The following commentary on Isa 64:6 (Heb. v. 5) shows that the "uncleanness" is not something the people were born with (a la Total Depravity [the 'T' of TULIP]) but something that come about in the then-unrighteous community (i.e., it is something they became
64:5b [64:4b] The first half
of 64:5 spoke of the ideal of God meeting people who do right and follow him,
but suddenly in v. 5b the lamenter(s) recognizes that in the near past “you
yourself were angry” with your people. God’s anger is actually mentioned before
the admission that “we sinned” (NIV reverses the order and puts God’s anger
after the people’s sin), but the connection between these two acts is not
spelled out explicitly.” Although a causal (“because”) or temporal (“when”)
connection is possible, F. Delitzsch proposes a better alternative translation,
“and we stood as sinners,” which fits in better with a confession of guilt.
This translation also allows one to keep the Hebrew sentence order.
The last clause is particularly difficult and is often emended to make
sense out of it. Literally the text reads “in them for innumerable days and we
shall be saved,” but what does this mean? NIV omits the first clause and makes
the second clause into a question. Since the first half of the line does not
have a verb (there are two verbs in the preceding line), it is normal in Hebrew
to assume the “to be” verb as implied in a verbless noun clause. Adding this
implied verb, one would get the translation “we were in them [i.e., in sins]
for innumerable days.” The final clause could be a question that expresses
pessimism that there is any hope, as in NIV (though there is no question marker
in this phrase in the Hebrew), but in a confession of sin it seems more likely
that the clause would be a more positive statement that expresses optimism, “yet
we can be saved.”
64:6 [64:5] The confession
of sin continues with the honest admission that uncleanness has infected
everyone in the community; no one is righteous, not even one (cf. 1 Kgs 8:46).
This shows that the problem being faced by this community was not some outside
military force or a problem related to their material circumstances. The
central difficulty was the people’s personal inability to avoid what was
sinful. Sin had so pervaded their lives that even the things that most people
would usually regard as righteous deeds were in fact more like filthy
menstruation rags. This is an honest appraisal of the filthiness of sin, which
is relatively rare in the past or today. Too often sin is deemed a slight
mistake, a small or relatively minor infraction that is not really significant
enough to confess. It is all too easy to overlook sin, forget it, or excuse it,
assuming that it will not have a major impact on anyone’s relationship to God.
Instead, the sinner should follow the example of the person confessing sins in
this passage. Sin is a dark and destructive act that makes a person an enemy of
God. The sinner is more repulsive than a vile and rancid menstrual cloth. This
graphically repulsive imagery is a stark contrast to the clothing of salvation
and righteousness that believers will wear in God’s future kingdom (61:10).
The second half of the verse compares sinners to a withered fading leaf
on a tree. Elsewhere Isaiah refers to people under God’s judgment as dying
plants or withering leaves (1:30; 28:1, 4; 40:7) instead of a living, vibrant
plant that is bearing fruit. What happens when leaves fade and dry up? Soon the
wind blows, and the useless leaves are carried away. So it is with these
people. The person confessing these sins recognizes that “our iniquities, like
the wind, carry us away.” The interpretation of this imagery could move in
several directions. Is it saying that people are literally dead and sin carries
them away to Sheol, or is this symbolism a reference to living an unproductive
life in which they are carried away into the paths of evil by their iniquity?
At minimum one can say that dried-up leaves are of no use to the tree or anyone
else. When a leaf is living and productive, it is securely connected to the
branch and the wind does not affect it; but when a leaf dies and loses its
connection to the tree, the winds can easily blow it away. It loses control of
its fate and all hope for the future. (Gary Smith, Isaiah 40-66 [The
New American Commentary 15B; Nashville: Broadman and Holman Publishers, 2009),
689-91)
