Isaiah 32:5-8 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

Bible Comments

The vile person, &c.— The meaning of this passage is, clearly, that, after the time of this great deliverance under the reign of a pious and just king, those things and persons which had appeared under false colours, should be called by their true names, and should be brought to light and appear in their true and proper colours. The 8th verse might be rendered, But the liberal, or ingenuous deviseth, or consulteth for ingenuous things, and for ingenuous things will he stand; that is, as an advocate and patron. The meaning is, that an ingenuous man, of a good mind, and a lover of the truth, will ingenuously explain his opinion concerning the works and ways of God, and the whole order of his providence, which the hypocrites so much maligned and misrepresented; and will strenuously defend those ways and works, as ever just and right, against all such unjust censurers. The Christian reader need not be told how exactly these particulars belong to his kingdom, who is a king reigning in righteousness; a hiding-place from the storm of sin and the world; John 16:33 whose kingdom is a kingdom of light, of faith, of love; all whose subjects are enlightened with the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ; who gave eyes to the blind, ears to the deaf, tongues to the dumb, and, by his divine grace, changed the most churlish and illiberal dispositions into generosity and love. See Vitringa.

Isaiah 32:5-8

5 The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful.

6 For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.

7 The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needyc speaketh right.

8 But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.d