Israel's Sin
F. Delitzsch, D. D. Isaiah 43:27 Your first father has sinned, and your teachers have transgressed against me. Its history from the first is a tissue of sins. "Thy first father sinned, and thy mediators have fallen away from Me." By the first father, Hitzig, Knobel, and others understand Adam; but Adam is the progenitor of mankind, not of Israel specially, and Adam's guilt is mankind's guilt, not Israel's. Either Abraham is meant (Hofmann, Stier, Hahn, and others), or Jacob-Israel (Ewald, Cheyne, yon Orelli), who has more to do with the sinful nature of the nation springing from him than Abraham (cf. Deuteronomy 26:5). The interpreters and mediators generally (2 Chronicles 32:31; Job 33:23) are the prophets and priests, standing between Jehovah and Israel, and mediating the intercourse of both in word and act; even these for the most part have proved unfaithful to God, falling a prey to ungodly magic and false worship. Thus Israel's sin was as ancient as its origin; and the apostasy has broken out even among those who, by reason of their offices, should be the best and holiest. (F. Delitzsch, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Thy first father hath sinned, and thy teachers have transgressed against me. WEB: Your first father sinned, and your teachers have transgressed against me.