John Gill's Bible Commentary Ver. 9. But in vain do they worship me , etc.] In the Hebrew text it is, their fear towards me: which is rightly expressed here by worship; for the fear of God often intends the whole worship of God, both external and internal: here it only signifies external worship, which these men only attended to. They prayed in the synagogues, read, and, in their way, expounded the books of Moses, and the prophets, to the people, diligently observed the rituals of the ceremonial law, brought their offerings and sacrifices to the temple, and neglected nothing appertaining to the outward service of it; and yet it was all in vain, and to no purpose; since the heart was wanting, no grace there, they acted from wrong principles, and with wrong views; their worship was merely outward, formal, and customary; and besides, they added doctrines and traditions of their own inventing and devising. The phrase, in vain, is not in the text in Isaiah: some have thought that it was not originally in Matthew, but inserted by some other hand, to make the sense more complete. Grotius thinks there was a various reading, which is followed by the Septuagint, and the evangelist; and that instead of yhtw , and is, it was whtw , the same with whtl , in vain: but there is no need to suppose either of these: Christ, who made this citation, either added it himself for the clearer illustration of the passage, and as being entirely agreeable to the sense of it, and which it required, for the true understanding of it; or he might have in his view another passage of the same prophet, speaking of the same people, and upon the same subject, ( Isaiah 1:11,13) and from thence take the phrase, and, for explanation sake, join it to the passage here. It follows, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men ; that is, teaching the people to observe the traditions of the elders, the decrees and determinations of the doctors, as if they were doctrines delivered by God himself; or, instead of the doctrines contained in the Bible, which lay neglected by them, they obtruded on them the orders, and injunctions of men. In the text in Isaiah, are only these words, taught by the precept of men: and which relate to their fear and worship of God; and which is here interpreted of their teachers teaching them it, and that explained of the commandments of men; as if, instead of hdmlm , taught, it had been read, ydmlm , teaching. The Jews have no reason to quarrel with this construction and sense, since their Targum paraphrases it thus; and their fear before me is, yplm yrbg tdyqptk , according to the commandment of men that teach: and a noted commentator of theirs has this remark on the text, their fear towards me is not with a perfect heart, but by the commandment twa ydmlmh ynah , of the men that teach them.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-9 - Additions to God's laws reflect upon his wisdom, as if he had left ou something which was needed, and which man could supply; in one way of other they always lead men to disobey God. How thankful ought we to be for the written word of God! Never let us think that the religion of the Bible can be improved by any human addition, either in doctrine or practice. Our blessed Lord spoke of their traditions as inventions of their own, and pointed out one instance in which this was very clear that of their transgressing the fifth commandment. When a parent' wants called for assistance, they pleaded, that they had devoted to the temple all they could spare, even though they did not part with it, an therefore their parents must expect nothing from them. This was makin the command of God of no effect. The doom of hypocrites is put in little compass; "In vain do they worship me." It will neither pleas God, nor profit themselves; they trust in vanity, and vanity will be their recompence.
Greek Textus Receptus
ματην 3155 ADV δε 1161 CONJ σεβονται 4576 5736 V-PNI-3P με 3165 P-1AS διδασκοντες 1321 5723 V-PAP-NPM διδασκαλιας 1319 N-APF ενταλματα 1778 N-APN ανθρωπων 444 N-GPM
