Isaiah 3:5

5 And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbor: the child shall behave himself proudly against the elder, and the base against the honorable.

Isaiah 3:5 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 3:5

And the people shall be oppressed, everyone by another,
and everyone by his neighbour
There being no governors, or such as were unfit for government, no decorum was kept and observed, but a mere anarchy; and so everyone did as he pleased, as when there was no king in Israel; and everyone rushed into the house of his neighbour, and plundered his goods; this was the case of Jerusalem, at the time of the siege, it abounding with robbers and spoilers: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient;
show no respect to them, nor honour them, as the law requires in ( Leviticus 19:32 ) but behave insolently towards them; and so the Jews say ^F4, that when the son of David is come, as he now would be, young men shall make ashamed the faces of old men, and old men shall stand before young men: and the base against the honourable;
persons of a mean birth and extract would rise up against and insult such as were men of families and fortune, of noble birth and of high degree.

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 97. 1.

Isaiah 3:5 In-Context

3 The captain of fifty, and the honorable man, and the counselor, and the skillful artificer, and the eloquent orator.

4 And I will give children [to be] their princes, and babes shall rule over them.

5 And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbor: the child shall behave himself proudly against the elder, and the base against the honorable.

6 When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, [saying], Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and [let] this ruin [be] under thy hand:

7 In that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be a healer; for in my house [is] neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people.