10 You were wearied with the length of your way; yet you didn't say, 'It is in vain.' You found a reviving of your strength; therefore you weren't faint.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
Thou art wearied. He means that men undertake superfluous and useless labors, when they do not follow God. They vex themselves in vain, as has been already said; for nothing that is attempted in opposition to God can ever be successful. Besides, he wittily ridicules the wicked practices of those who choose rather to waste themselves by incessant toil than to advance calmly wherever God calls them. And hast not said, There is no hope; that is, "Although thou seest that thy labors are fruitless, yet thou obstinately perseverest and pursuest thy designs; whereas even fools, when they are unsuccessful, commonly repent." Men must therefore be obstinate and desperate, when an unhappy and unsuccessful issue of their schemes does not sometimes lead them to ask themselves, What are you doing? Jeremiah glances at this obstinacy, hut in different words; for he says that the Jews were so foolhardy as to say, "We are undone, yet we will follow our own thoughts. This has been determined by us, and our opinion cannot be changed." (Jeremiah 18:12) But here he censures that stupidity which bewildered them so much that they could not acknowledge their folly and repent, and turn again to the right road. Thou hast found the life of thine hand. "Life" is here supposed by some to mean "food; "as if the Prophet had said, "Thy labor was as delightful to thee as if thou wert gaining food for thyself by thy hand." [1] Others take "the life of the hand" to mean delight, or the highest pleasure; and both interpretations amount to the same thing. But there is somewhat greater difficulty in the question, "Does he speak sincerely or ironically?" If the words be taken in the literal sense, the meaning will be, "Thou didst not grieve, because fortune appeared to favor thee for a time." When unbelievers succeed to their wish, they encourage themselves the more in their unbelief, and, as the common saying is, "Men are blinded by prosperity." But especially this happens when men have forsaken God, and abide by their own ways and schemes; for then they fearlessly despise God. But they may also be viewed as ironical, "How comes it that thou dost not retrace thy steps and repent? Why dost thou not acknowledge thy folly? Is it because thou hast life in thy hand, and because everything goes prosperously with thee? [2] I prefer the latter interpretation, though I do not reject the former. It is plain enough from history that the Jews had no good reason for being proud of their prosperity or success; for the treaty into which they entered, first with the Egyptians, next with the Assyrians, and lastly with the Babylonians, was destructive and fatal to them; and they found by experience how rash they had been in calling allies to their aid; so that the Prophet justly taunts them with having found "the life of their hand." Thus he heightens his description of the foolishness of this people, who willingly rush forward to their own destruction, and obstinately bring down ruin on themselves, when they ought, at least, like fools, to have gained wisdom by the misery which they had experienced.
1 - "Comme si tu eusses gaigne ta vie en travaillant de tes mains." "As if thou hadst gained thy life by labouring with thy hands."
2 - "Dathius thus translates the Hebrew text, Thou hast found thy life, therefore thou dost not feel thy disease,' and adds in a note, The phrase, (thy life,) is used ironically by the Prophet to denote idols, which brought destruction instead of life to the people. He calls them the life of the hand for this reason, that they employed all their industry in making them.' The simplest meaning appears to me to be, to take the life of the hand' as denoting either their strength or the supports of life procured by the hand; so that the meaning is, Still thou thinkest that by these thy labors thou wilt procure strength and assistance." Rosenmuller.
Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way - That is, in the length of thy journeys in order to procure foreign aid. Thou hast traveled to distant nations for this purpose, and in doing it, hast become weary without securing the object in view.
Yet saidst thou not, There is no hope - 'Thou didst not say it is to be despaired of (נואשׁ nô'âsh), or it is vain. Though repulsed in one place, you applied to another; though weary, you did not give it up. Instead of returning to God and seeking his aid, you still sought human alliances, and supposed you would find assistance from the help of people.' This is a striking illustration of the conduct of people in seeking happiness away from God. They wander from object to object; they become weary in the pursuit, yet they do not abandon it; they still cling to hope though often repulsed - and though the world gives them no permanent comfort - though wealth, ambition, gaiety, and vice all fail in imparting the happiness which they sought, yet they do not give it up in despair. They still feel that it is to be found in some other way than by the disagreeable necessity of returning to God, and they wander from object to object, and from land to land, and become exhausted in the pursuit, and still are not ready to say, 'there is no hope, we give it up in despair, and we will now seek happiness in God.'
