Isaiah 3:7

7 In that day he will protest, saying, "I cannot cure your ills, For in my house is neither food nor clothing; Do not make me a ruler of the people."

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 The people will be oppressed, Every one by another and every one by his neighbor; The child will be insolent toward the elder, And the base toward the honorable."

6 When a man takes hold of his brother In the house of his father, saying, "You have clothing; You be our ruler, And let these ruins be under your power,"

7 In that day he will protest, saying, "I cannot cure your ills, For in my house is neither food nor clothing; Do not make me a ruler of the people."

8 For Jerusalem stumbled, And Judah is fallen, Because their tongue and their doings Are against the Lord, To provoke the eyes of His glory.

9 The look on their countenance witnesses against them, And they declare their sin as Sodom; They do not hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have brought evil upon themselves.