Isaiah 5:15

And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(15) The mean man shall be brought.—The recurrence of the burden of Isaiah 2:9; Isaiah 2:11-12; Isaiah 2:17, connects Isaiah 5 with the earlier portion of the introduction.

Benson Commentary

Isaiah 5:15-17. And the mean man, &c. — All of them, both high and low, shall be brought to destruction. But the Lord shall be exalted in judgment — By the execution of his just judgment upon his incorrigible enemies. And God that is holy shall be sanctified — Shall appear to be a holy God; in righteousness — That is, by displaying his righteousness, or executing his righteous judgments. Then, &c. — When God shall have finished that work of judgment upon the ungodly, he will extend mercy to the remainder; the lambs — The poor and harmless people, who shall be left in the land, when the rich are carried into captivity, as it happened 2 Kings 25:12; shall feed after their manner — Or, without restraint, as Bishop Lowth renders it. And the waste places of the fat ones — The lands left by their owners, the rich and great men, who were either slain or carried into captivity; shall strangers eat — The poor Israelites who were left in the land to be vine-dressers and husbandmen, who are called strangers, because they were so in reference to that land, not being the proper owners of it, nor related to them. Vitringa is of opinion that this verse “refers to the first disciples of Jesus Christ, who, seeing and deploring the destruction of the Jews, should rest safely under the protection of God; while, according to the next clause, the Gentiles should be brought into the communion of the church, and rejoice in those benefits, prerogatives, and privileges, whereof the carnal, rich, and luxurious Jews were deprived.” See John 10:16.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

5:8-23 Here is a woe to those who set their hearts on the wealth of the world. Not that it is sinful for those who have a house and a field to purchase another; but the fault is, that they never know when they have enough. Covetousness is idolatry; and while many envy the prosperous, wretched man, the Lord denounces awful woes upon him. How applicable to many among us! God has many ways to empty the most populous cities. Those who set their hearts upon the world, will justly be disappointed. Here is woe to those who dote upon the pleasures and the delights of sense. The use of music is lawful; but when it draws away the heart from God, then it becomes a sin to us. God's judgments have seized them, but they will not disturb themselves in their pleasures. The judgments are declared. Let a man be ever so high, death will bring him low; ever so mean, death will bring him lower. The fruit of these judgments shall be, that God will be glorified as a God of power. Also, as a God that is holy; he shall be owned and declared to be so, in the righteous punishment of proud men. Those are in a woful condition who set up sin, and who exert themselves to gratify their base lusts. They are daring in sin, and walk after their own lusts; it is in scorn that they call God the Holy One of Israel. They confound and overthrow distinctions between good and evil. They prefer their own reasonings to Divine revelations; their own devices to the counsels and commands of God. They deem it prudent and politic to continue profitable sins, and to neglect self-denying duties. Also, how light soever men make of drunkenness, it is a sin which lays open to the wrath and curse of God. Their judges perverted justice. Every sin needs some other to conceal it.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And the mean man ... the mighty man - The expressions here mean that "all" ranks would be subdued and punished; see the note at Isaiah 2:9.

The eyes of the lofty ... - see Isaiah 2:11, note; Isaiah 2:17, note.

Shall be exalted in judgment - In his justice; he shall so manifest his justice as to be exalted in the view of tbe people.

Shall be sanctified - Shall be "regarded" as holy. He shall so manifest his righteousness in his dealings, that it shall be seen and felt that he is a holy God.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

15. (Compare Isa 2:9, 11, 17). All ranks, "mean" and "mighty" alike; so "honorable" and "multitude" (Isa 5:13).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

All of them, both high and low, shall be brought to destruction.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And the mean man shall be brought down,.... To hell, or the grave, as well as the rich and noble:

and the mighty man shall be humbled; laid low in the dust, and be equal to the poor; for, in the grave, princes and peasants are alike; or they shall be all alike, in the same low and miserable condition:

and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled; when famine and distress, ruin and misery, come upon them, then shall the pride of those be abased, as it was; who boasted of their riches and honour, of their descent and parentage, as the children of Abraham, and as being free men, and never in bondage; of their righteousness and good works; not submitting to the righteousness of Christ; but despising it, and looking with disdain upon, and treating with contempt, such as they thought less holy than themselves. The Scribes and Pharisees, the members of the sanhedrim, and rulers of the people, together with the whole body of the nation, are meant; who were all of the same cast and complexion, being conceited of themselves, and proud boasters.

Geneva Study Bible

And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled:

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

15, 16. A reminiscence of the refrain in ch. Isaiah 2:9; Isaiah 2:11; Isaiah 2:17; but with significant modifications. These verses seem to interrupt the connexion of Isaiah 5:17 with Isaiah 5:14, and are either parenthetical or interpolated.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 15. - And the mean man, hall be brought down; rather, so the mean man is brought down; i.e. in this way, by the Captivity and the consequent sufferings and deaths, both high and low are brought down and humbled, while God is exalted in man's sight. The future is throughout spoken of as present (comp. Isaiah 2:9, 11, 17). Isaiah 5:15

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The prophet now repeats a thought which formed one of the refrains of the second prophetic address (Isaiah 2:9, Isaiah 2:11, cf., Isaiah 2:17). It acquires here a still deeper sense, from the context in which it stands. "Then are mean men bowed down, and lords humbled, and the eyes of lofty men are humbled. And Jehovah of hosts shows Himself exalted in judgment, and God the Holy One sanctifies Himself in righteousness." That which had exalted itself from earth to heaven, would be cast down earthwards into hell. The consecutive futures depict the coming events, which are here represented as historically present, as the direct sequel of what is also represented as present in Isaiah 5:14 : Hades opens, and then both low and lofty in Jerusalem sink down, and the soaring eyes now wander about in horrible depths. God, who is both exalted and holy in Himself, demanded that as the exalted One He should be exalted, and that as the Holy One He should be sanctified. But Jerusalem had not done that; He would therefore prove Himself the exalted One by the execution of justice, and sanctify Himself (nikdash is to be rendered as a reflective verb, according to Ezekiel 36:23; Ezekiel 38:23) by the manifestation of righteousness, in consequence of which the people of Jerusalem would have to give Him glory against their will, as forming part of "the things under the earth" (Philippians 2:10). Jerusalem has been swallowed up twice in this manner by Hades; once in the Chaldean war, and again in the Roman. But the invisible background of these outward events was the fact, that it had already fallen under the power of hell. And now, even in a more literal sense, ancient Jerusalem, like the company of Korah (Numbers 16:30, Numbers 16:33), has gone underground. Just as Babylon and Nineveh, the ruins of which are dug out of the inexhaustible mine of their far-stretching foundation and soil, have sunk beneath the ground; so do men walk about in modern Jerusalem over the ancient Jerusalem, which lies buried beneath; and many an enigma of topography will remain an enigma until ancient Jerusalem has been dug out of the earth again.