LXI. (1) THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD GOD IS UPON ME... — We have obviously a new poem in the form of a soliloquy, and we ask, “Who is the speaker.?” The Jewish Targum and many modern critics hear only the voice of Isaiah. Guided by Isaiah 41:1; Isaiah 1:4, we recognise here, as there, the utterance of th... [ Continue Reading ]
TO PROCLAIM THE ACCEPTABLE YEAR... — The Year of Jubilee is still, perhaps, in the prophet’s thoughts; but the chief point of the promise is the contrast between the “year” of favour and the single “day” of vengeance, reminding us of the like contrast in Exodus 20:5.... [ Continue Reading ]
TO APPOINT UNTO THEM THAT MOURN... — The verb (literally, _to set_) has no object either in the Hebrew or English, and it would seem as if the prophet corrected himself in the act of writing or dictating, and substituted for a word which would have applied only to the _coronet_ one which was better... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SHALL BUILD THE OLD WASTES... — Literally _the waste places of olden time: i.e.,_ not merely the cities that had fallen into ruins during the exile, but those that had been lying waste for generations. The words are parallel with those of Isaiah 58:12. By some commentators _strangers_ is suppli... [ Continue Reading ]
STRANGERS SHALL STAND..._ — i.e.,_ like servants waiting for their master’s orders. The implied thought of the whole passage is, as in the next verse, that all Israel is raised to the dignity of a priestly caste, leaving the rough work of the world to be done by foreigners, who stood on a lower leve... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT YE SHALL BE NAMED THE PRIESTS OF THE LORD... — This had been the original ideal of the nation’s life (Exodus 19:6), forfeited for a time through the sins of the people (Exodus 28:1), to be fulfilled at last in the citizens of the new Jerusalem. (Comp. 1 Peter 2:9.) The thought implies, it may be... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR YOUR SHAME YE SHALL HAVE DOUBLE... — _i.e.,_ double compensation for the suffering of years (comp. Zechariah 9:12), the general idea passing in the next clause into a double inheritance of territory. See Note on Isaiah 40:2.... [ Continue Reading ]
I HATE ROBBERY FOR BURNT OFFERING. — The Authorised Version follows the Vulg, and Luther, but the words, commonly applied as condemning the formal sacrifices of the wicked, do not fit in with the context, and it is better to take the rendering of the LXX. and the Targum, _I hate robbery with violenc... [ Continue Reading ]
THEIR SEED SHALL BE KNOWN — i.e., as in Proverbs 31:23, shall be “renowned,” or “honourably recognised,” even by the heathen, as the people whom Jehovah hath blessed. (Comp. Isaiah 65:23.)... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL GREATLY REJOICE... — The speaker is again, as in Isaiah 61:1, the ideal Servant of Jehovah, who identifies himself with the people and slaves. The Targum, it may be noted, makes Jerusalem the speaker. THE GARMENTS OF SALVATION... — The imagery is the same as that of Isaiah 59:17 and Isaiah 6... [ Continue Reading ]
AS THE EARTH BRINGETH FORTH HER BUD... — The passage is memorable as at least suggesting the leading thought of the parable of the sower, and the appropriation of that title to Himself by the Son of Man (Matthew 13:3; Matthew 13:37; Mark 4:26).... [ Continue Reading ]