Deeper Commentary
Isaiah 43:1 But now thus says Yahweh who created you, Jacob, and He who formed you, Israel: Don’t be afraid, for I have redeemed you- The exiles feared they were not good enough to be redeemed. But Yahweh desperately wanted them; He had in prospect redeemed them, but it was now for them to respond. And this is how it is with His appeal to people today. He not only created us but "formed" us for the moment at which we accept His redemption. Our entire biography and genetic prehistory, even including our own sins, was all part of that formation of a person to come to an optimal point at which they can say "Yes" to Him. By saying "Yes" we realize that nothing was random, meaning was attached to every event, leading to that moment of Divine-human encounter.
I
have called you by your name. You are Mine-
God's Name is over His people (Dt. 28:10). So to bear God's Name is to
recognize His complete ownership and even conquest of us. And yet there's
a significant twist to all this in Is. 43:1: "I have called you by your
name, because you are mine". It seems like a slip- we expect God to say
that He has called us by His Name, because we are His. But no- He
wishes us to bear both His Name and our own name, He doesn't wish to
subsume us beneath His ownership and manifestation to the point that we
are not significant as persons.
We expect the creator, owner and redeemer of someone
or something to name it with His name. But God dashes that
expectation- He says instead that we are called by our name. In
this we see the extent to which God has created us so that we
might have real, personal existence and salvation, not merely to as it
were extend Himself. In this we see a profound insight into the utter
depth of God's outgiving grace.
Isaiah 43:2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and
through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the
fire, you will not be burned, and flame will not scorch you-
Yahweh had promised that He would lead His people on that wilderness
journey from Babylon to Zion just as He had earlier led His people from
Egypt to the same promised land. Jer. 31:2 had encouraged them that Israel
“found grace in the wilderness” before, and they would do again, “When I
go to cause [Israel] to go to their place of rest” (RV). God had promised
in Jer. 31:9 that He would bring Israel on their journey from Babylon to
Judah along the fertile crescent- He would “cause them to walk by the
rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble”. This
is why Isaiah’s prophecies of the restoration from Babylon are shot
through with allusion to the exodus and wilderness journey (e.g. Is. 43:2;
51:10; 63:11). Daniel's friends were not burnt by the flames, and they
were intended to be understood as representative of all the exiles.
Isaiah 43:3 For I am Yahweh your God, the Holy One of Israel your Saviour.
I have given Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Sheba in your place-
Sheba is LXX Syene, confining the geographical areas to what we know as
Egypt.
Isaiah 40-66 is full of encouragement to Judah in Babylon to “fear not”
and make the move back to the land. They are encouraged that “I have
redeemed thee…thou art mine…for I am the Lord thy God… thy saviour; I gave
Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee” (Is. 43:1,3 AV). As a
reward for allowing the Jews to return, the kings of Persia were given
Egypt, Ethiopia and Seba. The Jews were doubtful as to whether God would
really accept them now, after all their sin; and they were trapped in the
good life, and the difficulty of uprooting from the world they were in.
They were just like
us! They had to be reminded that their Saviour had paid the
ransom to redeem them, and therefore they must do their part and leave.
And the blood of Jesus should work a like inspiration for us, all too
loaded down with our burden of sin, unworthiness, spiritual dysfunction…
Isaiah 43:4 Since you have been precious and honoured in My sight and I
have loved you; therefore I will give people in your place, and nations
instead of your life-
As a reward for allowing the Jews to return, the kings of Persia were
given Egypt, Ethiopia and Seba (:3). All this was by grace, for the exiles
were not responsive. God's grace is prevenient in the sense that He takes
the initiative, as all true lovers do. Their preciousness was "in My
sight", in the eyes of the lover, imputing righteousness to them which of
themselves they didn't have. To be 'precious in the sight' of someone
means to save them by grace (s.w. 1 Sam. 26:21; 2 Kings 1:13; Ps. 72:14).
Isaiah 43:5 Don’t be afraid; for I am with you- This is said so
often, in allusion to Joshua and Israel being encouraged to re-enter the
land and possess it. It was primarily relevant to the exiles in Babylon /
Persia who feared to return and doubted Yahweh's abiding presence with
them. But it now is encouragement to all who wish to enter the Kingdom.
