Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 59:12
For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions [are] with us; and [as for] our iniquities, we know them;
12. our sins testify against us ] So Jer 14:7.
our transgressions are with us ] present to our conscience, Job 12:3; Job 14:5 &c.; comp. also Psa 51:3 (“my transgressions I know, and my sin is before me continually”).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Our sins testify against us – Hebrew, Answer against us. The idea is, that their past lives had been so depraved that they became witnesses against them (compare the notes at Isa 3:9).
We know them – We recognize them as our sins, and we cannot conceal from ourselves the fact that we are transgressors.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Our transgressions: the word here signifies sins of a high nature; such as wherein there is much of mans will against light; rebellious sins.
Are multiplied before thee: q.d. They admit of no excuse; for they are acted before thee, and multiplied against thee, whereby thou art justly provoked to deny us all help.
Our sins testify; every sin that is charged upon is like so many witnesses produced to prove the guilt of our consciences; or, as the Hebrew word, do answer; and so some make it an elegant metaphorical allusion to the echo, which, as it returns the voice again, so those judgments they cry out of are but the meritorious repercussion of their sins. They had been cruel to others, neither had they executed judgment and justice, and here they suffer all kind of cruelties and indignities from the Chaldeans, as the true and just representation or echo of their own works: see a personal instance in Adoni-bezek, Jdg 1:6,7.
Our transgressions are with us, i.e. we lie under the guilt of them, they are a burden to us; God hath not yet forgiven them.
As for our iniquities, we know them; we are convinced of them; our guilty consciences must own and acknowledge them, Psa 2 3. It notes either their conviction or sorrow, or both. See Jer 14:7. Or, we know what are those sins thou art so angry with us for; and this is favoured by the sequel, where they seem to particularize those sins in the following verses.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. (Da9:5, c.).
thee . . . usantithesis.
with usthat is, we areconscious of them (Job 12:3,Margin Job 15:9).
knowacknowledge theyare our iniquities.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For our transgressions are multiplied before thee,…. Not only an increase of immorality among the people in common, but among professors of religion; and as their transgressions are committed against the Lord, so they are in his sight taken notice of and observed by him, are loathsome and abominable to him, and call aloud for his judgments on them:
and our sins testify against us; God is a witness against us, in whose sight our sins are done; and our consciences are witnesses against us, which are as a thousand witnesses; and there is no denying facts; our sins stare us in the face, and we must confess our guilt: or, “our sins answer against us” c; as witnesses called and examined answer to the questions put, so our sins, being brought as it were into open court, answer and bear testimony against us; or it must be owned, our punishment for our sins answers to them; it is the echo of our sins, what they call for, and righteously comes upon us:
for our transgressions are with us; or, “on us” d; in our minds, on our consciences, loading us with guilt; continually accusing and condemning us; are manifest to us, as the Targum; too manifest to be denied:
and as for our iniquities, we know them; the nature and number of them, and the aggravating circumstances that attend them; and cannot but own and acknowledge them, confess, lament, and bewail them; an enumeration of which follows.
c “peccata nostra respondit contra nos”, Montanus; “id ipsum respondit contra nos”, Cocceius; “even everyone of them”, so Junius Tremellius “peccatorum nostrorum quodque”, sic d “super nos”, Munster.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The people have already indicated by in Isa 59:9 that this benighted, hopeless state is the consequence of their prevailing sins; they now come back to this, and strike the note of penitence ( viddui ), which is easily recognised by the recurring rhymes anu and enu . The prophet makes the confession (as in Jer 14:19-20, cf., Isa 3:21.), standing at the head of the people as the leader of their prayer ( baal t e phillah ): “For our transgressions are many before Thee, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are known to us, and our evil deeds well known: apostasy and denial of Jehovah, and turning back from following our God, oppressive and false speaking, receiving and giving out from the heart words of falsehood.” The people acknowledge the multitude and magnitude of their apostate deeds, which are the object of the omniscience of God, and their sins which bear witness against them ( the predicate of a neuter plural; Ges. 146, 3). The second resumes the first: “our apostate deeds are with us ( as in Job 12:3; cf., , Job 15:9), i.e., we are conscious of them; and our misdeeds, we know them” ( for , as in Gen 41:21, cf., Isa 59:8, and with , as is always the case with verbs before , and with a suffix; Ewald, 60). The sins are now enumerated in Isa 59:13 in abstract infinitive forms. At the head stands apostasy in thought and deed, which is expressed as a threefold sin. (of Jehovah) belongs to both the “apostasy” (treachery; e.g., Isa 1:2) and the “denial” (Jer 5:12). is an inf. abs. (different from Psa 80:19). Then follow sins against the neighbour: viz., such speaking as leads to oppression, and consists of sarah , that which deviates from or is opposed to the law and truth (Deu 19:16); also the conception ( concipere ) of lying words, and the utterance of them from the heart in which they are conceived (Mat 15:18; Mat 12:35). and are the only poel infinitives which occur in the Old Testament, just as (Isa 10:13) is the only example of a poel perfect of a verb . The pol is suitable throughout this passage, because the action expressed affects others, and is intended to do them harm. According to Ewald, the poel indicates the object or tendency: it is the conjugation employed to denote seeking, attacking, or laying hold of; e.g., , lingua petere , i.e., to calumniate ; , oculo petere , i.e., to envy.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
