Isaiah 43:27

Isa 43:27 Thy first father hath sinned, and thy teachers have transgressed against me.

Ver. 27. Thy first father.] Adam, or Abraham, say some.

And thy teachers.] Heb., Thine interpreters, orators, ambassadors - that is, thy priests and prophets.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Isa_43:27

Thy first father hath sinned

Israels sin

Its history from the first is a tissue of sins.

Thy first father sinned, and thy mediators have fallen away from Me. By the first father, Hitzig, Knobel, and others understand Adam; but Adam is the progenitor of mankind, not of Israel specially, and Adams guilt is mankinds guilt, not Israels. Either Abraham is meant (Hofmann, Stier, Hahn, and others), or Jacob-Israel (Ewald, Cheyne, yon Orelli), who has more to do with the sinful nature of the nation springing from him than Abraham (cf. Deu_26:5). The interpreters and mediators generally (2Ch_32:31; Job_33:23) are the prophets and priests, standing between Jehovah and Israel, and mediating the intercourse of both in word and act; even these for the most part have proved unfaithful to God, falling a prey to ungodly magic and false worship. Thus Israels sin was as ancient as its origin; and the apostasy has broken out even among those who, by reason of their offices, should be the best and holiest. (F. Delitzsch, D. D.)

Thy first father

To the unreflecting upon human nature it has not occurred that mankind might have been introduced to our world by other means than by being born of a woman. Every human being might have been a distinct creation. But the constitution given to the vegetable and to the animal kingdoms was given also to man; and as herbs and animals contain the seed of their own kind, and are propagated of each other, so man was made to be fruitful, to multiply, and to replenish the earth. Among other reasons for this constitution was the intention of securing (through the intimate and peculiar relationships it involves) a powerful influence of man upon man. Judging by the conjugal, paternal, and filial relationships, it is evident that God intended men to exert a considerable amount and a high kind of influence upon each other. But while the domestic bonds are the chief channels through which human influence is transmitted, there are other sources of power. Extraordinary talent, peculiar circumstances, great earnestness, and remarkable labours raise men to the guidance and control of their fellows. The position of the first man was in many respects singular. All other of the human kind have been born of each other. Even Eve was made out of man. Adam alone was created. Excepting Eve and Adam, every other human being has commenced existence an infant, and living, has passed from infancy through childhood and youth to manhood. And Adam was the first of human kind. Adam, moreover, according to the constitution given him, and by the fact of his creation, was the natural father of the human race. We shall treat the subject by discussing two questions.

I. WAS ADAM TO THE HUMAN FAMILY MORE THAN THEIR NATURAL PARENT? According to the historical and doctrinal statements of the Scriptures, Adam did sustain another and a more important relationship.

II. ADMITTING THAT ADAM WAS MORE THAN THE FIRST PARENT OF THE HUMAN FAMILY, WHAT WAS HE BESIDE? AND WHAT DID THIS RELATIONSHIP INVOLVE? As the first parent of the human race, and according to laws with which we are all familiar, Adam would exert a serious influence upon his whole posterity. But Adam was more than the first parent. He is called by the apostle Paul, the figure of him that was to come--literally, the type. Paul declared that Adam in his connection with mankind was the form, or the ensample, or the pattern of what Jesus Christ was to be to redeemed men; so that as Jesus Christ is the public representative and head of the saved of mankind, so Adam was the representative of the human race. What did the placing of Adam in this position involve?

1. By this arrangement the whole race is tried or proved by one man.

2. It pleased God to suspend upon the trial of one man the life and the death of the human race. Adams guilt must ever be his own--that cannot be anothers. Adams punishment must rest on his own head--that cannot be transferred to his posterity. But the results of Adam s conduct his posterity were to share. Awfully responsible was Adam s position! Gods reasons for the order of things are to us unsearchable. We may consider that the trial of a race in one man was more simple than the probation of every individual--we may see how (God foreknowing the apostasy of human nature) this mode of government admitted the immediate introduction of another and of a remedial dispensation--still, Gods ways in this dispensation are past finding out. The fact is declared; and the reason of this arrangement we must resolve into the sovereignty of God. One serious lesson fail not to learn--the extent of parental responsibility. Moral and intellectual and physical qualities are doubtless transmissible. Weakness and disease of body and evil dispositions of soul are conveyed from parent to child. Sow not, therefore, to the flesh. (S. Martin.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Isa 43:27-28. Thy first father hath sinned — Some think that Urijah, who was high-priest in the time of Ahaz, is here especially meant: see 2Ki 16:10-11. But it is more probable that the expression is put for their forefathers collectively; and so he tells them, that as they were sinners, so also were all their progenitors, yea, even the best of them. Thus Lowth: “Your ancestors, reckoning from Adam downward, have been sinners, and you have trod in their steps:” see Eze 2:3; Eze 16:2, &c.; Ezr 9:7. And thy teachers have transgressed, &c. — Your prophets, priests, and teachers, who ought to have been guides to you, and intercessors for you with God, have led you into sin and error, and therefore you have no reason to fancy yourselves innocent. Therefore I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary — The highest and best of your priests, whose persons were most sacred, and therefore were supposed, by themselves and others, to be the farthest from danger. As they had made themselves profane, so have I dealt with them as such, without any regard to the sacredness and dignity of their functions. Have given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches — Have exposed them to contempt and destruction, and made them a proverb of execration and reproach to all the neighbouring nations.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

