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 ISAIAH /^'^'^^ 
 
 TRANSLATED AND EXPLAI 
 
 JOSEPH ADDISON ALEXANDER. 
 
 AN ABRIDGMENT OF THE AUTHOR'S CRITICAL ^ 
 COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH. 
 
 VOLUME II. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 JOHN WILEY, 18 PARK PLACE, 
 
 NKAR COIiUMBIA (JOLLEGfi. 
 
 1852. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, 
 
 BY JOSEPH ADDISON ALEXANDER, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District of New Jersey. 
 
 R. Craighead, Prinftr and Stereotijpet, 
 U'i FuHon Street. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ■<» ♦ »» 
 
 The last twenty-seven chapters of Isaiah (xl-lxvi) form a 
 distinct and continuous discourse, connected with the former 
 part, and at the same time separated from it by four chapters 
 (xxxvi — xxxix) almost entirely historical. These later Pro- 
 phecies of Isaiah have a character so marked and so peculiar 
 as to call for some additional preliminary views in the shape 
 of a separate and special introduction. 
 
 One of the most important functions of the prophetic office 
 was the exposition of the Law, that is to say, of the Mosaic 
 institutions, the peculiar form in which the Church was organ- 
 ized until the advent of Messiah. This inspired exposition was 
 of absolute necessity, in order to prevent or to correct mistakes 
 which were constantly arising, not only from the blindness and 
 perverseness of the people, but from the very nature of the sys- 
 tem under which they lived. That system, being temporary 
 and symbolical, was necessarily material, ceremonial, and re- 
 strictive in its forms ; as nothing purely spiritual could be sym- 
 bolical or typical of other spiritual things, nor could a catholic 
 or free constitution have secured the necessary segregation of 
 the people from all others for a temporary purpose. 
 
 The evils incident to such a state of things were the same 
 that have occurred in many other like ca^es, and may all be 
 derived from the superior influence of sensible objects on the 
 mass of men, and from the consequent propensity to lose sight 
 of the end in the use of the means, and to confound the sign 
 
 VOL. II. — 1 
 
2 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 with the thing signified. The precise form and degree of this 
 perversion no doubt varied with the change of times and circum- 
 stances, and a corresponding difference must have existed iu 
 the action of the Prophets who were called to exert a corrective 
 influence on these abuses. 
 
 In the days of Hezekiah, the national corruption had already- 
 passed through several phases, each of which might still be traced 
 in its effects, and none of which had wholly vanished. Some- 
 times the prevailing tendency had been to make the ceremonial 
 form of the Mosaic worship, and its consequent coincidence in 
 certain points with the religions of surrounding nations, an 
 occasion or a pretext for adopting heathen rites and usages, at 
 first as a mere extension and enlargement of the ritual itself, 
 then more boldly as an arbitrary mixture of heterogeneous ele- 
 ments, and lastly as an open and entire substitution of the false 
 for the true, and of !Baal, Ashtoreth, or Moloch, for Jehovah. 
 
 At other times the same corruption had assumed a less re- 
 volting form and been contented with perverting the Mosaic 
 institutions while externally and zealously adhering to them. 
 The two points from which this insidious process of perversion 
 set out were the nature and design of the ceremonial law, and 
 the relation of the chosen people to the rest of men. As to the 
 first, it soon became a current and at last a fixed opinion with 
 the mass of irreligious Jews, that the ritual acts of the Mosaic 
 service had an intrinsic efiicacy, or a kind of magical effect upon 
 the moral and spiritual state of the worshipper. Against this 
 error the Law itself had partially provided by occasional viola- 
 tions and suspensions of its own most rigorous demands, plainly 
 implying that the rites were not intrinsically efficacious, but 
 significant of something else. As a single instance of this gene- 
 ral fact it may be mentioned, that although the sacrifice of life 
 is everywhere throughout the ceremonial law presented as the 
 symbol of atonement, yet in certain cases, where the circum- 
 stances of the offerer forbade an animal oblation, he was suffered 
 
INTRODUCTION. 3 
 
 to present one of a vegetable nature, even where the service was 
 directly and exclusively expiatory ; a substitution wholly in- 
 consistent with the doctrine of an intrinsic virtue or a magical 
 effect, but perfectly in harmony with that of a symbolical and 
 typical design, in which the uniformity of the external symbol, 
 although rigidly maintained in general, might be dispensed 
 with in a rare and special case without absurdity or inconvenience. 
 
 It might easily be shown that the same corrective was provi- 
 ded by the Law itself in its occasional departure from its own 
 requisitions as to time and place and the officiating person ; so 
 that no analogy whatever really exists between the Levitical 
 economy, even as expounded by itself, and the ritual systems 
 which in later times have been so confidently built upon it. But 
 the single instance which has been already cited will suffice to 
 illustrate the extent of the perversion which at an early period 
 had taken root among the Jews, as to the real nature and design 
 of their ceremonial services. The natural effect of such^ an 
 error on the spirit and the morals is too obvious in itself, and 
 too explicitly recorded in the sacred history, to require either 
 proof or illustration. 
 
 On the other great point, the relation of the Jews to the 
 surrounding nations, their opinions seem to have become at an 
 early period equally erroneous. In this as in the other case, 
 they went wrong by a superficial judgment founded on appear-^ 
 ances, by looking simply at the means before them, and neither 
 forwards to their end, nor backwards to their origin. From 
 the indisputable facts of Israel's divine election as the people 
 of Jehovah, his extraordinary preservation as such, and his 
 undisturbed exclusive possession of the written word and the 
 accompanying rites, they had drawn the natural but false con- 
 clusion, that this national pre-eminence was founded on intrinsic 
 causes, or at least on some original and perpetual distinction 
 in their favour. This led them to repudiate or forget the fun- 
 damental truth of their whole history, to wit, that they were set 
 
4 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 apart and kept apart, not for tbe ruin and disgrace, but for the 
 ultimate benefit and honour of the whole world, or rather of the 
 whole church which was to be gathered from all nations, and 
 of which the ancient Israel was designed to be the symbol and 
 the representative. As it had pleased God to elect a certain 
 portion of mankind to everlasting life through Christ, so it 
 pleased him that until Christ came, this body of elect ones, 
 scattered through all lands and ages, should be represented by 
 a single nation, and that this representative body should be the 
 sole depository of divine truth and a divinely instituted wor- 
 ship ; while the ultimate design of this arrangement was kept 
 constantly in view by the free access which in all ages was 
 afforded to the gentiles who consented to embrace the true 
 religion. 
 
 It is difficult indeed to understand how the Jews could re- 
 concile the immemorial reception of proselytes from other na- 
 tions, with the dogma of national superiority and exclusive hered- 
 itary right to the divine favour. The only .solution of this 
 singular phenomenon is furnished by continual recurrence to 
 the great representative principle on which the Jt;wish church 
 was organized, and which was carried out not only in the sepa- 
 ration of the body as a whole from other men, but in the inter- 
 nal constitution of the body itself, and more especially in the 
 separation of a whole tribe from the rest of Israel, and of a sin- 
 gle family in that tribe from the other Levites, and of a single 
 person in that family, in whom was finally concentrated the 
 whole representation of the Body on the one hand, while on the 
 other he was a constituted type of the Head. 
 
 If the Jews could have been made to understand or to re- 
 member that their national pre-eminence was representative, 
 not original ; symbolical, not real ; provisional, not perpetual ; 
 it could never have betrayed them into hatred or contempt of 
 other nations, but would rather have cherished an enlarged and 
 catholic spirit, as it did in the most enlightened, an effect 
 
INTRODUCTION. 6 
 
 which may be clearly traced in the writiugs of Moses, David, 
 and Isaiah. That view of the Mosaic dispensation which re- 
 gards this Jewish bigotry as its genuine spirit is demonstrably 
 a false one. The true spirit of the old economy was not indeed 
 a latitudinarian indifference to its institutions, or a premature 
 anticipation of a state of things still future. It was scrupu- 
 lously faithful even to the temporary institutions of the ancient 
 church ; but while it looked upon them as obligatory, it did not 
 look upon them as perpetual. It obeyed the present requisi- 
 tions of Jehovah, but still looked forward to something better. 
 Hence the failure to account, on any other supposition, for the 
 seeming contradictions of the Old Testament, in reference to 
 the ceremonies of the Law. If worthless, why were they so 
 conscientiously observed by the best and wisest men ? If intrin- 
 ■ sically valuable, why are they disparaged and almost repudiated 
 by the same men 1 Simply because they were neither worthless 
 nor intrinsically valuable, but appointed temporary signs of 
 something to be otherwise revealed thereafter ; so that it^ was 
 equally impious and foolish to reject them altogether with the 
 sceptic, and to rest in them forever with the formalist. 
 
 It is no less true, and for exactly the same reason, that the 
 genuine spirit of the old economy was equally adverse to all 
 religious mixture with the heathen or renunciation of the Jew- 
 ish privileges on one hand, and to all contracted national con- 
 ceit and hatred of the gentiles on the other. Yet both these 
 forms of error had become fixed in the Jewish creed and char- 
 acter long before the days of Hezekiah. That they were not 
 universal even then, we have abundant proof in the Old Testa- 
 ment. Even in the worst of times, there is reason to believe 
 that a portion of the people held fast to the true doctrine and 
 the true spirit of the extraordinary system under which they 
 lived. How large this more enlightened party was at any time, 
 and to how small a remnant it was ever reduced, we have not 
 the means of ascertaining ; but we know that it was always iu 
 
6 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 existence, and that it constituted the true Israel, the real church 
 of the Old Testament. 
 
 To this class the corruption of the general body must have 
 been a cause not only of sorrow but of apprehension ; and if 
 express prophetic threatenings had been wanting, they could 
 scarcely fail to anticipate the punishment and even the rejec- 
 tion of tlieir nation. But in this anticipation they were them- 
 selves liable to error. Their associations were so intimately 
 blended with the institutions under which they lived, that they 
 must have found it hard to separate the idea of Israel as a church 
 from that of Israel as a nation ; a difficulty similar in kind, 
 however different in degree, from that which we experience in 
 forming a conception of the continued existence of the soul 
 without the body. And as all men, in the latter case, however 
 fully they may be persuaded of the separate existence of the 
 spirit and of its future disembodied state, habitually speak of 
 it in terras strictly applicable only to its present state ; so the 
 ancient saints, however strong their faith, were under the ne- 
 cessity of framing their conceptions, as to future things, upon 
 the model of those present ; and the imperceptible extension 
 of this process beyond the limits of necessity would naturally 
 tend to generate errors not of form merely but of substance. 
 Among these we may readily suppose to have had place the 
 idea that, as Israel had been unfaithful to its trust, and was to 
 be rejected, the Church or People of God must as a body share 
 the same fate ; or in other words, that if the national Israel 
 perished, the spiritual Israel must perish with it, at least so far 
 as to be disorganized and resolved into its elements. 
 
 The same confusion of ideas still exists among the uninstruct- 
 ed classes, and to some extent among the more enlightened 
 also, in those countries where the Church has for ages been a 
 national establishment, and scarcely known in any other form ; 
 as, for instance, in Sweden and Norway among Protestants, or 
 in Spain and Portugal among Papists. To the most devout 
 
INTRODUCTION. 7 
 
 in such communities the downfall of the hierarchical establish- 
 ment seems perfectly identical with the extinction of the church ; 
 and nothing but a long course of instruction, and perhaps expe- 
 rience, could enable them to form the idea of a disembodied 
 unestablished Christian church. If such mistakes are possible 
 and real even now, we hav^ little reason either to dispute their 
 existence or to wonder at it, under the complicated forms and 
 in the imperfect light of the Mosaic dispensation. It is not 
 only credible but altogether natural, that even true believers, 
 unassisted by a special revelation, should have shunned the 
 extreme of looking upon Israel's pre-eminence among the na- 
 tions as original and perpetual, only by verging towards the 
 opposite error of supposing that the* downfall of the nation would 
 involve the abolition of the church, and human unbelief defeat 
 the purposes and make void the promises of God. 
 
 Here then are several distinct but cognate forms of error, 
 which appear to have gained currency among the Jews before 
 the time of Hezekiah, in relation to the two great distinctive 
 features of their national condition, the ceremonial law and their 
 seclusion from the gentiles. Upon each of these points there 
 were two shades of opinion entertained by very different classes. 
 The Mosaic ceremonies were with some a pretext for idolatrous 
 observances, while others rested in them, not as types or sym- 
 bols, but as efficacious means of expiation. The pre-eminence 
 of Israel was by some regarded as perpetual, while others ap- 
 prehended in its termination the extinction of the church itself. 
 These various forms of error might be variously combined and 
 modified in different cases, and their general result must of 
 course have contributed largely to determine the character of 
 the church and nation. 
 
 It was not, perhaps, until these errors had begun to take a 
 definite and settled form among the people, that the Prophets, 
 who had hitherto confined themselves to oral instruction or 
 historical composition, were directed to utter and record for 
 
8 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 constant use discourses meant to be corrective or condemnatory 
 of these dangerous perversions. This may at least be regarded 
 as a plausible solution of the fact that prophetic writing in the 
 strict sense became so much more abundant in the later days 
 of the Old Testament history. Of these prophetic writings, 
 still preserved in our canon, there is scarcely any part which 
 has not a perceptible and direct bearing on the state of feeling 
 and opinion which has been described. This is emphatically 
 true of Isaiah's earlier prophecies, which, though so various in 
 form, are all adapted to correct the errors in question, or to 
 establish the antagonistic truths. This general design of the 
 predictions might be so used as to throw new light upon their 
 exposition, by connecting if more closely with the prevalent 
 errors of the ancient church than was attempted in the other 
 volume. Guided even by this vague suggestion, an attentive 
 reader will be able for the most part to determine, with respect 
 to each successive portion, whether it was specially intended to 
 rebuke idolatry, to rectify the errors of the formalist in reference 
 to the ceremonial system, to bring down the arrogance of a 
 mistaken nationality, or to console the true believer by assuring 
 him that though the carnal Israel should perish, the true Israel 
 must endure forever. 
 
 But although this purpose may be traced, to some extent, in 
 all the prophecies, it is natural to suppose that some part of the 
 canon would be occupied with a direct, extensive, and continuous 
 exhibition of the truth upon a subject so momentous ; and the 
 date of such a prophecy could scarcely be assigned to any other 
 period so naturally as to that which has been specified, the reign 
 of Hezekiah, when all the various forms of error and corruption 
 which had successively prevailed were co-existent, when idolatry, 
 although suppressed by law, was still openly or secretly prac- 
 tised, and in many cases superseded only by a hypocritical 
 formality and ritual religion, attended by an overweening sense 
 of the national pre-eminence of Israel, from which even the 
 
INTRODUCTION. 9 
 
 most godly seem to have found refuge in despondent fears and 
 skeptical misgivings. At such a time,-|-when the theocracy 
 had long since reached and passed its zenith, and a series of 
 providential shocks, with intervals of brief repose, had already 
 begun to loosen the foundations of the old economy in prepara- 
 tion for its ultimate removal,-^such a discourse as that supposed 
 must have been eminently seasonable, if not absolutely needed, 
 to rebuke sin, correct error, and sustain the hopes of true be- 
 lievers. It was equally important, nay, essential to the great 
 end of the temporary system, that the way for its final abroga- 
 tion should be gradually prepared, and that in the meantime it 
 should be maintained in constant oj)eration. 
 
 If the circumstances of the times which have been stated are 
 enough to make it probable that such a revelation would be 
 given, they will also aid us in determining beforehand, not in 
 detail but in the general, its form and character. The histori- 
 cal occasion and the end proposed would naturally lead us to 
 expect in such a book the simultaneous or alternate presentation 
 of a few great leading- truths, perhaps with accompanying refu- 
 tation of the adverse errors, and with such reproofs, remon- 
 strances and exhortations, promises and threatenings, as the 
 condition of the people springing from these errors might re- 
 quire, not only at the date of the prediction but in later times. 
 In executing this design the Prophet might have been expected 
 to pursue a method more rhetorical than logical, and to enforce 
 his doctrine not so much by dry didactic statements as by ani- 
 mated argument combined with earnest exhortation, passionate 
 appeals, poetical apostrophes, impressive repetitions, and illus- 
 trations drawn both from the ancient and the later history of 
 Israel. In fine, from what has been already said, it follows that 
 the doctrines, which would naturally constitute the staple of the 
 prophecy in such a case, are those relating to the true design 
 of Israel's vocation and seclusion from the gentiles, and of the 
 ceremonial institutions under which he was in honourable bon- 
 
 l* 
 
 \ 
 
10 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 dage. The sins and errors which find their condemnation in 
 the statement of these truths are those of actual idolatry, a rit- 
 ual formality, a blinded nationality, and a despondent appre- 
 hension of the failure of Jehovah's promise. Such might even 
 a priori be regarded as the probable structure and complexion 
 of a prophecy or series of prophecies intended to secure the end 
 in question. If the person called to this important service had 
 already been the organ of divine communications upon other 
 subjects, or with more direct reference to other subjects, it would 
 be reasonable to expect a marked diversity between these former 
 prophecies and that uttered under a new impulse. Besides the 
 very great and striking difference which must always be per- 
 ceptible between a series of detached compositions, varying and 
 possibly remote from one another as to date, and a continuous 
 discourse on one great theme, there would be other unavoidable 
 distinctions springing directly from the new and wide scope of 
 prophetic vision, and from the concentration in one vision of 
 the elements diffused through many others. This diversity 
 would be enhanced by any striking difference of outward 
 circumstances, such as the advanced age of the writer, his 
 matured experience, his seclusion from the world and from 
 active life, or any other changes which might have the same 
 effect ; but even in the absence of these outward causes, the 
 diversity would still be very great and unavoi'dable. 
 
 From these probabilities let us now turn to realities. Pre- 
 cisely such a book as that described is extant, having formed a 
 part of the collection of Isaiah's Prophecies as far back as the 
 history of the canon can be traced, without the slightest vestige 
 of a different tradition among Jews or Christians as to the 
 author. The tone and spirit of these chapters (xlj — Ixvii) are 
 precisely such as might have been expected from the circum- 
 stances under which they are alleged to have been written, and 
 their variations from the earlier chapters such as must have 
 been expected from the change in the circumstances themselves. 
 
J~- 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 11 
 
 A cursory inspection of these later prophecies is enough to 
 satisfy the reader that he has before him neither a concatenated 
 argument nor a mass of fragments, but a continuous discourse in 
 which the same great topics are continually following each other, 
 somewhat modified in form and combination, but essentially the 
 same from the beginning to the end. If required to designate 
 a single theme as that of the whole series, we might safely give 
 the preference to Israel, the Peculiar People, the Church of the 
 Old Testament, its origin, vocation, mission, sins and sufferings, 
 former experience and final destiny. The doctrine inculcated 
 as to this great subject may be summarily stated thus. The 
 race of Israel was chosen from among the other nations, and 
 maintained in the possession of peculiar privileges, not for the 
 sake of any original or acquired merit, but by a sovereign act 
 of the divine will ; not for its own exclusive benefit and aggran- 
 dizement, but for the ultimate salvation of the world. The j 
 ceremonie^ of the Law were of no intrinsic efficacy, and ^when ; 
 so regarded and relied on became hateful in the sight of God. j 
 Still more absurd and impious was the practice of analogous 
 ceremonies, not in obedience to Jehovah's will, but in the worship 
 of imaginary deiti'es or idols. The Levitical rites, besides im- 
 mediate uses of a lower kind, were symbols of God's holiness 
 and man's corruption, the necessity of expiation in general, and 
 of expiation by vicarious suffering in particular. Among them 
 there were also types, prophetic symbols, of the very form in 
 which the great work of atonement was to be accomplished, and 
 of Him by whom it was to be performed. Until this work was 
 finished and this Saviour come, the promise of both was exclu- 
 sively entrusted to the chosen people, who were bound to pre- 
 serve it both in its written and its ritual form. To this momen- 
 tous trust a large part of the nation had been unfaithful, some 
 avowedly forsaking it as open idolaters, some practically betray- 
 ing it as formal hypocrites. For these and other consequent 
 offences, Israel as a nation was to be rejected and deprived of 
 
12 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 its pre-eminence. But in so doing God would not cast off his 
 people. The promises to Israel, considered as the people of 
 Jehovah, should inure to the body of believers, the remnant 
 according to the election of grace. These were in fact from the 
 beginning the true Israel, the true seed of Abraham, the Jews 
 who were Jews inwardly. In these the continued existence of 
 the church should be secured and perpetuated, first within the 
 limits of the outward Israel, and then by the accession of be- 
 lieving gentiles to the spiritual Israel. When the fulness of 
 time should come for the removal of the temporary and restric- 
 tive institutions of the old economy, that change should be so 
 ordered as not only to effect the emancipation of the church 
 from ceremonial bondage, but at the same time to attest the 
 divine disapprobation of the sins committed by the carnal Israel 
 throughout their history. While these had everything to fear 
 from the approaching change, the spiritual Israel had every- 
 thing to hope ; not only the continued existence of the church, 
 but its existence under a more spiritual, free, and glorious dis- 
 pensation, to be ushered in by tlie appearance of that great 
 Deliverer, towards whom the ceremonies of the Law all pointed. 
 From this statement of the Prophet's doctrine, it is easy to 
 account for some peculiarities of form and phraseology, particu- 
 larly for the constant alternation of encouragement and threaten- 
 ing, and for the twofold sense or rather application of the national 
 name, Israel. This latter usage is explained by Paul, in his 
 Epistle to the Romans (ch. 2: 17-29. 9:6-9. II : 1-7), where 
 the -very same doctrine is propounded in relation to the ancient 
 church that we have just obtained by a fair induction from 
 Isaiah's later ])rophecies. There is in fact no part of the Old 
 Testament to which the New affords a more decisive key in the 
 shape of an authoritative and inspired interpretation. Another 
 peculiarity of form highly important in the exposition of these 
 Prophecies is the frequent introduction of allusions to particular 
 events in the history of Israel, as examples of the general truths 
 
INTRODUCTION. 13 
 
 SO constantly repeated. The events thus cited are not nume- 
 rous, but of the greatest magnitude, such as the calling of Abra- 
 ham, the exodus from Egypt, the destruction of Babylon, the 
 return from exile, and the advent of Messiah. 
 
 The following exposition supposes the main subject of these 
 Prophecies, or rather of this Prophecy, to be the Church or 
 People of God, considered in its members and its head, in its 
 design, its origin, its progress, its vicissitudes, its consumma- 
 tion, in its various relations to God and to the world, both as a 
 field of battle and a field of labour, an enemy's country to be 
 conquered and an inheritance to be secured. Within the limits 
 of this general description it is easy to distinguish, as alternate 
 objects of prophetic vision, the two great phases of the Church 
 on earth, its state of bondage and its state of freedom, its cere- 
 'monial and its spiritual aspect; in a word, what we usually 
 call the Old and New Economy or Dispensation. Both are 
 continually set before us, but with this observable distinction 
 in the mode of presentation, that the first great period is de- 
 scribed by individual specific strokes, the second by its outlines 
 as a definite yet undivided whole. To the great turning point 
 between the two dispensations the prophetic view appears to 
 reach with clear discrimination of the intervening objects, but 
 beyond that to take all in at a single glance. Within the 
 boundaries first mentioned the eye passes with a varied uni- 
 formity from one salient point to another ; but beyond them it 
 contemplates the end and the beginning, not as distinct pic- 
 tures, but as necessary elements of one. This difference might 
 naturally be expected in a Prophecy belonging to the Old Dis- 
 pensation, while in one belonging to the New we should as nat- 
 urally look for the same definiteness and minuteness as the 
 older prophets used in their descriptions of the older times. 
 
 If this be so, it throws a new light on the more specific 
 Prophecies of this part of Isaiah, such as those relating to the 
 Babylonish Exile ; which are then to be regarded, not as the 
 
14 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 main subject of tlie Prophecy, but only as prominent figures in 
 the great prophetic picture, some of which were to the Prophet's 
 eye already past, and some still future. In this respect the 
 Prophecy is perfectly in keeping with the History of Israel, in 
 which the Exile or the Restoration stands conspicuously forth 
 as one of the great critical conjunctures which at distant inter- 
 vals prepared the way for the removal of the ancient system, 
 and yet secured its continued operation till the time of that 
 removal should arrive. How far the same thing may be said 
 of other periods which occupy a like place in the history of the 
 Jews, such as the period of the Maccabees, is a question ren- 
 dered doubtful by the silence of the Prophecy itself, and by the 
 absence of any indications which are absolutely unambiguous. 
 The specific reference of certain passages to this important epoch 
 has no antecedent probability against it ; but we cannot with 
 the same unhesitating confidence assert such an allusion as we 
 can in the case of Babylon and Cyrus, which are mentioned so 
 expressly and repeatedly. It may be that historical discovery, 
 the mai'ch of which has been so rapid in our own day, will en- 
 able us, or those who shall come after us, to set this question 
 finally at rest. In the meantime it is safest to content oux*- 
 selves with carefully distinguishing between the old and new 
 economy as represented on the Prophet's canvass, without at- 
 tempting to determine by conjecture what particular events are 
 predicted even in the former, any further than we have the cer- 
 tain guidance of the Prophecy itself 
 
 As to a similar attempt in reference to the New Dispensa- 
 tion, it is wholly inconsistent with the view which we have 
 taken of the structure of these Prophecies, and which regards 
 them not as particular descriptions of this or that event in later 
 times, but as a general description of the Church in its emanci- 
 pated state, or of the Reign of the Messiah, not at one time or 
 another, but throughout its whole course, so that the faint light 
 of the dawn is blended with the glow of sunset and the blaze 
 
INTRODUCTION. 15 
 
 of noon. The form under which the Reign of Christ is here 
 presented to and by the Prophet is that of a glorious emanci- 
 pation from the bondage and the darkness of the old economy, 
 in representing which he naturally dwells with more minute- 
 ness upon that part of the picture which is nearest to himself, 
 while the rest is bathed in a flood of light, to penetrate beyond 
 which, or to discriminate the objects hid beneath its dazzling 
 veil, formed no part of this Prophet's mission, but was reserved 
 for the ulterior revelations of the New Testament. 
 
 It is not however merely to the contrast of the two dispensa- 
 tions that the Prophet's eye is here directed. It would indeed 
 have been impossible to bring this contrast clearly into view 
 without a prominent exhibition of the great event by which the 
 transition was eflFeeted, and of the great person who effected it. 
 That person is the Servant of Jehovah, elsewhere spoken of as 
 his Anointed or Messiah, and both here and elsewhere repre- 
 sented as combining the prophetic, regal, and sacerdotal char- 
 acters suggested by that title The specific relation which he 
 here sustains to the Israel of God, is that of the Head to a 
 living Body ; so that in many cases what is said of him appears 
 to be true wholly or in part of them, as forming one complex 
 person, an idea perfectly accordant with the doctrines and the 
 images of the New Testament. It appears to have been first C~f 
 cleatly stated in the dictum of an ancient writer quoted by 
 Augustin : " de Christo et Coi-pore ejus Ecclesia tanquam de 
 una persona in Scriptura saepius mentionem fieri, cui quaedam 
 tribuuntur quae tantum in Caput, quaedam quae tantum in 
 Corpus competunt, quaedam vero in utrumque." There is 
 nothing in these Prophecies more striking or peculiar than the 
 sublime position occupied by this colossal figure, standing be- / 
 tween the Church of the Old and that of the New Testament, ( 
 as a mediator, an interpreter, a bond of union, and a common ■ 
 head. 
 
 If this be a correct view of the structure of these prophecies, 
 
IG INTRODUCTION. 
 
 nothing can be more erroneous or unfriendly to correct inter- 
 pretation than the idea, which appears to form the basis of 
 some expositions, that the primary object in the Prophet's view 
 is Israel as a race or nation, and that its spiritual or ecclesi- 
 astical relations are entirely adventitious and subordinate. The 
 natural result of this erroneous supposition is a constant dis- 
 position to give everything a national and local sense. This is 
 especially the case with respect to the names so frequently oc- 
 curring. Zion, Jerusalem, and Judah ; all which, according to 
 this view of the matter, must be understood, wherever it is 
 possible, as meaning nothing more than the hill, the city, and 
 the land, which they originally designate. This error has even 
 been pushed by some to the irrational extreme of making 
 Israel as a race the object of the promises, after their entire 
 separation from the church and their reduction for the time 
 being to the same position with the sons of Ishmael and of 
 Esau. That this view should be taken by the modern Jews, 
 in vindication of their own continued unbelief, is not so strange 
 as its adoption by some Christian writers, even in direct oppo- 
 sition to their own interpretation of former prophecies, almost 
 identical in form and substance. Tbe— spe©ifieatix)ns of this 
 general charge willte fully given in the exposition. 
 
