NOTES for Isa 29:17-24
Speaking of the day of God's triumph, Isaiah mentions that on that day frivolous fools will disappear (v. 20), while those whose spirits wander will gain an understanding of what is happening (v. 24; in the Russian Synodal translation, the frivolous fools are called “blasphemers”). This contrast between understanding and foolish frivolity may be regarded as traditional both in the prophetic tradition and in biblical wisdom literature: in the Book of Proverbs, for example, it occurs regularly. What, then, is at issue?
First of all, the clarity of the concepts a person uses. Something like what Socrates always tried to achieve with those he spoke to: if you use words, make the effort to understand fully what they mean. Achieve complete clarity on this point, and only then will you be able to work out how things really stand.
The Hebrew word translated into Russian as “understanding” means roughly the same thing. Both the sages and the prophets paid no less attention to clarity of thought than Socrates did. Their aims, too, were partly similar.
As we know, Socrates made distinguishing good from evil the chief aim of his philosophy, so that, having learned to distinguish them, each person could then choose what was best and follow the path of goodness. The biblical sages and prophets, for their part, made it their chief aim to learn to follow the Torah and observe the commandments, without which the path of righteousness remained closed to human beings.
Righteousness was never regarded as a human attribute. Only God was ever considered righteous. But a person could become a mirror reflecting God's righteousness. To become such a mirror, one first had to learn to distinguish concepts clearly and precisely; otherwise, it was easy to get entangled in words, especially since there were always people ready to entangle others (v. 21).
Yet this was not enough: it was also important to be able to distinguish good from evil, to understand where and in what respect a commandment was being broken and where it was not. This practical ability to follow the commandments in everyday life was what was called wisdom—the wisdom which, while remaining the work of human hands and minds, nevertheless showed its possessor the path of the Torah leading into the Kingdom.