Isaiah 1:10

“Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom, &c.] Not literally, but mystically, meaning the governors of Judea; they and their people having sinned in like manner, and as openly, as the rulers of Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof; (see <230309>Isaiah 3:9) and so the Targum paraphrases the words, “receive the word of the Lord, ye governors, whose works are evil like the governors of Sodom.” These are called to attend to the word of the Lord; either the Scriptures, which should be the rule of faith and practice, from which they had swerved; or to the word which now came to them by the prophet, and is contained in the following verses; or rather to the Gospel preached to them by John the…”

“Sodom--spiritually (Gen 19:24; Jer 23:14; Eze 16:46; Rev 11:8).”

“Hear the word of the Lord - The message of God. Having stated the calamities under which the nation was groaning, the prophet proceeds to address the rulers, and to state the cause of all these woes. Ye rulers of Sodom - The incidental mention Sodom in the previous verse gives occasion for this beautiful transition, and abrupt and spirited address. Their character and destiny were almost like those of Sodom, and the prophet therefore openly addresses the rulers as being called to preside over a people like those in Sodom. There could have been no more severe or cutting reproof of their wickedness than to address them as resembling the people whom God overthrew for their enormous crimes.…”

“Of Sodom - So called for their resemblance of them in wickedness. The law - The message which I am now to deliver to you from God, your great lawgiver. Isaiah 1:11”

“1:10 Listen to (literally listen to the word of) the Lord: In this context, listen means to respond in obedience to the law (or teaching; Hebrew torah) of our God (see 2:3; 5:24). • leaders . . . people: All levels of society were guilty. • Like Sodom and Gomorrah, Jerusalem had come under divine judgment for its rebellion against God’s laws. Jerusalem might have been utterly destroyed like those cities were it not for God’s grace (1:9; see Gen 19).”

“Hear: Kg1 22:19-23; Amo 3:1, Amo 3:8; Mic 3:8-12 Sodom: Gen 13:13; Deu 32:32; Jer 9:26, Jer 23:14; Eze 16:46; Amo 9:7; Rev 11:8 Isaiah 1:11”

“The prophet's address has here reached a resting-place. The fact that it is divided at this point into two separate sections, is indicated in the text by the space left between Isa 1:9 and Isa 1:10. This mode of marking larger or smaller sections, either by leaving spaces of by breaking off the line, is older than the vowel points and accents, and rests upon a tradition of the highest antiquity (Hupfeld, Gram. p. 86ff.). The space is called pizka; the section indicated by such a space, a closed parashah (sethumah); and the section indicated by breaking off the line, an open parashah (petuchah). The prophet stops as soon as he has affirmed, that nothing but the mercy of God has warded off…”