 The claim of this mode of interpretation to the praise of 
 strictness and exactness is a false one, if the Israel of pro- 
 phecy is not the nation as such merely, but the nation as the 
 temporary frame-work of the church, and if the promises ad- 
 dressed to it, in forms derived from this transitory state, were 
 nevertheless meant to be perpetual, and must be therefore in- 
 dependent of all temporary local restrictions. The true sense 
 of the prophecies in this respect cannot be more strongly or 
 explicitly set forth than in the words of the Apostle, when he 
 says that " Grod hath not cast away his people which he fore- 
 knew ;" — " Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for, 
 but the election hath obtained it and the rest were blinded ;" — 
 
INTRODUCTION. 17 
 
 " not as thoiigli the word of God liatli taken none effect, for 
 they are not all Israel which are of Israel." ^K.yiy'V'-^ 
 
 After carefully comparing all the methods of division and 
 arrangement which have come to my knowledge, I am clearly 
 of opinion that in this part of Scripture, more perhaps than 
 any other, the evil to be shunned is not so much defect as ex- 
 cess ; that the book 4s-iTcrtr-€m4j a continued but_a desultory 
 composition ; that although there is a sensible progression in 
 the whole from the beginning to the end, it cannot be distinctly 
 traced in every minor part, being often interrupted and ob- 
 scured by retrocessions and resumptions, which, though gov- 
 erned by a natural association in each case, are not reducible 
 to rule or system. The conventional division into chapters, 
 viewed as a mechanical contrivance for facilitating reference, is 
 indispensable, and cannot be materially changed with any good 
 effect at all proportioned to the inconvenience and confusion 
 which would necessarily attend such a departure from a usage 
 long established and now universally familiar. The disadvan- 
 tages attending it, or springing from an injudicious use of it 
 by readers and expounders, are the frequent separation of parts 
 which as really cohere together as those that afe combined, and 
 the conversion of one great shifting spectacle, in which the 
 scenes are constantly succeeding one another in a varied order, 
 into a series of detached and unconnected pictures, throwing 
 no light on each other even when most skilfully divided, and 
 too often exhibiting a part of one view in absurd juxtaposition 
 with another less akin to it than that from which it has been 
 violently sundered. 
 
 The most satisfactory and useful method of surveying the 
 whole book with a view to the detailed interpretation of the 
 parts is, in my opinion, to obtain a clear view of the few great 
 themes with which the writer's mind was filled, and of the 
 minor topics into which they readily resolve themselves, and 
 then to mark their varied combinations as they alternately pre- 
 
 '^A.^^. 
 
18 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 sent themselves, some more fully and frequently in one part 
 of the book, some exclusively in one part, others with greater 
 uniformity in all. The succession of the prominent figures 
 will be pointed out as we proceed in the interpretation of the 
 several chapters. But in order to afford the reader every pre- 
 liminary aid before attempting the detailed interpretation, I 
 shall close this Introduction with a brief synopsis of the whole, 
 presenting at a single glance its prominent contents and the 
 mutual relation of its parts. 
 
 The prominent objects here presented to the Prophet's view 
 are these five. 1. The carnal Israel, the Jewish nation, in its 
 proud self-reliance and its gross corruption, whether idolatrous 
 or only hypocritical and formal. 2. The spiritual Israel, the 
 true Church, the remnant according to the election of grace, 
 considered as the object of Jehovah's favour and protection 
 but at the same time as weak in faith and apprehensive of de- 
 struction. 3. The Babylonish Exile and the Restoration from 
 it, as the most important intermediate point between the date 
 of the prediction and the advent of Me.*siah, and as an earnest 
 or a sample of Jehovah's future dealing with his people both 
 in wrath and mercy. 4. The Advent itself, with the person 
 and character of Him who was to come for the deliverance of 
 his people not only from eternal ruin but from temporal bond- 
 age, and their introduction into " glorious liberty." 5. The 
 character of this new condition of the Church or of the Chris- 
 tian Dispensation, not considered in its elements but as a 
 whole ; not in the way of chronological succession, but at one 
 view ; not so much in itself, as in contrast with the temporary 
 system that preceded it. 
 
 These are the subjects of the Prophet's whole discourse, and 
 may be described as present to his mind throughout : but the 
 degree in which they are respectively made prominent is difler- 
 ent in different parts. The attempts which have been made to 
 show that they are taken up successively and treated one by 
 
INTRODUCTION. 19 
 
 one, are unsuccessful, because inconsistent with thie frequent 
 repetition and recurrence of the same theme. The order is 
 not that of strict succession, but of alternation. It is still 
 true, however, that the relative prominence of these great 
 themes is far from being constant. As a general fact, it may- 
 be said that their relative positions in this respect answer to 
 those which they hold in the enumeration above given. The 
 character of Israel, both as a nation and a church, is chiefly 
 prominent in the beginning, the Exile and the Advent in the 
 middle, the contrast and the change of dispensations at the 
 end. With this general conception of the Prophecy, the reader 
 can have very little difficulty in perceiving the unity of the 
 discourse, and marking its transitions for himself, even without 
 the aid of such an abstract as the following. 
 
 The form in which the Prophecy begins is determined by 
 its intimate connection with the threatening in the thirty- 
 ninth chapter. To assure the Israel of God, or true churcH, 
 that the national judgments which had been denounced should 
 not destroy it, is the Prophet's purpose in the fortieth chapter, 
 and is executed by exhibiting Jehovah's power, and willing- 
 ness and fixed determination to protect and save his own elect. 
 In the forty-first, his power and omni.science are contrasted with 
 the impotence of idols, and illustrated by an individual ex- 
 ample. In the forty-second, the person of the great Deliverer 
 is introduced, the nature of his influence described, the rela- 
 tion of his people to himself defined, and their mission or voca- 
 tion as enlighteners of the world explained. The forty-third 
 completes this exposition by exhibiting the true design of 
 Israel's election as a people, its entire independence of all merit 
 in themselves, and sole dependence on the sovereign will of 
 God. In the forty-fourth the argument against idolatry^ is 
 amplified and urged, and the divine sufficiency and faithfulness 
 exemplified by historical allusion to the exodus from Egypt, 
 and a prophetic one to the deliverance from Babylon, in which 
 
20 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 last Cyrus is expressly named. The last part ot ttiis chapter 
 should have been connected with the first part of the forty- 
 fifth, in which the name of Cyrus is repeated, and his conquests 
 represented as an effect of God's omnipotence, and the predic- 
 tion as a proof of his omniscience, both which attributes are 
 then again contrasted with the impotence and senselessness of 
 idols. The same comparison is still continued in the forty- 
 sixth, with special reference to the false gods of Babylon, as 
 utterly unable to deliver either their worshippers or themselves. 
 In the forty-seventh the description is extended to the Baby- 
 lonian government, as wholly powerless in opposition to Je- 
 hovah's interference for the emancipation of his people. The 
 forty-eighth contains the winding up of this great argument 
 from Cyrus and the fall of Babylon, as a conviction and re- 
 buke to the unbelieving Jews themselves. The fact that 
 Babylon is expressly mentioned only in these chapters, is a 
 strong confirmation of our previous conclusion that it is not 
 the main subject of the prophecy. By a natural transition he 
 reverts in the forty-ninth to the true Israel, and shows the 
 groundlessness of their misgivings, by disclosing God's design 
 respecting them, and showing the certainty of its fulfilment 
 notwithstanding all discouraging appearances. The difference 
 in the character and fate of the two Israels is still more exactly 
 defined in the fiftieth chapter. In the fifty-first the true rela- 
 tion of the chosen people both to God and to the gentiles is 
 illustrated by historical examples, the calling of Abraham and 
 the exodus from Egypt, and the same power pledged for the 
 safety of Israel in time to come. In the last part of this chap- 
 ter and the first of the fifty-second, which cohere in the most 
 intimate manner, the gracious purposes of God are represented 
 as fulfilled already, and described in the most animating terms. 
 This view of the future condition of the church could not be 
 separated long from that of Him by whom it was to be efi"ected ; 
 and accordingly the last part of tliis chapter, forming one un- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 21 
 
 broken context with the fifty-third, exhibits him anew, no 
 longer as a teacher, but as the great sacrifice for sin. No 
 sooner is this great work finished than the best days of the 
 church begin, the loss of national distinction being really a 
 prelude to her glorious emancipation. The promise of this 
 great change in the fifty-fourth chapterj-is followed in the fifty- 
 fifth by a gracious invitation to the whole world to partake of it. 
 The fifty-sixth continues the same subject, by predicting the 
 entire abrogation of all local, personal, and national distinc- 
 tions. Having dwelt so long upon the prospects of the spiritual 
 Israel or true church, the Prophet, in the last part of the fifty- 
 sixth and the first part of the fifty-seventh, looks back at the 
 carnal Israel, as it was in the days of its idolatrous apostasy, 
 and closes with a threatening which insensibly melts into a 
 promise of salvation to the true Israel. The fifty-eighth again 
 presents the carnal Israel, not as idolaters but as hypocrites, 
 and points out the true mean between the rejection of ap- 
 pointed rites and the abuse of them. The fifty-ninth explains 
 Jehovah's dealings with the nation of the Jews, and shows that 
 their rejection was the fruit of their own doings, as the salva- 
 tion of the saved was that of God's omnipotent compassions. 
 In the sixtieth he turns once more to the true Israel, and 
 begins a series of magnificent descriptions of the new dispen- 
 sation as a whole, contrasted with the imperfections and restric- 
 tions of the old. The prominent figures of the picture in this 
 chapter are immense increase by the accession of the gentiles, 
 and internal purity and peace. The prominent figure in the 
 sixty-first is that of the Messiah as the agent in this great 
 work of spiritual emancipation. In the sixty-second it is that 
 of Zion, or the Church herself, in the most intimate union with 
 Jehovah and the full fruition of his favour. But this anticipa- 
 tion is inseparably blended with that of vengeance on the ene- 
 mies of God, which is accordingly presented in the sublime 
 vision of the sixty-third chapter, followed by an appeal to God's 
 
22 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 former dealings wltli his people, as a proof that their rejection 
 was their own fault, and that he will still protect the true be- 
 lievers. These are represented in the sixty-fourth as humbly 
 confessing their own sins and suing for the favour of Jehovah. 
 In the sixty-fifth he solemnly announces the adoption of the 
 gentiles and the rejection of the carnal Israel because of their 
 iniquities, among which idolatry is once more rendered promi- 
 nent. He then contrasts the doom of the apostate Israel with 
 the glorious destiny awaiting the true Israel. And this com- 
 parison is still continued in the sixty-sixth chapter, where the 
 Prophet, after ranging through so wide a field of vision, seems 
 at last to fix his own eye and his reader's on the dividing line 
 or turning point between the old and new economy, and winds 
 up the whole drama with a vivid exhibition of the nations 
 gathered to Jerusalem for worship, while the children of the 
 kingdom, i. e. Israel according to the flesh, are cast forth into 
 outer darkness, where their worm dieth not and their fire is not 
 quenched. Upon this awful spectacle the curtain falls, and we 
 are left to find relief from its impressions in the merciful dis- 
 closures of a later and more cheering revelation. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 The next four chapters contain a historical appendix to the 
 first part of Isaiah's prophecies, which is at the same time a 
 historical preface to the last part. The principal topics are 
 Sennacherib's invasion and the slaughter of his host, Hezekiah's 
 sickness and miraculous recovery, and the intercourse between 
 him and the king of Babylon. The same narrative is found 
 substantially in the second book of Kings (ch. xviii-xx), ar^d a 
 different account of the same matters in the second book of 
 Chronicles (ch. xxxn). From the strong resemblance of the 
 passages, and the impossibility of fixing upon either as the more 
 ancient and authentic of the two, the natural inference would 
 seem to be, that they are different draughts or copies of the 
 same composition, or at least that they are both the work of the 
 same writer, and that this writer iS Isaiah. That the prophets 
 often acted as historiographers, and that Isaiah in particular 
 discharged this ofiice, are recorded facts. Nothing can be more 
 natural, therefore, than the supposition that he inserted the 
 same narrative in one book as a part of the chronicle of Judah, 
 and in the other as an illustrative appendix to his earlier pro- 
 phecies. As to the variations of the two from one another, 
 they are precisely such as might ha's^e been expected in the 
 case supposed, that is to say, in the ease of the same writer 
 twice recording the same facts, especially if we assume an 
 interval between the acts, and a more specific purpose in the 
 
24 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 one case than the other. It must also he considered that on 
 this hypothesis, the writer expected both accounts to be within 
 the reach of the same readers, and might therefore leave them 
 to illustrate and complete each other. That there is nothing 
 in these variations to forbid the supposition of their being from 
 the same pen, is evinced by the circumstance that each of the 
 parallels has been declared, for similar reasons and with equal 
 confidence, to be a transcript of the other. The specific end, 
 for which the narrative is here recorded, appears to be that of 
 showing the fulfilment of certain prophecies which had relation 
 to a proximate futurity, and thereby gaining credence and 
 authority for those which had a wider scope and a remoter 
 consummation. 
 
 1. And it was (or came to pass) in the fourteenth year of the king 
 Hczekiah^ Sennacherib king of Assyria caine up against all the 
 fenced (or fortified') cities of Judah^ and took them. The parallel 
 passage in Kings is immediately preceded by a summary account 
 of the earlier events of Hezekiah's reign, with particular men- 
 tion of his religious reformations and his extirpation of idolatry, 
 to which is added an account of the deportation of the ten tribes 
 by Shalmaneser (2 Kings IS : 1-12). This visitation is referred 
 to the apostasy of Israel as its meritorious cause, and contrasted 
 with the favour of the Lord'to Hezekiah as a faithful servant. 
 While Ephraim was carried away never to return, Juduh was 
 only subjected to a temporary chastisement, the record of which 
 follows. Sennacherib is mentioned, under nearly the same 
 name, by Herodotus, who calls him the king of Assyria and 
 Arabia. This may either be accounted for, as an example of 
 the loose geographical distinctions of the ancient writers, or as 
 implying that the Assyrian conquests really included certain 
 portions of Arabia. Between this verse and the next, as they 
 stand in Isaiah, the narrative in Kings inserts three others, 
 which relate what immediately followed the invasion of the 
 
CHAPTER XXXVI. 25 
 
 country and preceded the attack upon Jerusalem. The sub- 
 stance of this statement is that Hezekiah sent to Sennacherib 
 at Lachish, saying, I have offended (i e. in renouncing his 
 allegiance to Assyria), return from me, that which thou puttest 
 on me I will bear ; that Sennacherib accordingly imposed a 
 tribute of three hundred talents of silver and thirty of gold, to 
 pay which Hezekiah gave him all the treasures of the palace 
 and the temple, not excepting the metallic decorations of the 
 doors and pillars (2 Kings 18:14-16). There is nothing, either 
 in the case before us, or in the general analogy of Scripture, to 
 forbid the supposition, that the narrative was intended to ex- 
 hibit the weakness no less than the strength of Hezekiah's faith, 
 in which case there is no need of laboriously vindicating all his 
 acts as perfectly consistent with a strong and lively faith, al- 
 thouo-h his general sincerity and godliness cannot be questioned. 
 Another addition to the narrative is found in the second book 
 of Chronicles (32 : 1-8), where we read that Hezekiah, when he 
 saw that Sennacherib was come, and that his face was toward^ 
 Jerusalem for war, took measures to strengthen the defences of 
 the city, and to cut off the supply of water from the enemy, 
 while at the same time he encouraged the people to rely upon 
 Jehovab and not to be afraid of the Assyrian host All this is 
 spoken of as having taken place before what is recorded in the 
 next verse of the chapter now before us. If we suppose it to 
 have followed Hezekiah's message to Sennacherib and payment 
 of the tribute, the inference would seem to be that the invader, 
 having received the money, still appeared disposed to march 
 upon the Holy City, whereupon the king abandoned all hope of 
 conciliation, and threw himself without reserve on the divine 
 protection. 
 
 2. And the king of Assyria sent Rahshakeh from Lachish to 
 Jerusalem, to king Hezekiah, with a, strong force, and he stood by 
 the conduit (or aqueduct) of the upper pool, in the highway of the 
 
 VOL. 11. 2 
 
26 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 fuller's field. Besides Rabshakeh, the narrative in Kings men- • 
 tions Tartan and Rabsaris ; that in Chronicles uses the general 
 expression his servants. Rabshakt^h may be named alone here 
 as the chief speaker, or as the commander of the expedition. 
 The Jews have a tradition that he was a renegado or apostate 
 Jew. Others account for his knowledge of Hebrew by suppos- 
 ing him to have acquired it by intercourse with captives of the 
 ten tribes. Lachish was a town of Judah south-west of Jerusa- 
 lem on the way to Egypt. This place Sennacherib was now 
 besieging (2 Chron. 32 : 9), and being probably detained longer 
 than he had expected, he detached a part of his forces to attack 
 Jerusalem, or rather to summon Hezekiah to surrender. That 
 the main body of the army afterwards advanced against Jeru- 
 salem is nowhere explicitly recorded, although some infer from 
 ch, 10:28-32 that they did so, making a circuit to the north 
 for the purpose of surprising the city. It is said in Chronicles 
 that Sennacherib was now before Lachish., in the military sense, 
 i. 6. besieging it, with all his force, which some explain to mean 
 with a large part of it, others loith his court and the usual accom- 
 paniments of an eastern camp, in order to remove a supposed 
 inconsistency with what is here said. But the phrase in Chron- 
 icles relates to the Assyrian force at Lachish before Rabshakeh 
 was detached, and is inserted merely to explain the statement 
 that he came from Lachish, because Sennacherib had halted 
 there with all his army. The verb may also be referred to the 
 halt of Rabshakeh's detachment, or to the position which they 
 took up on arriving ; but it is simpler to refer it to the spot on 
 which Rabshakeh himself stood during the interview about to 
 be described. The spot was doubtless one of great resort For 
 the localities here mentioned, see the notes on ch. 7:3 and 22: 
 9-11. 
 
 3. Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, icho was 
 aver the house, and Shebna the scribe, aiid Joah, Asaph's son, the 
 
CHAPTER XXXVI. 27 
 
 recorder. The parallel narrative (2 Kings 18: 18) prefixes to 
 this verse a statement that he called to (or for) the kbur in an- 
 swer to which summons these three ministers came out. Elia- 
 kim here appears as Shebua's successor, according to the pro- 
 phecy in ch. 22 : 20, and Shebna himself as an inferior office- 
 bearer. Interpreters have amused themselves with trying to 
 discover equivalents in modern parlance for these three official 
 titles, such as chamberlain, steward, majordomo, secretary, mas- 
 ter of requests, master of the rolls, historiographer, etc. It is 
 enough to know that they probably denote three principal offi- 
 cers of state, or of the royal household, which in oriental govern- 
 ments is very much the same thing. 
 
 4. Aiid Rabshakeh said to them : Say now (or if you please) to 
 HezeMah., thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What is 
 this co7ifidence which thou confidest in ? He expresses his contempt 
 by withholding the name of king from Hezekiah and callings his 
 own master the great king, a common title of the Persian and 
 other oriental monarchs, corresponding to Grand Seignior 
 Grand Monarque, and Emperor, as a distinctive royal title. 
 The interrogation in the last clause implies surprise and scorn 
 at a reliance so unfounded. 'Confide and confidence sustain the 
 same etymological relation to each other as the Hebrew noun 
 and verb. 
 
 5. I say (or have said), only word of lips, counsel and strength 
 for the war; now on xolwm hast thou confided, that thou hast re- 
 belled agamst me? The parallel passage in Kings has thou hast 
 said, which Lowth assumes to be the true text here, while others 
 treat the common reading as an error of the writer or abridger. 
 The truth no doubt is that both the readings are original, since 
 both may be so explained as to express the same idea. The 
 simplest construction of what follows is : I say, mere word of lips 
 is (your) counsel and strength for the war, i. e. your pretended 
 
28 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 strength and wisdom are mere talk, false pretension. The allu- 
 sion is not so much to Hezekiah's prayers as to his addresses 
 to the people; recorded in 2 Chr. 32 : 6-8. The sense of the 
 other passage (2 Kings 18 : 20) seems to be, thou, hast said (to 
 thyself, or thought, that) ■mere talk is counsel and strength for the 
 loar. The contemptuous import of word of lips, is apparent 
 from Prov. 14 : 23. The rebellion mentioned in the last clause 
 is Hezekiah's casting oft" the Assyrian yoke (2 Kings 18: 7). 
 
 6. Behold, thou hast trusted in the staff (or support) of this broken 
 reed, in Egypt, which, {if) a man Lean upon it, will go info his 
 hand and jnerce it ; so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all those trust- 
 ing in him. He answers his own question. The charge of 
 relying upon Egypt may be regarded either as a true one, or 
 as a malicious fabrication, or as a mere inference fi'om the anal- 
 ogy of other cases aud the habitual relation of the parties. 
 Egypt may be called a broken reed, either as being always 
 weak, or in allusion to what it had already suifered from Assy- 
 ria. Broken does not mean entirely divided, but so bruised or 
 shattered as to yield no firm support but rather to do injury. 
 (See ch. 42 : 3 below.) 
 
 • 
 
 7. And if thou say to me, we trust in Jehovah our God,is it not 
 he whose high places and ivhose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, 
 and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, before this altar shall ye wor- 
 ship ? Rabshakeh's question evidently refers to Hezekiah's 
 reformation of religious worship (2 Kings 18:4), which he 
 erroneously regarded as a change of the national religion. 
 
 8. And noio, engage, I pray the^^, icilh my lord, the king of 
 Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able 
 on thy part to set riders upon them. A contemptuous comparison 
 between the Jews, who were almost destitute of cavalry, and the 
 Assyrians, who were strong in that species of force (ch. 5 : 28). 
 
CHAPTER XXXVI. 29 
 
 Whether the first verb refers to fight or to negotiation, must 
 be determined by the context. 
 
 9. And how wilt thou turn axoay the face of one governor (or 
 satrap) of the least of my master's servants ? So thou hast reposed 
 thyself on Egypt ^ with respect to chariots a?id horses. As a man 
 is said to turn his face towards an object of attack, so the latter 
 may be said to turn back (or away) the face of his assailant 
 when he repels him. The last clause is an inference from the 
 first, as the first is from the foregoing verse. If Hezekiah 
 could not command two thousand horsemen, he was unprepared 
 to resist even a detachment of the Assyrian force ; and if thus 
 helpless, he must be trusting, not in his own resources, but in 
 foreign aid. 
 
 10. And now (is it) loithout Jehovah I have come up against this 
 land to destroy it ? Jehovah said to me, go up to (or against), this 
 land and destroy it. This is a bold attempt to terrify the Jews 
 by pleading the authority of their own tutelary deity for this 
 invasion. 
 
 11. Thc7i said Eliakim and Shchna and Joahunto Rabshakehj 
 Pray speak unto thy servants in Aramean, for we mider stand (it)^ 
 and speak not to us in .J-ivish, in the cars of the people tvho (arc) 
 on the wall. This request implies an apprehension of the bad 
 effect of his address upon the multitude. Aramean corresponds 
 very nearly to Syrian in latitude of meaning ; but the language 
 meant is not what we call Syrian, but an older form, which was 
 probably current, as the French is now, at the courts and among 
 the educated classes of an extensive region. Jeioish is H'brew, 
 so called by the Jews, as the language of the whole British 
 empire is called English, or as German is sometimes called 
 Saxon. The use of this term here is urged by some as a proof 
 of later date than the time of Isaiah, on the ground that the 
 
30 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 distinctive name Jewish could not have been common till long 
 after the destruction of the kingdom of the ten tribes, which 
 left Judah the only representative of Israel. But how long 
 after this event may we assume that such a usage became 
 common ? The ten tribes were carried into exile by Sennache- 
 rib's father, if not by his grandfather. It is altogether probable 
 that from the time of the great schism between Ephraim and 
 Judah, the latter began to call the national language by its own 
 distinctive name. At the period in question, such a designation 
 was certainly more natural, in the mouths of Jews, than Israel- 
 itish or even Hebrew. We understand^ literally, we [are) hearing, 
 i. e. hearing distinctly and intelligently. 
 
 12. And Rabshakeh said: Is it to thy master and to thee, that 
 my master hath sent me to speak these words 1 Is it not to the men 
 sitting on the wall to eat their own dung and to drink their own 
 water with you ? The last clause is obviously descriptive of the 
 horrors of famine in their most revolting form. The same idea 
 is conveyed still more distinctly in Chronicles : tohcreon do ye 
 trust that ye abide in the fortress of Jerusalem 1 doth not Hezekiah 
 persuade you to give over yourselves to die by famine ajid by thirst, 
 saying, the Lord our God shall deliver us out of the hand of the 
 king of Assyria? (2 Chr. 32: 10, 11). So here the people are 
 described as sitting on the wall, i. e. holding out against Sen- 
 nacherib, only that they may experience these horrors. 
 
 13. And Rabshakeh stood, and called with a loud voice in Jew- 
 ish (i. e. Hebrew), and said. Hear the words of the great king, the 
 king of Assyria. In so doing he not only testified his contempt 
 for the king's messengers by insolently disregarding their re- 
 quest, but made a politic appeal to the hopes and fears of the 
 multitude. That he stood and called, is explained by some to 
 mean that he assumed a higher position, or came nearer to the 
 
CHAPTER XXXVL 31 
 
 wall ; but the simplest and most natural explanation is, that he 
 remained where he was before and merely raised his voice. 
 
 1 4. Thus saith the king : let not Hezekiah deceive you^ for he 
 %t}ill not be able to deliver you. The repeated mention of the kinc 
 reminds them, that he is not speaking in his own name, but in 
 that of a great monarch. The parallel passage (2 Kings 18: 
 29) adds, out of his hand. 
 
 15. And let not Hezekiali make you trust in Jehovah^ saying^ 
 Jehovah- will certainly save us, this city shall not be given up into 
 the hand of the king of Assyria. The idea of ceiiain deliverance 
 is expressed by the idiomatic combination of the future and 
 infinitive. 
 
 16. Hearken not to Hezekiah., for thus saith the king of Assyria, 
 make toiih me a blessing, and come out unto me, and eat ye (every) 
 mo.n his own vine and {every) man his own fig-tree, and drink ye 
 (evrry) man the waters of his own cistern. Some explain the 
 phrase here used, make me a present, or make an agreement with 
 me by a prcsc7it. It is possible, however, to adhere more closely 
 to the usage of the term, by taking blessing in the sense of 
 friendly salutation, which in the east is commonly an invoca- 
 tion of the divine blessing. Thus the verb to bless is often used 
 to express the act of greeting or of taking leave. To make a 
 blessing with one then might mean to enter into amicable inter- 
 course. To co7ne out is in Hebrew the common military phrase 
 for the surrender of a besieged town. The inducements oflFered 
 in the last clause are in obvious antithesis to the revolting threat 
 or warning in the last clause of v. 12. To eat the vine and fig- 
 tree (meaning to eat their fruit) is an elliptical form of speech, 
 which has its analogies in every language. 
 
 17. Until I come and take vou aw an to a land like i/our own, 
 
32 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 land^ a land of corn and wine, a land of bread andviwyards. The 
 parallel passage (2 Kings 18 : 32) adds, a land of oil-olivf and 
 honey, that ye may live and not die. This reference to the depor- 
 tation of the people as a future event has led some interpreters 
 to the conclusion, that Sennacherib was now on his way to Egypt, 
 and deferred the measure until his return. It has been di.s- 
 puted what particular land is here meant, some saying Mesopo- 
 tamia, to which others object that it was not a wine-growing 
 country. But there is no need of supposing that the Assyriati 's 
 description was exactly true. He may indeed have intended 
 merely to promise them in general a country as abundant as 
 their own. 
 
 18. Ld not (or beioare lest) Hczckiah seduce yon, saying, Jeho- 
 vah will deliver us. Have the gods of the nations delivered every 
 one his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria ? The Assyrian 
 here, with characteristic recklessness, forsakes his previous po- 
 sition, that he was but acting as Jehovah's instrument, and sets 
 himself in disdainful opposition to Jehovah himself 
 
 19. Wlun'c [ar ) the gods of Hamath and Arpad ? where the gods 
 of Scpharvaim ? and (when or where was it) that they delivered 
 Samaria out of my hand 1 In the rapidity of his triumphant 
 interrogation, he expresses himself darkly and imperfectly. 
 The last clause must of course refer to the gods of Samaria, 
 though not expressly mentioned. For the situation of Hamath 
 and Arpad, see the note on cli. 10:9. Sepharvaim is probably 
 the Sipphara of Ptolemy, a town and province in the south of 
 Mesopotamia, already subject to Assyria in the days of Shal- 
 maneser. The parallel passage (2 Kings 18:34) adds Hena 
 and Imiah, which are also named with Sepharvaim in 2 Kings 
 19 : 13 and Isai. 37 : 13. The question {where are they?) seems 
 to imply, not only that they had not saved their worshippers, 
 but that they had ceased to be. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVI. 33 
 
 20, Who (are they) among all the gods of these lands^ that have 
 delivered their land out of my hand^ that Jehovah should deliver 
 Jerusalem out of my hand? In this argumentative interrogation, 
 he puts Jehovah on a level with the gods of the surrounding 
 nations. This is still more frequently and pointedly expressed 
 in the parallel passage in Chronicles. Know ye not lohat I and 
 my fathers have done unto all the ?iatio7is of the countries ? Were 
 the gods of the nations of the countries able to deliver their country 
 out of my hand ? Who was there among all the gods of these na- 
 tions^ which my fathers utterly destroyed^ that %cas able to deliver 
 his people out of my hand^ that your God should be able to deliver 
 you, out of my hand ? And 71010, let not Uezekiah deceive you, a?id 
 let him not seduce you, neither believe him; for no god of any nation 
 or kingdom has been able to deliver his jjcople out of my hand, and 
 out of the hand of my fathers ; how much less shall your God de- 
 liver you out of my hand. (2 Chron. 32: 13-15.) From the 
 same authority we learn that over and above what is recor(^ed, 
 Sennacherib's servants spake still more against the God Jehovah 
 and against Uezekiah his servant (v. 16), and that they cried with 
 a loud voice in the Jewish language, to the people of Jerusalem who 
 were on the wall, to affright them, and to trouble them, that they 
 might take the city ; and they spake against the God of Jerusalem 
 as against the gods of the nations of the earth, the work of man\s 
 hands (vs. 18, 19.) 
 
