(_See also Supplement_) ISAIAH 1:1. ISRAEL'S SIN, ITS SORE PUNISHMENT, FALSE AND TRUE DIVINE SERVICE. The chapter is not a unity. The main part of it (Isaiah 1:2) represents perhaps two addresses (Isaiah 1:2; Isaiah 1:10), but they connect well, and probably belong to the same date. The description... [ Continue Reading ]
ISAIAH 1:1. Title by a later editor, originally prefixed to chs. 1- 12.... [ Continue Reading ]
Let heaven and earth hear with amazement Yahweh's complaint. He has reared His people with the kindliest care, and _they_ (pathetic emphasis) have repaid Him with unfilial ingratitude. Ox and ass find their way to their owner's house, but Israel displays no such intelligence (Jeremiah 8:7). With fou... [ Continue Reading ]
This connects admirably with Isaiah 1:9. By a fine transition Isaiah intimates that it is no merit in the rulers which has averted Sodom's fate. Let these lawless and shameless administrators listen to the teaching (_mg._) of their outraged God. What end, He asks, do their sacrifices serve? He loath... [ Continue Reading ]
Perhaps an independent oracle, or even two (Isaiah 1:18 and Isaiah 1:19 f.); the date is quite uncertain. According to the usual view Yahweh challenges Israel to a lawsuit, that His righteousness may be vindicated and its guilt clearly seen. But it is not certain that a legal process is implied. Nor... [ Continue Reading ]
A complete poem, of uncertain date, in elegiac rhythm. How has the city once loyal to Yahweh become faithless to her husband! Her silver has become dross, her wine adulterated. Her princes rebel against Yahweh; the thieves bribe them to secure acquittal, but the widow and orphan cannot even get thei... [ Continue Reading ]
A fragment on tree-worship, possibly late, but probably Isaiah's. It is an immemorial form of idolatry (p. 100), and persists to the present time. The prophet warns his hearers that they will be disappointed in the divine denizens of terebinths (_mg._) and springs in the sacred gardens (_cf._ Isaiah... [ Continue Reading ]