Isaiah 1 The vision of Isaiah, son of Amoz, which he beheld [Qal Perf 3MS chazah] concerning Judah and

Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear [Qal Impv MP shama] O heavens, and give ear [Hiph Impv FS azan plus waw conj] O earth, for YHWH speaks [Piel Perf 3MS dabar]: Children I have caused to grow [Piel Perf 1CS gadal], and I have brought up [Polel Perf 1CS rum with waw cons], but they have rebelled [Qal Perf 3MP pasha] against me. 3 An ox knows [Qal Perf 3MS yada] his owner [Qal Part MS qanah with 3MS suff], and a donkey the feeding trough of his owner; Israel does not know [Qal Perf 3MS yada]; my people do not consider diligently [Hithpolel Perf 3MS bin]. 4 Alas, sinning [Qal Part MS chata] nation, people heavy of iniquity! Seed of evil-doers [Hiph Part MP raa], children of corrupters [Hiph Part MP shachat] They have forsaken [Qal Perf 3MP azab]1 YHWH, they have spurned [Piel Perf 3MP naats] the Holy One of Israel. They have estranged themselves [Niph Perf 3MP zur] backwards/behind/hereafter. 5 Upon what will you be smote [Hoph Impf 2MP nacah] still? You will add [Hiph Impf 2MP yasaph] apostasy. The whole head is sick; and the whole heart is faint. 6 From the sole of the foot up to the head, there is none in it soundness. A bruise and a stripe, and a raw wound. They do not estrange [Qal Perf 3MP zur], and they are not bound up [Pual Perf 3MP chabash], and it has not been softened [Pual Perf 3FS rakak] with ointment. 7 Your land is a devastation (shemamah), your cities are burned [Qal Pass Part FP saraph] with fire. Your ground, in front of you, foreigners (zarim) devouring [Qal Part MP akal] it. And devastated (ushemamah) as overthrown2 of strangers (zarim). 8 She is left over [Niph Perf 3FS yatar], the daughter of Zion, like a booth3 in the vineyard. Like a lodging-place in a field of cucumbers, like a city besieged [Qal Pass Part FS natsar]. 9 Unless YHWH of hosts caused to be left over [Hiph Perf 3MS yatar] to us a few survivors, Like Sodom we should have been [Qal Perf 1CP hayah], unto Gomorrah we should have resembled [Qal Perf 1CP damah]. 10 Hear [Qal Impv MP shama] the word of YHWH, O rulers of Sodom! Give ear [Hiph Impv MP azan] to the law of our God, O people of Gomorrah! 11 What to me are your many sacrifices? says [Qal Impf 3MS amar] YHWH. I have enough of [Qal Perf 1CS saba] your burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of wellfed beasts.
2 1

The word azab is the word used for divorce. Cf., John Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah: Chapters 1-39. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986), p. 88. 2 This noun is used exclusively to refer to Gods overthrowing of Sodom and Gomorrah; see 1:9ff. Cf. Deut 29:23, Isa 13:19, Jer 29:18, Jer 50:40, and Amo 4:11. 3 BDB, 697: boothfor watchers in vineyards.

