Isaiah 1:18 - Exposition

Come now, and let us reason together. God has from time to time permitted man to reason with him ( Genesis 18:23-32 ; Exodus 4:1-17 ; Job 23:3-7 ; Micah 6:2 ); but it is difficult to see that there is any "reasoning" or "controversy" here. Mr. Cheyne translates, "Let us bring our dispute to an end." Though your sins be as scarlet … like crimson ; i.e. "open, evident, glaring." Or there may be an allusion to their blood-guiltiness (see Isaiah 1:15 , Isaiah 1:19 ). They shall be as white as snow. Comp. Psalms 51:7 , which is completely parallel, whether it was written before or after. There can be no better image of, purity than snow (comp. Job 9:30 ; Lamentations 4:7 ). As wool. A weaker illustration than the preceding one, but needed for the parallelism. (The resemblance of falling snow to wool is noted in Psalms 147:16 .)