Isaiah 1:9
in Isaiah 1Unless the LORD of Hosts had left us a few survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have resembled Gomorrah.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Except Jehovah of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
KJV
Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
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This verse in Isaiah 1
Commentary
14 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Except ... - It is owing entirely to the mercy of God, that we are not like Sodom. The prophet traces this not to the goodness of the nation, not to any power or merit of theirs, but solely to the mercy of God. This passage the apostle Paul has used in an argument to establish the doctrine of divine sovereignty in the salvation of people; see the note at Rom 9:29. The Lord - Hebrew Yahweh. Note Isa 1:2. Of hosts - צבאות tsebâ'ôth - the word sometimes translated “Sabaoth”; Rom 9:29; Jas 5:
This site's exposition
Your land is desolate
on Isaiah 1:7-9
The desolation is present, cities burned and foreigners devouring the fields while the people watch. Zion is left "like a shelter in a vineyard, like a shack in a cucumber field." Had the LORD of Hosts not left "a few survivors," Judah would share the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah.
This site's exposition
left us a few survivors
Sodom and Gomorrah were wiped out, and Judah would have gone the same way without the few the LORD kept. Paul quotes this verse at Romans 9:29 for the remnant of Israel. Augustine ascribed any remnant wholly to grace.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
And besides, they beguile themselves and you, supposing that the everlasting kingdom will be assuredly given to those of the dispersion who are of Abraham after the flesh, although they be sinners, and faithless, and disobedient towards God, which the Scriptures have proved is not the case. For if so, Isaiah would never have said this: "And unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah." And Ezekiel: "Even if Noah, and Jacob, and Daniel were to pray for sons or daughters, their request should not be granted." But neither shall the father perish for the son, nor the son for the father; but every one for his own sin, and each shall be saved for his own righteousness.
For all the Gentiles were "desolate" of the true God, serving the works of their hands; but the Jews and Samaritans, having the word of God delivered to them by the prophets, and always expecting the Christ, did not recognise Him when He came, except some few, of whom the Spirit of prophecy by Isaiah had predicted that they should be saved. He spoke as from their person: "Except the Lord had left us a seed, we should have been as Sodom and Gomorrah."
"And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and had been made like unto Gomorrha." Here again he shows another thing, that not even those few were saved from their own resources. For they too would have perished, and met with Sodom's fate, that is, they would have had to undergo utter destruction (for they (of Sodom) were also destroyed root and branch, and left not even the slightest remnant of themselves,) and they too, he means, would have been like these, unless God had used much kindness to them, and had saved them by faith. And this happened also in the case of the visible captivity, the majority having been taken away captive and perished, and some few only being saved.
If the Lord of hosts had not left us seed, we would have been as Sodom, and we would have been like Gomorrah. This place Paul the Apostle explains more fully to the Romans, writing: I say therefore, has God rejected his people? By no means: For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew (Romans 11:1-2). And a little later: Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace (Romans 11:5).
Beware, O Christian, beware of pride. For though you are a follower of the saints, ascribe it always wholly to grace. That there should be any "remnant" in you, the grace of God has brought it to pass, not your own merits.
6 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
38. Except the Lord of hosts had left us seed. Here he sets out consolation from the promise to liberate their seed. The Lord, however, left to them the gathered seed of the flesh, below: I will bring your seed from the east, and gather …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Note, (1.) In the worst of times there is a remnant preserved from iniquity and reserved for mercy, as Noah and his family in the deluge, Lot and his in the destruction of Sodom. Divine grace triumphs in distinguishing by an act of sovereignty. (2.) This remnant is often a very small one in comparison with the vast number of revolting ruined sinners.
), because that had made themselves like Sodom and Gomorrah in respect of sin. The men of Sodom were wicked, and sinners before the Lord exceedingly ( Gen. xiii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
"The groves" were symbols of these starry hosts; it was their worship of Sabaoth instead of the Lord of Sabaoth, which had caused the present desolation (2Ch 24:18). It needed no less a power than His, to preserve even a "remnant." Condescending grace for the elect's sake, since He has no need of us, seeing that He has countless hosts to serve Him.
The Lord of hosts “Jehovah God of hosts” - As this title of God, יהוה צבאות Yehovah tsebaoth, “Jehovah of hosts, occurs here for the first time, I think it proper to note, that I translate it always, as in this place, “Jehovah God of hosts;” taking it as an elliptical expression for יהוה אלהי צבאות Yehovah Elohey tsebaoth. This title imports that Jehovah is the God or Lord of hosts or armies; as he is the Creator and Supreme Governor of all beings in heaven and earth, and disposeth and ruleth them all in their several orders and stations; the almighty, universal Lord. We should have been as Sodom - As completely and finally ruined as that and the cities of the plain were, no vestige of which remains at this day.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
rulers of Sodom Princes whose deeds are like those of Sodom. From here, [the Rabbis] deduced that a person should not open his mouth to Satan.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לוּלֵי֙ | lulei | if not | H3884 → | |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| צְבָא֔וֹת | tzevaot | of hosts | H6635 → | 485 times |
| הוֹתִ֥יר | hotir | he had left | H3498 → | 106 times |
| לָ֛נוּ | lanu | to us | ||
| שָׂרִ֖יד | sarid | survivor[s] | H8300 → | |
| כִּמְעָ֑ט | kimat | like a little | H4592 → | 101 times |
| כִּסְדֹ֣ם | kisdom | like Sodom | H5467 → | 39 times |
| הָיִ֔ינוּ | hayinu | we were | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לַעֲמֹרָ֖ה | laamorah | <to> Gomorrah | H6017 → | 19 times |
| דָּמִֽינוּ׃ ס | daminu | we were like | H1819 → | 30 times |
לוּלֵי֙if not
luleiH3884 →
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
צְבָא֔וֹתof hosts
tzevaotH6635 →485 times
הוֹתִ֥ירhe had left
hotirH3498 →106 times
לָ֛נוּto us
lanu
שָׂרִ֖ידsurvivor[s]
saridH8300 →
כִּמְעָ֑טlike a little
kimatH4592 →101 times
כִּסְדֹ֣םlike Sodom
kisdomH5467 →39 times
הָיִ֔ינוּwe were
hayinuH1961 →3559 times
לַעֲמֹרָ֖ה<to> Gomorrah
laamorahH6017 →19 times
דָּמִֽינוּ׃ סwe were like
daminuH1819 →30 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
Lamentations 3:22Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail.
it leads to
- Psalms 86:15
But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness.
- Luke 1:50
His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation.
- Nehemiah 9:31
But in Your great compassion, You did not put an end to them; nor did You forsake them, for You are a gracious and compassionate God.
- Micah 7:18–19
Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion?
- Malachi 3:6
“Because I, the LORD, do not change, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed.
- Psalms 86:15
Through
Genesis 19:24Then the LORD rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens.
it leads to
- Isaiah 13:19
And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms, the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Amos 4:11
“Some of you I overthrew as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a firebrand snatched from a blaze, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 29:23
All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown and unproductive, with no plant growing on it, just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the…
- Isaiah 13:19
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies10
On this verse
About Isaiah
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 13 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); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Augustine of Hippo, SERMON 100.4; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Isaiah; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON ROMANS 16:10; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, Chapter CXL; Justin Martyr, The First Apology, Chapter LIII; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.