 2 1 , 22. And they held their peace, and did not answer him a word, 
 for such tvas the commandment of the king, saying. Ye shall not 
 answer him. Then came Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, who [was)over the 
 house, and Shcbna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder, 
 unto Uezekiah, with their clothes rent (literally, rent of clothes), and 
 told him the tvords of Rabshakeh. Some of the older writers 
 understand the rending of their garments as a mere sign of their 
 horror at Rabshakeh's blasphemies : some of the moderns as a 
 mere sign of despondency and alarm at the impending dangers ; 
 whereas both may naturally be included. 
 
34 CHAPTER XXXVIL 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 This chapter is a direct continuation of the one before it. It 
 describes the effect of Rabshakeh's blasphemies and threats on 
 Hezekiah, his humiliation, his message to Isaiah, and the answer, 
 th*retreat of Rabshakeh, Sennacherib's letter, Hezekiah's pray- 
 er, Isaiah's prophecy, and its fulfilment, in the slaughter of Sen- 
 nacherib's army and his own flight and murder. 
 
 1. And it was (or came to pass)^ when King Hezekiah heard 
 (the report of his messengers), that he rent his clothes, and covered 
 himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of Jehovah. He re- 
 sorted to the temple, not only as a public place, but with refer- 
 ence to the promise made to Solomon (I Kings 8 : 29). that God 
 would hear the prayers of his peoph; from that place when they 
 were in distress. Under the old dispensation there were reasons 
 for resorting to the temple, even to offer private supplications, 
 which cannot possibly apply to any church or other place at 
 present. This arose partly from the fact that prayer was con- 
 nected with sacrifice, and this was rigidly confined to one spot. 
 
 2. And he se?it Elialiimtvho was over the household, and Shebna 
 the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, unto 
 Isaiah, the son of Amoz, the prophet. While he himself resorted 
 to the temple, he sent to ask the counsel and the intercessions 
 of the Prophet. Eliakim and Shebna are again employed in 
 this case, as being qualified to make an exact report of what 
 had happened, and in order to put honour on the prophet by an 
 embassy of distinguished men. In the place of Joah, he sends 
 the elders of the priests, i. e. the heads of the sacerdotal families. 
 The king applies to the prophet as the authorized expouuder 
 of the will of God. Similar applications are recorded elsewhere 
 
CHAPTER XXXVII. -35 
 
 with sufficient frequency to show that they were customary and 
 that the prophets were regarded in this light. Thus Josiah 
 sent to Huldah (2 Kings 22 : 14), Zedekiah to Jeremiah (Jer. 
 37 : 3), etc. The impious Ahab required Micaiah to come to 
 him, and that only at the earnest request of King Jehoshaphat 
 (I Kings 22: 9). Of the king's prompt appeal to God in his 
 extremity. Gill quaintly says : " Hezekiah does not sit down 
 to consider Rabshakeh's speech, to take it in pieces, and give 
 an answer to it, but he applies unto God." 
 
 3. Ajid they said imto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, A day of 
 anguish and rebuke and contempt [is) this day, ferr the children are 
 come to the birth (or to the place of birth), and there is not strength 
 to bring forth. As the execution of a command is often left to 
 be inferred from the command itself (ch. 7:3. 8 : 1, etc.), so 
 here the details of the command are to be gathered from the 
 record of its execution. The common version trouble, seems too 
 weak for the occasion and for the figure in the other clause. It 
 denotes, not external danger merely, but the complicated dis- 
 tress, both of a temporal and spiritual nature, in which Hezekiah 
 was involved by the threats and blasphemies of the Assyrian. 
 Rebuke signifies the divine rebuke or chastisement, as in Ps. 
 73 : 14. 149 : 7. It is characteristic of the Scriptures and the 
 ancient saints to represent even the malignity of human enemies 
 as a rebuke from God. The very same phrase {day of rebuke) 
 is used in the same sense by Hosea (5 : 9). The metaphor in 
 the last clause expresses, in the most afi'ecting manner, the ideas 
 of extreme pain, imminent danger, critical emergency, utter 
 weakness, and entire dependence on the aid of others. (Com- 
 pare the similar expressions of ch. 26: 18.) 
 
 4. If peradventure Jehovah thy God will hear the words of Rab- 
 shakeh, tvhom the kiyig of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach 
 the living God, and will rebuke the words which Jehovah thy God 
 
36 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 hath heard, then shall thou lift up a prayer for the rrmnant (that is 
 still) found (here). It was because Hezekiah thought Jehovah 
 might hear, that he asked Isaiah's prayers in his behalf. The 
 reproach and blasphemy of the Assyrian consisted mainly in 
 his confounding Jehovah with the gods of the surrounding 
 nations (2 Chron. 32 : 19), in antithesis to whom, as being im- 
 potent and lifeless, he is here and elsewhere called the livin.g 
 God. To lift vp a prayer is not simply to utter one, but has 
 allusion to two common idiomatic phrases, that of lifting up the 
 voice, in the sense of speaking loud or beginning to speak, and 
 that of lifting up the heart or soul, in the sense of earnestly 
 desiring. The passive participle /o;i«r/ is often used in Hebrew 
 to denote what is present in a certain place, or more generally 
 what is extant, in existence, or forthcoming. The meaning left, 
 which is expressed in the English version, is suggested wholly 
 by the noun with which the participle here agrees. As to the 
 application of the whole phrase, it may either be a general 
 description of the straits or low condition to which the chosen 
 people were reduced (as the church at Sardis is exhorted to 
 strengthen the things tohich remain, Rev. 3 : 2), or be more spe- 
 cifically understood in reference to Judah as surviving the de- 
 struction of the ten tribes (compare ch. 28 : 5), or to Jerusalem 
 as spared amidst the general desolation of Judah (compare ch. 
 1 : 8). In either case, the king requests the prophet to pray for 
 their deliverance from entire destruction. This application was 
 made to Isaiah, not as a private person, however eminent 
 in piety, but as one who was recognized as standing in an inti- 
 mate relation to Jehovah, and as a constituted medium of com- 
 munication with him. In like manner God himself said to 
 Abimelech of Abraham : he is a prophet, and shall pray for thee, 
 and thou shall live (Gen. 20:7). In recognition of this same 
 relation, Hezekiah twice says thy God, i. e. thine in a peculiar 
 and distinctive sense. This phrase is, therefore, not to be re- 
 garded as an expression of despondency, nor even of humility, 
 
CHAPTER XXXVII. 37 
 
 on Hezekiah's part, but as a kind of indirect explanation of his 
 reason for resorting to the Prophet at this juncture. 
 
 5. And the servants of king Uezekiah came to Isaiah. This is 
 a natural and simple resumption of the narrative, common in 
 all inartificial history. 
 
 6. A?id Isaiah said to them, Thus shall ye say to your master, 
 Thus saith Jehovah, Be not afraid o/' (literally //■o/;t bffore or from 
 the face of) the words which thou hast heard, (toith) which the ser- 
 vards of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. The last verb 
 means to rail at or revile, and when applied to God must be 
 translated by a still stronger term. The word translated serv- 
 ants is not the same with that in the preceding verse, but strictly 
 means young men or boys. Many regard it as a contemptuous 
 description. 
 
 7. Behold I am putting (or about to put) a spirit in him, and 
 he shall hear a noise, and shall return to his owni land, ccnd I icill 
 cause him to fall by the sivord in his own land. The English 
 Version renders the first clause, behold I loill send a blast upon 
 him, meaning either a pestilential blast or a destructive tempest. 
 But the phrase refers to an effect to be produced upon the mind 
 of the Assyrian. The most probable conclusion is, that it does 
 not denote a specific change, but divine influence as governing 
 his movements. Most writers understand the phrase, he shall 
 hear a 7wise, as referring to the news mentioned in v. 9 below. 
 But as this news, far from driving Sennacherib home, led to a 
 fresh defiance of Jerusalem, it has been ingeniously suggested 
 that this expression has reference to the news of the destruction 
 of his host before Jerusalem while he himself was absent. But 
 in the next verse Rabshakeh is said to have rejoined his master, 
 nor is there any further mention of an army at Jerusalem. It 
 is possible, indeed, though not recorded, that Rabshakeh left 
 
38 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 the troops behind him when he went to Libnah, under the com- 
 mand of Tartan or Kabsaris (2 Kings 18: 17), and this is still 
 more probable if, as some suppose, Rabshakeh was a mere am- 
 bassador or herald, and Tartan the real military chief. If it 
 can be assumed, on any ground, that the great catastrophe took 
 place in the absence of Sennacherib, which would account for 
 his personal escape, then the explanation given above is more 
 satisfactory than any other. 
 
 8. And Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria 
 fighting against (i. e. besieging) Libnah^ for he heard that he had 
 decamped from Lachish. Both these towns were in the plain or 
 lowlands of Judah south-west of Jerusalem (Josh. 15 : 39, 42), 
 originally seats of Canaanitish kings or chiefs, conquered by 
 Joshua (Josh. 12: 11, 15). Lachish was one of the fifteen 
 places fortified by Rehoboam (2 Chron. 11:9), and one of the 
 last towns taken by Nebuchadnezzar ( Jer. 34 : 7) It was still 
 in existence after the exile (Neh. 1 1 : 30). Libnah was a city of 
 the Levites and of refuge (Josh. 21 : 13), and appears to have 
 been nearer to Jerusalem. The last verb in this verse properly 
 denotes the removal of a tent or an encampment. 
 
 9. And he (Sennacherib) heard say concerning Tirhakah king 
 of Ethiopia. He is come forth to make war with thee ; and he lieard 
 {ii) and sent (or when he heard it he sent) vwssengers to Hezekiah^ 
 saying (what follows in the next verse). For the meaning of 
 the Hebrew name Cush^ see the notes on ch. 18: 1 and 20 : 3. 
 Tirhakah was one of the most famous conquerors of ancieiit 
 
 (^/'times. M^gasthenes, as quoted by Strabo, puts him between 
 Sesostris and Nebuchadnezzar. He is also named by Manetho 
 as one of the Ethiopian dynasty in Egypt. He was at this time 
 either in close alliance with that country, or more probably in 
 actual possession of Thebais or Upper Egypt. The fact that 
 an Ethiopian dynasty did reign there, is attested by the ancient 
 
CHAPTER XXXVII. 39 
 
 writers, and confirmed by still existing monuments. The Greek 
 forms of the name {^TuQuxog^ T&Qxog, Tifjxuv) vary but little 
 from the Hebrew. It is unnecessary to suppose that Tirliakah 
 had crossed the desert to invade Syria, or that he was already 
 on the frontier of Judah. The bare fact of his having left his 
 own dominions, with the purpose of attacking Sennacherib, 
 would be sufficient to alarm the latter, especially as his opera- 
 tions in the Holy Land had been so unsuccessful. He was 
 naturally anxious therefore to induce Hezekiah to capitulate 
 before the Ethiopians should arrive, perhaps before the Jews 
 should hear of their approach. That he did not march upon 
 Jerusalem himself, is very probably accounted for on the ground 
 that his strength lay chiefly in cavalry, which could not be em- 
 ployed in the highlands, and that the poliorcetic part of warfare 
 Was little known to any ancient nation but the Romans, as 
 Tacitus explicitly asserts. To this may be added the peculiar 
 difficulty arising from the scarcity of water in the environs of' 
 Jerusalem, which has been an obstacle to all the armies that 
 have ever besieged it. (See the notes on ch. 22 : 9-1 1.) 
 
 10. Thus shall ye say to Hezekiah, king of Judah, Let not thy 
 God deceive thee, in ichom thou trustest, saying, Jerusalem shall not 
 be given into tJie hand of the king of Assyria. This recognition 
 of Hezekiah's royal dignity, of which Rabshakeh seemed to 
 take no notice, if significant at all, as some interpreters imagine, 
 may be accounted for upon the ground, that in this message 
 the design of the Assyrian was not to destroy the people's con 
 fidence in Hezekiah, but the king's own confidence in God. For 
 the same reason, Sennacherib's blasphemy is much more open 
 and direct than that of Rabshakeh. The word saying may be 
 referred either to Hezekiah or to God. The English Version 
 makes the last construction necessary, by changing the colloca- 
 tion of the words ; but many others understand the sense to be, 
 in whom thou trustest, saying. On the whole, it is best, in a case 
 
40 CHAFTER XXXVII. 
 
 BO doubtful, to retain the Hebrew collocation with all its am- 
 biguity. 
 
 1 1. Behold, thou hast heard tohat the kings of Assyria have done 
 to all the lands, by utterly destroying them, and thou shalt be ddiv- 
 ered ! The interjection behold appeals to these events as some- 
 thing perfectly notorious ; as if he had said, see what has hap- 
 pened to others, and then judge whether thou art likely to 
 escape. The pronoun thou, in the first clause, not being neces- 
 sary to the sense, is, according to analogy, distinctive and em- 
 phatic, and may be explained to mean, thou at least hast heard, 
 if not the common people. In the last clause, the same pronoun 
 stands in opposition to the other kings or kingdoms who had 
 been destroyed. This clause is, in most versions, rendered as 
 an interrogation, but is properly an exclamation of contemptuous 
 incredulity. All the lands may be either an elliptical expression 
 for all the hauls subdued by them, or, which is more in keeping 
 with the character of the discourse, a hyperbolical expression 
 of the speaker's arrogance. 
 
 12. Did the gods of the nations deliver them, lohich my fathers 
 destroyed, [to wit) Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the chil- 
 dren of Eden tohich is {ox who ivere) in Telassar? Here again 
 the collocation of the words makes the construction doubtful, 
 though the general sense is clear. With respect to the places 
 mentioned in the second clause, all that is absolutely necessary 
 to the just understanding of the sentence, is that they were well 
 known, both to speaker and hearer, as Assyrian conquests. The 
 difficulty of identifying some of them affords an incidental ar- 
 gument in favour of the antiquity and genuineness of the pas- 
 sage. Gozan is probably the modern Kaushan, the Gauzanitis 
 of Ptolemy, a region of Mesopotamia, situated on the Chaboras, 
 to which a portion of the ten tribes were transferred by Shal- 
 maneser. Haran was a city of Mesopotamia, where Abraham's 
 
CHAPTER XXXVII. 41 
 
 father died, the Carrae of the Romans, and famous for the great 
 defeat of Crassus. Rczcph, a common name in oriental geography, 
 here denotes probably the Rhessapha of Ptolemy, a town and prov- 
 ince in Palmyrene Syria. I^doi means pleasure or delight, and 
 seems to have been given as a name to various places. Having 
 been thus applied to a district in the region of Mount Lebanon 
 the native Christians have been led to regard that as the site 
 of the terrestrial paradise. Equally groundless are the conclu- 
 sions of some learned critics as to the identity of the place here 
 mentioned with the garden of Eden. Such allusions prove no 
 more, as to the site of the garden, than the similar allusions of 
 modern orators and poets to any delightful region as an Eden 
 or Paradise. Even the continued application of the name, in 
 prose, as a geographical term, proves no more than the use of 
 such a name as Mount Pleasaiit in American geography. The 
 inference, in this place, is especially untenable, because the 
 word sons or children, prefixed to Eden, leaves it doubtful whether 
 the latter is the name of a place at all, and not rather that of a 
 person, whose descendants were among the races conquered by 
 Assyria. The relative pronoun may agree grammatically either 
 with sons or Eden, and the form of the verb to be supplied must 
 be varied accordingly. Telassar, which some think may be 
 identical with the Ellasar of Gen. 14: 1, appears to be analo- 
 gous in form to the Babylonian names, Tcl-abib, Telmelah, Tel- 
 hasha^ in all which tcl means hill and corresponds to the English 
 mount in names of places. 
 
 13. Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, ajid 
 the king of the city Sepharvaim, Hcna and Ivvah? The question 
 implies that they were nowhere, or had ceased to be. The first 
 three names occur in the same order in Rabshakeh's speech 
 (ch. 36 : 19), and the remaining two also in the parallel passage 
 (2 Kings 18: 34). Of Hena nothing whatever is known, and 
 of Ivvah only that it may be identical with the Avva of 2 Kings 
 
42 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 17: 24, from which Assyrian colonists were transferred to Sa- 
 maria. It has been suggested that they are the names of the 
 deities worshipped at Hamath, Arpad, and Sepharvaim. In 
 favour of this exposition, besides the fact that the names, as 
 names of places, occur nowhere eise, it may be urged that it 
 agrees not only with the context in this place, but also with 2 
 Kings 18 : 34, 
 
 1 4. And Hezekiah took the letters from the Imnd of the, messengers^ 
 and read it^ and went up {to) the house of Jehovah^ and Hezekiah 
 spread it before Jehovah. As nothing had been previously said 
 respecting letters, we must either suppose that the preceding 
 address was made not orally but in writing, or that both modes 
 of communication were adopted. The latter is most probable 
 in itself, and agrees best with the statement in 2 Chr. 32 : 17, 
 that besides the speeches which his servants spake against the 
 Lord God and against his servant Hezekiah, Sennacherib lorote 
 letters to rail on the Lord God of Israel and to speak against 
 him. The singular pronoun {it) refers to the plural antecedent 
 {letters)., which like the Latin literae had come to signify a single 
 letter, and might be therefore treated indiscriminately either 
 as a singular or plural form. The parallel passage (2 Kings 
 19 : 14) removes all appearance of irregularity by reading them 
 instead of it. As any man might carry an open letter, which 
 troubled or perplexed him, to a friend for sympathy and counsel, 
 so the pious king spreads this blasphemous epistle before God, 
 as the occasion and the subject of his prayers. Josephus says 
 be left it afterwards rolled up in the temple, of which fact 
 there is no record in the narrative before us 
 
 5. And Hezekiah prayed to Jehovah., saying (what follows iu 
 the next verse). Gill quaintly says that, instead of answering 
 the letter himself, he prays the Lord to answer it. Instead of 
 to., the parallel passage (2 Kings 19 : 15) has before Jehovah. 
 
 18* 
 
CHAPTER XXXVII. 43 
 
 16. Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel., dwelling between (or sitting 
 upon) the cherubim, thou art he, the God (i. e. the only true God), 
 thou alone, to all the kingdoms of the earth ; thou, hast made the 
 heavens and the. earth. The cherubim were sj'fiiboli^J representa- 
 tions of the superhuman orders of beings, or, as some suppose, 
 of the perfection of the creature in its highest form. Whether 
 Jehovah's riding on the cherubim (Ps. 18 : 10) or his being en- 
 throned above the material cherubs in the temple, or his dicell- 
 ing between the cherubim (Ex. 25 : 22), be specifically meant, 
 there is obvious allusion to his manifested presence over 
 the mercy-seat, called by the later Jews shechinah, which 
 word is itself used in the Chaldee Paraphrase of the verse 
 before us. The God of all the kingdoms of the earth is not an 
 exact translation of the Hebrew words, in which the God stands 
 by itself as an emphatic phrase, meaning the only God, the true 
 God, and what follows is intended to suggest a contrast with 
 the false gods of the nations. Not simply of all, in all,for^all, 
 or over all, but ivith respect to all. Thou art the one true God, 
 not only with respect to us, but with respect to all the nations 
 of the earth. The reason follows : because thou hast made them 
 all, and not the earth only, but the heavens also. All this is 
 indirectly a reply to the Assyrian blasphemies, which questioned 
 the almighty power of Jehovah, and put him on a level with 
 the idols of the heathen. The same antithesis between the im- 
 potence of idols and the power of God, as shown in the creation 
 of the world, occurs in Ps. 96 : 5 and Jer. 10 : 11. 
 
 17. Bow thine ear, O Jehovah^ and hear; open thine eyes, O 
 Jehovah, and see ; and hear all the ivords of Sennacherib, which 
 he hath sent (or ^oho hath sent) to reproach the living God. These 
 expressions are entirely analogous to those in many other places, 
 where God is entreated to see and hear, i. e. to act as if he saw 
 and heard. The simplest version is, ivho has sent. To express 
 the idea, jvhich he has sent, usage would seem to require a per- 
 
44 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 sonal pronoun with the verb, as in 2 Kings 19: 16, where the 
 relative may refer to the plural worch^ or to Rabshakeh, which 
 last is the construction given in the English Version of that 
 passage. 
 
 18. It is trv£, O Jehovah, the kings of Assyria have wasted all 
 the lands and their land. The first word in the original is a 
 particle of concession, admitting the truth of what Sennacherib 
 had said, so far as it related merely to his conquest of the na- 
 tions and destruction of their idols. The repetition, lands and 
 iand, has much perplexed interpreters. The best construction 
 is that which brings the sentence into strict agreement, not as 
 to form but as to sense, with the parallel passage (2 Kings 19 : 
 17), where we have the unambiguous term nations. 
 
 19. And given (or put) their gods into the fire — -for they (were) 
 no gods, but wood and stone, the work ofmen^s hands — and destroyed 
 them. The application of the word gods to the mere external 
 image is common in profane as well as sacred writings, and 
 arises from the fact that all idolaters, whatever they may theo- 
 retically hold as to the nature of their deities, identify them 
 practically with the stocks and stones to which they pay their 
 adorations. 
 
 20. And now, oh Jehovah our God, save us from his hand, and 
 all the kingdoms of the earth shall know, that thou Jehovah art 
 alone (or that thou alone art Jehovah). The adverb now is here 
 used both in a temporal and logical sense, as equivalent, not 
 only to at length, or before it is too late, but also to therefore, oi 
 since these things are so. The fact that Sennacherib had destroyed 
 other nations, is urged as a reason why the Lord should inter- 
 pose to rescue his own people from a like destruction ; nnd the 
 fact that he had really triumphed over other gods, as a reason 
 why he should be taught to know the difference between \V^rx> 
 
CHAPTER XXXVII. 45 
 
 and Jehovah. The construction of the verh as an optative {let 
 all the kingdoms of the earth know), or a subjunctive {that all the 
 kingdoms of the earth may know), although admissible, ought not 
 to be preferred to the future proper, where the latter yields a 
 sense so good in itself and so well suited to the context. The 
 last words of the verse may either mean, that thou, Jehovah art 
 the only one (i. e. as appears from the connection, the only true 
 God), or, that thou alone art Jrhovah, with particular allusion to 
 the proper import of that name as signifying absolute, eternal, 
 independent existence. The first is recommended by its more 
 exact agreement with the masoretic accents. These questions 
 of construction do not affect the general sense, which is, that 
 the deliverance of his people from Sennacherib would prove 
 Jehovah to be infinitely more than the gods of the nations whom 
 he gloried in destroying. 
 
 21. And Isaiah, the son of Ainoz, sent to Hezckiah saying, Tl^us 
 saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, [as to) what thou hast frayed to 
 me {tcilh respect) to Sennacherib king of Assyria (the apodosis 
 follows in the next verse). The supposition that the commu- 
 nication was in writing, is favoured by the analogy of v. 14, and 
 by the length and metrical form of the message itself 
 
 22. This is the word which Jehovah hath spoken concerning (or 
 against) him. The virgin daughter of Zion hath despised thee, she 
 hath laughed thee to scorn, the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken 
 her head after thee. The simple meaning is that what follows is 
 a revelation from God in answer to the vaunting of Sennacherib 
 and the prayers of Hezekiah. For the meaning of the phrase 
 daughter of Zion, see the note on ch. I : 8 ; for the construction 
 of virgin, that on ch. 23 : 12. The virgin daughter Zion, i e. Zion 
 considered as a daughter and a virgin. It may be a personifi- 
 cation either of the whole church and nation, or of the city of 
 Jerusalem, which last seems moie appropriate in this connection. 
 
46 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 Not merely at thee, but after thee as thou fleest. Some under- 
 stand by shaking a derisive nodding or vertical motion of the 
 head accompanied by laughter. Others suppose that a wagging 
 or lateral motion of the head, although not used by us for such 
 a purpose, may have been common as a gesture of derision in 
 the east, the rather as such signs are to a great extent conven- 
 tional, and as other derisive gestures mentioned in the Scrip- 
 tures are equally foreign from our habits and associations. 
 Others again suppose that the shaking of the head, with 
 the Hebrews as with us, was a gesture of negation, and that 
 the expression of scorn consisted in a tacit denial that Sen- 
 nacherib had been able to effect his purpose. Thus under- 
 stood, the action is equivalent to saying in words, ??o, 710 ! i. e. 
 he could not do it. See my note on Psalm 22 : 8. The mean- 
 ing of the whole verse, divested of its figurative dress, is that 
 the people of God might regard the threats of the Assyrian with 
 contempt. 
 
 23. Whom hast thou reproached and reviled, and against whom 
 hast thou raised {thy) voice, and lifted thine eyes [on) high towards 
 (or against) the Holy One of Israd ? This is equivalent to saying, 
 dost thou know who it is that thou revilest ? To raise the voice 
 may simply mean to speak, or more emphatically to speak boldly, 
 perhaps with an allusion to the literal loudness of Rabshakeh's 
 address to the people on the wall (ch. 36: 13). The construc- 
 tion loftiness of eyes (meaning pride) is inconsistent both with 
 the pointing and accentuation. The English and many other 
 versions make the last words of the second clause an answer to 
 the foregoing question. [Against whom 1 Against the Holy 
 One of Israel.) But the other construction is more natural. 
 
 24. By the hand of thy servants hast thou, reproached the Lord 
 and said, With the multitude of my chariots (or cavalry) I have 
 ascended the height of mountains, the sides of Lebanon, and I will 
 
CHAPTER XXXVII. 47 
 
 cut doi07i the loftiness of its cedars and the choice of its firs (or cy- 
 presses)^ and I will reach its extreme height (literally, the Jieight 
 of its extremity)^ its gardenforest (literally, the garden of its forest). 
 This may be regarded either as the substance of another mes- 
 sage actually sent by Sennacherib, or as a translation of his 
 feelings and his conduct into words. By tJie hand may then 
 mean simply through (as in ch. 20 : 1 ), or refer particularly to 
 the letters mentioned in v. 14. l^he fruitful field ^ vineyard^ gar- 
 den^ orchard^ or the like, is here combined with forest, either 
 for the purpose of describing the cedar groves of Lebanon as 
 similar to parks and orchards, or of designating the spot where 
 ths cultivated slope of the mountain is gradually changed into 
 a forest. It was long supposed that the only cedar grove of 
 Lebanon was the one usually visited near the highest summit 
 of the range; but in 1805, Seetzen discovered two others of 
 greater extent, and the American missionaries have since found 
 many trees in different parts of the mountain. (See Robinpon's 
 Palestine, III. 440.) If we take into consideration the whole 
 context, and the strongly hyperbolical expressions of the other 
 messages and speeches of Sennacherib, it will be found most 
 natural to understand this verse as a poetical assertion of the 
 speaker's power to overcome all obstacles. 
 
 25. / have digged and drunk water, and I loill dry up with 
 the sole of my feet (literally, steps) all the streams of Egypt. As 
 in the preceding verse, he begins with the past tense and then 
 changes to the future, to denote that he had begun his enter- 
 prise successfully and expected to conclude it triumphantly. 
 The confusion of the tenses, as all futures or ail preterites, is 
 entirely arbitrary, and the translation of them all as presents is 
 at least unnecessary, when a stricte.r version not only yields a 
 good sense, but adds to the significance and force of the ex- 
 pressions. The best interpretation, on the whole, is that which 
 understands the verse to mean that no difficulties or privations 
 
48 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 could retard his march, that where there was no water he had 
 dug for it and found it, and that where there was he would 
 exhaust it, both assertions implying a vast multitude of soldiers. 
 The drying up of the rivers with the soles of the feet is under- 
 stood by some as an allusion to the Egyptian mode of drawing 
 water with a tread-wheel (Deut. 11 : 10). Others suppose it to 
 mean, that they would cross the streams dry-shod, or that the 
 dust raised by their march would choke and dry up rivers. In 
 favour of supposing an allusion to the drawing ovit of water, is 
 the obvious reference to digging and drinking in the other clause. 
 
