12For our transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and as for our iniquities, we know them:
13transgressing and denying Yahweh, and turning away from following our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
14Justice is turned away backward, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has fallen in the street, and uprightness can’t enter.
12 For our transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and as for our iniquities, we know them:
13 transgressing and denying Yahweh, and turning away from following our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
14 Justice is turned away backward, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has fallen in the street, and uprightness can’t enter.
KJVKing James Version
12 For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them;
13 In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
14 And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.
Show all 3 translations
JPSJPS Tanakh (1917)
12 For our transgressions are multiplied before Thee, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are present to us, and as for our iniquities, we know them:
13 Transgressing and denying the LORD, and turning away from following our God, speaking oppression and perverseness, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
14 And justice is turned away backward, and righteousness standeth afar off; for truth hath stumbled in the broad place, and uprightness cannot enter.
Ecclesiastes 3:16(v14)Moreover I saw under the sun, in the place of justice, that wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, that wickedness was…
Habakkuk 1:4(v14)Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails; for the wicked surround the righteous; therefore justice comes out perverted.
Ezra 9:6(v12)and I said, “My God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to you, my God; for our iniquities have increased over our head, and our…
Isaiah 1:21(v14)How the faithful city has become a prostitute! She was full of justice. Righteousness lodged in her, but now there are murderers.
Isaiah 5:23(v14)who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice for the innocent!
Show all 72 cross-references
Isaiah 10:1-2(v14)Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers who write oppressive decrees; to deprive the needy from justice, and to rob…
Jeremiah 5:27-28(v14)As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit. Therefore they have become great, and grew rich. They have grown fat. They…
Jeremiah 5:31(v14)The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority; and my people love to have it so. What will you do in the end…
Amos 5:11(v14)Therefore, because you trample on the poor, and take taxes from him of wheat: You have built houses of cut stone, but you will not dwell in…
Micah 3:9-11(v14)Please listen to this, you heads of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, who abhor justice, and pervert all equity. They…
Isaiah 59:4(v14)No one sues in righteousness, and no one pleads in truth. They trust in vanity, and speak lies. They conceive mischief, and give birth to…
Jeremiah 14:7(v12)Though our iniquities testify against us, work for your name’s sake, Yahweh; for our rebellions are many. We have sinned against you.
Hosea 5:5(v12)The pride of Israel testifies to his face. Therefore Israel and Ephraim will stumble in their iniquity. Judah also will stumble with them.
Amos 5:7(v14)You who turn justice to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth:
Zephaniah 3:1-3(v14)Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted, the oppressing city! She didn’t obey the voice. She didn’t receive correction. She didn’t trust…
Mark 7:21-22(v13)For from within, out of the hearts of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, sexual sins, murders, thefts, covetings, wickedness, deceit,…
Psalms 82:2-5(v14)“How long will you judge unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked?” “Defend the weak, the poor, and the fatherless. Maintain the rights…
Isaiah 1:4(v12)Ah sinful nation, a people loaded with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken Yahweh. They have…
Ezekiel 5:6(v12)She has rebelled against my ordinances in doing wickedness more than the nations, and against my statutes more than the countries that are…
Hosea 4:2(v12)There is cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break boundaries, and bloodshed causes bloodshed.
Micah 7:3-5(v14)Their hands are on that which is evil to do it diligently. The ruler and judge ask for a bribe; and the powerful man dictates the evil…
Hebrews 3:12(v13)Beware, brothers, lest perhaps there might be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God;
James 3:6(v13)And the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course…
Ezra 9:13(v12)“After all that has come on us for our evil deeds, and for our great guilt, since you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities…
Nehemiah 9:33(v12)However you are just in all that has come on us; for you have dealt truly, but we have done wickedly.
Psalms 18:21(v13)For I have kept the ways of Yahweh, and have not wickedly departed from my God.
Psalms 78:36(v13)But they flattered him with their mouth, and lied to him with their tongue.
