Isaiah 1:18

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. COME NOW ... LET US REASON TOGETHER. God deigns to argue the case with us, that all may see the just, nay, loving principle of His dealings with men (Isaiah 43:26). THOUGH YOUR SINS BE AS SCARLET - the colour of Jesus Christ's robe when bearing our "sins" (Matthew 27:28). So Rahab's thread, the type (Joshua 2:18: cf. the "scarlet" used in cleansing the leper, Leviticus 14:4). The Rabbins s...

18._Come now, and let us reason together _(24) The Hebrew word נא (_na_) is commonly translated _I pray_, or_therefore_; but I think that it denotes the confidence of a good cause, and thus is an exhortation, _Come_. For the Lord declares that the Jews will have nothing, to reply, and that, even though they obtain an opportunity of clearing themselves, they will still be speechless. And certainly this is the way in which hypocrites ought to be treated; for they boldly enter into disputes with God, and there is no end of their reasonings. Accordingly, he tells them that, if they choose to debate, he will be equally prepared on the other side. The question will perhaps be put, Why does the Prophet speak chiefly about the second table of the law, and not rather about the worship of God? For we know that there were good reasons why God assigned the fore

16-20 Not only feel sorrow for the sin committed, but break off the practice. We must be doing, not stand idle. We must be doing the good the Lord our God requires. It is plain that the sacrifices of the law could not atone, even for outward national crimes. But, blessed be God, there is a Fountain opened, in which sinners of every age and rank may be cleansed. Though our sins have been as scarlet and crimson, a deep dye, a double dye, first in the wool of original corruption, and afterwards in the many threads of actual transgression; though we have often dipped into sin, by many backslidings; yet pardoning mercy will take out the stain, Psalms 51:7. They should have all the happiness and comfort they could desire. Life and death, good and evil, are set before us. O Lord, incline all of us to live to thy glory....

Verse Isaiah 1:18. _THOUGH YOUR SINS BE AS SCARLET_] שני _shani_, "scarlet or crimson," _dibaphum, twice dipped_, or _double dyed_; from שנה _shanah, iterare, to double_, or _to do a thing twice_. This derivation seems much more probable than that which _Salmasius_ prefers from שנן _shanan, acuere_, to _whet_, from the _sharpness_ and strength of the colour, οξυφοινικον; תלע _tela_, the same; properly the _worm, vermiculus_, (from whence _vermeil_,) for this colour was produced from a worm or insect which grew in a coccus or excrescence of a shrub of the ilex kind, (see Plin. Nat. Hist. xvi. 8,) like the cochineal worm in the opuntia of America. See Ulloa's Voyage book v., chap. ii., note to page 342. There is a shrub of this kind that grows in Provence and Languedoc, and produces the like insect, called the _kermes oak_, (s...

COME NOW - This is addressed to the nation of Israel; and the same exhortation is made to all sinners. It is a solemn act on the part of God, submitting the claims and principles of his government to reason, on the supposition that men may see the propriety of his service, and of his plan. LET US REASON TOGETHER - ונוכחה _v__e__nivāk__e__châh_ from יכח _yâkach_, not used in Kal, but in Hiphil; meaning to show, to prove. Job 13:15 : ‘Surely I will prove my ways (righteous) before him;’ that is, I will justify my ways before him. Also to correct, reprove, convince, Job 32:12; to rebuke, reproach, censure,...

PART I.—EARLIER PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH (CH. 1-35.) SECTION I.—THE GREAT ARRAIGNMENT (Isaiah 1:1.). EXPOSITION ISAIAH 1:1 TITLE OF THE WORK. It is questioned whether the title can be regarded as Isaiah's, or as properly belonging to the work, and it is suggested that it is rather a heading invented by a collector who brought together into a volume such prophecies of Isaiah as were known to him, the collection being a much smaller one than that which was made ultimately. In favor of this view it is urged (1) that

COME NOW, AND LET US REASON, TOGETHER, SAITH THE LORD,.... These words stand not in connection either with the preceding or following, but are to be read in a parenthesis, and are thrown in for the sake of the small remnant God had left among this wicked people, in order to comfort them, being distressed with sin. These, seeing their sins in their dreadful colours, and with all their aggravating circumstances, were ready to conclude that they were unpardonable; and, seeing God as an angry Judge, dared not come nigh him, but stood at a distance, fearing and expecting his vengeance to fall upon them, and therefore put away the promises, and refused to be comforted; when the Lord was pleased to encourage them to draw near to him, and come and reason with him: not at the bar of his justice; there is no reasoning with him there; none can contend with him, or answer him, one of a thousand; if...

This is a chapter which, I think, teaches an important lesson to those of us who desire the salvation of men, for it shows us how God sets about that work. He begins by exhibiting the sinner's sin to him before he proclaims mercy to him; and if we want to be the means of doing good to men, it will not be by merely crying to them, «Believe, believe, believe;» but there must be a laying of the axe at the root of the tree of self-righteousness, and a cutting away of all trust in self. A man must realize his danger before he will desire to escape from it, and it is a mistaken kindness which refuses to set before him the peril in which he is. God, who is infinitely tender and inconceivably merciful, shows us, in this chapter, how to go to work with sinners. Isaiah 1:1. The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and H

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS The reader will find that every chapter has been analyzed as to its contents. We have not made copious annotations, because the three lectures on the book of Isaiah as found at the close of the analysis cover the contents of this book in such a manner that detailed annotations for a study of the book can be omitted. We suggest that all who desire to study this great prophecy in a closer way read carefully the introduction, and after that the three lectures on “The Scope of Isaiah,” “The Messianic Predictions” and “Future Glories and Blessings.” These lectures should be carefully studied and every passage should be looked up. After this has been done, take up the book section by section and follow the analysis we give and consult the lectures whenever needed. I. THE EARLIER PROPHECIES (1-35) 1. Prophecies under the Reign of Uzziah, Jotham, and Ahaz (1-12) CHAP...

Perhaps an independent oracle, or even two (Isaiah 1:18 and Isaiah 1:19 f.); the date is quite uncertain. According to the usual view Yahweh challenges Israel to a lawsuit, that His righteousness may be vindicated and its guilt clearly seen. But it is not certain that a legal process is implied. Nor is Isaiah 1:18 clear. It may be a gracious invitation (so RV), it may be sarcastic (let them be white as snow!), or an indignant question. The last is grammatically uncertain, but it gives the best sense: If your sins are as scarlet, how should they be reckoned white as snow? if they are red like crimson, how should they be as wool? No distinction is intended between scarlet and crimson....