 26. Hast thou not heard? From afar I have done it, frora the 
 days of old, and have formed it. Now I have caused it to come, and 
 it shall be (or come to pass), to lay tvastc, (as or into) desolate heaps, 
 fortified cities. Most writers, ancient and modern, are agreed 
 in applying the first clause, either to express predictions, or to 
 the purpose and decree of God The sens(3 is then substantially 
 the same with that of ch. 10:5, 15, to wit, that the Assyrian 
 had wrought these conquests only as an instrument in the hand 
 of God, who had formed and declared his purpose long before, 
 and was now bi'inging it to pass, Hast thou not heard? may 
 either be a reference to history and prophecy, or a more general 
 expression of surprise that he could be ignorant of what was so 
 notorious. 
 
 27. And their inhabitants are short of hand ; they are broken 
 and confounded ; they are grass of the field and green herbage, 
 grass of the house-tops, and afield before the stalk (or standing corn), 
 i. e. before the grain has grown up. This may be regarded 
 either as a description of the weakness of those whom the Assy- 
 rian had subdued, or as a description of the terror with which 
 they were inspired at his approach. In the former case this 
 verse extenuates the glory of his conquest ; in the latter it en- 
 hances it. A short hand or arm implies inability to reach the 
 
CHAPTER XXXVIL 49 
 
 object, but does not necessarily suggest the idea of mutilation. 
 In a negative sense, it is applied to God, Num. 1 1 : 23. Isai. 50 : 
 2. 59 : 1. The general meaning of the whole verse evidently is 
 that they were unable to resist him. 
 
 28. And thy sitting doivn, and thy going out, and thy coming 
 in, I have known, and thy raging (or f revoking of thyself) against 
 me. These phrases are combined to signify all the actions of his 
 life, like sitting down and rising up in Ps. 139 : 2, going out and 
 coming in, Deut. 28 : 6, 1 Kings 3 : 7, and elsewhere, the latter 
 especially in reference to military movements (1 Sam. 18: 16. 
 2 Sam. 5 : 2). 
 
 29. Because of thy raging against me, and {because) thy arro- 
 gance has come up into my ears, I will put my hook in thy nose, 
 and my bridle in thy lips, and Iicill caus" thee to return by the way 
 by which thou earnest. The figures in the last clause are drawn 
 from the customary method of controlling horses, and from* a 
 less familiar mode of treating buffaloes and other wild animals, 
 still practised in the east and in menageries. (Compare Ezek. 
 19 : 4. 29 ; 4. 38 : 4. Job 41 : I.) The figure may be taken in a 
 general sense as signifying failure and defeat, or more specifically 
 as referring to Sennacherib's hasty flight. 
 
 30. And this to thee (oh Hezekiah, shall be) the sign (of the 
 fulfilment of the promise) : eat, the (present) year, that which 
 groiveth of itself, and the second year that ivhich springcth of the 
 same, and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, 
 and cat the fruit thereof. The preceding verse closes the address 
 to the Assyrian, begun in v. 22, and the Prophet now continues 
 his message to Hezekiah. As to the general meaning of the 
 verse, there are two opinions. One is that although the culti- 
 vation of the land had been interrupted for the last two years, 
 yet now in this third year they might safely resume it. To this 
 
 VOL. II. — 3 
 
60 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 interpretation it may be objected, that it arlJtrarily makes the 
 year mean the year before the last, and no less arbitrarily assumes 
 that the infinitive is here used for the preterite. The later 
 writers seem to Have gone back to the old aiad obvioas interpre- 
 tation, which refers the whole verse to tSie future. This is 
 grammatically more exact, because it takes the year in a sense 
 analogous to that of the day^ the common Hebrew phrase for 
 this day, and assimilates the infinitive to the imperatives which 
 follow. Thus understood, the verse is a prediction that for two 
 years the people should subsist upon the secondary fruits of 
 what was sown two years before, but that in the third year they 
 should till the ground, as usual, implying that Sennacherib's 
 invasion should before that time be at an end. But why should 
 this event be represented as so distant, when the context seeraa 
 to speak of Sennacherib's discomfiture and flight as something 
 which immediately ensued 1 Of this two explanations have been 
 given. Most probably the year in which these words were 
 uttered was a sabbatical year, and the next the year of Jubilee, 
 during neither of which the Jews were allowed to cultivate the 
 ground, so that the resumption of tillage was of course postponed 
 to the third. It is no conclusive objection to this theory, that 
 the chronological hypothesis which it involves cannot be posi- 
 tively proved. The difficulty in all such cases arises from the 
 very absence of positive proof, and the necessity of choosing 
 between different possibilities. The only remaining question is, 
 wherein the sign consisted, or in what sense the word sign is to, 
 be understood Some take it in its strongest sense of miracle^ 
 and refer it, either to the usual divine interposition for the sub- 
 sistence of the people during the sabbatical years, or to the 
 miraculous provision promised in this particular case. Others 
 understand it here as simply meaning an event inseparable from 
 another, either as an antecedent or a consequent, so that the 
 promise of the one is really a pledge of the other. Thus the 
 promise that the children of Israel should worship at Mount 
 
CHAPTER XXXVII. 51 
 
 Sinai was a sign to Moses that they should first leave Egypt 
 and the promised birth of the Messiah was a sign that the Jew- 
 ish nation should continue till he came. 
 
 31. A7id the escaped (literally the escape) of Judah, that is left, 
 shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. This 
 verse foretells, by a familiar figure, the returning prosperity of 
 Judah. For the peculiar use of the abstract noun escape, see 
 above, ch. 4:2. 10:20. 15:9. 
 
 32. For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and an escape 
 from Mount Zion ; the zeal of Jehovah of Hosts shall do this. 
 For the meaning of the last clause, see the commentary on ch. 
 9 : 7. The first clause is an explanation of the use of the words 
 escape and left in the foregoing verse. The verse denotes simply 
 that some in Jerusalem or Zion shall be saved. 
 
 \ 
 
 33. Therefore (because Jehovah has determined to fulfil these 
 
 promises), thus saith Jehovah {^with respect) to the king of Assyria^ 
 he shall not come to this city, and shall not shoot an arrow there, 
 and shall 7iot come before it with a shield (or a shield shall not come 
 before it), and shall 7wt cast up a mound against it. Some under- 
 stand this as meaning simply that he should not take the city, 
 others that he should not even attack it. This verse seems to 
 show that Jerusalem was not actually besieged by the Assy- 
 rians, or at least not by the main body of the army under Sen- 
 nacherib himself, unless we assume that he had already done 
 so and retreated, and regard this as a promise that the attempt 
 should not be repeated. 
 
 34. By the way that he came shall he return, and to this city 
 shall he not come, saith Jehovah. The first clause may simply 
 mean that he shall go back whence he came, or more specifically, 
 
52 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 tliat he shall retreat without turning aside to attack Jerusalem, 
 either for the first or second time. 
 
 35. And I will cover over (or protect) this cilT/, {so as) to save it, 
 for my own sake, and for the sake of David my servant. This 
 does not mean that the faith or piety of David, as an individual, 
 should be rewarded in his descendants, but that the promise 
 made to him, respecting his successors, and especially the last 
 and greatest of them, should be faithfully performed. (See 
 2 Sam. 7; 12, 13.) 
 
 36. And the angel of Jehovah ivent forth, and smote in the camp 
 of Assyria an hundred and eighty and five thousand, and th^y (the 
 survivors, or the Jews) rose early in the morning, and behold, all 
 of them (that were smitten) were d:ad corpses. Even if we give 
 the phrase a7igcl of the Lord its usual sense, "there is no 
 more improbability in the existence of a good angel than there 
 is in the existence of a good man, or in the existence of an 
 evil spirit than there is in the existence of a bad man ; there 
 is no more improbability in the supposition that Grod employs 
 invisible and heavenly messengers to accomplish his pur- 
 poses than thei*e is that he employs men.'' (Barnes.) The 
 terms used can naturally signify nothing but a single instan- 
 taneous stroke of divine vengeance, and the parallel passage 
 (2 Kings 19 : 35) says expressly that the angel smote this num- 
 ber in that night. The parallel narrative in 2 Chr. 32:21, 
 instead of numbering the slain, says that all the mighty men 
 of valour and the leaders and the captains in the camp of the 
 Assyrian were cut ofi". Where this terrific overthrow took 
 place, whether before Jerusalem, or at Libnah, or at some in- 
 tervening point, has been disputed, and can never be determined, 
 in the absence of all data, monumental or historical. Through- 
 out the sacred narrative, it seems to be intentionally left uncer- 
 tain, whether Jerusalem was besieged at all, whether Sennache- 
 
CHAPTER XXXVII. 53 
 
 rib in person ever came before it, wliether his army was divided 
 or united when the stroke befell them, and also what proportion 
 of the host escaped. It is enough to know that one hundred 
 and eighty-five thousand men perished in a single night. 
 
 37. Then (Ucampcd and departed and returned Sennacherib, 
 king of Assyria^ and dicelt (or remained) in Nineveh. The form 
 of expression in the first clause is thought by some writers to 
 resemble Cicero's famous description of Catiline's escape [abiit, 
 excessit, evasit, erupit), the rapid succession of the verbs suggest- 
 ing the id^a of confused and sudden flight. His dwelling in 
 Nineveh is supposed by some interpreters to be mentioned as 
 implying that he went forth no more to war, at least not against 
 the Jews. An old tradition says that he lived only fifty days 
 after his return ; but according to other chronological hypothe- 
 ses, he reigned eighteen years longer, and during that interval 
 waged war successively against the Greeks and founded Tarsus 
 in Cilicia. 
 
 38. Arid he was worshipping (in) the house of Nisroch his god, 
 and Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote hhn with the sword, 
 and they escaped (literally, saved tlieinselves) into the land of Ararat, 
 and Esarliaddon his son reigned in his. stead. The Jews have a 
 tradition that Sennacherib intended to sacrifice his sons, and 
 that they slew him in self-defence. Another tradition is, that 
 he had fled into the temple of his god as an asylum. A simpler 
 supposition is, that the time of his devotions was chosen by his 
 murderers, as one when he would be least guarded or suspicious. 
 The name Adrammelech occurs in 2 Kings 17 : 31, as that of a 
 Mesopotamian or Assyrian idol. Ararat, both here and in Gen. 
 8 : 4, is the name of a region, corresponding more or less exactly 
 to Armenia, or to that part of it in which the ark rested. The 
 Armenians still call their country by this name. From the 
 expression mountains of Ararat (Gen. 8 : 4) has sprung the 
 
54 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 modern practice of applying this name to the particular emi- 
 nence where Noah landed. The country of Ararat is described 
 by Smith and Dwight, in their Researches in Armenia, vol. II. 
 T)t). 73, etc. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 This chapter contains an account of Hezekiah's illness and 
 miraculous recovery, together with a Psalm which he composed 
 in commemoration of his sufferings and deliverance. The par- 
 allel passage (2 Kings 20 : l-ll) varies more from that before 
 us than in the preceding chapter. So far as they are parallel, 
 the narrative in Kings is more minute and circumstantial, and 
 at the same time more exactly chronological in its arrangement. 
 On the other hand, the Psalm is wholly wanting in that passage. 
 All these circumstances favour the conclusion that the text 
 before us is the first draught, and the other a repetition by the 
 hand of the same writer. 
 
 1. In those days Hezeldah was sick unto death, and Isaiah, the 
 son of Amoz, the Prophet, came to him, and said to him. Thus saith 
 Jehovah, Order thy house, for thou {art) dying, and art not to live. 
 As Hezekiah survived this sickness fifteen years (v. 5), and 
 reigned in all twenty-nine (2 Kings 18:2), those days must be 
 restricted to the fourteenth year, which was that of the Assyrian 
 invasion. Whether this sickness was before the great catastrophe 
 or after it, is not a question of much exegetical importance. In 
 favour of the former supposition is the promise in v. 6, according 
 to its simplest and most obvious meaning, though it certainly 
 admits of a wider application. It is also favoured by the ab- 
 
CHAPTER XXXVII i 55 
 
 sence of allusions to the slaughter of Sennacherib's host in the 
 song of Hezekiah. But on the other hand, his prayer is only 
 for recovery from sickness, without any reference to siege or 
 invasion. It has been objected to the hypothesis which makes 
 the sickness previous in date to the destruction of the host, that 
 it would not have been omitted in its proper place. It is alto- 
 gether natural, however, that the Prophet, after carrying the 
 history of Sennacherib to its conclusion, should go back to com- 
 plete that of Hezekiah also. Order thy house is ambiguous, both 
 in Hebrew and in English. The sense may be, give orders 
 with respect to thy house ; or, command thy household, 
 i. e. make known to them thy last will. In either case, the 
 general idea is that of a final settling of his aflfairs in the 
 prospect of death. (Compare 2 Sam. 17 : 23.) The modern 
 writers infer from the treatment described in v. 21, and said to 
 be still practised in the east, that Hezekiah had the plague, 
 which would make it less improbable that this was the instru-- 
 ment employed in the destruction of Sennacherib's army. Of 
 those who make the sickness subsequent to this great deliver- 
 ance, some suppose the former to have been intended, like the 
 thorn in Paul's flesh, to preserve Hezekiah from being exalted 
 above measure. That he was not wholly free from the necessity 
 of such a check, may be inferred from his subsequent conduct 
 to the Babylonian envoys. 
 
 2. Aiul Hezekiah turned his face to tlie wall, and prayed to Je- 
 hovah. As Ahab turned his face away in anger (1 Kings 
 21:4), so Hezekiah does the same in grief 
 
 3. And he said. Ah Jehovah, remeviher, I beseech thee, how I 
 have walked before thee in truth a?id with a whole heart, and that 
 which is good in thine eyes I have done. The figure of ivalking 
 before God includes the ideas of communion with him and sub- 
 jection to him, and is therefore more comprehensive than the 
 
56 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 kindred phrase of walking nmth him. By truth we are here to 
 understand sincerity and constancy. This verse is not an angry 
 expostulation, nor an ostentatious self-praise, but an appeal to 
 the only satisfactory evidence of his sincerity. 
 
 4. And the word of Jehovah was (or came) to Isaiah^ saying 
 (what follows in the next verse). The middle city may either 
 mean the middle of the city [media urbs), or a particular part 
 of Jerusalem so called, perhaps that in which the temple stood, 
 or more generally that which lay between the upper city on 
 Mount Zion and the loiccr city on Mount Akra. The commu- 
 nication may have been through the middle gate mentioned by 
 Jeremiah (39 : 3). In either case, the interval could not have 
 been a long one, though sufl&cient to try the faith of Hezekiah. 
 
 5. Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of 
 David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears 
 (or weeping) ; behold, I am adding (or about to add) unto thy days 
 fifteen years. The parallel passage (2 Kings 20 : 5) has : return 
 and say to Hezekiah, the chief [ov leader) of my people. Thus saith 
 Jehovah etc. After tears it adds: behold, (^I am) healing (or 
 about to heal) thee ; on the third day thou shall go up to tJie house 
 of Jehovah. David is particularly mentioned as the person to 
 whom the promise of perpetual succession had been given 
 (2 Sam. 7 : 12). The threatening in v. 1 was conditional, and 
 the second message was designed from the beginning no less 
 than the first. The design of the whole proceeding was to let 
 Hezekiah feel his obligation to a special divine interposition for 
 a recovery which might otherwise have seemed the unavoidable 
 effect of ordinary causes. 
 
 6. Ayid out of the hand of the king of Assyria I icill save thee 
 and this city, and I loill cover over (or protect) this city. This 
 probably refers to subsequent attacks or apprehensions. The 
 
CHAPTER XXXVIII, 57 
 
 parallel passage (2 Kings 20 : 6) adds, for my own sake and for 
 the sake of David my servant^ as in ch. 37 : 35. 
 
 7. A7id this [shall be) to thee the signfrojn Jehovah, that Jehovah 
 will perform this word which he hath spoken. The English Ver- 
 sion has a sign ; but the article is emphatic, the (appoi?ited) sign 
 (proceeding) from Jehovah (not merely from the Prophet). The 
 parallel narrative in Kings is much more circumstantial. What 
 occurs below, as the last two verses of this chapter, there stands 
 in its regular chronological order, between the promise of recov- 
 ery and the announcement of the sign, so that the latter appears 
 to have been given in compliance with Hezekiah's own request 
 and choice. A?id Isaiah said, This [shall be) to thee the sign from 
 Jehovah, that Jehovah will peiform the thing which he hath spoken ; 
 shall the shadow advance ten degrees, oi- shall it recede ten degrees ? 
 And Hezekiah <!aid, It is a light thing for the shadow to declhit 
 ten degrees ; nay, but let the shadow retiirn backward ten degrees 
 (2 Kings 20 : 9, 10). As to the transposition of vs. 21, 22, see 
 below. 
 
 8. Behold, I [am) causing the shadow to go hack, the degrees 
 which it has gone down (or tvhich have gone down) on the degrees 
 of Ahaz with the sun, ten degrees backward ; and the su?i returned 
 ten degrees on tlie degrees which it had gone down. As to the 
 nature of the phenomenon here described, there are various 
 opinions, but it is not a question of much exegetical or practical 
 importance, since it neither can nor need be ascertained, whether 
 the course of the sun (or of the earth around it) was miracu- 
 lously changed, or the shadow miraculously rendered indepen- 
 dent of the sun which caused it. The former hypothesis is 
 favoured by the statement that the sun went back, if taken in 
 its strictest and most obvious sense, although it may be under- 
 stood as a metonymy of the cause for the effect. At any rate, 
 little would appear to be gained by paring down a miracle tQ 
 
 3* 
 
68 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 certain dimensicwis, wlien even on tlie lowest supposition it can 
 only be ascribed to the almighty power of God, with whom all 
 things are not only possible but equally easy. If shut up to 
 the assumption of a miracle, it matters little whether it be great 
 or small. It is enough that God alone could do it or infallibly 
 predict it. If this be admitted, and the historical truth of the 
 narrative assumed, the safest course is to expound it in its 
 simplest and most obvious sense. Still less important is the 
 question whether the degrees here mentioned were the graduated 
 scale of a dial, or the steps of a staircase. It was alleged by some 
 early writers on the subject, that the use of dials was unknown 
 in the days of Hezekiah. Later investigations have destroyed 
 the force of this objection, and made it probable that solar 
 chronometers of some sort were in use among the Babylonians 
 at a very early period, and that Ahaz may have borrowed the 
 invention from them, as he borrowed other things from the As- 
 syrians (2 Kings 16 : 10). There is therefore no historical 
 necessity for assuming that the shadow here meant was the 
 shadow cast upon the steps of the palace, called the stairs of 
 Ahaz because he had built them or the house itself The only 
 question is, whether this is not the simplest and most obvious 
 explanation of the words, and one which entirely exhausts their 
 meaning. If so, we may easily suppose the shadow to have 
 been visible from Hezekiah's chamber, and the offered sign to 
 have been suggested to the Prophet by the sight of it This 
 hypothesis relieves us from the necessity of accounting for the 
 division into ten or rather twenty degrees, as Hezekiah was 
 allowed to choose between a precession and a retrocession of the 
 same extent (2 Kings 20 : 9). These two opinions are by no 
 means so irreconcilable as they may at first sight seem. Even 
 supposing the degrees of Ahaz to have been an instrument con- 
 structed for the purpose of measuring time, it does not follow 
 that it must have been a dial of modern or of any very artificial 
 structure. It is quite as probable that a column at the top of a 
 
CHAPTER XXXVIII. 69 
 
 staircase cast a shadow which was found available for a rude 
 measurement of time. 
 
 9. A meriting- of Hezelciah^ king of Jiidah^ when he icas sick, and 
 lived (i. e. recovered) from his sickness. This is the title or in- 
 scription of the following psalm (vs. 10-20), prefixed, according 
 to the ancient oriental usage, by the author himself, and there- 
 fore forming an integral part of the text. The inspiration and 
 canonical authority of this production are clear from its having 
 been incorporated by Isaiah in his prophecies, although omitted 
 in the second book of Kings. There is nothing in the psalm 
 itself at all inconsistent with the supposition, that it was con- 
 ceived, and perhaps composed, if not reduced to writing, before 
 the complete fulfilment of the promise in the king's recovery. 
 The contrary hypothesis has tended to embarrass and perplex 
 the interpretation, as will be more distinctly seen below. Tlie 
 idiomatic phrase to live froin sickness, in th&^sense of convales- 
 cence or recovery, occurs repeatedly elsewhere, either fully or 
 in an abbreviated form. (See for example 1 Kings 1 : 2. Gen. 
 20 : 7.) 
 
 1 0. J said in the pause of my days I shall go into the gates of 
 the grave, I am deprived of the rest of my years. The words in 
 the pause of my days may naturally qualify either the foregoing 
 or the following verb, I said in the pause of my days, or, in the 
 pause of my days I shall go ; but the latter construction is the 
 best. The general idea is the same as in Ps. 102 : 24, I said, O 
 my God, take me not away in the midst of my days. The preposi- 
 tion before gates may mean either to, through, or ijito ; but the 
 last is its usual sense after verbs of motion. As parallel ex- 
 pressions may be mentioned the gates of death (Ps 9: 13) and 
 the gates of hell (Matt. 16: 18). The last verb expresses not 
 mere loss or privation, but penal infliction. It was because 
 Hezekiah regarded the threatened abbreviation of his life as 
 
60 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 a token of God's wrath, that he so importunately depreca- 
 ted it. 
 
 11. / said^ I shall not see Jah^ Jah in the land oftJie living ; 1 
 shall not behold man again (or longer) with the inhabitants of the 
 world. Jah Jah is an intensive repetition similar to those in 
 vs. 17, 19. Or the second maybe added to explain and qualify 
 the first. He did expect to see God, but not in the land of the 
 living. For other explanations of the name see above, on ch. 
 12: 2 and 26:4. The land of the living is the present life. 
 The preposition ivith may connect what follows either with the 
 subject or the object of the verb ; I ivith the inhabitants, or, 77ian 
 with the inhabitants. The last words of the verse bear the same 
 relation to I shall not see man., that the words in the land of the 
 living bear to I shall not see Jah. If the latter designate the 
 place in which he was no more to see God, then the former 
 would naturally seem to designate the place in which he was 
 no more to see man. 
 
 12. My dwelling is plucked up and uncovered by me (or away 
 from me) like a shepherd's tent. I have rolled up., like the locaver, 
 my life ; from tlie thrum he will cut mc off ; from day to night thou 
 wilt finish me. The same thing is here represented by two fig- 
 ures. The first is that of a tent, the stakes of which are pulled 
 up, and the covering removed, with a view to departure. The 
 second figure is that of a web completed and removed by the 
 weaver from the loom. From the thrum., i. e. the ends of the threads 
 by which the web is fastened to the beam. From day to night 
 is commonly explained to mean before to-morrow^ within the space 
 of one day. The verb in the last clause might, without violence 
 to etymology or usage, be explained to mean, thoii, wilt (or do 
 thou) make me whole. But interpreters appear to be agreed in 
 giving it the opposite sense of thou wilt make an end of me. Some 
 Buppose moreover that the figure of a weaver and his web is 
 
CHAPTER XXXVIII. 61 
 
 still continued, and that the idea expressed in the last clause is 
 that oi finishing a piece of work. 
 
 13. I set {hiin before me) till the morning (i. e. all night) as a 
 lio)i, (saying) so will he break all my bones ; from day to night 
 thou toilt make an end of me. Either these last words are re- 
 peated in a different sense, or else the repetition shows that they 
 have no special reference, in the foregoing verse, to the process 
 of weaving. I set him before vie., i. e. viewed him as present, 
 imagined or conceived of him as a lion^ and expected him to act 
 as such, saying, so (i. e. as a lion) he will crush all my bones. 
 This construction gives uniformity of meaning to the clauses, as 
 descriptive of the sufferer's apprehensions. 
 
 14. Like a stmllow (or) a crane (Or like ativittering swallow), 
 so I chirp ; I moan like the dove ; my eyes are weak (with looking) 
 upward (or on high) ; O Jehovah, I am, oppres^d, undertake for 
 vie (or be my surety). In the first clause the meanings of the 
 sufferer are compared, as in many other cases, to the voice of 
 certain animals. The dove is often spoken of in such connec- 
 tions, and the mention of it here makes it probable that the 
 parallel expressions are also descriptive of a bird or birds. The 
 comparison is evidently meant to be descriptive of inarticulate 
 moans or murmurs. The reference of the verbs in the first 
 clause to past time (/ chirped^ I moaned), though assumed by 
 most interpreters, is perfectly gratuitous, when the future proper 
 yields so good a sense. This violation of the syntax has arisen 
 from assuming that the clause must be a retrospective descrip- 
 tion of something already past, and not an expression of jyesent 
 feeling such as he might have uttered at the moment. That 
 this last is no unnatural hypothesis, is certain from the fact 
 that all interpreters adopt it in the other clause. But if that may 
 be the language of the sufferer at the time of his distress, it is 
 equally natural, or rather more so, to explain the first clause in 
 
62 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 the same way. The same word is used in Ps. 1 19 : 122, in the 
 sense of undertake for me or be my surdy. i. e. interpose between 
 me and my enemies. The reference is rather to protection than 
 to justification. 
 
 15. What shall I say? He hath both spoken to me, and himself 
 hath done {it) ; I shall go softly all my years for the bitterness of 
 my soul. This, which is substantially the common version, is 
 the one adopted by most modern writers, who regard the A'erse 
 as an expression of surprise and joy at the deliverance expe- 
 rienced What shall I say ? i. e. how shall I express my grati- 
 tude and wonder? He hath said and done it, he has promised 
 and performed, perhaps with an implication that the promise 
 was no sooner given than fulfilled. The recollection of this 
 signal mercy he is resolved to cherish all his years, i. e. through- 
 out his life, by going softly, solemnly, or slowly, on account of the 
 bitterness of his soul, i. e in recollection of his sufi"erings. Some, 
 however, understand these last words to mean, in the bitterness 
 of my soul, i. e. in perpetual contrition and humility. But the 
 preposition is properly expressive, not of the manner of his 
 going, but of its occasion. Compare I Kings 21 : 27. Another 
 interpretation of the verse, which might, at first sight, seem 
 more natural, regards it as the language of Hezekiah during his 
 sickness, and as expressive, not of joy and wonder, but of sub- 
 mission. TFAa< .s/ift/Z J say, in the way of complaint? He hath 
 both said and done it, i, e. threatened and performed it. But 
 this view of the first clause cannot be reconciled with any natu- 
 ral interpretation of the second. 
 
 16. Lord, upon them they live, and as to everything in them is 
 the life of my spirit, and thou wilt recover me and ma.ke me live. 
 This exceedingly obscure verse is now most generally under- 
 stood to mean, that life in general, and the life of Hezekiah in 
 particular, was dependent on the power and promise of God. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVIII. 63 
 
 Upon thern^ the promise and performance implied in the verbs 
 said and did of the preceding verse, theij live, i. e. men indefi- 
 nitely. 
 
 17. Behold, to peace {is turned) my hitter bitterness, and thou 
 hast loved my soul from the pit of destruction, because thou hast cast 
 behind thy back all my sins. The English Bible, and some other 
 versions, put an opposite meaning on the clause, as a descrip- 
 tion, not of his restoration but of his affliction. For peace I had 
 great bitterness, or, on my peace {came) great bitterness. The other 
 interpretation agrees better with the usage of the preposition 
 and makes the parallelism more exact. We have here another 
 instance of pregnant construction, to love from, i. e. so to love as 
 to deliver from. This sense is expressed in the English Bible 
 by a circumlocution. The word translated destruction means 
 properly nonentity, annihilation, here put for perdition or de- 
 struction from the presence of the Lord an^ from the glory 
 of his power (2 Thess. 1 : 9). The last clause shows that Heze- 
 kiah regarded the threatened destruction as a punishment of 
 sin. To cast behind one, or behind one's back, in Hebrew 
 and Arabic, is to forget, lose sight of, or exclude from view. 
 The opposite idea is expressed by the figure of setting or keeping 
 before one's eyes. (See Ps. 90 : 8. 109 : 14, 15. Jer. 16 : 17. 
 Hos. 7:2.) 
 
 18. For the grave shall not confess thee {iior) death praise thee ; 
 they that go down to the pit shall not hope for thy truth. Here, as 
 often in the li^alms, the loss of the opportunity of praising God 
 is urged as a reason, not only why he should be loth to die, but 
 why God should preserve him. (See Ps. 6 : 5. 30 : 9. 88 : 10, 
 11.) The language is that of extreme agitation and distress, in 
 which the prospect of the future is absorbed in contemplation 
 of the present, and so far as he does think of futurity, it is upon 
 the supposition of God's wrath. Regarding death, in this case, 
 
64 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 as a proof of the divine displeasure, he cannot but look upon it 
 as the termination of his solemn praises. The truth mentioned 
 in the last clause is the truth of God's promises, to hope for 
 which is to expect the promised blessing. 
 
 19. The living, the living, he shall thank thee, like me (or as I 
 do) to-day ; father to sons shall make knoion, with respect to thy 
 truth, i. e. the truth of thy promises, as in the verse preceding. 
 Only the living could praise God in that way to which the 
 writer was accustomed, and on which bis eye is here fixed, with 
 special reference, no doubt, to the external service of the temple. 
 The last clause must be taken in a general sense, as Hezekiah 
 was himself still childless. 
 