43:27 leaders: God held Israel’s and Judah’s kings especially responsible for leading the nation into sin (see 2 Kgs 21).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Thine ancestors.

Thy Priests and thy Prophets.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

first father--collectively for "most ancient ancestors," as the parallelism ("teachers") proves [MAURER]. Or, thy chief religious ministers or priests [GESENIUS]. Adam, the common father of all nations, can hardly be meant here, as it would have been irrelevant to mention his sin in an address to the Jews specially. Abraham is equally out of place here, as he is everywhere cited as an example of faithfulness, not of "sin." However, taking the passage in its ultimate application to the Church at large, Adam may be meant.

teachers--literally, "interpreters" between God and man, the priests (Job 33:23; Mal 2:7).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 27. Thy first father hath sinned] On this Kimchi speaks well: "How can ye say that ye have not sinned, seeing your first father, Adam, sinned; and man hath sin impressed on him through natural generation?"

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(27) Thy first father hath sinned . . .—The words have been interpreted: (1) of Adam; (2) of Abraham; (3) of Jacob; (4) of the ancestors of Israel collectively; (5) of this or that high priest individually. (3) fits in best. (See Isa_43:28.)

Thy teachers.—Literally, thy interpreters (Job_33:23), or thy mediators. The term is used in 2Ch_32:31 of the “ambassadors “of the king of Babylon, and stands here for the priests and the prophets, who ought officially to have been the expounders of the Divine will.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

27. Thy first father] Undoubtedly Jacob, the eponymous hero of the nation, is meant (cf. Hos_12:3 f.), not Abraham (who is never spoken of in the later literature as sinful), nor the earliest ancestors collectively; still less Adam.

thy teachers] Lit. as R.V. thine interpreters (Gen_42:23), and hence “mediators” (as Job_33:23; 2Ch_32:31); used of the prophets only here. On the idea, see Jer_23:11 ff. If the representative ancestor and the spiritual leaders of Israel were such, what must the mass of the nation have been!

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thy first father hath sinned - This is the argument on the side of God, to show that they were neither unjustly punished, nor punished with undue severity. The argument is, that their rulers and teachers had been guilty of crime, and that therefore it was right to bring all this vengeance upon the nation. Various interpretations have been given of the phrase ‘thy first father.’ A slight notice of them will lead to the correct exposition.

1. Many have supposed that Adam is referred to here. Thus Piscator, Calovius, and most of the fathers, understand it; and, among the Jews, Kimchi. But the objections to this are plain:

(a) Adam was not peculiarly the first father or ancestor of the Jews, but of the whole human race.

(b) The Jews never boasted, or gloried in him as the founder of their nation, but they always referred to Abraham under this appellation Mat 3:9; Joh 8:33, Joh 8:39.

(c) It would have been irrelevant to the design of the prophet to have referred to the sin of Adam in this case. God was vindicating his own cause and conduct in destroying their capital and temple, and in sending them as captives to a distant land. How would it prove that he was right in this, to say that Adam was a transgressor? How would it demonstrate his justice in these special inflictions of his anger to refer to the apostasy of the ancestor of the whole human race?

2. Others refer it to Abraham. This was the sentiment of Jerome, and of some others; and by those who maintain this opinion, it is supposed to refer to his doubting the truth of the promise Gen 15:8; or to the denial of his wife, and his sin in inducing her to say that she was his sister Gen 12:11; Gen 20:2; or to the fact that when young he was an idolater. But the obvious objection to this is, that Abraham is everywhere in the Scriptures proposed as an example of one eminently devoted to God; nor could it be said that these calamities had come upon them in consequence of his unfaithfulness, and his sins.

