Commentary upon the Prophecy of Isaiah

Vers. 9. ^*And a man bowed himself, and a man humbled himself: therefore^* spare them not.

Vers. 9. ^*And a man bowed himselfe, and a man humbled himselfe: therefore^* spare them not.

1. *Or, as some read: The common sort: and, them of the better sort.Or, as some reade: The common sort: and, them of the better sort.
2. *Or, pardon them not.

Some of the expositors do read this sentence together with the former, as if the Prophet should still go on in aggravating of their fault in many words. If we receive this sense, we must understand by these words person and man, all the Israelites: as if he should say, there is neither one nor other exempt, or innocent from this filthiness. But others are of a better judgement, which think the Prophet repeats that in other words, which he had said before; as touching the chastisement: and that hereby he expresseth what a destruction should come upon this people forsaken of God. And thus the tenure of the speech should agree very fitly: to wit, that the ruin of all both great and small, which should consume the whole people, draws near: because that in such an overflowing of ungodliness there was no hope of any release from Gods revenging hand to be looked for. Moreover in these two verbs, To bow, and to humble, there is an elegant alluding to the bowing of themselves, whereof he spake in the eight verse: as if he should say, They have bowed down themselves to their idols: God will therefore cause them to be humbled and bowed down under a very heavy and great burden of calamities and ruins. And withal, no doubt but he also corrects their arrogance: because it was hard for them to believe that a people furnished in such sort with so much riches, could so quickly be overwhelmed with miseries.