Jesaja 6:5

Schlachter Bibel

Da sprach ich: Wehe mir, ich vergehe! Denn ich bin ein Mann von unreinen Lippen und wohne unter einem Volk, das auch unreine Lippen hat; denn meine Augen haben den König, den Herrn der Heerscharen, gesehen!

Parallel Translations

Lutherbible (1912)
Da sprach ich: Weh mir, ich vergehe! denn ich bin unreiner Lippen und wohne unter einem Volk von unreinen Lippen; denn ich habe den König, den HERRN Zebaoth, gesehen mit meinen Augen.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

said I: Exodus 33:20, Judges 6:22, Judges 13:22, Job 42:5, Job 42:6, Daniel 10:6-8, Habakkuk 3:16, Luke 5:8, Luke 5:9, Revelation 1:16, Revelation 1:17

undone: Heb. cut off

a man: Exodus 4:10, Exodus 6:12, Exodus 6:30, Jeremiah 1:6, Zechariah 3:1-7, Matthew 12:34-37, James 3:1, James 3:2

I dwell: Isaiah 29:13, Jeremiah 9:3-8, Ezekiel 2:6-8, Ezekiel 33:31, James 3:6-10

mine eyes: Isaiah 33:17, Revelation 1:5-7

Reciprocal: Genesis 18:27 - I have Genesis 18:30 - General Genesis 29:19 - General Genesis 32:10 - not worthy of the least of all Genesis 32:30 - I have Exodus 3:11 - General Leviticus 13:45 - Unclean 2 Samuel 6:9 - afraid 2 Samuel 12:13 - The Lord 2 Samuel 24:17 - I have sinned 1 Kings 19:13 - he wrapped his face 1 Chronicles 13:12 - afraid of God 2 Chronicles 7:2 - the priests Nehemiah 1:6 - both I Job 4:14 - Fear Job 9:20 - mine Job 10:15 - If I be wicked Job 23:16 - For God Job 40:4 - Behold Psalms 31:22 - I am Psalms 116:12 - General Proverbs 18:12 - and Proverbs 30:2 - I am Song of Solomon 2:14 - that art Isaiah 64:6 - are all Jeremiah 4:31 - Woe Jeremiah 23:9 - like a drunken Ezekiel 36:31 - shall loathe Daniel 9:20 - confessing Micah 7:1 - woe Zephaniah 1:7 - thy Zechariah 3:4 - I have Zechariah 14:16 - the King Luke 2:9 - and they Luke 17:10 - General Luke 18:13 - standing Acts 2:3 - like Romans 7:14 - but Romans 7:21 - evil 1 Corinthians 9:16 - woe Galatians 3:11 - that Galatians 5:17 - the flesh Philippians 3:9 - not

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then said I, woe [is] me,.... There's no woe to a good man, all woes are to the wicked; but a good man may think himself wretched and miserable, partly on account of his own corruptions, the body of sin and death he carries about with him; and partly on account of wicked men, among whom he dwells, Romans 7:24:

for I am undone; a good man cannot be undone, or be lost and perish; he is lost in Adam with the rest; in effectual calling he is made sensible of his lost and undone state; and under the power of unbelief may write bitter things against himself; but be can never perish, or be lost and undone for ever. The Targum is,

"for I have sinned;''

and his particular sin is after mentioned: some o render it, "for I have been silent"; as if he had not performed the duty of his office, in reproving for sin, or declaring the will of God: others p, "for I am reduced to silence", I am forced to be silent; he could not join with the "seraphim", being conscious to himself of his vileness, and of his unworthiness to take the holy name of God into his polluted lips, as follows:

because I [am] a man of unclean lips; he says nothing of the uncleanness of his heart, nor of his actions; not that he was free from such impurity; but only of his lips, because it was the sin of his office that lay upon his mind, and gave him present uneasiness; there is no man but offends in words, and of all men persons in public office should be careful of what they say; godly ministers are conscious of many failings in their ministry. The Targum is,

"because I am a sinful man to reprove;''

and so unfit for it.

And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; such were the Jews, not only in Isaiah's time, but in the times of Christ and his apostles, who traduced him, as if he was a wicked person, calumniated his miracles, said he was a Samaritan, and had a devil; they taught for doctrines the commandments of men, and opposed and blasphemed the truths of the Gospel; and to live among men of a filthy speech and conversation is a concern to a good man; he is vexed and distressed hereby; he is in danger of learning their words, and of suffering with them in a common calamity.

For mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts; the same divine and glorious Person described in Isaiah 6:1 who is no other than the Lord Christ, King of kings, and Lord of lords, King of saints, and Lord of the armies, in heaven and in earth; and a lovely sight it is to see him by faith, in the glory and beauty of his person, and in the fulness of his grace; such a sight is spiritual, saving, assimilating, appropriating, very endearing, and very glorious and delightful: wherefore it may seem strange that a sight of Christ should fill the prophet with dread; one would think he should rather have said, happy man that I am, because I have seen this glorious Person, whom to see and know is life eternal; but the reason of it is, because in this view of Christ he saw the impurity of himself, and was out of conceit with himself, and therefore cries out in the manner he does; just as in a sunbeam a man beholds those innumerable motes and atoms, which before were invisible to him. It was not because of his sight of Christ he reckoned himself undone; but because of the impurity of himself, and those among whom he dwelt, which he had a view of through his sight of Christ: his sight of Christ is given as a reason of his view of his impurity, and his impurity as the reason of his being undone in his apprehension of things. The prophet, in these his circumstances, represents a sensible sinner, under a sight and sense of his sinfulness and vileness; as the seraph in the following verses represents a Gospel minister bringing the good news of pardon, by the blood and sacrifice of Christ.

o כי נדמתי "quia tacui", V. L.; so R. Joseph Kimchi. p "Ad silentium redactus sum", Tigurine version.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Wo is me! - That is, I am filled with overwhelming convictions of my own unworthiness, with alarm that I have seen Yahweh.

For I am undone - Margin, ‘Cut off.’ Chaldee, ‘I have sinned.’ Septuagint, ‘I am miserable, I am pierced through.’ Syriac, ‘I am struck dumb.’ The Hebrew word may sometimes have this meaning, but it also means “to be destroyed, to be ruined, to perish;” see Hosea 10:15; Zephaniah 1:2; Hosea 4:6; Isaiah 15:1. This is probably the meaning here, ‘I shall be ruined, or destroyed.’ The reason of this, he immediately states.

A man of unclean lips - This expression evidently denotes that he was a “sinner,” and especially that he was unworthy either to join in the praise of a God so holy, or to deliver a message in his name. The vision; the profound worship of the seraphim; and the attendant majesty and glory, had deeply impressed him with a sense of the holiness of God, and of his own unfitness either to join in worship so holy, or to deliver the message of so pure a God. A similar effect is recorded in reference to Abraham; Genesis 18:27; see also Exodus 4:10, Exodus 4:12; Jeremiah 1:6. A deep consciousness of guilt, in view of the holiness and majesty of God, is also described by Job:

I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear

But now mine eye seeth thee.

Wherefore I abhor myself,

And repent in dust and ashes.

Job 42:5-6.

An effect also remarkably similar is described in reference to the apostle Peter, Luke 5:8 : “When Simon Peter saw it (the miracle which Jesus had performed), he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. ‘“

A people of unclean lips - A people who are unworthy to celebrate the praises of a God so pure and exalted.

Mine eyes have seen - In Exodus 33:20, it is said: ‘Thou canst not see my face, for there shall no man see me and live;’ compare John 1:18; 1 Timothy 6:16. Perhaps it was in recollection of this, that Isaiah said he was undone. It is not, however, to be understood that the prophet saw Yahweh Himself, but only the “symbol” of His presence. It was for this expression, according to the tradition of the Jews, that Manasseh took occasion to put the prophet to death; see the Introduction, Section 2.

The Lord of hosts - Yahweh of hosts. John applies this to the Lord Jesus, and this proves that he is divine; see John 12:41.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 6:5. Wo is me! for I am undone — נדמיתי nidmeythi, I am become dumb. There is something exceedingly affecting in this complaint. I am a man of unclean lips; I cannot say, Holy, holy, holy! which the seraphs exclaim. They are holy; I am not so: they see God, and live; I have seen him, and must die, because I am unholy. Only the pure in heart shall see God; and they only can live in his presence for ever, Reader, lay this to heart; and instead of boasting of thy excellence, and trusting in thy might, or comforting thyself in thy comparative innocence, thou wilt also be dumb before him, because thou hast been a man of unclean lips, and because thou hast still an unclean heart.

I am undone - "I am struck dumb"] נדמיתי nidmeythi, twenty-eight MSS. (five ancient) and three editions. - I understand it as from dum or damam, silere, "to be silent;" and so it is rendered by the Syriac, Vulgate, Symmachus, and by some of the Jewish interpreters, apud Sal. b. Melec. The rendering of the Syriac is תויר אני tavir ani, stupens, attonitus sum, "I am amazed." He immediately gives the reason why he was struck dumb: because he was a man of polluted lips, and dwelt among a people of polluted lips, and was unworthy, either to join the seraphim in singing praises to God, or to be the messenger of God to his people. Compare Exodus 4:10; Exodus 6:12; Jeremiah 1:6.