I will bring your seed from the east, and gather you from the west- The 'bringing' and 'gathering' of the exiles (Is. 43:5) would have been primarily fulfilled at the restoration (same words in Neh. 1:9). But most of the exiles remained in the lands of their captivity, just as people resist the Gospel's call today. They had to themselves bring and gather themselves (Is. 45:20; 49:18; 60:4), so that God would confirm this by bringing and gathering them (Is. 43:5; Jer. 31:8; Ez. 34:13; 36:24; 37:21; Zech. 10:10). And so today with all who wish to be in God's Kingdom; our desire to be there and first moves towards it will be confirmed many times over by God's work through His Spirit.
Isaiah 43:6 I will tell the north, ‘Give them up!’ and tell the south,
‘Don’t hold them back! Bring My sons from far, and My daughters from the
ends of the earth- The points of the compass may just give the
impression of a general regathering from all around. But we note the
promise to regather the Jews from "the south", Egypt, to where they fled
in faithless fear. And in Jeremiah's time, against the specific
commandment of God not to go there. We have here, therefore, an example of
God saving people from holes which they themselves have dug.
Isaiah 43:7 each one who is called by My name, and whom I have created for
My glory, whom I have formed, yes, whom I have made'-
Yahweh speaks of the returnees as if they were a new creation, created by
Him along with the heavens and earth of the temple which He had stretched
out in Zion (Isaiah 43:7; 44:2). He did not form this new land / heavens
of the kingdom and temple of Israel in vain- He created it to be inhabited
(Isaiah 45:18). But the Jews acted like the old creation. And the promise
of new creation was deferred until the time of Jesus (2 Cor. 5:17). Judah
for the most part declined to inhabit / dwell in the new heavens and earth
[the same word in Isaiah 45:18 is frequently used re. how the returnees
dwelt in
the cities of Judah]. Every one of the exiles was formed personally to
return to the land; Gods formative hand likewise has been at work in the
biography and genetic prehistory of everyone who encounters the Gospel.
Paul
saw more potential in the Jewish mind for Christ than other races; thus he
speaks in Rom. 11 of how the natural branch which has been cut off [Israel]
will be more effectively grafted back into the olive tree than the wild
Gentile branches. This of course has similarities with the Lord’s teaching
about Himself as the vine, whose unfruitful branches had been cut off (Jn.
15:2). Israel “much more” than the Gentiles can be grafted back in, whereas
Gentile converts do this “against nature” (Rom. 11:24). In the context of
Israel’s final repentance, God speaks of how every one of the Jewish people
has been potentially created for His glory, because they carry His Name (Is.
43:7). Although Israel have been “quenched as a wick” for their sins (Is.
43:17 RVmg.), we are to realize that the wick is still smouldering, and are
to follow the Lord’s example of never totally quenching it but instead seek
to fan the wick of Israel back into life (Is. 42:3).
Isaiah 43:8 Bring out the blind people who have eyes, and the deaf who
have ears- See on Is. 42:19.
The
servant-Messiah is described as being blind and deaf (Is. 42:19)- just as
those who returned from Babylon were called blind, yet having eyes; deaf,
yet having ears (Is. 43:8). They had the potential to see and hear; and
the servant-Messiah likewise was at that time deaf and blind, but had the
potential to see and hear with the vision and words of Messiah. It is hard
to understand these words otherwise. They refused to allow the spiritual
potential available to be unleashed upon them; see on Is. 42:18. "Bring
out" is the same word in Is. 42:7, and putting the passages together we
get the idea that the exiles were as blind people, who were to be both
freed from prison and also given their sight.
Isaiah 43:9 Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the peoples
be assembled. Who among them can declare this, and show us former things?
Let them bring their witnesses, that they may be justified; or let them
hear, and say, That is true- Isaiah especially is full of restoration
prophecies; but Isaiah especially carries repeated statements that God can
predict the future, and that His prophetic word will surely come to pass.
These repeated statements are surely to encourage Judah to believe the
restoration prophecies, and to see that what was prophesied really would
and could come to pass- but it required their response!
