isaiah 57 and 58

Read Isaiah 57 and 58 at Bible Gateway.

The Hebrew paragraph divisions:

Isa 56:10-57:2 {s} Blind + dull shepherds/ righteous + merciful taken away from evil to their rest
Isa 57:3-14 {s} Adulterous Israel, her unprofitable works/ he who puts his trust in YHVH shall posses the land
Isa 57:15-21 {p} God speaks peace + healing to the contrite + humble, but there is no peace for the wicked
Isa 58:1-14 {p} The fast which the LORD chooses: true, not false, righteousness

The strong themes:

Isa 56:10-57:21 {s+s+p} Peace for the righteous + merciful + contrite, who trusts in YHVH: they shall possess the land, but no peace for the wicked

The chiastic structure of chapter 57:

1a) Isa 56:10-57:2 {s} The righteous + merciful enter into peace + rest, walking in their uprightness;

1a) Isa 56:10a, His watchmen are blind + ignorant + dumb and do not sound an alarm;
1b) Isa 56:10b, They are sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber;
1c) Isa 56:11, They are greedy, never satisfied; shepherds without understanding, looking to their own interests;
central axis) Isa 56:12, “Come,” one says, “I will bring wine, and we will fill ourselves with intoxicating drink; tomorrow will be as today, and much more abundant;”
2c) Isa 57:1, The righteous + merciful perish and no one understands that they are taken away from evil;
2b) Isa 57:2a, They enter into peace + rest in their beds;
2a) Isa 57:2b {s} Each one walking in his uprightness;

1b) Isa 57:3-13a, Adulterous Israel/ God has held His peace, but now declares their unprofitable works;

1) Isa 57:3-6a, The adulterous way of backsliding Israel;
2) Isa 57:6b, Should I receive comfort in these?
3) Isa 57:7-10, Idolatry on a lofty + high mountain, even to the depths of Sheol;
4) Isa 57:11, Because God has held His peace, they have not feared Him;
5) Isa 57:12-13, I will declare your righteousness + works, for they will not profit you;

central axis) Isa 57:13b-14 {s} “But he who puts his trust in Me shall possess the land, and shall inherit My holy mountain. And one shall say, ‘Heap it up! Heap it up! Prepare the way, take the stumbling block out of the way of My people;'”

2b) Isa 57:15-19, Contrite + humble Israel, God will revive + comfort + impart peace + heal their backsliding;

3) Isa 57:15a, God is the High + Lofty One, whose name is Holy/ His high dwelling place;
2) Isa 57:15b-16 + 18b, He revives the spirit of the contrite + humble/ restores comfort to him;
1) Isa 57:17, For Israel’s iniquity + covetousness God was angered, but he went on backsliding;
5) Isa 57:18a, I have seen his ways, and will heal him;
4) Isa 57:19, “Peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is near,” says the Lord, “and I will heal him;”

2a) Isa 57:20-21 {p} The wicked are troubled, cannot rest; for there is no peace for them.

I noted that these two verses match and are mostly elements in a larger structure:

Isa 48:22 “There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.” {p}

Isa 57: 21 “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.” {p}

Isaiah 58 also makes an amazing chiastic structure; I am posting it as a separate post this weekend, as it has to do with the Day of Atonement.

There is a translation issue in Isa 58 (I have found whenever I read something in Isaiah that doesn’t make sense, there is a translation issue behind it):

“If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable …” Isa 58:13a NKJV

This doesn’t make sense in English. “If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath … and call it a delight, and honorable …” In English, the two clauses seem contradictory. Why would you call something honorable that you have turned away from?

“If thou turn away thy foot because of the sabbath, from pursuing thy business on My holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, and the holy of the LORD honourable …” Isa 58:13a HBE

If because of the Sabbath, you turn away your foot from pursuing your own business … now the sentence makes perfect sense in English. What a difference a preposition makes!