Isaiah 1:2-3

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 1:2-9

We will hope to meet with a brighter and more pleasant scene before we come to the end of this book; but truly here, in the beginning of it, every thing looks very bad, very black, with Judah and Jerusalem. What is the wilderness of the world, if the church, the vineyard, has such a dismal aspect as this? I. The prophet, though he speaks in God's name, yet, despairing to gain audience with the children of his people, addresses himself to the heavens and the earth, and bespeaks their attention... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 1:2

Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth ,.... To what the Lord was about to say of his controversy with his people, which was to be managed openly and publicly before them as spectators and witnesses; this designs either strictly and properly the heavens and the earth, or figuratively the inhabitants of them, angels and men. The address is solemn, and denotes something of moment and importance to be done and attended to: see Deuteronomy 32:1 . The Targum is, "hear, O ye heavens, that were... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 1:3

The ox knoweth his owner ,.... Knows his voice, when he calls him, and follows him where he leads him, whether to plough in the field, or feed in the meadows; and the ass his masters crib , or "manger"; where he is fed, and to which he goes when he wants food, and at the usual times. Gussetius F23 Comment. Ling. Ebr. p. 13, 14. interprets the words; the ass knows the floor where he treads out the corn, and willingly goes to it, though it is to labour, as well as to eat; and so puts... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 1:2

Hear, O heavens "Hear, O ye heavens" - God is introduced as entering into a public action, or pleading, before the whole world, against his disobedient people. The prophet, as herald or officer to proclaim the summons to the court, calls upon all created beings, celestial and terrestrial, to attend and bear witness to the truth of his plea and the justice of his cause. The same scene is more fully displayed in the noble exordium of Psalm 1:1-6 , where God summons all mankind, from east to... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 1:3

The ox knoweth - An amplification of the gross insensibility of the disobedient Jews, by comparing them with the most heavy and stupid of all animals, yet not so insensible as they. Bochart has well illustrated the comparison, and shown the peculiar force of it. "He sets them lower than the beasts, and even than the most stupid of all beasts, for there is scarcely any more so than the ox and the ass. Yet these acknowledge their master; they know the manger of their lord; by whom they are... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 1:1-2

Ingratitude and intervention. The "vision of Isaiah" during the reigns of four kings of Judah (verse 1), and the declaration (verse 2) that "the Lord hath spoken" (or speaketh), suggests— I. THE FACT THAT GOD HAS INTERVENED AND DOES INTERVENE IN HUMAN AFFAIRS . 1. Such Divine intervention ought not to have been necessary . For God has so ordered everything around us, and has so constituted us ourselves, that there were abundant sources of truth and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 1:1-9

Jehovah arraigns his people. I. INGRATITUDE THE BASEST OF SINS . He, the Father, has been faithlessly forsaken by ungrateful sons. This is the worst form of ingratitude. "Filial ingratitude! Is it not as this mouth should tear this hand For lifting food to it?" ('King Lear.') It has been said that The wretch whom gratitude once fails to bind, To truth or honor let him lay no claim, But stand confess'd the brute disguised in man." But the brutes are grateful;... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 1:1-31

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 1:2

Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth . "A grave and magnificent exorilium! All nature is invoked to hear Jehovah make complaint of the ingratitude of his people" (Rosenmüller). The invocation is cast in the same form with that so common in Deuteronomy ( Deuteronomy 4:26 ; Deuteronomy 30:19 ; Deuteronomy 31:28 ; Deuteronomy 32:1 ), and seems to indicate familiarity with that book. The idea extends widely among sacred and other poets (see Psalms 1:3 , Psalms 1:4 ; Micah 6:1 , ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 1:2

Sin as broken sonship. Literally, the verse reads, "Sons I have made great and high, and they have broken away from me." The later conception of the Jewish covenant embraced the ideas of fatherhood and sonship, and thus prepared for the revelation of the fatherhood of God in the teachings of the Lord Jesus, and for the apprehension of the "sonship of men" through Christ's own sonship. It is the point of impression, that this relation intensifies the guilt of the people's unfaithfulness and... read more

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