Isaiah 1:26
in Isaiah 1I will restore your judges as at first, and your counselors as at the beginning. After that you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called The city of righteousness, a faithful town.
KJV
And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.
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This verse in Isaiah 1
Commentary
13 notes on this verse(Verse 25) And I will turn my hand against you; and I will thoroughly purge away your dross and take away all your alloy. Regarding the dross, which Symmachus interpreted as 'στέμφυλα' (clusters of grapes), Aquila as 'γιγαρτῶδες' (bunch of grapes), and Theodotion as 'acinum uvae' (grape kernel), the Septuagint alone, translating more the sense than the words, understood it as 'unbelievers' or 'disobedient ones'.
This site's exposition
Therefore the Lord GOD of Hosts
on Isaiah 1:24-26
Verse 24 stacks divine titles the way verse 4 stacked charges. The purging is smelting language, the refiner's fire the prophets return to when a nation's corruption runs to its very metal. Verse 26 answers verse 21 directly, the lost title returned: "the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City."
This site's exposition
I will restore your judges as at first
The restored judges answer the bribe-loving rulers of verse 23. The city regains the name Faithful City, lost in the lament of verse 21. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown saw a first fulfilment after the return from Babylon and a full one under the Messiah.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
This occurs for the sake of cleansing, however, when he humbles his righteous ones for their small and as it were insignificant sins or because of their proud purity, giving them over to various trials in order to purge away now all the unclean thoughts … which he sees have collected in their inmost being, and in order to submit them like pure gold to the judgment to come, permitting nothing to remain in them that the searching fire of judgment might afterwards find to purge with penal torment.
"For we are not as the rest, which corrupt the word of God." `For even if we use great sounding words, yet we declared nothing to be our own that we achieved, but all Christ's. For we will not imitate the false apostles; the men who say that most is of themselves.' For this is "to corrupt," when one adulterates the wine; when one sells for money what he ought to give freely. For he seems to me to be here both taunting them in respect to money, and again hinting at the very thing I have said, as that they mingle their own things with God's; which is the charge Isaiah brings when he said, "Thy vintners mingle wine with water:" for even if this was said of wine, yet one would not err in expounding it of doctrine too. `But we,' saith he, `do not so: but such as we have been entrusted with, such do we offer you, pouring out the word undiluted.'
(Verse 26.) And I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city. Zion shall be redeemed with justice, and her penitents with righteousness. But rebels and sinners shall be broken together, and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed. For they shall be ashamed of the oaks that you desired, and you shall blush for the gardens that you have chosen. For you shall be like an oak whose leaf withers, and like a garden without water.
The Medieval Church2 voices
62. And I will restore your judges. Here he places what follows the punishment. And first, as to those corrected, renewal; second, as to the obstinate, consumption, where it says, and he shall destroy the wicked (Isa 1:28): for by the same fire, as Augustine …
A commentator
BonaventureCollations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 22 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
Within the order of laymen, there is a threefold order, that is, of the holy people, the holy masters and the holy leaders. As Isaias writes, "I will restore your judges as at first." For good leaders have good masters. And good leaders together with …
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Thy counsellors - Thy princes shall hearken to wise and faithful counsellors. Called faithful - Thou shalt be such.
And I will restore thy judges as at the first,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
I will restore - “This,” says Kimchi, “shall be in the days of the Messiah, in which all the wicked shall cease, and the remnant of Israel shall neither do iniquity, nor speak lies.” What a change must this be among Jews! Afterward “And after this” - The Septuagint, Syriac, Chaldee, and eighteen MSS., and one of my own, very ancient, add the conjunction ו vau, And.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
As the degeneracy had shown itself most in the magistrates (Isa 1:17-23), so, at the "restoration," these shall be such as the theocracy "at the first" had contemplated, namely, after the Babylonish restoration in part and typically, but fully and antitypically under Messiah (Isa 32:1; Mt 19:28). faithful--no longer "an harlot."
