Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a {g} seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the {h} Holy One of Israel to anger, they are gone away backward.

(g) They were not only wicked as were their fathers, but utterly corrupt and by their evil example infected others.

(h) That is, him that sanctifies Israel.

Wesley's Notes

1:4 A seed - The children of wicked parents, whose guilt they inherit, and whose evil example they follow. Corrupters - Heb. that corrupt themselves, or others by their counsel and example. Backward - Instead of proceeding forward and growing in grace.

King James Translators' Notes

laden: Heb. of heaviness

gone...: Heb. alienated, or, separated

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

4. people-the peculiar designation of God's elect nation (Ho 1:10), that they should be "laden with iniquity" is therefore the more monstrous. Sin is a load (Ps 38:4; Mt 11:28).

seed-another appellation of God's elect (Ge 12:7; Jer 2:21), designed to be a "holy seed" (Isa 6:13), but, awful to say, "evildoers!"

children-by adoption (Ho 11:1), yet "evildoers"; not only so, but "corrupters" of others (Ge 6:12); the climax. So "nation-people-seed children."

provoked-literally, "despised," namely, so as to provoke (Pr 1:30, 31).

Holy One of Israel-the peculiar heinousness of their sin, that it was against their God (Am 3:2).

gone . backward-literally, "estranged" (Ps 58:3).

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

1:1-9 Isaiah signifies, The salvation of the Lord; a very suitable name for this prophet, who prophesies so much of Jesus the Saviour, and his salvation. God's professing people did not know or consider that they owed their lives and comforts to God's fatherly care and kindness. How many are very careless in the affairs of their souls! Not considering what we do know in religion, does us as much harm, as ignorance of what we should know. The wickedness was universal. Here is a comparison taken from a sick and diseased body. The distemper threatens to be mortal. From the sole of the foot even to the head; from the meanest peasant to the greatest peer, there is no soundness, no good principle, no religion, for that is the health of the soul. Nothing but guilt and corruption; the sad effects of Adam's fall. This passage declares the total depravity of human nature. While sin remains unrepented, nothing is done toward healing these wounds, and preventing fatal effects. Jerusalem was exposed and unprotected, like the huts or sheds built up to guard ripening fruits. These are still to be seen in the East, where fruits form a large part of the summer food of the people. But the Lord had a small remnant of pious servants at Jerusalem. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed. The evil nature is in every one of us; only Jesus and his sanctifying Spirit can restore us to spiritual health.