The Pulpit Commentary on Isaiah 1:9

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom. Lowth and Cheyne prefer to divide the two clauses differently, and to translate, "Except the Lord of hosts had left us a remnant, within a little we should have been like Sodom."

The "remnant" is that of the few godly men who still inhabit Jerusalem. The comparison of Jerusalem with Sodom is made again in Isaiah 3:9, and is carried out at some length by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 16:44-57).

It implies a condition of extreme depravity.

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