1.
THE
GENERAL
TITLE OR
PROGRAM
applying to the entire book: this
discountenances the Talmud tradition, that he was sawn asunder by
Manasseh.
Isaiah--equivalent to "The Lord shall save"; significant of the
subject of his prophecies. On "vision," see @1Sa 9:9 Nu 12:6; and
see my Introduction.
Judah and Jerusalem--Other nations also are the subjects of his
prophecies; but only in their relation to the Jews
(@Isa 13:1-23:18); so also the ten tribes of Israel are introduced
only in the same relation (@Isa 7:1-9:21). Jerusalem is particularly
specified, being the site of the temple, and the center of the
theocracy, and the future throne of Messiah (@Ps 48:2,3,9 Jer 3:17).
Jesus Christ is the "Lion of the tribe of Judah" (@Re 5:5).
Uzziah--called also Azariah (@2Ki 14:21 2Ch 26:1,17,20). The Old
Testament prophecies spiritually interpret the histories, as the New
Testament Epistles interpret the Gospels and Acts. Study them together,
to see their spiritual relations. Isaiah prophesied for only a few years
before Uzziah's death; but his prophecies of that period
(@Isa 1:1-6:13) apply to Jotham's reign also, in which he probably
wrote none; for @Isa 7:1-25 enters immediately on Ahaz' reign,
after Uzziah in @Isa 6:1-13; the prophecies under Hezekiah follow
next.
2. The very words of Moses (@De 32:1); this implies that the
law was the charter and basis of all prophecy (@Isa 8:20).
Lord--Jehovah; in Hebrew, "the self-existing and
promise-fulfilling, unchangeable One." The Jews never pronounced this
holy name. but substituted Adonai. The English Version,
LORD in
capitals, marks the Hebrew "Jehovah," though Lord is rather
equivalent to "Adonai" than "Jehovah."
children--(@Ex 4:22).
rebelled--as sons (@De 21:18) and as subjects, God being king in
the theocracy (@Isa 63:10). "Brought up," literally, "elevated,"
namely, to peculiar privileges (@Jer 2:6-8 Ro 9:4,5).
3. (@Jer 8:7).
crib--the stall where it is fed (@Pr 14:4). Spiritually the word
and ordinances.
Israel--The whole nation, Judah as well as Israel, in the restricted
sense. God regards His covenant-people in their designed unity.
not know--namely. his Owner, as the parallelism requires; that is,
not recognize Him as such (@Ex 19:5, equivalent to "my people,"
@Joh 1:10,11).
consider--attend to his Master (@Isa 41:8), notwithstanding
the spiritual food which He provides (answering to "crib" in the
parallel clause).
4. people--the peculiar designation of God's elect nation
(@Ho 1:10), that they should be "laden with iniquity" is
therefore the more monstrous. Sin is a load (@Ps 38:4 Mt 11:28).
seed--another appellation of God's elect (@Ge 12:7 Jer 2:21),
designed to be a "holy seed" (@Isa 6:13), but, awful to say,
"evildoers!"
children--by adoption (@Ho 11:1), yet "evildoers"; not only so,
but "corrupters" of others (@Ge 6:12); the climax. So
"nation--people--seed children."
provoked--literally, "despised," namely, so as to provoke
(@Pr 1:30,31).
Holy One of Israel--the peculiar heinousness of their sin, that it
was against their God (@Am 3:2).
gone . . . backward--literally, "estranged"
(@Ps 58:3).
5. Why--rather, as Vulgate, "On what part." Image from a body
covered all over with marks of blows (@Ps 38:3). There is no part
in which you have not been smitten.
head . . . sick, &c.--not referring, as it is commonly quoted, to
their sins, but to the universality of their punishment. However,
sin, the moral disease of the head or intellect, and the heart, is
doubtless made its own punishment (@Pr 1:31 Jer 2:19 Ho 8:11).
"Sick," literally, "is in a state of sickness"
[GESENIUS]; "has
passed into sickness" [MAURER].
6. From the lowest to the highest of the people; "the ancient and
honorable, the head, the prophet that teacheth lies, the tail." See
@Isa 9:13-16. He first states their wretched condition, obvious to
all (@Isa 1:6-9); and then, not previously, their irreligious state,
the cause of it.
wounds--judicially inflicted (@Ho 5:13).
mollified with ointment--The art of medicine in the East consists
chiefly in external applications (@Lu 10:34 Jas 5:14).
7. Judah had not in Uzziah's reign recovered from the ravages of the
Syrians in Joash's reign (@2Ch 24:24), and of Israel in Amaziah's
reign (@2Ch 25:13,23, &c.). Compare Isaiah's contemporary
(@Am 4:6-11), where, as here (@Isa 1:9,10), Israel is compared
to "Sodom and Gomorrah," because of the judgments on it by "fire."
in your presence--before your eyes: without your being able to
prevent them.
desolate, &c.--literally, "there is desolation, such as one might
look for from foreign" invaders.
