Yesaya 1:10

1:10 Listen to the Lord’s word,

you leaders of Sodom! ¹ 

Pay attention to our God’s rebuke, ² 

people of Gomorrah!

Yesaya 36:19

36:19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? ³  Indeed, did any gods rescue Samaria ⁴  from my power? ⁵ 

Yesaya 44:18

44:18 They do not comprehend or understand,

for their eyes are blind and cannot see;

their minds do not discern. ⁶ 

Yesaya 64:12

64:12 In light of all this, ⁷  how can you still hold back, Lord?

How can you be silent and continue to humiliate us?

[1:10]  ¹ sn Building on the simile of v. 9, the prophet sarcastically addresses the leaders and people of Jerusalem as if they were leaders and residents of ancient Sodom and Gomorrah. The sarcasm is appropriate, for if the judgment is comparable to Sodom’s, that must mean that the sin which prompted the judgment is comparable as well.

[1:10]  ² tn Heb “to the instruction of our God.” In this context, which is highly accusatory and threatening, תּוֹרָה (torah, “law, instruction”) does not refer to mere teaching, but to corrective teaching and rebuke.

[36:19]  ³ tn The rhetorical questions in v. 34a suggest the answer, “Nowhere, they seem to have disappeared in the face of Assyria’s might.”

[36:19]  ⁴ map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.

[36:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “that they rescued Samaria from my hand?” But this gives the impression that the gods of Sepharvaim were responsible for protecting Samaria, which is obviously not the case. The implied subject of the plural verb “rescued” must be the generic “gods of the nations/lands” (vv. 18, 20).

[44:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “for their eyes are smeared over so they cannot see, so their heart cannot be wise.”

[64:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “because of these”; KJV, ASV “for these things.”