Isaiah 43:24 - Exposition

Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money . "Sweet cane" is mentioned in the Law only in connection with the "holy anointing oil" ( Exodus 30:23 ). But the present passage raises a suspicion that it was practically used in the burnt offerings of private persons (see the next clause). That it was anciently used in Babylonia in sacrifice, appears from the Deluge Tablets. But thou hast made me to serve with thy sins . "The sins of Israel," as Delitzsch observes, "pressed upon Jehovah, as a burthen does upon a servant." This is a part of the fundamental idea running through the third part of Isaiah, closely connected with the mediatorial office of the "Servant of the Lord," who "bare the sin of many" ( Isaiah 53:12 ), and on whom "the Lord laid the iniquity of us all" ( Isaiah 53:6 ). Israel, both during the Captivity and before, had accumulated a heavy load of sin, not merely by negligence, but by overt acts of guilt (see Isaiah 1:4 , Isaiah 1:15 , Isaiah 1:21-23 , etc.).