ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Isaiah 1.17

Book: Isaiah · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

15. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. 16. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;

17. learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.

  1. Come now, and let us reason together, saith Jehovah: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 19. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: (Isaiah 1:15-19, ASV)
WEB

15. When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Yes, when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. 16. Wash yourselves, make yourself clean. Put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes. Cease to do evil.

17. Learn to do well. Seek justice. Relieve the oppressed. Judge the fatherless. Plead for the widow.”

  1. “Come now, and let us reason together,” says Yahweh: “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 19. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; (Isaiah 1:15-19, WEB)
KJV

15. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. make: Heb. multiply prayer blood: Heb. bloods 16. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;

17. Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. relieve: or, righten

  1. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 19. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: (Isaiah 1:15-19, KJV)
YLT

15. And in your spreading forth your hands, I hide mine eyes from you, Also when ye increase prayer, I do not hear, Your hands of blood have been full. 16. Wash ye, make ye pure, Turn aside the evil of your doings, from before Mine eyes, Cease to do evil, learn to do good.

17. Seek judgment, make happy the oppressed, Judge the fatherless, strive [for] the widow.

  1. Come, I pray you, and we reason, saith Jehovah, If your sins are as scarlet, as snow they shall be white, If they are red as crimson, as wool they shall be! 19. If ye are willing, and have hearkened, The good of the land ye consume, (Isaiah 1:15-19, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: the LORD, through the prophet
  • Audience: Judah and Jerusalem
  • Location: Jerusalem
  • Time period: the eighth century BC, under Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah

Theological reading

Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.

The positive counterpart to the critique of sacrifice immediately before it, and the specificity is the point: not general benevolence but four verbs and two named categories.

The fatherless and the widow are the standard pair in the Hebrew Bible for those without a legal advocate. In a society where standing depended on a male head of household, they are the people whose cases go unheard, which is why the command is to plead the widow's cause rather than merely to relieve her.

"Learn" is worth noticing. Doing good is presented as a skill acquired by practice rather than an instinct, which fits a passage addressed to people who were performing worship diligently and justice not at all.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Lexicon:

Passages:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.