Tafsiran Yesaya 1:21: Tze'enah Ure'enah, Rashi & Ibn Ezra

“Faithful city” [1:21]. Rabbi Phinehas said that there were four hundred and eighty synagogues and when Vespasian came, he destroyed all of them.¹³Yalkut Shimoni, Isaiah, Remez, 390.

“Where righteousness dwelled” [1:21]. Rabbi Judah bar Simon said: no person spent a night in Jerusalem and had a sin, since the sin that he committed during the day was forgiven by the evening sacrifice and a sin committed at night, the early morning sacrifice forgave their sins.¹⁴Yalkut Shimoni, Isaiah, Remez, 390.

However, now Isaiah says, the city of Jerusalem is full of murderers. Your silver is false and your drinks are mixed with water. The judges take bribes to rule falsely. No orphan is listened to in order to judge properly, and a widow cannot receive justice. Rabbi Levi said: an incident occurred that a woman brought a silver candelabrum to the judge and the other person who was her opponent, brought a golden vessel to the judge. The woman shouted at the judge: my judgment should shine like the silver candelabrum. The judge said to her: the gold has covered the silver.¹⁵Yalkut Shimoni, Isaiah, Remez, 391.

a harlot Astray from her God.

city which was faithful and full of justice, and righteousness would lodge therein, but now murderers.

full of justice Heb. מְלֵאֲתִי מִשְׁפָּט [equivalent to מְלֵאַתמִשְׁפָּט, the ‘yud’ being superfluous,] as in (Lamentations 1:1) רַבָּתִי עָם, “great in population” [equivalent to רַבַּתעָם].