Isaiah 1:17
in Isaiah 1Learn to do right; seek justice and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
KJV
Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
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This verse in Isaiah 1
Commentary
12 notes on this verseGod offers a brief summary through the prophet Isaiah of the honor that widows enjoy in the sight of God.… The Father defends these two types of people [widows and orphans] through divine mercy in proportion to their being destitute of human aid. Look how the widow's benefactor is put on a level with the widow herself, whose champion shall "reason with the Lord."
This site's exposition
Wash and cleanse yourselves
on Isaiah 1:16-17
The call to "Wash and cleanse yourselves" answers the offerings with the washing the ritual could never supply. The commands to "Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow" aim it at people. These two have no advocate, and their care is the test the sacrifices had failed.
This site's exposition
Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow
The fatherless and the widow had no one to argue their case at the gate, so the law named God their defender at Deuteronomy 10:18. Verse 23 shows Jerusalem's rulers doing the opposite. Wesley called justice to men the way to show religion to God.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
A commentator
Clement of RomeClement's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 8 · Written before 99.
proposed
The ministers of the grace of God have, by the Holy Spirit, spoken of repentance; and the Lord of all things has himself declared with an oath regarding it, "As I live, says the Lord, I desire not the death of the sinner, but rather his repentance;" [Ezekiel 33:11] adding, moreover, this gracious declaration, "Repent, O house of Israel, of your iniquity." [Ezekiel 18:30] Say to the children of my people, Though your sins reach from earth to heaven, and though they be redder than scarlet, and blacker than sack-cloth, yet if you turn to me with your whole heart, and say, Father! I will listen to you, as to a holy people. [2 Chronicles 7:14] And in another place He speaks thus: "Wash you and become clean; put away the wickedness of your souls from before my eyes; cease from your evil ways, and learn to do well; seek out judgment, deliver the oppressed, judge the fatherless, and see that justice is done to the widow; and come, and let us reason together. He declares, Though your sins be like crimson, I will make them white as snow; though they be like scarlet, I will whiten them like wool. And if you be willing and obey me, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse, and will not hearken unto me, the sword shall devour you, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things." [Isaiah 1:16-20] Desiring, therefore, that all His beloved should be partakers of repentance, He has, by His almighty will, established [these declarations].
A commentator
John ChrysostomON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 12:4 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
Let us labor earnestly then to become clean; He has enjoined nothing burdensome. "Judge the fatherless, and do justice for the widow." Thou seest everywhere how great account God makes of mercy, and of standing forward in behalf of those that are wronged. These good deeds let us pursue after, and we shall be able also, by the grace of God, to attain to the blessings to come.
If you must visit someone, prefer to pay honor to orphans, widows and those in want rather than those who enjoy reputation and fame.
And if thou hast pity on the widow, thy sins are washed away. For, "Judge," saith He, "the orphan, and plead for the widow, and come and let us reason together, saith the Lord. And if your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white as snow; and if they be as crimson, I will make them white as wool." For not even a single scar of the wounds doth He suffer to appear.
The Medieval Church1 voice
53. Learn to do well. Here he gives the remedy as to the following of good. And first, that they learn it; second, that they fulfill it in deed, where it says, relieve the oppressed. For someone does good in ordering himself, and as to …
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Learn - Begin to live soberly, righteously, and godly. Judgment - Shew your religion to God, by practicing justice to men. Judge - Defend and deliver them.
Learn to do well,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Learn to do well - , To learn here is to become accustomed to, to practice it. To do well stands opposed to all kinds of evil. “Seek judgment.” The word “judgment” - משׁפט mishpâṭ - here means justice. The direction refers particularly to magistrates, and it is evident that the prophet had them particularly in his view in all this discourse. Execute justice between man and man with impartiality. The word “seek” - דרשׁוּ dı̂reshû - means to pursue, to search for, as an object to be gained; to regard, or care for it, as the main thing.
Relieve the oppressed “Amend that which is corrupted” - אשרו חמוץ asheru chamots. In rendering this obscure phrase I follow Bochart, (Hieroz. Part i., lib. ii., cap. 7), though I am not perfectly satisfied with this explication of it.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לִמְד֥וּ | limdu | <you> learn | H3925 → | 85 times |
| הֵיטֵ֛ב | heitev | to do good | H3190 → | 117 times |
| דִּרְשׁ֥וּ | dirshu | seek | H1875 → | 164 times |
| מִשְׁפָּ֖ט | mishpat | justice | H4941 → | 422 times |
| אַשְּׁר֣וּ | ʾasheru | set right | H833 → | 16 times |
| חָמ֑וֹץ | chamotz | [the] oppressor | H2541 → | |
| שִׁפְט֣וּ | shiftu | vindicate | H8199 → | 202 times |
| יָת֔וֹם | yatom | [the] fatherless | H3490 → | 42 times |
| רִ֖יבוּ | rivu | conduct a case for | H7378 → | 67 times |
| אַלְמָנָֽה׃ ס | ʾalmanah | [the] widow | H490 → | 56 times |
לִמְד֥וּ<you> learn
limduH3925 →85 times
הֵיטֵ֛בto do good
heitevH3190 →117 times
דִּרְשׁ֥וּseek
dirshuH1875 →164 times
מִשְׁפָּ֖טjustice
mishpatH4941 →422 times
אַשְּׁר֣וּset right
ʾasheruH833 →16 times
חָמ֑וֹץ[the] oppressor
chamotzH2541 →
שִׁפְט֣וּvindicate
shiftuH8199 →202 times
יָת֔וֹם[the] fatherless
yatomH3490 →42 times
רִ֖יבוּconduct a case for
rivuH7378 →67 times
אַלְמָנָֽה׃ ס[the] widow
ʾalmanahH490 →56 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Micah 6:8He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 10:12–13
And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God by walking in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your…
- Proverbs 21:3
To do righteousness and justice is more desirable to the LORD than sacrifice.
- Colossians 3:12
Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
- Jeremiah 22:3
This is what the LORD says: Administer justice and righteousness. Rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow.…
- Hosea 6:6
For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
- Deuteronomy 10:12–13
Through
Proverbs 31:9Open your mouth, judge righteously, and defend the cause of the poor and needy.
it leads to
- Leviticus 19:15
You must not pervert justice; you must not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the rich; you are to judge your neighbor fairly.
- Amos 5:11–12
Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact from him a tax of grain, you will never live in the stone houses you have built; you will never drink the wine from the…
- Leviticus 19:15
Through
Jeremiah 22:3This is what the LORD says: Administer justice and righteousness. Rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow.…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 21:12
O house of David, this is what the LORD says: ‘Administer justice every morning, and rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor, or My wrath will go forth like fire…
- Jeremiah 21:12
Where this verse is studied
By subject
Justice34 verses
On this page
About Isaiah
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Clement of Rome, Clement's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 8; John Chrysostom, ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 12:4; John Chrysostom, BAPTISMAL INSTRUCTIONS 6:12; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON 1 CORINTHIANS 23:6; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Tertullian, TO HIS WIFE 8 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.