CYRUS. See App-57. LOOSE THE LOINS. Idiom for weakening. Compare Job 12:21. The opposite of "girding" (Isaiah 45:5). OPEN BEFORE HIM THE TWO LEAVED GATES: i.e. of Babylon, as described by Herodotus. NOT BE SHUT. They were found open, and Gobryas and the soldiers of Cyrus entered Babylon without f... [ Continue Reading ]
STRAIGHT. level. BREAK IN PIECES. shiver. GATES OF BRASS. Herodotus (i. 180) tells us that the gates leading to the river were of brass. CUT IN SUNDER =. smash.... [ Continue Reading ]
CALL THEE BY THY NAME. Only four named by Divine prophecy before birth: Isaac (Genesis 17:19); Solomon (1 Chronicles 22:9); Josiah (1 Kings 13:2); and Cyrus, 137 years before his birth. See App-50. GOD. Hebrew. _Elohim._ App-4.... [ Continue Reading ]
MY SERVANT'S. See note on Isaiah 37:5. SURNAMED. Cyrus was the additional name divinely given. His Persian name is said to have been Agradates. THOUGH THOU HAST NOT. when thou didst not.... [ Continue Reading ]
GIRDED THEE. Contrast "loose" (Isaiah 45:1), and see note on Isaiah 8:9.... [ Continue Reading ]
NONE. See note on Isaiah 5:8.... [ Continue Reading ]
CREATE. Hebrew the Poel Participle of the verb _bara'_ (create) which, with "evil", requires the rendering "bring about". Not the same form as in verses: Isaiah 45:8; Isaiah 45:12, or Isaiah 45:18, in connection with the earth. In Jeremiah 18:11 the verb is _yazar,_ to frame, or mould. In Amos 3:6 i... [ Continue Reading ]
LET THE EARTH OPEN, &C. When the earth opened before it brought forth destruction (Numbers 16:32; Numbers 26:10 and Psalms 106:17).... [ Continue Reading ]
EARTH. ground: i.e. here, clay.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL. See note on Isaiah 1:4. MAKER. Former, or Fashioner.... [ Continue Reading ]
HAVE MADE, &C. Reference to Pentateuch (Genesis 1:1). App-92. MAN. Hebrew. _adam_. App-14.... [ Continue Reading ]
RAISED HIM UP: i.e. raised Cyrus up. HE SHALL BUILD MY CITY. Nehemiah rebuilt only the walls. See Nehemiah 7:4. The city was not rebuilt until after the return under Zerubbabel, and the emancipation by Cyrus. See App-68. CAPTIVES. Hebrew captivity. Put by Figure of speech _Metonymy_ (of Adjunct),... [ Continue Reading ]
labour. Put by Figure of speech _Metonymy_ (of Cause), for that which is produced by it. MEN. Hebrew, plural of _enosh_. App-14. SHALL COME OVER. Some codices, with five early printed editions (one Rabbinic, in margin), Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, read "and they shall", &c. GOD. Hebrew El. A... [ Continue Reading ]
IDOLS. images. Hebrew. _zirim_. Occurs in this sense only here.... [ Continue Reading ]
EVERLASTING SALVATION. See note on "ancient" people (Isaiah 44:7). WORLD WITHOUT END. the ages of futurity.... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT CREATED. the Creator of. Note how these expressions are heaped together to impress us with the fact that the One Who created all ought to be able to tell us, better than ignorant man, how He created it. THAT FORMED. The Former of. Hebrew. _yazar_. to fashion. MADE. the Maker of. HE CREATED.... [ Continue Reading ]
IN VAIN. Hebrew. _tohu_. Repeated from Isaiah 45:18. Jehovah did not command His People to seek Him in. pathless and trackless waste, where there are no indications of how He is to be found; but in His Word, where He has revealed Himself clearly and distinctly: not "in secret" or "in darkness" (same... [ Continue Reading ]
THEM: i.e. the "image" and "god" of Isaiah 45:20. THERE IS NO GOD. Note the Figure of speech _Pleonasm_, by which the same assertion is made in two ways (positive. and negative) for emphasis.... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE SWORN, &C. Quoted in Romans 14:11. and Philippians 1:2; Philippians 1:10. Reference to Pentateuch (Genesis 22:16). App-92. UNTO ME. Ascribed to Christ in the quotation above.... [ Continue Reading ]
MEN COME. one come. Hebrew text is singular, as in preceding clause; but plural in Isaiah 45:1.... [ Continue Reading ]
SHALL GLORY. See note on "give light" (Isaiah 13:10).... [ Continue Reading ]