THE CONQUERING CAREER OF CYRUS CLAIMED BY YAHWEH AS EVIDENCE OF HIS POWER. Isaiah 41:5 is probably an insertion made to connect Isaiah 41:4 with Isaiah 41:6 f. after Isaiah 41:6 f. for which see Isaiah 40:19 had been wrongly interpolated here. Yahweh calls the nations to listen while He, as though... [ Continue Reading ]
But Israel, who in the person of Abraham was summoned from Mesopotamia, is also a chosen instrument of Yahweh, and has nothing to fear amid these commotions. ISAIAH 41:10. RIGHT. RIGHTEOUSNESS: render, My vindicating right hand.... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL THE ENEMIES OF ISRAEL SHALL PERISH. This section is eschatological, and probably later, perhaps much later, than its context. All Israel's foes shall perish. Yahweh's people shall destroy their enemies as a threshing-sledge so powerful that it tears in pieces the threshing-floor itself, and even... [ Continue Reading ]
YAHWEH WILL PROVIDE MIRACULOUS WATER AND SHADE IN THE DESERT FOR THE RETURNING EXILES. This continues Isaiah 41:10. It perhaps combines metaphor with a more literal meaning, and it must be confessed that the reference to the return through the desert is not obvious. The vindicating hand of Yahweh wi... [ Continue Reading ]
YAHWEH'S CHALLENGE TO THE GODS OF THE NATIONS. The nations are bidden to produce their case and bring forward their champions their idols (so emend strong reasons). Let the idols show that in days gone by they have foreseen the antecedents of present developments, or explain the events now happening... [ Continue Reading ]