Isaiah 1:5
Verse
Context
Judah’s Rebellion
4Alas, O sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children of depravity! They have forsaken the LORD; they have despised the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on Him. 5Why do you want more beatings? Why do you keep rebelling? Your head has a massive wound, and your whole heart is afflicted. 6From the sole of your foot to the top of your head, there is no soundness— only wounds and welts and festering sores neither cleansed nor bandaged nor soothed with oil.
Sermons
William MacDonald
Charles Finney
James Smith
Samuel Logan Brengle
J.C. Philpot
Martin Knapp
Andrew MurraySummary
Commentary
- Adam Clarke
- Keil-Delitzsch
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Tyndale
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
Why should ye be stricken any more "On what part," etc.? - The Vulgate renders על מה al meh, super quo, (see Job 38:6; Ch2 32:10), upon what part. And so Abendana on Sal. Den Melech: "There are some who explain it thus: Upon what limb shall you be smitten, if you add defection? for already for your sins have you been smitten upon all of them; so that there is not to be found in you a whole limb on which you can be smitten." Which agrees with what follows: "From the sole of the foot even unto the head, there is no soundness in it:" and the sentiment and image is exactly the same with that of Ovid, Pont. 2:7, 42: - Vix habet in nobis jam nova plaga locum. There is no place on you for a new stripe. Or that still more expressive line of Euripides; the great force and effect of which Longinus ascribes to its close and compressed structure, analogous to the sense which it expresses: - ́γεμω κακων δη· κ' ουκετ' εσθ' ὁπη τιθῃ. I am full of miseries: there's no room for more. Herc. Fur. 1245, Long. sec. 40. "On what part will ye strike again? will ye add correction?" This is addressed to the instruments of God's vengeance; those that inflicted the punishment, who or whatsoever they were. Ad verbum certae personae intelligendae sunt, quibus ista actio quae per verbum exprimitur competit; "The words are addressed to the persons who were the agents employed in the work expressed by the original word," as Glassius says in a similar case, Philippians Sacr. 1:3, 22. See Isa 7:4. As from ידע yada, דעה deah, knowledge; from יעץ yaats, עצה etsah, counsel; from ישן yeshan, שנה shenah, sleep, etc.; so from יסר yasar is regularly derived סרה sarah, correction. The whole head is sick - The king and the priests are equally gone away from truth and righteousness. Or, The state is oppressed by its enemies, and the Church corrupted in its rulers and in its members.
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary
In this v. a disputed question arises as to the words על־מה (מה, the shorter, sharper form of מה, which is common even before non-gutturals, Ges. 32, 1): viz., whether they mean "wherefore," as the lxx, Targums, Vulgate, and most of the early versions render them, or "upon what," i.e., upon which part of the body, as others, including Schrring, suppose. Luzzatto maintains that the latter rendering is spiritless, more especially because there is nothing in the fact that a limb has been struck already to prevent its being struck again; but such objections as these can only arise in connection with a purely literal interpretation of the passage. If we adopted this rendering, the real meaning would be, that there was no judgment whatever that had not already fallen upon Israel on account of its apostasy, so that it was not far from utter destruction. We agree, however, with Caspari in deciding in favour of the meaning "to what" (to what end). For in all the other passage in which the expression occurs (fourteen times in all), it is used in this sense, and once even with the verb hiccâh, to smite (Num 22:32), whilst it is only in Isa 1:6 that the idea of the people as one body is introduced; whereas the question "upon what" would require that the reader or hearer should presuppose it here. But in adopting the rendering "whereto," or to what end, we do not understand it, as Malbim does, in the sense of Cui bono, with the underlying thought, "It would be ineffectual, as all the previous smiting has proved;" for this thought never comes out in a direct expression, as we should expect, but rather - according to the analogy of the questions with lamah in Eze 18:31; Jer 44:7 -in the sense of qua de causa, with the underlying thought, "There would be only an infatuated pleasure in your own destruction." Isa 1:5 we therefore render thus: "Why would ye be perpetually smitten, multiplying rebellion?" עוד (with tiphchah, a stronger disjunctive than tebir) belongs to תּכּוּ; see the same form of accentuation in Eze 19:9. They are not two distinct interrogative clauses ("why would ye be smitten afresh? why do ye add revolt?" (Luzzatto), but the second clause is