Isaiah 43:1 to Isaiah 44:5. Israel, in spite of its sin and blindness, is comforted with gracious promises of Redemption (i) Isaiah 43:1. This section is very closely connected in thought with Isaiah 43:18 of the previous chapter. The contrast, however, is no longer between the ideal Israel and the... [ Continue Reading ]
Israel, though blind and deaf (ch. Isaiah 42:18 ff.), is precious in the sight of Jehovah its Creator, who is now about to shew Himself as its Redeemer. _But now_ Introducing the contrast to Isaiah 42:25. _that created thee … that formed thee_ Three verbs which express Jehovah's creative activity a... [ Continue Reading ]
When Jehovah was angry the fire burned Israel (ch. Isaiah 42:25), but now with Jehovah on its side, it is invulnerable in the severest trials. "Water" and "fire" are common images of extreme peril; the former in Psalms 32:6; Psalms 42:7; Psalms 124:4 f.; the latter in ch. Isaiah 42:25 (cf. Daniel 3:... [ Continue Reading ]
_thy Saviour_ or, "Deliverer"; a favourite designation of Jehovah with this prophet; Isaiah 43:11, ch. Isaiah 45:15; Isaiah 45:21; Isaiah 49:26 (Isaiah 60:16; Isaiah 63:8). The second half of the verse shews on how large a scale this deliverance is to be executed. _I_ GIVE _Egypt_ AS _thy ransom_ Th... [ Continue Reading ]
_Since thou wast … thou hast been …_ Rather, BECAUSE THOU ART PRECIOUS IN MY SIGHT, ART HONOURABLE, AND I LOVE THEE (three coordinate clauses). The A.V. seems to take the conjunction in a temporal sense, a view which has been defended by some commentators on grammatical grounds, but is quite unsuita... [ Continue Reading ]
The ingathering of the Dispersion (cf. ch. Isaiah 49:12).... [ Continue Reading ]
_my sons … my daughters_ see ch. Isaiah 1:1. The individual Israelites are the children of the marriage between Jehovah and the nation (Hosea 2:2; Hosea 2:5; Ezekiel 16:20, &c.).... [ Continue Reading ]
_that is called by my name_ i.e. who belongs to the community in which Jehovah is worshipped. _for I have created him_ Render with R.V. AND WHOM I HAVE CREATED. _for my glory_ Although it is only the restored nation that can fully manifest Jehovah's glory to the world, each of its scattered units... [ Continue Reading ]
_Bring forth_ i.e. not "from exile," but "before the tribunal." The sense demands an imperat., and the Heb. pointing (which gives a perf.) must be altered accordingly. A _blind people that have eyes_ "a people which is blind and yet has eyes &c." This cannot mean "a people _once_blind and deaf, but... [ Continue Reading ]
Another imaginary judgement scene (cf. ch. Isaiah 41:1-4; Isaiah 41:21-28), in which Israel appears as Jehovah's witness to the truth of His prophecies.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let all the nations be gathered together_ The form of the verb in Heb. presents difficulty. By some it is treated as a rare form of imperat., on the ground of two doubtful analogies (so R.V. marg., "Gather yourselves together &c."). Others take it as a precative perf. (A.V. and R.V.) the existence... [ Continue Reading ]
The gods are unable to meet the challenge, and Jehovah turns to His servant Israel, whose very presence is evidence of His power both to predict and to deliver. The words _and my servant_are not a complement of the subject ("ye are my witnesses, and [so is] my Servant") but of the predicate ( YE ARE... [ Continue Reading ]
_I_, even _I_, am _the Lord_ I, I AM JEHOVAH; see on ch. Isaiah 42:8. there is _no saviour_ see on Isaiah 43:3.... [ Continue Reading ]
_have declared … saved … shewed_ The arrangement of the verbs is peculiar. Some would remove the second, others the third, as dittography. But if there be any error in the text it is more likely the omission of a fourth word, which would be parallel to "saved," as "shewed" is to "declared" (so Duhm)... [ Continue Reading ]
_Yea, before the day_was] The correct translation is that of R.V. marg.: YEA, FROM THIS DAY FORTH (for all the future) I AM THE SAME (Isaiah 41:4); the deliverance marking a new era in Jehovah's manifestation of Himself as God, the only God who is a Saviour (Isaiah 43:11). _I will work … let it_?]... [ Continue Reading ]
A new section (14 21) commences here with a brief but explicit announcement of the fall of Babylon. _the Lord, your redeemer_ see on ch. Isaiah 41:14. _I have sent_(or perhaps, I WILL SEND) _to Babylon_ As object of the verb we must supply, the Persian army, the "consecrated ones" of ch. Isaiah 13... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thus saith the Lord_ The oracle itself begins at Isaiah 43:18; it is prefaced in Isaiah 43:16 f. by a vivid description of the mighty power of Jehovah, as illustrated once for all at the crossing of the Red Sea (Exodus 14 f.). _in the mighty waters_ Cf. Nehemiah 9:11.... [ Continue Reading ]
