properly · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
cloud
כָעָב֙kha.'Av
H5645
properly · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
transgressions
פְּשָׁעֶ֔יךָpe.sha.'Ei.kha
H6588
a revolt (national · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
cloud
וְכֶעָנָ֖ןve.khe.'a.Nan
H6051
a cloud (as covering the sky) · conjunction + preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
sins
חַטֹּאותֶ֑יךָcha.to.Tei.kha
H2403
an offence (sometimes habitual sinfulness) · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
return
שׁוּבָ֥הshu.Vah
H7725
to turn back (hence · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular + paragogic he
redeemed
גְאַלְתִּֽיךָge.'al.Ti.kha
H1350
to be the next of kin (and as such to buy back a relati… · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Isaiah 43:25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.
1 Corinthians 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Acts 3:18-19 But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
Isaiah 43:1 But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called…
1 Peter 1:18-19 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by traditio…
Psalms 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
Isaiah 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and…
Jeremiah 33:8 And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they h…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 44:21–end
In these verses we have,
I. The duty which Jacob and Israel, now in captivity, were called to, that they might be qualified and prepared for the deliverance designed them. Our first care must be to get good by our afflictions, and then we may hope to get out of them. The duty is expressed in two words: Remember and return, as in the counsel to Ephesus, Rev 2:4, Rev 2:5. 1. "Remember these, O Jacob! Remember what thou hast been told of the folly of idolatry, and let the convictions thou art now under be ready to thee whenever thou art tempted to that sin. Remember that thou art my servant, and therefore must not serve other masters." 2. Return unto me, Isa 44:22. It is the great concern of th…
blotted out--the debt of thy sin from the account-book in which it was entered (Exo 32:32-33; Rev 20:12).
as a thick cloud--scattered away by the wind (Psa 103:12).
as a cloud--a descending gradation. Not only the "thick cloud" of the heavier "transgressions," but the "cloud" ("vapor" [LOWTH], not so dense, but covering the sky as a mist) of the countless "sins." These latter, though not thought much of by man, need, as much as the former, to be cleared away by the Sun of righteousness; else they will be a mist separating us from heaven (Psa 19:12-13; Jo1 1:7-9).
return . . . for--The antecedent redemption is the ground of, and motive to, repentance. We do not repent in order that He m…
I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins,.... Sins and transgressions are compared to clouds, for the number of them, they being many as the fleeting clouds of the air; and for the nature and quality of them: as clouds are vapours rising out of the earth and sea, so these arise out of the earthly and corrupt heart of man, which is as a troubled sea; and, like the clouds, they reach up to the heavens, and the cry of them calls aloud for vengeance from thence; they cause darkness, even all that darkness, both in unregeneracy, and after conversion; they intercept the light of God's countenance, and interpose between God and the souls of men, and cause him…
The Church Fathers
God pardoned Israel's sins when he brought them out of the Babylonian captivity. But, really and truly, it was only after the incarnation that God forgave the sins of those who believed in him. He removed the cloud of their sins and supplied them with eternal life.
And thus, through each and every kind of malice, as though by diverse colors gathered together, you paint upon yourself this "image of the earthly," which God did not make in you. Therefore he is to be entreated by us who says through the prophet: "Behold, I blot out your iniquities as a cloud, and your sins as a mist." And when he has blotted out in you all those colors which were taken from the dyes of malice, then there shines forth again in you that image which was created by God. You see, then, how the divine scriptures introduce forms and figures by which the soul may be taught unto the acknowledgment or the cleansing of itself.
(Vers. 22) I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you. LXX: Behold, I have blotted out your iniquities as a cloud, and your sins as a mist. Return to me, and I will redeem you. Because these things are completely destroyed in the coming of my chosen child, therefore with all the eagerness of your mind, understand that just as a cloud and darkness, and mist, either dissolve in the heat of the sun, or are weakened by the wind that carries them away: so I will dissolve your iniquities and all the sins by which you have previously offended me. Just return to me and repent, for you are to be redeemed by precious blood.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Blot — A stain or reproach (Job 31:7; Prov. 9:7). To blot out sin is to forgive it (Ps. 51:1, 9; Isa. 44:22; Acts 3:19). Christ’s blotting out the handwriting of ordinances was his fulfilling the law in our…
Cloud — The Hebrew so rendered means “a covering,” because clouds cover the sky. The word is used as a symbol of the Divine presence, as indicating the splendour of that glory which it conceals (Ex. 16:10;…
Kinsman — Heb. goel, from root meaning to redeem. The goel among the Hebrews was the nearest male blood relation alive. Certain important obligations devolved upon him toward his next of kin. (1.) If any one…
Clouds · Illustrative: Of sins of men — Illustrative: Of sins of men
Jews, The · Promises respecting: Pardon of sin — Promises respecting: Pardon of sin
Pardon · Expressed by: Blotting out transgression — Expressed by: Blotting out transgression
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
I have blotted out, as a cloud, thy iniquities. The Lord promises to his people future deliverance; for our hearts cannot be actually raised towards God, if we do not perceive that he is reconciled to us. In order, therefore, that he may keep the people whom he hath once bound to himself, he adds a promise by which he comforts them, that they may be fully convinced that the banishment shall not be perpetual; for God, being a most indulgent Father, moderates his chastisements in such a manner, that he always forgives his children.
When he says that "he has blotted out their iniquities," this relates literally to the captives who were punished for their transgressions; and the consequence was…
The second half of the prophecy commences with Isa 44:21. It opens with an admonition. "Remember this, Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art servant to me, O Israel: thou art not forgotten by me." The thing to which the former were blind - namely, that idolatry is a lie - Jacob was to have firmly impressed upon its mind. The words "and Israel," which are attached, are a contract for "and remember this, O Israel" (compare the vocatives after Vâv in Pro 8:5 and Joe 2:23). In the reason assigned, the tone rests upon my in the expression "my servant," and for this reason "servant to me" is used interchangeably with it. Israel is the servant of Jehovah, and as s…
