Isaiah 3:7

7 When that day comes the relative will cry out, "I'm not a doctor! I don't have any food or a coat in my home. Don't make me a leader of our family."

Isaiah 3:7 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 3:7

In that day shall he swear
Or "lift up", that is, his hand ^F5, which was a gesture used in swearing, and therefore is so rendered; the meaning is, that he shall at once immediately give an answer, and for the solemn confirmation of it shall say an oath with it, saying, I will not be a healer,
or "a binder"; that is, of wounds, of political wounds, made in the nation, and which were incurable. See ( Isaiah 1:6 ) for the meaning is, that he neither was fit to be, nor could he be, a healer of the distempered state of the nation, it was so desperately bad. The Targum is,

``I am not fit to be a head or governor;''

and so Kimchi explains it of a governor, who, he says, is so called, because he binds and imprisons those that transgress his commands; and to this sense Jarchi and Abarbinel: for in my house [is] neither bread nor clothing;
not a sufficiency of either to support such grandeur and dignity; not enough to keep a proper table, and a suitable equipage: make me not a ruler of the people;
this shows that the state of the nation must be very bad indeed, that men, who are naturally ambitious of power and honour, should refuse government when offered to them.

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FOOTNOTES:

F5 (avy) "attollet manum", Piscator.

Isaiah 3:7 In-Context

5 People will oppress each other, and everyone will oppress his neighbor. The young will make fun of the old, and common people will make fun of their superiors.

6 A person will grab one of his relatives from his father's family and say, "You have a coat. You'll be our leader. This pile of ruins will be under your control."

7 When that day comes the relative will cry out, "I'm not a doctor! I don't have any food or a coat in my home. Don't make me a leader of our family."

8 Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen, because what they say and what they do is against the LORD. They are defiant in his honored presence.

9 The look on their faces will be held against them. They boast about their sins, which are like [those of the people of] Sodom. They don't even bother to hide them. How horrible it will be for these people, because they have brought disaster on themselves.