The fifth Woe Oracle describes those in Israel who considered themselves wise. This criticism is more powerful after verse 13, which points out Israel’s lack of knowledge and understanding. It relates to the previous verse since only a fool would think of evil as being good. Israel thinks its values are correct, but they are actually completely wrong and foolish as well.

Those who are wise in their own eyes: In verse 15 the word eyes was used in the sense of “looks.” Here eyes means “opinion.” This clause may be rendered “those who in their own opinion are wise” or “those who think they are wise.”

And shrewd in their own sight is parallel to the previous clause. It is literally “and in their own sight they are shrewd,” so it forms a chiasmus with the previous line: wise > eyes > < sight < shrewd. The English word shrewd may be misleading with its connotation of deceptive craftiness, which is not present in the Hebrew word here. Better English renderings of this word are “perceptive”, “discerning.” Two positive descriptions of wisdom should be understood in both lines. Of course, the overall interpretation is that those who are flattering themselves by assuming they are wise are in reality fools. An alternative rendering for this line is “those who think they know everything.”

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .