Isaiah 32:9

Rise up, ye women that are at ease,.... On beds of down, unconcerned about the present or future state of the nation; who had their share of guilt in the nation's sins, particularly pride, luxury,

Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech. Rise up, ye women that are at ease.

Rise up; bestir and prepare yourselves to hear, as it follows, and shake off sloth and carelessness. That are at ease; that indulge yourselves in idleness and luxury. Careless, Heb. confident or secure, who are insensible of your sin and danger. Daughters; the same before called women; whom he here reproveth and threateneth for their sins, as he did the men before for seeking to Egypt for help, and divers other sins, whereof the men were most guilty.

Isaiah 32:9 Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech.Ver. 9. Rise up, ye women that are at ease.] Secure sedentes, ye court ladies, whose pride hath brought on the wars; or, ye hen hearted Jews, Aχηιδεςουκετ Aχαιοι; or, ye lesser cities and villages of Judah, rise up, and rouse up yourselves, ad exhibendum honorem verbo Dei, In honour of God’ s holy Word.

(9) Rise up, ye women that are at ease . . .—The beginning of a new section, probably a distinct sermon, or, as it were, pamphlet, against the evils of which the prophet had spoken in Isaiah 2:16-22, and which continued, it would seem, unabated, in spite of Hezekiah’s reformation. It probably finds a place here as painting the harem influence, which then, as in the policy of modern Eastern monarchies, Constantinople and elsewhere, lay behind the counsels of the king and his ministers. The whole tone is that of invective against the women of the pseudo-aristocracy that had been covertly attacked in the preceding verses. Give ear unto my speech . . .—Another echo of the teaching of the Proverbs (Proverbs 2:1; Proverbs 3:1; Proverbs 4:1; Proverbs 6:1; Proverbs 6:20.)

Verse 9. Rise up, ye women - "ye provinces." Ye careless daughters - "ye cities." - Targum. From this verse to the end of the fourteenth, the desolation of Judea by the Chaldeans appears to be foretold.

Ch. Isaiah 32:9-20 To the Women of JerusalemLike the previous sections (Isaiah 29:1 ff., Isaiah 29:15 ff., Isaiah 30, 31) this passage is divided into two parts,—the announcement of judgment on Jerusalem, and a description of the Messianic salvation (see the analysis below). It presents, however, two remarkable peculiarities: (1) there is no reference to the overthrow of the Assyrians, and (2) it contemplates a complete destruction of Jerusalem and a protracted desolation of the land. For these reasons some critics have been led to assign the prophecy to a period much earlier than the invasion of Sennacherib; and this would be plausible if it were possible to separate the two parts of which it is composed (9–14 and 15–20). But this is difficult on account of the close connexion established by Isaiah 32:15; and since the latter portion presents some literary affinities with the other members of this group of discourses (ch. 28–31) it will probably be safer to regard the whole as belonging to the same period. It is possible, no doubt, that the Messianic conclusion might have been written later than the address to the women; but even on that assumption we should have to admit that the prophet retained the conception of an indefinitely prolonged depopulation of the land, at a late stage of his career. The contents of the prophecy are as follows:— i. Isaiah 32:9-14. A threatening oration, addressed to the women of Jerusalem. The introduction (Isaiah 32:9) shews that what roused the ire of the prophet was the careless unconcern and indifference of the women in face of the reiterated warnings he had uttered. He endeavours to shake them out of their light-hearted security by the announcement that “the ingathering shall not come” (10). So clear is the vision of calamity that he calls on his hearers to adopt the attitude of mourners over the ravaged vineyards, the desolate fields, and the deserted palaces of the “jubilant city” (11–14). ii. Isaiah 32:15-20. Out of this state of collapse and ruin there will ultimately arise, but after an indefinite period, a new world. Under the vivifying influence of the Divine spirit, external nature will be renewed (15), righteousness will dwell in the land (16), and its blessed fruits will be undisturbed peace and security (17, 18). An unexpected allusion to the judgment (19) somewhat mars the continuity of the passage, which ends with a prophetic felicitation of the peaceful and industrious peasantry who inherit the golden age (20).

Rise up ... - Rosenmuller supposes that this commences a new vision or prophecy; and that the former part Isaiah 32:9-14 refers to the desolation of Judea by the invasion of Sennacherib, and the

TO THE FOURTH WOE-ADDRESS TO THE WOMEN.9. There is an abrupt change here. From men in high life to women in high life the prophet now turns.