For thou hast cast off thy people, the house of Jacob: because they are filled as in times past, and have had soothsayers as the Philistines, and have adhered to strange children.

“But as there the prophet says, 'And now, O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the Lord; for He has sent away His people, the house of Jacob, because their land was full, as at the first, of soothsayers and divinations;' even so it is necessary for us here to observe that there are two seeds of Judah, and two races, as there are two houses of Jacob: the one begotten by blood and flesh, the other by faith and the Spirit.”

“What did the prophet Isaiah mean when he announced that a mountain would be prepared on the summits of the mountains, to which all peoples were going to come? The law and the Word of God was going to proceed from Zion and Jerusalem to all nations, not from Mount Sinai to one nation. This we see most evidently fulfilled in Christ and the Christians. A little later the prophet says, "O house of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the Lord." Here, you [the Jews] will surely say your usual piece: "We are the house of Jacob," but listen a moment to what follows, and when you have said what you want to say, hear what you do not want to hear. The prophet continues, "For he has cast off his people, the house of Israel." Here say, "We are the house of Israel"; here acknowledge yourselves and forgive us for reminding you of these facts.”

“For You have forsaken Your people, the house of Jacob The prophet addresses the Shechinah and says, “For until now You have forsaken Your People because of their iniquity.” [Other editions read:] “...that which You have forsaken Your people was because of their iniquity, for they are full of [witchcraft] from the East,” and the entire section, and all the chapters follow one another, until (ch. 5) “I will sing now...” Therefore, in the end of days, when the sinners perish, it will be good for them(Parshandatha). (Another explanation is: The prophet admonishes them and says this to them, “For you have forsaken your people, O house of Jacob...” You have forgotten [the deed of your people—Parshandatha] the good deed through which you became a people, you house of Jacob.) for they are full...from the east Their hosts have become full of the deeds of the Arameans who dwell in the East, who were sorcerers and used the name of pagan deities. [Other editions read:]...and used the name of defilement [sorcery and demonism—Rashi ad loc.], as we say in Ch. Chelek (Sanh. 91a): “Abraham gave gifts” (Gen. 25:6)He gave them the name of defilement and sent them away to the land of the East [as quoted by Parshandatha]. and with children of gentiles they please themselves They cohabit with the daughters of the heathens and mingle with them, and they would bear children to them, with whom they are always pleased, and they occupy themselves [with them] and long for them and bother with them. This is an expression similar to [that of] (Job 36:18) “lest he incite you because of abundance (בְּשֶׂפֶק)” [debatement in O.F].”

“Thou hast forsaken, etc. Some refer the second person to God, and say that the prophet confesses here before Him that He has justly forsaken them, for they are full of Eastern customs, etc. R. Moses Hakkohen refers it to Israel, and explains accordingly : Thou, O Israel, hast forgotten thy people and its religion. מלאו According to some, they are enthusiastic; comp. מלא with enthusiasm (Jer. 12:6); I think that it means, they are full, namely, with the wisdom of the children of the East, the Aramæans ; comp. Aram in the east, and the Philistines in the west (9:11); the next is, therefore, And are soothsayers like the Philistines. בית יעקב in this verse must then be vocative, like the first (5:5). ובילדי And with ideas of. And with what they bring forth by thought; for the resultant of any two forces is called נולד ‘ born, product.’ ישפיקו They satisfy themselves. Comp. יִשְׂפׂק ‘it shall suffice’ (1 Kings 20:10), although of a different conjugation; the latter being Kal, the former Hiphil. They are satisfied with secular knowledge, and do not seek for the prophecy, which is the best light.”

