The Future Felicity of Zion, reunited to Jehovah in an Everlasting Covenant The chapter continues the series of oracles of consolation which commences at Isaiah 49:14, and is broken by the two passages on the Servant of the Lord in Isaiah 50:4-11 and Isaiah 52:13 to Isaiah 53:12. The direct influen... [ Continue Reading ]
The ideal Zion is called upon to rejoice in the multitude of her children. As in ch. Isaiah 49:21, the children are conceived as already born, and waiting to be acknowledged by their mother. _more are the children of the desolate_(2 Samuel 13:20) _&c_.] The contrast is not between Zion and other ci... [ Continue Reading ]
The idea of the verse is expressed in Isaiah 49:20-21; for the figure of the tent (in an opposite sense) cf. Jeremiah 10:20. The _curtains_are the tent-hangings (Jeremiah 49:29; Habakkuk 3:7), the _stakes_, the tent-pegs (ch. Isaiah 33:20). The words _spare not_should, according to the accents, be... [ Continue Reading ]
The tent must be larger than of old, for the new community shall SPREAD ABROAD (cf. Genesis 28:14; Genesis 30:30; Genesis 30:43) on _the right hand and_on _the left_, i.e. in all directions. _inherit the Gentiles_ TAKE POSSESSION OF NATIONS (cf. Genesis 22:17; Genesis 24:60). The reference is not t... [ Continue Reading ]
_the reproach of thy widowhood_clearly refers to the period of the Exile when Zion regarded herself as cast off by Jehovah. The sense of _the shame of thy youth_is less obvious. Since the conception has some affinities with the striking allegory in Ezekiel 16 it is probable that the reference goes b... [ Continue Reading ]
Zion shall forget her former shame in the joy of reconciliation to her God.... [ Continue Reading ]
_thy Maker_is _thine husband_ Rather, THY HUSBAND IS THY MAKER: He who has entered into this closest and tenderest of relations is none other than He who made thee. "Husband" in the original is a partic.; lit. "he who marries thee"; and both nouns are in the plural after the analogy of words like _ǎ... [ Continue Reading ]
Although Zion is temporarily estranged from Jehovah, she is yet a "wife of youth" holding a permanent place in her husband's affections. _For the Lord hath called thee_ i.e. "calls thee" now (Cheyne, "hath recalled thee"). The reference is not to the first espousals of the nation at the exodus, but... [ Continue Reading ]
Jehovah's anger was but a momentary interruption of His kindness to Israel; His mercy is everlasting. Comp. Psalms 30:5. _will I gather thee_ can hardly mean "draw thee to myself"; it denotes the gathering together of the scattered children of Zion.... [ Continue Reading ]
_In a little wrath_ IN AN OUTBREAK OF WRATH (Heb. _shéçeph qéçeph_). The word _shéçeph_is probably another form (chosen for the sake of assonance) of _shéṭeph_which occurs in Proverbs 27:4.... [ Continue Reading ]
The permanence of the new covenant relation is illustrated first by the promise made to Noah, of which the rainbow is the perpetual token, and then by the steadfastness of the unchanging hills. _For this_is as _the waters of Noah unto me_ Or, according to the reading of several MSS. and the ancient... [ Continue Reading ]
Comp. Psalms 46:2 f.; Habakkuk 3:6. The first sentence may be rendered concessively: THOUGH THE MOUNTAINS SHOULD REMOVE AND THE HILLS BE SHAKEN, YET &c. my _covenant of peace_ (R.V.) Ezekiel 34:25; Ezekiel 37:26; Malachi 2:5. _that hath_ COMPASSION] as Isaiah 49:10.... [ Continue Reading ]
The outward splendour of the new Jerusalem described in highly figurative language; comp. Tob 13:16-17; Revelation 21:18-21. _I will lay thy stones with fair colours_ lit. IN ANTIMONY (R.V. marg.). Antimony (_pûkh_) was used by Oriental females as an eye-powder to blacken the edges of the eyelids an... [ Continue Reading ]
_thy windows_ Rather as R.V. PINNACLES. The word is derived from that for "sun," and appears to denote those parts of the building which glitter in the sun's rays. (Comp. the Arab. "minaret," used primarily of a lantern or a lighthouse.) _agates_ (Ezekiel 27:16) "sparkling" stone, perhaps RUBIES (s... [ Continue Reading ]
The righteousness, peace and security of the inhabitants. _taught of the Lord_ lit. DISCIPLES OF JEHOVAH, initiated in the true knowledge of God, and obedient to His will. Cf. Jeremiah 31:34; John 6:45. The expression is probably suggested by what the Servant of Jehovah says of himself in ch. Isaia... [ Continue Reading ]
_In righteousness shalt thou be established_ (lit. SHALT THOU ESTABLISH THYSELF) cf. Proverbs 24:3. "Righteousness" may describe the character of the citizens, but more probably it means that the position of the commonwealth is unassailable because based on _right_on conformity to the divine order ... [ Continue Reading ]
The verse is somewhat difficult. The rendering "gather together" can hardly be defended, and moreover it does not suit the construction ("against," in the second line, is really "with"). The verb is perhaps best explained as a by-form of a root meaning to "stir up" (strife) or pick a quarrel (Prover... [ Continue Reading ]
No weapon formed against Zion shall prosper, because both the makers of weapons and those who use them are alike created by Jehovah, and all their activity is under His control. _the smith that bloweth_ THE FIRE OF COALS (R.V.)] Cf. ch. Isaiah 44:12. _an instrument for his work_ rather FOR ITS WOR... [ Continue Reading ]
Israel therefore has no cause to fear any material weapon, and even the Satanic weapon of false accusations, which assail her righteous standing before God, she shall be able to foil. _every tongue … thou shalt condemn_ i.e. shew to be in the wrong (cf. ch. Isaiah 50:8 f.). _This_is _the heritage... [ Continue Reading ]