When a man, &c.— In these verses the description of the confused state of the nation, mentioned in the fifth verse, is continued under an elegant figure, whereby the government, which otherwise is anxiously sought after, is refused by a person to whom it is offered. I have neither clothing nor bread, means, that he had not what was sufficient for sustaining the dignity and the expence of government. See chap. Isaiah 22:21. And the phrase, I will not be an healer, means, that it was not in his power to bind up and to cure the wounds and miseries of the nation. See chap. Isaiah 1:6. The sum of what the prophet means is, that the confusion and desperation of those times should be the greatest possible. He alludes to the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, after the carrying away of Jehoiachin, or the time of the last siege of Jerusalem by the Chaldees, when, as we learn from the sacred history, nothing could be more deplorable than the state of things. See Vitringa.
Related Commentaries of Isaiah 3:6
Isaiah 3:6-7
6 When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand:
7 In that day shall he swear,b saying, I will not be an healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people.