Isaiah 30:15

Verse

For the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said: “By repentance and rest you would be saved; your strength would lie in quiet confidence— but you were not willing.”

American Standard Version (1901)

For thus said the Lord Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength. And ye would not:

Bible in Basic English

For the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, said, In quiet and rest is your salvation: peace and hope are your strength: but you would not have it so.

Free Bible Version

This is what the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, said, If you repent and patiently trust in me, you would be saved; you would be strong if you had such calm confidence. But you refused to do it.

Geneva Bible 1599

For thus sayd the Lord God, the Holy one of Israel, In rest and quietnes shall ye be saued: in quietnes and in confidence shall be your strength, but ye would not.

King James (Authorized) Version

For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.

One Unity Resource Bible

For thus said the Lord Adonai , the haKadosh Isra'el [the Holy One of God prevails], “You will be saved in making teshuvah ·complete return· and rest. Your strength will be in quietness and in confidence.” You refused,

Translation for Translators

Yahweh, our God, the Holy One of Israel, also says this: “You will be rescued from your enemies only if you repent and trust in what I will do for you; you will be strong only if you quit worrying and trust in me. But you do not want to do that.

Unlocked Literal Bible

For this is what the Lord Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel says, “In returning and resting you will be saved; in quietness and in trust will be your strength. But you were not willing.

Noah Webster Bible

For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.

World English Bible

For thus said the Lord Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, “You will be saved in returning and rest. Your strength will be in quietness and in confidence.” You refused,

Young's Literal Translation

For thus said the Lord Jehovah, The Holy One of Israel: 'In returning and rest ye are saved, In keeping quiet and in confidence is your might, And ye have not been willing.

Context

The Worthless Treaty with Egypt

¹⁴It will break in pieces like a potter’s jar, shattered so that no fragment can be found. Not a shard will be found in the dust large enough to scoop the coals from a hearth or to skim the water from a cistern.” ¹⁵For the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said: “By repentance and rest you would be saved; your strength would lie in quiet confidence— but you were not willing.”

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Summary

This verse conveys the message of finding rest and salvation in God through quietness and trust. It emphasizes the importance of seeking God's guidance and strength rather than relying on human wisdom or solutions. By surrendering to God and patiently trusting in Him, one can experience His deliverance and protection. The verse encourages believers to have faith in God's perfect timing and to rest in His sovereignty, knowing that He is faithful to fulfill His promises.

Commentary

Keil-Delitzsch
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
John Gill
Tyndale

Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary

Into such small sherds, a heap thus scattered hither and thither, would the kingdom of Judah be broken up, in consequence of its ungodly thirst for self-liberation. "For thus saith the Lord Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, Through turning and rest ye would be helped; your strength would show itself in quietness and confidence; but ye would not. And ye said, No, but we will fly upon horses; therefore ye shall flee: and, We will ride upon racehorses; therefore your pursuers will race. A thousand, ye will flee from the threatening of one, from the threatening of five, until ye are reduced to a remnant, like a pine upon the top of the mountain, and like a banner upon the hill." The conditions upon which their salvation depended, and by complying with which they would attain to it, were shūbhâh, turning from their self-chosen way, and nachath, rest from self-confident work of their own (from nūăch, like rachath, ventilabrum, from rūăch, and shachath, fovea, from shūăch). Their strength (i.e., what they would be able to do in opposition to the imperial power) would show itself (hâyâh, arise, come to the light, as in Isa 29:2), in hashqēt, laying aside their busy care and stormy eagerness, and bitchâh, trust, which cleaves to Jehovah and, renouncing all self-help, leaves Him to act alone. This was the leading and fundamental principle of the prophet's politics even in the time of Ahaz (Isa 7:4). But from the very first they would not act upon it; nor would they now that the alliance with Egypt had become an irreversible fact. To fly upon horses, and ride away upon racehorses (kal, like κέλης, celer) (Note: We regard the Sanscrit kal, to drive or hunt, the Greek κέλλ(ὀκέλλ)ειν, and the Semitic qal, as all having the same root: cf., Vurtius, Grundzge der griech. Etymol. i. 116.)) had been and still was their proud and carnal ambition, which Jehovah would answer by fulfilling upon them the curses of the thorah (Lev 26:8, Lev 26:36; Deu 28:25; Deu 32:30). One, or at the most five, of the enemy would be able with their snorting to put to flight a whole thousand of the men of Judah. The verb nūs (Isa 30:16), which rhymes with sūs, is used first of all in its primary sense of "flying" (related to nūts, cf., Exo 14:27), and then in its more usual sense of "fleeing." (Luzzatto, after Abulwald: vogliamo far sui cavalli gloriosa comparsa, from nūs, or rather nâsas, hence nânōs, from which comes nēs, excellere.) יקּלּוּ, the fut. niphal, signifies to be light, i.e., swift; whereas יקל, the fut. kal, had become a common expression for light in the sense of despised or lightly esteemed. The horses and chariots are Judah's own (Isa 2:7; Mic 5:9), though possibly with the additional allusion to the Egyptian cavalry, of world-wide renown, which they had called to their help. In Isa 30:17 the subject of the first clause is also that of the second, and consequently we have not וּמפּני (compare the asyndeta in Isa 17:6). The insertion of rebhâbhâh (ten thousand) after chămisshâh (five), which Lowth, Gesenius, and others propose, is quite unnecessary. The play upon the words symbolizes the divine law of retribution (talio), which would be carried out with regard to them. The nation, which had hitherto resembled a thick forest, would become like a lofty pine (tōrne, according to the talmudic tūrnı̄thâ, Pinus pinea), standing solitary upon the top of a mountain, and like a flagstaff planted upon a hill - a miserable remnant in the broad land so fearfully devastated by war. For אם עד followed by a preterite (equivalent to the fut. exactum), compare Isa 6:11 and Gen 24:19.

John Gill Bible Commentary

For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel,.... This is still repeated, though displeasing to the carnal Jews, who, notwithstanding their ill behaviour to the Lord, condescends to give them the best advice, as follows: in returning and rest shall ye be saved; or "may be saved" (o); this is the right and the only way, namely, by "returning" from their evil ways, particularly their purpose of going to Egypt for help, and by returning to God by repentance and reformation, and to his worship and ordinances; and so the Targum, "if ye return to my law;'' and by "resting" quietly at home, and reposing their trust in the Lord: in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength; in a quiet submission to the will of God, and in quietly waiting upon him for the issue and event of things, abiding in their own houses, and not in a hurrying tumultuous manner, running here and there for help; and in a holy and humble confidence in the Lord, and in the power of his might, where they should find such strength and security, as Pharaoh king of Egypt could not give them: and ye would not; would not be persuaded to keep at home, and from going down to Egypt; would not take the advice given, but pursue their own measures and methods of salvation. This is the literal sense of the words; and if they can be accommodated to spiritual and eternal salvation, it may be done in this way: repentance may be meant by "returning", and faith by "rest"; or by "returning and rest" may be designed returning to rest, that is, to Christ, who is the only rest to weary souls: "quietness" may intend peace of conscience, arising from the blood and righteousness of Christ; and "confidence" faith, and an assurance of it, which make men strong Christians; though their strength does not barely lie in these graces, but in the object of them: now faith and repentance are blessings of the covenant of grace, gifts of God, and graces of the Spirit, which go together in the doctrine of salvation, and have a concern in it; though they are not meritorious procuring causes, nor conditions of it; yet in this way God brings his people to salvation, and they enter into, and are descriptive of, the character of such that are saved; there is so close a connection between these and salvation, that none are saved without them; and it may be observed, that this way of saving men through faith and repentance, and by going to Christ alone for rest, and by placing confidence in, and deriving all peace and comfort from him, is disagreeable to unregenerate men; which is a proof of the wretched depravity, and corruption, and perverseness of the will of man. (o) "servaremini", Piscator, Gataker.