Isaiah 1 - 2
Introduction to the Prophecies of Isaiah
1. The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Verse 1: Isaiah makes Judah and Jerusalem that which will be central in his visions. The first chapters are an indictment of the Judeans for their abandonment of worship of God and their obsession with idolatry. But the main event in the lifetime of Isaiah is the loss of the "ten tribes" of Israel as a result of the rise of the Assyrian Empire which plays a principal part in the prophecies of the first portion of the book. The most important contemporaneous events in Isaiah's imminent future are the piecemeal dissolutions (in three stages described in chapters 7-12) of the northern kingdom of Israel, and its complete annihilation as a state. But in harmony with Isaiah's design, the interaction of Assyria with Israel is seen from a Judean stand point while Israel's demise and loss is the central theme from chapter seven to chapter twelve. In harmony with this verse, that is, that his visions are those concerning Judah and Jerusalem, Isaiah delivered his prophecies of the end of Israel to the house of David in Jerusalem and describes the imminence of their loss in graphic terms. He said the spoil of the nation is to be completed in a matter of a few years from a marked event recorded by witnesses, according to Isaiah 8. After chapter twelve, beginning in chapter thirteen, Isaiah then will predict the punishment of Judah for the same reasons which God allowed the Assyrians to punish Israel. But, not without reason does he predict the fall of Babylon first before outlining God's use of the Babylonians to take the Judeans into a purging captivity. This theme of the use of Assyria and Babylon which will not thwart the ultimate appearance of "Zion" in a restored remnant will echo repeatedly through the book. That is, Assyria is an agent of Immanuel to purify Israel. Babylon will be Immanuel's agent to do the same to Judah in the distant future. After God has used these nations as his agents of punishment Isaiah says they will disappear from the march of history but Israel and Judah will be restored to fulfill God's purposes for them and have a continuing history. Initially Isaiah gives this final great result in Chapter two, that is, that the word of God will go out from Jerusalem and all nations will learn about the true God from the center of a restored Judah and Jerusalem (Isa 2:2). After this assurance in chapter two he gives the reasons for impending punishment and exile through chapter 5 and then records his call to the prophetic office in chapter 6 and then for many chapters describes the details of the Assyrian and Babylonian punishments. Into these passages he will intermingle messianic references which give assurance that the whole house of Israel has a glorious future in spite of the horrors that Isaiah's generation will experience. This method continues until chapter forty when the main theme will give details of the physical restoration of the nation during which time the Messiah will appear and establish Zion. In that section the messianic details become extraordinarily clear about his person and his kingdom.
2. Hear, O heavens, and listen, O earth: for the LORD has spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. 3 The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel does not know, my people do not consider. 4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger, they are gone away backward. 5 Why should you be punished any more? you keep on rebelling: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. 6 From the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and fresh sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, nor softened with oil.
Verses 2-6: Listen!: This introduces the conditions that will bring forth the punishments on both Israel and Judah. The reasons for the punishment are elaborated in chapter two particularly in the notes under verse 18 where idolatry is pointed out as the chief sin of the divided nation which must be purged.
7 Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land is devoured by strangers in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
Verse 7: The literal translation of the variant reading in the Qumran Isaiah scroll which contains one extra word is "and its desolation upon her is like the destruction by foreigners." The phrase in Hebrew has "destruction" as a noun in construct, therefore definite. The passage is prophetic although it had partially been fulfilled when this was written if, as is likely, this portion of Isaiah introduces the main theme which begins in chapter seven, that is, of the imminent destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians. The tribes east of the Jordan were very likely in captivity by the time of this writing as will be explained in the comments below, particularly in chapters seven through twelve, and has also been noted in the introductory chapter on the interaction of Israeli and Assyrian kings. Some of the cities of Judah were to be overthrown by the Assyrians but they would not and did not capture Jerusalem nor did her cities remain "desolate" as did the cities of Israel. The cities of Israel became desolate for at least 200 years. Judah's desolation was not brought by the Assyrians, but by the Babylonians, 120 years later. In the design of the book of Isaiah he takes up the Assyrian destruction of Israel first in chapters 7-12 and then the future destruction and desolation of Judah by the Babylonians beginning in chapter 13. These two events then will be referred to randomly throughout the book and they will be mingled with extraordinary messianic prophecies as contrasts, to what the Assyrians and Babylonians (strangers) do to Israel, as opposed to what the Messiah will do in the restoration of the nation.
8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a shed in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.
Verse 8: Zion: This is the first mention of the word "Zion" in the text. For the meaning of the word in various contexts see the note under 10:24.
