Isaiah 1:4

“Ah sinful nation, &c.]. Or “sinning nation”f23; that was continually sinning, doing nothing else but sin, the reverse of what they were chosen to be, (<050706>Deuteronomy 7:6). These words are said, either as calling and crying to them, to cause them to hear and hearken to what is said, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi observe, and as ywh is used in (<235501>Isaiah 55:1 <380206> Zechariah 2:6,7) or by way of complaint and lamentation, as Jarchi thinks, because of their general and continued wickedness, (see <111330>1 Kings 13:30), or by way of threatening, as in (<230124>Isaiah 1:24) and so the Targum paraphrases it, “woe to them who are called a holy people, and have sinned:” and so the Vulgate…”

“people--the peculiar designation of God's elect nation (Hos 1:10), that they should be "laden with iniquity" is therefore the more monstrous. Sin is a load (Psa 38:4; Mat 11:28). seed--another appellation of God's elect (Gen 12:7; Jer 2:21), designed to be a "holy seed" (Isa 6:13), but, awful to say, "evildoers!" children--by adoption (Hos 11:1), yet "evildoers"; not only so, but "corrupters" of others (Gen 6:12); the climax. So "nation--people--seed children." provoked--literally, "despised," namely, so as to provoke (Pro 1:30-31). Holy One of Israel--the peculiar heinousness of their sin, that it was against their God (Amo 3:2). gone . . . backward--literally, "estranged" (Psa 58:3).”

“Ah! sinful nation - The word rendered ‘ah!’ - הוי hôy - is not a mere exclamation, expressing astonishment. It is rather an interjection denouncing threatening, or punishment. ‘Wo to the sinful nation.’ Vulgate, ‘Vae genti peccatrici.’ The corruption pertained to the nation, and not merely to a part. It had become general. Laden with iniquity - The word translated “laden” - כבד kebed - denotes properly anything “heavy,” or burdensome; from כבד kâbad, “to be heavy.” It means that they were oppressed, and borne down with the “weight” of their sins. Thus we say, Sin sits “heavy” on the conscience. Thus Cain said, ‘My punishment is greater than I can bear;’ Genesis 4:13. The word is applied to…”

“A seed - The children of wicked parents, whose guilt they inherit, and whose evil example they follow. Corrupters - Heb. that corrupt themselves, or others by their counsel and example. Backward - Instead of proceeding forward and growing in grace. Isaiah 1:5”

“1:4 The expression Holy One of Israel is frequently used in Isaiah as a title for the Lord. God is the righteous and just King of heaven and earth (6:3-5), the incomparable God (40:25), and the Redeemer of his people (43:14). It was a terrible and foolish sin for Judah to reject him.”

“Ah sinful: Isa 1:23, Isa 10:6, Isa 30:9; Gen 13:13; Mat 11:28; Act 7:51, Act 7:52; Rev 18:5 laden with iniquity: Heb. of heaviness a seed: Isa 57:3, Isa 57:4; Num 32:14; Psa 78:8; Jer 7:26, Jer 16:11, Jer 16:12; Mat 3:7, Mat 23:33 children: Jer 2:33; Eze 16:33 forsaken: Deu 29:25, Deu 31:16; Jdg 10:10; Jer 2:13, Jer 2:17, Jer 2:19 provoked: Isa 3:8, Isa 65:3; Deu 32:19; Psa 78:40; Jer 7:19; Co1 10:22 the Holy: Isa 5:19, Isa 5:24, Isa 12:6, Isa 29:19, Isa 30:11, Isa 30:12, Isa 30:15, Isa 37:23, Isa 41:14, Isa 41:16, Isa 41:20; Psa 89:18; Jer 50:29, Jer 51:5 gone away backward: Heb. alienated, or separated, Psa 58:3; Jer 2:5, Jer 2:31; Rom 8:7; Col 1:24 Isaiah 1:5”

“"Woe upon the sinful nation, the guilt-laden people, the miscreant race, the children acting corruptly! They have forsaken Jehovah, blasphemed Israel's Holy One, turned away backwards." The distinction sometimes drawn between hoi (with He) and oi (with Aleph) - as equivalent to oh! and woe! - cannot be sustained. Hoi is an exclamation of pain, with certain doubtful exceptions; and in the case before us it is not so much a denunciation of woe (vae genti, as the Vulgate renders it), as a lamentation (vae gentem) filled with wrath. The epithets which follow point indirectly to that which Israel ought to have been, according to the choice and determination of God, and plainly declare what it had…”