Isaiah 48:1

Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness. THE WATERS OF JUDAH - spring from the fountain of Judah, (; ; , margin.) Judah has the 'fountain' attributed to it because it survived the ten tribes, and from it Messiah was to spring. SWEAR BY THE NAME OF THE LORD - (; ; .)...

1._Hear this, O house of Jacob. _He now addresses his discourse to the Jews; whom also he had chiefly in his eye, in the whole of the preceding chapter; for he was not sent to the Babylonians, but addresses them in such a manner as to wish that the Jews, to whom he had been especially appointed, should hear him. Accordingly, he foretold the destruction of the Babylonians, that the Jews might calmly wait for deliverance, and at the same time might not be terrified by the greatness and power of their enemies, (234) and that, relying on these promises, they might stand unmoved against all temptations. But because the Jews were obstinate, and did not believe those promises, and because Isaiah foresaw how great would be their hard-heartedness and obstinacy during their captivity, for that reason he reproves them with greater severity. Ezekiel shews still more clearly how inveterate was their...

1-8 The Jews valued themselves on descent from Jacob, and used the name of Jehovah as their God. They prided themselves respecting Jerusalem and the temple, yet there was no holiness in their lives. If we are not sincere in religion, we do but take the name of the Lord in vain. By prophecy they were shown how God would deal with them, long before it came to pass. God has said and done enough to prevent men's boasting of themselves, which makes the sin and ruin of the proud worse; sooner or later every mouth shall be stopped, and all become silent before Him. We are all born children of disobedience. Where original sin is, actual sin will follow. Does not the conscience of every man witness to the truth of Scripture? May the Lord prove us, and render us doers of the word....

CHAPTER XLVIII _The Jews reproved for their obstinate attachment to idols,_ _notwithstanding their experience of the Divine providence over_ _them; and of the Divine prescience that revealed by the_ _prophets the most remarkable events which concerned them, that_ _they should not have the least pretext for ascribing any_ _portion of their success to their idols_, 1-8. _The Almighty, after bringing them to the furnace for their_ _perverseness, asserts his glorious sovereignty, and repeats his_ _gracious promises of deliverance and consolation_, 9-11....

HEAR YE THIS - This is an address to the Jews regarded as in Babylon, and is designed to remind them of their origin, and of their privileges as the descendants of Jacob, and having the name of Israel (compare the notes at Isaiah 43:1). AND ARE COME FORTH OUT OF THE WATERS OF JUDAH - This metaphor is taken from a fountain which sends forth its streams of water, and the idea is, that they owed their origin to Judah, as the streams flowed from a fountain. A similar figure is used by Balaam in describing the vast increase of the Jews: Numbers 34 ‘He shall pour the waters out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters.’ So in Deuteronomy 33:28 :

EXPOSITION The present chapter, which terminates the second section of Isaiah's later prophecies, consists of a long address by God to his people, partly in the way of complaint, partly of combined premise and exhortation. The address is divided into three portions, each commencing with a call on Israel to pay attention: ISAIAH 48:1, "Hear ye this," etc.; Isaiah 48:12, "Hearken unto me," etc.; Isaiah 48:16, "Come_ _ye near unto me, hear ye this," etc. ISAIAH 48:1 THE FIRST ADDR

HEAR YE THIS, O HOUSE OF JACOB,.... Who were of the house and family of Jacob, his descendants and posterity; and who were of the house of the God of Jacob, had a name and a place there, at least in profession: WHICH ARE CALLED BY THE NAME OF ISRAEL; a name given to Jacob, because of his prevalence with God in prayer; but these had only the name, not the thing, however not as yet; they were neither praying Jacobs, nor prevailing Israels; they were not Israelites indeed: AND ARE COME FORTH OUT OF THE WATERS OF JUDAH; that is, were of the seed of Judah, as the Targum, Aben Ezra, and Kimchi interpret it; these were waters out of his buckets, as Jarchi observes from Numbers 24:7, so we read of the fountain of Jacob, Deuteronomy 33:28. These were streams from thence

Isaiah 48:1. _Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness._ There always were false professors, and I suppose there always will be till Christ comes. A Judas was among the twelve apostles, and we cannot wonder that we find such in every church, but what a dreadful thing it is to wear the name of God, and yet not really to serve him, to be called Christians, and yet not to be like Christ! It must be a very God-provoking thing to be called by his name, and then insult it by not being true to it. Isaiah 48:2. For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The LORD

CHAPTER 48 The Divine Restatement Concerning His People, Their Condition and Future 1. _Their condition and Jehovah's predictions (Isaiah 48:1)_ 2. _Jehovah acts for His Name's sake (Isaiah 48:9)_ 3. _I am He” (Isaiah 48:12)_ 4. _Israel's future blessing (Isaiah 48:17)_ 5. _No peace for the wicked (Isaiah 48:22) _ This chapter touches once more upon the different phases of Jehovah's messages from Chapter s 40-47. Israel's apostate condition, Jehovah's sovereign grace and mercy towards them, Cyrus ...

A RECAPITULATION OF THE ARGUMENT FROM PROPHECY. To the original text a redactor has added a commentary (bracketed below) from a different standpoint. Whereas the prophet regarded Israel as having more than paid the penalty of her sins, the additions represent her as obstinately and inveterately sinful, and long addicted to the worship of images. Hearken, says Yahweh to His people [proud of their nationality and attached to His cultus]. Long ago I predicted what later I suddenly accomplished. [Knowing thine inveterate obstinacy, Isaiah 48:4] I announced beforehand my intentions [lest thou shouldst attribute the events to thine idols, Isaiah 48:5_ b_]. Thou hast heard. wilt thou not admit it? Now I announce things hitherto unrevealed [lest thou shouldst say, I knew them,...