He enters into peace.” For the righteous man himself, such an early departure from the vale of tears and sorrow is not only not a deprivation, but a positive gain, for from “vanity of vanities” (Eccl 1:2) he is transferred to “rest and peace.” “This thought is most notably found in the books of the old covenant; it prepared the soul for that joy of the afterlife which illuminated all the life of the Christian after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus” (Vlastov). But for the rest of the people, among whom lived that righteous man, whose light and love warmed them, his premature death was a serious and, it would seem, keenly felt loss. Yet the criminally indifferent society ceased to feel and notice this. It should be noted that the Slavonic translation of the LXX in this verse departs significantly from the Masoretic text and has the following form: “his burial would be with peace, taken away from the midst.” Comparing this expression with the parallel passage from chapter 53, verse 8, some of the Holy Fathers interpret it as a prophetic indication of an historical fact – the burial of the Lord Jesus Christ by Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, and the myrrh-bearing women (Jerome).

Isaiah 57:3. But draw near here, you sons of a sorceress, offspring of an adulterer and a harlot! Isaiah 57:4. Whom are you mocking? Against whom do you open wide your mouth and stick out your tongue? Are you not children of transgression, offspring of deceit, “But draw near here, you sons of a sorceress, offspring of an adulterer and a harlot... offspring of deceit.” In such sharp and energetic expressions the prophet Isaiah makes an address to his wicked contemporaries. All these images and characteristic expressions, being fully understandable in themselves on the basis of old covenant theocracy, where the covenant of Israel with the Lord was usually compared to an intimate marital union, acquire special expressiveness and force when compared with new covenant evangelical parallels (Matt 12:39; Matt 27:25; Luke 23:21; John 8:44). Especially appropriate to recall here is the well-known characterization of the Jews made by the Lord Himself, in which He establishes their spiritual kinship with the “father of lies” (John 8:41-44). Isa 57:5-11. From verses 5–11 there is an unbroken accusation brought against the Jews by the prophet for various kinds of their religious and moral apostasies. This section has also high purely historical interest, as it contains a list of the most typical kinds of pagan beliefs and cults that penetrated Israel from neighboring Canaanite peoples and dominated it in the epoch of so-called “religious syncretism.” Here we find indication of orgiastic cults (verse 5), and of religious veneration of “bethels,” or special sacred stones (verse 6), and of the practice of pagan sacrifices “on high places” (verse 7), and of the cult of household deities, a kind of household gods or penates (verse 8), and even of bloody sacrifices of children (verse 5). The complete historical authenticity of such a disheartening picture of the religious and moral condition of the pre-captivity Jews is verified by a long series of corresponding parallels from other historical and prophetic books (1 Sam 19:13; 2 Sam 17:10; 2 Sam 21:6; 2 Chr 23:17; 2 Chr 28:3; Jer 2:20; Jer 3:6; Jer 19:2-6; Ezek 16:20; Ezek 20:26; Ezek 23:37; and many others).

Isaiah 57:12. I will tell of your righteousness and your deeds, – and they will not profit you. Summing up all the historical sins of Israel, this verse at the same time serves as a transition to the subsequent discourse of the prophet about the mercy of Israel. Isa 57:13-19. From verses 13–19 there is messianic prophecy about spiritual Israel, or about the Church of Christ, into which with time will come both the near (Jews) and the far (pagans).

Isaiah 57:13. When you cry out, let your collection save you! The wind will carry them all away, a breath will take them; but he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land and shall inherit my holy mountain. Under the “collection,” of which here as a futile means of self-defense and protection the prophet speaks, it is most natural, on the basis of the context, to understand here the pantheon of deities that existed among the Jews in this epoch of religious syncretism. In contrast to this whole host of empty and insignificant deities, the Lord alone gives complete victory to all who hope in Him.

Isaiah 57:14. And it shall be said, “Build up, build up, prepare the way, remove every obstacle from the way of my people. Verse 14 contains a prophetic exhortation to the members of the new covenant church in every way to promote and work toward the conversion of the misguided Israel, which becomes even clearer when compared with new covenant parallels (Rom 9:32-33; Rom 11:25).

