Isaiah 1

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 1:11-14

The outward form of religion, without inward piety, an offence to God. It is strange how deeply ingrained the idea is in man, that formal acts of worship, outward acknowledgment, ritual, ceremonial, pageantry, constitute religion, and will be accepted by God in lieu of the inward devotion of the heart. Heathenism was full of the notion. Plato tells us that the Greeks thought they might commit any number and any kind of sins or crimes, and obtain pardon for them at the hands of the gods, if... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 1:12

When ye come to appear before me. Mr. Cheyne translates, "to see my face;" but most other commentators (Gesenius, Delitzsch, Ewald, Kay) regard the phrase used as equivalent to that employed in Exodus 23:17 ; Exodus 34:23 ; Deuteronomy 16:16 ; and the passage as referring to that attendance in the temple at the three great annual festivals, which was required of all adult male Israelites. The requirement of the Law was still observed in the letter, but not in the spirit . They came... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 1:13

Bring no more vain oblations. The command is net "Bring no more oblations, "as though the daily oblation was to cease; but "bring no more oblations that are vain ones, " i.e. empty and unreal—mere forms, without the proper corresponding spirit. The "oblation" spoken of is the minchah , or "meat offering," cf. Le Isaiah 2:1-11 ; Numbers 28:12-31 , which was a cake of fine flour mingled with oil, and generally had incense joined with it, which explains the nexus of this clause with... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 1:14

Your new moons. (For the ceremonies to be observed at the opening of each month, see Numbers 28:11-15 .) Your appointed feasts. The "appointed feasts" are the great festival-times—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. They do not include the sabbath or the "new moon, "with which they are, both here and elsewhere ( 1 Chronicles 23:31 ; 2 Chronicles 31:3 ), contrasted. They are a trouble unto me; literally, an encumbrance (see Deuteronomy... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 1:15

I will hide mine eyes, etc. A time comes when the wicked are alarmed, and seek to turn to God; but it is too late . "Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me" ( Proverbs 1:28 ). When ye make many prayers ; literally, multiply prayer . Full of blood (comp. Isaiah 1:21 ). Actual bloodshed may be pointed at, as the murder of Zechariah ( 2 Chronicles 24:21 ), and the fate which befell Isaiah himself, according to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 1:15

God will not listen to the prayers of the wicked. Sinners sometimes think that they may persist in sin as long as they like, because they can at any time turn to God, ask his forgiveness, obtain pardon, and be saved. But Scripture is very full of warnings that this is not the case. There is "a sin against the Holy Ghost, "which "shah not be forgiven to men, neither in this world, neither in the world to come" ( Matthew 12:32 ). There is a persistence in sin, which "quenches the Spirit" ( ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 1:16

Wash you, make you clean . The analogy of sin to defilement, and of washing to cleansing from sin, has been felt among men universally wherever there has been any sense of sin. Outward purification by water has been constantly made use of as typical of the recovery of inward purity. Hence the numerous washings of the Levitical Law ( Exodus 29:4 ; Le Exodus 1:9 , Exodus 1:13 ; Numbers 19:7 , Numbers 19:8 , Numbers 19:19 ; Deuteronomy 21:6 ; Deuteronomy 23:11 ; etc.); hence the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 1:16-17

Conditions of Divine acceptance. The prophet has been dealing with the insufficiency of mere ceremonial as a ground of acceptance before God. He is equally severe on mere professions of penitence, that find no adequate expression in changed moral conduct and hearty return to the rules of duty and charity. I. IT WOULD BE MISCHIEVOUS TO ACCEPT THE HARDENED . Mischievous for the hardened themselves, who would be made yet harder by a goodness they could not fail to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 1:16-20

THE REQUIREMENT OF GOD — AMENDMENT OF LIFE . God, having put aside the worthless plea of outward religiousness made by his people, goes on to declare, by the mouth of his prophet, what he requires. First, in general terms ( Isaiah 1:16 ), and then with distinct specification ( Isaiah 1:17 ), he calls on them to amend their ways, both negatively ("cease to do evil") and positively ("learn to do well"). If they will really amend, then he assures them of forgiveness and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 1:16-20

No return to God's favor without amendment of life. The outward show of religion, which the Israelites maintained, vain and futile as it was, seemed to indicate that they were not wholly irreclaimable—they did not desire to break altogether with God. The prophet, therefore, assumes that they would wish to know the way by which they may remove God's anger, and enter once more into favor with him; and he proceeds to point out that the one and only road open to them is to amend their ways—to... read more

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 1:11-14

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 1:12

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 1:13

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 1:14

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 1:15

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 1:15

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 1:16

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 1:16-17

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 1:16-20

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 1:16-20

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