CHAPTER XLIII _Prediction of that blessed period when God should gather the_ _posterity of Abraham, with tender care, from their several_ _dispersions in every quarter under heaven, and bring them_ _safely to their own land_, 1-7. _Struck with astonishment at so clear a display of an event so_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 43:3. _I GAVE EGYPT_ FOR _THY RANSOM_] This is commonly supposed to refer to the time of Sennacherib's invasion; who, when he was just ready to fall upon Jerusalem, soon after his entering Judea, was providentially diverted from that design, and turned his arms against the Egyptians, a... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 43:7. _EVERY ONE THAT IS CALLED BY MY NAME_] All who worship the true God, and are obedient to his laws. _I HAVE CREATED HIM_] בראתיו _berathiv_. I have produced him out of nothing. _FOR MY GLORY_] _Ten_ MSS., _three_ ancient, and the _Syriac_ and _Vulgate_, read לכבודי _licabodi_, wi... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 43:8. _BRING FORTH THE BLIND PEOPLE THAT HAVE EYES_ - "Bring forth the people, blind, although they have eyes"] I understand this of the Gentiles, as the verse following, not of the Jews. Their natural faculties, if they had made a proper use of them, must have led them to the knowledg... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 43:9. _WHO AMONG THEM_] _Seven_ MSS., _three_ ancient, and the first edition, 1486, with the _Syriac_ and _Vulgate_, read בכם _bechem_, who among _you_; the present reading is preferable.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 43:10. _Ye_ (the Israelites) are _my witnesses - and my servant_ (the prophet) _whom I have chosen_, that whatever has been said before concerning Sennacherib has been literally fulfilled. The _prophet_ had predicted it; the _Israelites_ saw it accomplished. _BEFORE ME THERE WAS NO GO... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 43:12. _I HAVE DECLARED, AND HAVE SAVED_] My prophets have always predicted your deliverances before they took place; and I have fulfilled their words to the uttermost.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 43:14. _THE CHALDEANS, WHOSE CRY_ IS _IN THE SHIPS_ - "The Chaldeans exulting in their ships."] Babylon was very advantageously situated both in respect to commerce, and as a naval power. It was open to the Persian Gulf by the Euphrates, which was navigable by large vessels; and being... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 43:15. _THE CREATOR_] For בורא _bore_, "Creator," six MSS. (two ancient) have אלהי _Elohey_, "God.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 43:19. _BEHOLD, I WILL DO A NEW THING_] At Isaiah 43:16, the prophet had referred to the deliverance from Egypt and the passage through the Red Sea; here he promises that the same power shall be employed in their redemption and return from the Babylonish captivity. This was to be a _new... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 43:20. _THE BEAST OF THE FIELD SHALL HONOUR ME_ - "The wild beast of the field shall glorify me"] The image is elegant and highly poetical. God will give such an abundant miraculous supply of water to his people traversing the dry desert in their return to their country, that even the w... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 43:22. _BUT THOU HAST NOT CALLED UPON ME_] The connexion is: But thou, Israel, whom I have chosen, whom I have formed for myself to be my witness against the false gods of the nations; even thou hast revolted from me, hast neglected my worship, and hast been perpetually running after s... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 43:25. _I_, EVEN _I_, AM _HE_] The original is extremely abrupt: אנכי אנכי הוא _anochi anochi hu_, "I, I, He." Is there any mystery in this form? Does it refer to a plurality of persons in the Godhead? _FOR MINE OWN SAKE_] In the pardon of sin God can draw no reason but from his own in... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 43:27. _THY FIRST FATHER HATH SINNED_] On this _Kimchi_ speaks well: "How can ye say that ye have not sinned, seeing your first father, Adam, sinned; and man hath sin impressed on him through natural generation?... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 43:28. _I HAVE PROFANED THE PRINCES OF THE SANCTUARY_ - "Thy princes have profaned my sanctuary"] Instead of ואחלל שרי _vaachallel sarey_, read ויחללו שריך _vayechalelu sareycha_. So the _Syriac_ and _Septuagint_, και εμιαναν οἱ αρχοντες τα ἁγια μου, "the rulers have defiled my holy t... [ Continue Reading ]