The Bible — notes and cross-references in Isaiah | Interpretation and commentary to chapter 1

1:17^a orphan

1:16^b evil

Psa. 34:14; 37:27; 1 Pet. 3:11; 3 John 1:11

1:16^1a Wash

After Jehovah’s chastisement on His beloved children, Isaiah presents Jehovah’s loving exhortation (vv. 16-17) and promise to His chastised people. Jehovah’s loving promise is a promise of forgiveness (v. 18) and of restoration (vv. 26-27).

1:15^b blood

Isa. 59:3

1:15^a hands

Psa. 134:2; 1 Tim. 2:8

1:14^a hates

Amos 5:21

1:12^a appear

Exo. 23:17; 34:23

1:11^a sacrifices

1 Sam. 15:22; Psa. 50:8-9; Prov. 15:8

1:9^b Sodom

Gen. 19:24; Rev. 11:8

1:9¹ of

Or, Sabaoth. So throughout the book.

1:9^a Unless

Lam. 3:22; Rom. 9:29

1:8^a daughter

2 Kings 19:21

1:6^a bound

Luke 10:34

1:5² apostasy

Jehovah chastised the children of Israel because of their apostasy, i.e., their forsaking God and turning to and serving another god (Jer. 2:13).

1:5¹ Where

Or, Why.

1:4^a Seed

Isa. 57:3-4; Matt. 3:7

1:3^a not

Jer. 9:3, 6

1:2^1b children

Deut. 1:31; Isa. 46:3-4; Jer. 31:9

In the book of Isaiah, God’s love toward Israel is exercised in a threefold way: as a Father (Isa. 1:2-3; 63:16; 64:8), as a nursing Mother (Isa. 66:13), and as a Husband (Isa. 54:5). Since God deals with His beloved Israel in a loving way, His dealing with them, in general, is a matter not of judgment but of chastisement. God’s dealing with the Gentiles, the nations, however, is a matter of judgment based on God’s righteousness, on His justice.

God deals with people according to what He is. God is holy and righteous; He is the Holy One and the righteous One (v. 4; 24:16a). As the Holy One, He chastises His people that they may be holy (Heb. 12:10), and as the righteous One, He judges the nations because they are not just and righteous. See note Isa. 26:13¹.

1:2^a Hear

Deut. 32:1

1:1^e Hezekiah

1:1^d Ahaz

1:1^c Jotham

1:1^b Uzziah

1:1¹ Isaiah

Meaning the salvation of Jah. The book of Isaiah, in its content concerning God’s eternal economy in Christ, is the leading book among all the books of the prophets. This book is the vision that Isaiah saw (v. 1), the word that Isaiah saw (Isa. 2:1), and the burden that Isaiah saw (Isa. 13:1; 15:1). The vision, word, and burden in Isaiah are concerned with God’s eternal economy in Christ, which is thoroughly covered in this book.

The book of Isaiah unveils that God’s dealing in love with His beloved Israel and His righteous judgment upon the nations bring in Christ, the Savior (Isa. 43:3; 49:26), who is God (Isa. 9:6) incarnated to be a man (Isa. 7:14), possessing both the divine nature and the human nature (Isa. 4:2), living on this earth (Isa. 53:2-3; 42:1-4), crucified (Isa. 53:7-10, 12), resurrected (Isa. 53:10-11), ascended (Isa. 52:13), and coming (Isa. 40:10; 64:1) to meet the need of God’s chosen people and the nations (Isa. 9:1-7; 49:6) in God’s all-inclusive salvation (Isa. 12:2-3), that the restoration of all things, of the created yet fallen universe (Isa. 2:2-5; 11:6-9; 35:1-10; 30:26), may be brought in, which will consummate in the new heaven and new earth for eternity (Isa. 65:17). Hence, the content of Isaiah covers God’s entire economy of the New Testament, from the incarnation (Matt. 1:18-25) to the new heaven and new earth (Rev. 21, Rev. 22), with the Old Testament background of God’s dealing with Israel and His judgment upon the nations. According to Isaiah’s prophecy, the Christ who was processed for the divine purposes is the centrality and universality of the great wheel of the move of the Divine Trinity (Ezek. 1:15 and note Ezek. 1:15^1a) for the accomplishing of His economy in the divine dispensing of Himself into His elect.

1:1^a vision

Num. 12:6

1:18^a white

Psa. 51:7; Rev. 1:14; 7:14

1:18¹ snow

In God’s full salvation He not only forgives our sins, exempting us from the penalty of our sins and removing the record of our sins from before Him; He also washes away the traces of sins in us, making us as white as snow and white like wool. Both snow and wool are naturally white. Hence, as a result of God’s washing, we become not only white but also naturally white, as if we had never been defiled. The washing that makes us as white as snow is a positional washing from without through the blood of Jesus Christ (1 John 1:7; Heb. 1:3b; Rev. 1:5), whereas the washing that makes us white like wool is a washing of our nature metabolically from within by God’s Spirit and by His life (1 Cor. 6:11 and note 1 Cor. 6:11^1c; Titus 3:5 and note Titus 3:5^4f). Cf. note Rev. 1:14^2b in .

1:21^a harlot

Jer. 2:20; 3:1

1:24¹ adversaries

Cf. note Matt. 4:10^1a. God chastised Israel because Israel had rebelled against God to such an extent that they became not only His adversaries, who were within God’s nation, but also His enemies, who were outside God’s nation.

1:25^a purge

Jer. 9:7; Mal. 3:3

1:29¹ you

Many MSS read, they.

1:29² terebinths

Trees used in the worship of idols.

1:31¹ tow

I.e., fibers shaken off from flax when beaten.