Proverbs 30:9(v13)lest I be full, deny you, and say, ‘Who is Yahweh?’ or lest I be poor, and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.
Isaiah 3:9(v12)The look of their faces testify against them. They parade their sin like Sodom. They don’t hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have…
Isaiah 5:7(v13)For the vineyard of Yahweh of Armies is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for justice, but,…
Isaiah 31:6(v13)Return to him from whom you have deeply revolted, children of Israel.
Isaiah 32:6(v13)For the fool will speak folly, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice profanity, and to utter error against Yahweh, to make empty…
Isaiah 48:8(v13)Yes, you didn’t hear. Yes, you didn’t know. Yes, from of old your ear was not opened, for I knew that you dealt very treacherously, and…
Isaiah 57:11(v13)“Whom have you dreaded and feared, so that you lie, and have not remembered me, nor laid it to your heart? Haven’t I held my peace for a…
Isaiah 59:3-4(v13)For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity. Your lips have spoken lies. Your tongue mutters wickedness. No one…
Jeremiah 2:13(v13)“For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the spring of living waters, and cut out cisterns for themselves: broken…
Jeremiah 2:19-21(v13)“Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backsliding will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing,…
Jeremiah 3:2(v12)“Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see! Where have you not been lain with? You have sat waiting for them by the road, as an…
Jeremiah 3:10(v13)Yet for all this her treacherous sister, Judah, has not returned to me with her whole heart, but only in pretense,” says Yahweh.
Jeremiah 3:20(v13)“Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, so you have dealt treacherously with me, house of Israel,” says Yahweh.
Jeremiah 5:3-9(v12)O Yahweh, don’t your eyes look on truth? You have stricken them, but they were not grieved. You have consumed them, but they have refused…
Jeremiah 5:23(v13)“But this people has a revolting and a rebellious heart. They have revolted and gone.
Jeremiah 5:25-29(v12)“Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good from you. For wicked men are found among my people. They…
Jeremiah 7:8-10(v12)Behold, you trust in lying words that can’t profit. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk…
Jeremiah 9:2-5(v13)Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! For they are all…
Jeremiah 17:13(v13)Yahweh, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you will be disappointed. Those who depart from me will be written in the earth, because they…
Jeremiah 32:40(v13)I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from following them, to do them good. I will put my fear in their…
Jeremiah 42:20(v13)For you have dealt deceitfully against your own souls; for you sent me to Yahweh your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to Yahweh our God; and…
Ezekiel 6:9(v13)Those of you that escape will remember me among the nations where they are carried captive, how I have been broken with their lewd heart,…
Ezekiel 7:23(v12)“ ‘Make chains; for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence.
Ezekiel 8:8-16(v12)Then he said to me, “Son of man, dig now in the wall.” When I had dug in the wall, I saw a door. He said to me, “Go in, and see the wicked…
Ezekiel 16:51-52(v12)Samaria hasn’t committed half of your sins; but you have multiplied your abominations more than they, and have justified your sisters by…
Ezekiel 18:25(v13)“Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not equal.’ Hear now, house of Israel: Is my way not equal? Aren’t your ways unequal?
Ezekiel 22:2-12(v12)“You, son of man, will you judge? Will you judge the bloody city? Then cause her to know all her abominations. You shall say, ‘The Lord…
Ezekiel 22:24-30(v12)“Son of man, tell her, ‘You are a land that is not cleansed, nor rained on in the day of indignation.’ There is a conspiracy of her…
Ezekiel 23:2-49(v12)“Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother. They played the prostitute in Egypt. They played the prostitute in their…
Ezekiel 24:6-14(v12)“ ‘Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “Woe to the bloody city, to the cauldron whose rust is in it, and whose rust hasn’t gone out of it! Take…
Daniel 9:5-8(v12)we have sinned, and have dealt perversely, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even turning aside from your precepts and from your…
Hosea 1:2(v13)When Yahweh spoke at first by Hosea, Yahweh said to Hosea, “Go, take for yourself a wife of prostitution and children of unfaithfulness;…
Hosea 6:7(v13)But they, like Adam, have broken the covenant. They were unfaithful to me, there.
