Isaiah 50:6

I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. SMITERS - with scourges and with the open hand (). ; Matt. 28:26; , inform us of the fufilment of this prophecy (Luke 18:31). To 'pluck the hair' is the highest insult that can be offered an Oriental (; ). "I gave" implies the voluntary nature of His sufferings; His example corresponded to His precept ...

6._I exposed my body to the smiters. _With the reproaches, jeers, and insolence of wicked men, he contrasts the unshaken courage which he possesses; as if he had said that, “whatever resistancemay be attempted by the despisers of God, yet he will baffle all their insults, so that he will never repent of the labors which he has undertaken.” Yet this passage plainly shows that the ministers of the word cannot perform their office faithfully without being exposed to a contest with the world, and even without being fiercely assailed on all sides; for as soon as Isaiah says that he has obeyed the command of God, he likewise adds that “He has exposed his body to the smiters.” The faithful servants of God, when they administer the doctrine of the word, cannot escape from this condition, but must endure fights, reproaches, hatred, slanders, and various attacks from adversaries, who loathe that l...

4-9 As Jesus was God and man in one person, we find him sometimes speaking, or spoken of, as the Lord God; at other times, as man and the servant of Jehovah. He was to declare the truths which comfort the broken, contrite heart, those weary of sin, harassed with afflictions. And as the Holy Spirit was upon him, that he might speak as never man spake; so the same Divine influence daily wakened him to pray, to preach the gospel, and to receive and deliver the whole will of the Father. The Father justified the Son when he accepted the satisfaction he made for the sin of man. Christ speaks in the name of all believers. Who dares to be an enemy to those unto whom he is a Friend? or who will contend with those whom he is an Advocate? Thus St. Paul applies it, Romans 8:33....

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 severe punishment, carrying with it a lasting disgrace; Deuteronomy 25:9. Among the Medes it was highly offensive to spit in any one's presence, Herod. i. 99; and so likewise among the Persians, _Xenophon_, Cyrop. Lib. i., p. 18. "They abhor me; they flee far from me; They forbear not to spit in my face....

I GAVE MY BACK TO THE SMITERS - I submitted willingly to be scourged, or whipped. This is one of the parts of this chapter which can be applied to no other one but the Messiah. There is not the slightest evidence, whatever may be supposed to have been the probability, that Isaiah was subjected to any such trial as this, or that he was scourged in a public manner. Yet it was literally fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 27:26; compare Luke 18:33). AND MY CHEEKS TO THEM THAT PLUCKED OFF THE HAIR - literally, ‘My cheeks to hose who pluck, or pull.’ The word used here (מרט _māraṭ_) means properly to polish, to sharpen, to make smooth; then to make smooth the head, to make bald; that is, to pluck o

EXPOSITION This chapter seems to be made up of short fragments, which the collector, or collectors, of Isaiah's writings regarded as too precious to be lost, and which they consequently here threw together, though in reality they were detached utterances, and are not even connected in subject-matter. Verses 1-3 are a rebuke to the exiles for deeming themselves wholly rejected, and not rising to the occasion now that deliverance is at hand. Verses 4-9 carry on the account of "the Servant of the Lord" from Isaiah 49:12, further describing his humiliation, and declaring his steadfastness and his faith. Isaiah 49:10, Isaiah 49:11 are an exhortation to weak believers generally, and contain an encouragement and a

I GAVE MY BACK TO THE SMITERS,.... To Pontius Pilate, and those he ordered to scourge him, Matthew 27:26 AND MY CHEEKS TO THEM THAT PLUCKED OFF THE HAIR; of the beard; which, is painful, so a great indignity and affront. The Septuagint renders it, "and my cheeks to blows"; εις ραπισματα, a word used by the evangelists when they speak of Christ being smitten and stricken with the palms of men's hands, and seem to refer to this passage, Mark 14:65: I HID NOT MY FACE FROM SHAME AND SPITTING; or from shameful spitting; they spit in his face, and exposed him to shame, and which was a shameful usage of him, and yet he took it patiently, Matthew 26:67, these are all instances o

Isaiah 50:1. _Thus saith the LORD,_ There is always something weighty coming when you have this preface. If God speaks, we ought to hear with reverence, with attention. Isaiah 50:1. _Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you?_ God is here addressing his ancient people; they had been given up, as it were, left, forsaken. They compared themselves to a wife who had been divorced by her husband, or to children who had been sold by their father because of his extreme poverty. The Lord says, «Now, tell me, have I really put away my chosen people as a man in a pet puts away his wife? Have I really sold you to profit by you? What benefit is it to me that you are carried away captive, and that you a

CHAPTER 50 The Servant Speaks of His Determination and Suffering (Isaiah 50:1 belong to the preceding chapter.) 1. _The cause of Zion's present desolation (Isaiah 50:1)_ 2. _The Servant's self-witness (Isaiah 50:4)_ 3. _His obedience and His suffering (Isaiah 50:5)_ 4. _His victorious triumph (Isaiah 50:7)_ 5. _The two classes: Those who fear Him and those who reject Him (Isaiah 50:10) _ The Suffering One is speaking. Little commen

THE CONFIDENCE OF THE SERVANT IN YAHWEH (the third Servant Song). Here, as in Isaiah 49:1, the Servant is the speaker. Yahweh has given me the eloquence of a disciple that I may know how to answer the godless with upright words. Every morning He imparts instruction to me as to a disciple, nor have insult and cruelty caused me to shrink from the tasks He has set me. Through His help I have not been overwhelmed; upon me, confident that I shall not finally be put to shame, these cruelties have made no more impression than though I had been flint. My vindication is near. Let any accuser come forward and we will submit our case to Him. He will help me who will pronounce me wrong? My adversaries shall perish like a moth-eaten garment. ISAIAH 50:4. The text is certainly corrupt. For SUSTAIN, a gue