Isaiah 1:7

“Your country [is] desolate, &c.] Or “shall be”; this is either a declaration in proper terms of what is before figuratively expressed, or rather a prophecy of what would be their case on account of transgressions; and which had its accomplishment partly in the Babylonish captivity, and fully in the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans; when not only their city and temple, called their house, (<402338>Matthew 23:38), were left unto them desolate, but the whole land; and they were carried captive, and scattered among the nations, where they have been ever since: your cities [are, or shall be, burned with fire; as, Jerusalem has been, and other cities in Judea, (<402207>Matthew 22:7) your…”

“Judah had not in Uzziah's reign recovered from the ravages of the Syrians in Joash's reign (Ch2 24:24), and of Israel in Amaziah's reign (Ch2 25:13, Ch2 25:23, &c.). Compare Isaiah's contemporary (Amo 4:6-11), where, as here (Isa 1:9-10), Israel is compared to "Sodom and Gomorrah," because of the judgments on it by "fire." in your presence--before your eyes: without your being able to prevent them. desolate, &c.--literally, "there is desolation, such as one might look for from foreign" invaders.”

“Your country is desolate - This is the literal statement of what he had just affirmed by a figure. In this there was much art. The figure Isaiah 1:6 was striking. The resemblance between a man severely beaten, and entirely livid and sore, and a land perfectly desolate, was so impressive as to arrest the attention. This had been threatened as one of the curses which should attend disobedience; Leviticus 26:33 : And I will scatter you among the heathen, And will draw out a sword after you: And your land shall be desolate, And your cities waste. Compare Isaiah 1:31; Deuteronomy 28:49-52. It is not certain, or agreed among expositors, to what time the prophet refers in this passage. Some have…”

“In your presence - Which your eye shall see to torment you, when there is no power in your hands to deliver you. As - Heb. as the overthrow of strangers, that is, which strangers bring upon a land which is not likely to continue in their hands, and therefore they spare no persons, and spoil and destroy all things, which is not usually done in wars between persons of the same, or of a neighbouring nation. Isaiah 1:8”

“1:7 country . . . towns: By 701 BC, the Assyrians had destroyed the infrastructure, taken cities, and ravaged the fields (see 64:10). This fulfilled Isaiah’s prophetic word (6:11-13). Those who survived this Assyrian onslaught would know by experience to heed later warnings of exile to Babylon (39:6-7). God does what he says he will do, so the warning of God’s judgment on all the nations is certain.”

“country: Isa 5:5, Isa 5:6, Isa 5:9, Isa 6:11, Isa 24:10-12; Lev 26:34; Deu 28:51; Ch2 28:5, Ch2 28:16-21; Psa 107:34, Psa 107:39; Jer 6:8 burned: Isa 9:5, Isa 34:9; Jer 2:15 strangers: Isa 5:17; Deu 28:33, Deu 28:43, Deu 28:48-52; Lam 5:2; Eze 30:12; Hos 7:9, Hos 8:7 overthrown by strangers: Heb. the overthrow of strangers Isaiah 1:8”

“This is described more particularly in Isa 1:7, which commences with the most general view, and returns to it again at the close."Your land ... a desert; your cities ... burned with fire; your field ... foreigners consuming it before your eyes, and a desert like overthrowing by strangers." Caspari has pointed out, in his Introduction to the Book of Isaiah, how nearly every word corresponds to the curses threatened in Lev 26 and Deut 28 (29); Mic 6:13-16 and Jer 5:15. stand in the very same relation to these sections of the Pentateuch. From the time of Isaiah downwards, the state of Israel was a perfect realization of the curses of the law. The prophet intentionally employs the words of the…”