CHAPTER L _In this chapter God vindicates his dealings with his people,_ _whose alienation is owing to themselves_, 1. _And, by allusion to the temporal deliverances connected with_ _the drying up of the Red Sea and the Euphrates, asserts his_ _power to save_, 2, 3; _namely, by the obedience a... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 50:2. _THEIR FISH STINKETH _- "Their fish is dried up"] For תבאש _tibaosh, stinketh_, read תיבש _tibash, is dried up_; so it stands in the Bodl. MS., and it is confirmed by the _Septuagint_, ξηρανθησονται, _they shall be dried up_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 50:5. _NEITHER TURNED AWAY BACK _- "Neither did I withdraw myself backward"] Eleven MSS. and the oldest edition prefix the conjunction ו _vau_; and so also the _Septuagint_ and _Syriac_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 50:6. _AND MY CHEEKS TO THEM THAT PLUCKED OFF THE HAIR_] The greatest indignity that could possibly be offered. See the note on Isaiah 7:20. _I HID NOT MY FACE FROM SHAME AND SPITTING._] Another instance of the utmost contempt and detestation. It was ordered by the law of Moses as a se... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 50:7. _THEREFORE HAVE I SET MY FACE LIKE A FLINT_] The Prophet Ezekiel, Ezekiel 2:8, has expressed this with great force in his bold and vehement manner: "Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, And thy forehead strong against their foreheads: As an adamant, harder t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 50:8. _WHO WILL CONTEND WITH ME_] The Bodleian MS. and another add the word הוא _hu_; מי הוא יריב mi hu yarib, as in the like phrase in the next verse; and in the very same phrase Job 13:19, and so likewise in many other places, Job 17:3; Job 41:1. Sometimes on the like occasions it is... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 50:10. _WHO IS AMONG YOU THAT FEARETH THE LORD_] I believe this passage has been generally, if not _dangerously_, misunderstood. It has been _quoted_, and _preached upon_, to prove that "a man might conscientiously fear God, and be obedient to the words of the law and the prophets; _ob... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 50:11. _YE THAT KINDLE A FIRE_] The fire of their own kindling, by the light of which they walk with security and satisfaction, is an image designed to express, in general, human devices and mere worldly policy, exclusive of faith, and trust in God; which, though they flatter themselves... [ Continue Reading ]