Verse Isaiah 44:28. That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd - "Who saith to Cyrus, Thou art my shepherd"] Pastor meus es; Vulg. The true reading seems to be רעי אתה roi attah; the word אתה attah, has probably been dropped out of the text. The same word is lost out of the text, Psalms 119:57. It is supplied in the Septuagint by the word ει, thou art.

Saying to Jerusalem] For ולאמר velemor, the Septuagint and Vulgate read האומר haomer.

And to the temple] ולהיכל uleheychal, as לירושלם lirushalayim, before; the preposition is necessary, and the Vulgate seems to read so. - Houbigant.

That saith of CYRUS, He is, or thou art, my shepherd - Saving to JERUSALEM, "Thou shalt be built;" and to the TEMPLE, "Thy foundation shall be laid." - There is a remarkable beauty and propriety in this verse.

1. Cyrus is called God's shepherd. Shepherd was an epithet which Cyrus took to himself; and what he gave to all good kings.

2. This Cyrus should say to the temple: "Thy foundation shall be laid." Not - thou shalt be built. The fact is, only the foundation was laid in the days of Cyrus, the Ammonites having prevented the building; nor was it resumed till the second year of Darius, one of his successors. There is often a precision in the expressions of the prophets which is as honourable to truth, as it is unnoticed by careless readers.

Continues after advertising
Continues after advertising