Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 6:7
And he laid [it] upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
7. and thine iniquity purged ] and thy guilt passes away and thy sin is atoned for. The last word is the technical term for the expiatory effect of the sacrificial ritual.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And he laid it upon my mouth – Margin, And he caused it to touch my mouth. This is the more correct rendering. It was a slight, momentary touch, sufficient merely to be a sign or token that he was cleansed.
Thine iniquity is taken away – That is, whatever obstacle there existed to your communicating the message of God to this people, arising from your own consciousness of unworthiness, is taken away. You are commissioned to bear that message, and your own consciousness of guilt should not be a hinderance. To understand this, it should be remembered that fire, among the orientals, has been always regarded as an emblem of purifying. Thus the Sabeans, the followers or Zoroaster in Persia, worshipped fire, as the emblem of a pure divinity; see Mal 3:2-3; compare Mat 3:2. Every minister of the gospel, though conscious of personal unworthiness and unfitness, should yet go freely and cheerfully to his work, if he has evidence that he is called and commissioned by God. Is purged. Is purified, is removed – tekupar from kaphar, to cover, to overlay; then to make an atonement for, to expiate, to cover sin, to pardon it, to affect or to procure forgiveness; and then to purify in general, to make whole; compare the note at Isa 43:3. This does not mean, that the fire from the altar had any physical effect to purify him from sin, but that it was emblematic of such a purifying; and probably, also, the fact that it was taken from the altar of sacrifice, was to him an indication that he was pardoned through the atonement, or expiation there made. The Jews expected pardon in no other mode than by sacrifice; and the offering on their altar pointed to the great sacrifice which was to be made on the cross for the sins of human beings. There is here a beautiful union of the truths respecting sacrifice. The great doctrine is presented that it is only by sacrifice that sin can be pardoned; and the Messiah, the sacrifice himself, is exhibited as issuing the commission to Isaiah to go and declare his message to people.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
He laid it upon my mouth slightly, so as only to touch my lips, and not to burn them; which God could easily effect.
Thy sin purged; this is a sign that I have pardoned and purged the uncleanness of thy lips, and do own and accept time as a fit minister for my service.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. mouth . . . lips(See onIsa 6:5). The mouth wastouched because it was the part to be used by the prophet wheninaugurated. So “tongues of fire” rested on thedisciples (Act 2:3; Act 2:4)when they were being set apart to speak in various languagesof Jesus.
iniquityconsciousunworthiness of acting as God’s messenger.
purgedliterally,”covered,” that is, expiated, not by any physical effect offire to cleanse from sin, but in relation to the altar sacrifices,of which Messiah, who here commissions Isaiah, was in His death to bethe antitype: it is implied hereby that it is only by sacrifice sincan be pardoned.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And he laid [it] upon my mouth,…. Because he had complained of the impurity of his lips, and that his mouth might take in by faith this comfortable doctrine of pardon, and it might be filled with praise and thankfulness; it denotes the ministration of the Gospel, as a means of the application of pardoning grace:
and said, lo, this hath touched thy lips; this coal, as a symbol of the word; the particle “lo”, or “behold”, is prefixed to this declaration, as requiring attention to a matter of importance, and as expressing something wonderful, and declaring something sure and certain; all which the pardon of sin is, and which is spoken of without a figure in the next words:
and thine iniquity is taken away: which was abominable in his sight; a burden to him, and the cause of his distress; even all his iniquity, and particularly the iniquity of his lips he had been mourning over, and confessing; this was taken away, as by the sacrifice of Christ, from the sight of God, so from his own conscience, by the application of pardon:
and thy sin purged; or “atoned for”, or “covered” q; which is done meritoriously, only by the blood and sacrifice of Christ; and in a way of application by the Spirit of God, through a promise, and by the ministry of the word; which latter is here meant. The Targum is,
“and he disposed “it” in my mouth; and said, lo, I have put the words of my prophecy in thy mouth, and thine iniquities are removed, and thy sins are expiated, or forgiven.”
q “expiatur”, Junius Tremellius, Cocceius “expiabitur”, Montanus, Piscator; “proprie tegere”. Forerius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
7. And applying it to my mouth. (94) We see how God condescends to meet the weakness of human sense. He puts the tongs into the hand of a seraph, that by means of it he may take a coal from the altar and apply it to the Prophet’s mouth. This was, no doubt, done in vision; but by the aid of the outward sign God assisted the Prophet’s understanding. There is no reason to believe that the coal possessed any virtue, as superstitious persons imagine that in the magical arts there is some hidden power. Nothing of this sort is to be found here; for it is God alone who can cleanse our pollution, in whatever part it exists.
Here the angel administered the cleansing, but was not the author of it; so that we must not ascribe to another what belongs to God alone. This is expressly stated by the angel himself, who claims nothing as his own, but bringing forward the sacred pledge which he had received from God, laid it as a sacrament on the lips of the Prophet; not that he could not be cleansed without the coal, but because the visible sign was useful for the confirmation and proof of the fact. And such is the use of sacraments, to strengthen us in proportion to our ignorance; for we are not angels, that can behold the mysteries of God without any assistance, and therefore he raises us to himself by gradual advances.