Verse 8: Is left: In the literal Hebrew text the word
"left"
is a participle which is an adjective modifying the word
daughter. Thus
the translation should be "the remnant (or abandoned) daughter of
Zion
is like a hut etc." "The daughter of Zion" refers to the true
believer
who is the Zion of God but a minority who lives among those who
are "earth
bound" but outwardly appear to be the real physical nation. When
seen in
this way the naturalness of the Nazarene portion of this passage
noted
in the next note is that much clearer a reference to the
prophetic nature
of the true Nazarene Zion. Interestingly, the Septuagint
translation (LXX)
uses a future passive verb for "left" and reads: "The daughter of
Zion
shall have been abandoned etc...." Did the LXX translators,
during the
silent years of the restored nation (285 BC) imply that this
abandonment
by the Jewish nation of the true Zion was future to them? It
seems so.
These translators knew the same future abandonment of Zion with
the natural
nation joining the enemy was predicted by Zechariah. See
Zechariah 12:2.
Verse 8: The word 9 Except the LORD of hosts had left to us a very small
remnant,
we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like
Gomorrah. 10.
Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; give ear to the
law of
our God, you people of Gomorrah. 11 To what purpose is the
multitude of
your sacrifices to me? says the LORD: I am full of the burnt
offerings
of rams, and I do not desire the fat of fed beasts, or the blood
of bullocks,
or of lambs or goats. 12 When you came to see my face, who sought
this
trampling of my courts from your hand? 13 Bring me no more empty
oblations;
incense is an abomination to me; the new moons and sabbaths, the
calling
of assemblies, I cannot bear them; it is evil, even the solemn
meeting.
14 My soul hates your new moons and your appointed feasts: they
are a trouble
to me; I am weary of bearing them.
Verse 14: The LXX says that God is satiated and "bored"
with
the abundance of empty religious observances
15 And when you spread out your hands, I will hide my
eyes
from you: when you make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands
are full
of blood. 16. Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away
your evil
habits from before my eyes; cease doing evil; 17 Learn to do
well; seek
judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for
the widow.
18 Come now, and let us reason together, says the LORD: though
your sins
be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red
like
crimson, they shall be as wool. 19 If you are willing and
obedient, you
shall eat the good of the land: 20 But if you refuse and rebel,
you shall
be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD has spoken
it. 21.
How is the faithful city become a harlot! I had filled it with
judgment;
righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers. 22 Your silver is
tarnished,
your wine mixed with water: 23 Your princes are rebellious and
friends
of thieves: they are all lovers of gifts and pursuers of bribes:
they do
not judge the fatherless, neither does the cause of the widow
come before
them. 24 Therefore says the Lord, the LORD of hosts, the mighty
One of
Israel, I will ease myself of my adversaries, and avenge myself
of my enemies:
Verse 24: This verse is a good example of Isaiah's use of
play
on words as a literary device. Here the words "ease" and
"avenge" are
homonyms, that is, they both have the phonetic sound: "na kahm"
in Hebrew
although spelled differently ['ennaqemah and 'ennachem] It does
not, in
this place, add anything to the meaning of the text but there are
verses,
particularly those in which the word from which Nazarene is
derived where
the meaning is governed by the play on words. For another good
example
of this literary device where it does make a difference in
additional understanding
see the last verse of chapter eight and the first verse of
chapter nine
(8:22-9:1) where "dimness and anguish" are found used in the same
mechanism
as used here and there they carry the sense of the passage
forward.
25 And I will return my hand on you and as with lye
melt
away your backsliding, and take away all your
divisiveness:
. Verse 25: This verse is a good example of Isaiah's use of
double
entendre. The words "dross and tin" used in the KJV are
literal renditions
of the Hebrew text but there are homonyms in Hebrew of those
words which
we use here. It is Isaiah's style to use these "play on words."
There are
important places in his prophecy where the use of "play on words"
delivers
unusual revelation. The use of the words for Nazarene and
Nazareth is only
one of the many uses of this mechanism which is also illustrated
here.
Verses 24 and 25: The Qumran text is substantially the
same as the Masoretic (received text) in this verse but the LXX
reading
is so different that the present received Hebrew text could not
support
its rendition of these verses. Even though the LXX is more of an
interpretive
translation than it is a word for word translation, (much like
the "dynamic
parallelism" of the NASV and the NIV), the LXX is expected to add
only
what is implied. Perhaps it is the use of "play on words" in both
verses,
which, as explained above contains more than meets the eye, that
gave liberty
to the LXX translators to embellish the text. What ever the
reason, the
LXX reading of verses 24 and 25 are added to show this freedom
they used
here: "Therefore thus says the despotic LORD of hosts, Woe to the
strong
ones of Israel: who will not stop my wrath upon the opposers or
judgement
upon those hated of me which I will do. I will turn my hand on
you and
I will burn you into purity, indeed I will destroy the doubters
and effeminate
and all the lawless ones from you and I will humble the arrogant
ones."
