Isaiah 1


Isaiah 1 is the first chapter of the Book of Isaiah, one of the Book of the Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and a book of the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. In this "vision of Isaiah concerning Judah and Jerusalem", the prophet calls the nation to repentance and predicts the destruction of Solomon's Temple in the 587 BCE siege of Jerusalem. This chapter provides an introduction to the issues of sin, judgement, and hoped-for restoration which form the overarching structure of the whole book. It concludes with "a reference to the burning of those who trust in their own strength", in a fire which cannot be "quenched", a relatively rare word which is also used in the last verse of the book, thereby linking together beginning and ending of this whole book. It is traditionally read on the Shabbat Chazon immediately preceding the Tisha B'Av fast day.

Text

The original text was written in Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 31 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Biblical Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis, the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets, Aleppo Codex, Codex Leningradensis.
Fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls :
  • 1QIsaa: complete
  • 4QIsaa : extant: verses 1‑3
  • 4QIsab : extant: verses 1‑6
  • 4QIsaf : extant: verses 10‑16, 18‑31
  • 4QIsaj : extant: verses 1‑6
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Alexandrinus and Codex Marchalianus.

Parashot

The parashah sections listed here are based on the Aleppo Codex. Isaiah 1 is a part of the Prophecies about Judah and Israel . : open parashah; : closed parashah.

Structure

The New King James Version organises this chapter as follows:
  • Isaiah 1:1 = Subtitle or superscription: the vision of Isaiah
  • = The Wickedness of Judah
  • = The Degenerate City

    Superscription (1:1)

This introductory verse of the Book of Isaiah is closely comparable to the opening verses of the books of Jeremiah, Hosea, Amos, Micah, and Zephaniah.
  • "Vision" : Introducing the whole book as a vision in the title, as well as in 2 Chronicles 32:32: Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his goodness, behold they are written in the vision of Isaiah.
  • "The son of Amoz": not of Amos the prophet. Jewish tradition has a note that Amoz, the father of Isaiah, was the brother of Amaziah of Judah, making Isaiah a member of the royal family.
According to the Christian Pulpit Commentary, the prophecies of Isaiah "concern primarily the kingdom of Judah, not that of Israel". This verse "is probably best understood as the heading of the first great collection of prophecies" in chapters 1-12. Chapter 13 initiates a proclamation against Babylon.

The great accusation (1:2–4)

Isaiah calls the people of Judah "a thoughtless people".

Verse 2

Isaiah's opening words recall those of Moses in Deuteronomy 32:1:
It forms Isaiah's introduction in the style of the Song of Moses.
The New Century Version combines these two exhortations into one:

Verse 3

This verse has played an important part in Christian Christmas tradition, along with a number of other verses in Isaiah which are treated as pointing forward to the time of Jesus, and, although not mentioned in the gospels, "the ox and the donkey/ass" are often connected with accounts of the birth of Jesus. The animals in the Christmas crib are first mentioned in the New Testament apocryphal Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, where it is said that Mary, mother of Jesus "put her child in a manger, and an ox and an ass worshipped him. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: 'The ox knows his owner and the ass his master's crib.

The devastation of Judah (1:5–9)

Isaiah uses images of the sick individual and the desolate nation to portray the sinfulness of his nation. The "daughter of Zion" remained an isolated stronghold when Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, attacked the fortified cities of Judah in 701 BCE.

Pious corruption and its cleansing (1:10–20)

Considered "the most powerful and sustained" prophetic outburst at religious unreality, the vehemence of this prophecy is built up together in its form and content. First, God rejected the offerings, then the offerers, the specific accusation in the lurid conclusion of verse 15, followed by the command to "have done with evil" in "eight thunderous calls", ending in the reminder of the life-and-death alternatives similar to Deuteronomy 30:15–20.

Verse 11

Anglican bishop Robert Lowth translates the first portion of the verse as "I am cloyed with the burnt offerings of rams".
According to the Torah, burnt offerings formed a part of the required sacrifice on all great occasions, including Passover, the Feast of Weeks, at the Feast of Tabernacles, the Feast of Trumpets, and on Yom Kippur. They were commanded as the sole sacrifice for a trespass offering, too.

Verse 16–17

Verse 18

The phrase "reason together" has a tone of "legal argument"; similar wording appears in Isaiah 43:26.

God's lament and resolve (1:21–31)

The theme of this part is the vanished glory as in a funeral dirge, lamenting the moral loss of justice, but not concerning the wealth.

Verse 25

  • "And purely purge away": "And will smelt away... as with lye" or "and thoroughly 'refine with lye'".

    Verse 26

The King James Version and American Standard Version translate as "judges"; the New International Version interprets it as "leaders."

Verses 29–31

The Jerusalem Bible separates verses 29–31 as an oracle "against tree worship", suggesting that the prophet "possibly has Samaria in mind".

Verse 29

  • "Oaks", or "terebinths", may refer to the "oaks" of Isaiah 57:5.
  • "Which ye have desired" or "which give you such pleasure".

    Verse 30

  • "Garden" may refer to the "gardens" in Isaiah 65:3.

    Verse 31

  • "Quench": Illusion of a fire which cannot be 'quenched', from the Hebrew root , links this verse to the last verse of the whole book. Moreover, it is also used in three other places: of the servant in Isaiah 42:3, that "a dimly burning wick he will not quench"; that the fire devouring Edom "will not be quenched"; and in Isaiah 43:17.

    Jewish

  • Christian

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