Isaiah 22:12

And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(12) To weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness . . .—National danger, Isaiah adds, should call to a national repentance in its outward manifestations, like the fast described in Joel 2 “Baldness,’ produced by the tearing of the hair in extreme grief, took its place naturally, with weeping and sackcloth, in those manifestations.

Benson Commentary

Isaiah 22:12-14. And in that day did, or will, the Lord call, &c. — Another fault, which the prophet imputes to the carnal Jews, is impenitence, or carnal security. He foretels that God would call them to weeping and mourning, and other instances and evidences of humiliation and godly sorrow; but that, instead thereof, he should find them given up to joy and gladness, slaying oxen, &c., that is, to levity and luxury, mirth and feasting: saying, Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die — The prophet tells us, that we shall certainly and suddenly be destroyed; it concerns us, therefore, to make our best of the present time, and to be merry while we have opportunity: a most perverse and desperate conclusion, proceeding from obstinate profaneness and contempt of God’s judgments. It was revealed in mine ears — God himself hath said to me; Surely this iniquity shall not be purged till you die — This, your hardening your hearts, under and against God’s judgments, and defeating and rendering ineffectual the means provided for bringing you to repentance, shall never be forgiven you, but you shall feel the effects of such conduct, and of God’s displeasure against you for it, as long as you live.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

22:8-14 The weakness of Judah now appeared more than ever. Now also they discovered their carnal confidence and their carnal security. They looked to the fortifications. They made sure of water for the city. But they were regardless of God in all these preparations. They did not care for his glory in what they did. They did not depend upon him for a blessing on their endeavours. For every creature is to us what God makes it to be; and we must bless him for it, and use it for him. There was great contempt of God's wrath and justice, in contending with them. God's design was to humble them, and bring them to repentance. They walked contrary to this. Actual disbelief of another life after this, is at the bottom of the carnal security and brutish sensuality, which are the sin, the shame, and ruin of so great a part of mankind. God was displeased at this. It is a sin against the remedy, and it is not likely they should ever repent of it. Whether this unbelief works by presumption or despair, it produces the same contempt of God, and is a token that a man will perish wilfully.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And in that day - In the invasion of Sennacherib. It might be rendered, 'And the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, on such a day calls to weeping;' intimating that in such a time it was a general truth that God required those who were thus afflicted to weep, and fast, and pray.

Call to weeping - That is, by his providence; or, it was "proper" that at such a time they should weep. Affliction, oppression, and calamity are indications from God "always" that we ought to be humbled, and to prostrate ourselves before Him.

And to baldness - To plucking off the hair, or shaving the head - one of the emblems of grief among the ancients Job 1:20; Micah 1:16.

And to girding with sackcloth - (see the note at Isaiah 3:24).

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

12. did the Lord God call—Usually the priests gave the summons to national mourning (Joe 1:14); now Jehovah Himself shall give it; the "call" shall consist in the presence of a terrible foe. Translate, "shall call."

baldness—emblem of grief (Job 1:20; Mic 1:16).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Call; invite and oblige them by the course of his providence, and require this by the precepts requiring these things in such times and conditions.

To baldness; to make themselves bald, by plucking or shaving off the hair of their heads, as was usual in great sorrows, as Ezra 9:3 Job 1:20 Micah 1:16, although it was forbidden in case of the death of relations, for a special reason; of which see on Leviticus 19:27,28 21:5.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And in that day did the Lord God of hosts,.... When it was a day of trouble, of treading down, and of perplexity; when Jerusalem was besieged by the Assyrian army; and when the people were so much concerned, and so careful for their defence and preservation; then did the Lord

call to weeping and to mourning; to confess and mourn over their sins, the cause of these calamities; to lament their unhappy case; to humble themselves under the mighty hand of God, and, by prayer and supplication, with tears to implore his help and assistance, and grant them deliverance; this the Lord called them unto by the voice of his Providence, by the afflictive dispensations of it, and also by his prophets, whom he sent unto them, particularly the Prophet Isaiah; so the Targum,

"and the prophet of the Lord God of hosts called in that day,'' &c.:

and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth; which were external signs and tokens of inward sorrow and repentance; the former of which was done by shaving the head, or plucking off the hair, and was forbidden on private occasions, yet might be allowed in a public case; see Micah 1:16.

Geneva Study Bible

And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

12. in that day did the Lord … call] not only by the silent march of events, but also by the voice of His prophet: see ch. Isaiah 32:11. The call was to seriousness and humiliation, expressed by the customary signs of mourning. (Cf. Joel 2:12; Amos 8:10; Isaiah 3:24; Isaiah 20:2, &c.)