subordinate to the first (without there being any necessity to supply Chi, "because," as Gesenius supposes), an adverbial minor clause defining the main clause more precisely; at all events this is the logical connection, as in Isa 5:11 (cf., Psa 62:4, "delighting in lies," and Psa 4:3, "loving vanity"): lxx "adding iniquity." Sârâh (rebellion) is a deviation from truth and rectitude; and here, as in many other instances, it denotes apostasy from Jehovah, who is the absolutely Good, and absolute goodness. There is a still further dispute whether the next words should be rendered "every head" and "every heart," or "the whole head" and "the whole heart." In prose the latter would be impossible, as the two nouns are written without the article; but in the poetic style of the prophets the article may be omitted after Col, when used in the sense of "the whole" (e.g., Isa 9:12 : with whole mouth, i.e., with full mouth). Nevertheless Col, without the article following, never signifies "the whole" when it occurs several times in succession, as in Isa 15:2 and Eze 7:17-18. We must therefore render Isa 1:5, "Every head is diseased, and every heart is sick." The Lamed in locholi indicates the state into which a thing has come: every head in a state of disease (Ewald, 217, d: locholi without the article, as in Ch2 21:18). The prophet asks his fellow-countrymen why they are so foolish as to heap apostasy upon apostasy, and so continue to call down the judgments of God, which have already fallen upon them blow after blow. Has it reached such a height with them, that among all the many heads and hearts there is not one head which is not in a diseased state, not one heart which is not thoroughly ill? (davvai an emphatic form of daveh). Head and heart are mentioned as the noblest parts of the outer and inner man. Outwardly and inwardly every individual in the nation had already been smitten by the wrath of God, so that they had had enough, and might have been brought to reflection.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Why--rather, as Vulgate, "On what part." Image from a body covered all over with marks of blows (Psa 38:3). There is no part in which you have not been smitten. head . . . sick, &c.--not referring, as it is commonly quoted, to their sins, but to the universality of their punishment. However, sin, the moral disease of the head or intellect, and the heart, is doubtless made its own punishment (Pro 1:31; Jer 2:19; Hos 8:11). "Sick," literally, "is in a state of sickness" [GESENIUS]; "has passed into sickness" [MAURER].
John Gill Bible Commentary
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, Isa 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 came by chance, or imputed them to second causes, and so went on in sin, and added sin to sin; to which sense the Targum, Jarchi, and Kimchi, incline: or the meaning is, that the chastisements that were laid upon them were to no purpose; had produced no good effect, were of no avail, and unprofitable to them; and which is mentioned as an aggravation of their sins, obstinacy, and impenitence; see Jer 5:3. Ye will revolt more and more, or "add defection" (b); go on in sin, and apostatize more and more, and grow more obdurate and resolute in it; unless afflictions are sanctified, men become more hardened by them: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint; which may be understood either of their chastisements, which were universal, and had reached all sorts and ranks of men among them, without any reformation, and therefore it was in vain to use more; or of their sins and transgressions which abounded among them, even among the principal of them; their civil rulers and governors, meant by the "head"; and the priests, who should feed the people with knowledge and understanding, designed by the "heart"; but both were corrupted, and in a bad condition. (a) "super quo", V. L. "ad quid", Ar. (b) "addentes prevaricationem", Sept. V. L.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
1:5 God sent famine, war, disease, and death as punishment. In most cases, however, God wanted to change stubborn behavior rather than simply to punish. • As a result of their persistent rebellion, the people’s head is injured and their heart is sick. The nation was wounded physically from Assyrian aggression, while spiritually they were defiled and overtaken by sin (64:6).
Isaiah 1:5
Judah’s Rebellion
4Alas, O sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children of depravity! They have forsaken the LORD; they have despised the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on Him. 5Why do you want more beatings? Why do you keep rebelling? Your head has a massive wound, and your whole heart is afflicted. 6From the sole of your foot to the top of your head, there is no soundness— only wounds and welts and festering sores neither cleansed nor bandaged nor soothed with oil.
