Isaiah 9:13
in Isaiah 9But the people did not return to Him who struck them; they did not seek the LORD of Hosts.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Yet the people have not turned unto him that smote them, neither have they sought Jehovah of hosts.
KJV
For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the Lord of hosts.
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This verse in Isaiah 9
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
For the people ... - This is a reason why his anger would not cease, and it is, at the same time, the suggestion of a new crime for which the divine judgment would rest upon them. It commences the second part of the oracle. Turneth not - It is implied here that it was the design of the chastisement to turn them to God. In this case, as in many others, such a design had not been accomplished. Unto him that smiteth them - To God, who had punished them.
This site's exposition
But the people did not return
on Isaiah 9:13-14
The failure behind the boast is named, for "the people did not return to Him who struck them" nor sought the LORD of Hosts. The Lord will cut off Israel's "head and tail, both palm branch and reed in a single day," every rank of society in one stroke.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Chapter IX - (Verses 8 onwards) The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel. And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart, The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars. Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together; The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth.
A commentator
Gregory of NazianzusON HIS FATHER'S SILENCE, ORATION 16:15 · Written before 390.
proposed
It is better to turn again when we err than to be free from correction when we stumble. For whom the Lord loves he chastens, and a rebuke is a fatherly action. Every soul that is not chastised is not healed. Is not then freedom from chastisement a hard thing? But to fail to be corrected by the chastisement is still harder.
The Medieval Church2 voices
Against them the prophet complains to the Lord, saying, "You have bruised them, and they have refused to receive correction." … Hence again the Lord says, "The people are not returned to him who has struck them." … Hence the Lord reproaches the people of Israel, captive yet not converted from their iniquity, saying, "The house of Israel is become dross to me; all these are brass, and tin, and iron and lead, in the midst of the furnace." This is as though he said unmistakably, "I wished to purify them in the fire of tribulation, and I wanted them to become silver or gold. But they have turned from me in the furnace into brass, and tin, and iron and lead, because even in tribulation they have rushed forward not to virtue but to vices." When brass is struck, it gives off a greater sound than do other metals. He … who when chastised breaks forth into sounds of murmuring has turned to brass in the midst of the furnace. Tin, however, when skillfully treated, presents the deceptive appearance of silver. He therefore who is not free from the vice of pretence in the midst of tribulation has become tin in the furnace. But he uses iron who plots against the life of the neighbor, and he is iron in the furnace when he does not put away in his tribulations the wickedness of doing harm to neighbors. Lead, again, is heavier than the other metals. He then is found to be lead in the furnace who is so weighed down by the burden of his sin that even in tribulation he is not raised above earthly desires.
The reason for adding punishment to punishment is the incorrigibility of the people, and this is what he says, and the people are not returned to him who has struck them: in vain have I struck your children, they have not received correction (Jer 2:30).
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The people turn not unto him that smiteth them (they are not wrought upon to reform their lives, to forsake their sins, and to return to their duty), neither do they seek the Lord of hosts; either they are atheists, and have no religion, or idolaters, and seek to those gods that are the creatures of their own fancy and the works of their own hands.
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
For the people turneth not to him that smiteth them,....
The reason why the judgments of God are prolonged is because the point is not gained, sinners are not brought to repentance by them. The people turn not to him that smites them, and therefore he continues to smite them; for when God judges he will overcome, and the proudest stoutest sinner shall either bend or break.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
a large arch and a small arch An expression denoting kings and sultans.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
to the One Who smites it To the Holy One, blessed be He, Who brings these afflictions upon them.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 1 further source is cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהָעָ֥ם | vehaam | and the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שָׁ֖ב | shav | it has turned back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | to | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| הַמַּכֵּ֑הוּ | hamakehu | the [one who] struck it | H5221 → | 499 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְהוָ֥ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| צְבָא֖וֹת | tzevaot | of hosts | H6635 → | 485 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| דָרָֽשׁוּ׃ ס | darashu | they have sought | H1875 → | 164 times |
וְהָעָ֥םand the people
vehaamH5971 →1873 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
שָׁ֖בit has turned back
shavH7725 →1056 times
עַד־to
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
הַמַּכֵּ֑הוּthe [one who] struck it
hamakehuH5221 →499 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
יְהוָ֥הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
צְבָא֖וֹתof hosts
tzevaotH6635 →485 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
דָרָֽשׁוּ׃ סthey have sought
darashuH1875 →164 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
Isaiah 31:1Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy…
it leads to
- Psalms 20:7
Some trust in chariots and others in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
- Jeremiah 17:5
This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes the flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD.
- Deuteronomy 17:16
But the king must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire more horses, for the LORD has said, ‘You are never to go back that way…
- Jeremiah 2:13
“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
- Isaiah 36:9
For how can you repel a single officer among the least of my master’s servants when you depend on Egypt for chariots and horsemen?
- Psalms 20:7
Through
Isaiah 1:5Why do you want more beatings? Why do you keep rebelling? Your head has a massive wound, and your whole heart is afflicted.
it leads to
- Daniel 9:8–11
O LORD, we are covered with shame—our kings, our leaders, and our fathers—because we have sinned against You.
- Ezekiel 24:13
Because of the indecency of your uncleanness I tried to cleanse you, but you would not be purified from your filthiness. You will not be pure again until My wrath against you has subsided.
- Daniel 9:8–11
Through
Hosea 7:10Israel’s arrogance testifies against them, yet they do not return to the LORD their God; despite all this, they do not seek Him.
it leads to
- Hosea 5:5
Israel’s arrogance testifies against them; Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; even Judah stumbles with them.
- Hosea 5:5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Isaiah
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Gregory of Nazianzus, ON HIS FATHER'S SILENCE, ORATION 16:15; Gregory the Dialogist, The Book of Pastoral Rule 3.13; 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.