The design of this chapter is the same as that of the preceding, and it is to be regarded as the continuation of the argument commenced there. Its object is to lead those who were addressed, to put confidence in God. In the introduction to Isaiah 40 it was remarked, that this is to be considered as... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO RAISED UP - This word (העיר _hē‛yr_) is usually applied to the act of arousing one from sleep Song of Solomon 2:7; Song of Solomon 3:5; Song of Solomon 8:4; Zechariah 4:1; then to awake, arouse, or stir up to any enterprise. Here it means, that God had caused the man here referred to, to arouse... [ Continue Reading ]
HE PURSUED THEM - When they were driven away. He followed on, and devoted them to discomfiture and ruin. AND PASSED SAFELY - Margin, as Hebrew, ‘In peace.’ That is, he followed them uninjured; they had no power to rally, he was not led into ambush, and he was safe as far as he chose to pursue them.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO HATH WROUGHT AND DONE IT? - By whom has all this been accomplished? Has it been by the arm of Cyrus? Has it been by human skill and powers. The design of this question is obvious. It is to direct attention to the fact that all this had been done by God, and that he who had raised up such a man,... [ Continue Reading ]
THE ISLES SAW IT - The distant nations (see the note at Isaiah 41:1). They saw what was done in the conquests of the man whom God in this remarkable manner had raised up; and they had had demonstration, therefore, of the mighty power of Yahweh above the power of idols. AND FEARED - Were alarmed, an... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY HELPED EVERY ONE HIS NEIGHBOR - The idolatrous nations. The idea is, that they formed confederations to strengthen each other, and to oppose him whom God had raised up to subdue them. The prophet describes a state of general consternation existing among them, when they supposed that all was in... [ Continue Reading ]
SO THE CARPENTER - (See the note at Isaiah 40:19). ENCOURAGED THE GOLDSMITH - Margin, ‘The founder’ (see the note at Isaiah 40:19). The word properly means one who melts or smelts metals of any kind; and may be applied either to one who works in gold, silver, or brass. The image here is that of has... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THOU, ISRAEL, ART MY SERVANT - This is an address directly to the Jews, and is designed to show them, in view of the truths which had just been urged, that God was their protector and friend. Those who relied on idols were trusting to that which could not aid them. But those who trusted in him w... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU WHOM I HAVE TAKEN FROM THE ENDS OF THE EARTH - From Chaldea - regarded by the Jews as the remote part of the earth. Thus in Isaiah 13:5, it is said of the Medes that they came ‘from a far country, from the end of heaven’ (see the note on that place). Abraham was called from Ur of the Chaldees -... [ Continue Reading ]
FEAR THOU NOT - This verse is plain in its meaning, and is full of consolation. It is to be regarded as addressed primarily to the exiled Jews during their long and painful captivity in Babylon; and the idea is, that they who had been selected by God to be his special people had nothing to fear. But... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL THEY THAT WERE INCENSED AGAINST THEE - They who were enraged against thee, that is, the Chaldeans who made war upon you, and reduced you to bondage. SHALL BE ASHAMED AND CONFOUNDED - To be ashamed and confounded is often used as synonymous with being overcome and destroyed. THEY THAT STRIVE WI... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU SHALT SEEK THEM - This denotes that it would be impossible to find them, for they should cease to exist. The whole verse, with the verse following, is emphatic, repeating in varied terms what was said before, and meaning that their foes should be entirely destroyed.... [ Continue Reading ]
FEAR NOT - (See the note at Isaiah 41:10). THOU WORM - This word is properly applied as it is with us, to denote a worm, such as is generated in putrid substances Exodus 16:20; Isaiah 14:11; Isaiah 66:24; or such as destroy plants Jonah 4:7; Deuteronomy 28:39. It is used also to describe a person th... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, I WILL MAKE THEE ... - The object of the illustration in this verse and the following is, to show that God would clothe them with power, and that all difficulties in their way would vanish. To express this idea, the prophet uses an image derived front the mode of threshing in the East, where... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU SHALT FAN THEM - Keeping up the figure commenced in the previous verse. To fan here means to winnow, an operation which was performed by throwing the threshed grain up with a shovel into the air, so that the wind drove the chaff away. So all their enemies, and all the obstacles which were in th... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN THE POOR AND NEEDY SEEK WATER - Water is often used in the Scriptures as an emblem of the provisions of divine mercy. Bursting fountains in a desert, and flowing streams unexpectedly met with in a dry and thirsty land, are often also employed to denote the comfort and refreshment which the gosp... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL OPEN RIVERS - That is, I will cause rivers to flow (see the note at Isaiah 35:7). The allusion here is doubtless to the miraculous supply of water in the desert when the Israelites had come out of Egypt. God then supplied their needs; and in a similar manner he would always meet his people, a... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL PLANT IN THE WILDERNESS - The image in this verse is one that is frequent in Isaiah. It is designed to show that God would furnish for his people abundant consolations, and that he would furnish unanticipated sources of comfort, and would remove from them their anticipated trials and calamiti... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT THEY - The Jews, the people who shall be rescued from their long captivity, and restored again to their own land. So rich and unexpected would be the blessings - as if in a pathless desert the most beautiful and refreshing trees and fountains should suddenly spring up - that they would have the... [ Continue Reading ]
PRODUCE YOUR CAUSE - This address is made to the same persons who are referred to in Isaiah 41:1 - the worshippers of idols; and the prophet here returns to the subject with reference to a further argument on the comparative power of Yahweh and idols. In the former part of the chapter, God had urged... [ Continue Reading ]
LET THEM BRING THEM FORTH - Let the idols, or the worshippers of idols, bring forth the evidences of their divine nature and power. Or more probably it means, ‘let them draw near or approach.’ AND SHOW US WHAT SHALL HAPPEN - None but the true God can discern the future, and predict what is to occur.... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT WE MAY KNOW THAT YE ARE GODS - The prediction of future events is the highest evidence of omniscience, and of course of divinity. In this passage it is admitted that if they could do it, it would prove that they were worthy of adoration; and it is demanded, that if they were gods they should be... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, YE ARE OF NOTHING - Margin, ‘Worse than nothing.’ This refers to idols; and the idea is, that they were utterly vain and powerless; they were as unable to render aid to their worshippers as absolute nothingness would be, and all their confidence in them was vain and foolish. AND YOUR WORK -... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE RAISED UP ONE - In the previous verses God had shown that the idols had no power of predicting future events. He stakes, so to speak, the question of his divinity on that point, and the whole controversy between him and them is to be decided by the inquiry whether they had the power of forete... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO HATH DECLARED FROM THE BEGINNING - The meaning of this passage is, ‘there is no one among the soothsayers, and the worshippers of idols, who has predicted the birth, the character, and the conquests of Cyrus. There is among the pagan no recorded prediction on the subject, as there is among the J... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FIRST SHALL SAY TO ZION - This translation is unhappy. It does not convey any clear meaning, nor is it possible from the translation to conjecture what the word ‘first’ refers to. The correct rendering undoubtedly is, ‘I first said to Zion;’ and the sense is, ‘I, Yahweh, first gave to Zion the a... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR I BEHELD - I looked upon the pagan world, among all the pretended prophets, and the priests of pagan idolatry. AND THERE WAS NO MAN - No man among them who could predict these future events. NO COUNSELOR - No one qualified to give counsel, or that could anticipate by his sagacity what would ta... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, THEY ARE ALL VANITY - They are unable to predict future events; they are unable to defend their friends, or to injure their enemies. This is the conclusion of the trial or debate (notes, Isaiah 41:1), and that conclusion is, that they were utterly destitute of strength, and that they were en... [ Continue Reading ]