8. daughter of Zion--the city (@Ps 9:14), Jerusalem and its
inhabitants (@2Ki 19:21): "daughter" (feminine, singular being
used as a neuter collective noun), equivalent to sons (@Isa 12:6, Margin)
[MAURER]. Metropolis or "mother city" is
the corresponding term. The idea of youthful beauty is included in
"daughter."
left--as a remnant escaping the general destruction.
cottage--a hut, made to give temporary shelter to the caretaker
of the vineyard.
lodge--not permanent.
besieged--rather, as "left," and @Isa 1:9 require,
preserved, namely, from the desolation all round
[MAURER].
9. Jehovah of Sabaoth, that is, God of the angelic and starry hosts (@Ps 59:5 147:4 148:2). The latter were objects of idolatry, called hence Sabaism (@2Ki 17:16). God is above even them (@1Ch 16:26). "The groves" were symbols of these starry hosts; it was their worship of Sabaoth instead of the Lord of Sabaoth, which had caused the present desolation (@2Ch 24:18). It needed no less a power than His, to preserve even a "remnant." Condescending grace for the elect's sake, since He has no need of us, seeing that He has countless hosts to serve Him.
10. Sodom--spiritually (@Ge 19:24 Jer 23:14 Eze 16:46 Re 11:8).
11. God does not here absolutely disparage sacrifice, which is as
old and universal as sin (@Ge 3:21 4:4), and sin is almost as old as
the world; but sacrifice, unaccompanied with obedience of heart and life
(@1Sa 15:22 Ps 50:9-13 51:16-19 Ho 6:6). Positive precepts are
only means; moral obedience is the end. A foreshadowing of the gospel,
when the One real sacrifice was to supersede all the shadowy ones, and
"bring in everlasting righteousness"
(@Ps 40:6,7 Da 9:24-27 Heb 10:1-14).
full--to satiety; weary of
burnt offerings--burnt whole, except the blood, which was sprinkled
about the altar.
fat--not to be eaten by man, but burnt on the altar
(@Le 3:4,5,11,17).
12. appear before me--in the temple where the Shekinah, resting on
the ark, was the symbol of God's presence (@Ex 23:15 Ps 42:2).
who hath required this--as if you were doing God a service by such
hypocritical offerings (@Job 35:7). God did require it
(@Ex 23:17), but not in this spirit (@Mic 6:6,7).
courts--areas, which the worshippers were. None but priests entered
the temple itself.
13. oblations--unbloody; "meat (old English sense, not flesh)
offerings," that is, of flour, fruits, oil, &c. (@Le 2:1-13).
Hebrew, mincha.
incense--put upon the sacrifices, and burnt on the altar of incense.
Type of prayer (@Ps 141:2 Re 8:3).
new moons--observed as festivals (@Nu 10:10 28:11,14) with
sacrifices and blowing of silver trumpets.
sabbaths--both the seventh day and the beginning and closing days of
the great feasts (@Le 23:24-39).
away with--bear, MAURER translates, "I cannot bear iniquity and the solemn meeting," that is, the meeting associated with
iniquity--literally, the closing days of the feasts; so the great
days (@Le 23:36 Joh 7:37).
14. appointed--the sabbath, passover, pentecost, day of atonement,
and feast of tabernacles [HENGSTENBERG];
they alone were fixed to certain times of the year.
weary--(@Isa 43:24).
15. (@Ps 66:18 Pr 28:9 La 3:43,44).
spread . . . hands--in prayer (@1Ki 8:22).
Hebrew, "bloods," for all heinous sins, persecution of God's
servants especially (@Mt 23:35). It was the vocation of the
prophets to dispel the delusion, so contrary to the law itself
(@De 10:16), that outward ritualism would satisfy God.
16. God saith to the sinner, "Wash you," &c., that he, finding
his inability to "make" himself "clean," may cry to God, Wash me,
cleanse me (@Ps 51:2,7,10).
before mine eyes--not mere outward reformation before man's
eyes, who cannot, as God, see into the heart (@Jer 32:19).
17. seek judgment--justice, as magistrates, instead of
seeking bribes (@Jer 22:3,16).
judge--vindicate (@Ps 68:5 Jas 1:27).
18. God deigns to argue the case with us, that all may see the just,
nay, loving principle of His dealings with men (@Isa 43:26).
scarlet--the color of Jesus Christ's robe when bearing our "sins"
(@Mt 27:28). So Rahab's thread (@Jos 2:18; compare @Le 14:4).