 20. Jehovah to save me ! And my sotigs ice tcill play, all the 
 days of our life, at the house of Jehovah. The obvious ellipsis 
 in the first clause may be variously filled with cajne, hastened, 
 commanded, was ready, be pleased, or with the verb is, is to save for 
 will save. The reference to the future and the past is equally 
 admissible, since God, in one sense, had already saved him, and 
 in another was to save him still. The singular form, my song, 
 refers to Hezekiah as the author of this composition ; the plu- 
 rals, we will sivg and our lives, to the multitude who might be 
 expected to join in his public thanksgiving, not only at first, but 
 in after ages. The general sense is that of public and perpetual 
 praise, the promise of which closes this remarkable production. 
 
 21. And Isaiah said, Let them take a lump (or cake) of figs, and 
 rub them (or lay them softened) on the boil (or injlammatioii), and 
 he shall live (or let him live), i. e. recover. It is a common orien- 
 tal practice to apply figs to pestilential pustules, for the purpose 
 of maturing their discharge. 
 
 22. And Hezekiah said, What sign that I shall go up {to) the 
 
CHAPTER XXXIX. 65 
 
 house of Jehovah ? The ellipsis is easily supplied by reading, 
 what sign dost thou give, or what sign is tliere^ or more simply 
 still, what is the sign ? The question is more fully given in 
 2 Kings 20 : 8 as follows. Aiul HezeJciah said to Isaiah^ What 
 sign that Jehovah is about to heal me, and that I shall go up, on 
 the third day, to the house of Jehovah ? The reference is to the 
 promise as recorded in v. 5 of the same chapter. Retuim and 
 say to Hezekiah the chief of my people, Thus saith Jehovah, the 
 God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy 
 tears ; behold, I am about to heal thee ; on the third day thou shall 
 go up to the house of Jehovah. The last two verses of this chap- 
 ter in Isaiah are evidently out of their chronological order, and 
 the question has been raised, whether this transposition is to be 
 ascribed to the original writer, and if so how it is to be account- 
 ed for. The obvious and simple supposition is that the passage 
 before us is the first draught or original form of Isaiah's narra- 
 tive, in which the facts recorded in these two last verses were 
 added by a kind of afterthought, and that in re-writing the 
 account, as a part of the national historj', he naturally placed 
 them in their chronological order. It would probably be easy 
 to produce many parallel cases from the correspondence of vo- 
 luminous letter-writers, or from other cases of repeated compo- 
 sition on the same subject by the same writer. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 This chapter contains an account of the Babylonian embassy 
 to Hezekiah, and of his indiscreet and ostentatious conduct, 
 which became the occasion of a threatening message by the 
 hands of Isaiah, predicting the Babylonian conquest and cap- 
 tivity, but with a tacit promise of exemption to the king him- 
 
66 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 self, and to the country while he lived, which he received with 
 humble acquiescence and thankful acknowledgment. The chap- 
 ter is evidently a direct continuation of the narrative before it, 
 nor is there any real ground, internal or external, for suspecting 
 its authenticity, antiquity, or genuineness. 
 
 1. Li that tifiie, Merodach Baladan, so?i of Balada7i, king of 
 Babylon^ sent letters and a gift to Hczckiah^ and (i. e. when) he 
 heard that he teas sick and teas recovered. The first phrase is 
 used with great latitude of meaning, and may describe one 
 event either as contemporaneous with, another or as following 
 it, at once or more remotely. Merodach occurs in Jer. 50 : 2, as 
 the name of a Babylonian idol. Most of the modern writers 
 agree in identifying this king with the Mardokirapad of Berosus, 
 as preserved in the Armenian version of Eusebius. The same 
 authority describes these Babylonian princes, not as sovereigns, 
 but as viceroys or tributaries subject to Assyria. In tliat case, 
 it is not improbable that Merodach Baladan was meditating a 
 revolt, and sent this embassy to gain Hezekiah's co-operation. 
 The congratulation on his recovery may have been a secondary 
 object, or perhaps a mere pretext. In 2 Chron. 32:31, a fur- 
 ther design is mentioned, namely, to inquire of the wonder that 
 was done in the la?id, whether this be understood to mean the 
 destruction of Sennacherib's army, or the miraculous recession 
 of the shadow. There is no incompatibility between these 
 different designs. Perhaps an embassy is seldom sent to such 
 a distance with a single undivided errand. 
 
 2. And Hezekiah was glad of them., and shoioed them his house 
 of rarities., the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the good oil 
 (or ointment), and all his house of arms, and all that was found in 
 his treasures ; there was not a thing which Hezekiah did not show 
 them, in his house and in all his dominion. The parallel passage 
 (2 Kings 20 : 13) has and he hearkened unto them. There is no 
 
CHAPTER XXXIX. 67 
 
 need of regarding either as an error of transcription, or as the 
 correction of a later writer. Nothing could be more natural 
 than such a variation on the part of the original writer, describ- 
 ing Hezekiah's feelings in the one case and bis conduct in the 
 other. He hearkened to them courteously because he was glad 
 of their arrival. The goodly or precious oil is supposed by some 
 to have been that used in the unction of kings and priests, or 
 perhaps applied to more ordinary purposes in the royal house- 
 bold. 
 
 3. Then came Isaiah the prophet to the king Hezekiah^ and said 
 to him, What said these men, and whence came tlicy unto thee ? And 
 Hczekiah said, From a far country came they unto me, from Baby- 
 lon. The Prophet was not sent for by the king, as in ch. 37 : 
 2 ; but be was no doubt sent by God, and came in his ofl&cial 
 character. The statement in Chronicles is that God lift him, to 
 try him, to know all in his heart (2 Chr. 32 : 31). This may in- 
 clude the sins of vain ostentation and of distrUst in God, show- 
 ing itself in a longing after foreign alliances. A far country is 
 nothing more than a familiar designation of Babylon or Baby- 
 lonia. 
 
 4. And he said, What have they seen in thy house ? And Heze- 
 kiali said, All that is in my house have they seen ; there is not a 
 thing that I have not showed them in my treasures. The frank- 
 ness of the answer here recorded rather shows, that there was 
 DO attempt at concealment from the first. It was not until the 
 Prophet questioned him, that Hezekiah became aware of the 
 error which he had committed. 
 
 5. And Isaiah said to Hezekiah, Hear the tvord of Jehovah of 
 Hosts. This form of expression gives to what follows the solem- 
 nity and authority of a divine decree. The parallel passage 
 (2 Kings 20: 16) omits Hosts. 
 
68 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 6. Behold^ clays {are) coming., when all that (is) m thy house., 
 atid that which thy fathers have hoarded until this day, shall be 
 carried to Babylon ; there shall not be left a thing (literally a word), 
 saith Jehovah. Observe the exact correspondence of the pun- 
 ishment with the offence. As the Babylonians had seen all, 
 they should one day tahe all ; as nothing had been withheld 
 from them now, so nothing should be withheld from them here- 
 after. To those who are under no unhappy necessity of ex- 
 plaining away the clearest proofs of inspiration and prophetic 
 foresight, this passage afl'ords a striking instance of the gi-adual 
 development of prophecy. The general threatening of expatria- 
 tion had been uttered seven hundred years before by Moses 
 (Lev. 26 : 33, Deut. 28 : 64-67. 30 : 3). Five hundred years 
 later, Ahijah had declared that Israel should be rooted up and 
 scattered beyond the river (I Kings 14 : 15). Within a hundred 
 years, they had been threatened by Amos with captivity beyond 
 Damascus (Am. 5 : 27). Isaiah himself had obscurely intimated 
 a future connection between the fortunes of Israel and Babylon 
 (ch. 14 : 1. 21 : 10). But here, for the first time, the Babylonish 
 exile is explicitly foretold, unless the similar prediction of the 
 contemporary prophet Micah (4 : 10) be considered earlier. The 
 fulfilment of the prophecy began in the deportation of Manasseh 
 (2 Chron. 33: 11), but was described as something still pros- 
 pective by Jeremiah (20 : 5), in whose days and in the reign of 
 Zedeldah. it was at length fully accomplished (2 Chron 36: 
 18). To the objection, that a national calamity of this descrip- 
 tion bears no proportion to the fault of Hezeldah, there is no 
 need of any other answer than that Hezekiah's fault was not 
 the cause but the occasion of the punishment which fell upon 
 the people, or rather of its being so explicitly predicted in the 
 case before us. The punishment of Hezekiah's individual fault 
 was included in the punishment of Israel for national offences. 
 
 7. And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt 
 
CHAPTER XXXrX. 69 
 
 heget^ shall they take away^ and Ihcy shall be eunuchs in the palace 
 of the king of Babylon. The future form of the expression in 
 the first clause has respect to the fact that Hezekiah had as yet 
 no children. (See above on ch. 38: 2.) They shall take may 
 either be an indefinite construction, or agree with the Babylo- 
 nians understood. Instead of they shall take., the parallel pas- 
 sage (2 Kings 20: 17) has the singular he shall take, which is 
 equally correct and regular, in a case of indefinite construction. 
 The fulfilment of this prophecy is recorded in 2 Kings 24: 
 12-16 and Dan. 1 : 1-7, and that so clearly, that the neologists 
 are driven to their usual supposition of an interpolation, or of 
 such an alteration as to make the terms of the prediction more 
 determinate. 
 
 8. And Hezekiah said to haiah, Good is the uwrd of Jehovah 
 tohich thou hast spoken. And he said. Fur there shall be peace and 
 truth in my days. The word good is here used, neither in the 
 sense of gracious nor in that of just exclusively, but in that of 
 right, as comprehending botli. While the king acquiesces in 
 the threatening prophecy as righteous and deserved, he grate- 
 fully acknowledges the mercy with which it is tempered. That 
 he looked upon the woes denounced against his children as a 
 personal misfortune of his own, is clear from his regarding the 
 postponement of the execution as a mitigation of the sentence 
 on himself The expression of thankfulness at this exemption 
 shows how true the narrative is to nature and experience. It 
 was not more cleai'ly Hezekiah's duty to submit without a mur- 
 mur to God's threatening, than it was to accept with gratitude 
 the exemption promised to himself. The words, %vhich thou hast 
 spoken, are emphatic, and intended to recognize Isaiah as an 
 authoritative messenger from God. The repetition of the verb 
 he said implies a pause or interval however short. Peace may 
 be here taken in the wide sense of prosperity, but with special 
 reference to its proper import, as denoting exemption from war. 
 
70 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 Truth has its primary etymological sense oi permanence, stabilitT/^ 
 in which the ideas of fidelity and veracity may be included, as 
 effects necessarily imply their cause. 
 
 y • 
 
 rV'i 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 A GLORIOUS change awaits the church, consisting in a new 
 and gracious manifestation of Jehovah's presence, for which 
 his people are exhorted to prepare, vs. 1-5. Though one 
 generation perish after another, this promise shall eventually 
 be fulfilled, because it rests not upon human but divine au- 
 thority, vs. 6-8. Zion may even now see him approaching as 
 the conqueror of his enemies, and at the same time as the 
 shepherd of his people, vs 9-11. The fulfilment of these 
 pledges is insured by his infinite wisdom, his almighty power, 
 and his independence both of individuals and nations, vs. 12-17. 
 How much more is he superior to material images, by which 
 men represent him or supply his place, vs. 18-25. The same 
 power which sustains the heavens is pledged for the support 
 of Israel, vs. 26-31. 
 
 The specific application of this chapter to the return from 
 Babylon is without the least foundation in the text itself. The 
 promise is a general one of consolation, protection, and change 
 for the better, to be wrought by the power and wisdom of Je- 
 hovah, which are contrasted, first, with those of men, of nations, 
 and of rulers, then with the utter impotence of idols. That 
 the ultimate fulfilment of the promise was still distant, is im- 
 plied in the exhortation to faith and patience. The reference 
 to idolatry proves nothing with respect to the date of the pre- 
 diction, although more appropriate in the writings of Isaiah 
 
CHAPTER XL. 71 
 
 than of a prophet in the Babylonish exile. It is evidently 
 meant, however, to condemn idolatry in general, and more 
 particularly all the idolatrous defections of the Israelites under 
 the old economy. 
 
 1. Comfort ye. comfort ye my people^ saith your God. This 
 command is not addressed specifically to the priests or pro- 
 phets, much less to the messengers from Babylon announcing- 
 the restoration of the Jews, but to any who might be supposed 
 to hear the order, as in ch. 13 : 2, or to the people themselves, 
 who are then required to encourage one another, as in ch. 
 35 : 3, 4. The imperative form of the expression is poetical. 
 Instead of declaring his own purpose, God summons men to 
 execute it. Instead of saying, I icill comfort., he says, comfort ye. 
 The same idea might have been expressed by saying, in the 
 third person. Id tliem comfort her., or in the passive voice, let her 
 be comforted. The possessive pronouns are entphatic, and sug- 
 gest that, notwithstanding what they suffered, they were still 
 Jehovah's people, he was still their God. There is also mean- 
 ing in the repetition of the verb at the beginning. Such repe- 
 titions are not unfrequcnt in the earlier prophecies. (See ch. 
 24 : 16. 2G : 3. 29 : 1. 38 : 1 1, 17, 19.) The prefatory exhorta- 
 tion in this verse affords a key to the whole prophecy, as being 
 consolatory in its tone and purpose There is evident allusion 
 to the threatening in ch. 39 : 7. Having there predicted the 
 captivity in Babylon, as one of the successive strokes, by which 
 the fall of Israel as a nation and the total loss of its peculiar 
 privileges should be brought about, the Prophet is now sent to 
 assure the spiritual Israel, the true people of Jehovah, that 
 although the Jewish nation should soon cease to be externally 
 identified with the church, the church itself should not only 
 continue to exist, but in a far more glorious state than ever 
 This is the " people" here meant, and this the " comfort" 
 wherewith they were to be comforted. 
 
12 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 2. Speak to (or according to) the heart of Jerusalem^ and cry to 
 her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, 
 that she hath received from the hand of Jehovah double for all her 
 sins. By speaking to the heart, we are to understand speaking 
 so as to affect the heart or feelings, and also in accordance with 
 the heart or wishes, i. e. what the person addressed desires or 
 needs to hear. Jerusalem is here put for the church or chosen 
 people, whose metropolis it was, and for whose sake the place 
 itself was precious in the sight of God. Warfare includes the 
 two ideas of appointed time and hard service, in which sense 
 the verb and noun are both applied to the routine of sacerdo- 
 tal functions (Num. 4 : 23. 8 : 24, 25), but here still more ex- 
 pressively to the old dispensation, as a period of restriction and 
 constraint. The continuance of the ceremonial system and the 
 hardships of the old dispensation are here and elsewhere rep- 
 resented as chastisements due to the defections of the chosen 
 people, notwithstanding which they should continue to exist, 
 and in a far more glorious character, not as a national church, 
 but as a spiritual church, set free from ritual and local fetters. 
 
 3. A voice crying — in the zvilderness — clear the way of Jehovah 
 — 7nake straight (or level) in the desert a highway for our God. 
 The Septuagint version, retained in the New Testament, is 
 <jpw*'i>l ^oSiPiog^ (the voice of one crying) which amounts to the same 
 thing. Both in the Hebrew and the Greek, the words in the 
 wilderness may be connected either with what follows or with 
 what precedes ; but the usual division is more natural, and the 
 other has been insisted upon chiefly for the purpose of rendering 
 the verse inapplicable to John the Baptist, who came preaching 
 in a wilderness, and to whom the words are applied expressly in 
 Matthew 3 : 3, Mark I : 3, Luke 3 : 4, as the herald of the new 
 dispensation. Those who deny the inspiration of the Prophet 
 are compelled to reject this as a mere accommodation, and apply 
 the verse exclusively to the return from Babylon, of which 
 
CHAPTER XL. 13 
 
 there is no mention in the text or context. It is said indeed 
 that God is here represented as marching at the head of his 
 returning people. But in all the cai^es which Lowth cites as 
 parallel, there is express allusion to the exodus from Egypt. 
 Here, on the contrary, the only image presented is that of God 
 returning to Jerusalem, revisiting his people, as he did in every 
 signal manifestation of his presence, but above all at the advent 
 of Messiah and the opening of the new dispensation. The 
 verb rendered prepare denotes a particular kind of preparation, 
 viz. the removal of obstructions, as appears from Gen. 24 : 31, 
 Lev. 14 : 36, and may therefore be expressed by clear in Eng- 
 lish. The parallel verb means reclify or make straight, either 
 in reference to obliquity of course or to unevenness of surface, 
 most probably the latter, in which case it may be expressed by 
 level. To a general term meaning u-ay or ^^^^A is added a spe- 
 cific one denoting an artificial causeway raised above the sur- 
 face of the earth. There is no need of supposing that the 
 Prophet here alludes to any particular usage ef the oriental 
 sovereigns, or that the order of the first and second verses is 
 continued (let there be a voice crying). The Prophet is describ- 
 ing what he actually hears — a voice crying! — or, hark, one 
 
 4. Every valley shall be raised and every mountaiyi and hill 
 brought low., and the uneven shall become level and the ridges a 
 plain. This may be considered as an explanation of the man- 
 ner in which the way of the Lord was to be prepared. The 
 common version {exalted) seems to imply that the valleys and 
 mountains were to exchange places ; but this would not facili- 
 tate the passage, which requires that both should be reduced to 
 a common level. The whole impression here intended to be 
 made is that of a way opened through a wilderness by levelling 
 the ground and the removal of obstructions, as a natural image 
 for the removal of the hinderances to God's revisiting his people. 
 
 VOL. II. — 4 
 
74 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 5. And the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed^ and all flesh shall 
 see {it), for the mouth of Jehovah speaks (or haJh spoken). The 
 idea seems to be that as soon as tlie way is opened, the Lord 
 will show himself. To see God's glory, is a common expres- 
 sion for recognizing his presence and agency in any event. 
 (See Exod. 16 : 7. Is. 35 : 2. 66 : 18.) The specific reference 
 of this verse to the restoration of the Jews from exile is not 
 only gratuitous hut inconsistent with the strength and compre- 
 hensiveness of its expressions. The simple meaning is, that 
 when the way should be prepared, the glory of God would be 
 universally displayed ; a promise too extensive to be fully veri- 
 fied in that event or period of history. 
 
 6. A voice saying, Cry I And he said (or says), What shall 
 I cry? All flesh is grass, and all its favour like a flower of the 
 field ! The force and beauty of the verse are much impaired 
 by any version which does not represent the writer as actually 
 hearing what he thus describes. There is a pleasing mystery 
 in the dialogue of those anonymous voices, which is dispelled 
 by undertaking to determine too precisely who the speakers 
 are. All that the words necessarily convey is, that one voice 
 speaks and another voice answers. Interpreters are univer- 
 sally agreed that the last clause contains the words which the 
 second speaker is required to utter. It is possible, however, 
 to connect these words immediately with what precedes, and 
 understand them as presenting an objection to the required 
 proclamation. What shall (or can) I cry, [since) all flesh is 
 grass etc. The advantages of this construction are. that it as- 
 sumes no change of speaker where none is intimated in the 
 text, and that it does away with an alleged tautology, as will 
 be seen below. According to the usual construction we are to 
 supply before the last clause, a?id the first voice said again (or 
 answered), C ry as follows : All flesh Qia. This last phrase is 
 here used, not in its widest sense, as comprehending the whole 
 
CHAPTER XL. lo 
 
 animal world, but in its more restricted application to mankind, 
 of which some examples may be found in the New Testament 
 (John 17:2. Rom. 3 : 20). The comparison of human frailty 
 to grass is common in the Scriptures. The contrast is between 
 the shortlived and precarious favour of man and the infallible 
 promise of God. The quotation in 1 Pet. 1 : 24, 25, confirms 
 the supposition, here suggested by the context, that the words 
 have reference to the preaching of the gospel or the introduc- 
 tion of the new dispensation. 
 
 7. Dried is the grass, faded thefloioer ; for the breath of Jehovah 
 has blown wpon it. Surely the people is grass. The present form 
 usually given to the verbs conveys the sense correctly as a general 
 proposition, but not in its original shape as a description of 
 what has actually happened, and may be expected to occur 
 again. 
 
 8. Dried is the grass, faded the flower, and thi ioord of our God 
 shall stand forever. The comparatively rare use of adversative 
 particles in Hebrew is exemplifie:! in this verse, in which the 
 relation of the clauses can be fully expressed in Eoglish only 
 by means of the word but. By word he means neither promise, 
 nor prophecy, nor gospel merely, but every ivord that proceeddh 
 out of the mouth of God (Deut. 8:3! Matt. 4:4). There is a 
 tacit antithesis between the word of God and man ; what man 
 says is uncertain and precarious, what God says cannot fail. 
 Thus understood it includes prediction, precept, promise, and 
 the offer of salvation, and although the latter is not meant 
 exclusively, the Apostle makes a perfectly correct and most 
 important application of the verse when, after quoting it, he 
 adds, and this is the word which is preached {svayyehad^Ev) unto 
 you, that is to say, this prophetic declaration is emphatically 
 true of the gospel of Christ. To stand forever is a common 
 Hebrew phrase for perpetuity, security, and sure fulfilment. 
 
IQ CHAPTER XL. 
 
 The expression our God contains, as usual, a reference to the 
 covenant relation between Grod and his people. It is possible 
 to avoid the appearance of tautology and give the passage 
 a dramatic form, by making the last clause of v 6 and 
 the whole of v. 7 a continuation of the words of the second 
 voice, and then regarding v. 8 as a rejoinder by the first voice. 
 The whole may then be paraphrased as follows. A voice says. 
 Cry ! And (another voice) says, What shall I cry (i. e. to what 
 purpose can I cry, or utter promises like those recorded in 
 vs. 1-5), -since all flesh is grass etc. ; the grass withereth etc. ; 
 surely the people is grass (and cannot be expected to witness 
 the fulfilment of these promises). But the first voice says 
 again : The grass does wither, and the flower does fade ; but 
 these events depend not on the life of man, but on the word of 
 God, and the word of God shall stand forever. 
 
 9. Uj)on a high mountain get thee up, bringer of good 7iews, 
 Zion ! Raise unth strength thy voice, bringer of good ncivs, Jeru- 
 salem ! Raise (it), fear not, say to the towns of Judah, Lo your 
 God ! The reflective form,^e^ thee up, though not a literal trans- 
 lation, is an idiomatic equivalent to the Hebrew phrase {ascend 
 for thee or for thyself). Some suppose an allusion to the prac- 
 tice of addressing large assemblies from the summit or acclivity 
 of hills. (See Judges 9 : 7. Deut. 27 : 12. Matt. 5:1.) But the 
 essential idea is that of local elevation as extending the dif- 
 fusion of the sound. Zion or Jerusalem herself is represented 
 as the bearer of good tidings to the towns of Judah. This con- 
 struction is recommended by the beautiful personification, which 
 it introduces, of the Holy City as the seat of the true religion 
 and the centre of the church. The office here ascribed to it is 
 the same that is recognized in ch. 2 : 3 : the law shall go forth from 
 Zion, a7id the word of the Lord from Jerusale?n. Not only in the 
 restoration from captivity, or in the personal advent of the 
 Saviour, but in every instance of the Lord's return to his for- 
 
CHAPTER XL. 1'J 
 
 saken people, it is the duty of the church to communicate as 
 well as to receive the joyful tidings. 
 
 10. Lo, ike Lord Jehovah toill come (or ix coming) m {the person 
 of) a strong 07ie, and his arm {is) ruling for him. Lo^ his hire is 
 with him and his wages before him. The double lo represents 
 the object as already appearing or in sight. What God is said 
 to do himself in one case, he is represented in the other as 
 accomplishing by means of a powerful instrument or agent, 
 which, however, is defined no further. The essential meaning is 
 that Jehovah was about to make a signal exhibition of his power. 
 The participle rulings in the next clause, is expressive of contin- 
 uous action. The clause is a poetical description of the arm as 
 acting independently of its possessor, and as it were in his 
 behalf The two verses may be readily connected, without any 
 change of figure, by supposing that the lost sheep which he has 
 recovered are the recompense referred to in the^erse before us. 
 Thus understood, the passage may have furnished the occasion 
 and the basis of our Saviour's beautiful description of himself 
 as the true shepherd, who lays down his life for the sheep, as 
 well as the figure drawn from the recovery of a lost sheep to 
 illustrate the rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner. It 
 is probable, not only that Jehovah is here represented as re- 
 ceiving a reward, but that there is special reference to the rec- 
 ompense of the Messiah's sufferings and obedience by the re- 
 demption of his people. According to the view which has been 
 taken of the nexus between these two verses, before him may 
 possibly contain an allusion to the shepherd's following his flock ; 
 but it admits of a more obvious and simple explanation, as 
 denoting that his recompense is not only sure but actually 
 realized, being already in his sight or presence, and ivith him, 
 i. e. in immediate possession. 
 
 11. Like a shepherd his flock will he feed., with his arm will he 
 
78 CHAPTEUXL. 
 
 gather the lambs, and in his bosom carry {them) ; the nursmg (etces) 
 he will {gently) lead. Although the meaning of this verse is 
 plain, it is not easily translated, on account of the peculiar fit- 
 ness and significancy of the terms employed. The word cor- 
 rectly rendered feed denotes the whole care of a shepherd for 
 his flock, and has therefore no exact equivalent in English. 
 To gather icith the arm coincides very nearly, although not pre- 
 cisely, with our phrase to take up in the arms. A very similar 
 idea is expressed by hearing in the bosom. The passage is de- 
 scriptive of the whole relation which Jehovah sustains to his 
 people, as their shepherd, and of which inferior but real exhi- 
 bitions were afforded long before the advent of the Saviour ; 
 for example, in the restoration of the Jews from exile, which is 
 no more to be excluded from the scope of this prophetic picture 
 than to be regarded as its only subject. 
 
 12. Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his ha7id, 
 and meted out heaven with the spa?i, and comprehended in a measure 
 the dust of the earth., and weighed in a balance the vioiintains, and 
 the hills in scales ? There are two directly opposite opinions as 
 to the general idea here expressed. Some understand the 
 question as an indirect negation of the possibility of doing what 
 is here described. The implied answer, upon this hypothesis, 
 is, No one, and the verse is equivalent to the exclamation, How 
 immense are the works of God ! The other and more usual 
 interpretation understands the question thus : Who (but God) 
 has measured or can measure etc. 1 Thus understood, the verse, 
 so far from affirming the immensity of God's works, represents 
 them as little in comparison with him, who measures and dis- 
 tributes them with perfect ease. The first explanation derives 
 some countenance from the analogy of the next verse, where 
 the question certainly involves an absolute negation, and is 
 tantamount to saying, that no one does or can do what is there 
 described. But this consideration is not sufficient to outweigh 
 
CHAPTER XL. 79 
 
 the argument in favour of the other explanation, arising from 
 its greater simplicity and obviousness in this connection. In 
 order to convey the idea of immensity, the largest measures, 
 not the smallest, would have been employed. An object might 
 be too large to be weighed in scales, or held in the hollow of a 
 man's hand, and yet very far from being immense or even vast 
 in its dimensions. On the other hand, the smallness of the 
 measure is entirely appropriate as showing the immensity of 
 God himself, who can deal with the whole universe as man 
 deals with the most minute and trivial objects. A handful is 
 here put for the receptacle or measure of that quantity. The 
 span is mentioned as a natural and univeral measure of length. 
 The terms used in the English Bible, scales and balance^ are 
 retained above but transposed, in order to a(dhere more closely 
 to the form of the original, in which the first word is a singular 
 while the other is a dual, strictly denoting a pair of scales. 
 The dust of the earth seems to be here put poetically for the 
 earth itself. The literal comprehension of the earth in this 
 specific measure is impossible, and all that the words were in- 
 tended to suggest is a comparison between the customary 
 measurement of common things by man, and the analogous 
 control which is exercised by God over all his works. 
 
 13. Who hath measured the spirit of Jehovah, and (who, as) the 
 man of his counsel, will teach him (or cause him to know) ? The 
 natural connection seems to be, that he who weighs the hills 
 etc. must himself be independent, boundless, and unsearchable. 
 The last clause is not an answer to the first, but a continuation 
 of the question. Both tenses seem to have been used, as in 
 many other cases, for the purpose of making the implied nega- 
 tion more exclusive. Who has, and tvho will or can ? 
 
 14. Whom did he consult (or with whom took he counsel) and he 
 made him understand, and taught him in the 2>(i-th of judgment^ 
 
80 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 and taught him knowledge, and the ivay of mider standing [ivho) 
 will make him know ? The consecution of the tenses is the 
 same as in the foregoing verse. By judgment we must either 
 understand discretion, in which case the whole phrase will be 
 synonymous ya'iih. loay of understanding va. the parallel clause; 
 or rectitude, in which case the whole phrase will mean the right 
 way, not in a moral sense, but in that of a way conducting to 
 the end desired, the right way to attain that end. As these 
 are only different expressions of the same essential idea, the 
 question is of little exegetical importance. The first clause of 
 this verse is quoted in Rom. 11 : 34, with the following words 
 added, or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed 
 unto him again ? It is probable that the words were introduced 
 into the Septuagint from the text in Romans, where they are 
 really no part of the quotation from Isaiah, but the apostle's 
 own paraphrase of it or addition to it, the form of which may 
 have been suggested by the first clause of Job 41 : 11. Such 
 allusive imitations occur elsewhere in Paul's writings. (See 
 vol. I. p. 379.) In the present case, the addition agrees fully 
 with the spirit of the passage quoted ; since the aid in question, 
 if it had been afforded, would be fairly entitled to a recompense. 
 
