Isaiah 56:9-12 - Exposition

SECTION V.—A WARNING TO THE WICKED ( ISAIH , Isaiah 56:9 -57.).

THE BLIND GUIDES OF ISRAEL REBUKED . A sudden change of style marks the introduction of an entirely new prophecy. The eye of the prophet, apparently, goes back from the period of the exile, which he has been so long contemplating, to his own day, or at any rate to the pre-exile period, and rests upon Israel in their own land. He sees them misled by their teachers ( Isaiah 56:10-12 ), given to idolatry ( Isaiah 57:3-9 ), and offering themselves a ready prey to their enemies ( Isaiah 56:9 ). Many modern critics regard the passage as the composition of an unknown prophet belonging to the time of Manasseh. But there is no sufficient evidence of this. The prophecy has many Isaiah characteristics.