Lo, this hath touched thy lips. He shows that the confirmation which was obtained by the sign was not without effect, but that the blessing signified by it was at the same time bestowed, so that Isaiah knew that he had not been deceived. Hence we may infer, that in the sacraments the reality is given to us along with the sign; for when the Lord holds out a sacrament, he does not feed our eyes with an empty and unmeaning figure, but joins the truth with it, so as to testify that by means of them he acts upon us efficaciously. And this ought to be the more carefully observed, because there are few persons in the present day who understand the true use of sacraments, and because many godly and learned men are engaged in frequent disputes respecting them.
First of all, we ought to believe that the truth must never be separated from the signs, though it ought to be distinguished from them. We perceive and feel a sign, such as the bread which is put into our hands by the minister in the Lord’s Supper; and because we ought to seek Christ in heaven, our thoughts ought to be carried thither. By the hand of the minister he presents to us his body, that it may be actually enjoyed by the godly, who rise by faith to fellowship with him. He bestows it, therefore, on the godly, who raise their thoughts to him by faith; for he cannot deceive.
Unbelievers indeed receive the sign; but because they linger in the world, and do not arrive at Christ’s heavenly kingdom, they have no experience of the truth; for he who has not faith cannot raise his thoughts to God, and therefore cannot partake of Christ. Faith alone opens for us the gate of the kingdom of God; and therefore, whoever wishes to eat the flesh of Christ must be carried by faith to heaven beyond human conception. In short, it is the Spirit of God alone who can make us partakers of that fellowship. And yet it does not follow that the unbelief of men takes anything away from the truth of the sacrament, since God always presents to us a spiritual matter, but wicked men treat it with scorn; just as the grace of God is offered by the gospel, but all do not receive it, though they actually hear it, and are compelled to yield assent to the truth.
Besides, we learn from this passage that the sacraments are never separated from the word. The angel does not here act the part of a dumb man, but, after having given the sign, immediately adds the doctrine, in order to show what was intended by it; for it would have been no sacrament, if doctrine had not been added, from which Isaiah could learn for what purpose the coal was applied to his mouth. Let us therefore learn that the chief part of the sacraments consists in the word, and that without it they are absolute corruptions, such as we see every day in popery, in which the sacraments are turned into stage-plays. The amount of the whole is, that there is nothing to prevent Isaiah, who has been perfectly cleansed, and is free from all pollution, from appearing as God’s representative.
(94) And he laid it upon (marg., caused it to touch) my mouth. — Eng. Ver.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(7) And he laid it upon my mouth.So Jehovah touched the mouth of Isaiahs great successor (Jer. 1:9); but not in that case with a coal from the altar. That prophet, like Moses (Exo. 4:10), had felt only or chiefly the want of power (Alas! I cannot speak), and power was given him. Isaiah desired purity, and his prayer also was answered.
Thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.The clauses express the two elements of the great change which men, according to their varying systems, have called Conversion, the New Birth, Regeneration; but which is at all times a necessary stage in the perfecting of the saints of God. Pardon and purity are the conditions alike of the prophets work and of the completeness of his own spiritual life.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. Touched thy lips Yet, though “mouth” alone was touched by the coal, the purifying power burned through the whole nature. The “lips” were touched because they were the organ through which the purified nature would express itself.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 6:7 And he laid [it] upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
Ver. 7. And he laid it upon my mouth. ] Not to burn him, for all this was visional, but to expiate and purify his lips by the “spirit of judgment and of burning”; Isa 4:4 to fire him up to a holy contention in godliness, and to fit him yet further for his office, as the apostles were for theirs by cloven tongues of fire Act 2:3-4
And said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips.
Thine iniquity is taken away.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
iniquity. Hebrew. ‘avah, App-44.
purged = covered. Hebrew. kaphar = to cover, and thus, here, atone. See note on Exo 29:33. Not the same word as in Isa 1:25; Isa 4:4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
he laid it upon: Heb. caused it to touch, Jer 1:9, Dan 10:16
thine iniquity: Isa 43:25, Isa 53:5, Isa 53:10, Mat 9:2, Heb 9:13, Heb 9:14, 1Jo 1:7, 1Jo 2:1, 1Jo 2:2
Reciprocal: Exo 4:11 – General Lev 16:12 – from off Num 16:46 – from off Neh 8:10 – the joy Psa 65:3 – transgressions Psa 85:3 – taken Eze 10:2 – coals Dan 9:21 – touched Hos 14:2 – away Mat 8:15 – touched Rev 14:6 – another
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
6:7 And he laid [it] upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thy iniquity is taken away, and thy {n} sin purged.
(n) This declares that man cannot render due obedience to God, till he has purged us.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
God’s purging agent touched Isaiah’s mouth, and the angelic messenger assured the prophet that he had been completely cleansed of his uncleanness. We might call this Isaiah’s conversion experience. Compare Act 9:3-11, which records the Apostle Paul’s conversion and call.