Isaiah 1:6

6 From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and bleeding wounds; they have not been drained, or bound up, or softened with oil.

Isaiah 1:6 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 1:6

From the sole of the foot even unto the head [there is] no
soundness in it
Every member of the body politic was afflicted in one way or another, or sadly infected with the disease of sin; see ( Psalms 28:3 ) . So the Targum,

``from the rest of the people, even unto the princes, there is none among them who is perfect in my fear;''

see ( Daniel 9:8 ) ( Jeremiah 8:10 ) [but] wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores;
to which either public calamities on a city or nation may be compared, ( Hosea 5:13 ) or the sins and transgressions both of single persons, and of whole bodies of men, ( Psalms 38:5 Psalms 38:7 ) . The Targum is,

``they are all stubborn and rebellious, they are defiled with sins as an ulcerous plaster.''

They have not been closed;
that is, the wounds and sores have not been healed; or "they have not been pressed" or "squeezed" ^F3, in order to get the purulent matter out of them: neither bound up;
with bands, after the matter is squeezed out, and a plaster laid on: neither mollified with ointment;
which is used for the supplying and healing of wounds; see ( Luke 10:34 ) . The sense either is, that they were not reformed by their afflictions; or that they did not repent of their sins, nor seek to God for healing and pardon, nor make use of any means for their more healthful state and condition. The Targum paraphrases the words thus,

``they do not leave their haughtinesses, nor are they desirous of repentance, nor have they any righteousness to protect them.''

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 (wrz al) "non expessa fuere a" (rwz) "exprimere humorem, hoc significari clarum est ex" Jud. vi. 38. Gusset. Comment. Ling. Ebr. p. 227. So Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius.

Isaiah 1:6 In-Context

4 Ah, sinful nation, people laden with iniquity, offspring who do evil, children who deal corruptly, who have forsaken the Lord, who have despised the Holy One of Israel, who are utterly estranged!

5 Why do you seek further beatings? Why do you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.

6 From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and bleeding wounds; they have not been drained, or bound up, or softened with oil.

7 Your country lies desolate, your cities are burned with fire; in your very presence aliens devour your land; it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners.

8 And daughter Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a shelter in a cucumber field, like a besieged city.