White as Snow

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

-- Isaiah 1: 18-20 (KJV)

The prophet Isaiah has an important message for the people of Judah, who face invasion by the Assyrians: their troubles stem from their own evildoing. Yahweh personally condemns them through his prophet, but he speaks more in sorrow than in anger: there is almost a pleading tone in his call, "Come now, and let us reason together." (This famous line, taken out of context, would become a favorite of President Lyndon B. Johnson.) In other words, let's argue the pros and cons of sin and obedience.

If the Judeans were reasonable, God says, they would abandon their hateful ways and "Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow" (verse 17). If they heed his call, their "scarlet" sins will be washed clean, "white as snow," and they will once again enjoy prosperity; otherwise, they can only look forward to being "devoured" by the swords of their enemies.

The phrase "white as snow" appears several times in the Bible, but Isaiah's line is the most famous, and furthermore he is the first to actually say "white as snow" in Hebrew. Isaiah refers, of course, to purity and innocence, which he compares to the spotless whiteness of wool. Any child, thanks to the song about Mary's little lamb, would make the same connection today.

 
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Michael Macrone is Associate Site Producer of GraceCom and the author of nine books on language, literature, and ideas, including the best-selling Brush Up Your Shakespeare!