Isaia 3:9

9 Ciò che si riconosce loro nella faccia testifica contro a loro; ed essi pubblicano il lor peccato come Sodoma, e non lo celano. Guai alle anime loro! perciocchè fanno male a sè stessi.

Isaia 3:9 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 3:9

The shew of their countenance doth witness against them,
&c.] The word translated "shew" is only used in this place. Some derive it from (rkn) , "to know", in the conjugations Piel and Hiphil; and render it, "the knowledge of their countenance" ^F6; that is, that which may be known by their countenances; the countenance oftentimes shows what is in the heart, the cruel disposition of the mind, the pride and vanity of it, the uncleanness and lasciviousness that is in it; to this our version agrees, and which is confirmed by the Chaldee paraphrase,

``the knowledge of their countenance in judgment doth testify against them;''

as they appear there, so it may be judged of them; their guilt flies in their face, and fills them with shame and confusion; and so the Septuagint and Arabic versions render it, "the shame of their face"; but others derive it from (rkh) , which has the signification of hardness in the Arabic language, and as it is thought by some to have in ( Job 19:3 ) and render it, "the hardness of their countenance"; so R. Joseph Kimchi, and others ^F7, meaning their impudence ^F8; not only their words and actions, but their impudent looks, show what they are; which agrees with what follows: and they declare their sin as Sodom,
and hide [it] not;
commit it openly, without fear or shame; glory in it, and boast of it, as the Jews did in their crucifixion of Christ, and their evil treatment of him: woe to their soul, for they have rewarded evil unto themselves;
they have brought upon themselves, soul and body, the just recompence of reward; they have been the cause of their own ruin, and have wronged their own souls.

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FOOTNOTES:

F6 (Myhynp trkh) "cognitio vultus eorum", Munster, Vatablus, V. L.
F7 "Obfermatio", Janius & Tremellius; "durities", Piscator.
F8 So Schindler renders the Arabic word <arabic>, "hacar", impudence. Vid. Castel. Lexic. col. 846.

Isaia 3:9 In-Context

7 egli giurerà in quel giorno, dicendo: Io non sarò signore; e in casa mia non vi è nè pane, nè vestimento; non mi costituite principe del popolo.

8 Perciocchè Gerusalemme è traboccata, e Giuda è caduto; perchè la lingua e le opere loro son contro al Signore, per provocare ad ira gli occhi della sua gloria.

9 Ciò che si riconosce loro nella faccia testifica contro a loro; ed essi pubblicano il lor peccato come Sodoma, e non lo celano. Guai alle anime loro! perciocchè fanno male a sè stessi.

10 Dite al giusto, che gli avverrà bene; perciocchè i giusti mangeranno il frutto delle loro opere.

11 Guai all’empio! male gli avverrà; perciocchè gli sarà fatta la retribuzione delle sue mani.