“And he shall judge. Here he promises peace to those converted; and concerning this he does three things. First he sets down the effective cause of peace; second, the sign of peace: and they shall beat their swords; third, the fruit of peace: nation shall not lift up. The effective cause of peace is the judgment of the king; and therefore he first says: he shall judge the nations, giving them laws, and shall rebuke the peoples, correcting sins. Below, 11: he shall judge the poor in justice, and shall rebuke in equity for the meek of the earth. The sign of peace is that instruments of war are turned into the cultivation of the field: hence he says: and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares. Psalm 45: he shall break the bow, and shatter the weapons. The fruit of peace is in the removal of enemies: hence he says: nation shall not lift up sword against nation. Below, 26: the old error has departed, you will keep peace, peace, because we have hoped in you. But against this, because afterward there were many wars. The Gloss answers, that they were not so great as before. Hence in the time of Antichrist, although there is to be the greatest persecution of the saints, yet they will have great peace among themselves, as was the case in the time of Diocletian. Or it should better be said that it refers to the peace made through Christ, which will be completed in the future. House of Jacob. Here is set down the calling of the Jews made after the conversion of the Gentiles: either from the person of the prophet, or from the person of the Gentiles, so that those who were at the head may be at the tail. Romans 11: blindness in part has happened until the fullness of the Gentiles should come in, and thus all Israel would be saved. Let us walk — together and in harmony, that there may be one fold. John 10: and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. In the light. John 12: walk while you have the light. For you have cast off. Here he shows their guilt: first in general; second in particular, at the place, and they have had soothsayers. Concerning the first he does two things. First he shows their distancing from God, when he says, for you have cast off: and as the Gloss continues: they are rightly to be called, because you have cast off. Jeremiah 22: why are he and his seed cast out, and cast forth into a land which they have not known. Second he gives the reason for the distancing, namely because they are filled with iniquity, as of old, in Egypt. Jeremiah 23: the land is filled with adulteries; for there is no cause of distancing from God except sin. Hence below, 59: your sins have divided between you and God. And soothsayers. Here he sets down their fault in particular; and especially concerning idolatry, which he charges against them in three ways. First as to their pagan manner of life; second as to the occasion of idolatry, at the place, the land is filled; third as to the observance of the cult, at the place, and the land is filled. He reproves their pagan manner of life in two respects. First as to the diviners and soothsayers whom they had: hence he says: soothsayers — that is, those who foretell future things from the voice and chattering of birds — they have had, like the Philistines, among whom this superstition especially flourished, against what is commanded in Deuteronomy 18: take care lest you wish to imitate the abominations of those nations. And immediately below: let there not be found among you one who consults soothsayers, and observes dreams and auguries. But it seems that augury is not a sin. For birds have a better estimative sense than fish, which are more watery; but sailors, from the movement of certain fish, take conjectures about a coming storm: therefore also through birds something can be foretold about future things. And it must be said that God has provided for each thing those means by which it can be preserved in being, according to the capacity of its nature: and therefore to man he gave reason, by which, through deliberation, he can discover for himself remedies against harmful things. And because in brute animals reason is lacking, he ordained that what is lacking from reason, nature should supply; and therefore to such creatures are given, naturally, weapons and coverings, which man acquires for himself through art. Likewise also there was created in them a certain natural power of estimation, impelling them to perform the works of their species. Hence they are acted upon rather than act, as the Damascene says. And since the lower nature is regulated by the higher nature and is moved by it, there remain in them impressions of the higher motions, stirring up a motion of this kind by which they are moved to provide for themselves in what is necessary. And in such matters, to take a conjecture from birds, or the movements of birds, or of other animals, is not a sin; but only concerning those things which have their cause from free will, which does not operate by the necessity of the stars. Second, as to unnatural passions, to which they were subject: hence he says: to strange children — that is, foreigners, or those alien from God — they clung, through shameful abuse. Romans 1: males working shameful acts with males. 2 Maccabees 4 speaks of this vice: for this was, moreover, a certain increase and advance of pagan and foreign manner of life, on account of the wicked and unpriestly Jason's nefarious and unheard-of crime. The land is filled. Here he sets down the occasion of idolatry, which is avarice or likeness. Ephesians 5: or avarice (...) which is the service of idols. First, therefore, he shows their avarice as to the multiplication of things pertaining to the necessity of sustenance, when he says, the land is filled: in which the abundance of things is noted; and there is no end: in which is noted the insatiability of the avaricious man, who will not be filled with money. Ecclesiasticus 5: the avaricious man will not be filled with money; and he who loves riches will receive no fruit from them. And Hosea 2: I gave them grain, wine and oil and silver, and I multiplied them, and gold; which they made into Baals. Second, as to things which pertain to the use of the one who carries, when he says, filled. Psalm 19: these in chariots, and these on horses; but we, etc. And the land is filled. Here he charges against them the cult of idolatry; and he aggravates this from three things. First from the multitude, when he says, and it is filled. Hosea 7: Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning. Jeremiah 2: under every leafy tree and on every high hill you lay down, a harlot. Second from the vileness of the idols: because it is the work of their own hands, and still more what their fingers have made. Psalm 113: the idols of the nations are silver and gold, the works of the hands of men. Third from the dignity of man: and therefore he says: man, who was made to the image of God, has bowed himself down, subjecting himself to idols; the man, who seemed virtuous as to what he had acquired, has been humbled. Psalm 48: man, when he was in honor, did not understand; he was compared to senseless beasts, and became like them. Below, 44: he bows down before it, and worships, and says, deliver me.”