- Scripture
- Sermons
- Commentary
Keys to Understanding Isaiah a Look at the Book
By William MacDonald1.2K47:30IsaiahISA 1:5ISA 2:2ISA 30:1ISA 65:2In this sermon, the speaker focuses on the book of Isaiah and its themes of God's judgments and blessings. The speaker highlights how God's judgments are poured out on the people of Judah, but also emphasizes that God always preserves a remnant of his people. The sermon emphasizes the contrast between the judgments and blessings of God, with the sudden change from thunder and lightning to the shining sun. The speaker encourages the audience to understand that God's judgments are meant to bring repentance and restoration, and that God's faithfulness to his promises is evident throughout the book of Isaiah.
All Events Ruinous to the Sinner
By Charles Finney0Consequences of SinThe Nature of God's ProvidencePRO 29:1ISA 1:5ROM 8:28Charles Finney emphasizes that all events ultimately conspire to ruin the obstinate and impenitent sinner, illustrating that every blessing and trial from God, when abused, only increases guilt and leads to greater condemnation. He argues that the gifts of existence, reason, and conscience, when misused, become curses that augment the sinner's ruin. Finney points out that even the trials and misfortunes in a sinner's life are designed to lead them to repentance, but instead, they often harden their hearts further. He concludes that the sinner's refusal to repent results in a life where every event works against their soul, leading to inevitable destruction. The sermon serves as a stark warning that without turning to God, all experiences will only deepen the sinner's despair and guilt.
The Physician!
By James Smith0PRO 30:12ISA 1:5MAT 9:12JHN 15:5ROM 3:9James Smith preaches about Jesus as the compassionate physician for sin-sick souls, emphasizing that those who recognize their spiritual sickness and need for healing are the ones who will seek Jesus. He highlights how sin is a universal disease affecting every part of man, leading to separation from God and eternal consequences. Smith urges listeners to acknowledge their diseased state, apply to Jesus the skilled, kind, and faithful physician, and seek healing and restoration through His mercy and grace.
Holiness and Humility
By Samuel Logan Brengle0HolinessHumilityISA 1:5EZK 36:31Samuel Logan Brengle emphasizes that true holiness uproots pride and fosters deep humility. He explains that a holy person recognizes their own shortcomings and seeks to be cleansed by Jesus, leading to a profound loathing of past sins and a longing for Christ's humility. Brengle illustrates that humility is attractive to God and is marked by a lack of offense, a willingness to serve, modesty, and a focus on pleasing God rather than seeking human admiration. He encourages believers to embrace humility as a pathway to greatness in the Kingdom of Heaven, reminding them that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.
Spiritual Sickness and Health
By J.C. Philpot0JOB 29:2JOB 33:19PSA 73:7PRO 20:30ISA 1:5ACT 23:26REV 3:16J.C. Philpot preaches on the importance of soul-prosperity, drawing from 3 John 2 where John wishes Gaius to prosper and be in health as his soul prospers. Philpot explains the difference between soul-sickness and soul-health, emphasizing the spiritual well-being over temporal blessings. He delves into the symptoms, causes, and cure of soul-sickness, highlighting the need for afflictions to cut into the wound before healing can occur. Philpot also explores the symptoms and causes of spiritual health, pointing out the signs of a prosperous soul like a lively heart for God, prayerfulness, affection for God's people, and humility. He stresses the importance of spiritual prosperity over worldly success, as true health comes from a thriving relationship with God.
The Double Work
By Martin Knapp0ISA 1:5MAT 18:3LUK 13:3ROM 3:23ROM 12:11CO 3:1GAL 5:191TH 5:23HEB 12:141JN 1:9Martin Knapp preaches about the double nature of sin, highlighting how it pollutes both the soul and outer life, turning the heart into a den of vile passions and the exterior life into a panorama of dark deeds. He emphasizes the twofold cure for sin: conversion, which includes pardon, adoption, and life in Christ, and entire sanctification, which involves complete cleansing, perfect love, and a witness of holiness. The sermon also delves into the double conditions required for this cure: repentance, which includes sorrow, giving up sin, confession, and faith, and consecration, which involves death to sin, yielding to God, and appropriating faith.
