_Listen, O isles_, &c. “Hitherto the subject of the prophecy has been chiefly confined to the redemption from the captivity of Babylon, with strong intimations of a more important deliverance sometimes thrown in; to the refutation of idolatry, and the demonstration of the infinite power, wisdom, and... [ Continue Reading ]
_He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword_ As he hath made me the great Teacher of his church and of the world, so he hath assisted me by his Spirit, and made my word or doctrine _quick and powerful_, and _sharper_ than any two-edged sword, killing men's lusts, convincing, humbling, and converting t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then I said_ By way of objection; _I have laboured in vain_ Lord, thou sayest thou wilt be glorified by my ministry; but I find it otherwise. _I have spent my strength for naught_ Without any considerable fruit of my word and works. “The words,” says Vitringa, “contain the complaint of the Son of G... [ Continue Reading ]
_And now, saith the Lord_ These are the words of the Father, addressing his Son, now become incarnate for the redemption of mankind; _that formed me from the womb_ This refers to the human nature of Christ formed in the womb of the Virgin by the Holy Ghost; _to bring Jacob again to him_ To convert t... [ Continue Reading ]
_To him whom man despiseth_ To Christ, to whom, in the days of his flesh, this description most truly and fully agreed, being the same in effect with that Isaiah 53:3, for men, both Jews and Gentiles, among whom he lived, did _despise him_ from their hearts; and _the nation_, of which he was a membe... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thus saith the Lord_ God the Father unto Christ; _In an acceptable time_ Hebrew, רצון בעת, _in the season of acceptance_, as Bishop Lowth renders it, or, _in a time of good-will_, according to others: in that time when God shall, in a special manner, manifest his good-will to the sons of men; in th... [ Continue Reading ]
_That thou mayest say_ Namely, with power and effect, as when God said, _Let there be light; to the prisoners_ To the Gentiles, who are fast bound by the cords of their sins, and taken captive by the devil at his will. _Go forth_ Come forth to the light, receive divine illumination. _They shall feed... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, these shall come from far_ My people shall be gathered from the most remote parts of the earth. He speaks here, and in many other places, of the conversion of the Gentiles, with allusion to that work of gathering and bringing back the Jews from all parts where they were dispersed, into thei... [ Continue Reading ]
_But Zion said_, &c. This is an objection against all these glorious predictions and promises. How can these things be true when the condition of God's church is now so sad and desperate? Most commentators understand by _Zion_ here, the Jewish Church, and suppose that the complaint which she is here... [ Continue Reading ]
_Can a woman forget her sucking child_ God is often represented as bearing a fatherly affection toward his people, but here the comparison is raised higher, and he speaks of himself as having a tenderness for them, similar to that which a mother hath toward the fruit of her womb. “The image is commo... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thy children_ Or, as some, with equal propriety, render בנין, _thy builders;_ which rendering is favoured by the next clause, where the _destroyers_ are opposed to them, but the following verse favours the former interpretation: the sense, however, is the same, for the church's children are her bui... [ Continue Reading ]
_Lift up thine eyes round about_ And behold numbers flocking unto thee from all quarters. _All these shall gather themselves unto thee,_ &c. Namely, the Gentiles. Thy church, O Zion, shall not only be restored and established, but vastly enlarged and adorned by an accession of converts from various... [ Continue Reading ]
_For thy waste and desolate places_, &c. He alludes to the land of Judea lying waste during the Babylonish captivity. Thus the church of God was in a waste, desolate, and barren state, till the coming of the Messiah, the introduction of the gospel, and the conversion of the Gentiles; _and the land o... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles_ I will call them to me; _and set up my standard to the people_ As generals do, to gather their forces together. _And they shall bring thy sons_ Those who shall be thine by adoption, who shall own God for their Father, and Jerusalem for their mother; _in their... [ Continue Reading ]
_Shall the prey be taken from the mighty_ Here an objection is started against the forementioned promises, probably, 1st, Against the promise of the release of the Jews from their captivity in Babylon, suggesting that it was a thing not to be expected: for, Isaiah 49:24, they were a prey in the hand... [ Continue Reading ]