Isaiah 32:7

7 And the crooks? Underhanded sneaks they are, inventive in sin and scandal, Exploiting the poor with scams and lies, unmoved by the victimized poor.

Isaiah 32:7 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 32:7

The instruments also of the churl [are] evil
Not his [vessels] or measures he sells by, which are small and deficient, as Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it; nor his servants, his tools in doing his wickedness, which are fit for his purpose, wicked men; but rather these are much the same with "the instruments of the foolish shepherd", ( Zechariah 11:15 ) and may signify the evil ways and methods which covetous pastors or shepherds take to fleece the flock, and to increase their own gain:

he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words,
even when the needy speaketh right;
he consults, contrives, and forms schemes with all craft and cunning, on purpose, to corrupt, as the word F8 signifies, the poor and meek, humble and afflicted souls, with false doctrines; even when these poor and needy ones, who want to have sound and comfortable doctrine delivered to them, speak and ask for that which is right and just, agreeably to the oracles of God, and the analogy of faith, but can not have it; wherefore such a man is unfit to be a ruler in the house of God.


FOOTNOTES:

F8 (rqv yrmab Mywne lbxl) "ad corrumpendum afflictos in eloquiis falsitaits", Montanus.

Isaiah 32:7 In-Context

5 No more will fools become celebrities, nor crooks be rewarded with fame.
6 For fools are fools and that's that, thinking up new ways to do mischief. They leave a wake of wrecked lives and lies about God, Turning their backs on the homeless hungry, ignoring those dying of thirst in the streets.
7 And the crooks? Underhanded sneaks they are, inventive in sin and scandal, Exploiting the poor with scams and lies, unmoved by the victimized poor.
8 But those who are noble make noble plans, and stand for what is noble.
9 Take your stand, indolent women! Listen to me! Indulgent, indolent women, listen closely to what I have to say.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.