Ye the Branches
By Andrew Murray0PSA 6:2ISA 1:5EZK 16:2JHN 6:44ROM 3:19ROM 5:6ROM 7:141CO 1:271CO 9:22The preacher delves into the meaning of 'asthenes,' which signifies a state of helplessness, both physically and spiritually. This term describes the incapacity to produce results and the powerlessness to do or be something. The sermon emphasizes how humanity, in its sinful state, is utterly devoid of strength to save itself, highlighting the need for a strong Savior. Through various Bible verses, the preacher illustrates how Christ's death for the ungodly occurred while we were still helpless, underscoring our powerlessness to obtain justification by works.
- Adam Clarke
- Keil-Delitzsch
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Tyndale
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
Why should ye be stricken any more "On what part," etc.? - The Vulgate renders על מה al meh, super quo, (see Job 38:6; Ch2 32:10), upon what part. And so Abendana on Sal. Den Melech: "There are some who explain it thus: Upon what limb shall you be smitten, if you add defection? for already for your sins have you been smitten upon all of them; so that there is not to be found in you a whole limb on which you can be smitten." Which agrees with what follows: "From the sole of the foot even unto the head, there is no soundness in it:" and the sentiment and image is exactly the same with that of Ovid, Pont. 2:7, 42: - Vix habet in nobis jam nova plaga locum. There is no place on you for a new stripe. Or that still more expressive line of Euripides; the great force and effect of which Longinus ascribes to its close and compressed structure, analogous to the sense which it expresses: - ́γεμω κακων δη· κ' ουκετ' εσθ' ὁπη τιθῃ. I am full of miseries: there's no room for more. Herc. Fur. 1245, Long. sec. 40. "On what part will ye strike again? will ye add correction?" This is addressed to the instruments of God's vengeance; those that inflicted the punishment, who or whatsoever they were. Ad verbum certae personae intelligendae sunt, quibus ista actio quae per verbum exprimitur competit; "The words are addressed to the persons who were the agents employed in the work expressed by the original word," as Glassius says in a similar case, Philippians Sacr. 1:3, 22. See Isa 7:4. As from ידע yada, דעה deah, knowledge; from יעץ yaats, עצה etsah, counsel; from ישן yeshan, שנה shenah, sleep, etc.; so from יסר yasar is regularly derived סרה sarah, correction. The whole head is sick - The king and the priests are equally gone away from truth and righteousness. Or, The state is oppressed by its enemies, and the Church corrupted in its rulers and in its members.
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary
In this v. a disputed question arises as to the words על־מה (מה, the shorter, sharper form of מה, which is common even before non-gutturals, Ges. 32, 1): viz., whether they mean "wherefore," as the lxx, Targums, Vulgate, and most of the early versions render them, or "upon what," i.e., upon which part of the body, as others, including Schrring, suppose. Luzzatto maintains that the latter rendering is spiritless, more especially because there is nothing in the fact that a limb has been struck already to prevent its being struck again; but such objections as these can only arise in connection with a purely literal interpretation of the passage. If we adopted this rendering, the real meaning would be, that there was no judgment whatever that had not already fallen upon Israel on account of its apostasy, so that it was not far from utter destruction. We agree, however, with Caspari in deciding in favour of the meaning "to what" (to what end). For in all the other passage in which the expression occurs (fourteen times in all), it is used in this sense, and once even with the verb hiccâh, to smite (Num 22:32), whilst it is only in Isa 1:6 that the idea of the people as one body is introduced; whereas the question "upon what" would require that the reader or hearer should presuppose it here. But in adopting the rendering "whereto," or to what end, we do not understand it, as Malbim does, in the sense of Cui bono, with the underlying thought, "It would be ineffectual, as all the previous smiting has proved;" for this thought never comes out in a direct expression, as we should expect, but rather - according to the analogy of the questions with lamah in Eze 18:31; Jer 44:7 -in the sense of qua de causa, with the underlying thought, "There would be only an infatuated pleasure in your own destruction." Isa 1:5 we therefore render thus: "Why would ye be perpetually smitten, multiplying rebellion?" עוד (with tiphchah, a stronger disjunctive than tebir) belongs to תּכּוּ; see the same form of accentuation in Eze 19:9. They are not two distinct interrogative clauses ("why would ye be smitten afresh? why do ye add revolt?" (Luzzatto), but the second clause is subordinate to the first (without there being any necessity to supply Chi, "because," as Gesenius supposes), an adverbial minor clause defining the main clause more precisely; at all events this is the logical connection, as in Isa 5:11 (cf., Psa 62:4, "delighting in lies," and Psa 4:3, "loving vanity"): lxx "adding iniquity." Sârâh (rebellion) is a deviation from truth and rectitude; and here, as in many other instances, it denotes apostasy from Jehovah, who is the absolutely Good, and absolute goodness. There is a still further dispute whether the next words should be rendered "every head" and "every heart," or "the whole head" and "the whole heart." In prose the latter would be impossible, as the two nouns are written without the article; but in the poetic style of the prophets the article may be omitted after Col, when used in the sense of "the whole" (e.g., Isa 9:12 : with whole mouth, i.e., with full mouth). Nevertheless Col, without the article following, never signifies "the whole" when it occurs several times in succession, as in Isa 15:2 and Eze 7:17-18. We must therefore render Isa 1:5, "Every head is diseased, and every heart is sick." The Lamed in locholi indicates the state into which a thing has come: every head in a state of disease (Ewald, 217, d: locholi without the article, as in Ch2 21:18). The prophet asks his fellow-countrymen why they are so foolish as to heap apostasy upon apostasy, and so continue to call down the judgments of God, which have already fallen upon them blow after blow. Has it reached such a height with them, that among all the many heads and hearts there is not one head which is not in a diseased state, not one heart which is not thoroughly ill? (davvai an emphatic form of daveh). Head and heart are mentioned as the noblest parts of the outer and inner man. Outwardly and inwardly every individual in the nation had already been smitten by the wrath of God, so that they had had enough, and might have been brought to reflection.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Why--rather, as Vulgate, "On what part." Image from a body covered all over with marks of blows (Psa 38:3). There is no part in which you have not been smitten. head . . . sick, &c.--not referring, as it is commonly quoted, to their sins, but to the universality of their punishment. However, sin, the moral disease of the head or intellect, and the heart, is doubtless made its own punishment (Pro 1:31; Jer 2:19; Hos 8:11). "Sick," literally, "is in a state of sickness" [GESENIUS]; "has passed into sickness" [MAURER].
John Gill Bible Commentary
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, Isa 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 came by chance, or imputed them to second causes, and so went on in sin, and added sin to sin; to which sense the Targum, Jarchi, and Kimchi, incline: or the meaning is, that the chastisements that were laid upon them were to no purpose; had produced no good effect, were of no avail, and unprofitable to them; and which is mentioned as an aggravation of their sins, obstinacy, and impenitence; see Jer 5:3. Ye will revolt more and more, or "add defection" (b); go on in sin, and apostatize more and more, and grow more obdurate and resolute in it; unless afflictions are sanctified, men become more hardened by them: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint; which may be understood either of their chastisements, which were universal, and had reached all sorts and ranks of men among them, without any reformation, and therefore it was in vain to use more; or of their sins and transgressions which abounded among them, even among the principal of them; their civil rulers and governors, meant by the "head"; and the priests, who should feed the people with knowledge and understanding, designed by the "heart"; but both were corrupted, and in a bad condition. (a) "super quo", V. L. "ad quid", Ar. (b) "addentes prevaricationem", Sept. V. L.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
1:5 God sent famine, war, disease, and death as punishment. In most cases, however, God wanted to change stubborn behavior rather than simply to punish. • As a result of their persistent rebellion, the people’s head is injured and their heart is sick. The nation was wounded physically from Assyrian aggression, while spiritually they were defiled and overtaken by sin (64:6).