Isaiah 2:17

And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(17) And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down.—Iteration is used as the most solemn form of emphasis. That was the burden of the prophet’s song.

Benson Commentary

Isaiah 2:17-18. And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down — Here the prophet expresses literally what he had delivered metaphorically in the preceding verses. The same things were asserted Isaiah 2:11, but they are here repeated, partly to assure the people of the certainty of them, and partly to fix them more deeply in their minds, because men are very backward to believe and consider things of this nature. And the idols he shall utterly abolish — He will discover the impotency of idols to succour their worshippers, and thereby destroy the worship of them in the world.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

2:10-22 The taking of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans seems first meant here, when idolatry among the Jews was done away; but our thoughts are led forward to the destruction of all the enemies of Christ. It is folly for those who are pursued by the wrath of God, to think to hide or shelter themselves from it. The shaking of the earth will be terrible to those who set their affections on things of the earth. Men's haughtiness will be brought down, either by the grace of God convincing them of the evil of pride, or by the providence of God depriving them of all the things they were proud of. The day of the Lord shall be upon those things in which they put their confidence. Those who will not be reasoned out of their sins, sooner or later shall be frightened out of them. Covetous men make money their god; but the time will come when they will feel it as much their burden. This whole passage may be applied to the case of an awakened sinner, ready to leave all that his soul may be saved. The Jews were prone to rely on their heathen neighbours; but they are here called upon to cease from depending on mortal man. We are all prone to the same sin. Then let not man be your fear, let not him be your hope; but let your hope be in the Lord your God. Let us make this our great concern.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And the loftiness ... - see the note at Isaiah 2:11. The repetition of this makes it strongly emphatic.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

17. Repeated from Isa 2:11, for emphatic confirmation.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

This he repeats again, partly to assure us of the certainty of it, and partly to fix it deeper in men’s minds, because they are very backward to believe and consider things of this nature.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down,.... This, with what follows in this verse, is repeated for the confirmation and certainty of it; and also for the further explanation of what is before figuratively and metaphorically expressed. See Gill on Isaiah 2:11. Jarchi interprets "that day", here spoken of, of the day of judgment; and then indeed every tongue shall confess, whether they will or not, that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father, Philippians 2:11.

Geneva Study Bible

And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 17. - The loftiness of man. This verse interrupts the sequence of the thoughts somewhat awkwardly. It is a sort of refrain (see ver. 11; and for the use of refrains in Hebrew poetry, see Exodus 15:1, 21; Psalm evil. 8, 15, 21, 31), and perhaps comes in for rhythmical reasons, to the detriment of the sense. Isaiah 2:17

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Isaiah 2:17 closes the second strophe of the proclamation of judgment appended to the earlier prophetic word: "And the haughtiness of the people is bowed down, and the pride of the lords brought low; and Jehovah, He alone, stands exalted on that day." The closing refrain only varies a little from Isaiah 2:11. The subjects of the verbs are transposed. With a feminine noun denoting a thing, it is almost a rule that the predicate shall be placed before it in masculine (Ges. 147, a).