Hosea 7:10(v12)The pride of Israel testifies to his face; yet they haven’t returned to Yahweh their God, nor sought him, for all this.
Hosea 7:13(v13)Woe to them! For they have wandered from me. Destruction to them! For they have trespassed against me. Though I would redeem them, yet they…
Hosea 11:12(v13)Ephraim surrounds me with falsehood, and the house of Israel with deceit. Judah still strays from God, and is unfaithful to the Holy One.
Matthew 10:33(v13)But whoever denies me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 12:34-36(v13)You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. The good man…
Matthew 23:32-33(v12)Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of Gehenna?
Acts 5:3-4(v13)But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the price of the land? While…
Romans 3:10-18(v13)As it is written, “There is no one righteous; no, not one. There is no one who understands. There is no one who seeks after God. They have…
Romans 3:19-20(v12)Now we know that whatever things the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world…
1 Thessalonians 2:15-16(v12)who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and drove us out, and don’t please God, and are contrary to all men, forbidding us…
Titus 1:16(v13)They profess that they know God, but by their deeds they deny him, being abominable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work.
James 1:15(v13)Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin. The sin, when it is full grown, produces death.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (16 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv12–14This confession is general to the Church to obtain…
This confession is general to the Church to obtain remission of sins, and the Prophets did not exempt themselves from the same.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv12–14Isa 59:12 For our transgressions are multiplied before thee,…
Isa 59:12 For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions [are] with us; and [as for] our iniquities, we know them;
Ver. 12. For our transgressions are multiplied before thee.] When complaints end in confessions, it is right - the medicine worketh kindly. Some furious fools have brutish and fell affections, full of rage; when in pain or grief, they fly upon God and man, and all that comes next hand, hoping to ease themselves, not by confession or reformation, but by revenge.
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And our sins testify against us.] {a} Sin put a sting into their cresses, and hence it was they lay so heavy. This brought such roarings and groanings upon them, and that also when salvation was looked for.
For our transgressions are with us.] They lie like a load of lead upon our consciences, where they are yet unpardoned.
And as for our iniquities, we know them.] Our consciences are burdened with them, and we feel the terrors of God in our souls. Conscientia nihil aliud est quam cordis scientia; Conscience is the reflection of the soul upon itself. See 1Co 4:4. So here, "As for our iniquities, we know them" - namely, by a second act of the understanding, whereby, after we think or know a thing, we think what we think, and know what we know, and this is properly the action of conscience.
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.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv12–14Our transgressions: the word here signifies sins of a…
Our transgressions: the word here signifies sins of a high nature; such as wherein there is much of man’s will against light; rebellious sins.
Are multiplied before thee: q.d. They admit of no excuse; for they are acted before thee, and multiplied against thee, whereby thou art justly provoked to deny us all help.
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Our sins testify; every sin that is charged upon is like so many witnesses produced to prove the guilt of our consciences; or, as the Hebrew word, do answer; and so some make it an elegant metaphorical allusion to the echo, which, as it returns the voice again, so those judgments they cry out of are but the meritorious repercussion of their sins. They had been cruel to others, neither had they executed judgment and justice, and here they suffer all kind of cruelties and indignities from the Chaldeans, as the true and just representation or echo of their own works: see a personal instance in Adoni-bezek, Jdg 1:6,7.
Our transgressions are with us, i.e. we lie under the guilt of them, they are a burden to us; God hath not yet forgiven them.
