We began yesterday talking about the lengths that God had gone to draw Israel to repentance. He is using the figure of man, bruised and battered almost beyond any recognition. Isaiah continues further:
From the sole of the foot even to the head,
There is no soundness in it,
But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores;
They have not been closed or bound up,
Or soothed with ointment. (Isaiah 1:6)
They have not been closed - That is, the lips had not been pressed together, to remove the blood from the wound. The meaning is, that nothing had been done toward healing the wound. It was an unhealed, undressed, all-pervading sore. The art of medicine, in the East, consisted chiefly in external applications; accordingly the prophet’s images in this place are all taken from surgery. The ancient method of treating an infected wound was to squeeze it together (so render, they have not been closed) in order to press out the pus, anoint it with olive oil so that it would continue to drain, and then bind it up with a bandage. None of these things had been done for Judah.[1] Sir John Chardin, in his note on Prov. 3:8, ‘It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones,’ observes, that the comparison is taken from the plasters, ointments, oils, and frictions, which are made use of in the East in most maladies. ‘In Judea,’ says one writer, ‘they have a certain preparation of oil, and melted grease, which they commonly use for the healing of wounds.’ (Compare Isa. 38:21.)
The nation has been so plagued that there is no part free, and yet the wounds have been completely neglected. The moral condition of Judah had been set forth under the figure of a wounded body; the remedies mentioned are the practices of the ancient world in the healing of diseases. The festering pus has been allowed to remain in the wounds and has not been pressed out to cleanse the wound and to free it of impurities. [2]
Neither mollified with ointment - Neither made soft, or tender, with ointment. Great use was made, in Eastern nations, of oil, and various kinds of unguents, in medicine. Hence, the good Samaritan is represented as pouring in oil and wine into the wounds of the man that fell among thieves (Luke 10:34); and the apostles were directed to anoint with oil those who were sick; (James 5:14; compare Rev. 3:18).
So that they would quickly heal. The picture is that of a body which has been neglected as far as healing measures are concerned, but not neglected with respect to continuing chastisement.[3] The contrast is deliberate and profound. This is the wrong kind of attention to be paid! God is paying attention to Israel while the nation itself is ignoring themselves!
The art of medicine in the East consists chiefly in external applications (Lu 10:34; Jam 5:14).[4] They knew nothing at that time of any real internal medicine and could only apply external ointments. The oil of olives was used commonly for this purpose. This is the reference to “Ointment” or Hebrew oil. It is referring, of course, to olive oil, i.e., vegetable oil extracted from the olive fruit, used as a food, lamp-oil, medicines and perfumes.[5] It can also mean fatness or fertile and was thought to be able to convey that property to a wound and thus make it well if bound up in the wound. It does, in fact, have some of those qualities.
The whole figure in these two verses relates to their being punished for their sins. As we have said, it is taken from the appearance of a man who is severely, beaten, or scourged for crime; whose wounds had not been dressed, and who was thus a continued bruise, or sore, from his head to his feet. There is no healing occurring and thus his condition is only worsening. The cause of this the prophet states afterward, (Isa. 1:10 ff) is their continued sin and idolatry.
With great skill he first reminds them of what they saw and knew, that they were severely punished; and then states to them the cause of it. Of the calamities to which the prophet refers, they could have no doubt. They were everywhere visible in all their cities and towns. On these far-spreading desolations, he fixes the eye distinctly first. Had he begun with the statement of their depravity, they would probably have revolted at it. But being presented with a statement of their sufferings, which they all saw and felt, they were prepared for the statement of the cause.
To find access to the consciences of sinners, and to convince them of their guilt, it is often necessary to remind them first of the calamities in which they are actually involved; and then to search for the cause. This passage, therefore, has no reference to their moral character. It relates solely to their punishment. It is often indeed adduced to prove the doctrine of depravity; but it has no direct reference to it, and it should not be adduced to prove that people are depraved, or applied as referring to the moral condition of man. The account of their moral character, as the cause of their calamities, is given in Isa. 1:10-14 which we will discuss fully later on). That statement will fully account for the many woes which had come on the nation. What is in view here is that their character, as discussed in a moment, has resulted in very real and very extensive damage to them as a people, as a nation before God. All of this is inflicted by God in His attempt to bring them back to faith and back to obedience.
Michael is refers this to each of the preceding, “none of them is mollified with ointment.” It would seem more suitable, however, to take the phrase independently. Thus, three characteristics of the body were mentioned: wounds, bruises, and fresh sores, and three methods of healing are likewise given: pressed out, bound up, mollified by oil. The only remedy for such God - inflicted wounds is God Himself. Judah is a nation punished by God, and unless He intervenes there is no hope for her.
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[1] Pfeiffer, C. F. (1962). The Wycliffe Bible commentary : Old Testament (Is 1:4). Chicago: Moody Press.
[2] Op Cit, Young.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., Fausset, A. R., Brown, D., & Brown, D. (1997). A commentary, critical and explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. On spine: Critical and explanatory commentary. (Is 1:6). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
[5] Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.) (DBLH 9043, #1). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
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