 15. Lo, nations as a drop from a bucket, and as dust on scales 
 are reckoned; lo, islands as an atom he loill take up. He is in- 
 dependent, not only of nature and of individual men, but of 
 nations. Both members of the clause are to be construed with 
 the verb at the end. Dust of the scales or balance, i. e. dust rest- 
 ing on itj but without affecting its equilibrium. 
 
 16. And Lebanon is not enough for burning, and its beasts are 
 not enough for a sacrifice. The supremacy and majesty of God 
 are now presented in a more religious aspect, by expressions 
 borrowed from the Mosaic ritual. He is not only independent 
 of the power but also of the good-will of his creatures. This 
 
CHAPTER XL. 81 
 
 general allusion to oblation, as an act of homage or of friend- 
 ship, suits the connection better than a specific reference to ex- 
 piation. The insufficiency of these sufferings is set forth, not 
 in a formal proposition, but by means of a striking individuali- 
 zation. For general terras he substitutes one striking instance, 
 and asserts of that what might be asserted of the rest. If 
 Lebanon could not suffice, what could ? (Compare with this 
 verse ch. 66 : 1. 1 Kings 8 : 27. 2 Chr. 6 : 18. Ps. 50 : 8-13.) 
 
 17. All tlie nations as nothing before him^ less than nothing and 
 vanity are counted to him. The proposition of v. 15 is repeated, 
 but in still more absolute and universal terms. Instead of 
 nations.^ he says all the nations; instead of likening them to 
 grains of sand or drops of water, he denies their very being. 
 Before him does not simply mean in his view or estimation, but 
 in comparison with him. So too the parallel expression does 
 not mean by him. but with respect to him, or simply to him in the 
 same sense as when we say that one thing or person is nothing 
 to another, i. e. not to be compared with it. The same use of 
 to, even without a negative, is clear from such expressions as 
 " Hyperion to a Satyr." That God is the arbiter who thus de- 
 cides between himself and his creatures, is still implied in both 
 the phrases, although not the sole or even prominent idea meant 
 to be expressed by either. The verse contains the strongest 
 possible expression of insignificance and even non-existence, as 
 predicable even of whole nations, in comparison with God, and 
 in his presence. 
 
 18. Aiid (7iow) to whom will ye liken God, and what likeness 
 will ye compare to him ? The inevitable logical conclusion from 
 the previous considerations is that God is One and that there is 
 no other. From this, the Prophet now proceeds to argue, that it 
 is folly to compare God even with the most exalted creature, 
 how much more with lifeless matter. The logical relation of 
 
 4* 
 
82 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 this verse to what precedes, although not indicated in the text, 
 may be rendered clearer by the introduction of an illative 
 particle {then, therefore, etc.), or more simply by inserting now, 
 which is often used in such connections. The last clause 
 admits of two constructions, both amounting to the same thing 
 in the end. What likeness or resemblance (i. e. what similar 
 object) will ye compare to him? Or, what comparison will ye 
 f/is/i7«;e respecting him ? The last agrees best with the usage 
 of the verb, as meaning to arrange, prepare, or set in order {to 
 compare, only indirectly and by implication) ; while at the same 
 time it avoids the unusual combination of comparing a likeness 
 to a thing or person, instead of comparing the two objects for 
 the purpose of discovering their likeness. The use of the 
 divine name (^x) expressive of omnipotence is here emphatic 
 and significant, as a preparation for the subsequent exposure 
 of the impotence of idols. 
 
 19. The image a carver has torovglit, and a gilder loith gold 
 shall overlay it, and chains of sillier {he is) casting. The am- 
 biguous construction of the first clause is the same in the 
 original, where we may either supply a relative, or make it a 
 distinct proposition. In favour of the first, which is a frequent 
 ellipsis both in Hebrew and English, is the fact, tbat the verse 
 then contains a direct answer to the question in the one before 
 it. What have you to set over against such a God ? The 
 image which an ordinary workman manufactures. It enables 
 us also to account for the position of the image at the beginning 
 of the sentence, and for its having the definite article, while 
 the following nouns have none, both which forms of expression 
 seem to be significant, the image which a workman (i. e. any 
 workman) can produce. The consecution of the tenses seems 
 to show, that the writer takes his stand between the commence- 
 ment and the end of the process, and describes it as actually 
 going on. The carver has already wrought the image, and the 
 
CHAPTER XL. 83 
 
 gilder is about to overlay it. The word gilcUr, although not 
 an exact translation, has been used above, as more appropriate 
 in this connection than the common xeTsiou, goldsmith. The 
 silver chains may be considered either simply ornamental, or as 
 intended to suspend the image and prevent its falling. 
 
 20. {As for) the (man) impoverished (by) offering, a tree (that) 
 icill not rot he chooses, a wise carver he seeks for it, to set up an 
 image [that) shall not be moved. While the rich waste their 
 gold and silver upon idols, the poor are equally extravagant in 
 wood. To say that the poor man uses wood instead of gold 
 and silver, is coherent and appropriate, but far less significant 
 and striking than to say, that the man who has already reduced 
 himself to want by lavish gifts to his idol, still continues his 
 devotions, and as he no longer can afford an image of the 
 precious metals, is resolved at least to have a durable wooden 
 one. Thus understood, the verse adds to the general descrip- 
 tion a particular trait highly expressive of the folly of idolaters. 
 1M.se is here Hsed in what appears to be its primary meaning 
 of artistically skilful. See note on ch. 3 : 3. 
 
 21. Will you not know ? uill you not hear ? has it not been told 
 youfrovi the first ? have you not understood the foundations {or from 
 the foundations) of the earth ? The tenses of the verbs in the first 
 clause have been variously and arbitrarily explained by different 
 interpreters. The English Version and some others exchange 
 both the futures for preterites {have ye not knoiun? have ye 
 not heard ?) without any satisfactory reason or authority. But 
 the most satisfactory, because the safest and most regular con- 
 struction, is the strict one given in the Septuagint {ov yvwaea&B ; 
 ovx ^xovaeo&s ;) and revived by Lowth {will ye not know 1 will 
 ye not hrar?) The clause is then not a mere expression of sur- 
 prise at their not knowing, but of concern or indignation at their 
 being unwilling to know. There is no inconsistency between 
 
84 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 this explanation of the first two questions and the obvious mean- 
 ing of the third ; because the proof of their unwillingness to 
 hear and know was the fact of their having been informed from 
 the beginning. The words seem to refer simply to the testi- 
 mony of external nature, and to mean that they who question 
 the existence or supremacy of one God are without excuse^ as 
 Paul says, because the invisible things of him from the creation of 
 the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are 
 made, to ivit, his eternal power and Godhead. (Rom 1 : 20. Com- 
 pare Acts 14: 17. 17:24.) The foundations of the earth arc 
 put by a natural and common figure for its being founded, i. e. 
 its creation. 
 
 22. The (one) sitting on (or over) the circle of the earth, and its 
 inhabitants (are) as grasshoppers (or locusts) ; the one spreading 
 like a veil (or awning) the heavens, and he stretches them out like 
 the tent to dwell in. The circle of the earth may either mean 
 the earth itself, or the heavens by which it is surmounted and 
 encompassed. The same comparison occurs in Num. 13:33. 
 It has been disputed whether the last words of the verse mean 
 for himself to dwell in, or for man to dwell in. But they really 
 form part, not of the direct description, but of the comparison, 
 like a tent pitched for dwelling in. With this verse compare 
 ch. 42 : 5. 44 : 24. Job 9 : 8, Ps. 104 : 2. 
 
 23. The [one) bringing (literally giviyig or putting) prhices to 
 nothing, the judges (or rulers) of the earth like empitiness (or deso- 
 lation) he has made. Not only nature but man, not only indi- 
 viduals but nations, not only nations but their rulers, are com- 
 pletely subject to the power of God. 
 
 24. Not even sown were they, not even planted, not even rooted in 
 the ground their stock, a7id he just breathed (or blew) upon them, 
 and they withered, and a whirlwind like the chaff shall take them 
 
CHAPTER XL. 85 
 
 up (or away). The transition to the future in the last clause 
 is analogous to that in v. 19, and has the same eflfect of showing 
 that the point of observation is an intermediate one between 
 the beginning and the end of the destroying process. The 
 essential meaning of the whole verse is. that God can extirpate 
 them, not only in the end, but in a moment ; not only in the 
 height of their prosperity, but long before they have attained it. 
 It is possible, that the words may have reference to the national 
 existence of Israel as a nation, the end of which, with the con- 
 tinued and more glorious existence of the church independent 
 of all national restrictions, may be said to constitute the great 
 theme of these prophecies. 
 
 25. And {now) to whom will ye liken vie, and {to ivhom) shall I 
 be equal ? saith th; Holy One. He winds up his argument by 
 coming back to the triumphant challenge of v. 18. 
 
 26. Lift up on high your eyes and sec — loho hath created all 
 these 1 {and who is) the {one) bringing out by numhrr their host 1 
 — to all of them by name will he call — from abundance of might 
 and {because) strong m power — not one faileth (literally, a man is 
 not missed or found wanting). The same exhortation to lift up 
 the eyes occurs elsewhere in Isaiah (ch. 37 : 23. 49 : 18. 60 : 4). 
 The construction is not, see {him) who created these., or, see who 
 created these, but, as the accents indicate, see, behold, the heavens 
 and the heavenly bodies, and then a distinct interrogation, who 
 created these? To bring out is a military term, as appears from 
 ch. 43 : 17 and 2 Sam. 5:2. It is applied as here to the host 
 of heaven in Job 38 : 32. The sense is that the stars are like 
 an army which its leader brings out and enumerates, the par- 
 ticular points of the resemblance being left to the imagination. 
 
 27, Wliy wilt thou say oh Jacob, and tohy {thus) speak oh Is- 
 rael ? Hidden is my way from Jehovah, and from my God my 
 
86 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 cause ivill pass (or is about to pass) away. The precise question 
 asked by the Prophet is not ichy hast thou said., why dost thou, 
 say, or why shouldest thou say., but why wilt thou still go on to 
 say, implying that it had been said, was still said, and would be 
 said again. The two names of the patriarch are here combined, 
 as in many other cases, to describe his offspring. Hidden may 
 either mean unkiioivn, or neglected, or forgotten., in which last sense 
 it is used below in ch. 65 : 16. The same verb is applied in 
 Gen. 31 : 49 to persons who are absent from each other and of 
 course out of sight. Way is a common figure for the course of 
 life, experience, or what the world calls fortune, destiny, or 
 fate. The figure in the last clause is forensic, the idea that of 
 a cause or suit dismissed, lost sight of, or neglected by the judge. 
 The expression is analogous to that in ch. 1 : 23, where it is said 
 of the unjust judges, that the cause of the widow does not come 
 unto them or before them. The state of mind described is a 
 skeptical despondency as to the fulfilment of God's promises. 
 This form of unbelief is more or less familiar to the personal 
 experience of believers in all ages, and the terms of the expos- 
 tulation here are not restricted to any single period in the his- 
 tory of Israel. 
 
 28. Hast thou not known ? hast thou not heard ? The God of 
 eternity (or everlasting God), Jehovah, the Creator of the ends of 
 the earth, will not faint, and loill not tire ; there is no search (ivith 
 resjiect) to his understanding. That he ivill not faint or tire, 
 implies sufficiently in this case that he neither does nor can, 
 while it expresses his unwillingness to do so. The ends of the 
 earth is a common Hebrew phrase for its limits and all that 
 they include. This verse contains an answer to the unbelieving 
 fears expressed in that before it, which ascribed to God an im- 
 perfection or infirmity with which he is not chargeable. The 
 last clause may either be a general assertion that he cannot 
 leave his people unprotected through a want of understanding 
 
CHAPTER XL. 87 
 
 and of knowledge, or, a suggestion that his methods of proceed- 
 ing, though inscrutable, are infinitely wise, and that the seem- 
 ing inconsistency between his words and deeds, far from arguing 
 unfaithfulness or weakness upon his part, does but prove our 
 incapacity to understand or fathom his profound designs. Even 
 supposing that the former is the strict sense of the words, the 
 latter is implicitly contained in them. 
 
 29. Giving to the faint (or tcean/) strength, and to the powerless 
 might will he increase. He is not only strong in himself, but 
 the giver of strength to others, or, to state it as an argument a 
 fortiori, he who is the only source of strength to others must be 
 strong himself, and able to fulfil his promises. The construc- 
 tion is similar to that in vs. 22, 23, not excepting the transition 
 from the participle to the finite verb. 
 
 30. And {yet) weary shall youths be and faint, and chosen^ 
 (youths) shall be ivcakened, be weakened. There is here an ob- 
 vious allusion to the terms of v. 23. What is there denied of 
 God, is here affirmed, not only of men in general, but of the 
 stoutest and most vigorous, aptly represented by the young 
 men chosen for military service. That the prominent idea here 
 conveyed is that of manly strength and vigour, is not questioned. 
 Tlie intensive repetition of the verb may either be expressed 
 by the addition of an adverb, as in the English Version {utterly 
 fall), or retained in the translation as above. 
 
 31. And (on the other hand) those waiting for Jehovah shall 
 gain new strength ; they shall raise the pinion like the eagles., they 
 shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. The 
 marked antithesis between this verse and that before it, justifies 
 the use of but in English, although not in the original. To wait 
 for or expect implies faith and patience. This is also the old 
 English meaning of the phrase to wait upon, as applied to ser- 
 
88 CHAPTER XL 
 
 vants who await their master's orders : but in modern usage 
 the idea of personal service or attcudance has become predoiui- 
 naut, so that the English phrase no longer represents the He- 
 brew one. The class of persons meant to be described are those 
 who show their confidence in God's ability and willingness to 
 execute his promises, by patiently awaiting their fulfilment. 
 The restriction of these words to the exiles in Babylon is en- 
 tirely gratuitous. Although applicable, as a general proposi- 
 tion, to that case among others, they admit of a more direct and 
 striking application to the case of those who under the old dis- 
 pensation kept its end in view, and still " waited for the conso- 
 lation of Israel," and "looked for redemption in Jerusalem" 
 (Luke 2 : 25, 38.) The phrase translated they shall gain nno 
 strength properly means they shall exchange strength; but the 
 usage of the verb determines its specific meaning to be that of 
 changing for the better or improving The sense is therefore 
 •correctly given in the English Version (^they shall renew their 
 strength). Of the next phrase there are three distinct inter- 
 pretations. 1. They shall mount up iciih n-ings. 2. They shall 
 put forth fresh feathers like the moulting eagle. The reference is 
 then to the ancient belief of the eagle's great longevity and of 
 its frequently renewing its youth. (Psalm 103 : 5.) The rab- 
 binical tradition is that the eagle, at the end of every tenth 
 year, soars so near the sun as to be scorched and cast into the 
 sea. from which it then emerges with fresh plumage, till at the 
 end of the tenth decade or a century complete, it sinks to rise 
 no more. 3. A third construction, simpler than the first and 
 more agreeable to usage than the second, gives the verb its or- 
 dinary sense of causing to ascend or raising and the noun its 
 proper sense of pinion, and connects the two directly as a tran- 
 sitive verb and its object, thy shall raise the pinion (or the icing) 
 like the eagles. In the last clause the verbs are introduced 
 together for the third time in a beautiful antithesis. In v. 28 
 they are applied to Jehovah, in v. 30 to the strongest and most 
 
CHAPTER XLL 89 
 
 vigorous of men, as they are in themselves, and here to the 
 waiters for Jehovah, the believers in his promises, who glory in 
 infirmity that his strength may be perfect in their weakness. 
 (2 Cor. 12:9.) 
 
 CHAPTER XL I. 
 
 Until the ends of Israel's national existence are accomplished, 
 that existence must continue, in spite of hostile nations and 
 their gods, who shall all perish sooner than the chosen people, 
 vs. 1-16. However feeble Israel may be in himself, Jehovah 
 will protect him, and raise up the necessary instruments for his 
 deliverance and triumph, vs. 17-29. ^ 
 
 1. Be silent to me, oh islands, and the nations shall gain new 
 sirengih ; they shall approach, then shall they speak, together to the 
 judgmetit-seat tvill we draiv near. Having proved the impotence 
 of idols in a direct address to Israel, Jehovah now summons 
 the idolaters themselves to enter into controversy with him. 
 The challenge is a general one directed to the whole heathen 
 world, and islands is a poetical variation for lands or at the 
 most for maritime lands or sea-coasts. Silence in this connec- 
 tion implies attention or the fact of listening, which is expressed 
 in Job 33 : 31. The imperative form at the beginning gives an 
 imperative sense likewise to the future, which might therefore 
 be translated let them approach etc. There is an obvious allu- 
 sion in the first clause to the promise in ch. 40 : 31. As if he 
 had said : they that hope in Jehovah shall renew their streug-th ; 
 let those who refuse renew theirs as they can. The participle 
 then makes the passage more graphic by bringing distinctly into 
 
90 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 vif'w the successive steps of the process. The same judicial or 
 forensic figure is apjlied to contention between God and man 
 by Job (9 : 19, 20, 32.) 
 
 2. Who hath raised up (or awakened) from the east ? Righteous- 
 ness shall call- him to its foot ; it shall give natioiis before him, and 
 cause him to tread upon kings ; it shall give [thevi) as dust to his 
 swo7-d, and as driven stubble to his bow. The simplest construc- 
 tion of the first clause is that which assumes an abrupt transi- 
 tion from the form of interrogation to that of prediction. The 
 speaker, as it were, interrupts his own question before it is 
 complete, in order to supply what must otherwise be presup- 
 posed. Instead of going on to ask who brought the event to 
 pass, he pauses to describe the event himself. Here and else- 
 where righteousness means the righteousness of God as mani- 
 fested in his providence, his dealings with his people and their 
 enemies. (See ch. 1 : 27.) To call to one''s foot is a Hebrew 
 idiom for calling to one's service, or summoning to take a place 
 among one's followers. This act is here ascribed to the divine 
 righteousness as a personified attribute. The other verbs may 
 agree with the same subject or directly with Jehovah. The 
 question, whose appearance is predicted in this verse, has been 
 always a subject of dispute. The truth appears to be that this 
 is a more general intimation of a great eventful movement from 
 the east, which is afterwards repeated with specific reference to 
 Cyrus and his conquests. It might even be supposed without 
 absurdity that there is here an allusion to the general progress 
 of the human race, of conquest, civilization, and religion, from 
 the east to the west. 
 
 3. He shall pursue them ; he shall pass {in) peace (or safty) ; 
 a path with his feet he shall not go. The last clause describes 
 the swiftness of his motions, as flying rather than walking on 
 foot. This, which would be natural and striking, even in itself 
 
CHAPTERXLI. ^ 91 
 
 considered, is confirmed by the analogy of Daniel 8 : 5, where 
 we read that an he-goat came from the west on the face of the whole 
 earthy and touched not the ground. 
 
 4. Who hath wrought and done [\t), calling the generations from 
 the beginning? I Jehovah, the first and with the last., I [am) he. 
 Calling the generations may either mean calling them into ex- 
 istence or proclaiming them, i, e. predicting them ; probably 
 the latter, since the event itself, although it proved a super- 
 human agency, did not prove it to be that of Jehovah, which 
 could only be established by the fulfilment of predictions 
 uttered in his name. With the last does not simply mean the 
 last, which is the form employed in ch 41 : 21-25, 46 : 8-10, 
 but CO existent with the last, a mode of expression which would 
 seem to imply that although Jehovah existed before all other 
 beings he will not outlast them all. Ta7n he, i. e. the being to 
 whom the interrogation has respect, I a?n he }oho has wrought 
 and done it. 
 
 5. The isles have seen it and are afraid, the ends of the earth 
 tremble ; they have approached and come. Some regard this as a 
 description of the effect produced by the foregoing argument, 
 but others as a part of the argument itself, drawn from the 
 effect of the appearance of the person mentioned in v. 2. 
 
 6. A man his neighbour (i. e. one another) they will help, and 
 to his brother {one) will say, Be strong ! This general descrip- 
 tion is then filled up, or carried out into detail in the next 
 verse, both containing a sarcastic description of the vain ap- 
 peal of the idolaters to the protection of their tutelary deities. 
 
 7. And the carver has strengthened the gilder, the smoother with 
 the hammer the smiter on the anvil ; he says (or is saying) of the 
 solder^ It is good ; and he hath strengthened it with nails ; it shall 
 
92 CHAPTER XL I. 
 
 not be moved. The sarcasm consists in making the idolaters de- 
 pendent upon idols which are themselves dependent upon com- 
 mon workmen and the most trivial mechanical operations for 
 their form and their stability. Hence the particular enumera- 
 tion of the different artificers employed in the manufacture of 
 these deities. The text of the English Version has it is ready 
 for the soldering; but the other construction is now universally 
 adopted. The last clause implies that the strength of the idol 
 is not in itself, but in the nails that keep it in its place or hold 
 its parts together, 
 
 8. And thou Israel my servant.^ Jacob who?n I have chosen, the 
 seed of Abraham my friend. The prominent idea is still that of 
 the contrast between Israel as the people of God, and the 
 heathen as his enemies. The insertion of the substantive verb 
 in the first clause, thou Israel art my serva?it, is unnecessary. 
 This whole verse with the next may be understood as a descrip- 
 tion of the object of address, or of the person to whom the 
 exhortation in v. 10 is directed. The two names of Jacob 
 are again combined in application to his progeny. The race 
 is described as God's servant and his elect, or, combining the 
 two characters, his chosen servant, chosen to be his servant. 
 The people are here described not only as the sons of Jacob 
 but of Abraham. The same honourable title that occurs 
 here is bestowed on Abraham in 2 Chr. 20 : 7, James 2 : 23, 
 and in the common parlance of the Arabs, by whom he is 
 usually styled the Friend of God, or absolutely, the Friend. 
 
 9. Thou whom I have grasped fwn the ends of the earth, and 
 from its joints (or sides') have called thee, and said to thee, My 
 servant (art) thou, I have chosen thee and not rejected thee. The 
 description of the object of address is still continued. The 
 essential idea here expressed is that of election and separation 
 from the rest of men, a bringing near of those who were afar 
 
CHAPTER XL I. 93 
 
 off Interpreters have needlessly disputed whether the voca- 
 tion of Israel io Abraham, or at the exodus, is here particularly 
 meant ; since both are really included in a general description 
 of the calling and election of the people. The phrase ends of 
 the earth is a common idiomatic expression for remoteness, often 
 used without reference to particular localities (see ch. 5 : 26. 
 13:5). The idea meant to be conveyed is identical with that 
 expressed by Paul (Eph. 2 : 13). The translation I have taken 
 is inadequate, the Hebrew verb meaning to hold fast, and the 
 idea of removal being rather implied than expressed. 
 
 10. Fear thou not, for I (am) loith thee ; look not around, for I 
 [am) thy God ; I have strengthened thee, yea I have helped thee, 
 yea I have upheld thee with my right hand of righteousness. This 
 may be regarded as the conclusion of the sentence beginning 
 in V. 8, as the address to which the two preceding ver.ses are 
 an introduction. The English Version, which adheres to the 
 strict translation of the preterites in v. 9, here gratuitously 
 employs the future form, which wholly changes the complexion 
 of the sentence. It is not a simple promise, but a reference 
 to what God had already done and might therefore be expected, 
 to do again. My right hand of righteousness or just right hand. 
 
 1 1 . Lo, ashamed and confounded shall be all those incensed (or 
 inflamed) against thee ; they shall he as nothing (or as though they 
 were not), and destroyed shall be thy men of strife (or they that 
 strive with thee). Not only shall Israel himself escape, but his 
 enemies shall perish. To be ashamed and confounded, here as 
 usual, includes the frustration of their plans and disappoint- 
 ment of their hopes. On the meaning of as nothing, see 
 above, p. 18. The construction of the phrase thy men of strife 
 is the same as that of my right hand of righteousness in v. 10. 
 
 12. Thou s/ialt seek them and riot find them, thy men of quarrel ; 
 
94 CHAPTER X LI. 
 
 they shall be as nothing and as nought^ thy men of xoar (i. e. they 
 who quarrelled and made war with thee). The first clause 
 contains a common Hebrew figure for complete disappearance 
 and destruction. (See Ps. 37 : 36. Jer. 50 : 20. Amos 8 : 12. 
 Hos. 5 : 6.) The words translated nothing and nought^ strictly 
 denote non-existence and annihilation. (See above, on ch, 
 40 : 17.) 
 
 13. For I, Jehovah thy Goa, (am) holding fast thy right hand ; 
 the [one) saying to thee, Fear not, I have helped thee, i. e. I, who 
 command thee not to fear, have already helped thee, or se- 
 cured thy safety. 
 
 14. Fear not, thou loorm Jacob and ye men of Israel ; I have 
 helped thee, saith Jehovah, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of 
 Israel. The same encouragement is here repeated, but with a 
 direct contrast between Israel's weakness and the sti'ength of 
 God. The epithet uwrm expresses the real meanness and un- 
 worthiness of man, as in Job 25 : G. The word translated re- 
 deemer would suggest to a Hebrew reader the ideas of a near 
 kinsman (Lev. 25 : 24, 25) and of deliverance from bondage 
 by the payment of a ransom. Its highest application occurs 
 here and in Job 19 : 25. The reference to the Son of God, 
 although it might not be perceptible of old. is now rendered 
 necessary by the knowledge that this act, even under the old 
 dispensation, is always referred to the same person of the 
 Trinity. The substitution of the future for the preterite by 
 the English and some other versions has already been seen to 
 be gratuitous and arbitrary. 
 
 15. Behold I have placed thee for (i e. appointed thee to be, 
 or changed thee into) a threshing-sledge, sharp, new, possessed of 
 teeth (or edges) ; thou shalt thresh mountains and beat (them) small, 
 and hills like the chaff shalt thou place (or make). The erroneous 
 
CHAPTER XL I. 95 
 
 idea that be simply promises to furnish Israel with the means 
 of threshing mountains, has arisen from the equivocal Ian r^uao-e 
 of the English Version, / will make thce^ which may either 
 mean, I will make for thee, or loill make thee to become, whereas 
 the last sense only can by any possibility be put upon the He- 
 brew, as literally translated above. The oriental threshing 
 machine is sometimes a sledge of thick planks armed with 
 iron or sharp stones, sometimes a system of rough rollers joined 
 together like a sledge or dray. Both kinds are dragged over 
 the grain by oxen. (See Robinson's Palestine, vol. iii. p. 143.) 
 The word translated teeth strictly denotes mouths ; but like the 
 primitive noun from whicli it is derived, it is sometimes applied 
 to the eilg-c of a sharp instrument, perhaps in allusion to tlie 
 figure of devouring. Here it signifies the edges, blades, or 
 teeth, with which the threshing-wain is armed. Tlie image 
 presented is the strange but strong one of a down-trodden 
 worm reducing hills to powder, the essential idea being that 
 of a weak^nd helpless object overcoming the most dispropor- 
 tionate obstacles, by strength derived from another. 
 
 16. Thou shall fan (or winnoto) them, and a wind shall take 
 them up, and a whirlwind shall scatter tlwm, and thou shall joy in 
 Jehovah, in the Holy 0:ie of Israel shall thou boast (or glory). 
 The figure of the preceding verse is here carried out and com- 
 pleted. The mountains, having been completely threshed, are 
 winnowed, in the usual oriental mode, by being thrown to the 
 wind. Israel, on the other hand, is safe, not through his own 
 strength but in that of his protector, in whom, i, e. in his rela- 
 tion to whom, he finds his highest happiness and honour. The 
 writer's main design is evidently still to exhibit the contrast 
 between God and his people on the one hand, and the idols and 
 their people on the other 
 
 1 7. The suffering and the poor {are) seeking water, and it is not 
 
96 CHAPTER XL I. 
 
 {there is none) ; their tongue with thirst is parched. I Jehovah 
 will hear (or answer) them, (J) the God of Israel will not forsake 
 them. The first clause describes the need of a divine interpo- 
 sition, the last the interposition itself. The images are so un- 
 like those of the foregoing verse that they might seem to be 
 unconnected, but for the fact that the whole passage is entirely 
 metaphorical. Thirst is a natural and common metaphor for 
 suffering. Those who restrict the verse to the Babylonish 
 exile are divided on the question, whether it literally describes 
 the hardships of the journey through the wilderness, or meta- 
 phorically those of the captivity itself Both suppositions are 
 entirely arbitrary. There is nothing in the text or context to 
 deprive the passage of its genuine and full sense as a general 
 promise, tantamount to saying, When my people feel their 
 need, I will be present to supply it. Such a promise those in 
 exile could not fail to find appropriate in their case; but it is 
 equally appropriate in others, and especially to the glorious de- 
 liverance of the church from the fetters of the o]^ economy. 
 The word translated hear does not mean to hear in general, but 
 to hear prayer in a favourable sense, to answer it. The con- 
 ditional turn given to the sentence in our version {when the poor 
 and needy seek etc.) is substantially correct, but a needless de- 
 parture from the form of the original. 
 
