Yesaya 43:27

43:27 The father of your nation ¹  sinned;

your spokesmen ²  rebelled against me.

Yesaya 51:2

51:2 Look at Abraham, your father,

and Sarah, who gave you birth. ³ 

When I summoned him, he was a lone individual, ⁴ 

but I blessed him ⁵  and gave him numerous descendants. ⁶ 

Yehezkiel 16:3

16:3 and say, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.

[43:27]  ¹ tn Heb “your first father.” This could refer to Abraham (see 51:2), but elsewhere in Isaiah he does not appear in a negative light (see 29:22; 41:8; 63:16). A more likely candidate is Jacob/Israel, also referred to as the nation’s “father” elsewhere (see 58:14; 63:16).

[43:27]  ² tn On the meaning of the term לִיץ (lits), see HALOT 590 s.v. מֵלִיץ. This may refer to the nation’s prophets, priests, and/or kings.

[51:2]  ³ sn Although Abraham and Sarah are distant ancestors of the people the prophet is addressing, they are spoken of as the immediate parents.

[51:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “one”; NLT “was alone”; TEV “was childless.”

[51:2]  ⁵ tn “Bless” may here carry the sense of “endue with potency, reproductive power.” See Gen 1:28.

[51:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “and I made him numerous.”