26 And I will restore your judges as they were at
first,
and your counselors as at the beginning: afterward you shall be
called,
The city of righteousness, the faithful city. 27 Zion shall be
redeemed
with judgment, and her captives with righteousness.
Verse 27: "Zion" is a word like "Israel" which can have
different
meanings depending on the context in which it is found. As
"Israel" may
be: the name of a man, a label for Jacob's sons, the whole of the
twelve
tribes, or just the ten tribe kingdom of Israel, or it can mean
the true
church of all ages. So Zion can mean: a place in Jerusalem,
physical Jerusalem
itself, the restored remnant nation, or the perfected condition
(not a
place at all) to which God's people will come under the Messiah.
Isaiah
uses "Zion" in all these meanings and the context will determine
which
is meant. See notes under 10:24.
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Verse 27: Captives: The KJV has "converts" but this is
not supported by any reading. "Captives" or "returnees" is the
reading
of both the Hebrew and the LXX texts. The verse therefore is a
portent
of further predictions of the predicted captivity of first Israel
and then
Judah which Isaiah is to describe in this book. It is the design
of prophecy
to introduce the themes to be developed obscurely, as here, and
then to
add to the information until a crescendo of information
overwhelms the
mind. Such overwhelming predictions and descriptions of the
destruction
of Jerusalem, the burning of the temple, the captivity, and the
restoration
of the tribes (all twelve) into one nation at the command of
Cyrus the
Persian have caused skeptics to brand the book of Isaiah as a
compilation
of at least two writers, one at the time of the Assyrian
Invasions (circa
720 BC) and another "Deutero-Isaiah" at the time of the
completion of
the second temple (circa 450 B.C.). See notes under 63:3;
63:18; and 64:11 for further discussion of verses criticized
by skeptics
as well as a discussion of Chaldean forms in Isaiah which are
anachronisms
and seem to support skeptical critics.
28 And the destruction of the transgressors and of the
sinners
shall be together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be
consumed. 29
For they shall be ashamed of the oak idols which they have
desired, and
they shall be confounded by the gardens that they have
chosen.
Verse 29: They shall be ashamed. There is no doubt
about the
person and number in the Hebrew participle and third plural
suffix in the
received text. The Qumran Isaiah text confirms the same reading
(third
person masculine plural) of "they." The LXX is consistent with
the use
or third person plural in all the verbs in this verse using Greek
"ontai,"
"onto," or "san" third plural endings. The NIV chooses "you" but
the reference
is not to those being addressed in the days of Isaiah. It is
either to
inhabitants of a cleansed Zion who will abandon idolatry as
ashamed of
the past or to those who in the day of vengeance (the period of
attack
by the Assyrians and later the Babylonians) still forsake the
Lord looking
for earthly answers and who will be ashamed in the day when they,
to no
avail, seek for help from helpless images made of oak.
30 For you shall be like an oak with falling leaves, and
as a
garden that has no water. 31 And the strong shall be as lint, and
the maker
of the idol as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and no
one shall
quench them.
Verse 31: Strong and maker: The LXX makes the two
classes
to be the laborer and the businessman. The one who struggles to
make the
idol and the one involved in the business for profit from the
selling the
product. Both are to burn together; and LXX adds "the lawless and
the sinners."
Isaiah 2
1. The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning
Judah and
Jerusalem. 2 And it shall happen in the last days, that the
mountain of
the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the
mountains, and
shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow into
it.
Verse 2: established: For the importance of this word (verb = nakon and noun = makon) see notes under Isa 4:5.
Verse 2: "The last days:" be'acharith hayyamiym. In Numbers 24:14 the "last days" describes the final days of
the
people of Midian who were destroyed in the overthrow by Gideon.
Deut 4:30 and 31:29 describe the period of maturity of the
twelve
states of Israel during the Kingdom Period as the "latter days." While
Jeremiah
23:20; and 30:24; and Dan. 10:14; and Hosea 3:5; and Micah 4:1 and Jer. 48:47; and
49:39 all
describe events that take place during the second commonwealth or
the Persian
and Greek and Roman periods of what we call Ancient History. That
would
mean that the "last days" refer more times than any other to the
last period
of Jewish history. In Jer. 48:47 and 49:39 the return from
captivity of
the Elamites and Moabites (one in S.W. Persia and the other east
of Sinai)
is said to be "in the latter or last days." This was fulfilled
when both
nations (led into captivity by the Assyrians and Babylonians)
were restored
to their land areas when Cyrus The Persian decreed the return of
captive
nations. The cuneiform steele describing the different captive
nations
is in the library of Yale University where I was able to view it
in its
perfect undamaged completely readable condition. Thus these two
passages
also speak in prophecy of the "last days" as the era of the
second commonwealth.