Isaiah 57:15. For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with those who are contrite and humble in spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite. In verse 15, a whole series of epithets applied to the Almighty and bearing the traits of high religious and moral monotheism stand out: “High and Lofty One, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy.” As though by contrast with this absolute holiness and transcendent supremacy, the Lord especially loves the humble and broken-hearted sinners, which in general Scripture speaks repeatedly, both in the Old and New Testaments (Ps 33:19; Isa 66:2; Matt 11:29-30; Luke 4:18; Jas 4:16).

Isaiah 57:16. For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for then the spirit would grow faint before me, and the breath of man which I have made. Genesis 6:3. “For I will not contend forever and will not always be angry.” The manner of expression, by the just observation of one commentator, closely reminds of a similar passage from the history of the flood (Vlastov, Genesis 6:3, 5–7). Isaiah 57:17. For the sin of his covetousness I was angry and struck him; I hid myself and was angry; but he went on backsliding in the way of his heart. “For the sin of covetousness I was angry and struck him.” Our Slavonic translations have a different, rather obscure reading: “for the sin I grieved him a little.” It may not be entirely clear why, given the whole range of sins that plagued Israel and by which Israel constantly provoked the Lord, only avarice is named here? The answer to this lies, first of all, in Scripture’s extremely severe view of avarice and covetousness. For instance, the Apostle Paul equates “covetousness” with “idolatry” (Col 3:5) and even calls “the love of money” “the root of all evils” (1 Tim 6:10). 78. This viewpoint on avarice is explained, apparently, by the fact that “money” serves us as a synonym for sensual goods and pleasures, an easy and reliable means to obtaining them. But intense accumulation of money, or the passion of avarice, transforms it from a means into an end in itself; taking hold of a person’s soul, this passion destroys their best qualities and turns them into a ravenous beast that stops at nothing, no crime, to satisfy the devouring flame of avarice and greed. Second, a particular passion for money and gain, not shrinking from any means, including dark ones, was apparently always a typical trait of the Jewish people, running through all its history. “Avarice was already present in the forefathers of the Jews—Judah, son of Jacob (Gen 37:26-27); this passion reached its most terrible and extreme manifestation in Judas the traitor, who sold his Teacher for thirty pieces of silver” (Commentary of the St. Petersburg Academy, p. 867). On avarice, bribery, extortion, and the oppression of the poor by the wealthy, as a socio-economic malady of Jewish public life, many prophets lament (Isa 1:15-23; Isa 3:5; Isa 5:8; Jer 6:13; Ezek 7:23; Hos 4:2; Mic 3:10 and others).

Isaiah 57:18. I have seen his ways, and I will heal him, and will lead him and comfort him and those who sorrow with him. Isaiah 57:19. I will fulfill the word: peace, peace to the far and near, says the Lord, and I will heal him. They encourage the sons of Israel with the promise of forgiveness from God and the fulfillment of the covenants given by Him. In the words of the prophet and I will heal him—some, judging by the context, wish to see precisely healing from the passion of avarice and find the fulfillment of this prophecy in the arrangement of that first Christian community, where “no one called anything his own, but all things were common” (Acts 4:32).

Isaiah 57:20. But the wicked are like the troubled sea, which cannot be calm and whose waters cast up mire and filth. Isaiah 57:21. There is no peace for the wicked, says my God. If the Lord promises to the faithful and, in general, the righteous peace and bright joyful rest as the result of a pure conscience and fulfilled duty, then the unbelieving and wicked, according to the word of the prophet, await the opposite—a painfully heavy state of troubled spirit, reminiscent of the turmoil of a raging sea. The results of such a dark spiritual condition will necessarily be expressed by them also outwardly, in corresponding deeds, just as the waves of a turbulent sea always cast mire and filth onto the shore. * * * Notes Religious syncretism is the union of diverse doctrinal and cultic elements in the process of mutual influence of religions in their historical development. Ed. note. Here the continuation of the Slavonic text of verse 17 is omitted—“and I was grieved, and I went feeble in my ways.” The meaning is entirely clear—not only did he grieve the wicked, but made him feeble (sick, weak). Ed. note. In the Slavonic translation—“extortion, which is idolatry”—it has a different meaning. Extortion is thievery; in the Russian translation, however—covetousness—accumulation. Ed. note.