Isaiah 30:12
in Isaiah 30Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel says: “Because you have rejected this message, trusting in oppression and relying on deceit,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and rely thereon;
KJV
Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:
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This verse in Isaiah 30
Commentary
8 notes on this verseIn oppression “In obliquity” - בעקש beakesh, transposing the two last letters of בעשק beoshek, in oppression, which seems not to belong to this place: a very probable conjecture of Houbigant.
This site's exposition
trusting in oppression and relying on deceit
on Isaiah 30:12-14
The people are charged with "trusting in oppression and relying on deceit". Their iniquity becomes "a bulge in a high wall, whose collapse will come suddenly". It breaks like a "potter’s jar", leaving no shard "to scoop the coals from a hearth or to skim the water from a cistern".
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(vv. 12-14) Therefore thus says the Holy Lord of Israel: Because you have rejected this word and have put your trust in oppression and in deceit, and have relied on it, therefore this iniquity shall be for you like a breach in a high wall that is sought after and cannot be found, like a jar of clay that is broken beyond repair, so that no fragment of it is found for taking fire from the hearth or for drawing water from the cistern.
The Medieval Church1 voice
674. Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel. Here he threatens destruction to them, resuming the subject of their guilt that the punishment may appear more just: because you have rejected this word.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Observe, [1.] Who it is that gives judgment upon them: Thus saith the Holy One of Israel. That title of God which they particularly excepted against the prophet makes use of. Faithful ministers will not be driven from using such expressions as are proper to awaken sinners, though they be displeasing.
A gracious promise to those who trusted in God, that they should not only see through the trouble, but should see happy days after it, times of joy and reformation, plenty of the means of grace, and therewith plenty of outward good things and increasing joys and triumphs (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel,....
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Wherefore thus saith the Holy One - Yahweh. There may be some reference here to the fact adverted to in Isa 30:11, that they were weary of the name of the Holy One of Israel, and of the perpetual reiteration of his commands. Isaiah, as if to show them how little he was disposed to comply with their prejudices, again makes an appeal to that name, and urges the authority of Yahweh. It is often proper to “repeat” the very doctrine to which sinners object, and which has given them offence. That they are offended, shows that their minds are “awake” to the truth, and gives some indication that their consciences trouble them. Ministers of God should never shrink from their duty because people oppose them; they should never cease to speak in the name and by the authority of the Holy One of Israel, because that name may excite opposition and disgust. Ye despise this word - That is, the word or message of Yahweh Isa 28:13-14; or perhaps it means the word ‘Holy One of Israel.’ The sense is, that they did not trust in the promise and protection of Yahweh, but relied on human aid. And trust in oppression - Margin, ‘Fraud.’ The word עשׁק ‛osheq properly denotes oppression, or extortion Ecc 5:7; Eze 22:7, Eze 22:12; then, that which is obtained by extortion, and also by fraud Lev 6:4; Psa 62:11; Ecc 7:7. It may refer here to the fact that they had, by unjust and oppressive exactions, obtained the treasures referred to in Isa 30:6, by which they hoped to conciliate the favor of Egypt; or it may mean that they trusted in their fraudulent purposes toward God, that is, to a false and perfidious course, by which they were unfaithful to him. Perverseness - A crooked, perverse, rebellious course. They refused submission to Yahweh, and relied on the aid of strangers.
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָכֵ֗ן | lakhen | <to> therefore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| כֹּ֤ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַר֙ | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| קְד֣וֹשׁ | kedoosh | [the] holy [one] of | H6918 → | 116 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| יַ֥עַן | yaan | because | H3282 → | 99 times |
| מָֽאָסְכֶ֖ם | maasekhem | have rejected you | H3988 → | 76 times |
| בַּדָּבָ֣ר | badavar | <in> the word | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| הַזֶּ֑ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| וַֽתִּבְטְחוּ֙ | vativtechu | and you have trusted | H982 → | 120 times |
| בְּעֹ֣שֶׁק | beoshek | in oppression | H6233 → | 15 times |
| וְנָל֔וֹז | venaloz | and a crooked [thing] | H3868 → | |
| וַתִּֽשָּׁעֲנ֖וּ | vatishaanu | and you have depended | H8172 → | 22 times |
| עָלָֽיו׃ | ʾalav | on it | H5921 → | 5755 times |
לָכֵ֗ן<to> therefore
lakhenH3651 →771 times
כֹּ֤הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַר֙he says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
קְד֣וֹשׁ[the] holy [one] of
kedooshH6918 →116 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
יַ֥עַןbecause
yaanH3282 →99 times
מָֽאָסְכֶ֖םhave rejected you
maasekhemH3988 →76 times
בַּדָּבָ֣ר<in> the word
badavarH1697 →1440 times
הַזֶּ֑ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
וַֽתִּבְטְחוּ֙and you have trusted
vativtechuH982 →120 times
בְּעֹ֣שֶׁקin oppression
beoshekH6233 →15 times
וְנָל֔וֹזand a crooked [thing]
venalozH3868 →
וַתִּֽשָּׁעֲנ֖וּand you have depended
vatishaanuH8172 →22 times
עָלָֽיו׃on it
ʾalavH5921 →5755 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Luke 10:16Whoever listens to you listens to Me; whoever rejects you rejects Me; and whoever rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.”
it leads to
- John 13:20
Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever receives the one I send receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives the One who sent Me.”
- 1 Thessalonians 4:8
Anyone, then, who rejects this command does not reject man but God, the very One who gives you His Holy Spirit.
- Matthew 10:40
He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives the One who sent Me.
- John 12:44
Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in Me does not believe in Me alone, but in the One who sent Me.
- John 5:22–23
Furthermore, the Father judges no one, but has assigned all judgment to the Son,
- John 13:20
Through
1 Thessalonians 4:8Anyone, then, who rejects this command does not reject man but God, the very One who gives you His Holy Spirit.
it leads to
- 1 John 3:24
Whoever keeps His commandments remains in God, and God in him. And by this we know that He remains in us: by the Spirit He has given us.
- Luke 10:16
Whoever listens to you listens to Me; whoever rejects you rejects Me; and whoever rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.”
- 1 John 3:24
Through
Amos 2:4This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Judah, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they reject the Law of the LORD and fail to keep His statutes; they…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 20:24
For they did not practice My ordinances, but they rejected My statutes and profaned My Sabbaths, fixing their eyes on the idols of their fathers.
- Ezekiel 20:24
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
About Isaiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.