The wonder of Israel’s
God was not so much that He declared future things in a way that could be
understood before they happened, but rather that He ‘declared’ the meaning
of past events. There is a certain enigma to Israel’s history, both as
history, and also sociologically, psychologically, indeed in every way. It
is that enigma which is declared in God’s word, enabling Israel to make
sense of what happens to them by their reflection, after the event,
upon God’s word. Likewise it seems that only once the events have happened
can we look back with true understanding into God’s word and understand.
This was in fact the case with a number of the predictions of the Lord
Jesus (Jn. 2:19; 3:14; 11:50; 21:18). They would have remained enigmas,
until after the event. And then, all would have been so clear.
Isaiah 43:10 You are My witnesses, says Yahweh, With My servant whom I
have chosen; that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am
He. Before Me there was no God formed, neither will there be after Me-
This language alludes to the Babylonian god Marduk; the point being that
Yahweh and not the god of Babylon is supreme. See on Is. 40:25. The Jews
only totally quit idolatry some time later; they liked to think, as we
also tend to, that we can serve the gods of our world in the name of
Yahweh worship. But Yahweh is presented as supreme, and Marduk as nothing.
God's people are here asked to believe very basic things about Yahweh; but
those things would preclude belief in any other god. Their conversion was
to be used to bring others to incorporation in God's new, multiethnic
people. Hence
LXX "Be ye my witnesses, and I too am a witness, saith the Lord God". The
invitation is to be witnesses.
Isaiah 43:11 I Myself am Yahweh; and besides Me there is no saviour-
This continues the appeal noted on :10 to quit
belief in any other god. Yahweh's
Name is declared as His character- merciful, truthful, judging sin, patient
etc. (Ex. 34:5-7); but above all, in being a personal saviour. This is why
"Jesus", 'Yah saves', is the quintessence of what God is all about. He who will be who He will be, manifesting His
characteristics as He does so, must have His way in us too. Babylon and
Nineveh were condemned for having the attitude that “I am, and there is none
beside me” (Is. 47:8; Zeph. 2:15). Their self-perception was a parody on the
Name and being of Yahweh: He alone can say “I am, and there is none else”
(Is. 43:11; 44:6; 45:6,21) and seek to be who He is. He alone can seek to
articulate the characteristics that make up His Name onto the lives of
others, and onto the things that comprise His Kingdom. We are not to be who
we are; to ‘just be yourself’; to ‘just do it’, as foolish slogans and
adverts encourage us. We are here to show forth His mercy, truth, judgment
of sin, patient saving of the weak etc., not our own personality. We are, in
the very end, Yahweh manifested to this world, through our imitation of the
Lord Jesus.
Isaiah 43:12 I have declared, I have saved, and I have shown; and there
was no strange god among you. Therefore you are My witnesses, says Yahweh,
That I am God- See on Is. 44:26. The allusion is to Israel's earlier
salvation from Egypt. Although there were 'strange gods' carried by them,
clearly it was Yahweh alone who saved and who declared / showed the
meaning of their entire history; see on :9.
Isaiah 43:13 Yes, since the day was I am He- The idea may be that
"from this time forth I am he", i.e. they were to repent and never again
have idols, but accept "Yahweh", 'I am who I am', 'I am that I am', for
who He was and is; and not just in Name only.
And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand. I will work, and who can hinder it?- Even the rumours the exiles must have heard of Samaritan opposition were to be discounted. Every conceivable encouragement was given to the people, to go up and be part of the Kingdom work; nothing could stand in their way, if only they would go forward in joyful faith. They had been redeemed, they simply had to believe this and act as if they had been saved from Babylon and translated into the Kingdom which was to be established. The similarities with us are exact. The dramatic story of Job thrice uses the same phrase as in Is. 43:13, concluding that "who can hinder...?" God's way (Job 9:12; 11:10; 23:13). The exiles were to understand that no human opposition or discouragement can turn back or hinder God's purpose to save His people, even if they are as Job in suffering. His saving and restorative purpose will not be hindered, if we wish to identify with it.
Isaiah 43:14 Thus says Yahweh your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: For
your sake I have sent to Babylon, and I will bring all of them down as
fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships of their rejoicing- The
fall of Babylon was envisioned as happening so that the Jewish exiles
might return to Judah. All in world geopolitics was to be for their sakes.
But many of them remained there and prospered in the Persian
administration which took over after Babylon's fall. LXX "and I will stir up all that flee, and the Chaldeans shall be
bound in ships".
Babylon fell so that Persia would take over the administration of the 127
provinces where the Jews were scattered, and would allow them to return to
Judah (Isaiah 43:14). The cup of judgment which Judah drunk for 70 years
was passed to Babylon (Isaiah 51:22). This accounts for Isaiah’s repeated
and detailed emphasis on the coming fall of Babylon for Judah / Israel’s
sake (e.g. Isaiah 47). Although they had sinned, Yahweh showed His
gracious love for His people by bringing down Babylon (Isaiah 48:14). “For
Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee
[Cyrus] by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me “
(Isaiah 45:4). Likewise the iron curtain came down to allow preachers of
God’s Truth to take it to those once in darkness. And English has become
the lingua-franca of the world, enabling Christian preaching to now
penetrate societies literally world-wide. See on Ezra 2:1.
Isaiah 43:15 I am Yahweh your Holy One, the Creator of Israel- your King- Because Yahweh God was Israel’s creator, therefore He ought to have
been their King. They should not have remained in the lands of their exile
under a human king. If we really believe His creative authority
over us, then He will rule in every aspect of our lives. Realizing that
God is a "faithful creator" should inspire us to commit the keeping of our
lives to Him in time of suffering (1 Pet. 4:19).
Isaiah 43:16 Thus says Yahweh, who makes a way in the sea, and a path in
the mighty waters- Again, the salvation of Israel from Egypt was to
be believed in as a real prototype of their deliverance from exile; and
when Israel refused that, of our deliverance from this world and into
God's Kingdom. What seems uncharted waters and an impossible, confusing
journey will in fact become pain; a path and way appears, which we are to
enthusiastically follow. The impression that the path to the Kingdom is
hopelessly complex and hard to discern is only because of human lack of
faith.
Isaiah 43:17 who brings forth the chariot and horse, the army and the
mighty man (they lie down together, they shall not rise; they are extinct,
they are quenched like a wick)- This recalls the glorying of the Song
of Moses over the Egyptians. And so it could have been for God's people in
exile. No political nor military power could stand between them and
restoration in God's Kingdom. And likewise in our path towards that same
Kingdom which they refused.
Isaiah 43:18 Don’t remember the former things, and don’t consider the
things of old-
The
returned exiles are encouraged to forget their former sins as God also has
done. This was the basis for their lack of faith and need for
constant assurance not to be afraid but to believe in God's desire to
restore them.
Isaiah 43:19 Behold, I will do a new thing. It springs forth now; don’t
you perceive it?-
Is. 40:1,2 speaks a message of comfort to the
exiles: “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God”. But [in full allusion
to this prophecy], the exiles were like Rachael who refused to be
comforted over her loss (Jer. 31:15); they claimed they found “none to
comfort” (Lam. 1:2,16,17,21). But they were willfully refusing the comfort
of God’s repeated word of hope and restoration. They didn’t grasp the
plain teaching of the prophetic word because they didn’t want to- it
demanded too much of them, and a giving up of the comfortable Babylon
life. Hence Is. 43:19 laments: “I am doing a new thing: now it springs
forth [in the decree to return to Zion?], do you not perceive it?”. And do
we "not perceive it?" time and again in our own lives, as to the
potentials God is opening up, and His desire to save us?
I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert- See on Is. 40:3. The exiles’ fears about the way back were allayed: “I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert” (43:19). They were constantly encouraged that as God had redeemed His people from Egypt through the water, fire and desert, so He would and could redeem them from their Egypt. Water could have followed Judah through the desert journey from Babylon to Zion. But they hankered after a human army to protect them, and most of them wouldn’t even begin the journey.
Isaiah 43:20 The animals of the field shall honour Me, the jackals and the
ostriches; because I give water in the wilderness and rivers in the
desert, to give drink to My people, My chosen-
The water that came from that one rock tasted as if
God had opened up fresh springs and torrents in the desert (Ps. 74:15
NAS). It always tasted as if it was just gushing out of the spring; and
this wonder is commented upon by both David and Isaiah (Ps. 78:15,16,20;
105:41; Is. 48:21). It was as if the rock had just been struck, and the
water was flowing out fresh for the first time. In this miracle, God clave
the rock and there came out rivers (Hab. 3:9; Ps. 78:16,20; Is. 43:20).