12. For our iniquities are multiplied before thee. He confirms what he formerly said, namely, that the people act unjustly in accusing God of cruelty, and in not understanding that they are justly punished for their iniquities, the huge mass of which towers up to heaven; and in this sense the Prophet says that they “are multiplied.” There is also much weight in the phrase “before thee;” for the Prophet descends into himself, and acknowledges the righteous judgment of God, which was hidden from men. Thus he intended to point out an implied contrast between the judgment of God and the judgment of men, who flatter themselves, and do not consider their sins; but God, who is a just judge, does not the less on that account reprove them, or pay any attention to the frivolous excuses under which they endeavor to shelter themselves. For this reason he does not reckon it enough simply to condemn the people, but says that they have “multiplied” their sins, that is, in many respects they are guilty before God. He acknowledges, therefore, that the Lord is righteous, and performs the part of an excellent judge; since nothing good or right is found among men; and therefore he adds, —
Our sins have testified against us, ( or, answer (140) to us.) Witnesses are not summoned, or brought from heaven; but the Jews are rebuked and condemned by the testimony of conscience. That mode of expression ought to be carefully observed; for it shows that God does not need many proofs, since our sins hold us to be sufficiently convicted. We must not, therefore, strive with God, as if he punished us unjustly, or chastised us too severely; for our sins openly proclaim what we are, and God does not need additional proofs.
For our iniquities are with us. Instead of “with us,” some render אתנו ( ittanu) ”upon us;” but I choose rather to adhere to the strict meaning of the word. (141) Men practice evasions, and assume various shapes, in order to appear righteous; but in vain, for they carry with them their iniquities, from which they cannot extricate themselves; as God, in condemning Cain, (Gen 4:7) declares that “sin keepeth watch before the door;“ so that any one who despises the judgment of God shall in vain attempt to escape by his rebellion.
And we know our sins. When he says that the Jews “know their sins,” he does not mean that their hearts are truly affected by them, for in that case repentance follows; but he declares that, although they desire to escape the judgment of God, the testimony of their own conscience binds and holds them fast, so that it is vain for them to cavil or seek an excuse. He speaks in the first person, as if he were one of the great body of the people. This is very customary; but at the same time he shows that this evil prevails through the whole body to such an extent that not one member is whole or sound; and, although he may plead his own cause before God, yet, because iniquity is diffused through every part of the body, he acknowledges that he is one of the diseased members and is infected by the general contagion. Nor is there any contradiction in having formerly spoken of himself as not sharing the general guilt, and now laying aside all distinction, and including himself along with others.
(140) “A witness interrogated by a judge, or even speaking of his own accord, is said, ענה, ( gnanah,) ‘to answer.’ The same forIn of expression occurs in Isa 3:9; Jer 14:7; Hos 7:10.” — Rosenmuller
(141) “Lowth translates אתנו, ( ittanu,) ‘cleave fast unto us; ‘but interpreters generally prefer the sense expressed in the English Version, (they are with us, that is, in our sight, or present to our memory.)” Alexander. “Our sins are well known to us.” Doederlein
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(12) For our transgressions . . .The parallelism with the confessions of Daniel (Isa. 9:5-15) and Ezra (Isa. 9:6-15) is singularly striking, but is as explicable on the hypothesis that they reproduced that of 2 Isaiah as on the assumption that this also was written at the close of the exile. It would, of course, be as true in the time of Manasseh as at any subsequent period. The self accusations of the people are now, as they ought to be, as full and severe as the prophets original indictment had been.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12, 13. Our sins testify against us Every page of our life history is a record against us.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 59:12 For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions [are] with us; and [as for] our iniquities, we know them;
Ver. 12. For our transgressions are multiplied before thee. ] When complaints end in confessions, it is right – the medicine worketh kindly. Some furious fools have brutish and fell affections, full of rage; when in pain or grief, they fly upon God and man, and all that comes next hand, hoping to ease themselves, not by confession or reformation, but by revenge.
