CHAPTER XLIX _In this chapter the Messiah is introduced, declaring the full_ _extent of his commission, which is not only to be Saviour to_ _the Jews, but also to the Gentiles. The power and efficacy of_ _his word is reprehended by apt images; the ill success of his_ _ministry among the Jews is... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 49:2. _AND HE HATH MADE MY MOUTH LIKE A SHARP SWORD_ - "And he hath made my mouth a sharp sword"] The servant of God, who speaks in the former part of this chapter, must be the Messiah. If any part of this character can in any sense belong to the prophet, yet in some parts it must belo... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 49:5. _AND NOW, SAITH THE LORD_ - "And now, thus saith JEHOVAH"] The word כה _coh_, before אמר _amar_, is dropped out of the text: it is supplied by eight MSS. (two ancient) of Dr. _Kennicott's_, two of _De Rossi's_, and the _Septuagint, Syriac_, and _Vulgate_. _THOUGH ISRAEL BE NOT GA... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 49:6. _AND TO RESTORE THE PRESERVED OF ISRAEL _- "And to restore the branches of Israel"] נצירי _netsirey_, or נצורי _netsurey_, as the Masoretes correct it in the marginal reading. This word has been matter of great doubt with interpreters: the _Syriac_ renders it _the branch_, taking... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 49:7. _THE REDEEMER OF ISRAEL_, AND _HIS HOLY ONE_ - "The Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One"] "Perhaps we should read לקדושו _likdosho_," SECKER: that is, _to his Holy One_. The preceding word ends with a ל _lamed_, which might occasion that letter's being lost here. The _Talmud_ of Baby... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 49:9. _TO THEM THAT_ ARE _IN DARKNESS__ _- "And to those that are in darkness"] Fifteen MSS. (five ancient) of Dr. _Kennicott's_, eleven of _De Rossi's_, and one ancient of my own, and the two old editions of 1486 and 1488, and three others, add the conjunction ו _vau_ at the beginning... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 49:12. _BEHOLD, THESE SHALL COME FROM FAR_] "Babylon was far and east, ממזרח _mimmizrach_, (_non sic Vett_.,) Sinim, Pelusians, to the south."-SECKER. _THE LAND OF SINIM._] Prof. _Doederlein_ thought of Syene, the southern limit of Egypt, but does not abide by it. _Michaelis_ thinks it... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 49:13. _BREAK FORTH INTO SINGING, O MOUNTAINS _- "Ye mountains, burst forth into song"] Three ancient MSS. are without the י _yod_ or the conjunction _vau_ before the verb: and so the _Septuagint,_ _Syriac_, and _Vulgate_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 49:14. _THE LORD_ (יהוה Yehovah) _HATH FORSAKEN ME, AND MY_ _LORD_ (אדני Adonai) _HATH FORGOTTEN ME._] But a multitude of MSS. and several ancient editions read יהוה _Yehovah_ in both places.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 49:16. _BEHOLD, I HAVE GRAVEN THEE UPON THE PALMS OF_ MY _HANDS__ _- "Behold, on the palms of my hands have I delineated thee"] This is certainly an allusion to some practice, common among the Jews at that time, of making marks on their hands or arms by punctures on the skin, with some... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 49:17. _THY CHILDREN SHALL MAKE HASTE_ - "They that destroyed thee shall soon become thy builders"] Auctor Vulgatae pro בניך _banayich_, videtur legisse בוניך _bonayich_, unde vertit, _structores tui_; cui et Septuaginta fere consentiunt, qui verterunt ωκοδομηθης, _aedificata es_, prou... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 49:18. _BIND THEM_ ON THEE, _AS A BRIDE_ DOETH - "Bind them about thee, as a bride _her jewels_."] The end of the sentence is manifestly imperfect. Does a bride bind her children, or her new subjects, about her? Sion clothes herself with her children, as a bride clothes herself, - with... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 49:21. _THESE, WHERE_ HAD _THEY_ BEEN - "These then, where were they?"] The conjunction is added before אלה _elleh_, that is, ואלה _veelleh_. in thirty-two MSS. (nine ancient) of _Kennicott's_, and fifty-four of _De Rossi's_, and so the _Septuagint, Chaldee_, and _Vulgate_. See on Isaia... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 49:22. _Thus saith the Lord God _- אדני יהוה Adonai Yehovah. Adonai is wanting in one MS., in the Alexandrine copy of the _Septuagint_, and in the _Arabic_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 49:23. _WITH_ THEIR _FACE TOWARD THE EARTH_ - "With their faces to the earth"] It is well known that expressions of submission, homage, and reverence always have been and are still carried to a great degree of extravagance in the eastern countries. When Joseph's brethren were introduce... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 49:24. _SHALL THE PREY BE TAKEN FROM THE MIGHTY_ - "Shall the prey seized by the terrible be rescued"] For צדיק _tsaddik_, read עריץ _arits_. A palpable mistake, like that in Isaiah 42:19. The correction is self-evident from the very terms of the sentence; from the necessity of the str... [ Continue Reading ]