Each part of Israel's encampment had the water as it were brought to their
door. And so it is in our experience of Christ, and the blessing enabled
by His sacrifice. The blessings that come to us are deeply personal, and
directed to us individually. He died once, long ago, and yet the effect of
His sacrifice is ever new.
This amazing redemption of Israel from exile was intended to elicit repentance from the areas of the Gentiles within the eretz promised to Abraham, whose cities were now inhabited by jackals. The intention was that they would return with God's people. This didn't happen, but will at the last day.
Isaiah 43:21 The people which I formed for Myself, that they might show
forth My praise- Both as individuals and collectively, the whole
biography and even genetic prehistory of God's people has been prepared by
God in their formation, so that they might encounter God's salvation at an
optimal point for them to give the maximum glory to Him (Is. 43:21).
"Formed" is the word for the potter working on clay, used of how God
fashions human hearts or psychologies, working on the deeply internal
fabric of the human being (Ps. 33:15). The 'forming' in view is not only
"in the womb" (Is. 44:2,24) but throughout their whole psychological and
genetic formation. It is possible to strive with our former or "maker"
(Is. 45:9), to be unresponsive to His touch of us the clay. The Messiah
figure, ultimately the Lord Jesus, was the ultimate case of being "formed"
by Yahweh's hand (Is. 49:5 s.w.), implying He too was clay, of human and
not Divine nature.
Isaiah 43:22 Yet you have not called on Me, Jacob; but you have been weary
of Me, Israel- Despite all the formative handling of the Divine
potter, all the stimuli and potential granted by grace (:21), Jacob had
refused to respond. They were weary of God, and God was wearied with their
sins and insincere worship (s.w. :23,24). We have here the language of God
and Israel falling out of love, despite such love on His side, and such
wonderful potentials.
Isaiah 43:23 You have not brought Me of your sheep for burnt offerings;
neither have you honoured Me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you
with offerings, nor wearied you with frankincense- God had not given
His people wearisome laws and regulations; but they were "weary of Me"
(:22 s.w.). They perhaps made the complaint many do today- that God is
boring, ritualistic, imposing of unreasonable demands and ceremonies. But
actually that is but an excuse for personal unbelief and lack of
commitment; for He insists here that His laws and principles are not like
that. And if He says they are not, then it is not for us to claim
otherwise. The exiles would have justified not sacrificing by saying there
was no temple. But although God did not specifically command them ['burden
them'] to keep the feasts in exile, He would have accepted their
offerings. And there is evidence that there was a "little sanctuary" in
Babylon where they could have offered sacrifice (see on Ez. 11:16). But
they didn't offer them.
Isaiah 43:24 You have bought Me no sweet cane with money, nor have you
filled Me with the fat of your sacrifices- God didn't demand incense
nor offerings (:23), and yet He notes that they didn't bring them to Him.
"Sweet cane" is what was burnt to create incense. It's as if God still
hoped they would thus express their love for Him, even in exile and away
from the temple system. But they didn't, and instead burdened Him with
their sins.
But you have burdened Me with your sins- God speaks of being burdened by Israel's sins- and yet this is a prelude to the passages which speak of the Lord Jesus bearing our sins on the cross (Is. 53:4,11,12). We even read of God being wearied by Israel's sins (Is. 7:13; Jer. 15:6; Ez. 24:12; Mal. 2:17). Even though God does not "grow weary" (Is. 40:28) by nature, it seems to me that in His full entering into His people's situation, He does allow Himself to grow weary with the sins of those with whom He is in covenant relationship. It was this kind of capacity which God has which was supremely revealed in His 'sharing in' the crucifixion of His Son.
You have wearied Me with your iniquities- When Israel were weary of God, He wearied them (Is. 43:22,24). Because they turned their back on Him (Jer. 2:27), He turned His back on them (Jer. 18:17). At the very time Israel put God to the test at Marah (Dt. 6:16), God responded by testing them (Ex. 15:25).
Isaiah 43:25 I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions- Yahweh here prophesied of what He would achieve through the crucified
Christ: “I am, I am: He that blots out thy transgressions” (Is. 43:25 LXX).