The rabbins say that when the lot used to be taken, a scarlet fillet
was bound on the scapegoat's head, and after the high priest had
confessed his and the people's sins over it, the fillet became
white: the miracle ceased, according to them, forty years before the
destruction of Jerusalem, that is, exactly when Jesus Christ was
crucified; a remarkable admission of adversaries. Hebrew for
"scarlet" radically means double-dyed; so the deep-fixed permanency of sin in the heart, which no mere tears can wash away.
snow--(@Ps 51:7). Repentance is presupposed, before sin can be
made white as snow (@Isa 1:19,20); it too is God's gift
(@Jer 31:18, end @La 5:21 Ac 5:31).
red--refers to "blood" (@Isa 1:15).
as wool--restored to its original undyed whiteness. This verse shows
that the old fathers did not look only for transitory promises (Article
VII, Book of Common Prayer). For sins of ignorance, and such like,
alone had trespass offerings appointed for them; greater guilt therefore
needed a greater sacrifice, for, "without shedding of blood there was no
remission"; but none such was appointed, and yet forgiveness was
promised and expected; therefore spiritual Jews must have looked for the
One Mediator of both Old Testament and New Testament, though dimly
understood.
19, 20. Temporal blessings in "the land of their possession" were prominent in the Old Testament promises, as suited to the childhood of the Church (@Ex 3:17). New Testament spiritual promises derive their imagery from the former (@Mt 5:5).
20. Lord hath spoken it--Isaiah's prophecies rest on the law (@Le 26:33).
21. faithful--as a wife (@Isa 54:5 62:5 Ho 2:19,20).
harlot--(@Eze 16:28-35).
righteousness lodged--(@2Pe 3:13).
murderers--murderous oppressors, as the antithesis requires
(see on Isa 1:15;
1Jo 3:15).
22. Thy princes and people are degenerate in "solid worth,"
equivalent to "silver" (@Jer 6:28,30 Eze 22:18,19), and in their use
of the living Word, equivalent to "wine" (@So 7:9).
mixed--literally, "circumcised." So the Arabic, "to murder"
wine, equivalent to dilute it.
23. companions of thieves--by connivance (@Pr 29:24).
gifts--(@Eze 22:12). A nation's corruption begins
with its rulers.
24. Lord . . . Lord--Adonai,
JEHOVAH.
mighty One of Israel--mighty to take vengeance, as before, to save.
Ah--indignation.
ease me--My long tried patience will find relief in at last
punishing the guilty (@Eze 5:13). God's language condescends to
human conceptions.
25. turn . . . hand--not in wrath, but in grace (@Zec 13:7),
"upon thee," as @Isa 1:26,27 show; contrasted with the
enemies, of whom He will avenge Himself (@Isa 1:24).
purely--literally, "as alkali purifies."
thy dross--not thy sins, but the sinful persons
(@Jer 6:29); "enemies" (@Isa 1:24); degenerate princes
(see on Isa 1:22), intermingled with the elect "remnant" of
grace.
tin--Hebrew, bedil, here the alloy of lead, tin, &c., separated
by smelting from the silver. The pious Bishop Bedell took his motto from
this.
26. As the degeneracy had shown itself most in the magistrates (@Isa 1:17-23), so, at the "restoration," these shall be such as the
theocracy "at the first" had contemplated, namely, after the Babylonish
restoration in part and typically, but fully and antitypically under
Messiah (@Isa 32:1 52:8 Jer 33:7 Mt 19:28).
faithful--no longer "an harlot."
27. redeemed--temporarily, civilly, and morally; type of the
spiritual redemption by the price of Jesus Christ's blood
(@1Pe 1:18,19), the foundation of "judgment" and righteousness, and so of pardon. The judgment and "righteousness" are God's first
(@Isa 42:21 Ro 3:26); so they become man's when "converted"
(@Ro 8:3,4); typified in the display of God's "justice," then
exhibited in delivering His covenant-people, whereby justice or
"righteousness" was produced in them.
converts--so MAURER. But Margin,
"they that return of her,"
namely the remnant that return from captivity. However, as Isaiah had
not yet expressly foretold the Babylonian captivity, the
English Version is better.
28. destruction--literally, "breaking into shivers" (@Re 2:27). The prophets hasten forward to the final extinction of the ungodly (@Ps 37:20 Re 19:20 20:15); of which antecedent judgments are types.
29. ashamed--(@Ro 6:21).
oaks--Others translate the "terebinth" or "turpentine tree." Groves
were dedicated to idols. Our Druids took their name from the Greek for "oaks." A sacred tree is often found in Assyrian sculpture; symbol
of the starry hosts, Saba.
gardens--planted enclosures for idolatry; the counterpart of the
garden of Eden.
30. oak--Ye shall be like the "oaks," the object of your "desire" (@Isa 1:29). People become like the gods they worship; they never rise above their level (@Ps 135:18). So men's sins become their own scourges (@Jer 2:9). The leaf of the idol oak fades by a law of necessary consequence, having no living sap or "water" from God. So "garden" answers to "gardens" (@Isa 1:29).
31. strong--powerful rulers (@Am 2:9).
maker of it--rather, his work. He shall be at once the fuel, "tow,"
and the cause of the fire, by kindling the first "spark."
both--the wicked ruler, and "his work," which "is as a spark."