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Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 1:2-6

GOD 'S COMPLAINT AGAINST HIS PEOPLE . The groundwork of Isaiah's entire prophecy is Judah's defection from God. God's people have sinned, done amiss, dealt wickedly. The hour of vengeance approaches. Punishment has begun, and will go on, continually increasing in severity. National repentance would avert God's judgments, but the nation will not repeat. God's vengeance will fall, and by it a remnant will be purified, and return to God, and be his true people. In the present section... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 1:4-9

The prophet's enforcement of God's charge. God's words are so weighty, that they may well be few; the preacher's enforcement of them must needs be, comparatively speaking, lengthy. Isaiah, in addressing his erring countrymen, aimed at producing in them— I. CONVICTION OF DIN . For this purpose, he begins with an array of seven charges (verse 4), varying, as it were, the counts of the indictment: The first four are general, and seem to be little more than rhetorical variations of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 1:5

Why should ye , etc.? Translate, Why will ye be still smitten , revolting more and more? or, Why will ye persist in rebellion , and so be smitten yet more? The Authorized Version does not express the sense, which is that suffering must follow sin—that if they still revolt, they must still be smitten for it—why, then, will they do so? Compare Ezekiel's "Why will ye die, O house of Israel?" ( Ezekiel 18:31 ). The whole head … the whole heart. Mr. Cheyne translates, "Every head … ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 1:5

The foolishness of increasing Divine judgments. The plea of the prophet appears to be this: "You have run terrible lengths in sin; and you have seriously suffered from the consequences of sin; now why will you bring down fresh judgments upon your head through persisting in your infidelity" (comp. Ezekiel 18:31 )? So serious, indeed, had been the penalties of transgression already that there seemed to be no part of the body politic upon which another stroke might fall; new inflictions must... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 1:5-9

Sin in its hopelessness. I. THAT SIN IS MORE OR LESS RECLAIMABLE . Whatever we might have antecedently expected, we find practically, that there are those on whom Divine truth is far more likely to tell than it is on others. Thus Time, pleasure, the misuse of sacred opportunity,—these things indurate the soul and make it far less responsive than it once was; so that there are some that are more hopeless than others. II. THAT THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN UNCHARGED BY... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 1:6

From the sole of the foot even unto the head (comp. Job 2:7 ). From top to bottom, the body corporate is diseased throughout—there is no soundness in it (cf. Psalms 38:3 , Psalms 38:7 )—all is one wound, one livid bruise, one festering sore. Note the use of the singular number in the original. They have not been closed ; literally, they have not been pressed ; which is explained to mean (Aben Ezra, Kay) that they have not had the matter formed by suppuration pressed out of them. ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 1:7

Your country is desolate. Metaphor is now dropped, and the prophet describes in strong but simple language the judgments of God, which have already followed the sins of the nation. First of all, their land is "a desolation." It has been recently ravaged by an enemy; the towns have been burnt, the crops devoured. There is nothing to determine who the enemy had been. Knobel supposes the Edomites and Philistines, who invaded Judaea in the time of Ahaz ( 2 Chronicles 28:17 , 2 Chronicles... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 1:5

Why ... - The prophet now, by an abrupt change in the discourse, calls their attention to the effects of their sins. Instead of saving that they had been smitten, or of saying that they had been punished for their sins, he assumes both, and asks why it should be repeated. The Vulgate reads this: ‘Super quo - on what part - shall I smite you anymore?’ This expresses well the sense of the Hebrew - על־מה ‛al-meh - upon what; and the meaning is, ‘what part of the body can be found on which blows... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 1:6

From the sole of the foot ... - Or is we say, ‘from head to foot,’ that is, in every part of the body. There may be included also the idea that this extended from the lowest to the highest among the people. The Chaldee paraphrase is, ‘from the lowest of the people even to the princes - all are contumacious and rebellious.’No soundness - מתם methôm, from תמם tâmam, to be perfect, sound, uninjured. There is no part unaffected; no part that is sound. It is all smitten and sore.But wounds - The... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 1:7

Your country is desolate - This is the literal statement of what he had just affirmed by a figure. In this there was much art. The figure Isaiah 1:6 was striking. The resemblance between a man severely beaten, and entirely livid and sore, and a land perfectly desolate, was so impressive as to arrest the attention. This had been threatened as one of the curses which should attend disobedience; Leviticus 26:33 :And I will scatter you among the heathen,And will draw out a sword after you:And your... read more

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