3. Others refer it to the rulers and princes individually. Thus Grotius refers it to Manasseh; Aben Ezra to Jeroboam, etc.

4. Others, as Vitringa, refer it to the high priest, and particularly to Uriah, who lived in the time of Ahaz, and particularly to the fact, that, in obedience to the command of Ahaz, he constructed an altar in Jerusalem like the one which he had seen and admired in Damascus 2Ki 16:10-16. The objection to this interpretation is, that no reason can be given for selecting this particular act from a number of similar abominations on the part of the priests and rulers, as the cause of the national calamities. It was only one instance out of many of the crimes which brought the national judgments upon them.

5. Others, as Gesenius, suppose that the word is to be taken collectively, not as referring to any particular individual, but to the high priests in general. It is not uncommon to give the name ‘father’ thus to a principal man among a people, and especially to one eminent in religious authority. The word ‘first’ here does not refer to time, but to rank; not the ancestor of the people, but the one having appropriately the title of father, who had the priority also in rank. The Septuagint renders it, Οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν πρῶτοι Hoi pateres humōn prōtoi. It refers therefore, probably, to the character of the presiding officers in religion, and means that the priests, supreme in rank, and whose example was so important, had sinned; that there was irreligion at the very foundation of influence and authority; and that therefore it was necessary to bring these heavy judgments on the nation. No one acquainted with the history of the Jewish people in the times immediately preceding the captivity, can doubt that this was the character of the high priesthood.

(Gesenius and some others give the words a collective sense, as signifying either the succession of priests or ancestors in general. The interpretation which understands the phrase of Abraham, is supposed by some to be at variance with the uniform mention of that patriarch in terms of commendation. But these terms are perfectly consistent with the proposition that he was a sinner, which may here be the exact sense of חטא châṭâ'. To the application of the phrase to Adam, it has been objected, that he was not peculiarly the father of the Jews. To this it may be answered, that if the guilt of the national progenitor would prove the point in question, much more would it be established by the fact of their belonging to a guilty race. At the same time it may be considered as implied, that all their fathers, who had since lived, shared in the original depravity; and thus the same sense is obtained that would have been expressed by the collective explanation of first father, while the latter is still taken in its strict and full sense, as denoting the progenitor of all mankind. - Alexander)

And thy teachers - Margin, ‘Interpreters.’ The word used here (מלציך melı̂ytseykā) is derived from לוץ lûts. This word means to stammer, to speak unintelligibly; and then to speak in a foreign and barbarous language, and then to interpret, from the idea of speaking a foreign tongue. Hence, it may be used in the sense of an internuncius, or a messenger (2Ch 32:31; compare the notes at Job 33:23). That it refers here to the priests, there can be no doubt, and is properly applied to them because they sustained the office of interpreting his will to the people, and generally of acting as internuncii or messengers between God and them. The Septuagint renders it, ” Ἄρχοντρς Archontes - ‘Rulers.’

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

First father. Adam, (Lyranus) or rather Abraham sinned, by diffidence, (Genesis xv. 8.; St. Jerome) or was formerly an idolater, Josue xxiv. 2. (Genebrard, the year of the world 2049) (St. Augustine, City of God xvi. 12.) (Calmet) (Tirinus) --- Teachers. Literally, "interpreters," (Haydock) Moses and Aaron, Numbers xx. 9. (Calmet) --- All the patriarchs and teachers sinned, till Christ, the immaculate lamb, appeared. Adam engaged all in guilt. (Worthington)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Thy first father; either,

1. Adam, from whom the guilt and filth of sin is propagated to thee; or rather,

2. Abraham, who might well be called the first father of the Israelites, because they all descended from him, had all their right and title to God’s ordinances and promises, and other special privileges, from God’s covenant made with Abraham and with his seed, and who is oft emphatically called their father, as Jos 24:2; Isa 51:2, &c. and the Jews gloried in and trusted to that relation which they had to Abraham, as we read, Mat 3:9; Joh 8:33, and elsewhere. And this agrees well with the foregoing context. For having sufficiently intimated that they had no merits of their own, he now addeth, that even their father Abraham, to whose merits they trusted, had no merits of his own, nor any occasion of boasting; for he also was a sinful man, and hath left some instances of his failings. Or the first father may be put collectively for their forefathers; and so he tells them, that as they were sinners, so also were all their progenitors, yea, even the best of them, Abraham, and David, and others, for whose sakes they expected to be pardoned and rewarded. And this indeed is usual with God, to upbraid the Israelites with the sins of their fathers.