“The calling in of the Gentiles was accompanied with the rejection of the Jews; it was their fall, and the diminishing of them, that was the riches of the Gentiles; and the casting off of them was the reconciling of the world (Rom 11:12-15); and it should seem that these verses have reference to that, and are designed to justify God therein, and yet it is probable that they are primarily intended for the convincing and awakening of the men of that generation in which the prophet lived, it being usual with the prophets to speak of the things that then were, both in mercy and judgment, as types of the things that should be hereafter. Here is, I. Israel's doom. This is set forth in two words, the first and the last of this paragraph; but they are two dreadful words, and which speak, 1. Their case sad, very sad (Isa 2:6): Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people. Miserable is the condition of that people whom God has forsaken, and great certainly must the provocation be if he forsake those that have been his own people. This was the deplorable case of the Jewish church after they had rejected Christ. Migremus hinc - Let us go hence. Your house is left unto you desolate, Mat 23:38. Whenever any sore calamity came upon the Jews thus far the Lord might be said to forsake them that he withdrew his help and succour from them, else they would not have fallen into the hands of their enemies. But God never leaves any till they first leave him. 2. Their case desperate, wholly desperate (Isa 2:9): Therefore forgive them not. This prophetical prayer amounts to a threatening that they should not be forgiven, and some think it may be read: And thou wilt not forgive them. This refers not to particular persons (many of them repented and were pardoned), but to the body of that nation, against whom an irreversible doom was passed, that they should be wholly cut off and their church quite dismantled, never to be formed into such a body again, nor ever to have their old charter restored to them. II. Israel's desert of this doom, and the reasons upon which it is grounded. In general, it is sin that brings destruction upon them; it is this, and nothing but this, that provokes God to forsake his people. The particular sins which the prophet specifies are such as abounded among them at that time, which he makes mention of for the conviction of those to whom he then preached, rather than that which afterwards proved the measure-filling sin, their crucifying Christ and persecuting his followers; for the sins of every age contributed towards the making up of the dreadful account at last. And there was a partial and temporary rejection of them by the captivity in Babylon hastening on, which was a type of their final destruction by the Romans, and which the sins here mentioned brought upon them. Their sins were such as directly contradicted all God's kind and gracious designs concerning them. 1. God set them apart for himself, as a peculiar people, distinguished from, and dignified above, all other people (Num 23:9); but they were replenished from the east; they naturalized foreigners, not proselyted, and encouraged them to settle among them, and mingled with them, Hos 7:8. Their country was peopled with Syrians and Chaldeans, Moabites and Ammonites, and other eastern nations, and with them they admitted the fashions and customs of those nations, and pleased themselves in the children of strangers, were fond of them, preferred their country before their own, and thought the more they conformed to them the more polite and refined they were; thus did they profane their crown and their covenant. Note, Those are in danger of being estranged from God who please themselves with those who are strangers to him, for we soon learn the ways of those whose company we love. 