Isaiah 1:6

From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. FROM THE SOLE OF THE FOOT EVEN UNTO THE HEAD (THERE IS) NO SOUNDNESS IN IT - From the lowest to the highest of the people: 'the ancient and honourable, the head; the prophet that teacheth lies, the tail.' See Isaiah 9:13. He first states their wretched condition, obvious to all (Isaiah 1:6); and then, not previously, their irreligious state, the cause of it. WOUNDS - judicially inflicted (). they have not been closed ... neither mollified with ointment. The art of medicine i...

6._From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it _Here he proceeds with the same comparison, and repeats the same statement; for certainly those who explain the former part of the verse, as referring to punishments, do not sufficiently consider the remaining part of the context. If we shall admit that a nation corrupted by vices is compared to a diseased body, what is the meaning of the words which immediately follow, that _the wounds have not been bound up or mollified with ointment _? It is plain that the Prophet speaks of afflictions by which the nation had almost wasted away, and that he adduces this long-continued weakness as a proof of hardened impenitence. He calls it a _putrifying sore_, from which diseased matter is continually flowing, as if some concealed fountain were perpetually sending forth an additional supply of venom. By this comparison he sho...

1-9 Isaiah signifies, "The salvation of the Lord;" a very suitable name for this prophet, who prophesies so much of Jesus the Saviour, and his salvation. God's professing people did not know or consider that they owed their lives and comforts to God's fatherly care and kindness. How many are very careless in the affairs of their souls! Not considering what we do know in religion, does us as much harm, as ignorance of what we should know. The wickedness was universal. Here is a comparison taken from a sick and diseased body. The distemper threatens to be mortal. From the sole of the foot even to the head; from the meanest peasant to the greatest peer, there is no soundness, no good principle, no religion, for that is the health of the soul. Nothing but guilt and corruption; the sad effects of Adam's fall. This passage declares the total depravity of human nature. While sin remains unrepe...

Verse Isaiah 1:6. _THEY HAVE NOT BEEN CLOSED, C._ - "It hath not been pressed," c.] The pharmaceutical art in the East consists chiefly in external applications: accordingly the prophet's images in this place are all taken from surgery. Sir John Chardin, in his note on Proverbs 3:8, "It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones," observes that "the comparison is taken from the plasters, ointments, oils, and frictions, which are made use of in the East upon the belly and stomach in most maladies. Being ignorant in the villages of the art of making decoctions and potions, and of the proper doses of such things, they generally make use of external medicines." - _Harmer's Observations on Scripture_, vol. ii. p. 488. And in surgery their _materia medica_ is extremely simple, oil making the p...

FROM THE SOLE OF THE FOOT ... - Or is we say, ‘from head to foot,’ that is, in every part of the body. There may be included also the idea that this extended from the lowest to the highest among the people. The Chaldee paraphrase is, ‘from the lowest of the people even to the princes - all are contumacious and rebellious.’ NO SOUNDNESS - מתם _m__e__thôm_, from תמם _tâmam_, to be perfect, sound, uninjured. There is no part unaffected; no part that is sound. It is all smitten and sore. BUT WOUNDS - The precise shade of difference between this and the two following words may not be apparent. Together, they mean Such wounds and contusions as are inflicted upon man by scourging, or beating him. This mode of punishment was common among the Jews; as it is at the East at this ti

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

FROM THE SOLE OF THE FOOT EVEN UNTO THE HEAD [THERE IS] NO SOUNDNESS IN IT,.... Every member of the body politic was afflicted in one way or another, or sadly infected with the disease of sin; see Psalms 28:3. So the Targum, "from the rest of the people, even unto the princes, there is none among them who is perfect in my fear;'' see Daniel 9:8 [BUT] WOUNDS, AND BRUISES, AND PUTREFYING SORES; to which either public calamities on a city or nation may be compared, Hosea 5:13 or the sins and transgressions both of single persons, and of whole bodies of men, Psalms 38:5. The Targum is, "they are all s

Isaiah 1:1. _The vision of Isaiah the son of Amos, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me._ The good and gracious God, having been treated ungenerously, makes his appeal not to men who themselves are guilty, but to the very heavens and each, calling on the silent stones of the field, and the trees of the wood, and the stars of heaven, to judge between him and his rebellious children. «I have nourished and brought up children « taken a nurse's interest in them, shown a parent's love to them, «and they have rebelled against me.» Isaiah 1:3. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass hi

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...

Let heaven and earth hear with amazement Yahweh's complaint. He has reared His people with the kindliest care, and _they_ (pathetic emphasis) have repaid Him with unfilial ingratitude. Ox and ass find their way to their owner's house, but Israel displays no such intelligence (Jeremiah 8:7). With fourfold term of reproach the prophet expostulates with them for their mad folly. Do you wish to be smitten still more severely, to go on revolting more and more? The whole body politic is all wounds from head to foot; its wounds have not been pressed to remove the matter, nor bandaged, nor softened and soothed with oil (Luke 10:34). Their country is devastated, their cities burned, so much they have learnt from the refugees; from the walls they can see for themselves the Assyrians encamped on their fields and devouring the