Yesaya 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!

Yesaya 45:12

45:12 I made the earth,

I created the people who live ⁶  on it.

It was me – my hands ⁷  stretched out the sky, ⁸ 

I give orders to all the heavenly lights. ⁹ 

Yesaya 52:10

52:10 The Lord reveals ¹⁰  his royal power ¹¹ 

in the sight of all the nations;

the entire ¹²  earth sees

our God deliver. ¹³ 

[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]  sn “Father” and “son” occur as common terms in ancient Near Eastern treaties and covenants, delineating the suzerain and vassal as participants in the covenant relationship. The prophet uses these terms, the reference to heavens and earth as witnesses, and allusions to deuteronomic covenant curses (1:7-9, 19-20) to set his prophecy firmly against the backdrop of Israel’s covenantal relationship with Yahweh.

[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).

[45:12]  ⁶ tn The words “who live” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[45:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “I, even my hands”; NASB “I stretched out…with My hands”; NRSV “it was my hands that stretched out.” The same construction occurs at the beginning of v. 13.

[45:12]  ⁸ tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[45:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “and to all their host I commanded.” See the notes at 40:26.

[52:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “lays bare”; NLT “will demonstrate.”

[52:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “his holy arm.” This is a metonymy for his power.

[52:10]  ¹² tn Heb “the remote regions,” which here stand for the extremities and everything in between.

[52:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “the deliverance of our God.” “God” is a subjective genitive here.