As for our iniquities, we know them; we are convinced of them; our guilty consciences must own and acknowledge them, Psa 2 3. It notes either their conviction or sorrow, or both. See Jer 14:7. Or, we know what are those sins thou art so angry with us for; and this is favoured by the sequel, where they seem to particularize those sins in the following verses.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv12–14For our transgressions are multiplied before thee,.... Not only…
For our transgressions are multiplied before thee,.... Not only an increase of immorality among the people in common, but among professors of religion; and as their transgressions are committed against the Lord, so they are in his sight taken notice of and observed by him, are loathsome and abominable to him, and call aloud for his judgments on them:
and our sins testify against us; God is a witness against us, in whose sight our sins are done; and our consciences are witnesses against us, which are as a thousand witnesses; and there is no denying facts; our sins stare us in the face, and we must confess our guilt: or, "our sins answer against us" (c); as witnesses called and examined answer to the questions put, so our sins, being brought as it were into open court, answer and bear testimony against us; or it must be owned, our punishment for our sins answers to them; it is the echo of our sins, what they call for, and righteously comes upon us:
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for our transgressions are with us; or, "on us" (d); in our minds, on our consciences, loading us with guilt; continually accusing and condemning us; are manifest to us, as the Targum; too manifest to be denied:
and as for our iniquities, we know them; the nature and number of them, and the aggravating circumstances that attend them; and cannot but own and acknowledge them, confess, lament, and bewail them; an enumeration of which follows.
(c) "peccata nostra respondit contra nos", Montanus; "id ipsum respondit contra nos", Cocceius; "even everyone of them", so Junius & Tremellius; "peccatorum nostrorum quodque", sic (d) "super nos", Munster.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv12–14Transgressions - The word here signifies sins of an…
Transgressions - The word here signifies sins of an high nature, such as wherein there is much of man's will against light: rebellious sins. Multiplied - They admit of no excuse; for they are acted before thee, and multiplied against thee, whereby thou art justly provoked to deny us all help. Testify - As so many witnesses produced proves our guilt. Are with us - Are still unforgiven. We know - We are convinced of them.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn v14Verse 14. Justice standeth afar off] צדקה tsedakah, righteousness,…
Verse 14. Justice standeth afar off] צדקה tsedakah, righteousness, put here, says Kimchi, for alms to the poor. This casts some light on Mt 6:1: "Take heed that you do not your alms," ελεημοσυνην. But the best copies have δικαιοσυνην, righteousness; the former having been inserted in the text at first merely as the explanation of the genuine and original word.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv12, 14Isa 59:12-13. For our transgressions — The word פשׁעונו,…
Isa 59:12-13. For our transgressions — The word פשׁעונו, here used, signifies sins of a high nature, namely, such as were wilfully committed against light and knowledge; rebellious sins. Are multiplied before thee — They admit of no excuse; for they are committed before thee, and multiplied against thee, whereby thou art justly provoked to deny us all help. And our sins testify against us — The sins charged upon us are so many witnesses produced to prove our guilt. For our transgressions are with us — Are still unforgiven, and we lie under the divine wrath on account of them. As for our iniquities, we know them — We are convinced of them. In transgressing and lying, &c. — He now enumerates some of those particular sins which they profess themselves to be convinced of; by which he does not mean the sins of some particular persons, or some slight sins, but a general defection and corruption of the whole body. Transgressing here, and lying, seem to be one and the same thing, inasmuch as in their transgressing the law of God, they broke their solemn engagement to God, made upon mount Sinai. Departing away from God — Turning from God to idols. Speaking oppression, &c. — As it were, talking of little else one among another, but how to oppress their neighbours, and apostatize from God. Conceiving and uttering — That is, first contriving in their hearts false accusations against their neighbours, and false worship, to the dishonour of God; laying the contrivances so that they might be effectual, and then uttering them; from the heart — And when they dealt with men in ways of fraud, it was from the heart; but when they spake with God, it was but from the lips.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv12–14Our sins testify against us - Hebrew, ‘Answer against…
Our sins testify against us - Hebrew, ‘Answer against us.’ The idea is, that their past lives had been so depraved that they became witnesses against them (compare the notes at Isa 3:9).
We know them - We recognize them as our sins, and we cannot conceal from ourselves the fact that we are transgressors.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn v14In. Where truth is disregarded, there can be no…
CHAPTER LIX.