Thy teachers; thy priests and prophets; who were their intercessors with God, and who were generally presumed to be the holiest part of that people; and therefore if these were transgressors, the people had no reason to fancy themselves to be innocent.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

27. Not so worthy after all, (so seems the answer,) though coming from honourable ancestry.

Thy first father… sinned — Probably Abraham is meant; his sin was in the matter of Pharaoh and of Abimelech. Descent from him cannot screen you.

Thy teachers — Some think this means nothing except to sustain poetic parallelism: but the passage is probably meant to show that even such leaders, prophets, and priests as were made great account of by the nation, were stained with sin.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thy first father hath sinned; rather, thy first father sinned; that is, "Thou hast no merits of thy own. Even thy first father, Abraham, sinned; (Gen_12:13, 18 17:17 20:2) and thy teachers have transgressed. Thy very priests and prophets have been full of imperfections have often sinned against me. Much more hast thou, my people generally, committed grievous offences. Thou must therefore throw thyself on my mercy."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thy father - This may be put for their forefathers; and so he tells them, that as they were sinners, so also were their progenitors, yea even the best of them. Teachers - Thy priests and prophets; who were their intercessors with God: and if these were transgressors, the people had no reason to fancy themselves innocent.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

But Israel has no such works; on the contrary, its history has been a string of sins from the very first. "Thy first forefather sinned, and thy mediators have fallen away from me." By the first forefather, Hitzig, Umbreit, and Knobel understand Adam; but Adam was the forefather of the human race, not of Israel; and the debt of Adam was the debt of mankind, and not of Israel. The reference is to Abraham, as the first of the three from whom the origin and election of Israel were dated; Abraham, whom Israel from the very first had called with pride "our father" (Mat 3:9). Even the history of Abraham was stained with sin, and did not shine in the light of meritorious works, but in that of grace, and of faith laying hold of grace. The melı̄tsı̄m, interpreters, and mediators generally (Ch2 32:31; Job 33:23), are the prophets and priests, who stood between Jehovah and Israel, and were the medium of intercourse between the two, both in word and deed. They also had for the most part become unfaithful to God, by resorting to ungodly soothsaying and false worship. Hence the sin of Israel was as old as its very earliest origin; and apostasy had spread even among those who ought to have been the best and most godly, because of the office they sustained.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

“Thy first father sinned, and thy interpreters rebelled against me.” It may be considered as implied, that all their fathers who had since lived shared in the original depravity, and thus the same sense is obtained that would have been expressed by the collective explanation of first father, while the latter is still taken in its strict and full sense as denoting the progenitor of all mankind. ‘Interpreters’, or organs of communication, is a title given elsewhere to ambassadors (2Ch 32:31) and to an interceding angel (Job 33:23). It here denotes all those who, under the theocracy, acted as organs of communication between God and the people, whether prophets, priests, or rulers. The idea therefore, is the same so often expressed elsewhere, that the people, and especially their leaders, were unfaithful and rebellious.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

Yahweh continues speaking to the people of Israel.

Your first father sinned

This refers to the founder of Israel and may represent either Abraham or Jacob.

I will hand Jacob over to complete destruction

Here to "hand over" represents putting someone under the power of another. The noun "destruction" can be translated with a verbal phrase. AT: "I will cause the enemy to completely destroy Jacob" (See: Metonymy and Abstract Nouns)

Israel to abusive humiliation

The verb may be supplied from the previous phrase, with which this phrase is parallel. The noun "humiliation" can be translated with a verbal phrase. AT: "I will allow the enemy to abuse and humiliate Israel" (See: Parallelism and Ellipsis and Abstract Nouns)

translationWords

ancestor

sin

transgress

defile

holy

hand

Jacob

Israel

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Your first father sinned by saying (Gen. 15:8), “How will I know...?”

and your intercessors transgressed against Me You have none among all the intercessors upon whose merit you rely, in whom I have not found transgression. Isaac loved My enemy [Esau].

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Thy first father hath sinned. Jeroboam, when chosen by the Israelites, to be their king, without the consent of God.

ומליציך And thy interpreters. Either the princes, the interpreters of the king, are meant, or the Levites, the interpreters of the priests. Some explain אביך by thy teachers. Comp. 2 Kgs. 12:13; Gen. 4:21; 45:8, and מליציך by thy pupils. As to מליץ interpreter, comp. Gen. 42:23

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.