Isaiah 3:9

Isaiah 3:9

The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.

a. NLT: The very look on their faces gives them away. They display their sin like the people of Sodom and don’t even try to hide it. They are doomed! They have brought destruction upon themselves.

b. NIV: The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves.

c. Amplified Bible: Their respecting of persons and showing of partiality witnesses against them; they proclaim their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! For they have brought evil [as a reward upon themselves].

d. Septuagint: Their respecting of persons and showing of partiality witnesses against them; they proclaim their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! For they have brought evil [as a reward upon themselves].

e. Stone Edition Torah/Writings/Prophets: Their brazen countenance testifies against them; their sins, like Sodom’s, speak out and do not withhold [anything]. Woe to their souls, for they have brought evil upon themselves!

1.  “The shew of their countenance doth witness against them…”

a. shew [1971 * hakkarah][Gesenius:  the look, appearance, expression .] [Strong:  from 5234; respect, i.e. partiality:--shew.]

b. of their countenance [6440 * paniym][Gesenius: face, face, faces,  presence, person.] [Strong: paniym paw-neem' plural (but always as singular) of an unused noun (paneh {paw-neh'}; from 6437); the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.):--+ accept, a-(be- )fore(-time), against, anger, X as (long as), at, + battle, + because (of), + beseech, countenance, edge, + employ, endure, + enquire, face, favour, fear of, for, forefront(-part), form(-er time, -ward), from, front, heaviness, X him(-self), + honourable, + impudent, + in, it, look(-eth) (- s), X me, + meet, X more than, mouth, of, off, (of) old (time), X on, open, + out of, over against, the partial, person, + please, presence, propect, was purposed, by reason of, + regard, right forth, + serve, X shewbread, sight, state, straight, + street, X thee, X them(-selves), through (+ - out), till, time(-s) past, (un-)to(-ward), + upon, upside (+ down), with(- in, + -stand), X ye, X you.]

c. witnessagainst them [6030 * ‘anah][Gesenius: to answer, respond, testify, speak, shout.] [Strong: a primitive root; properly, to eye or (generally) to heed, i.e. pay attention; by implication, to respond; by extens. to begin to speak; specifically to sing, shout, testify, announce:--give account, afflict (by mistake for 6031), (cause to, give) answer, bring low (by mistake for 6031), cry, hear, Leannoth, lift up, say, X scholar, (give a) shout, sing (together by course), speak, testify, utter, (bear) witness.]

1). The “them” in this text is of course the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judah as revealed in the previous verse.

a). Isaiah 3:8 For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke te eyes of his glory.

2. “…and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not…”

a. declare [5046 * nagad][Strongs: to front, i.e. stand boldly out opposite; by implication (causatively), to manifest; figuratively, to announce (always by word of mouth to one present); specifically, to expose, predict, explain, praise:--bewray, X certainly, certify, declare(-ing), denounce, expound, X fully, messenger, plainly, profess, rehearse, report, shew (forth), speak, X surely, tell, utter.] [Gesenius: to declare, to confess, to profess openly, to proclaim, to celebrate with praise.]

1). Isaiah 3:9 [NIV] The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves.

b. sin [2403 * chatta’ath] [Strong: from 2398; an offence (sometimes habitual sinfulness), and its penalty, occasion, sacrifice, or expiation; also (concretely) an offender:--punishment (of sin), purifying(-fication for sin), sin(-ner, offering).]

1). Remember that the context is sin so the various definitions fit right in with the NIV use of the word “parade”. To boldly stand out (in their sin) of homosexuality, to announce (their sin) of homosexuality by word of mouth, to proclaim (their sin) of homosexuality, to celebrate (their sin) of homosexuality with praise”, are all very revealing.

c. Sodom [5467 * Cedom] [Strong: from an unused root meaning to scorch; burnt (i.e. volcanic or bituminous) district; Sedom, a place near the Dead Sea:-- Sodom.]

1). Anyone who has witnessed a Gay Pride Parade has seen these definitions literally come alive before their eyes. In these parades the homosexual is celebrating the pride he or she has in their homosexuality. In their ignorance, the homosexual movement’s use of the word “pride” indicts them as a prophetic link to ancient Sodom in Ezekiel 16:49. “This was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride,…”  Their behavior at these parades, according to Isaiah 3:9, also is a prophetic link to ancient Sodom, “…they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not…”

d. The first homosexual “pride” parade was held in 1970 in New York City celebrating the 1969 Stonewall riot, which occurred the previously year, when homosexuals rioted for three days in response to a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a homosexual hangout. Twenty nine years later in 1999, Interpride: The International Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgendered Pride Coordinators listed 108 homosexual celebrations in 108 U.S. cities and 15 others in Canada. A group across the Atlantic, The European Pride Organizers Association listed 53 homosexual celebrations in 19 different European countries, for a total of 176 homosexual “pride” celebrations worldwide. In 2004, I found at least 310 homosexual “pride” celebrations. This increase is obviously a fulfillment of the prophetic word spoken by Jesus in Luke 17:28, 30: “Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot…even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.” Just as Sodom paraded/declared/celebrated their sin of homosexuality, so did Jerusalem and Judah, and so is America and the world with America taking the lead.

3. “…Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.”

a. woe [188 * ‘owy] [Strong: from 183 (in the sense of crying out after); lamentation; also interjectionally Oh!:--alas, woe.]

b. soul [5315 * nephesh] [Strong: from 5314; properly, a breathing creature, i.e. animal of (abstractly) vitality; used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental):--any, appetite, beast, body, breath, creature, X dead(-ly), desire, X (dis-)contented, X fish, ghost, + greedy, he, heart(-y), (hath, X jeopardy of) life (X in jeopardy), lust, man, me, mind, mortally, one, own, person, pleasure, (her-, him-, my-, thy-)self, them (your)-selves, + slay, soul, + tablet, they, thing, (X she) will, X would have it.

c. rewarded [1580 * gamal] [Strong: a primitive root; to treat a person (well or ill), i.e. benefit or requite; by implication (of toil), to ripen, i.e. (specifically) to wean:--bestow on, deal bountifully, do (good), recompense, requite, reward, ripen, + serve, mean, yield.]

d. evil [7451 * ra’] [Strong: from 7489; bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral):-- adversity, affliction, bad, calamity, + displease(-ure), distress, evil((- favouredness), man, thing), + exceedingly, X great, grief(-vous), harm, heavy, hurt(-ful), ill (favoured), + mark, mischief(-vous), misery, naught(-ty), noisome, + not please, sad(-ly), sore, sorrow, trouble, vex, wicked(-ly, -ness, one), worse(-st), wretchedness, wrong. (Incl. feminine raaah; as adjective or noun.).]

e. Declaring their sin has the effect of rewarding evil to their soul.