Isaiah 65:2

I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts;

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(2) I have spread out my hands . . .—Here, of course, the words were meant for Israel, as St. Paul applies them. It may not be without interest to note the fact that the words stand over the portal of the Church of Santa Maria, which stands at the entrance of the Ghetto at Rome. Of how many churches at Rome and elsewhere might it not be said, “Thou art the man,” “The beam is in thine own eye”?

Benson Commentary

Isaiah 65:2. I have spread out my hands — This is applied to the Jews, Romans 10:21. I have stretched out my hands, I have used all means to reduce them; I have stretched out the hands of a passionate orator, to persuade them; of a liberal benefactor, to load them with my benefits: this I have done continually, in the whole course of my providence with them. To a rebellious people — Yet they are a rebellious people. St. Paul expounds it by λαον απειθουντα και αντιλεγοντα, A people not persuaded, not believing, or, not obeying; but gainsaying, or, contradicting the word and will of God. Which walketh in a way that is not good — Less is expressed than is intended: the meaning is, in a way that is very bad. After their own thoughts — Or, as it is elsewhere expressed, after the imaginations of their hearts; a usual phrase to describe sin, especially in the matter of God’s worship. The Prophet Jeremiah expresses sin in this manner many times.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

65:1-7 The Gentiles came to seek God, and find him, because they were first sought and found of him. Often he meets some thoughtless trifler or profligate opposer, and says to him, Behold me; and a speedy change takes place. All the gospel day, Christ waited to be gracious. The Jews were bidden, but would not come. It is not without cause they are rejected of God. They would do what most pleased them. They grieved, they vexed the Holy Spirit. They forsook God's temple, and sacrificed in groves. They cared not for the distinction between clean and unclean meats, before it was taken away by the gospel. Perhaps this is put for all forbidden pleasures, and all that is thought to be gotten by sin, that abominable thing which the Lord hates. Christ denounced many woes against the pride and hypocrisy of the Jews. The proof against them is plain. And let us watch against pride and self-preference, remembering that every sin, and the most secret thoughts of man's heart, are known and will be judged by God.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

I have spread out my hands - To spread out the hands is an action denoting invitation or entreaty Proverbs 1:24. The sense is, that God had invited the Jews constantly to partake of his favors, but they had been rebellious, and had rejected his offers.

All the day - I have not ceased to do it. The Chaldee renders this, 'I sent my prophets all the day to a rebellious people.'

Unto a rebellious people - (See the notes at Isaiah 1:2). Paul renders this, Πρὸς λαον ἀπειθοῦντα καὶ ἀντιλέγοντα Pros laon apeithounta kai antilegonta - 'Unto a disobedient and gainsaying people;' but the sense is substantially preserved.

Which walketh - In what way they did this, the prophet specifies in the following verse. This is the general reason why he had rejected them, and why he had resolved to make the offer of salvation to the Gentiles. This, at first, was a reason for the calamities which God had brought upon the nation in the suffering of the exile, but it also contains a general principle of which that was only one specimen. They had been rebellious, and God had brought this calamity upon them. It would be also true in future times, that he would reject them and offer salvation to the pagan world, and would be found by those who had never sought for him or called on his name.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2. spread out … hands—inviting them earnestly (Pr 1:24).

all … day—continually, late and early (Jer 7:13).

rebellious people—Israel, whose rebellion was the occasion of God's turning to the Gentiles (Ro 11:11, 12, 15).

way … not good—that is, the very reverse of good, very bad (Eze 36:31).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

I have spread out my hands; applied to the Jews, Romans 10:21, I have stretched out my hands; that is, I have used all probable means to reduce them, I have stretched out the hands of a passionate orator to persuade them, of a tender mother to protect and defend them, of a liberal benefactor to lead them with my benefits; this I have done continually in the whole course of my providence with them, yet they are a rebellious people. Paul expounded it by, apeiyounta kai antigegonta, a people not persuaded, not believing, but contradicting the will of God.

Which walketh in a way that was not good; that term, is not good, often signifies what is very bad: see 1 Samuel 2:21 Proverbs 24:23 28:21 Psalm 36:4. Though all sins be not equal, yet what is not good is bad.

