Isaías 58:1

1 Verdadera y falsa adoración
»Grita con la voz de un toque de trompeta.
¡Grita fuerte! No seas tímido.
¡Háblale a mi pueblo Israel
de sus pecados!

Isaías 58:1 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 58:1

Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet
These words are directed to the prophet; and so the Targum expresses it,

``O prophet, cry with thy throat;''

and so it is in the original, "cry with the throat" ^F4, which is an instrument of speech; and it denotes a loud, strong, vehement cry, when a man exerts his voice, and as it were rends his throat, that he may be heard; as well as it shows the intenseness of his spirit, and the vehemence of his affections, and the importance of what he delivers; and this the prophet is encouraged to do, and "spare not", the voice, throat, or his lungs, nor the people neither he was sent unto; or, "cease not", as the Targum, refrain not from speaking, "cease not crying"; so Ben Melech: "lift up thy voice like a trumpet"; like the voice or sound of a trumpet, which is heard afar, and gives an alarm; and to which the Gospel ministry is sometimes compared, ( Isaiah 27:13 ) all which shows the manner in which the ministers of the word should deliver it, publicly, boldly, with ardour and affection; and also the deafness and stupidity of the people which require it: and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their
sins;
by whom are meant the professing people of God, the present reformed churches, as distinguished from the antichristian ones, spoken of in the preceding chapter; who yet are guilty of many sins and transgressions, which must be showed them, and they must be sharply reproved for; and particularly their coldness and deadness, formality and hypocrisy in religious worship; their "works not being perfect" before God, or sincere and upright, as is said of the Sardian church, which designs the same persons, ( Revelation 3:1 Revelation 3:2 ) . In the Talmud ^F5 the words are thus paraphrased, "shew my people their transgression"; these are the disciples of the wise men, whose sins of error or ignorance become to them presumptuous ones; "and the house of Jacob their sins"; these are the people of the earth, or the common people, whose presumptuous sins become to them as sins of ignorance.

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 (Nwrgb arq) "clama in gutture", Pagninus, Montanus; "exclama gutture", Junius & Tremellius; "exclama pleno gutture", Piscator; "clama pleno gut ture", Cocceius.
F5 T. Bab. Metzia, fol. 33. 2.

Isaías 58:1 In-Context

1 Verdadera y falsa adoración
»Grita con la voz de un toque de trompeta.
¡Grita fuerte! No seas tímido.
¡Háblale a mi pueblo Israel
de sus pecados!

2 Sin embargo, ¡se hacen los piadosos!
Vienen al templo todos los días
y parecen estar encantados de aprender todo sobre mí.
Actúan como una nación justa
que nunca abandonaría las leyes de su Dios.
Me piden que actúe a su favor,
fingiendo que quieren estar cerca de mí.

3 “¡Hemos ayunado delante de ti! —dicen ellos—.
¿Por qué no te impresionamos?
Hemos sido muy severos con nosotros mismos,
y ni siquiera te das cuenta”.
»¡Les diré por qué! —les contesto—.
Es porque ayunan para complacerse a sí mismos.
Aun mientras ayunan,
oprimen a sus trabajadores.

4 ¿De qué les sirve ayunar,
si siguen con sus peleas y riñas?
Con esta clase de ayuno,
nunca lograrán nada conmigo.

5 Ustedes se humillan
al hacer penitencia por pura fórmula:
inclinan la cabeza
como cañas en el viento,
se visten de tela áspera
y se cubren de cenizas.
¿A eso le llaman ayunar?
¿Realmente creen que eso agrada al Señor
?