Yesaya 1:2

Obedience, not Sacrifice

1:2 Listen, O heavens,

pay attention, O earth! ¹ 

For the Lord speaks:

“I raised children, ²  I brought them up, ³ 

but ⁴  they have rebelled ⁵  against me!

Yesaya 27:3

27:3 I, the Lord, protect it; ⁶ 

I water it regularly. ⁷ 

I guard it night and day,

so no one can harm it. ⁸ 

Yesaya 48:9

48:9 For the sake of my reputation ⁹  I hold back my anger;

for the sake of my prestige ¹⁰  I restrain myself from destroying you. ¹¹ 

Yesaya 51:7

51:7 Listen to me, you who know what is right,

you people who are aware of my law! ¹² 

Don’t be afraid of the insults of men;

don’t be discouraged because of their abuse!

Yesaya 63:6

63:6 I trampled nations in my anger,

I made them drunk ¹³  in my rage,

I splashed their blood on the ground.” ¹⁴ 

Yesaya 66:1

66:1 This is what the Lord says:

“The heavens are my throne

and the earth is my footstool.

Where then is the house you will build for me?

Where is the place where I will rest?

[1:2]  ¹ sn The personified heavens and earth are summoned to God’s courtroom as witnesses against God’s covenant people. Long before this Moses warned the people that the heavens and earth would be watching their actions (see Deut 4:26; 30:19; 31:28; 32:1).

[1:2]  ² tn Or “sons” (NAB, NASB).

[1:2]  sn “Father” and “son” occur as common terms in ancient Near Eastern treaties and covenants, delineating the suzerain and vassal as participants in the covenant relationship. The prophet uses these terms, the reference to heavens and earth as witnesses, and allusions to deuteronomic covenant curses (1:7-9, 19-20) to set his prophecy firmly against the backdrop of Israel’s covenantal relationship with Yahweh.

[1:2]  ³ sn The normal word pair for giving birth to and raising children is יָלַד (yalad, “to give birth to”) and גָּדַל (gadal, “to grow, raise”). The pair גָּדַל and רוּם (rum, “to raise up”) probably occur here to highlight the fact that Yahweh made something important of Israel (cf. R. Mosis, TDOT 2:403).

[1:2]  ⁴ sn Against the backdrop of Yahweh’s care for his chosen people, Israel’s rebellion represents abhorrent treachery. The conjunction prefixed to a nonverbal element highlights the sad contrast between Yahweh’s compassionate care for His people and Israel’s thankless rebellion.

[1:2]  ⁵ sn To rebel carries the idea of “covenant treachery.” Although an act of פֶּשַׁע (pesha’, “rebellion”) often signifies a breach of the law, the legal offense also represents a violation of an existing covenantal relationship (E. Carpenter and M. Grisanti, NIDOTTE 3:707).

[27:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “her.” Apparently “vineyard” is the antecedent, though normally this noun is understood as masculine (see Lev 25:3, however).

[27:3]  ⁷ tn Or perhaps, “constantly.” Heb “by moments.”

[27:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “lest [someone] visit [harm] upon it, night and day I guard it.”

[48:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “for the sake of my name” (so NAB, NASB); NLT “for my own sake.”

[48:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and my praise.” לְמַעַן (lÿma’an, “for the sake of”) is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[48:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I restrain [myself] concerning you not to cut you off.”

[51:7]  ¹² tn Heb “people (who have) my law in their heart.”

[63:6]  ¹³ sn See Isa 49:26 and 51:23 for similar imagery.

[63:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and I brought down to the ground their juice.” “Juice” refers to their blood (see v. 3).