After their own thoughts: what is here called after their own thoughts, is elsewhere called a walking after the imaginations of their hearts; an ordinary phrase, by which sins (especially sins in the matter of the worship of God) are expressed. Eight times, in the prophet Jeremiah sinning is thus expressed, Jeremiah 3:17 7:24 9:14 11:8 13:10 16:12 18:12 23:17; so also Deu 29:19. Errors in matter of worship are ordinarily thus expressed, certainly to let us know that all worship must be according to God’s revealed will, and of such errors this text seemeth, by what followeth, to speak; though indeed the reason of all sin is men’s fondness of their own imaginations in opposition to God’s revealed will, whence it is that self-denial is made the law of a discipleship to Christ.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

I have spread out mine hands all the day unto a rebellious people,.... Meaning Israel, as the apostle explains it, Romans 10:21, whom he calls a "disobedient and gainsaying people"; who believed not in Christ, obeyed not his Gospel, but contradicted and blasphemed it; and were rebellious against him, would not have him to reign over them, nor submit to his ordinances; though he most affectionately invited them, earnestly pressed and urged them, and that daily and frequently, to attend his ministry; and used all human methods to gain audience of them, and acceptance with them, but all to no purpose; see Matthew 23:37, they remained obstinate and inflexible, and so they did under the ministry of his apostles; for, notwithstanding their ill usage of him, he ordered the Gospel to be first preached to them, as it was, till they treated it with such indignity and contempt, that the apostles turned away from them to the Gentiles, as they were bid; see Acts 13:46. The Targum is,

"I sent my prophets every day, &c.''

which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts; in their own way, of their own devising, choosing, and approving, and which was a wicked one; and after their own imaginations and inventions; after the traditions of the elders the doctrines and commandments of men; and after a righteousness of their own, which they sought by the works of the law, and so submitted not to, but rejected the righteousness of Christ.

Geneva Study Bible

I have {b} spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that is not good, after their own {c} thoughts;

(b) He shows the reason for the rejection of the Jews, because they would not obey him or any admonition of his prophets, by whom he called them continually and stretch out his hand to draw them.

(c) He shows that to delight in our own fantasies is the declining from God and the beginning of all superstitions and idolatry.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

2. spread out mine hands] The attitude of supplication; cf. Proverbs 1:24.

a rebellious (refractory, Hosea 4:16) people] LXX. has; λαὸν ἀπειθοῦντα καὶ ἀντιλέγοντα; and so the citation Romans 10:21.

a way that was not good] “A not-good way” (litotes). The same phrase in Psalm 36:4; Proverbs 16:29.

The people referred to here are necessarily the same as those described in the sequel. If these be the paganised Israelites of the North who had not shared the Captivity the two verses reveal an important fact not otherwise recorded. The prophetic representatives of Jehovah in the post-exilic community must, in that case, have sought to win over these outcasts to the pure worship of Jehovah, and the acceptance of the Law. This might appear to be inconsistent with what is told in Ezra 4:1-3, where the friendly advances of the Samaritans are met with a stern refusal on the part of the Jews. But the contradiction is perhaps only apparent. The Jewish leaders might very well have declined the co-operation of these people while they maintained their impure religion, and at the same time been eager to incorporate them in the Theocracy on the terms offered to foreigners in ch. Isaiah 56:6 f.

In Romans 10:20-21, St Paul quotes parts of these verses, applying Isaiah 65:1 to the conversion of the Gentiles and Isaiah 65:2 to the unbelief of Israel. Possibly this exegesis may have been traditional in the Apostle’s time (Delitzsch), although the primary sense of the passage is that the same persons are referred to throughout.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 2. - I have spread out my hands. Not exactly in prayer, but in expostulation (comp. Proverbs 1:24, "I have stretched out my hand," where the verb in the Hebrew is the same). All the day; or, all day long, as in Romans 10:21; i.e. continually, day after day, for years - nay, for centuries. A rebellions people (comp. Isaiah 30:1; and see also Isaiah 1:4, 23; Hosea 4:16; Jeremiah 5:23; Jeremiah 6:28). The "rebellions people" ('am sorer)is undoubtedly Israel. In a way that was not good; rather, in the way that is not good; i.e. the "way of sinners" (Psalm 1:1) - the "way that leadeth to destruction" (Matthew 7:13). Isaiah 65:2

