Isaiah 59:18

According totheir deeds Or deserts. The word means simply an accomplished deed, either in a good or bad sense; but it is chiefly used in expressions which imply a reference to reward or retribution. In the next line it denotes the recompence itself (cf. ch. Isaiah 35:4).

According to … accordingly The form of the comparative sentence is hardly grammatical. The compound preposition which introduces both protasis and apodosis has in the second case no noun to govern, and it cannot be treated either as a conjunction or as an adverb. We must either (with Dillmann) omit "accordingly" as dittography, or (with Duhm) change "he will repay" into a noun; rendering, "as the deserts so the retribution." The sentence, however, would read awkwardly without a verb.

to the islands he will repay recompence The clause seems to identify the "adversaries" and "enemies" of Jehovah with the "islands" (cf. Isaiah 41:1), i.e. the heathen world; but that is almost certainly a misinterpretation of the sense of the passage. If there is any connexion with the earlier part of the discourse, the "adversaries" spoken of must be the apostate Jews, those who by their sins hindered the coming of salvation. The prophet cannot mean that because Israel's sin has separated it from Jehovah, thereforejudgement will descend on the heathen. Apart from this clause, indeed, there is nothing in the context to suggest the thought of a world-judgement, although of course the conception of a judgement beginning with Israel and extending to the nations is possible (see on ch. Isaiah 3:13). The words, however, are wanting in the LXX., and the verse would be greatly simplified by their removal. Their insertion is easily accounted for through a misunderstanding of Isaiah 59:19.