Discovery BoxIsaiah 1:10 
Context1:10 Listen to the Lord’s word,
you leaders of Sodom! 1
Pay attention to our God’s rebuke, 2
people of Gomorrah!
Isaiah 6:8
Context6:8 I heard the voice of the sovereign master say, “Whom will I send? Who will go on our behalf?” 3 I answered, “Here I am, send me!”
Isaiah 37:20
Context37:20 Now, O Lord our God, rescue us from his power, so all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.” 4
Isaiah 38:20
Context38:20 The Lord is about to deliver me, 5
and we will celebrate with music 6
for the rest of our lives in the Lord’s temple.” 7
Isaiah 40:3
Context40:3 A voice cries out,
“In the wilderness clear a way for the Lord;
construct in the desert a road for our God.
Isaiah 42:17
Context42:17 Those who trust in idols
will turn back and be utterly humiliated, 8
those who say to metal images, ‘You are our gods.’”
Isaiah 61:2
Context61:2 to announce the year when the Lord will show his favor,
the day when our God will seek vengeance, 9
to console all who mourn,
Isaiah 64:7
Context64:7 No one invokes 10 your name,
or makes an effort 11 to take hold of you.
For you have rejected us 12
and handed us over to our own sins. 13
Isaiah 64:9
Context64:9 Lord, do not be too angry!
Do not hold our sins against us continually! 14
Take a good look at your people, at all of us! 15
1 sn Building on the simile of v. 9, the prophet sarcastically addresses the leaders and people of Jerusalem as if they were leaders and residents of ancient Sodom and Gomorrah. The sarcasm is appropriate, for if the judgment is comparable to Sodom’s, that must mean that the sin which prompted the judgment is comparable as well.
2 tn Heb “to the instruction of our God.” In this context, which is highly accusatory and threatening, תּוֹרָה (torah, “law, instruction”) does not refer to mere teaching, but to corrective teaching and rebuke.
3 tn Heb “for us.” The plural pronoun refers to the Lord, the seraphs, and the rest of the heavenly assembly.
4 tn The parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:19 reads, “that you, Lord, are the only God.”
5 tn The infinitive construct is used here to indicate that an action is imminent. See GKC 348-49 §114.i, and IBHS 610 §36.2.3g.
6 tn Heb “and music [or perhaps, “stringed instruments”] we will play.”
7 tn Heb “all the days of our lives in the house of the Lord.”
sn Note that vv. 21-22 have been placed between vv. 6-7, where they logically belong. See 2 Kgs 20:7-8.
8 tn Heb “be ashamed with shame”; ASV, NASB “be utterly put to shame.”
9 tn Heb “to announce the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of our God’s vengeance.
10 tn Or “calls out in”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “calls on.”
11 tn Or “rouses himself”; NASB “arouses himself.”
12 tn Heb “for you have hidden your face from us.”
13 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and you caused us to melt in the hand of our sin.” The verb וַתְּמוּגֵנוּ (vattÿmugenu) is a Qal preterite 2nd person masculine singular with a 1st person common plural suffix from the root מוּג (mug, “melt”). However, elsewhere the Qal of this verb is intransitive. If the verbal root מוּג (mug) is retained here, the form should be emended to a Polel pattern (וַתְּמֹגְגֵנוּ, vattÿmogÿgenu). The translation assumes an emendation to וַתְּמַגְּנֵנוּ (vattÿmaggÿnenu, “and you handed us over”). This form is a Piel preterite 2nd person masculine singular with a 1st person common plural suffix from the verbal root מִגֵּן (miggen, “hand over, surrender”; see HALOT 545 s.v. מגן and BDB 171 s.v. מָגָן). The point is that God has abandoned them to their sinful ways and no longer seeks reconciliation.
14 tn Heb “do not remember sin continually.”
15 tn Heb “Look, gaze at your people, all of us.” Another option is to translate, “Take a good look! We are all your people.”
