Isaiah 50:2

"The LORD says, “Where is the bill of your mother’s divorce, with which I have put her away? Or to which of my creditors have I sold you? Behold, you were sold for your iniquities, and your mother was put away for your transgressions."

Key Reflection

In Isaiah 50:2, God uses a legal analogy familiar to His ancient Israelite listeners—divorce—to describe their covenant relationship. The Lord asks where is the official document of divorce that would legitimize His separation from Israel, hinting that no such document exists because He had not truly divorced them. Instead, He emphasizes that Israel was sold into exile due to their own iniquities and transgressions, paralleling how a husband might sell his wife as punishment for her adultery under the laws of ancient Near Eastern societies.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? -That is, when I came to call you to repentance, why was there no man of the nation to yield obedience? The sense is, that they had not been punished without warning. He had called them to repentance, but no one heard his voice. The Chaldee renders this, ‘Wherefore did I send my prophets, and they did not turn? They prophesied, but they did not attend.’ When I called, was there none to answer? -None obeyed, or regarded my voice. It was not, therefore, by his fault that they had been punished, but it was because they did not listen to the messengers which he had sent unto them.

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