Thou hast found the life of thine hand - Margin, 'Living.' Lowth, 'Thou hast found the support of thy life by thy labor.' Noyes, 'Thou yet findest life in thy hand. Much diversity of opinion has prevailed in regard to the interpretation of this passage. Vitringa interprets the whole passage of their devotion to idols, and supposes that this means that they had borne all the expense and difficulty and toil attending it because it gratified their hearts, and because they found a pleasure in it which sustained them. Calvin supposes that it is to be understood ironically. 'Why didst thou not repent and turn to me? Why didst thou not see and acknowledge thy madness? It was because thou didst find thy life in thy hand. All things prospered and succeeded according to thy desire, and conferred happiness.' The Septuagint renders it, 'Because in full strength (ἐνισχύουσα enischuousa) thou hast done this; therefore thou shouldst not supplicate me.' Jerome explains it to mean, 'because they have done the things referred to in the previous verses, therefore they had not supplicated the Lord, trusting more in their own virtues than in God.' The Syriac renders it, 'The guilt of thy hand has contracted rust for thee, therefore thou hast not offered supplication.' The Chaldee renders it, 'Thou hast amassed wealth, therefore thou didst not repent.' Kimchi explains it to mean, 'Thou hast found something which is as pleasant to thee as the food is which is the life of man.' The phrase 'life of thy hand' occurs nowhere else.
The hand is the instrument by which we execute our purposes; and by the life of the hand here, there seems to be meant that which will give full and continued employment. They had found in these things that which effectually prevented them from repenting and returning to God. 'They had relied on their own plans rather than on God; they had sought the aid of foreign powers; they had obtained that which kept them from absolute despair, and from feeling their need of the assistance of God. Or, if it refers to their idol-worship, as Vitringa supposes, then it means that, not withstanding all the trouble, toil, and expense which they had experienced, they had found so much to gratify them that they continued to serve them, and were unwilling to return to God.
Therefore thou wast not grieved - Lowth, 'Thou hast not utterly fainted.' The word used here (חלה châlâh) means "to be polished"; then to be worn down in strength; to be weak or exhausted Judges 16:7; then to be sick, diseased, made weak. Here it means, that either by the aid Which they had obtained by foreign alliances, or by the gratification experienced in the service of idols, they had found so much to uphold them that they had not been in utter despair. And the passage may teach the general truth, that not withstanding all the trials and disappointments of life, still sinners find so much comfort in the ways of sin, that they are not utterly overwhelmed in despair. They still find the 'life of their hand in them.' If a plan fails, they repeat it, or they try another. In the pursuits of ambition, of wealth, and of fashion, notwithstanding all the expense, and irksomeness, and disappointment, they find a kind of pleasure which sustains them, and enough success to keep them from returning to God. It is this imperfect pleasure and success which the world gives amidst all its disappointments, and this hope of less diminished joys and more ample success. in schemes of gain, and pleasure, and ambition, that sustains the votaries of this world in their career, and keeps them from seeking the pure and unmingled pleasures of religion. When the world becomes all gloom, and disappointment, and care, then there is felt the necessity of a better portion, and the mind is turned to God. Or when, as is more common, the mind becomes convinced that all the joys which the world can give - allowing the utmost limit to what is said by its friends of its powers - are poor and trifling compared with the joys which flow from the eternal friendship of God, then the blessings of salvation are sought with a full heart; and then man comes and consecrates the fullness of his energies and his immortal vigor to the service of the God that made him.
