Isaiah 59:8

King James Version (KJV)

The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.

Adam Clarke
Bible Commentary

Whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace "Whoever goeth in them knoweth not peace" - For בה bah, singular, read בם bam, plural, with the Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, and Chaldee. The ה he is upon a rasure in one MS. Or, for נתיבתיהם nethibotheyhem, plural, we must read נתיבתם nethibatham, singular, as it is in an ancient MS., to preserve the grammatical concord. - L.

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Albert Barnes
Notes on the Whole Bible

The way of peace they know not - The phrase ‹way of peace‘ may denote either peace of conscience, peace with God, peace among themselves, or peace with their fellow-men. Possibly it may refer to all these; and the sense will be, that in their whole lives they were strangers to true contentment and happiness. From no quarter had they peace, but whether in relation to God, to their own consciences, to each other, or to their fellow-men, they were involved in continual strife and agitation (see the notes at Isaiah 57:20-21).

And there is no judgment in their goings - Margin, ‹Right.‘ The sense is, that there was no justice in their dealings. there was no disposition to do right. They were full of selfishness, falsehood, oppression, and cruelty.

They have made them crooked paths - A crooked path is an emblem of dishonesty, fraud, deceit. A straight path is an emblem of sincerity, truth, honesty, and uprightness (see Psalm 125:5; Proverbs 2:15; and the notes at Isaiah 40:4). The idea is, that their counsels and plans were perverse and evil. We have a similar expression now when we say of a man that he is ‹straightforward,‘ meaning that he is an honest man.

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Matthew Henry
Concise Bible Commentary

If our prayers are not answered, and the salvation we wait for is not wrought for us, it is not because God is weary of hearing prayer, but because we are weary of praying. See here sin in true colours, exceedingly sinful; and see sin in its consequences, exceedingly hurtful, separating from God, and so separating us, not only from all good, but to all evil. Yet numbers feed, to their own destruction, on infidel and wicked systems. Nor can their skill or craft, in devising schemes, as the spider weaves its web, deliver or save them. No schemes of self-wrought salvation shall avail those who despise the Redeemer's robe of righteousness. Every man who is destitute of the Spirit of Christ, runs swiftly to evil of some sort; but those regardless of Divine truth and justice, are strangers to peace.

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Ellen G. White
Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1, 355

[See Appendix]

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Ellen G. White
Counsels on Health, 575

[The Review and Herald, May 27, 1902.]

If Seventh-day Adventists practiced what they profess to believe, if they were sincere health reformers, they would indeed be a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. And they would show a far greater zeal for the salvation of those who are ignorant of the truth. CH 575.1

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Ellen G. White
Lift Him Up, 134.2

We have an abundance of sermonizing. What is most needed ... is love for perishing souls, that love which comes in rich currents from the throne of God. True Christianity diffuses love through the whole being. It touches every vital part, the brain, the heart, the helping hands, the feet, enabling men to stand firmly where God requires them to stand, so that they will not make crooked paths for their feet, lest the lame be turned out of the way. The burning, consuming love of Christ for perishing souls is the life of the whole system of Christianity. LHU 134.2

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Ellen G. White
The Publishing Ministry, 148.2

A Confederacy in Wrong Methods—Men have tried to rob their brethren of their rights, and have selfishly grasped all the available means to turn to the advantage of the Review and Herald office. They have tried to justify themselves by saying, “I am doing it for the cause of God.” Human preferences and prejudices have swayed the minds of those who confederated to sustain methods contrary to the Word of God. Selfishness has led those who ought to be true to principle to make crooked paths for their feet.—Manuscript 29, 1911. PM 148.2

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