This chapter is a continuation of the same general subject which was presented in the two previous chapters. It is to be regarded (see the analysis of Isaiah 40) as addressed to the exile Jews in Babylon, and near the close of their captivity, and the general object is to induce them to repose confi... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD - This word is designed to call attention to the person that is immediately referred to. It is an intimation that the subject is of importance, and should command their regard. MY SERVANT - This phrase denotes properly anyone who acknowledges or worships God; anyone who is regarded as serving... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SHALL NOT CRY - He will not make a clamor or noise; he will not be boisterous, in the manner of a man of strife and contention. NOR LIFT UP - That is, his voice. NOR CAUSE HIS VOICE TO BE HEARD IN THE STREET - He shall not t use loud and angry words, as they do who are engaged in conflict, but... [ Continue Reading ]
A BRUISED REED - The word ‘reed’ means the cane or calamus which grows up in marshy or wet places (Isaiah 36:6; see the note at Isaiah 43:24). The word, therefore, literally denotes that which is fragile, weak, easily waved by the wind, or broken down; and stands in contrast with a lofty and firm tr... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SHALL NOT FAIL - He shall not be weak, feeble, or disheartened. However much there may be that shall tend to discourage, yet his purpose is fixed, and he will pursue it with steadiness and ardor until the great work shall be fully accomplished. There may be an allusion in the Hebrew word here (יכ... [ Continue Reading ]
THUS SAITH GOD THE LORD - This verse commences a new form of discourse. It is still Yahweh who speaks; but in the previous verses he had spoken of the Messiah in the third person; here he is introduced as speaking to him directly. He introduces the discourse by showing that he is the Creator and Lor... [ Continue Reading ]
I THE LORD HAVE CALLED THEE IN RIGHTEOUSNESS - The phrase ‘in righteousness’ has been very differently understood by different expositors (see the note at Isaiah 41:10). The most probable meaning may be, ‘I have done it as a righteous and just God, or in the accomplishment of my righteous purposes.... [ Continue Reading ]
TO OPEN THE BLIND EYES - This is equivalent to saying that he would impart instruction to those who were ignorant. It relates to the Jews as well as to the Gentiles. He would acquaint them with God, and with the way of salvation. The condition of the world is often represented as one of darkness and... [ Continue Reading ]
I AM THE LORD - I am Yahweh. Here is also a change in the address. In the previous verses, God had addressed the Messiah. Here he turns to the people, and assures them that he is the only true God, and that he will not suffer the praise that is due to him to be given to any other, or to any graven i... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, THE FORMER THINGS ARE COME TO PASS - That is, the former things which he had foretold. This is the evidence to which he appeals in proof that he alone was God, and this is the basis on which he calls upon them to believe that what he had predicted in regard to future things would also come t... [ Continue Reading ]
SING UNTO THE LORD A NEW SONG - It is common, as we have seen, to celebrate the goodness of God in a hymn of praise on the manifestation of any special act of mercy (see the notes at Isaiah 12:1; Isaiah 25:1; Isaiah 26) Here the prophet calls upon all people to celebrate the divine mercy in a song o... [ Continue Reading ]
LET THE WILDERNESS - (See the note at Isaiah 35:1). The word here denotes the most uncultivated countries, intimating that even the most rude and barbarous people would have occasion to rejoin, and would be interested in the mercy of God. AND THE CITIES THEREOF - To us there seems to be something in... [ Continue Reading ]
LET THEM GIVE GLORY ... IN THE ISLANDS - (see the note at Isaiah 41:1). Let the distant regions praise God.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD SHALL GO FORTH - This and the following verses give the reasons why they should praise Yahweh. He would go forth in his might to overcome and subdue his foes, and to deliver his people. In his conquests, and in the establishment of his kingdom, all people would have occasion to rejoice and... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE LONG TIME HOLDEN MY PEACE - This is the language of Yahweh, and it means that he had for a long time been patient and forbearing; but that now he would go forth as a warrior to overpower and destroy his foes. I WILL DESTROY - The word used here (from נשׁם _nâsham_) denotes properly to breat... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL MAKE WASTE MOUNTAINS - This verse denotes the utter desolation which God would bring upon his foes in his anger. The meaning of this part of the verse is, that he would spread desolation over the hills and mountains that were well watered and laid out in gardens and orchards. It was common to... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I WILL LEAD THE BLIND - Having said in the previous verses what he would do to his enemies, God now speaks of his people. He would conduct them to their own land, as a blind people that needed a guide, and would remove whatever obstacle there was in their way. By the ‘blind’ here, he refers doub... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SHALL BE TURNED BACK - The phrases, to be turned back, and to be suffused with shame, are frequently used in the Scriptures to denote a state of disappointment in regard to an object of trust or confidence, and especially of those who had trusted in idols (see Psalms 35:4; Psalms 70:3; Psalms 9... [ Continue Reading ]
HEAR, YE DEAF - This is evidently an address to the Jews, and probably to the Jews of the time of the prophet. He had been predicting the coming of the Messiah, and the influence of his religion on the Gentile world. He had said that God would go forth to destroy the idolatry of the pagan nations, a... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO IS BLIND, BUT MY SERVANT? - Some of the Jewish expositors suppose that by ‘servant’ here, the prophet himself is intended, who, they suppose is here called blind and deaf by the impious Jews who rejected his message. But it is evident, that by ‘servant’ here, the Jewish people themselves are int... [ Continue Reading ]
SEEING MANY THINGS - That is, the people, the Jews, spoken of here as the servants of God. They had had an opportunity of observing many things pertaining to the law, the government, and the dealing of Yahweh. They had often witnessed his interposition in the days of calamity, and he often rescued t... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD IS WELL PLEASED FOR HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS’ SAKE - There is great variety in the translation and interpretation of this verse. Lowth renders it: Yet Yahweh was gracious unto him for his truth’s sake; He hath exalted his own praise, and made it glorious. Noyes renders it: It pleased Yahweh fo... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THIS IS A PEOPLE ROBBED AND SPOILED - The Jewish people, though highly favored, have been so unmindful of the goodness of God to them, that he has given them into the hand of their enemies to plunder them. This is to be conceived as spoken after the captivity, and while the Jews were in exile. T... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO AMONG YOU WILL GIVE EAR TO THIS? - Who is there in the nation that will be so warned by the judgments of God, that he will attend to the lessons which he designs to teach, and reform his life, and return to him? It is implied by these questions that such ought to be the effect; it is implied als... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO GAVE JACOB FOR A SPOIL? - Who gave up the Jewish people to be plundered? The object of this verse is, to bring distinctly before them the fact that it was Yahweh, the God of their fathers, and of their nation, who had brought this calamity upon them. It was not the work of chance, but it was the... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE HE HATH POURED UPON HIM THE FURY OF HIS ANGER - His righteous indignation in the overturning of their nation, the destruction of their temple and city, and in carrying them captive into a distant land. AND IT HATH SET HIM ON FIRE - That is, the fury of Yahweh kindled the flame of war all... [ Continue Reading ]