Isaiah 1:2-3
Obedience, not Sacrifice
2 Listen, O heavens,pay attention, O earth! ▼
For the Lord speaks:
“I raised children, ▼
▼ Or “sons” (NAB, NASB).
▼▼ “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.
I brought them up, ▼▼ 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).
but ▼
▼ 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.
they have rebelled ▼▼ 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).
against me! 3 An ox recognizes its owner,
a donkey recognizes where its owner puts its food; ▼
▼ Heb “and the donkey the feeding trough of its owner.” The verb in the first line does double duty in the parallelism.
but Israel does not recognize me, ▼
▼ Although both verbs have no object, the parallelism suggests that Israel fails to recognize the Lord as the one who provides for their needs. In both clauses, the placement of “Israel” and “my people” at the head of the clause focuses the reader’s attention on the rebellious nation (C. van der Merwe, J. Naude, J. Kroeze, A Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar, 346–47).
my people do not understand.”
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