The sequel to the overthrow of Babylon is the deliverance of Israel, the method of which is compared with the greatest miracle in Israel's past history, the exodus from Egypt.... [ Continue Reading ]
_which bringeth forth_ i.e. allows them to come forth to their destruction (cf. Ezekiel 38:4, where the same expression is used with regard to the expedition of Gog, king of Magog). The next words should be rendered simply CHARIOT AND HORSE (without art.). _the army and the power_ Perhaps: ARMY AND... [ Continue Reading ]
Great as the wonders of the exodus were they shall be far surpassed by that which Jehovah is about to do. The verse resumes the opening clause of Isaiah 43:16. _Remember ye not_ Cf. Jeremiah 16:14 f., Isaiah 23:7 f. It is not meant of course that the exodus shall be actually forgotten (see ch. Isai... [ Continue Reading ]
The making of the way through the desert and water for the pilgrims to drink (See on ch. Isaiah 40:3 f., Isaiah 41:18 ff.) is considered to be a miracle transcending the passage of the Red Sea, and all the miracles which attended the first exodus. This is the _new thing_on which the prophet's mind f... [ Continue Reading ]
Even the wild beasts shall honour Jehovah, unconsciously, through their joy at the abundant supply of water. _the dragons and the owls_ Render as R.V. THE JACKALS AND THE OSTRICHES. see on ch. Isaiah 13:21-22.... [ Continue Reading ]
The verse supplies an apposition to "my people" of Isaiah 43:20. It reads: THE PEOPLE WHICH I HAVE FORMED FOR MYSELF, THEY SHALL TELL FORTH MY PRAISE. As the "streams in the desert" were created for Israel and not for the "beasts of the field," so it is Israel alone that can fully celebrate the prai... [ Continue Reading ]
_But thou hast not called upon me_ To call upon Jehovah "in the day of trouble" was the first and most obvious duty of Israel (Psalms 50:15), but this duty Israel has neglected. The statement is of course general; it does not exclude the existence of a believing minority which poured out its heart i... [ Continue Reading ]
Jehovah effects this deliverance for His own sake, not in return for any service He has received at the hands of Israel. The argument of the section is difficult to follow, especially in the part which speaks of sacrifice. Two questions present themselves: (_a_) does Jehovah upbraid His people with... [ Continue Reading ]
The absence of sacrifice has not impaired the bond between Jehovah and His people. The thought presents a striking contrast to ch. Isaiah 1:10 ff., a passage which was probably in the writer's mind. _the small cattle_ The Heb. word serves as the noun of unity to the word for "flock" (i.e. sheep and... [ Continue Reading ]
_sweet cane (qâneh_) is also mentioned in Jeremiah 6:20 as coming from a "far country." It is supposed to be _calamus odoratus_, a product of India, but grown also in Arabia and Syria; hence Jarchi, the Jewish commentator, explains: "because there was enough in Palestine"! It formed an ingredient in... [ Continue Reading ]
Since Israel has neither brought sacrifices, nor even offered prayer acceptable to Jehovah, He himself must take the initiative in the work of redemption, blotting out its transgressions "for his own sake." In accordance with O.T. analogies, the act of forgiveness is described simply as "not remembe... [ Continue Reading ]
In order to bring home the charge of guilt (Isaiah 43:24) Jehovah summons the people to debate their cause with Him. As Isaiah 43:23 recall ch. Isaiah 1:10 ff., so this verse seems to be suggested by Isaiah 43:18 of that chapter. _Put me in remembrance_ i.e. "of any merits thou canst claim, or any... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thy first father_ Undoubtedly Jacob, the eponymous hero of the nation, is meant (cf. Hosea 12:3 f.), not Abraham (who is never spoken of in the later literature as sinful), nor the earliest ancestors collectively; still less Adam. _thy teachers_ Lit. as R.V. THINE INTERPRETERS (Genesis 42:23), and... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore I have profaned_ is better than R.V. "Therefore I will profane," although it requires the change of a vowel. The verb (like the one following) is pointed as a cohortative, and as this appears sometimes to express the idea of compulsion (see Driver, _Tenses_, §§ 51 53) we may perhaps ventu... [ Continue Reading ]