And in the blood of bullocks and lambs and he-goats I do not delight [Qal Perf 1CS chaphats]. 12 When you come [Qal Impf 2MP bo] to appear [Niph Inf Const raah with L prep] before me, Who requires [Piel Perf 3MS baqash] this from your hand, to trample [Qal Inf Const ramas] my courts? 13 You shall not again [Hiph Impf 2MP yasaph] bring [Hiph Inf Cons bo] a gift of worthlessness, the sweet smoke of sacrifice is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath, the calling [Qal Part MS qara] of assembly, I cannot endure [Qal Impf 1CS yakol]. It is iniquity, even the solemn assembly. 14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts, my soul hates [Qal Perf 3FS sane]. They are [Qal Perf 3MP hayah] to me a burden. I am wearied [Niph Perf 1CS laah] to bear [Qal Inf Cons nasa] them. 15 And in your spreading out [Piel Inf Cons parash + B prefix + 2MP suff] of your hands, I will hide [Hiph Impf 1CS alam] my eyes from you. Even when you multiply [Hiph Impf 2MP rabah] prayer, I will not hear [Qal Part MS shama]. Your hands are full [Qal Perf 3MP male] of bloods. 16 Bathe [Qal Impv MP rachats], make yourselves clean [Hithpael Impv MP zakah], Put aside [Hiph Impv MP sur] wickedness from your doings, from before my eyes. Cease [Qal Impv MP chadal] to do evil [Hiph Inf Abs raa]. 17 Learn [Qal Impv MP lamad] to do good [Hiph Inf Cons yatab], seek [Qal Impv MP darash] justice; straighten [Piel Impv MP ashar] the ruthless, do justice [Qal Impv MP shaphat] for the orphan, plead [Qal Impv MP rib] for the widow. 18 Come now [Qal Impv MP halak + na], and let us reason together [Niphal Impf 3MS yakach], says [Qal Impf 3MS amar] YHWH. If your sins be [Qal Juss (?) 3MP hayah] as scarlet, like snow they will be made white [Hiph Impf 3MP laban]. If they are red [Hiph Impf 3MP adam] like scarlet, like wool they shall be [Qal Impf 3MP hayah]. 19 If you come [Qal Impf 2MP bo], and you hear/obey [Qal Perf 2MP shama + waw cons], you will eat [Qal Impf 2MP acol] the good of the land. 20 And if you refuse [Piel Impf 2MP maan] and rebel [Qal Perf 2MP marah + waw cons], you will be devoured [Pual Impf 2MP akal] by the sword. For the mouth of YHWH has spoken [Piel Perf 3MS dabar] 21 How is [Qal Perf 3FS hayah] being a whore [Qal Act Part FS zanah] the faithful [Niph Part FS aman] city? She was full of justice; righteousness spent the night [Hiph Impf 3MS lun] in her. But now, murderers [Piel Part MP ratsach] 22 Your silver is [Qal Perf 3MS hayah] unto drosses, your wine is mixed [Qal Pass Part MP mahal] in water. 23 Your princes are rebelling [Qal Part MP sarar], and companions of thieves, Every one is loving [Qal Part MS ahab] a gift, and is following [Qal Part MS radaph] rewards, To the orphan they do not do justice [Qal Impf 3MP shaphat], And the case of the widow will not come [Qal Impf 3MS bo] to them.

24

Therefore, saith [Qal Pass Part naam] the Lord YHWH of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, Ah! I will get relief [Niph Impf 1CS nachem] from my enemies.4 I will be avenged [Niph Impf 1CS naqam] from my foes. 25 And I will cause to return [Hiph Impf 1CS shub] my hand upon you. And I will purge away [Qal Impf 1CS tsaraph] as purity your dross, And I will put aside [Hiph Impf 1CS sur + waw conj] all your tin. 26 And I will cause to return [Hiph Impf 1CS shub] your justice as in the beginning, and your counselors as at the first. Afterward, therefore, it shall be proclaimed [Niph Impf 3MS qara] concerning you City of Justice, the faithful city.5 27 Zion by justice shall be ransomed [Niphal Impf 3FS padah], and returns her [Qal Act Part MP shub + FS suff] with righteousness. 28 And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, And the forsakers [Qal Part MP azab] of YHWH will be consumed [Qal Impf 3MP kalah]. 29 For they will be ashamed [Qal Impf 3MP bush] from the oaks which you desired [Qal Perf 2MP chamad], And you shall be confounded [Qal Impf 2MP chaphar] from the gardens which you have chosen [Qal Perf 2MP bachar]. 30 For you will be [Qal Impf 2MP hayah] as an oak whose leaf is fading [Qal Part FS nabal],6 And as a garden which waters none to it. 31 And the strong shall be [Qal Perf 3MS hayah] tinder, and the worker [Qal Act Part MS paal] as a spark, And the two shall burn [Qal Perf 3MP baar] together. And none are quenching [Piel Part MS kabah].

