Isaiah 49:20

The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell. THE CHILDREN WHICH THOU SHALL HAVE, AFTER THOU HAST LOST THE OTHER - literally, The children of thy bereavements (cf. Isaiah 54:1). Maurer explains, the children of whom thou hast been bereft during their dispersion in other lands (note, Isaiah 47:8) (Maurer). SHALL SAY AGAIN - rather, yet. GIVE PLACE TO ME THAT I MAY DWELL - Hebrew, gªshaah (H5066) liy (H3807a) wª'eesheebaah ...

20._Shall again say in thine ears. _Isaiah continues the same subject, and, under a different metaphor, promises the restoration of the Church. He compares her to a widowed or rather a barren mother, in order to describe her wretched and distressful condition; for she was overwhelmed by so many distresses, that the remembrance of the nation appeared to have wholly perished. Mingled with the Babylonians,who held her captive, she had almost passed into another body. We need not wonder, therefore, if he compares her to a barren mother; for she brought forth no more children. Formerly the Jews had enjoyed high prosperity; but the kingdom was ruined, and all their strength was decayed, and, in short, their name was almost extinguished, when they were led into captivity. He therefore promises that the Church shall be purified from her filthiness, and that she who is now solitary shall regain t...

18-23 Zion is addressed as an afflicted widow, bereaved of her children. Numbers flock to her, and she is assured that they come to be a comfort to her. There are times when the church is desolate and few in number; yet its desolations shall not last for ever, and God will repair them. God can raise up friends for returning Israelites, even among Gentiles. They shall bring their children, and make them thy children. Let all deal tenderly and carefully with young converts and beginners in religion. Princes shall protect the church. It shall appear that God is the sovereign Lord of all. And those who in the exercise of faith, hope, and patience, wait on God for the fulfilment of his promises, shall never be confounded....

THE CHILDREN WHICH THOU SHALT HAVE - The increase of the population shall be so great. AFTER THOU HAST LOST THE OTHER - Hebrew, ‘The sons of thy widowhood.’ That is, after thou hast lost those that have been killed in the wars, and those that have died in captivity in a distant land, there shall be again a great increase as if they were given to a widowed mother. And perhaps the general truth is taught here, that the persecution of the people of God will be attended ultimately with a vast increase; and that all the attempts to obliterate the church will only tend finally to enlarge and strengthen it. SHALL SAY AGAIN IN THY EARS - Or, shall say to thee. THE PLACE IS TOO STRAIT FOR ME - There is not room for us all. The entire language here denotes a vast accession to the church of God. It is indicative of such an incr

SECTION III. THE MISSION OF THE SERVANT OF THE LORD (CH. 49-53). EXPOSITION The connection of the present section is especially with Isaiah 42:1, where the mission of the Servant of Jehovah was first announced. That mission was there described with extreme brevity. It has now to be fully set forth, for the instruction, consolation, and comfort of all Israel, which is represented as sunk in despondency, deeming itself forgotten of God and forsaken by him (Isaiah 42:13, Isaiah 42:14). In the present chapter Jehovah's at

THE CHILDREN WHICH THOU SHALT HAVE, AFTER THOU HAST LOST THE OTHER,.... Which "other lost" are not the Jews, the broken branches, rejected and cut off for unbelief; and the "children after" them not the Gentiles converted, which took their place; but "the other" are such who have been destroyed by the Heathen persecutions, and especially by the antichristian cruelties; and the "children after", the great numbers of converts upon the fall of antichrist. The words may be rendered, "the children of thine orbity" o, or "childless state"; such as were born unto her in an uncommon, extraordinary, and unexpected way, when the church seemed to be in a widowhood estate, or like a woman that is past bearing children: SHALL SAY AGAIN IN THINE EARS; or, "shall yet say" p; that is, hereafter, in time to come: for this is a prophecy of what should be said in the church's hearing, and such as had neve...

Isaiah 49:1. _Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; the Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;_ Our Lord Jesus, that great Prophet of the Church, was in a special manner the Lord's in the matter of his birth. A wondrous holy mystery hangs about his birth at Bethlehem, he was, in that respect, the Lord's in a very remarkable sense. «He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword.» You know how our Lord's mouth, or the Word of his gospel that issues from his mouth, is like a sharp sword how it conquers, how it cuts its way, how, wherever it comes, it pierces «even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the tho

2. THE SERVANT OF JEHOVAH, HIS SUFFERING AND HIS GLORY (49-57) CHAPTER 49 The Servant of Jehovah and His Mission 1. _The servant speaks of himself (Isaiah 49:1)_ 2. _He complains of failure (Isaiah 49:4)_ 3. _Jehovah's answer to him (Isaiah 49:5)_ 4. _Zion speaks (Isaiah 49:14) Jehovah's answer (Isaiah 49:15) _ This entire chapter is the key to the whole section. The Servant of Jehovah, the Lord Jesus Christ, stands in the foreground. He is seen as the Rejected One, who complains that He has labored in vain. The ultim

JERUSALEM SHALL BE FORTHWITH REBUILT AND REPEOPLED. Zion has believed herself forgotten of Yahweh. But though a mother should forget her babe He will not forget Zion. His plan for rebuilding it He has cut upon the palms of His hands that it may be ever before Him. Zion's builders (_mg._) shall speedily get to work, while her destroyers shall haste out of the city. From all sides the dispersed people return; they shall be to the newly-built city as ornaments to a new-made wife. Though all the waste places be made habitable (?) still the people shall more than fill them. Oppressors shall be far away. Those born while the city lay desolate are so many as on their return to strive in Zion's hearing for room. And Zion shall ask herself in bewilderment, Who hath borne and reared me these when I was childless? (_cf._ Genesis 16:2)....

WHICH THOU SHALT HAVE. OTHER. of thy childlessness, or, of whom thou wast bereaved....