12–14. The ignoring of Jehovah’s presence in this crisis is an unpardonable sin.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 12. - In that day. The day alluded to in ver. 7, when the choice valleys in the neighborhood of Jerusalem were first seen to be full of a hostile soldiery, and the Assyrian horsemen were observed drawing themselves up opposite the gates. Such a sight constituted an earnest call upon the people for immediate repentance. Baldness (comp. Isaiah 15:2; Micah 1:16; Amos 8:10). It has been said that "baldness" was forbidden by the Law (Cheyne); but this is not so, absolutely. Baldness was wholly forbidden to the priests (Leviticus 21:5; comp. Ezekiel 44:20); and certain peculiar modes of shaving the hair, the beard, and the eyebrows, practiced by idolatrous nations, were prohibited to all the people (Leviticus 19:27; Deuteronomy 14:2). But such shaving of the head as was practiced by Job (Job 1:20) and other pious men, was not forbidden to laymen, any more than the wearing of sackcloth. It was regarded as a natural mode of exhibiting grief. Isaiah 22:12

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

And so far as it had proceeded already, it was a call from Jehovah to repentance. "The Lord, Jehovah of hosts, calls in that day to weeping, and to mourning, and to the pulling out of hair, and to girding with sackcloth; and behold joy and gladness, slaughtering of oxen and killing of sheep, eating of flesh and drinking of wine, eating and drinking, for 'tomorrow we die.' And Jehovah of hosts hath revealed in mine ears, Surely this iniquity shall not be expiated for you until ye die, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts." The first condition of repentance is a feeling of pain produced by the punishments of God. But upon Jerusalem they produce the opposite effect. The more threatening the future, the more insensibly and madly do they give themselves up to the rude, sensual enjoyment of the present. Shâthoth is interchanged with shâthō (which is only another form of שׁתה, as in Isaiah 6:9; Isaiah 30:19), to ring with shâchōt (compare Hosea 10:4). There are other passages in which we meet with unusual forms introduced for the sake of the play upon the words (vid., Isaiah 4:6; Isaiah 8:6; Isaiah 16:9, and compare Ezekiel 43:11, and the keri of 2 Samuel 3:25). The words of the rioters themselves, whose conduct is sketched by the inf. abs., which are all governed by hinnēh, are simply "for tomorrow we shall die." This does not imply that they feel any pleasure in the thought of death, but indicates a love of life which scoffs at death. Then the unalterable will of the all-commanding God is audibly and distinctly revealed to the prophet. Such scoffing as this, which defies the chastisements of God, will not be expiated in any other way than by the death of the scoffer (cuppar, from câphar, tegere, means to be covered over, i.e., expiated). This is done in the case of sin either by the justice of God, as in the present instance, or by the mercy of God (Isaiah 6:7), or by both justice and mercy combined (as in Isaiah 27:9). In all three cases the expiation is demanded by the divine holiness, which requires a covering between itself and sin, by which sin becomes as though it were not. In this instance the expunging act consists in punishment. The sin of Jerusalem is expiated by the giving up of the sinners themselves to death. The verb temūthūn (ye shall die) is written absolutely, and therefore is all the more dreadful. The Targum renders it "till ye die the second (eternal) death" (mōthâh thinyânâh). So far as they prophecy threatened the destruction of Jerusalem by Assyria, it was never actually fulfilled; but the very opposite occurred. Asshur itself met with destruction in front of Jerusalem. But this was by no means opposed to the prophecy; and it was with this conviction that Isaiah, nevertheless, included the prophecy in the collection which he made at a time when the non-fulfilment was perfectly apparent. It stands here in a double capacity. In the first place, it is a memorial of the mercy of God, which withdraws, or at all events modifies, the threatened judgment as soon as repentance intervenes. The falling away from Assyria did take place; but on the part of Hezekiah and many others, who had taken to heart the prophet's announcement, it did so simply as an affair that was surrendered into the hands of the God of Israel, through distrust of either their own strength or Egyptian assistance. Hezekiah carried out the measures of defence described by the prophet; but he did this for the good of Jerusalem, and with totally different feelings from those which the prophet had condemned. These measures of defence probably included the reservoir between the two walls, which the chronicler does not mention till the close of the history of his reign, inasmuch as he follows the thread of the book of Kings, to which his book stands, as it were, in the relation of a commentary, like the midrash, from which extracts are made. The king regulated his actions carefully by the prophecy, inasmuch as after the threats had produced repentance, Isaiah 22:8-11 still remained as good and wise counsels. In the second place, the oracle stands here as the proclamation of a judgment deferred but not repealed. Even if the danger of destruction which threatened Jerusalem on the part of Assyria had been mercifully caused to pass away, the threatening word of Jehovah had not fallen to the ground. The counsel of God contained in the word of prophecy still remained; and as it was the counsel of the Omniscient, the time would surely come when it would pass out of the sphere of ideality into that of actual fact. It remained hovering over Jerusalem like an eagle, and Jerusalem would eventually become its carrion. We have only to compare the temūthūn of this passage with the ἀποθανείσθε of John 8:21, to see when the eventual fulfilment took place. Thus the "massa of the valley of vision" became a memorial of mercy to Israel when it looked back to its past history: but when it looked into the future, it was still a mirror of wrath.