Isaiah 1:9

 Isaiah 1:9

Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.

a. ASV: Except Jehovah of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, we should have been like unto Gomorrah.  [Thomas Nelson & Sons first published the American Standard Version in 1901. This translation of the Bible is in the public domain.]

b. YLT: Unless Jehovah of Hosts had left to us a remnant, Shortly -- as Sodom we had been, To Gomorrah we had been like!  [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. Classic Amplified: Except the Lord of hosts had left us a very small remnant [of survivors], we should have been like Sodom, and we should have been like Gomorrah. [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. The Milstein Edition, Later Prophets, Isaiah: Had not HASHEM, Master of Legions, left us a trace of a remnant, we would have been like Sodom; we would have resembled Gomorrah!  [THE ARTSCROLL SERIES\MILSTEIN EDITION THE LATTER PROPHETS, ISAIAH Ⓒ Copyright 2013 by MESORAH PUBLICATIONS, Ltd.]

e. Torah, Judaism and Jewish information on the web: www.chabad.org; Online English Translation of the Tanakh (Jewish Bible):  "Had not the Lord of Hosts left us a remnant, we would soon be like Sodom; we would resemble Gomorrah."  [English Translation, Ⓒ Copyright The Judaica Press All rights reserved.]

1. “Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant…”

a. Except [Strong: 3884 luwle' loo-lay' or luwley {loo lay'}; from 3863 and 3808; if not:--except, had not, if (...not), unless, were it not that.]

b. [the] LORD [Strong: 3068 Yhovah yeh-ho-vaw' from 1961; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of God:--Jehovah, the Lord.]

c. [of] hosts [Strong: 6635 tsaba' tsaw-baw' or (feminine) tsbadah {tseb-aw-aw'}; from 6633; a mass of persons (or figuratively, things), especially reg. organized for war (an army); by implication, a campaign, literally or figuratively (specifically, hardship, worship):--appointed time, (+) army, (+) battle, company, host, service, soldiers, waiting upon, war(-fare).]

d. [had] left [Strong: 3498 yathar yaw-thar' a primitive root; to jut over or exceed; by implication, to excel; (intransitively) to remain or be left; causatively, to leave, cause to abound, preserve:--excel, leave (a remnant), left behind, too much, make plenteous, preserve, (be, let) remain(-der, -ing, - nant), reserve, residue, rest.]

e. [unto us a] very small [Strong: 4592 m`at meh-at' or miat {meh-awt'}; from 4591; a little or few (often adverbial or compar.):--almost (some, very) few(-er, -est), lightly, little (while), (very) small (matter, thing), some, soon, X very.]

f. remnant [Strong: 8300 sariyd saw-reed' from 8277; a survivor:--X alive, left, remain(- ing), remnant, rest.]

2. “...we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.”

a. [we should] have been [Strong: 1961 hayah haw-yaw a primitive root (Compare 1933); to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary):--beacon, X altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, + follow, happen, X have, last, pertain, quit (one-)self, require, X use.]

b. [as] Sodom [Strong: 5467 Cdom sed-ome' from an unused root meaning to scorch; burnt (i.e. volcanic or bituminous) district; Sedom, a place near the Dead Sea:-- Sodom.]

c. [and] we should have been like [Strong: 1819 damah daw-maw' a primitive root; to compare; by implication, to resemble, liken, consider:--compare, devise, (be) like(-n), mean, think, use similitudes.]

d. [unto] Gomorrah [Strong: 6017 `Amorah am-o-raw' from 6014; a (ruined) heap; Amorah, a place in Palestine:--Gomorrah.]

1). The prophet Isaiah, about 85 years before the judgment and Jeremiah very close to it both compare Jerusalem to Sodom and  Gomorrah.

a). Isaiah 3:8, 9 For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory.

3:9 The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.

b). Jeremiah 23:14  I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.

2). The Apostle John also compared Jerusalem to Sodom.

a). Revelation 11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

b). These citations set up that Isaiah 1:10-2 is a prophetic utterance to Jerusalem, which it is. I also believe that this particular passage (Isaiah 1:10-20), is a prophetic utterance that was originally given to the rulers of Sodom and Gomorrah before the events of Genesis 14 and the invasion of the Mesopotamian kings and repeated here to the rulers of Jerusalem. The only evidence I have to believe this is of course these words are addressed to Sodom and Gomorrah, but also it is consistent with the mercy of God to send warnings before judgment comes. So before the invasion of the kings from Mesopotamia the above prophetic message was delivered to warn the cities of the plain. The most well known and accepted line of thought regarding this passage is that this passage is  to be applied spiritually to Judah and Jerusalem, not literally. There is sufficient Scripture to compliment a spiritual application. 

(1) Jeremiah 23:14 I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness; they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.

(2) Isaiah 3:8, 9  For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory.

3:9 The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.

(3) Revelation 11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

3). Don Costello: I believe this passage can be applied both spiritually and literally. Spiritually to illustrate the level of sin Jerusalem and Judah had descended, but literally to illustrate that they had become just like them and to reveal the other sins of the cities of the plain. See notes on Ezekiel 16:49, 50; Jeremiah 23:14; Zephaniah 2:8-10. This is done to reveal to us that the homosexuality of 21st century America is no different than that of 20th century B.C. Sodom or of 7th century B.C. Israel or of 1st century A.D. Corinth.