Jeremiah also calls the same period "in those days and at that
time." This
is more likely what is meant in Isaiah 2:2. That is, the "latter
days"
or time of the final Jewish commonwealth which ended in 70 A.D.
Micah 4:1 makes the identical
prophecy as Isaiah 2:2-4 and is
more certain about placing its fulfillment after the return from
Babylonian
captivity and states that Jerusalem would be overthrown but not
to fear
because, there will be a return of the remnant and out of
Bethlehem will
come forth the deliverer. Thus Micah makes the "last days" be the
days
of the return from Babylon when the Messiah will come out of
Bethlehem
and the Word of God goes forth from Jerusalem. This means that
Isaiah 2:2
refers to the ministry of Jesus and the day of Pentecost where
the Gospel
was preached for the first time on mount Zion in Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 38:16, using the same construction as all these
just noted above, is
alone in referring the period of the "latter days" to the "latter
years" of verse 38:8 when the
Prince of
Rosh would arise and lead the nations against God and his people.
He refers,
no doubt, to the rise and demise of Communism led by the USSR
Thus it is seen that the phrase "last days" refers variously
to
the end of the nation of Midian, the Kingdom Period of Israel and
Judah,
the period after the Babylonian captivity, and the latter time of
the Christian
era. Thus the phrase "the last days" is not used once in the
scripture
of the end of the world but refers to the end of a particular era
which
the context will explain. Its most common reference is to the
last epoch
of the Jewish national state, and of the law of Moses and of the
Temple
and of the Old Testament Covenant. Which is what is meant here in
Isaiah
and will be elaborated upon in the unfolding of his book. He will
give
great detail as to how the true Zion will reach maturity in the
"last days."
The time of the end.
A similarly misused phrase found only in Daniel is "the time
of the
end." Daniel uses it 5 times. It never refers to the end of the
world.
It is more precise than "last days" which speaks of a period of
time, since
it refers to the finality or completion of an event. In
Daniel 8:17 it
refers to the cleansing of the Temple under the Maccabees; in
Dan 11:35 and
Dan 11:40 the phrase refers to the completion of wars between the
Selucid and
Ptolemaic Empires which affected Israel; in Dan 12:4 and Dan 12:9 it
refers to
the general completion or fulfillment of the visions of Daniel.
What is
meant is that they can not be understood until they are viewed
after their
completion. The phrase "end time" or "end times" is not in the
Bible. For
a more elaborate explanation of "the time of the end" in Daniel
12 see
3 And many people shall go and say, Come, let us go up
to
the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and
he will
teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of
Zion shall
go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 4 And
he shall
judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they
shall beat
their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks:
nation
shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn
war any
more.
Verse 4: Compare Isaiah 2:2-4 with Micah 4:1-4 which
follows: 5 O house of Jacob, come, and let us walk in the light
of
the LORD. 6. You have cast off your people the house of Jacob,
because
they have filled themselves with eastern religions,
and are fortunetellers like the Philistines, and they applaud the
ways
of the children of strangers.
Verse 6: Philistines: See note under 9:12
for the LXX use of this name and why the LXX translators
never use
the name "Philistine" in translation. The text here in the LXX
has "'allophulon" 7 Their land also is full of silver
and
gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is
also full
of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots:
Verse 7: The description of Israel as a prosperous nation
which
was rich in resources and produced wealth for a large number of
inhabitants
is repeated in a number of places. The presence of military might
is also
stressed here and other places (seen before the destruction of
the nation
by the Assyrians. See notes on prosperity
under
7:21 - 23 for further description of the agricultural blessings
that the
Galileans took for granted. See
Isaiah 28:1,2
where the nation is proud of their "glorious beauty" and
"glorious beauty
above fruitful fields" Implied is the fact that Israel was a
prosperous
and politically strong nation, enjoying power among nations and
"the good
life" when it was overthrown. They were not in decline but lost
their exalted
position in the midst of pride and power and plenty.
8 Their land also is full of idols; they worship the
work
of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made:
9 And
humanity
bows down, and mankind humbles itself: therefore do not forgive
them.
Verse 9: See 5:15 for same construction. Humanity from
"adam" and man from "ish." Humanity and mankind might be a better
rendering.