Yet saidst thou not, There is no hope "Thou hast said, There is hope" - In one of the MSS. at Koningsberg, collated by Lilienthal, the words לא אמרת lo amarta, are left in the text unpointed, as suspected; and in the margin the corrector has written ותאמרי vattomari. Now if we compare Jeremiah 2:25 and Jeremiah 18:12, we shall find that the subject is in both places quite the same with this of Isaiah; and the sentiment expressed, that of a desperate resolution to continue at all hazards in their idolatrous practices; the very thing that in all reason we might expect here. Probably, therefore, the latter is the true reading in this place. - L.
Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way; [yet] saidst thou not, (l) There is no hope: thou (m) hast found the life of thy hand; therefore thou wast not grieved.
(l) Although you saw all your labours to be in vain, yet would you never acknowledge your fault and leave off.
(m) He derides their unprofitable diligence, who thought to have made all sure, and yet were deceived.
Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way,.... Or, "in the multiplicity of thy ways" (u): which were so many, as were enough to make her weary; the steps which were taken to obtain so much power over kings and kingdoms, which was gradually got with great pains and artifice, and to amass such vast treasures, and to enlarge her interest, and spread her religion in the world; the multitude of stratagems devised, and vast number of men employed, and embassies made to carry her point everywhere. Jarchi's note is,
"to fulfil thy desires, and to enlarge thy substance:''
yet saidst thou not, there is no hope; as men in a good cause are apt to do, upon every difficulty that arises; but here, in this case, though the cause was very bad, yet when schemes did not take, or not so soon as wished for and expected, new difficulties arose, and opposition made; yet no cost nor pains were spared to gain the point in view, and establish a kingdom and hierarchy; which at last succeeded: this expresses the resolution, constancy, and pertinency of the bishops of Rome in their ambitious views and claims of power, who would not give out, nor despair of arriving at what they aimed at; and which, through great fatigue and labour, they attained unto:
thou hast found the life of thine hand; that which was sought for and laboured after; sovereignty over all bishops and churches; power over kings and kingdoms; and an universal empire over consciences, as well as over churches and nations; and also immense treasure and riches to support the pope, cardinals, priests, &c.; and perhaps giving life to the image of the beast that it should speak, and cause those that would not worship it to be killed, may be included, Revelation 13:15. The Targum is,
"thou hast multiplied (or as other copies) thou hast found great riches.''
Jarchi's note is,
"the necessity of thine hands, thou hast found prosperity in thy works:''
therefore thou wast not grieved; at the toil and labour used, pains taken, and weariness contracted; the issue was an over recompence for all the trouble and difficulty that attended it: or, "therefore thou wast not sick" (w); of the undertaking; did not despond in mind, or languish without hope of succeeding, finding ground was gained; and at last things went according to wishes; and then it caused no grief to reflect upon the fatigue and trouble that had been endured; and also grieved not at the idolatry introduced, nor repented of it; see Revelation 9:20, So the Targum interprets it of impenitence.
(u) "in multitudine viae tuae", Pagninus, Montanus. (w) "non aegrotasti", Pagninus, Montanus, "non aegrotas", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
greatness of . . . way--the length of thy journey in seeking strange gods, or else foreign aid (Jeremiah 2:23-24). Notwithstanding thy deriving no good from these long journeys (so, "send . . . far off," Isaiah 57:9), thou dost not still give up hope (Jeremiah 2:25; Jeremiah 18:12).
hast found . . . life of . . . hand--for "thou still findest life (that is, vigor) enough in thy hand" to make new idols [MAURER], or to seek new alliance ("hand" being then taken for strength in general).
grieved--rather, "therefore thou art not weak" [MAURER]; inasmuch as having "life in thy hand," thou art still strong in hope.
Wearied - Thou hast not eased, but tired thyself with thy tedious journey. Yet - And yet thou didst not perceive that thy labour was lost. Hast found - Thou hast sometimes found success in these ways. Not grieved - Therefore thou didst not repent of thy sin herein.
*More commentary available at chapter level.