2. God gave them his oracles, which they might ask counsel of, not only the scriptures and the seers, but the breast-plate of judgment; but they slighted these, and became soothsayers like the Philistines, introduced their arts of divination, and hearkened to those who by the stars, or the clouds, or the flight of birds, or the entrails of beasts, or other magic superstitions, pretended to discover things secret or foretel things to come. The Philistines were noted for diviners, Sa1 6:2. Note, Those who slight true divinity are justly given up to lying divinations; and those will certainly be forsaken of God who thus forsake him and their own mercies for lying vanities. 3. God encouraged them to put their confidence in him, and assured them that he would be their wealth and strength; but, distrusting his power and promise, they made gold their hope, and furnished themselves with horses and chariots, and relied upon them for their safety, Isa 2:7. God had expressly forbidden even their kings to multiply horses to themselves and greatly to multiply silver and gold, because he would have them to depend upon himself only; but they did not think their interest in God made them a match for their neighbours unless they had as full treasures of silver and gold, and as formidable hosts of chariots and horses, as they had. It is not having silver and gold, horses and chariots, that is a provocation to God, but, (1.) Desiring them insatiably, so that there is no end of the treasures, no end of the chariots, no bounds or limits set to the desire of them. Those shall never have enough in God (who alone is all-sufficient) that never know when they have enough of this world, which at the best is insufficient. (2.) Depending upon them, as if we could not be safe, and easy, and happy, without them, and could not but be so with them. 4. God himself was their God, the sole object of their worship, and he himself instituted ordinances of worship for them; but they slighted both him and his institutions, Isa 2:8. Their land was full of idols; every city had its god (Jer 11:13); and, according to the goodness of their lands, they made goodly images, Hos 10:1. Those that think one God too little will find two too many, and yet hundreds were not sufficient; for those that love idols will multiply them; so sottish were they, and so wretchedly infatuated, that they worshipped the work of their own hands, as if that could be a god to them which was not only a creature, but their creature and that which their own fancies had devised and their own fingers had made. It was an aggravation of their idolatry that God had enriched them with silver and gold, and yet of that silver and gold they made idols; so it was, Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked, see Hos 2:8. 5. God had advanced them, and put honour upon them; but they basely diminished and disparaged themselves (Isa 2:9): The mean man boweth down to his idol, a thing below the meanest that has any spark of reason left. Sin is a disparagement to the poorest and those of the lowest rank. It becomes the mean man to bow down to his superiors, but it ill becomes him to bow down to the stock of a tree, Isa 44:19. Nor is it only the illiterate and poor-spirited that do this, but even the great men forgets his grandeur and humbles himself to worship idols, deifies men no better than himself, and consecrates stones so much baser than himself. Idolaters are said to debase themselves even to hell, Isa 57:9. What a shame it is that great men think the service of the true God below them and will not stoop to it, and yet will humble themselves to bow down to an idol! Some make this a threatening that the mean men shall be brought down, and the great men humbled, by the judgements of God, when they come with commission.”