The word from my enemies [mitsray] is a final m short of mitsraim [Egypt]. Cf. v. 21the Faithful City had become the whore. 6 Same word for fading as used of the leaves that do not fade in Psalm 1.
5

Observations: y Notice the repetition of zur, as a verb in v. 4 and 6, and as a noun in v. 7 (twice). y The passage begins in v. 2 with Hear, O heavens, and give ear O earth, and then uses the same phrase to address the people of Judah in the worst possible terms in v. 10: HearO rulers of Sodom! Give earO people of Gomorrah! y Isaiah 1 is tied to Genesis (Sodom and Gomorrah) and Psalm 1 (you shall be like an oak whose leaf withers, and like a garden without water, v. 30). y Themes: Rebellion of children from parent/owner (2-4); Estrangement of Israel (as though they were zarim; v. 4, 6, 7); Sickness/Wounds from rebellion (v. 5-6); Desolate Country/Cities (v. 7-8); Israel = Sodom & Gomorrah (v. 7, 9-10); Abominable Worship (v. 11-15); Evil/Injustice/Oppression (v. 16-17, 23); Dross with Silver/Water mixed with Wine/Impurity (21-25); Redemption by Cleansing/Justice/Righteousness/Destruction of Wicked (v. 18-20, 26-31) Comment: V. 1-4: Rebellion of children from parent/owner: One note on the introductory verse of this prophetic book from Oswalt: The meaning of Isaiah is Yahweh saves (cf. DelitzschYahweh has wrought Salvation). One could hardly imagine a more appropriate name in the light of the overall message of the book. For while it is true that Yahweh judges and destroys, these are no the final expressions of his will. Ultimately he intends to save.7 YHWH does not begin his complaint against Israel by addressing them directly. Instead, he calls upon heaven and earth as a witness against their sinfulness. This is not surprising, since Moses called upon heaven and earth to witness against the people of Israel as he mediated the covenant between them and YHWH (Deut. 4:26). The first image YHWH chooses to illustrate the problem he faces with his people is that of a child rebelling from his parent. Part of this seems to be a question of failed loyalty on Israels part, but the imagery seems to be phrased according to natural law. Even the ox knows his owner, and the donkey knows his masters crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand. Oswalt sharply writes: The tone makes it clear that what follow will be not so much a legal presentation as a personal one. While the covenant is clearly in view here, it is in the background and remains there. Israels offense is against common decency and common sense. Even animals know better.8 Concerning the phrases, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand, Oswalt emphasizes the experiential nature of the knowledge/understanding that Isaiah refers to:
7 8

John Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah: Chapters 1-39. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986), p. 82. John Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah: Chapters 1-39. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986), p. 85.

As mentioned above, know is a covenant word. Israels knowledge of God came directly out of experience with him in Egypt and at Sinai. Because he had revealed himself in and through the covenant relationship, Israel could know him (Exod. 6:7). This knowledge is not primarily intellectual. Both yada, know, and bin, understand (v. 3), came directly out of experience. Thus Israel was doubly culpable. Ones experience of the natural world ought to by itself lead to submission to the Creator. How much more should experience of Gods election-love lead to submission to the Deliverer?9 Thus YHWH lets out a lament in v. 4: Alas! Sinful nation, a people heavy with iniquity, seed of evil-doers, children who are corrupters! They have forsaken YHWH, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged. The word estranged here is nazoru, the Niphal perfect form of the root zur. The zarim are foreigners who are strangers of the covenants of promise (to borrow Pauls language in Eph 2). In other words, Israel has utterly forsaken her close association with YHWH by her sinfulness. The overall picture in v. 2-4 is something akin to divorce (the children are utterly estranged from YHWH), although the separation is of a parent from a child rather than between spouses. V. 5-9: Sickness/Wounds of Rebellion; The Desolation of Israel: It is not, however, as though Israel has found greener pastures apart from YHWH. They are struck down (this is the infamous OT word for smite), with their whole head sick, and their whole heart faint. Their entire body (from the sole of the foot even to the head) has no soundness, but is comprised of bruises, sores, and raw wounds that are not pressed out or bound up or softened with oil (v. 5-6). Childs describes the scene this way: Often in prophetic speech an invective ushers in a harsh word of divine threat (e.g., Amos 6:4ff.), but the verses that follow describe a judgment already fallen. The imagery is of a rebellious slave who has been repeatedly beaten by his master. He is covered with bleeding wounds, bruises, and stripes, which have all begun to fester and sicken the tire body with infection. As yet no remedy for healing has been administered. The pus has not been wiped clean, the wounds have not been bandaged, no soothing oil has been applied.10 The word for oil is the same word for oil in Psalm 23: he anoints my head with oil shemen. This is a medicinal oil used for healing, and YHWH presses in this question Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? In other words, why will they not allow YHWH to heal them of their wounds? But because they do not turn from the wickedness, their country lies desolate; your cities are bur with fire; in your very presence foreigners devour your land; it is desolate, as overthrown by
9