In. Where truth is disregarded, there can be no justice.
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv12–14(Dan 9:5, &c.).
(Dan 9:5, &c.).
thee . . . us--antithesis.
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with us--that is, we are conscious of them (Job 12:3, Margin; Job 15:9).
know--acknowledge they are our iniquities.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv12, 1412, 13. Our sins testify against us — Every…
12, 13. Our sins testify against us — Every page of our life history is a record against us.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv12–1412. our sins testify against us] So Jer_14:7.
12. our sins testify against us] So Jer_14:7.
our transgressions are with us] present to our conscience, Job_12:3; Job_14:5 &c.; comp. also Psa_51:3 (“my transgressions I know, and my sin is before me continually”).
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv12–14(12) For our transgressions . . .—The parallelism with…
(12) For our transgressions . . .—The parallelism with the confessions of Daniel (Isa_9:5-15) and Ezra (Isa_9:6-15) is singularly striking, but is as explicable on the hypothesis that they reproduced that of 2 Isaiah as on the assumption that this also was written at the close of the exile. It would, of course, be as true in the time of Manasseh as at any subsequent period. The self accusations of the people are now, as they ought to be, as full and severe as the prophet’s original indictment had been.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv12–14Our transgressions are multiplied before thee; i.e. they are…
Our transgressions are multiplied before thee; i.e. they are very numerous; and they come "before God," so as to attract his attention and call for his animadversion. Our sins testify against us; i.e. "rise up against us as witnesses, whose evidence we cannot disprove, and have not even the face to dispute." Our transgressions are with usi.e. "constantly haunt us and as for our iniquities, we know them; i.e. we are aware of them, we acknowledge them, we have them continually in our memories. It is one of the most certain phenomena of consciousness that grievous sins, deadly sins, haunt the mind, and cannot in this life be wiped out from the memory.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn v14And judgment is turned away backward
Isa_59:14-15
And judgment is turned away backward
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National sin
The sin of a nation becomes national, and brings public judgments, when it is not restrained by public justice.
(M. Henry.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv12, 14General Information:
General Information:
Isaiah continues speaking.
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our many transgressions
Here "our" refers to Isaiah and the people of Israel. (See: Inclusive "We")
before you
Here "you" refers to Yahweh. (See: Forms of You)
our sins testify against us
Isaiah describes the sins as a person who goes before God to declare that the people are guilty. (See: Personification)
for our transgressions are with us
"With us" represents being aware of them. AT: "for we are aware of our transgressions" (See: Metaphor)
GEBible — Godless Engineer's Bible App
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv12–14 This confession is general to the Church to obtain…
This confession is general to the Church to obtain remission of sins, and the Prophets did not exempt themselves from the same.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv12–14 Isa 59:12 For our transgressions are multiplied before thee,…
Isa 59:12 For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions [are] with us; and [as for] our iniquities, we know them;
Ver. 12. For our transgressions are multiplied before thee.] When complaints end in confessions, it is right - the medicine worketh kindly. Some furious fools have brutish and fell affections, full of rage; when in pain or grief, they fly upon God and man, and all that comes next hand, hoping to ease themselves, not by confession or reformation, but by revenge.
Read full note →
And our sins testify against us.] {a} Sin put a sting into their cresses, and hence it was they lay so heavy. This brought such roarings and groanings upon them, and that also when salvation was looked for.
For our transgressions are with us.] They lie like a load of lead upon our consciences, where they are yet unpardoned.
And as for our iniquities, we know them.] Our consciences are burdened with them, and we feel the terrors of God in our souls. Conscientia nihil aliud est quam cordis scientia; Conscience is the reflection of the soul upon itself. See 1Co 4:4. So here, "As for our iniquities, we know them" - namely, by a second act of the understanding, whereby, after we think or know a thing, we think what we think, and know what we know, and this is properly the action of conscience.
{a} Heb., Peccatum respondit - i.e., Peccatorum unumquodque.