“Jacob. Thus the converts address God, (Haydock) or the prophet gives the reasons of the subversion of the ten tribes. — Filled. Consecrated as priests. — Children. Imitating idolatrous nations, (Calmet) and marrying with them, (Calmet; Septuagint; Theodoret) or even giving way to unnatural sins. (St. Jerome) (Menochius) — The Jews were not utterly cast off till they had put Christ to death. His Church shall never perish. (Worthington)”

“Therefore--rather, "For": reasons why there is the more need of the exhortation in Isa 2:5. thou--transition to Jehovah: such rapid transitions are natural, when the mind is full of a subject. replenished--rather, filled, namely, with the superstitions of the East, Syria, and Chaldea. soothsayers--forbidden (Deu 18:10-14). Philistines--southwest of Palestine: antithesis to "the east." please themselves--rather, join hands with, that is, enter into alliances, matrimonial and national: forbidden (Exo 23:32; Neh 13:23, &c.).”

“"For Thou hast rejected Thy people, the house of Jacob; for they are filled with things from the east, and are conjurors like the Philistines; and with the children of foreigners they go hand in hand." Here again we have "for" (Chi) twice in succession; the first giving the reason for the warning cry, the second vindicating the reason assigned. The words are addressed to Jehovah, not to the people. Saad., Gecatilia, and Rashi adopt the rendering, "Thou has given up thy nationality;" and this rendering is supported by J. D. Michaelis, Hitzig, and Luzzatto. But the word means "people," not "nationality;" and the rendering is inadmissible, and would never have been thought of were it not that there was apparently something strange in so sudden an introduction of an address to God. But in Isa 2:9; Isa 9:2, and other passages, the prophecy takes the form of a prayer. And nâtash (cast off) with âm (people) for its object recals such passages as Psa 94:14 and Sa1 12:22. Jehovah had put away His people, i.e., rejected them, and left them to themselves, for the following reasons: (1.) Because they were "full from the east" (mikkedem: min denotes the source from which a person draws and fills himself, Jer 51:34; Eze 32:6), i.e., full of eastern manners and customs, more especially of idolatrous practices. By "the east" (kedem) we are to understand Arabia as far as the peninsula of Sinai, and also the Aramaean lands of the Euphrates. Under Uzziah and Jotham, whose sway extended to Elath, the seaport town of the Elanitic Gulf, the influence of the south-east predominated; but under Ahaz and Hezekiah, on account of their relations to Asshur, Aram, and Babylon, that of the north-east. The conjecture of Gesenius, that we should read mikkesem, i.e., of soothsaying, it a very natural one; but it obliterates without any necessity the name of the region from which Judah's imitative propensities received their impulse and materials. (2.) They were onenim (= meonenim, Mic 5:11, from the poelonen: Kg2 21:6), probably "cloud-gatherers" or "storm-raisers," (Note: There is no force in the explanation "concealing," i.e., practising secret arts; for the meaning "cover" or "conceal" is arbitrarily transferred to the verb onen, from gânan and Cânan, which are supposed to be cognate roots. As a denominative of ânân, the cloud, however (on this name for the clouds, see at Isa 4:5), onen might mean "he gathered auguries from the clouds." Or if we take onen as a synonym of innen in Gen 9:14, it would mean "to raise storms," which would give the rendering νεφοδιῶκται, tempestarii, storm-raisers. The derivation of onen from Ny(i, in the sense of the Arabic 'âna (impf. ya ı̄nu), as it were to ogle, oculo maligno petere et fascinare, founders on annen, the word used in the Targums, which cannot possibly be traced to Ny(i. From a purely philological standpoint, however, there is still another explanation possible. From the idea of coming to meet we get the transitive meaning to hold back, shut in, or hinder, particularly to hold back a horse by the reins (inân), or when applied to sexual relations, 'unna ('unnina, u'inna) )an el-mar'ati, "he is prevented (by magic) from approaching his wife," Beside the Arabic 'innı̄n and ma'nūn (to render sexually impotent by witchcraft), we find the Syriac 'anono used in the same sense.) like the Philistines (the people conquered by Uzziah, and then again by Hezekiah), among whom witchcraft was carried on in guilds, whilst a celebrated oracle of Baal-Zebub existed at Ekron. (3.) And they make common cause with children of foreigners. This is the explanation adopted by Gesenius, Knobel, and others. Sâphak with Cappaim signifies to clap hands (Job 27:23). The hiphil followed by Beth is only used here in the sense of striking hands with a person. Luzzatto explains it as meaning, "They find satisfaction in the children of foreigners; it is only through them that they are contented;" but this is contrary to the usage of the language, according to which hispik in post-biblical Hebrew signifies either suppeditare or (like saphak in Kg1 20:10) sufficere. Jerome renders it pueris alienis adhaeserunt; but yalde nâc'rim does not mean pueri alieni, boys hired for licentious purposes, but the "sons of strangers" generally (Isa 60:10; Isa 61:5), with a strong emphasis upon their unsanctified birth, the heathenism inherited from their mother's womb. With heathen by birth, the prophet would say, the people of Jehovah made common cause.”