Isaiah 56

Isaiah 56:1-8

1, 2. Further conditions to be observed that men may share in the approaching deliverance.

1. Keep ye.. justice] i.e. keep the law, and practise righteousness.
2. Layeth hold on] RV ’ holdeth fast by.’ Polluting] RV ‘profaning.’ 3-7. The privileges of the people of God are open to all, even to those who think themselves excluded by race, or by physical disability (Deuteronomy 23:1). The sabbath appears to have been more strictly observed in the BabyIonian period than it had been under the monarchy (Jeremiah 17:19.; Ezekiel 20:11.; Nehemiah 13:15.).
3. Place] RV ‘memorial.’
4. People] RV ‘peoples.’ The passage is referred to by our Lord at the cleansing of the Temple (Matthew 21:13).
5. Beside those, etc.] RV ‘beside his own that are gathered.’

Isaiah 56:9

9. Israel pictured as a neglected and helpless flock, exposed to the attacks of wild beasts.