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And I will restore ... - That is, I will give you such judges as the nation had in former days - in the times of Moses, Joshua, etc. Most of the charges in this chapter are against the magistrates. The calamities of the nation are traced to their unfaithfulness and corruption, Isa 1:17-23. God now says that he will remove this cause of their calamity, and give them pure magistrates. Thy counselors - Thy advisers; that is, those occupying places of trust and responsibility. When this should be, the prophet does not say. The Jewish commentators suppose that he refers to the time after the return from captivity, and to such men as Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah; and to the times of Hyrcanus and Herod, Jerome supposes that the times of the Messiah are referred to. It is impossible to determine which is the correct opinion; though, as the Babylonian captivity was the punishment of those national sins which the prophet was denouncing, it is more probable that he refers to the time immediately succeeding that punishment, when the nation would be restored. I am inclined, therefore, to the opinion, that the prophet had reference solely to the prosperity of the Jewish nation, under a succession of comparatively virtuous princes, after the Babylonian captivity. Thou shalt be called ... - The principal cause of your wickedness and calamity, that is, your unfaithful rulers being removed and punished, you shall afterward be distinguished as a city of righteousness. The faithful city - That is, faithful to Yahweh - faithful in keeping his laws, and maintaining the rites of his religion as formerly; compare Isa 1:21.
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאָשִׁ֤יבָה | veashivah | and I will restore | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| שֹׁפְטַ֙יִךְ֙ | shofetayikh | judges your | H8199 → | 202 times |
| כְּבָרִ֣אשֹׁנָ֔ה | kevarishonah | as at the former [time] | H7223 → | 182 times |
| וְיֹעֲצַ֖יִךְ | veyoatzayikh | and counselors your | H3289 → | 79 times |
| כְּבַתְּחִלָּ֑ה | kevattechilah | as at the beginning | H8462 → | |
| אַחֲרֵי־ | ʾacharei- | after | H310 → | 715 times |
| כֵ֗ן | khen | thus | H3651 → | 771 times |
| יִקָּ֤רֵא | yikare' | it will be called | H7121 → | 733 times |
| לָךְ֙ | lokh | to you | ||
| עִ֣יר | ʾir | [the] city of | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| הַצֶּ֔דֶק | hatzedek | <the> righteousness | H6664 → | 119 times |
| קִרְיָ֖ה | kiryah | a town | H7151 → | 29 times |
| נֶאֱמָנָֽה׃ | neemanah | faithful | H539 → | 106 times |
וְאָשִׁ֤יבָהand I will restore
veashivahH7725 →1056 times
שֹׁפְטַ֙יִךְ֙judges your
shofetayikhH8199 →202 times
כְּבָרִ֣אשֹׁנָ֔הas at the former [time]
kevarishonahH7223 →182 times
וְיֹעֲצַ֖יִךְand counselors your
veyoatzayikhH3289 →79 times
כְּבַתְּחִלָּ֑הas at the beginning
kevattechilahH8462 →
אַחֲרֵי־after
ʾacharei-H310 →715 times
כֵ֗ןthus
khenH3651 →771 times
יִקָּ֤רֵאit will be called
yikare'H7121 →733 times
לָךְ֙to you
lokh
עִ֣יר[the] city of
ʾirH5892 →1090 times
הַצֶּ֔דֶק<the> righteousness
hatzedekH6664 →119 times
קִרְיָ֖הa town
kiryahH7151 →29 times
נֶאֱמָנָֽה׃faithful
neemanahH539 →106 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
Jeremiah 33:11the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those bringing thank offerings into the house of the LORD, saying: ‘Give thanks to the LORD of…
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 16:34
Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His loving devotion endures forever.
- Psalms 107:1
Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His loving devotion endures forever.
- Psalms 107:22
Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and declare His works with rejoicing.
- Psalms 106:1
Hallelujah! Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His loving devotion endures forever.
- Hebrews 13:15
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess His name.
- 1 Chronicles 16:34
Through
Jeremiah 33:7I will restore Judah and Israel from captivity and will rebuild them as in former times.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 30:3
For behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will restore from captivity My people Israel and Judah, declares the LORD. I will restore them to the land that I gave to…
- Amos 9:14–15
I will restore My people Israel from captivity; they will rebuild and inhabit the ruined cities. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
- Jeremiah 31:4
Again I will build you, and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel. Again you will take up your tambourines and go out in joyful dancing.
- Jeremiah 30:3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies10
On this verse
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 on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 22; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Cassian, CONFERENCE 6:11.2; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON 2 CORINTHIANS 5:3; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.