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A Father and His Rebellious SonsIsaiah’s Prophecy—Light for All Mankind I
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b Isaiah’s words reflect the medical practice of his day. Bible researcher E. H. Plumptre notes: “To ‘close’ or ‘press’ the festering wound was the process tried at first to get rid of the purulent discharge; then, as in Hezekiah’s case (chap. xxxviii. Isa 38:21), it was ‘bound up,’ with a poultice, then some stimulating oil or unguent, probably, as in Luke x. 34, oil and wine were used, to cleanse the ulcer.”
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A Father and His Rebellious SonsIsaiah’s Prophecy—Light for All Mankind I
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13, 14. (a) What injuries have been inflicted upon Judah? (b) Do Judah’s sufferings cause her to reconsider her rebellious course?
13 Isaiah continues to describe Judah’s pitiable state: “Wounds and bruises and fresh stripes—they have not been squeezed out or bound up, nor has there been a softening with oil.” (Isaiah 1:6b) Here the prophet refers to three types of injuries: wounds (cuts, such as those inflicted by a sword or a knife), bruises (welts resulting from beating), and fresh stripes (recent, open sores that seem beyond healing). The idea presented is that of a man who has been severely punished in every manner imaginable, with no part of his body escaping harm. Judah is truly in a broken-down state.
14 Does Judah’s miserable condition move her to return to Jehovah? No! Judah is like the rebel described at Proverbs 29:1: “A man repeatedly reproved but making his neck hard will suddenly be broken, and that without healing.” The nation seems beyond curing. As Isaiah puts it, her wounds “have not been squeezed out or bound up, nor has there been a softening with oil.”b In a sense, Judah resembles an open, unbandaged, all-pervasive sore.
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