 18. I will open upon bare hills streams, and in the midst of val- 
 leys fountains ; I will place the desert for (i. e convert it into) a 
 pool of water .^ and a dry land for (or into) springs of ivatcr. The 
 same figure for entire and joyful change occurs in ch. 30 : 25 
 and ch. 35 : 7, and with its opposite or converse in Ps. 107: 
 33, 35. 
 
 19. I will give in the wilderness cedar., acacia, and myrtle, and 
 oil-tree; and I will place in the desert fir, pine, and box together. 
 The main idea, common to all explanations of this verse, is that 
 
CHAPTER XL I. 97 
 
 of trees growing- wliere they never grew before. It is compara- 
 tively unimportant therefore to identify the species. With 
 respect to the cedar and the myrtle there is no doubt. The 
 acacia here mentioned is a thorny tree growing in Arabia and 
 Egypt (See Kobinson's Palestine, vol ii. p. 349.) By the 
 oil-tree is meant the oleaster- or wild olive, as distinguished from 
 the cultivated tree of the same species. 
 
 20. That they may see, and know, and consider, and understaiid 
 together, that the hand of Jehovah hath done this, and the Holy One 
 of Israel hath created it. The verbs in the first clause may refer 
 to men in general, or to those immediately concerned as subjects 
 or spectators of the change described. There is a climax in the 
 last clause : he has not only done it but created it, i. e. produced 
 a new effect by the exertion of almighty power. 
 
 21. Present your cause (literally bring it near or cause it to ap- 
 proach, i. e. into the presence of the judge), sailh Jehovah ; bring 
 fonvard your defences (or strong reasons^, saith the king of 
 Jacob. 
 
 22. They shall bring fonvard (or let them bring forward) and 
 show forth to us the [things) which are to happen ; the former 
 things, what they were, show forth, and we will tet our heart (apply 
 our mind, or pay attention to them), and know their issue ; or 
 {else) the comhig (events) make us to hear. The prescience of future 
 events is here appealed to as a test of divinity. (Compare 
 Deut. 18: 22. Jer. 28 : 9, and ch. 43 : 12 below.) They are 
 required to demonstrate their foreknowledge, either by show- 
 ing that they had predicted something, or by doing it now. 
 The whole idea which the text conveys is that of two contend- 
 ing parties at a judgment-seat. They means the party of the 
 false gods and their worshippers, we that of Jehovah and his 
 people. 
 
 VOL. II.— 5 
 
98 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 23. Show forth the {thi?ir/s) to come hereafter, and we will hww 
 that ye are gods ; yes, ye shall do good or do evil, and we will look 
 about and see together. The subjunctive construction, that we 
 may know, gives the sense of the original^ but with a needless 
 change of form. The same remark applies to the imperative 
 translation of the futures in the next clause [do good, do evil). 
 The use of the disjunctive, on the other hand, is rendered almost 
 unavoidable by an entire difference of idiom, the Hebrews con- 
 stantly employing and where or in English seems essential to 
 the sense. Look about has the same sense as in v. 10 above, 
 where it seems to express the act of looking round or about 
 upon those present, in that case with the secondary notion of 
 alarm (as looking round for help), but in this case with that of 
 inspection or consideration (we will look about us). 
 
 24. Lo, ye are of nothurg (or less than nothing) and your work 
 of nought (or less than nought) ; an abominatio?i [is he that) chooseth 
 (or will choose) you. This is the conclusion drawn from their 
 failure or refusal to accept the challenge and to furnish the 
 required proof of their deity. Aboniinalion is a strong expres- 
 sion often used to describe an object of religious abhorrence. 
 On the choosing of gods, compare Judg. 5:8.. 
 
 25. / have raised up {one) from the north, and he Jias come ; from 
 the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name ; and he shall 
 come upon princes as upon mortar, and as a potter treadcth clay. 
 This is a specific application of the general conclusion in v. 24. 
 If the gods of the heathen coulJ do absolutely nothing, it was 
 impossible that they should be the authors of any one remarka- 
 ble event, and especially of that on which the Prophet has his 
 eye. The expressions are remarkably similar to those in v. 2, 
 so that the Prophet may be here said to resume the train of 
 thought which had been interrupted at the end of v. 4. Having 
 taken occasion to describe the effect of the event foretold upon 
 
CHAPTER XLI. 99 
 
 the worshipper of idols, and from that to show the impotence 
 of the gods themselves, he returns to the event which he had 
 been describing, and continues his description. As before, he 
 takes his stand at an intermediate point between the beginning 
 and the end of the "whole process, as appears from the successive 
 introduction of the preterite and future. With the single sub- 
 stitution of he has come for he shall come^ the common version is 
 entirely correct. The mention of the north and east together 
 has been variously explained. A satisfactory hypothesis, per- 
 haps, is that the subject of this passage is not a determinate 
 individual,- but the conqueror indefinitely, who is not identified 
 till afterwards. The act of calling on the name of Jehovah is 
 commonly regarded as an allusion to the profession of the true 
 religion, or at least the recognition of Jehovah as the true God. 
 on the part of Cyrus (Ezra 1 : 2). Compare the figures of the 
 last clause with ch, 10 : 6. 25 : 10. 
 
 26. Who declared from the beginning ? {Say) and we will Icnotv ; 
 and beforehand^ and tee will say^ Right (or True). Nay. there 
 was none that told; nay^ there was none that uttered; nay^ there 
 was none that heard your icords. The meaning of the whole 
 verse is that the events in question had been foretold by Jeho- 
 vah and no other. ^ 
 
 27. First to Zio)i, Behold, behold them! and to Jerusalem a 
 bringer of good news will I give. This very peculiar idiomatic 
 sentence may be paraphrased as follows. I ain the first to say 
 to Zion, Behold, behold them ! aiid to give Jerusalem a briiiger of 
 good news. The simplest construction is to make the verb at 
 the end govern both clauses ; but in English the sense may be 
 espressed more clearly by supplying the verb say. The common 
 version of the last clause is correct, but that of the first appears 
 to have no meaning. The sense is not the first shall say, but / 
 first, i. e. before any other God or prophet. 
 
100 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 28. And I will lool; but there is no man; a7id of these, but there 
 is no one advising (or informing) ; and Itvill ask them., and they 
 will return a word (or ansicer). He allows them as it were 
 another opportunity of proving their divinity. In the first two 
 clauses, the expectation and the disappointment are described 
 together ; in the third, the expectation only is expressed, the 
 result being given in the following verse. First he looks, but 
 finds not what he seeks. Then again, but with the same result. 
 Once more he interrogates them and awaits an answer, but (as 
 the next verse adds) discovers them to be impostors. There is 
 something singularly beautiful in this peculiar structure of the 
 sentence, which is wholly marred by the indirect constructions 
 that are commonly adopted, that when I asJccd them could answer 
 atcord, or, that I should question them and thyy return an answer. 
 The verse is full of laconic and elliptical expressions, which 
 however may be easily completed, as will appear from the fol- 
 lowing brief paraphrase. I will look (once more to see whether 
 any of these idols or their prophet can predict the future), but 
 there is no one (who attempts it). From among (all) these (I seek 
 for a response, but there is none.) (Yet once more) I loill ask 
 them, and (perhaps) they will return an answer. The same appli- 
 cation of the verb translated advising to the prediction of the 
 future occur ^J)elow in ch. 44 : 26. The form here used is to 
 be strictly construed as a participle. 
 
 29. Lo, they (eire) all nought, nothijig their ivorks, wind and 
 emptiness their molten images. This is, at once, the termination 
 of the sentence begun in the last clause of the verse preceding, 
 and the summary conclusion of the whole preceding controversy 
 as to the divinity of any gods except Jehovah. To the usual 
 expressions of nonentity the Prophet adds two other strong 
 descriptive terms, wind and emptiness. 
 
CHAPTER XLI I. 101 
 
 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 This chapter exhibits to our view the Servant of Jehovah, 
 i. e. the Messiah and his people, as a complex person, and as 
 the messenger or representative of God among the nations. 
 His mode of operation is described as being not violent but 
 peaceful, vs. 1-5. The effects of his influence are represented 
 as not natural but spiritual, vs. 6-9. The power of God is 
 pledged for his success, notwithstanding all appearances of 
 inaction or indifference on his part, vs. 10-17. In the latter 
 portion of the chapter, the Church or Body of Christ, as dis- 
 tinguished from the Head, and representing him until he 
 came, is charged with unfaithfulness to their great trust, and 
 this unfaithfulness declared to be the cause of what is suffered, 
 vs. 18-25. Several important exegetical questions with resj^ect 
 to the Servant of Jehovah, will be noticed in the exposition of 
 the chapter. 
 
 1, Behold my servaiit ! I will hold him fast ; my chosen one 
 {in whom) my soul delights ; I have given (or put) my Spirit upon 
 him ; judgment to the natiojis shall he cause to^o forth. There is 
 no need of assuming (with the English Version) an ellipsis of 
 the relative twice in the same clause. The separate construc- 
 tion of the fii'st two words, as an introduction to the following 
 description, makes them far more impressive, like the vccc homo 
 {XSe 6 uvd-QMTiog) of John 19 : 5. The first verb, construed as it 
 is here, signifies to hold fast, for the most part with the acces- 
 sory idea of holding up, sustaining, or supporting. Elect or 
 chosen does not mean choice or excellent, except by implication ; 
 directly and strictly it denotes one actually chosen, set apart, 
 for a definite purpose. By Spirit, as in all such cases, we are 
 to understand, not only divine influence, but the divine person 
 
102 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 who exerts it. (See vol. 1. pp 64, 1G3.) The use of the 
 phrase on him, where 'm him might have seemed more natural, 
 is probably intended to suggest the idea of descent, or of an 
 influence from heaven. The last clause predicts the diffusion 
 of the true religion. The ancient doctrine of the Jewish 
 church, and of the great majority of Christian writers, is that 
 the servant of the Lord is the Messiah. In favour of the Mes- 
 sianic exposition may be urged not only the tradition of the 
 Jewish church already cited, and the perfect facility with which 
 this hypothesis at once accommodates itself to all the requisi- 
 tions of the passages to which it is applied, but also the explicit 
 and repeated application of these passages to Jesus Christ in 
 the New Testament. These applications will be noticed seriatim 
 as the texts successively present themselves. To this first verse 
 there are several allusions more or less distinct and unequivocal. 
 Besides the express citation of it, with the next three verses, in 
 Matt. 12: 1^-21, there is an obvious allusion to its terms, or 
 rather a direct application of them made by God himself, in the 
 descent of the Holy Spirit on our Saviour at his baptism, and 
 in the words pronounced from heaven then and at the time of 
 his transfiguration : This is my beloved Son in whom I am well 
 pleased (Matt. 3 : 17. 17 : 5). That Christ was sent to the Jews 
 and not the Grentiles, is only true of his personal ministry and 
 not of his whole work as continued by his followers, who were 
 expressly commissioned to go into all the world, to make disci- 
 ples of all nations, the only restriction imposed being that of 
 beginning at Jerusalem. It only remains to be considered, 
 whether this application of the title and the description of our 
 Saviour is exclusive of all others, as its advocates commonly 
 maintain. This inquiry is suggested by the fact, which all in- 
 terpreters admit, that I srael, the .chosen people, is no t only 
 called by this same name , but described as having some of the 
 same attributes, not only elsewhere, but in this very context, 
 and especially in vs. 19, 20, of this chapter, where any other 
 
CHAPTER XLII. 103 
 
 explanation of the terms, as we shall see, is altogether inadmis- 
 sible. Assuming, then, that the Messiah is the servant of Je- 
 hovah introduced at the beginning of the chapter, there are only 
 two ways of accounting for the subsequent use of the same lan- 
 guage with respect to Israel. The tiist way is by alleging a 
 total difference of subject in the diiferent places, which in fact 
 though not in form is to decline all explanation of the fact in 
 question, as being either needless or impossible. That such a 
 twofold application of equivalent expressions to entirely different 
 subjects is conceivable and must in certain cases be assumed, 
 there is no need of denying. But unless we abandon all at- 
 tempt to interpret language upon any settled principle, we 
 must admit that nothing short of exegetical necessity can 
 justify the reference of the same descriptive terms to different 
 subjects in one and the same context. If then there is an exe- 
 getical hypothesis by which these applications can be reconciled, 
 without doing violence to usage or analogy, it seems to be clearly 
 entitled to the preference. Such a hypothesisj'it seems to me, 
 is one obscurely stated by some older writers, but which may 
 be more satisfactorily propounded thus, that by the servant of 
 Jehovah, in these Later Prophecies of Isaiah, we are to under- 
 stand the Church with its Head^ ^or rather the Messiah with 
 the Church which is his body, sent by Jehovah to reclaim the 
 world from its apostasy and ruin. This agrees exactly with 
 the mission both of the Redeemer and his people as described 
 in Scripture, and accounts for all the variations which embarrass 
 the interpretation of the passages in question upon any more 
 exclusive exegetical hypothesis. It is also favoured by the 
 analogy of Deut. 18, where the promised Prophet, according to 
 the best interpretation, is not Christ exclusively, but Christ as 
 the Head of the prophetic body who possessed his spirit. Another 
 analogy is furnished by the use of the phrase Abraham^ seed, 
 both individually and collectively. He whom Paul describes 
 as the seed of Abraham, and Moses as a prophet like unto him- 
 
104 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 self, in a personal but not an exclusive sense, is described by 
 Isaiah as the servant of Jehovah, in his own person, but not to 
 the exclusion of his people, so far as they can be considered his 
 co-workers or his representatives. Objections founded on tlie 
 want of agreement between some of these descriptions and the 
 recorded character of Israel, are connected with a superficial 
 view of Israel considered simply as a nation and like other 
 nations, except so far as it was brought into external and for- 
 tuitous connection with the true religion. An essential feature 
 in the theory proposed is that this race was set apart and or- 
 ganized for a specific purpose, and that its national character is 
 constantly subordinate to its ecclesiastical relation. There is 
 precisely the same variation in the language used respecting it 
 as in the use and application of the term tyexhiotu in the New 
 Testament. Israel is sometimes described as he was meant to 
 be, and as he should have been ; sometimes as he actually was. 
 The name is sometimes given to the whole race and sometimes 
 to the faithful portion of it, or, which amounts to the same 
 thing, it is sometimes used to denote the real sometimes the 
 nominal Israel. The apparent violence of applying the same 
 description to an individual person and a body, will be lessened 
 by considering, that Christ was in the highest and the truest 
 sense the Servant of Jehovah and his messenger to man, but 
 that his body, church, or people, was and is a sharer in the 
 same vocation, under the gospel as an instrument or fellow- 
 worker, under the law as a type or representative of one who 
 had not yet become visible. Hence the same things might 
 be predicated to a great extent of both. As the Messiah was 
 the servant and messenger of God to the nations, so was Israel. 
 It was his mission also to diffuse the true religion and reclaim 
 the nations. From the very first it Avas intended that the law 
 should go forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Je- 
 rusalem. (Ch. 2 : 3.) The national restrictions of the old 
 economy were not intended to exclude the gentiles from the 
 
CHAPTER XLII. 105 
 
 church, but to preserve the church from assimilation to the 
 gentiles. All the world might have come iu if they would by 
 complying with the terras prescribed ; and nothing is more 
 clear from the Old Testament than the fact that the privileges 
 of the chosen people were not meant to be restricted even then 
 to the natural descendants of Israel, for this would have ex- 
 cluded proselytes entirely. Multitudes did embrace the true 
 religion before Christ came; and that more did not, was partly 
 their own fault, partly the fault of the chosen people, who neg- 
 lected or mistook their high vocation as the Messiah's represen- 
 tative and as Jehovah's messenger. If it be asked, how the 
 different applications of this honourable title are to be distin- 
 guished, so as to avoid confusion or capricious inconsistency, the 
 answer is as follows. Where the terms are in their nature 
 applicable both to Christ as the Head and to his Church as the 
 Body, there is no need of distinguishing at all between them. 
 Where sinful imperfection is implied in what is ■^aid, it must of 
 course be applied to the Body only. Where a freedom from 
 such imperfection is implied, the language can have a direct 
 and literal reference only to the Head, but may be considered 
 as descriptive of the Body, in so far as its idea or design is con- 
 cerned, though not in reference to its actual condition. Lastly, 
 when anything is said implying deity or infinite merit, the 
 application to the Head becomes not only predominant but 
 exclusive. It may further be observed that as the Church, 
 according to this view of the matter, represents its Head, so it 
 is represeqted by its leaders, whether prophets, priests, or 
 kings ; and as all these functions were to meet in Christ, so all 
 of them may sometimes be particularly prominent in prophecy. 
 How far the theory here stated with respect to the Servant of 
 Jehovah is either necessary to explain the prophecies or really 
 consistent with their terms, can only be determined by a specific 
 application of the principle to the successive parts of the de- 
 scription. If applied to this first verse, it would determine its 
 
 5* 
 
106 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 interpretation, as describing Israel, the ancient church, to be in 
 a peculiar sense the Servant of Jehovah, protected and sustained 
 by Him, enlightened by a special revelation, not for his own 
 exclusive use, but as a source of saving light to the surrounding 
 nations. At the same time it would show him to possess this 
 character not in his own right but in that of another, as. the 
 representative and instrument of one who, though he was with 
 God and was God, took upon him the form of a servant and 
 received the Spirit without measure, that he might be a light 
 to lighten the gentiles as well as the glory of his jjeople Israel. 
 (Luke 2 : 32 ) The reference to Christ is here so evident, how- 
 ever, that there is no need of supposing any distinct reference 
 to his people at all, nor any advantage in so doing, except that 
 of rendering the subsequent verses still more significant, as 
 descriptive not only of his personal ministry, but of the spirit 
 and conduct of his people, both before and after his appearance. 
 
 2. He shall' not cry (or call aloiul)^ and he shall not raise (his 
 voice), and he shall not let his voice be heacd in the street (or abroad, 
 without). The simple meaning of the verse fs-, he shall not be 
 noisy but quiet. As applied both to Christ and to the Church, 
 this verse describes a silent, unostentatious method of proceed- 
 ing. The quotation in Matth. 12 : 19 is commonly explained 
 as referring to our Saviour's mild and modest demeanour ; but 
 it rather has respect to the nature of his kingdom, and to the 
 means by which it was to be established. His forbidding the 
 announcement of the miracle is not recorded simply as a trait 
 of personal character, but rather as implying that a public 
 recognition of his claims was not included in his present 
 purpose. 
 
 3. A bruised (or crushed) reed he will not break, and a dim wick 
 he will not quench ; by the truth xoill lie bring forth judgment. The 
 verbs of the first clause have no exact equivalents in English. 
 
CHAPTER XL 1 1. 107 
 
 The first appears to mean broken but not broken off, -which last 
 is denoted by the other. The common version, smoking Jlax, 
 is that of the Septuagint and Vulgate. The Hebrew noun 
 really denotes flax (Ex. 9:31), but the adjective means faint 
 or dim ; so that in order to convey the meaning in translation, 
 the former must be taken in the specific sense of wirk, which it 
 also has in ch. 43 : 17. The verse continues the description 
 of the mode in which the Messiah and his people were to bring 
 forth judgment to the nations^ or in other words to spread the 
 true religion. It was not to be byd^mour or by violence. 
 The first of these ideas is expressed in the preceding verse, the 
 last in this. That such is the true inaport of the words is clear 
 from the addition of the last clause, which.would be unmean- 
 ing if the verse related merely to a compassionate and sym- 
 pathetic temper. That this verse is included in Matthew's 
 quotation (ch. 12 : 19), shows that he did not quote the one be-' 
 fore it as descriptive of a modest and retiring disposition. For 
 although such a temper might be proved by Christ's prohibit- 
 ing the publication of his miracles, this prohibition could not 
 have been cited as an evidence of tenderness and mildness. 
 The only way in which the whole Quotation can be made ap- 
 propriate to the case in hand, is by supposing that it was meant 
 to be descriptive, not merely of our Saviour's human virtues, but 
 of the nature of his kingdom and of the means by which it was 
 to be established. That he was both lowly and compassionate 
 is true, but it is not the truth which he established by his con- 
 duct upon this occasion, nor the truth which the evangelist in- 
 tended to illustrate by the citation of these words. As well in 
 their original connection as in Matthew's application of them, 
 they describe that kingdom which was not of this world ; which 
 came not wjth observation (Luke 17 : 20) ; which was neither 
 meat nor drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the 
 Holy Ghost (Rom. 14 : 17) ; which was founded and promoted 
 not by might nor by power, but by the Spirit of the Lord ; 
 
108 CHAPTER XL 1 1. 
 
 (Zech. 4 : 6) and of which its founder said (John 18 : 36), If my 
 kingdom were of this world, tkea would my servants fight, that I 
 should not be delivered to tJie Jews, but now is my kingdom not from 
 hence. And again (John 18 : 37), when Pilate said unto him, 
 Art thou a king then ? Jesus answered. Thou saycst (rightly) that 
 I am a king ; to this eiul teas I born, and for this cause came I 
 into the loorld, that I should bear witness to the truth ; every one 
 that is of the truth heareth my voice. How perfectly does this 
 august description tally with the great prophetic picture of the 
 Servant of Jehovah, who was to bring forth judgment to the 
 nations, and in doing so was not to cry or raise his voice or let 
 men hear it in the streets, nor by brutal force to break the 
 crushed reed or quench the dim wick, but to conquer by heal- 
 ing and imparting strength. This passage also throws light on 
 the true sense of the somewhat obscure phrase the truth, by 
 showing that it means ivith respect to the truth, which is here 
 equivalent to saying by the truth. This construction, by pre- 
 senting an antithesis between the true and false way of bring- 
 ing forth judgment to the gentiles, is much to be preferred to 
 those constructions which explain the phrase as simply mean- 
 ing in truth (i. e. truly), oWin permanence (i. e. surely), or unto 
 truth (i. e. so as to establish and secure it). All these may be 
 suggested as accessory ideas ; but the main idea seems to be 
 the one first stated, namely, that the end in question is to be 
 accomplished not by clamour, not by violence, but by the 
 truth. 
 
 4. He shall not be dim, and he shall not be crushed, until he 
 shall set judgment in the earth, and for his law the isles shall loait. 
 He shall neither conquer nor be conquered by violence. This 
 verse is a new proof that the one before it does not describe 
 mere tenderness and pity for the weak. The antithesis would 
 then be, he shall neither be unkind to the infirm nor infirm 
 himself. On the other hand, the sense is clear and pertinent 
 
CHAPTER XLII. 109 
 
 if V. 3 means that he shall not use violence towards those who 
 are weaker than himself, and v. 4 that he shall not suffer it 
 from those who are more powerful ; he shall neither subdue 
 others nor himself be subdued by force. To set or jjlace 
 judgment in the earth is to establish and confirm the true re- 
 ligion. By his latv we are to understand his word or revela- 
 tion, considered as a rule of duty. Here again the islands is a 
 poetical expression for the nations, or more specifically for the 
 transmarine and distant nations. "The liope meant in the last 
 clause is not so much subjective as objective. The thing de- 
 scribed is' not the feeling of the gentiles towards the truth, 
 but their dependence on it for salvation, and on Christ for the 
 knowledge of the truth itself. For his law the isles are loaiting 
 (or must loait), and till it comes they must remain in darkness. 
 
 \ 
 5. Thus sailh the Mighty ( God), Jehovah, creating the heavens 
 and stretching them out, spreading the earth and its issues, giving 
 breath to the 'people on it, and spirit to those, walking in it. The 
 substitution of the preterite for the participle in the English 
 Version {Jie that created, the heavens 0M,d stretched them out) is not 
 only a gratuitous departure from the form of the original, but 
 hides from the English reader the allusion to the creative 
 power of God as constantly exercised in the continued exist- 
 ence of his works. The same figure is exhibited more fully in 
 ch. 40 : 22, and the places there referred to. This clause is 
 not a scientific but a poetical description. To the eye, the 
 heavens have the appearance of a canopy or curtain, and the 
 verdant surface of the earth that of a carpet. No single Eng- 
 lish word is so appropriate as issues to express both the mean- 
 ing and the derivatmn of the corresponding one in Hebrew, 
 which denotes the things that come out of the earth, its pro- 
 duce, growth, or vegetation, with particular allusion here to 
 grass. Here, as in ch. 40 : 7, the word 'peojilc is evi'dently used 
 iu application to the whole human race, a fact of soMj^mpor- 
 
no CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 tauce in the exposition of what follows. The enumeration of 
 Jehovah's attributes in this verse is intended to accredit the 
 assurances contained in the context. 
 
 6. I Jehovah have called thee in righteous'iiess^ and xviU lay hold 
 of thee (or hold thee fast), and loill keep thee, and will give thee for 
 a covenant of the people, for a light of the gentiles. The act of 
 calling here implies selection , designation, and providential in- 
 troduction to Grod's service In righteousness, i. e. in the exer- 
 cise of righteousness on God's part, including the fulfilment of 
 his promises as well as of his threatenings. / will hold thee 
 fast, and thereby hold thee up, sustain thee. (See above, v. 1.) 
 We may understand by a cove nant of the^ people a negotiator b e- 
 tween God and the people. This use of covenant, although un- 
 usual^ is in itself not more unnatural or forced than that of 
 light in the next phrase. As light of the nations must mean a 
 source or dispen ser of light to them, &o covenant of people, in. 
 the very same sentence, may naturally mean the dispenser or 
 mediator of a covenant with them. The only reason why the 
 one appears less natural and simple than the other, is that ligld 
 is habitually used in various languages both for the element of 
 light and for its source or a luminous body, whereas no such 
 twofold usage of the other word exists, although analogies 
 might easily be traced in the usage of such words as justice for 
 judge, counsel for counsellor, in both which cases the function- 
 ary takes the name of that which he dispenses or administers. 
 But supposing this to be the true construction of the phrase, 
 the question still arises, who are the contracting parties, or in 
 other words, what are we to understand by people ? The great 
 majority of writers make it mean the J^^s, the chosen people 
 of Jehovah, and the covenant the mediator or negotiator of a 
 new covenant between them and Jehovah, according to the 
 representation in Jer. 31 : 31-33. But it is better to under- 
 stand it as a description of the servant of Jehovah in the char- 
 
CHAPTER XLII. Ill 
 
 acter, not only of a light (or ^n enligbtener) to the nations, 
 but of a mediator or negotiator between God and the people, 
 i. e. men in general. These are epithets applicable in their 
 highest sense to Christ alone, to whom they are in fact applied 
 by Simeon (Luke 2 : 32) and Paul (Acts 13 : 47). That neither 
 of these quotes the phrase a covenant of the people^ does not 
 prove that it has no relation to the gentiles, but only that it 
 does not relate to them exclusively, but to the whole human 
 race ; whereas the other phrase, as applj'ing specifically to the 
 gentiles, and as being less ambiguous, was exactly suited to 
 Paul's purpose. 
 
