The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful.
The fool shall be no more called noble, nor the churl said to be bountiful.
A fool is no more called `noble,' And to a miser it is not said, `rich;'
The vile man shall be no more called noble, nor the churl said to be bountiful:
Isaiah — The gospel prophet — a Judean court-prophet across Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (c. 740–700 BC) who sees past Assyria to Babylon and past Babylon to the Messiah. Sixty-six chapters divided into the Book of Judgment (1–39) and the Book of Comfort (40–66), climaxing in the Servant wounded for our transgressions.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first — the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Isaiah 5:20Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who turn darkness to light and light to darkness, who replace bitter with sweet and sweet with bitter.
leads to
Acquitting the guilty and condemning the righteous— both are detestable to the LORD.
But understand this: In the last days terrible times will come.
So He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is prized among men is detestable before God.
You have wearied the LORD with your words; yet you ask, “How have we wearied Him?” By saying, “All who do evil are good in the sight of the LORD, and in them He…
They have turned night into day, making light seem near in the face of darkness.
Through
Malachi 3:18So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”
leads to
And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Far be it from You to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Will not the…
The righteous will rejoice when they see they are avenged; they will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked.
The whole web at once: see the Arc.
Voices6
And also as to their consequent liberty, namely, from tyrants: the fool shall no more be called prince, namely, Sennacherib, to whom formerly they paid tribute, as is evident in 2 Kings 18:14. I will deliver them out of the hand of the king of …
Thomas Aquinas· Commentary on Isaiah, 1274patristic
(Chapter 32, Verses 1 onwards) Behold, the king shall reign with justice, and princes shall rule with judgment. And a man shall be like one who hides from the wind, and conceals himself from the storm: like streams of water in a dry place, and the shadow of a towering rock in a barren land. The eyes of those who see shall not be dim, and the ears of those who hear shall listen carefully. And the heart of fools shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of stammerers shall speak quickly and clearly.
Jerome· Commentary on Isaiah, 420patristic
The vile person shall be no more called liberal,.... Or "Nabal" (a fool) "shall no more be called Nadib" (e) (a prince); or have this name put upon him, or be advanced to honour and dignity, or be flattered with such a title, so unbecoming him.
John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)reformed
The vile person - Hebrew, Fool. But the connection requires us to understand this as the opposite of liberal; and it means a person who is close, miserly, narrow-minded, covetous. This person is designated, very appropriately, as a fool. Shall be no more called liberal - It is probable that under the reign of former princes, when all views of right and wrong had been perverted, people of unprincipled character had been the subjects of flattery, and names of virtue had been attributed to them by their friends and admirers.
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)evangelical
A prophecy of the great disturbance that would be given to the kingdom in the middle of his reign by the Assyrian invasion,
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan
Whether this was fulfilled in the reign of Hezekiah, and how far it refers to the kingdom of Christ (in which we are sure men are judged of by what they are, not by what they have, nor is any man's character mistaken), we will not say; but it prescribes an excellent rule both to prince and people, to respect men according to their personal merit.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan
The verses this one reaches12
Each one should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not out of regret or compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver.
His name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was harsh and evil in his dealings.
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who turn darkness to light and light to darkness, who replace bitter with sweet and sweet with bitter.
who despises the vile but honors those who fear the LORD, who does not revise a costly oath,
The good man obtains favor from the LORD, but the LORD condemns a man who devises evil.
So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”
In the terrible ordeal they suffered, their abundant joy and deep poverty overflowed into rich generosity.
Therefore this is what the LORD says: “If you return, I will restore you; you will stand in My presence. And if you speak words that are noble instead of worthless, you will be My spokesman. It is they who must turn to you, but you must not turn to them.
Do not eat the bread of a stingy man, and do not crave his delicacies;
My lord should pay no attention to this scoundrel Nabal, for he lives up to his name: His name means Fool, and folly accompanies him. I, your servant, did not see my lord’s young men whom you sent.
if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is giving, let him give generously; if it is leading, let him lead with diligence; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
But Nabal asked them, “Who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants these days are breaking away from their masters.
1 more linked verses are grouped by book below ↓
Every other verse the study tradition links to this one, in the Bible’s own order. The first links in each book carry a line of their text; every reference opens its full verse page.
Cross-references are drawn from classic Bible study tools and open, shareable Bible data.