Verse 9: Therefore do not forgive them. This phrase
and
all of verse 10 following this phrase is omitted from the Qumran
Isaiah
scroll.
10. Enter into the rock, and hide you in the dust, for
fear
of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty.
Verse 10 is not in the Qumran Isaiah Scroll. The LXX adds after majesty: "when he
arises
to terribly shake the earth" to this verse making it identical to the last part of verse 19 below.
11 Humanity's
lofty looks
shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of mankind shall be bowed
down, and
the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. 12 For the day of
the LORD
of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and haughty, and
upon every
one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: 13 And upon
all the
cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the
oaks of
Bashan, 14 And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the
hills that
are lifted up,
Vss 12 - 14: Cedars, Oaks, Mountains and Hills God is not
against trees and topography. But these trees, cedar and oak,
were the materials of which idols were made and the mountains and
hills were where they were placed. The word for "idol" in
Hebrew is derived from the word for "oak."
15 And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall,
16 And upon all the ships of Carthage, and upon all pleasant
pictures.
Verse 16: Carthage: See notes under chapter
23 1 for why we choose Carthage in North Africa, the major
Phoenician
colony of Tyre for the Hebrew Tarshish, instead of Tartesus, the remote outpost of
Carthaginian
trade in southwestern Spain beyond the "Gates of Hercules."
17 And the loftiness of humanity shall be bowed down,
and
the haughtiness of mankind shall be made low: and the LORD alone
shall
be exalted in that day. 18 And he shall utterly abolish the
idols. 19 And
they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of
the earth,
for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he
arises
to terribly shake the earth. 20 In that day a man shall cast, to
the moles
and to the bats, his idols of silver, and his idols of gold,
which each
one made for himself to worship; 21 To go into the clefts of the
rocks,
and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and
for the
glory of his majesty, when he arises to terribly shake the earth.
22 Therefore
stop trusting human nature whose life force is in his nostrils:
for of
what account is he?
Verse 18: Abolish the Idols: This announcement is the
major reason
for the impending doom to be brought on the divided nation of
Israel. The
northern kingdom is to receive punishment first and idolatry is
therefore
to be purged from that nation which will lose its political
identity. The
first portions of Isaiah's predictions after his call begin in
chapter
seven. The northern kingdom of Israel is to be purged, scattered
among
the nations and later a remnant will return, purged from
idolatry. Judah
shall suffer a similar fate later under the Babylonians and
be taken into
captivity. The captivity of Judah and its purging punishment
begins in
chapter 13. Chapter forty begins the section that describes in
detail the
tribal return, having been purged from idolatry, to the land and
the rebuilding
the true religion of YHWH following the release from captivity by
Cyrus,
whom Isaiah names. The rebuilding according to Isaiah is the
precursor
to the advent of the Messiah who will come in those days after
the return
and after idolatry has been purged from the nation.
See also Zech 11:14 where the
covenant between
Judah and Israel is broken. Judah (the natural nation) is to be
cut off
from the covenant of Israel-Zion.
"natser" from which
the words Nazareth and Nazarene are derived is here translated
"besieged."
The Morphologically tagged edition of the Hebrew Text in the
Logos Bible
program gives the root of this word as nazar rather than a
passive participle
of "tsur" which is assumed by the translation "besieged." We
concur with
the Morphologically tagged text. The word here is a passive
participle
of nazar or . This is the first of many
passages
in Isaiah where Nazarene prophecies are found in a play on words.
This
is a prediction of the true Zion being rejected by its
inhabitants as a
house of lesser importance, like a small watch tower or garden
shed, not
the main house or like a Nazarene or Christian city, not really
Jewish. See
the comment on this verse in the chapter called Excursus on the
Nazarene.
This Hebrew construction is found 13 times in the Old Testament.
It is
translated " last days, latter times, latter days, days to come
(NIV)."
It refers to the last portions of various and different eras. For
instance
Genesis 49:1 refers to the mature tribal existence of the sons of
Jacob
after the bondage in Egypt and their wandering and conquest of
the land
and finally their settling down to statehood. Jacob calls that
time the
"last days," if the same construction as found in Isaiah 2:2 is
followed.
Revelation A Panorama of the Gospel Age:
by Fred P Miller, pub Moellerhaus, 1992
.
But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain
of the
house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the
mountains, and
it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow to it.
And many
nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the
mountain of
the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach
us of
his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go
forth from
Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge
among
many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall
beat their
swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks:
nation shall
not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war
any more.
But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig
tree; and
none shall make [them] afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts
has spoken
it.
which means "foreigners" for Philistines.
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