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

After the people have poured out their heart before Jehovah, He announces what they may expect from Him. But instead of commencing with a promise, as we might anticipate after the foregoing prayer, He begins with reproach and threatening; for although the penitential portion of the community had included the whole nation in their prayer, it was destruction, and not deliverance, which awaited one portion of the nation, and that portion was the greater one. The great mass were in that state of "sin unto death" which defies all intercession (1 John 5:16), because they had so scornfully and obstinately resisted the grace which had been so long and so incessantly offered to them. "I was discernible to those who did not inquire, discoverable by those who did not seek me. I said, 'Here am I, here am I,' to a nation where my name was not called. I spread out my hands all the day to a refractory people, who walked in the way that was not good, after their own thoughts." The lxx (A) render Isaiah 65:1, "I was found by those who did not seek me, I became manifest to those who did not ask for me" (B reverses the order); and in Romans 10:20-21, Paul refers Isaiah 65:1 to the Gentiles, and Isaiah 65:2 to Israel. The former, to whom He has hitherto been strange, enter into fellowship with Him; whilst the latter, to whom He has constantly offered Himself, thrust Him away, and lose His fellowship. Luther accordingly adopts this rendering: "I shall be sought by those who did not ask for me, I shall be found by those who did not seek me. And to the heathen who did not call upon my name, I say, Here am I, here am I." Zwingli, again, observes on Isaiah 65:1, "This is an irresistible testimony to the adoption of the Gentiles." Calvin also follows the apostle's exposition, and observes, that "Paul argues boldly for the calling of the Gentiles on the ground of this passage, and says that Isaiah dared to proclaim and assert that the Gentiles had been called by God, because he announced a greater thing, and announced it more clearly than the reason of those times would bear." Of all the Jewish expositors, where is only one, viz., Gecatilia, who refers v. 1 to the Gentiles; and of all the Christina expositors of modern times, there is only one, viz., Hendewerk, who interprets it in this way, without having been influenced by the quotation made by Paul. Hofman, however, and Stier, feel obliged to follow the apostle's exposition, and endeavour to vindicate it. But we have no sympathy with any such untenable efforts to save the apostle's honour. In Romans 9:25-26, he also quotes Hosea 2:23 and Hosea 2:1 in support of the calling of the Gentiles; whereas he could not have failed to know, that it is the restoration of Israel to favour which is alluded to there. He merely appeals to Hosea 2 in support of the New Testament fact of the calling of the Gentiles, so far as it is in these words of the Old Testament prophet that the fact is most adequately expressed. And according to 1 Peter 2:10, Peter received the same impression from Hosea's words.

But with the passage before us it is very different. The apostle shows, by the way in which he applies the Scripture, how he depended in this instance upon the Septuagint translation, which was in his own hands and those of his readers also, and by which the allusion to the Gentiles is naturally suggested, even if not actually demanded. And we may also assume that the apostle himself understood the Hebrew text, with which he, the pupil of Rabban Gamaliel, was of course well acquainted, in the same sense, viz., as relating to the calling of the Gentiles, without being therefore legally bound to adopt the same interpretation. The interchange of גּוי (cf., Isaiah 55:5) and עם; the attribute בשׁים קרא לא, which applies to heathen, and heathen only; the possibility of interpreting Isaiah 65:1-2, in harmony with the context both before and after, if Isaiah 65:1 be taken as referring to the Gentiles, on the supposition that Jehovah is here contrasting His success with the Gentiles and His failure with Israel: all these certainly throw weight into the scale. Nevertheless they are not decisive, if we look at the Hebrew alone, apart altogether from the lxx. For nidrashtı̄ does not mean "I have become manifest;" but, regarded as the so-called niphal tolerativum (according to Ezekiel 14:3; Ezekiel 20:3, Ezekiel 20:31; Ezekiel 36:37), "I permitted myself to be explored or found out;" and consequently נמצאתי, according to Isaiah 55:6, "I let myself be found." And so explained, Isaiah 65:1 stands in a parallel relation to Isaiah 55:6 : Jehovah was searchable, was discoverable (cf., Zephaniah 1:6) to those who asked no questions, and did not seek Him (ללוא equals לא לאשׁר, Ges. 123, 3), i.e., He displayed to Israel the fulness of His nature and the possibility of His fellowship, although they did not bestir themselves or trouble themselves in the least about Him - a view which is confirmed by the fact that Isaiah 65:1 merely refers to offers made to them, and not to results of any kind. Israel, however, is called בשׁמי אל־קרא גוי, not as a nation that was not called by Jehovah's name (which would be expressed by נקרא, Isaiah 43:7; cf., מקראי, κλητός μου, Isaiah 48:12), but as a nation where (supply 'ăsher) Jehovah's name was not invoked (lxx "who called not upon my name"), and therefore as a thoroughly heathenish nation; for which reason we have gōi (lxx ἔθνος) here, and not ‛am (lxx λαός). Israel was estranged from Him, just like the heathen; but He still turned towards them with infinite patience, and (as is added in Isaiah 65:2) with ever open arms of love. He spread out His hands (as a man does to draw another towards him to embrace him) all the day (i.e., continually, cf., Isaiah 28:24) towards an obstinate people, who walked in the way that was not good (cf., Psalm 36:5; Proverbs 16:29; here with the article, which could not be repeated with the adjective, because of the לא), behind their own thoughts. That which led them, and which they followed, was not the will of God, but selfish views and purposes, according to their won hearts' lusts; and yet Jehovah did not let them alone, but they were the constant thought and object of His love, which was ever seeking, alluring, and longing for their salvation.