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv12–14 Our transgressions: the word here signifies sins of a…
Our transgressions: the word here signifies sins of a high nature; such as wherein there is much of man’s will against light; rebellious sins.
Are multiplied before thee: q.d. They admit of no excuse; for they are acted before thee, and multiplied against thee, whereby thou art justly provoked to deny us all help.
Read full note →
Our sins testify; every sin that is charged upon is like so many witnesses produced to prove the guilt of our consciences; or, as the Hebrew word, do answer; and so some make it an elegant metaphorical allusion to the echo, which, as it returns the voice again, so those judgments they cry out of are but the meritorious repercussion of their sins. They had been cruel to others, neither had they executed judgment and justice, and here they suffer all kind of cruelties and indignities from the Chaldeans, as the true and just representation or echo of their own works: see a personal instance in Adoni-bezek, Jdg 1:6,7.
Our transgressions are with us, i.e. we lie under the guilt of them, they are a burden to us; God hath not yet forgiven them.
As for our iniquities, we know them; we are convinced of them; our guilty consciences must own and acknowledge them, Psa 2 3. It notes either their conviction or sorrow, or both. See Jer 14:7. Or, we know what are those sins thou art so angry with us for; and this is favoured by the sequel, where they seem to particularize those sins in the following verses.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv12–14 For our transgressions are multiplied before thee,.... Not only…
For our transgressions are multiplied before thee,.... Not only an increase of immorality among the people in common, but among professors of religion; and as their transgressions are committed against the Lord, so they are in his sight taken notice of and observed by him, are loathsome and abominable to him, and call aloud for his judgments on them:
and our sins testify against us; God is a witness against us, in whose sight our sins are done; and our consciences are witnesses against us, which are as a thousand witnesses; and there is no denying facts; our sins stare us in the face, and we must confess our guilt: or, "our sins answer against us" (c); as witnesses called and examined answer to the questions put, so our sins, being brought as it were into open court, answer and bear testimony against us; or it must be owned, our punishment for our sins answers to them; it is the echo of our sins, what they call for, and righteously comes upon us:
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for our transgressions are with us; or, "on us" (d); in our minds, on our consciences, loading us with guilt; continually accusing and condemning us; are manifest to us, as the Targum; too manifest to be denied:
and as for our iniquities, we know them; the nature and number of them, and the aggravating circumstances that attend them; and cannot but own and acknowledge them, confess, lament, and bewail them; an enumeration of which follows.
(c) "peccata nostra respondit contra nos", Montanus; "id ipsum respondit contra nos", Cocceius; "even everyone of them", so Junius & Tremellius; "peccatorum nostrorum quodque", sic (d) "super nos", Munster.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv12–14 Transgressions - The word here signifies sins of an…
Transgressions - The word here signifies sins of an high nature, such as wherein there is much of man's will against light: rebellious sins. Multiplied - They admit of no excuse; for they are acted before thee, and multiplied against thee, whereby thou art justly provoked to deny us all help. Testify - As so many witnesses produced proves our guilt. Are with us - Are still unforgiven. We know - We are convinced of them.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v14 Verse 14. Justice standeth afar off] צדקה tsedakah, righteousness,…
Verse 14. Justice standeth afar off] צדקה tsedakah, righteousness, put here, says Kimchi, for alms to the poor. This casts some light on Mt 6:1: "Take heed that you do not your alms," ελεημοσυνην. But the best copies have δικαιοσυνην, righteousness; the former having been inserted in the text at first merely as the explanation of the genuine and original word.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv12, 14 Isa 59:12-13. For our transgressions — The word פשׁעונו,…
Isa 59:12-13. For our transgressions — The word פשׁעונו, here used, signifies sins of a high nature, namely, such as were wilfully committed against light and knowledge; rebellious sins. Are multiplied before thee — They admit of no excuse; for they are committed before thee, and multiplied against thee, whereby thou art justly provoked to deny us all help. And our sins testify against us — The sins charged upon us are so many witnesses produced to prove our guilt. For our transgressions are with us — Are still unforgiven, and we lie under the divine wrath on account of them. As for our iniquities, we know them — We are convinced of them. In transgressing and lying, &c. — He now enumerates some of those particular sins which they profess themselves to be convinced of; by which he does not mean the sins of some particular persons, or some slight sins, but a general defection and corruption of the whole body. Transgressing here, and lying, seem to be one and the same thing, inasmuch as in their transgressing the law of God, they broke their solemn engagement to God, made upon mount Sinai. Departing away from God — Turning from God to idols. Speaking oppression, &c. — As it were, talking of little else one among another, but how to oppress their neighbours, and apostatize from God. Conceiving and uttering — That is, first contriving in their hearts false accusations against their neighbours, and false worship, to the dishonour of God; laying the contrivances so that they might be effectual, and then uttering them; from the heart — And when they dealt with men in ways of fraud, it was from the heart; but when they spake with God, it was but from the lips.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv12–14 Our sins testify against us - Hebrew, ‘Answer against…
Our sins testify against us - Hebrew, ‘Answer against us.’ The idea is, that their past lives had been so depraved that they became witnesses against them (compare the notes at Isa 3:9).
We know them - We recognize them as our sins, and we cannot conceal from ourselves the fact that we are transgressors.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v14 In. Where truth is disregarded, there can be no…
CHAPTER LIX.
In. Where truth is disregarded, there can be no justice.
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv12–14 (Dan 9:5, &c.).
(Dan 9:5, &c.).
thee . . . us--antithesis.
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with us--that is, we are conscious of them (Job 12:3, Margin; Job 15:9).
know--acknowledge they are our iniquities.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv12, 14 12, 13. Our sins testify against us — Every…
12, 13. Our sins testify against us — Every page of our life history is a record against us.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv12–14 12. our sins testify against us] So Jer_14:7.
12. our sins testify against us] So Jer_14:7.
our transgressions are with us] present to our conscience, Job_12:3; Job_14:5 &c.; comp. also Psa_51:3 (“my transgressions I know, and my sin is before me continually”).
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv12–14 (12) For our transgressions . . .—The parallelism with…
(12) For our transgressions . . .—The parallelism with the confessions of Daniel (Isa_9:5-15) and Ezra (Isa_9:6-15) is singularly striking, but is as explicable on the hypothesis that they reproduced that of 2 Isaiah as on the assumption that this also was written at the close of the exile. It would, of course, be as true in the time of Manasseh as at any subsequent period. The self accusations of the people are now, as they ought to be, as full and severe as the prophet’s original indictment had been.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv12–14 Our transgressions are multiplied before thee; i.e. they are…
Our transgressions are multiplied before thee; i.e. they are very numerous; and they come "before God," so as to attract his attention and call for his animadversion. Our sins testify against us; i.e. "rise up against us as witnesses, whose evidence we cannot disprove, and have not even the face to dispute." Our transgressions are with usi.e. "constantly haunt us and as for our iniquities, we know them; i.e. we are aware of them, we acknowledge them, we have them continually in our memories. It is one of the most certain phenomena of consciousness that grievous sins, deadly sins, haunt the mind, and cannot in this life be wiped out from the memory.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v14 And judgment is turned away backward
Isa_59:14-15
And judgment is turned away backward
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National sin
The sin of a nation becomes national, and brings public judgments, when it is not restrained by public justice.
(M. Henry.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv12, 14 General Information:
General Information:
Isaiah continues speaking.
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our many transgressions
Here "our" refers to Isaiah and the people of Israel. (See: Inclusive "We")
before you
Here "you" refers to Yahweh. (See: Forms of You)
our sins testify against us
Isaiah describes the sins as a person who goes before God to declare that the people are guilty. (See: Personification)
for our transgressions are with us
"With us" represents being aware of them. AT: "for we are aware of our transgressions" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
transgress
sin
testimony
rebel
Yahweh
God
heart
word
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.