Isaiah 1:21 New English Translation
Purifying Judgment
21 How tragic that the once-faithful city
has become a prostitute![a]
She was once a center of[b] justice;
fairness resided in her—
but now only murderers![c]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 1:21 tn Heb “How she has become a prostitute, the faithful city!” The exclamatory אֵיכָה (ʾekhah, “how!”) is used several times as the beginning of a lament (see Lam 1:1; 2:1; 4:1-2). Unlike a number of other OT passages that link references to Israel’s harlotry to idolatry, Isaiah here makes the connection with social and moral violations.
- Isaiah 1:21 tn Heb “filled with.”
- Isaiah 1:21 tn Or “assassins.” This refers to the oppressive rich and/or their henchmen. R. Ortlund (Whoredom, 78) posits that it serves as a synecdoche for all varieties of criminals, the worst being mentioned to imply all lesser ones. Since Isaiah often addressed his strongest rebuke to the rulers and leaders of Israel, he may have in mind the officials who bore the responsibility to uphold justice and righteousness.
New English Translation (NET)
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