And our sins testify against us.
For our transgressions are with us.
And as for our iniquities, we know them.
a Heb., Peccatum respondit – i.e., Peccatorum unumquodque.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
transgressions. Hebrew. pasha’. App-44.
sins. Hebrew. chata’. App-44. Note that these three words occur together in Lev 16:21.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
our transgressions: Isa 1:4, Ezr 9:6, Jer 3:2, Jer 5:3-9, Jer 5:25-29, Jer 7:8-10, Eze 5:6, Eze 7:23, Eze 8:8-16, Eze 16:51, Eze 16:52, Eze 22:2-12, Eze 22:24-30, Eze 23:2-49, Eze 24:6-14, Hos 4:2, Mat 23:32, Mat 23:33, 1Th 2:15, 1Th 2:16
our sins: Jer 14:7, Hos 5:5, Hos 7:10, Rom 3:19, Rom 3:20
we know: Ezr 9:13, Neh 9:33, Dan 9:5-8
Reciprocal: Gen 30:33 – answer Num 32:23 – be sure your sin Job 36:9 – their Psa 51:3 – my sin Isa 24:5 – because Jer 5:6 – because Jer 30:15 – for the Eze 9:9 – The iniquity Zep 1:17 – because
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE TWOFOLD BARRIER
For our transgressions are multiplied before Thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them.
Isa 59:12
I. Towards God, sin, unatoned and unforgiven, cries ever against me, and I have nothing to answer.
II. Towards self, and in that august court of conscience that is within, the condemning voice is also heard; and here again I have no true answer to give.So a double barrier shuts me out from God, and help, and peace, and shuts me in to gloom and self-despair. What shall I do? There is One Who can set me free, One Who can remove instantly and for ever that awful double barrier. Is it not written that His blood cleanseth from all sin? It answers for every transgression, both before God and in the Court of Conscience. Praise God for ever and ever for that Mighty Deliverer, that Atoning Blood!
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Isa 59:12-13. For our transgressions The word , here used, signifies sins of a high nature, namely, such as were wilfully committed against light and knowledge; rebellious sins. Are multiplied before thee They admit of no excuse; for they are committed before thee, and multiplied against thee, whereby thou art justly provoked to deny us all help. And our sins testify against us The sins charged upon us are so many witnesses produced to prove our guilt. For our transgressions are with us Are still unforgiven, and we lie under the divine wrath on account of them. As for our iniquities, we know them We are convinced of them. In transgressing and lying, &c. He now enumerates some of those particular sins which they profess themselves to be convinced of; by which he does not mean the sins of some particular persons, or some slight sins, but a general defection and corruption of the whole body. Transgressing here, and lying, seem to be one and the same thing, inasmuch as in their transgressing the law of God, they broke their solemn engagement to God, made upon mount Sinai. Departing away from God Turning from God to idols. Speaking oppression, &c. As it were, talking of little else one among another, but how to oppress their neighbours, and apostatize from God. Conceiving and uttering That is, first contriving in their hearts false accusations against their neighbours, and false worship, to the dishonour of God; laying the contrivances so that they might be effectual, and then uttering them; from the heart And when they dealt with men in ways of fraud, it was from the heart; but when they spake with God, it was but from the lips.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
59:12 For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our {k} sins testify against us: for our transgressions [are] with us; and [as for] our iniquities, we know them;
(k) This confession is general to the Church to obtain remission of sins, and the prophets did not exempt themselves from the same.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The reason justice and salvation were far away was the Israelites’ multiplied transgressions, sins, and iniquities. But they had finally acknowledged their condition (cf. Psa 51:5). Therefore, hope was now possible, that God would step forward and deliver them (cf. 1Jn 1:9).
"Hatred of the consequences of sin and its destructive effects on one’s own life are not necessarily evidence of true repentance. It is when we face sin as rebellion against the holy God who loves us that we begin to see it, in some degree, as he sees it." [Note: Grogan, p. 326.]