Isaiah 57:1
The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.
Isaiah 57:1 in other translations
| BSB | The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; devout men are swept away, while no one considers that the righteous are guided from the presence of evil. |
|---|---|
| WEB | The righteous perish, and no one lays it to heart. Merciful men are taken away, and no one considers that the righteous is taken away from the evil. |
| ASV | The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart; and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. |
| YLT | The righteous hath perished, And there is none laying it to heart, And men of kindness are gathered, Without any considering that from the face of evil Gathered is the righteous one. |
| DARBY | The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart; and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from before the evil. |
| BBE | The upright man goes to his death, and no one gives a thought to it; and god-fearing men are taken away, and no one is troubled by it; for the upright man is taken away because of evil-doing, and goes into peace. |
| Webster | The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. |
What does Isaiah 57:1 mean?
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
Is 57:1-21. The Peaceful Death of the Righteous Few: the Ungodliness of the Many: a Believing Remnant Shall Survive the General Judgments of the Nation, and Be Restored by Him Who Creates Peace.
In the midst of the excesses of the unfaithful watchmen (Is 56:10, 11, 12), most of the few that are godly perish: partly by vexation at the prevailing ungodliness; partly by violent death in persecution: prophetical of the persecuting times of Manasseh, before God's judgments in causing the captivity in Babylon; and again those in the last age of the Church, before the final judgments on the apostasy (2Ki 21:16; Mt 23:29-35, 37; Re 11:17). The Hebrew for "perisheth," and "is taken away," expresses a violent death (Mi 7:2). 1. no man layeth it to heart--as a public calamity. merciful men--rather, godly men; the subjects of mercy. none considering--namely, what was the design of Providence in removing the godly. from the evil--Hebrew, from the face of the evil, that is, both from the moral evil on every side (Is 56:10-12), and from the evils about to come in punishment of the national sins, foreign invasions, &c. (Is 56:9; 57:13). So Ahijah's death is represented as a blessing conferred on him by God for his piety (1Ki 14:10-13; see also 2Ki 22:20).Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain
Adam Clarke's Commentary
Introduction
After mentioning the removal of righteous persons as an awful symptom of the approach of Divine judgments, Isa 57:1, Isa 57:2, the prophet goes on to charge the nation in general with idolatry, and with courting the unprofitable alliance of idolatrous kings, Isa 57:3-12. In opposition to such vain confidence, the prophet enjoins trust in God, with whom the penitent and humble are sure to find acceptance, and from whom they should obtain temporal and spiritual deliverances, Isa 57:13-19. Awful condition of the wicked and finally impenitent, Isa 57:20, Isa 57:21. I shall give Bishop Lowth's translation of the two first verses, and give the substance of his criticisms with additional evidence. Isa 57:1. The righteous man perisheth, and no one considereth;And pious men are taken away, and no one understandeth,That the righteous man is taken away because of the evil. Isa 57:2. He shall go in peace: he shall rest in his bed;Even the perfect man: he that walketh in the straight path. Verse 1 The righteous perisheth - הצדק אבד hatstsadik abad. There is an emphasis here which seems intended to point out a particular person. See below. Perisheth - As the root אבד abad signifies the straying of cattle, their passing away from one pasture to another, I feel inclined to follow the grammatical meaning of the word "perish," pereo. So the Vulgate, justus periit, from per, By or Through, and eo, to Go. In his death the righteous man may be said to have passed through life, and to have passed by men, i.e., gone or passed before them into the eternal world. A similar mode of speech is used by our Saxon ancestors to express death: he went out of sight; and he went away; and to fare forth, to die. There are very few places in Isaiah where Jesus Christ is not intended; and I am inclined to think that He is intended here, That Just One; and perhaps Stephen had this place in view, when he thus charged the Jews, "Ye denied τον ἁγιον και δικαιον, that Holy and Just One," Act 3:14. That his death was not laid to heart by the wicked Jewish people, needs no proof. Merciful men - If the first refers to Christ, this may well refer to the apostles. and to others of the primitive Christians, who were taken away, some by death and martyrdom, and others by a providential escape from the city that they knew was devoted to destruction. The evil to come - That destruction which was to come upon this disobedient people by the Romans.Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain
Isaiah 57:1 in the original Hebrew
Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.
Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).
Cross references for Isaiah 57:1
- 2 Kings 22:20
Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.
- 2 Chronicles 34:28
Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same. So they brought the king word again.
- Psalms 12:1
To the chief Musician upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David. Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.
- Micah 7:2
The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.
- Isaiah 42:25
Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.
- Isaiah 47:7
And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it.
- 1 Kings 14:13
And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.
- 2 Chronicles 35:24
His servants therefore took him out of that chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had; and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.
- Malachi 2:2
If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the Lord of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.
- 2 Chronicles 32:33
And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death. And Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.
- Isaiah 57:11
And of whom hast thou been afraid or feared, that thou hast lied, and hast not remembered me, nor laid it to thy heart? have not I held my peace even of old, and thou fearest me not?
Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
3 God reproves the Jews for their whorish idolatry.
13 He gives promises of mercy to the penitent.
righteous.
2Ch 32:33; 35:24
no man.
11; 42:25; 47:7; Mal 2:2
merciful men. Heb. men of kindness, or godliness.
Ps 12:1; Mic 7:2
the righteous.
1Ki 14:13; 2Ki 22:20; 2Ch 34:28
the evil to come. or, that which is evil.
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain
Context
- Isaiah 57:1
The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.
- Isaiah 57:2
He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.
Isaiah 57:1 in other languages
| Spanish Reina-Valera 1909 | PERECE el justo, y no hay quien pare mientes; y los píos son recogidos, y no hay quien entienda que delante de la aflicción es recogido el justo. |
|---|---|
| French Bible J.N. Darby 1885 | Le juste périt, et personne ne le prend à cœur; et les hommes de bonté sont recueillis sans que personne comprenne que le juste est recueilli de devant le mal. |
| German Elberfelder 1871 | Der Gerechte kommt um, und niemand nimmt es zu Herzen, und die Frommen werden hinweggerafft, ohne daß jemand es beachtet, daß der Gerechte vor dem Unglück hinweggerafft wird. |
| Latin Clementine Vulgate | Justus perit, et non est qui recogitet in corde suo; et viri misericordiæ colliguntur, quia non est qui intelligat: a facie enim malitiæ collectus est justus. |