"I am" alludes to the Yahweh Name. He declares His Name as being supremely demonstrated in His forgiveness of
our sins through and in the Lord’s cross.
And I will not remember your sins-
God imputed His righteousness to them, because He had unconditionally
forgiven them. Instead of calling upon them to mourn, as in first Isaiah,
second Isaiah calls upon them to rejoice and accept His grace. They are to
repent because God had forgiven them- not repent so that He might forgive
them: “I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake [i.e.
not for the sake of your repentance or righteousness]… I have swept away
your transgressions like a cloud [therefore] return [repent] to me, for I
have [already] redeemed you” (Is. 43:25; 44:22). This is God’s grace in
its essence. As they sat by the rivers of Babylon, even as they later
became caught up in the politics and business of Babylon, God’s heart
broke for His people. And He announced this utter grace- that He had
forgiven them, even though they’d not really repented, and counted them as
righteous. And therefore He begged them to “return”, not only to return to
Him in repentance in their hearts, but to show this by ‘returning’ to the
land. And, so tragically, they preferred to stay in Babylon, for
the most part. His grace was poured out to them… and Israel would not. All
we can resolve in our hearts is to feel for God in this tragedy, and to
realize that these very same prophecies of grace have been applied to us.
And it’s for us to respond to them.
Isaiah 43:26 Put Me in remembrance, let us plead together. Set forth your
case, that you may be justified- LXX continues the connection with God not remembering their sins in :25:
"But do thou remember, and let us plead together: do thou first confess
thy transgressions, that thou mayest be justified". The stress would be on
the idea that although God had forgotten their sins, they were not to
forget them but to remain ever aware of His gracious forgiveness. God
wants them to accept His forgiveness and justification of them; but for
them to do so, they needed to first of all be convicted of their own lack
of justification. And so He invites them to put forth a legal case that
they are not sinners and don't need justification by grace.
Is. 62:6,7 speaks of watchmen [= the prophets, Ezekiel 3:17; Jer.
6:17; Hab. 2:1] set upon Jerusalem’s walls as watchmen 'putting God in
remembrance', keeping no silence [in their prophesying] until Jerusalem
was established. For the link between the prophets and standing on a
watchtower, see Hab. 2:1. Is this not a reference to Malachi, Haggai and
Zechariah prophesying as the basis upon which the newly built walls of
Jerusalem would be preserved, and the city develop into the Messianic
Kingdom hoped for? Note that the rebuilt Jerusalem of Ezra’s time and the
latter day Jerusalem are the same thing in Isaiah; the Kingdom could’ve
come then. Watchmen upon the walls were looking for something- for the
approach of the Messianic messenger with good tidings of Judah’s full
return from captivity, of which Isaiah had spoken in Is. 52:7,8. But most of Judah preferred to stay in Babylon,
took up a collection for the few who did return… and no Messiah could
appear with that news. God had promised this- but He here asked to be put
in remembrance of His promises (Is. 43:26), i.e. He asked for those
watchmen to be His ‘rememberancers’, even though He cannot in that sense
forget them (Ps. 119:49; Jer. 14:21). In all this we see an exquisite
picture of how God works with men, how His promised faithfulness and
omnipotence all the same has built into it a requirement for human
prayerfulness and response. The reality was that the watchmen / prophets
of Israel were blind, ignorant and sleepy (Is. 56:10).
Isaiah 43:27 Your first father sinned, and your teachers have transgressed
against Me- This is in the context of God desperately appealing to
Israel to accept His forgiveness and justification. He forgives them for
His own sake (see on :25),
Isaiah 43:28 Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary; and I
will make Jacob a curse, and Israel an insult- "I have profaned the
princes of the sanctuary"- put forth "as polluted from the priesthood"
(Ezra 2:62). This is tacit proof enough that the restoration from Babylon
failed to be the potential restoration prophesied. Indeed, the behaviour
of the Jews at that time attracted further curses and judgment. LXX "And
the princes have defiled my sanctuaries: so I gave Jacob to enemies to
destroy, and Israel to reproach". As explained on :27, this blame of the
princes is an almost desperate attempt to help Israel feel not quite so
shamed for their sins and to get them by all means to accept God's
forgiveness.
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