Isaiah 59 Footnotes

59:16 In context (vv. 1-15), the description of sinfulness in the land shows how depraved the nation had become and how far it had strayed from God. Isaiah did not excuse himself from this picture (6:5); “no man,” not even the prophet, was standing up against injustice and ungodliness and interceding for the sinful community. The “man” God looked for, but did not find, could be: (1) a righteous king like Hezekiah; (2) some other leader, besides Isaiah, who might respond to his messages through the prophet; or (3) no “man” at all, since the nation’s problems were beyond human solution and God must bring salvation himself (59:16-21).