XLII. (1) BEHOLD MY SERVANT... — Here the words point not, as before, to the visible, or even the ideal Israel, but to One who is the centre of both, with attributes which are reproduced in His people in the measure of their fulfilment of the ideal. “Elect” is another of the words with which Isaiah... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SHALL NOT CRY... — Isaiah’s ideal of a teacher, but partly realised in himself, is that of one exempt from the violence of strong feelings, calm in the sereneness of authority, strong in his far-reaching and pitying sympathy. False prophets might rave as in orgiastic frenzy. We are reminded of So... [ Continue Reading ]
A BRUISED REED SHALL HE NOT BREAK... — Physical, moral, spiritual weakness are all brought under the same similitude. In another context the image has met us in Isaiah 36:6. The simple negative “he shall not break” implies, as in the rhetoric of all times, the opposite extreme, the tender care that... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SHALL NOT FAIL NOR BE DISCOURAGED... — Both verbs in the Hebrew point back to those of the previous verse, _He shall not burn dimly nor be crushed,_ as if to teach that in helping others to strength and light, the servants of the Lord, after the pattern of _the_ Servant, gain light and strength f... [ Continue Reading ]
HE THAT CREATED. — The accumulation of Divine attributes, as enhancing the solemnity of a revelation, has an earlier parallel in Amos 5:8; a later one in Zechariah 12:1.... [ Continue Reading ]
HAVE CALLED THEE IN RIGHTEOUSNESS... — The words apply to the personal servant. His call was in accordance with the absolute righteousness of God, manifesting itself in love. A COVENANT OF THE PEOPLE. — The context limits the “people” to Israel. The “servant of the Lord” is to be in Himself not onl... [ Continue Reading ]
TO OPEN THE BLIND EYES. — The prophet must have felt the contrast between this and his own mission (Isaiah 6:10). The words all point to spiritual blessings. (Comp. St. Paul’s call in Acts 26:18.) The “prison” is that of the selfishness and sin which hinder men from being truly free. In the “prisone... [ Continue Reading ]
I AM THE LORD.... — The prophet grasps the full meaning of the name revealed in Exodus 3:15. It follows from that meaning that God cannot look with indifference on the transfer to the “graven image” of the worship due to Him. With his vision of Cyrus still present to his thoughts, the prophet again... [ Continue Reading ]
SING UNTO THE LORD A NEW SONG. — The words are familiar in the Psalms (Psalms 33:3; Psalms 40:3; Psalms 98:1) and are probably quoted from them. The only touch of definite localisation is found in the mention of Kedar. (See Note on Isaiah 21:16.) Starting from this, the other terms gain a more defin... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD SHALL GO FORTH... — The boldly anthropomorphic image prepares the way for the yet more awful picture of Isaiah 63:1, which belongs outwardly to the same region. As if roused from slumber, Jehovah stirs up His jealous indignation against the idols, which had seemed to sleep, and rushes to th... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE LONG TIME HOLDEN MY PEACE... — The change of person indicates that Jehovah is the speaker. “Long time,” literally, _for an age,_ or _an eternity._ What is actually meant is the period of the exile, during which, till the advent of the deliverer, there had been no interposition on behalf of Is... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL MAKE WASTE MOUNTAINS... — The whole description is symbolic, and points to the subjugation of the heathen nations, the “rivers” and “pools” probably representing the kingdoms of the Tigris and Euphrates (Isaiah 8:7). All this seems a purely destructive work, but through it all mercy and truth... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SHALL BE GREATLY ASHAMED... — Manifestly the winding up of a section. The foretold victories of Cyrus shall bring shame and confusion on the worshippers of the idols which he, the representative of a purer faith, should overthrow.... [ Continue Reading ]
HEAR, YE DEAF... — The words form the beginning of a new section. The prophet feels or sees that the great argument has not carried conviction as it ought to have done. The people to whom Jehovah speaks through him are still spiritually blind and deaf, and that people is ideally the servant of the L... [ Continue Reading ]
DEAF, AS MY MESSENGER... — The work of the messenger of God had been the ideal of Isaiah, as it was of _the_ servant in whom the ideal was realised (Romans 10:15; Isaiah 42:1). But how could a blind and deaf messenger, like the actual Israel, do his work effectually? (Psalms 123:2). AS HE THAT IS PE... [ Continue Reading ]
SEEING MANY THINGS... — With a clear vision into the future, the prophet sees that the future Israel will be as far from the ideal as his contemporaries had been. In the actual work of _the_ Servant we find the fulfilment of his vision. Scribes and Pharisees are as those who “learn nothing and forge... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD IS WELL PLEASED... — The tenses require a change: _The Lord was well pleased ..._ _He made His law great and glorious._ This had been His purpose, and he had not failed in it. He had done all that it was possible to do. (Comp. Isaiah 5:4; Romans 9:4.)... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THIS IS A PEOPLE ROBBED AND SPOILED... — It is hard to say whether the prophet contemplates the state of the exiles in Babylon, or sees far off yet another exile, consequent on a second and more fatal falling off from the true ideal. NONE DELIVERETH... NONE SAITH, RESTORE. — The tone of despond... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO GAVE JACOB FOR A SPOIL...? — The sufferers, whether in the nearer or more distant exile, are reminded that they have brought their sufferings upon themselves, and that it is Jehovah who sends them in the wrath which, as aiming at their restoration, is but another aspect of His love.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FURY OF HIS ANGER. — Better, _the burning heat of His wrath, and the violence of war._ Historically, the words seem to find a better fulfiment in the “wars and rumours of wars” (Matthew 24:6) than in the long equable continuance of the exile.... [ Continue Reading ]