10

John Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah: Chapters 1-39. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986), p. 86. Brevard Childs, Isaiah, The Old Testament Library (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001), 18.

foreigners (v. 7) Note that the foreigners in this verse are the zarimthe estranged ones. Things are so bad, that not only are zarim devouring Israels cities and land, but in fact the Israelites have themselves become the zarim (v. 4). Calvin infers an important lesson in our relationship with God from this passage: Hence we ought to learn that, when God begins to punish us, if we do not repent, he does not immediately desist, but multiplies the chastisements, and continually follows them up with other afflictions. We ought therefore to abstain from such obstinacy, if we do not wish to draw down upon ourselves the same punishments, or at least to deserve the same reproach which was brought against the Jews, that though they had received sharp warnings, and had felt the hand of God, still they could not be corrected or reformed. Moreover, we ought not to wonder that we are visited with so great an amount and variety of afflictions, of which we see no end or limit, for by our obstinacy we fight with God and with his stripes. It must therefore happen with us as with wincing and unruly horses, which, the more obstinate and refractory they are, have the whip and spur applied to them with greater severity. In the present day there are many who almost accuse God of cruelty, as if he always treated us with harshness, and as if he ought to chastise us more gently; but they do not take into account our shocking crimes. If those crimes were duly weighed by them, they would assuredly acknowledge that, amidst the utmost severity, the forbearance of God is wonderful; and that we may not think that in this case the Lord was too severe, we must take into consideration the vices which he afterwards enumerates.11 The discipline of God is better than the moral freedom offered by the world. With the latter, we end up with perversity; with the former, we get God himself. Oswalt, as earlier, continues to emphasize the powerfully personal nature of Israels offense against God: They are sinful and corrupt, having forsaken the Lord. The poetic form is instructive (see the Introduction) in that the two parts of the verse seem to be synonymous. Thus to be sinful is to spurn the Lord and vice versa. What this points up is the intimate connection between the moral life and ones relationship to God.12 YHWH is not seeking some kind of impersonal justicehe himself has been personally spurned. Oswalt continues with a very thoughtful excursus concerning the wrath of God: Isaiahs emphasis upon rebellion as an offense against nature speaks to the meaning of the wrath of God. Two extremes need to be [page] opposed here. The one is the picture of God as a raging, red-faced tyrant who dares anyone to oppose his arbitrary decrees. But Gods decrees in the matters of the spirit are not more arbitrary than those in the realm of the physical. If I choose to smash my car into a brick wall while traveling at 100 miles
11 12

John Calvin, Commentary on Isaiah, vol. I <http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom13.viii.i.html>. John Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah: Chapters 1-39. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986), p. 87.

per hour, I will most certainly experience the wrath of Godthe natural results of my unnatural act. As someone has said, I will not have broken any natural laws, only demonstrated them. The same is true in the spiritual realm. If I live in ways contrary to my nature, I will experience the destructive results of my behavior. In this sense, the wrath of God is a metaphor, as is the love of God. But this understanding can lead to an opposite error, namely, that God is without personality, a benign but unfeeling unmoved Mover. The whole import of Scripture is opposed to such a view. If God is anything, he is a Person, intimately and passionately involved with his creatures. His emotions are neither fickle nor arbitrary; they are real and deep. His hatred of sin is as intense as his approval of righteousness is profound. Thus a genuinely biblical view of Gods response to sin must always hold these two extremes in tension. On the one hand, he does not respond out of arbitrary rage, but on the other hand, he does respond personally and directly.13 And so, the daughter of Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a lodge in a cucumber field, like a besieged city (v. 8). I am not completely sure, but this imagery sounds like it is describing extraordinarily secluded and abandoned housing. Who puts a lodge in the middle of a cucumber field? Who lives in a booth in a vineyard? Who wants to stay in a besieged city? Oswalt clarifies the image: Since the farmers customarily lived in villages and walked out to their fields, and since time was too precious during harvest season to waste walking back and forth, the families built little lean-tos in the fields and camped there until harvest was over. What a forlorn picture those little shacks were after the harvest was over.14 Things are so bad that, but for a few survivors, Israel considers themselves to be judged to the same degree as Sodom and Gomorrah had been (v. 9). V. 10-20: Charges and Terms: So that there is no mistake, however, YHWH addresses the Israelites as you rulers of Sodom and you people of Gomorrah (v. 10). Israel cannot depend on their own righteousness or innocencetheir God declares that they are as wicked as the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, in which God could not even find 10 righteous people! The solution, though, is not in better religious performance. The Israelites were apparently a very religious group. They offered a multitude of sacrifices (v. 11), and YHWH had had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls or of lambs, or of goats. My favorite image from this whole passage might be in v. 12: When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts?almost as though there is a stampede of sacrificial animals storming the temple.
13 14

John Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah: Chapters 1-39. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986), p. 90. John Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah: Chapters 1-39. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986), p. 91.

In v. 13-15, YHWH pleads with Israel not to continue their sacrifices and offerings. Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocationsI cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. You new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands,15 I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Indeed that last clause is the key to why God has the Israelites sacrificesthey are given to wickedness, and their evil deeds pervert and contaminate their worship. To remedy this, YHWH urges simply, cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widows cause (v. 16b-17). But there are hints here that YHWH is not simply telling them to clean up their act, as though improved behavior would suddenly fix everything. In v. 18, in a shift from imperatives (16b-17) and conditionals (19-20), YHWH states definitively that their scarlet and crimson sins shall become as white as snow, and as wool. Here is a hint of the gospel: YHWH implies that he will see to it that this happens. The hope of redemption, in fact, is the reason that YHWH brings charges against them. The word translated as let us reason together is a Niphal Impf of yakach. The entry in NIDOTTC is helpful: The vb. may represent any part of a lawsuit, including the potential of taking legal action.With this vb. God informs his people of his intent to lay charges against them for their loathsome ways of worship (Ps 50:7-8; cf. Hos 4:4). At the time of making an accusation the plaintiff may list the particulars that support taking up litigation (Ps 50:21). If a neighbor is doing something wrong, one is to call that neighbor to account, even if it means taking the neighbor to court in order to settle the dispute or correct the wrong. Anyone who fails to address a neighbor under these circumstances becomes culpable of sin. (a) The ni. has a reciprocal notion of two parties disputing a matter.Through the prophet Isaiah God exhorts his wayward people to enter into litigation with him in order that they might resolve the differences been them, so that the blight of their sins might be removed.16 The picture is not really so much, Lets talk this out as much as it is YHWH bringing Israel to court in order to correct them and to address his grievances with them. Childs explains:

Calvin helpfully explains this image as relating to spreading ones hands in prayer. John Calvin, Commentary on Isaiah, vol. I <http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom13.viii.i.html>. 16 John E. Hartley, Yakach, in NIDOTTE, vol. 2, ed. Willem A. VanGemeren (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997), 442.

15

The language is forensic: let us test each other, let us come to a legal understanding, let us debate our case together. The divine offer is conciliatory, butt as this juncture forgiving.17 But Calvin gives us a beautiful corrective from thinking God to be an unscrupulous prosecutor who only wants to go for the jugular: For hypocrites are wont to find fault with God, as if he were too severe, and could not be at all appeased. They go still farther, and discover this excuse for their obstinacy, that it is in vain for them to attempt to return to a state of favor with God. If every other expedient fail, still they fly to this, that it is not proper to make such rigid demands on them, and that even the very best of men have something that needs to be forgiven. The Prophet anticipates the objection, by introducing the Lord speaking ill [sicin?] this manner For my part, if it be necessary, I do not refuse to dispute with you; for the result will be to show that it is your own obstinacy which prevents a reconciliation from taking place between us. Only bring cleanness of heart, and all controversy between us will be at an end. I would no longer contend with you, if you would bring me an upright heart. Hence we obtain a declaration in the highest degree consolatory, that God does not contend with us as if he wished to pursue our offenses to the utmost. For if we sincerely turn to him, he will immediately return to favor with us, and will blot out all remembrance of our sins, and will not demand an account of them. For he is not like men who, even for a slight and inconsiderable offense, often refuse to be reconciled. Nay, so far is he from giving us reason to complain of his excessive severity, that he is ready to cleanse us, and to make us as white as snow. He is satisfied with cleanness of heart, and if, notwithstanding of this cleanness of heart, there be any offense, he forgives it, and acquits those who have provoked him.18 God only wants pure hearts, and if we are not able to provide them, God himself will give them to us in order to satisfy his own demands. So in v. 19-20, YHWH lays out the definitive (legal) terms for Israel: If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken. In classic Deuteronomic style, YHWH sets before Israel the choice between a blessing and a curse, life and death. Moses proclaimed: I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them. (Deut. 30:19-20) Notice (1) that Moses calls upon heaven and earth as witnesses (cf. Isa. 1:1); (2) that obedience is the condition for dwelling in the land (Isa. 1:19); and (3) that what Moses says here comes on
17 18

