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Isaiah 1

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

INTRODUCTION TO Isaiah 1 This chapter, after the inscription, contains a charge of aggravated sin against the Jews; God's rejection of their ceremonial sacrifices and service; an exhortation to repentance and obedience, with a promise of pardon; a restoration from their sad estate; a prophecy of their restoration to a better; and of the...

Isaiah 1:1

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz,.... This is either the particular title of the prophecy contained in this single chapter, as Jarchi and Abarbinel think; seeing the second chapter Isaiah 2:1 begins with another title, "the word that Isaiah saw", c. or rather it is the common title of the whole book since it is the vision which Isaiah saw in...

Isaiah 1:2

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

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,...

Isaiah 1:3

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

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 (w) interprets the words; the ass knows the floor where...

Isaiah 1:4

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

Ah sinful nation,..... Or "sinning nation" (y); that was continually sinning, doing nothing else but sin, the reverse of what they were chosen to be, Deuteronomy 7:6. These words are said, either as calling and crying to them, to cause them to hear and hearken to what is said, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi observe, and as הוי is used in Isaiah 55:1 or...

Isaiah 1:5

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

Why should ye be stricken any more? .... Or "for what are ye stricken again" (a)? with afflictions and chastisements, with which God smites his people by way of correction for their sins, Isaiah 57:17 and the sense is, either that they did not consider what they were afflicted for, that it was for their sins and transgressions; they thought they...

Isaiah 1:6

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

From the sole of the foot even unto the head [there is] no soundness in it,.... Every member of the body politic was afflicted in one way or another, or sadly infected with the disease of sin; see Psalms 28:3. So the Targum, "from the rest of the people, even unto the princes, there is none among them who is perfect in my fear;'' see Daniel 9:8...

Isaiah 1:7

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

Your country [is] desolate,.... Or "shall be"; this is either a declaration in proper terms of what is before figuratively expressed, or rather a prophecy of what would be their case on account of transgressions; and which had its accomplishment partly in the Babylonish captivity, and fully in the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans; when not...

Isaiah 1:8

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in the vineyard,.... The Targum is, "after they have got in the vintage.'' A cottage in the vineyard was a booth, as the word (e) signifies, which was erected in the middle of the vineyard for the keeper of the vineyard to watch in night and day, that the fruit might not be hurt by birds, or stolen by...

Isaiah 1:9

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant,.... This is an instance of the super abounding goodness of the Lord of hosts, as the Targum expresses it; that he should, in those very wicked and calamitous times, leave and reserve a few from being defiled with the sins of the age, and from being involved in the general calamity of...

Isaiah 1:10

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom,.... Not literally, but mystically, meaning the governors of Judea; they and their people having sinned in like manner, and as openly, as the rulers of Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof; see Isaiah 3:9 and so the Targum paraphrases the words, "receive the word of the Lord, ye governors, whose works...

Isaiah 1:11

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

To what purpose [is] the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord,.... These people, though they neglected the weightier matters of the law, and the more substantial duties of religion, as did the Scribes and Pharisees in Christ's time, Matthew 23:23 yet were very diligent in the observance of the ceremonial law, and repeated their...

Isaiah 1:12

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

When ye come to appear before me,.... At the grand festivals of the passover, pentecost, and tabernacles, at which times all the males in Israel appeared before God, Exodus 23:17 who hath required this at your hand; either to appear at such times, these feasts being no more to be observed; or to offer the above sacrifices; these were not required...

Isaiah 1:13

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

Bring no more vain oblations,.... As all such were, which were offered up without faith in Christ, in hypocrisy, and with dependence on them for pardon and atonement, and particularly when put an end to by the sacrifice of Christ; see Matthew 15:9. The Targum renders it, "an oblation of robbery"; see Isaiah 60:8 incense is an abomination to me;...

Isaiah 1:14

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth,.... The Targum is, "my Word abhorreth;'' the Messiah, the essential Word. These are the same as before. They are a trouble unto me; as they were kept and observed, either when they should not, or in a manner unbecoming: I am weary to bear [them]; because of the sins with which they made him...

Isaiah 1:15

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

And when ye spread forth your hands,.... That is, in prayer, this being a prayer gesture: hence the Targum paraphrases it, "and when the priests spread out their hands to pray for you.'' I will hide mine eyes from you; will not look upon them, nor regard their prayer; see Lamentations 3:42 yea, when ye make many prayers; as the Scribes and...

Isaiah 1:16

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

Wash ye, make you clean, c. These two words are to be regarded as one, since they intend the same thing, and suppose the persons spoken to to be unclean, as they were, notwithstanding their legal sacrifices and ceremonial ablutions and are designed to convince them of it, to bring them to a sense of their inability to cleanse themselves, to lead...

Isaiah 1:17

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

Learn to do well,.... Which men are naturally ignorant of; to do good they have no knowledge; nor can they that are accustomed to do evil learn to do well of themselves; but the Lord can teach them to profit, and of him they should ask wisdom, and desire, under the influence of his grace, to learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, and...

Isaiah 1:18

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

Come now, and let us reason, together, saith the Lord,.... These words stand not in connection either with the preceding or following, but are to be read in a parenthesis, and are thrown in for the sake of the small remnant God had left among this wicked people, in order to comfort them, being distressed with sin. These, seeing their sins in their...

Isaiah 1:19

John Gill - Exposition - John Gill

If ye be willing and obedient,.... The Targum adds, "to my Word": the Word made flesh, and dwelling among them; who would have gathered the inhabitants of Jerusalem to his ministry, to attend his word and ordinances, but their rulers would not: ye shall eat the good of the land; the land of Canaan; as the Jews held the possession of that land,...