Location Affliction

Why would you be beaten more, swerving from the way?  Every head is sick and every heart in pain.  Isaiah 1:5  Robert Alter

Why – The Hebrew phrase ʿal me(h) is translated “where” by the NASB but “why” by Robert Alter.  The meanings are not the same.  Is God asking (metaphorically) the location of the next blow or is He asking why the people want the blows to continue?  The first choice carries the idea that the next blow is inevitable and only the location is in question.  The second choice suggests that the blows are not inevitable and what is at issue is the continuing rebellion.

The difference is important.  The NASB view could imply a vindictive God who metes out punishment until the subject bows in submission.  “Where would you like it next?”  The second carries the idea that God Himself is upset with this course of actions.  He very much desires it to stop and He can’t understand why the people continue to act in ways that produce punishment.  There is no rhyme or reason to their behavior.  Everything about Israel is in pain and injury.  The words are ḥŏlî (sick) and dawway (faint, languishing).  It is absolutely obvious that the people as a whole need a doctor, and God is more than willing to provide the divine medicine necessary for healing.  But despite God’s willingness to make the appointment, Israel resists.  It just doesn’t make any sense.

ḥŏlî (sick) isn’t just about bodily infirmity.  “To be ‘sick’ includes the condition brought about by physical injury or wounding: by beating (Prov 23:35 KJV: ASV and RSV ‘hurt’), from battle wounds (II Kgs 8:29), from a fall (II Kgs 1:2). It is used in a general sense (like the English) for illness, regardless of cause, sometimes leading to death: Jacob (Gen 48:1) . . .”^[1]

dawway provides another nuance.  Israel has planted its strength in idolatry.  It has reaped catastrophe.  The word is connected with ritual contamination and doom resulting from rejecting God.  You will notice that the “head” is hurt but the “heart” is contaminated.  Active idolatry affects thought and attitude.  Both bodily expressions are metaphorical.  Israel, as a nation, is suffering from a fatal illness.

The NASB doesn’t quite catch these important implications:

Where will you be stricken again,
As you continue in your rebellion?
The entire head is sick
And the entire heart is faint.

But now you know.  And now you can ask yourself, “What is my society like?  Where is the adherence to God’s Covenant among my people?  What symptoms do I see?”  And, of course, “Where are we going?”

Topical Index: sick, hurt, faint, ḥŏlî, dawway, ʿal me(h), why, Isaiah 1:5

^[1] Weber, C. P. (1999). 655 חָלָה. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., pp. 286–287). Chicago: Moody Press.