Brevard Childs, Isaiah, The Old Testament Library (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001), 20. John Calvin, Commentary on Isaiah, vol. I <http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom13.viii.i.html>.

the heels of a warning not to be overthrown like Sodom and Gomorrah (Deut. 29:23; cf. Isa. 1:7, 9-10). The only difference between Isaiah 1 and Deuteronomy, then, is that Deuteronomy warns against a destruction that the people in Isaiah 1 are on the brink of unleashing. V. 21-31: Judgment and Hope: In v. 21-23, YHWH uses several images to condemn Israel (and Jerusalem in particular) for their universal corruption. The faithful city has become a whore; murderers have replaced righteousness in the city; their silver has become dross; their best wine mixed with water; their princes are rebels and companions of thieves; everyone seeks bribes and gifts; and no one seeks the justice of the fatherless, nor hears the plea of the widow. Concerning the statement about silver becoming dross, and wine being mixed with water, Calvin helpful explains the following: Isaiah speaks metaphorically, and by two comparisons shows here, that though the outward appearance of affairs was not openly overturned, yet their condition was changed and corrupted, so as to be widely different from what it had formerly been: for he says that dross now shines instead of gold, and that the wine, though it retains its color, has lost its flavour.19 The corruption is total, and YHWH promises to deal with the widespread corruption in two ways: judgment and redemption. First, judgment: Therefore the Lord declares, the LORD of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: Ah, I will get relief from my enemies and avenge myself on my foes. I will turn my hand against you and will smelt away your dross as with lye and remove all your alloy (v. 24-25). That YHWH speaks of judgment as getting relief from my enemies gives insight into his perspective on sin. It is wearisome and onerous for him, and he wants to put it away forever in order to get relief from it. Second, redemption: And I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city. Zion shall be redeemed by justice, and those in her who repent, by righteousness (v. 27). Central to the idea of redemption is an exchange. The person/thing redeemed is purchased by the redeemer in exchange for something else, or by some feat accomplished by the redeemer. Hubbard in NIDOTTE points to (1) the redemption of the firstborn by animal sacrifice in Exodus 13 and 34; (2) the redemption of Jonathan from his father Sauls rash oath by his heroics in battle; and (3) the redemption of Israel from Egypt by Gods great and mighty hand. More generally, the word means to snatch out of danger/harm or to rescue.20

19

20

John Calvin, Commentary on Isaiah, vol. I <http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom13.viii.i.html>. Robert L. Hubbard., Jr., Padah, in NIDOTTE, vol. 3, ed. Willem A. VanGemeren (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997), 578-82.

In some way, Israel will be redeemed by justice. Those in her who repent will be, in some way, redeemed by righteousness. These vague phrases raise all kinds of questions: Who will accomplish the redemption? What role will justice and righteousness play in the redemption? The rest of Isaiah will address that question to some degree, but not until the advent of Jesus Christ will those questions be answered in full. After promising redemption, however, YHWH returns to the theme of judgment: But rebels and sinners shall be broken together and those who forsake the LORD shall be consumed. For they shall be ashamed of the oaks that you desired; and you shall blush for the gardens you have chosen. For you shall be like an oak whose leaf withers, and like a garden without water. And the strong shall become tinder, and his work a spark, and both of them shall burn together, with none to quench them (v. 28-31). The terms are set; the lines are drawn. Will Israel repent? What will YHWH do when they do not?