“For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off:”
My Notes
What Does Isaiah 29:20 Mean?
"For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off." Three categories of the wicked are eliminated: the terrible one (the oppressor, the tyrant), the scorner (the mocker, the contemptuous), and those who watch for iniquity (the scheming, the plotting, the opportunistic). Each meets a different end: brought to nought, consumed, cut off. The removal is comprehensive and category-specific.
The phrase "watch for iniquity" (shoqdei aven — those who keep watch for evil, who are vigilant for wrongdoing) describes a particularly disturbing form of wickedness: these people are WATCHFUL — alert, attentive, scanning for opportunities to commit evil. They don't stumble into sin. They watch for it. They're on lookout. The vigilance that should serve righteousness has been repurposed for iniquity.
The three endings — "brought to nought" (aphes — ceases to exist), "consumed" (kalah — finished, completed, used up), and "cut off" (nikhretu — severed, eliminated) — are three forms of total removal: the terrible cease. The scorner is used up. The scheming are severed. Each form of wickedness receives its appropriate form of termination.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Which of these three — tyrant, scorner, or plotter — do you most need to see eliminated?
- 2.What does the terrible one becoming 'nought' (nothing, zero) teach about the impermanence of intimidation?
- 3.How does using watchfulness for evil (instead of righteousness) describe the corruption of good capacities?
- 4.What does each form of wickedness receiving a tailored ending teach about the specificity of divine justice?
Devotional
The tyrant: gone. The scorner: consumed. The plotters: cut off. Three kinds of wickedness. Three kinds of ending. Each one eliminated specifically, completely, finally. The removal is tailored to the character.
The 'terrible one brought to nought' is the tyrant's ending: the person who made others tremble ceases to exist. The 'nought' (aphes — nothing, zero) means the tyrant doesn't just lose power. They become NOTHING. The person who was everything to fear becomes nothing to mention. The terrifying presence becomes a vacant space.
The 'scorner consumed' is the mocker's ending: the person who mocked everything and everyone is themselves consumed — used up, finished, depleted. The mockery that seemed inexhaustible runs out. The contempt that seemed unlimited has a limit. The scorner's own consumption is the universe's answer to their contempt.
The 'watch for iniquity are cut off' describes the plotters' fate: the people who stayed awake at night scheming evil — who were vigilant, watchful, scanning for opportunities to do wrong — are severed. The Hebrew for 'watch' (shoqdei) implies staying alert, keeping vigil. They used watchman-energy for wicked purposes. They watched for iniquity the way a guard watches for enemies. And they're cut off — severed from the community, from their plans, from their future.
Which of these three — the terrible, the scorner, or the watcher for iniquity — do you most need to see eliminated?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
For the terrible one is brought to nought,.... Who before was so to the people of God; meaning not Sennacherib king of…
For the terrible one - The violent one (עריץ ‛ârı̂yts), the oppressor, who had exercised cruelty over them. This, I…
Those that thought to hide their counsels from the Lord were said to turn things upside down (Isa 29:16), and they…
the terrible one or "tyrant" probably denotes an external oppressor (the Assyrian); cf. Isa 25:3-4; the scorneris the…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture