Isaiah 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!

Isaiah 51:4

51:4 Pay attention to me, my people!

Listen to me, my people!

For ⁶  I will issue a decree, ⁷ 

I will make my justice a light to the nations. ⁸ 

Isaiah 64:4

64:4 Since ancient times no one has heard or perceived, ⁹ 

no eye has seen any God besides you,

who intervenes for those who wait for him.

[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]  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).

[51:4]  ⁶ tn Or “certainly.”

[51:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “instruction [or “a law”] will go out from me.”

[51:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “and my justice for a light to the nations I will cause to rest.”

[64:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “from ancient times they have not heard, they have not listened.”