 7. To open blind eyes^ to bring out from prison the bondman, from 
 the house of confinement the dwellers in darkness. This was the 
 end to be accomplished by the Servant of Jehovah in the char- 
 acter or office just ascribed to him The spiri-tual evils to be 
 remedied are represented under the figures of imprisonment 
 and darkness, the removal of the latter having obvious allusion 
 to the light of the nations in v. 6. That explanation of these 
 words, which refers them to the restoration of the Jews from 
 exile, is encumbered with various and complex difficulties. 
 What is said of bondage must be either strictly understood or 
 metaphorically. If the former be preferred, how is it that the 
 Prophet did not use expressions more exactly descriptive of the 
 state of Israel in Babylon ? A whole nation carried captive by 
 its enemies could hardly be described as prisoners in dark dun- 
 geons. If it be said that this is a figurative representation of 
 confinement in the dark, the principle of strict interpretation is 
 abandoned, and the imprisonment itself may be a metaphor for 
 other evils. There is then left no specific reason for applying 
 this description to the exile any more than to a hundred other 
 seasons of calamity. Another and more positive objection to 
 this limitation is, that it connects this verse with only part of 
 the previous description, and that the part to which it bears the 
 
112 CHAPTER XL II. 
 
 least resemblance Even granting what has been disproved, 
 that the covenant of the prcple has respect to Israel alone, how is it 
 that the other attribute, a ligJit to the gentiles, must be excluded 
 in interpreting what follows ? It was surely not in this capacity 
 that the Servant of Jehovah was to set the Jewish exiles fiee. 
 The opening of the eyes and the deliverance of those that sit 
 in darkness are correlative expressions to the light nf the gentiles^ 
 which on this account, and as the nearest antecedent, must 
 decide the sense of this verse, if that sense depend on either of 
 these attributes exclusively. I will mahe thee a light to the gen- 
 tiles, to open the blind eyes etc. can scarcely mean, I will make thee 
 an instructor of the heathen to restore the Jews from captivity in 
 Babylon. Whether the verse before us therefore be strictly or 
 figuratively understood, it cannot be applied to the captivity 
 without doing violence at once to the text and context. The 
 very same reasoning applies to the analogous expressions used 
 in ch. 49 : 9, and thus corroborates our previous conclusion, that 
 the context in neither of these places favours, much less re- 
 quires, the restriction of these words to the Jews. The only 
 natural interpretation of the verse before us is that which makes 
 it figurative like the one preceding it ; and the only natural in- 
 terpretation of its figures is the one which understands them as 
 descriptive of spiritual blindness and spiritual bondage, both 
 which are metaphors of constant application to the natural con- 
 dition of mankind in the Old as well as the New Testament. 
 The removal of these evils is the work of Christ, as the revealer 
 of the Father, who has brought life and immortality to light ; but 
 in subordination to him, and as his representative, his church 
 may also be correctly represented as a covenant of the people 
 and a light of the nations ; since the law, though a divine reve- 
 lation, was to go forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 8. I am Jehovah, that is my name, and my glory to another will 
 
CHAPTER XLII. 113 
 
 I not give, and m^ praise to graven images. The name Jehovah 
 is here used with emphasis, in reference to its etymological im- 
 port, as descriptive of a self-existent, independent, and eternal 
 being. Graven images are here put, as in many other cases, for 
 idols in general, without regard to the mode of their formation. 
 The connection of this verse with what precedes may seem 
 obscure, but admits of an easy explanation. From the assertion 
 of Jehovah's power and perfection as a ground for his people's 
 confidence, the Prophet now proceeds, by a natural transition, 
 to exhibit it in contrast with the impotence of those gods in 
 whom the gentiles trusted. These are represented not only as 
 inferior to God but as his enemies and rivals, any act of worship 
 paid to whom was so much taken from what he claimed as his 
 own and as his own exclusively. The general doctrine of the 
 verse is, that true and false religion cannot coexist ; because, 
 however tolerant idolatry may be, it is essential to the worship 
 of Jehovah to be perfectly exclusive of all other gods. This is 
 included in the very name Jehovah, and accounljg for its solemn 
 proclamation here. 
 
 9. The first (or former) things — Zo, they have come, and new 
 things I {am) telling ; before they spring forth {sprout or germinate) 
 I will make (or let) yon hear {Ihem). This is an appeal to former 
 prophecies already verified, as grounds of confidence in those 
 yet unfulfilled. The strong and beautiful expression in the 
 last clause can only mean that the events about to be predicted 
 were beyond the reach of human foresight, and is therefore 
 destructive of the modern notion, that these prophecies were 
 written after Cyrus had appeared, and at a time when the fur- 
 ther events of his history could be foreseen by an observer of 
 unusual sagacity. Such a prognosticator, unless he was also a 
 deliberate deceiver, a charge which no one brings against this 
 writer, could not have said of what he thus foresaw, that he 
 announced it before it had begun to germinate, i. e. while the 
 
114 CHAPTER X LI I. 
 
 seed was in the earth, and before any outward indications of 
 the plant could be perceived. As this embraces all the writer's 
 prophecies, it throws the date of composition back to a period 
 before the rise of Cyrus, and thereby helps to invalidate the 
 arguments in favour of regarding it as contemporaneous with 
 the Babylonish exile. 
 
 1 0. Sing to Jehovah a new song^ his praise from the end of the 
 carlh^ [ye) going down to the sea and its fulness^ isles and their in- 
 hnbitants ! To sing a new song, according to Old Testament 
 usage, is to praise God for some new manifestation of his power 
 and goodness. It implies, therefore, not only fresh praise, but 
 a fresh occasion for it. Reduced to ordinary prose style, it is 
 a prediction that changes are to take place, joyfully affecting the 
 condition of the whole world. That this is a hyperbole, relating 
 to the restoration of the Jews from Babylon, is too gratuitous 
 and forced a supposition. Its fulness may either be connected 
 with the sea, and both made dependent on go down (to the sea 
 and its fulness), or regarded as a distinct object of address. In 
 the latter case, the marine animals would seem to be intended ; 
 in the former, the whole mass of water with its contents ; the 
 last is more poetical and natural. The antithesis is then be- 
 tween the sea with its frequenters on the one hand and the 
 isles with their inhabitants on the other. 
 
 1 1. The desert and its towns shall raise (the voice), the enclosures 
 (or encamp?)ienis, in which) Kedur dwells ; the dwellers in the Rock 
 shall shout, from the top of mountains shall they cry aloud. This 
 is a direct continuation of the previous description, in which 
 the whole world is represented as exulting in the promised 
 change. The reference of this verse to the course of the return- 
 ing exiles through the intervening desert is forbidden by tlie 
 mention of the sea and its fulness, the isles and the ends of the 
 earth, in the preceding and following verses. If these are not 
 
CHAPTER XLII. 115 
 
 all parts of the same great picture, it is impossible to frame one. 
 If they are, it is absurd to take the first and last parts in their 
 widest sense as an extravagant hyperbole, and that which is 
 between them in its strictest sense as a literal description. The 
 only consistent supposition _ i« that sea, islands, deserts, moun- 
 tains, towns, and camps, are put together as poetical ingredients 
 of the general conception, that the earth in all its parts shall 
 have occasion to rejoice. The mention of cities as existing in 
 the wilderness appears less strange in the original than in a 
 modern version, because both the leading words have a greater 
 latitude of~ meaning than their usual equivalents, the first de- 
 noting properly a pasture-ground, and being applicable therefore 
 to any uncultivated region whether uninhabited or not, the other 
 answering to toivn in its widest English sense inclusive of both 
 villages and cities. The translation village's is too restricted, 
 since the Hebrew word is applicable also to collections of tents 
 or nomadic encampments, which appears to be^the prominent 
 idea here. Kedar was the second son of Ishmael (Gen. 25 : 
 13). Here, as in ch. 21 : 16, the name is put for his descendants, 
 or by a natural metonymy for the Arabians in general. The 
 rabbinical name for the Arabic language is the tongue of Kcdar. 
 
 12. They shall place (or give) to Jehovah honour^ and his praise 
 171 the islands they shall shoiv forth (or declare). Still another 
 mode of saying, the whole world shall praise him. The islands 
 are again mentioned, either as one out of several particulars 
 before referred to, or with emphasis, as if he had said, even in 
 the islands, beyond sea, and by implication in the furthest re- 
 gions. As the verb to give, in Hebrew usage, has the secondary 
 sense of placing, so the verb to place is occasionally used as an 
 equivalent to that of giving. (See vol. i. p. 304.) The trans- 
 lation of the verbs in this verse as imperatives {let them give 
 glory and declare), although substantially correct, is a needless 
 departure from the form of the original, in which the idea of 
 
116 CHAPTER XLI I. 
 
 command or exhortation is sufficiently implied tliougli not ex- 
 pressed. The verbs do not agree with the series of nouns in 
 the foregoing verse (desert, towns, etc.), for these could not 
 celebrate Jehovah in the islands. The construction is indefi- 
 nite, thcy^i i. e. men in general, a form of speech of far more fre- 
 quent occurrence in Hebrew than would be suspected by a 
 reader of the English Bible, 
 
 13. Jehovah^ like a strong o?ie, will go forth ; like a warrior 
 (literally a man of battle) he loill rouse (Jiis) zeal ; he will shout, 
 yea he will cry ; against his foes he icill make (or show) himself 
 strojig. From the effect he now reverts to the efficient cause. 
 The universal joy before described is to arise from Jehovah's 
 triumph over his enemies. The martial figures of the verse are 
 intelligible in themselves and all familiar to the usage of the 
 Scriptures. To go forth is the common Hebrew phrase for 
 going out to war or battle. (See above, on ch. 40 ; 26.) Zeal 
 may either have its general sense of ardour, strong and violent 
 affection of whatever kind, or its more specific sense of jealousy 
 or sensitive regard for his own honour and for the welfare of 
 his people. (See vol. i. p. 136 ) The idea is that of an ancient 
 warrior exciting his own courage by a shout or war-cry. The 
 last clause may be understood to mean, he shall prevail over his 
 eiiemics ; but although this idea is undoubtedly included, it is 
 best to retain the reflexive form and import of the verb as far 
 as may be, in translation. 
 
 14. I have long been still, (saying) I will hold my peace, Itcill 
 restrain myself (But now) like the travailing (looman) I will 
 shriek, I will pant and gasp at once. The second and third 
 verbs may be regarded as the expression of his own determina- 
 tion or intention while the silence lasted. The omission of the 
 verb to say before such repetitions or citations is not only fre- 
 quent in general usage, but the more natural in this case from 
 
CHAPTER XLII. 117 
 
 the fact tliat this whole verse is universally regarded as the 
 words of God himself, although he is not expressly introduced 
 as the speaker. There is indeed another very ancient explana- 
 tion of the last two vei'bs, given in the English Version, I unll 
 destroy and devour at once. ' My wrath, long restrained, I will 
 now let break forth,' is no doubt the true sense of the verse on 
 either supposition. 
 
 15. I toill lay ivaste mountains and hilla, and. all- their herbage 
 will I dry up ; and I will turn (literally place) streams to islands 
 and pools (or lakes) will I dry up. Having described the effect 
 and the cause of the great future change, he now describes the 
 change itself, under the common form of a complete revolution 
 in the face of nature, sometimes with special reference to the 
 heavens (ch. 13 : 10), sometimes (as here and in ch. 35 ; 6, 7) 
 to the earth. The verse probably contains an allusion to the 
 ancient cultivation of the hills of Palestine, by^eans of ter- 
 races, many of which are still in existence. (See vol. i. p. 1 16.) 
 
 16. And I loill make the blind ivalk in a icay they knoto not, in 
 paths they know not I lolll make them tread ; I will set (or turn) 
 darkness before them to light, and obliquities to slraightness. These 
 are the words ; I have made them (or done them) and have not left 
 them. The combination of these two antitheses (light and 
 dark, crooked and straight) shows clearly that they are both 
 metaphorical expressions for the same thing that is represented 
 under other figures in the verse preceding, viz total change ; 
 in what respect and by what means, the metaphors themselves 
 do not determine. And yet some writers understand the first 
 clause as specifically meaning, that the exiles in Babylon should 
 be delivered at a time and in a manner which they had not ex- 
 pected ; while another class apply the words exclusively to 
 spiritual exercises or religious experience. To both these ob- 
 jects the description admits of an easy application ; but neither 
 
118 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 of them is to be considered its specific subject. It is impossi- 
 ble, without the utmost violence, to separate this one link from 
 the chain of which it forms a part, that is to say, from the 
 series of strong and varied metaphors, by which the Prophet 
 is expressing the idea of abrupt and total change. The same 
 thing that is meant by the wasting of cultivated hills, the 
 withering of herbage, and the drying up of streams and lakes, 
 is also meant by the leading of blind men in a new path, 
 i. e. ca using them to witness thin gs nf vfh\oh tJmg-hnd had no 
 previous experience. The simplest and most regular construc- 
 tion of the last clause is that which refers the pronouns not to 
 a noun understood but to the expressed antecedent. These 
 are the wonh (i. e. my promises). I have performed than and have 
 not abandoned them, that is to say, I have not relinquished my 
 design until it was accomplished. (Compare the last clause of 
 Ezekiel 17 : 24.) The translation of these verbs as futures 
 has arisen merely from a feeling on the part of the interpreter 
 that the words ought to contain a promise ; whereas the promise 
 is implied or rather superseded by the declaration that the 
 work is done already, or at least that the eifect is already 
 secured. The usual construction, which makes one a preterite 
 and one a future, is doubly arbitrary and capricious. 
 
 17. They are turned hack, they shall be ashamed ^oith shame 
 (i. 6. utterly ashamed), those trusting in the graven image, those 
 saying to the moltcii image, Ye are our gods. This verse describes 
 the effect to be produced by the expected changes on the ene- 
 mies of God and the worshippers of idols. They are turned 
 hack, utterly defeated, foiled in their malignant opposition. 
 Nor is this all ; for they are yet to be utterly ashamed, con- 
 founded, disappointed, and disgraced. In the last clause it is 
 plain th*t the graven and molten image are separated only 
 by the parallelism, because the address at the end is in the 
 
CHAPTER XLI I. 119 
 
 plural form, not thou, art, but ye are our gods. On the usage 
 of these two nouns, see vol. i. p. 356. 
 
 1 8. Yc deaf, hear ! and ye blind, look (so as) to see ! From the 
 connection, this would seem to be a call upon the worshippers 
 of idols, to open their eyes and ears, and become conscious of 
 their own delusions. 
 
 19. Who {is) blind but my servant, and deaf like my messenger 
 (lohom) I loill send ? Who (is) blind like the devoted one, and 
 blind like the servant of Jehovah ? Why should he call the 
 heathen blind and deaf, when Israel himself, with all his 
 honours and advantages, refused to see or hear? The very 
 people, whose mission and vocation it was to make the gentiles 
 see and hear, seemed to emulate their insensibility. Servant 
 of Jehovah is a title applicable not only to the Head but to the 
 Body also. Here, where the language implies^ censure and re- 
 proach, the terms must be referred exclusively to Israel, the 
 messenger whom God had sent to open the eyes of the other 
 nations, but who had himself become wilfully blind. The 
 future verb implies that the mission was not yet fulfilled. 
 
 20. Thou hast seen many things, and wilt not observe. (Sent) 
 to open ears I and he will not hear. In the first clause he turns 
 to Israel and addresses him directly : in the last he turns away 
 from him again, and, as it were, expresses his surprise and in- 
 dignation to the by-standers. The sense of the whole, leaving 
 out of view this difference of form, is the same as in the fore- 
 going verse, namely, that Israel had eyes but saw not, and in- 
 stead of opening the ears of others was himself incapable of 
 hearing. The sentence may be said to exhibit a climax. In 
 the first clause the contrast is between the blindness of the 
 people and the light which they enjoyed ; in the last it is be- 
 tween their deafness and their high vocation to open the ears 
 
120 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 of others. Hence the abrupt and impassioned form of expres- 
 sion in the latter case. An explanation is afforded by the 
 analogy of v. 7, where the same infinitive describes the end for 
 which the Servant of Jehovah was sent. 
 
 21. Jehovah {is) loilliiig for his righteousness' sake; he icill 
 magnify the law and viake it honourable. The people, b^ing 
 thus unfaithful to their trust, had no claim to be treated any 
 longer as an object of Jehovah's favour ; and yet he continues 
 propitious, not on their account, but out of regard to his own 
 engagements, and for the execution of his righteous purposes. 
 For these reasons he will still put honour on the chosen peo- 
 ple and the system under which they lived. 
 
 22. And {yd) it {is) a jjcople spoiled and robbed.^ ensnared in 
 holes all of them., and in houses of confinement Ihey are hidden. 
 They have become a spoil, and there is none delivering ; a prey, and 
 there is none saying, Restore. Here another contrast is brought 
 into view. As the conduct of the people did not answer to 
 their high vocation, so their treatment does not answer to the 
 preceding declaration of God's purpose. If he still designed 
 to honour them, though not for their own sake, how was this 
 to be reconciled with what they suffered at the bauds of their 
 enemies? The terms are no doubt metaphorical, and therefore 
 not exclusively descriptive of literal captivity. At the same 
 time it may be admitted that the sufferings of Israel in exile 
 furnished one of the most memorable instances of what is here 
 described in general. 
 
 23. Who among you toill give ear to this., will hearken and 
 hear for the time to come ? By this we are not to understand 
 merely the fact recorded in the foregoing verse, but the doc- 
 trine of the whole preceding context as to the vocation and 
 mission of Israel and his actual condition. God had appointed 
 
CHAPTER XLII. 121 
 
 him to be a source or at least a medium of light and bless- 
 ing to the nations ; but instead of acting up to this high 
 character, he not only left the nations without light, but was 
 wilfully blinded and insensible hims'elf Yet God would still 
 be true to his engagements, and put honour on the special 
 revelation which he had already given. Why, then, it might 
 be asked, was Israel suifered to fall before his enemies ? The 
 answer to this question is introduced by an indirect caution to 
 consider it and bear it in mind. The interrogative form implies 
 the possibility of their neglecting or refusing to obey it. The 
 last phrase relates either to the time of hearing [henceforth or 
 hereafter) or the subject of the declarations to be heard [concern- 
 ing the fwturi:). 
 
 24. Who has given Jacob for a frey^ and Israel to spoilers? 
 Has not Jehovah, against ivhom ive have sinned, and they were not 
 u-'iUing in his loays to ivalk, and did not hearken to his laio ? 
 This was what they were to bear in mind, viz. that what they 
 suffered was ordained of God and on account of their in- 
 ifjuities. The errors of which this verse is the negation are 
 those of supposing that they suffered without fault, and that 
 they suffered, as it were, in spite of God's protection, or be- 
 cause he was unable to prevent it. The interrogation makes 
 the statement more emphatic : Who else can be imagined to 
 have done it, or for what other cause except our sins ? The 
 change of person in the last clause is a c'oiiShon Hebrew idiom 
 and does not seem to be significant. If the Prophet identifies 
 himself with the people in the first phrase, he cannot be sup- 
 posed to exclude himself in that which follows. This verse is 
 strictly applicable to the sufferings of the Jews in Babylon, 
 and it was no doubt so applied by them ; but in itself it is a 
 general declaration which has been often verified and was 
 especially exemplified in ancient Israel, viz. that the sufiierings 
 even of God's people are the consequence of sin. 
 
 VOL. u — 6 
 
122 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 25. And he (Jehovah) ^owrerZ upo7i him (Israel) /M?-y, (^even) his 
 wrath and the strength (or violence') of war : and it set him on fire 
 O'ound about, and he knew {it) not ; and it burned him, and he will 
 not lay it to heart. This continues and concludes the descrip- 
 tion of God's judgments and of Israel's insensibility. He knew 
 not does not here mean unaioarrs, without his knowledge, but, 
 as the parallel clause shows, implies extreme insensibility. The 
 translation of the last verb as a preterite is ungrammatical, and 
 the assimilation of the two as presents quite gratuitous. That 
 a preterite precedes, instead of showing that the futm-e must refer 
 to past time, shows the contrary, by leaving us unable to account 
 for the diiference of form if none of meaning was intended. 
 However necessary such assimilations may be elsewhere, they 
 are inadmissible in cases like the present, where the change of 
 tense admits of an easy explanation, to wit, that the writer in- 
 tended to describe the people, not only as having been insensible 
 before, but as likely to continue so in time to come. On the 
 usage of the phrase to put or lay wpon the heart, see above, p. 97. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII. ' 
 
 The main subject of this chapter is the true relation of Israel 
 to Jehovah, and it# application in the way both of warning and 
 encouragement. The doctrine taught is that their segregation 
 from the rest of men, as a peculiar people, was an act of sover- 
 eignty, independent of all merit in themselves, and not even 
 intended for their benefit exclusively, but for the accomplish- 
 ment of God's gracious purposes respecting men in general. 
 The inferences drawn from this fact are. that Israel would cer- 
 tainly escape the dangers which environed him however immi- 
 nent, and on the other hand that he must suffer for his unfaith- 
 
CHAPTER XLIIL 123 
 
 fulness to God. In illustration of these truths, the Prophet 
 introduces several historical allusions and specific prophecies, 
 the most striking of the former having respect to the exodus 
 from Egypt, and of the latter to the fall of Babylon. It 4s 
 important to the just interpretation of the chapter that these 
 parts of it should be seen in their true light and proportion, as 
 incidental illustrations, not as the main subject of the prophecy, 
 which, as already stated, is the general relation between God 
 and his ancient people, and his mode of dealing with tliem, not 
 at one time but at all times. 
 
 Israel is -the peculiar people of Jehovah, cherished and fa- 
 voured at the expense of other nations, vs. 1-4. But these are 
 one day to become partakers of the same advantages, vs. 5-9. 
 The proofs of the divine protection are afforded by the history 
 of Israel; vs. 10-13. One of the most remarkable, still future, 
 is the downfall of Babylon and the liberation of the exiles, 
 vs. 14, 15. An analogous example in more anci^t times was 
 the deliverance from Egypt, vs. 16, 17. But both these in- 
 stances shall be forgotten in comparison with the great change 
 which awaits the church hereafter, vs. 18-21. Of all these dis- 
 tinguishing favours none was owing to the merit of the people, 
 but all to the sovereign grace of God. vs. 22-25. The people 
 were not only destitute of merit, but deserving of punishment, 
 which they had experienced and must experience again, 
 vs. 26-28. 
 
 1. And now, thus sailh Jehovah., thy creator, oh Jacob, and thy 
 former, oh Israel, Fear not, for I have redeemed thee, I have called' 
 thee hy thy name, thou art mine (literally, to me art thou). The 
 juxtaposition of this promise with the very different language 
 at the close of the preceding chapter has led to various false 
 assumptions as to the connection of the passages. The simplest 
 and most satisfactory hypothesis is that, in this whole context, 
 the Prophet is accounting for the sufferings of Israel and his 
 
124 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 preservation from destruction on the same ground, namely, that 
 Jehovah had chosen them and therefore would preserve them, 
 but that they were unfaithful and must therefore suffer. The 
 intermingling of the promises and threatenings is not to be 
 explained by supposing a reference to different periods or dif- 
 ferent subjects ; nor is it to be set down as capricious and 
 unmeaning, but as necessary to the Prophet's purpose. The 
 now will then have a logical rather than a temporal meaning, as 
 introductory to an explanation of the strange fact that the bush 
 was burned but not consumed. Creator and former have refer- 
 ence not merely to the natural creation, nor to the spiritual 
 renovation of individuals, but to the creation or constitution of 
 the church God was the maker of Israel in a peculiar sense. 
 He existed as a nation for a special purpose. Fear not, i e. fear 
 not that thou canst be utterly destroyed. It is not an assurance 
 of immunity from suffering, the experience of which is implied 
 and indeed expressly threatened in what follows. / have re- 
 deemed thee. There is here an allusion to the redemption of the 
 first-born under the Mosaic law, as appears from the metaphor 
 of substitution used in vs. 3 and 4. Thus understood, the 
 meaning of this clause is, thou art not like the other nations of 
 the earth, for I have purchased or redeemed thee to myself as 
 a peculiar people. To call by najne includes the ideas of specific 
 designation, public announcement, and solemn consecration to 
 a certain work. This and the other clauses of the verse can 
 be applied to the election and vocation of individuals only by 
 accommodation, or so far as the case of the individual members 
 is included in that of the whole body. 
 
 2. When thou passesi through the waters, I will be with thee ; 
 and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee : when thou 
 walkest througJi the fire^ thou shall not be scorched, and the flame 
 shall not burn thee. Fire and water are common figures for 
 calamity and danger. (See Ps. 66; 12.) It is the genius of 
 
CHAPTER XLIII. 125 
 
 the language to delight in short independent clauses, where we 
 use more involved and complicated periods. ' For thou shalt 
 pass through the waters, I will be with thee,' is the idiomatic 
 Hebrew mode of saying, If or when thou passest, etc. The last 
 clause might be rendered, when thou walkest i7i thefire^ the prep- 
 osition through being used even in the first clause only because 
 the English idiom requires it after pass. The common version 
 of the last words, shall not kindle upon, thc£^ is of doubtful au- 
 thority, and seems to introduce a needless anticlimax, as burn- 
 ing is much more than kindling. The application of this promise 
 to individual believers is an accommodation, but one justified by 
 the natural relation between the body and its several members. 
 
 3._ For ij Jehovah^ thy Gocl^ the Holy One of Israel., thy Saviour., 
 have given {as) thy ransom Egypt^ Ethiojno; and Seba, instead 
 of thee. This is an amplification of the phrase / have redeemed 
 thee in V. 1. As the Israelite under the Mosaic law was obliged 
 to redeem his first-born by the payment of a price, or by the 
 Bubstitution of some other object, so Jehovah secured Israel as 
 his own by giving up the other nations, here represented by a 
 single group, just as the forest-trees are represented in ch. 41 : 
 19 by a few well-known species. The group here selected is 
 composed of three contiguous and kindred nations. Cush, which 
 was placed by the older writers either wholly or partly in Ara- 
 bia, is admitted by the moderns to be coincident with the Ethio- 
 pia of the Greek geographers. Seba is now commonly supposed, 
 on the authority of Josephus, to be Meroe, a part of Ethiopia 
 surrounded by the branches of the Nile, and celebrated by the 
 ancient writers for its wealth and commerce. The connection 
 of the countries was not only geographical but genealogical. 
 According to Gen. 10:6, 7, Cush was the brother of Mizraim 
 and the father of Seba. According to this exegetical hypothe- 
 sis, the same essential meaning might have been conveyed by 
 the mention of any other group of nations. At the same time, 
 
126 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 it may be admitted that the mention of Egypt was probably 
 suggested by its intimate connection with the history of Israel, 
 and by its actual sacrifice, in some sort, to the safety of the 
 latter at the period of the exodus. Many interpreters go fur- 
 ther and suppose that the words would have been applicable to 
 no other nations than those specifically mentioned, and that the 
 Prophet here alludes to the real or anticipated conquest of these 
 countries by Cyrus, as a sort of compensation for the loss of 
 Israel. But the necessity of this prosaic explanation is pre- 
 cluded by the prophetic usage of spejcifying individuals as rep- 
 resentatives of classes, while the sense thus put upon ransom or 
 atonement is extremely forced and far-fetched. That the terms 
 although specific were designed to have a wider application, may 
 be safely inferred from the generic expressions substituted for 
 them in the next verse. The essential idea of ransom here 
 is that of vicarious compensation. The insertion of the sub- 
 stantive verb in the first clause, so as to make it a distinct 
 proposition (J am Jehovah), greatly weakens the whole sen- 
 tence. The description of the speaker in the first clause is 
 intended to conciliate regard to what he says in the other. It 
 was in the character, not only of an absolute and sovereign God, 
 but in that of Israel's God, his Holy One, his Saviour, that 
 Jehovah had thus chosen him to the exclusion of all other 
 nations. 
 
 4. Since, thou wast precious in my eyes, thou hast been honoured, 
 and I have loved thee, and will give man instead of thee and nations 
 instead of thy soul (or life). There is precisely the same ambi- 
 guity in since as in the Hebrew word. Both expressions may 
 be taken either in a temporal or causal sense. Because thou 
 wast precious, or, from the time that thou toast precious. The former 
 sense is really included in the latter. If Israel had been hon- 
 oured ever since Jehovah called him, it is plainly implied that 
 this vocation was the cause of his distinction. The first clause, 
 
CHAPTEE XLIII. 127 
 
 as the whole context clearly shows, does not refer to intrinsic 
 qualities, but to an arbitrary sovereign choice. ' Since I began 
 to treat thee as a thing of value, thou hast been distinguished 
 among the nations.' The verse, so far from ascribing any merit 
 to the people, refers all to God The future [I toill give) shows 
 that the substitution mentioned in v. 3 did not relate merely to 
 the past but to the future also. Man is here used collectively 
 or indefinitely for other men.^ or the rest of men, as in Judg. 16 : 
 7. Ps.'73 : 5. Job 21 : 33. Jer. 32 : 20. Thy soul, life, or perso7i, 
 seems to be an allusion to the usage of the same Hebrew word 
 in the Law^ with respect to enumeration or redemption. (See 
 Ex. 12:4. Lev. 27 : 2.) The general terms of this clause make 
 it wholly improbable that v. 3 has specific and exclusive refer- 
 ence to the nations named there. 
 
 5. Fea?- not, for I {am) with thee; from the east iiiill I make (or 
 let) thy seed come, and from the loest will I gather thee. The refer- 
 ence of this verse to the restoration of the Jews from Babylon 
 is not only arbitrary and without foundation, but forbidden by 
 the mention of the west as well as the east. That it refers to 
 any restoration is the more improbable, because the Prophet 
 does not say bring hack but simply bring. The only interpre- 
 tation which entirely suits the text and context, without sup- 
 plying or assuming anything beyond what is expressed, is that 
 which makes the verse a promise to the church that she should 
 be completed, that all her scattered members should be ulti- 
 mately brought together. (Compare John 1 1 : 52. Rom. 3 : 29, 
 1 John 2:2.) Thy seed has reference to Israel or Jacob as the 
 ideal object of address. 
 
 6. / toill say to the north, Give, and to the south, Withhold not ; 
 let my sons come from far, and my daughters from the end of the 
 earth. This is a poetical amplification of the promise in the 
 foregoing verse. As it was there declared that God would 
 
128 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 bring and gather the whole seed of Israel, so here he represents 
 himself as calling on the north and the south to execute his 
 purpose. 
 
 7. Every one called by my name^ and for my glory I have created 
 him ; I have (armed him, yea I have made him. The construction 
 is continued from the foregoing verse. ' My sons and my daugh- 
 ters, even every one called by my name.' And I have created 
 him is a common Hebrew idiom equivalent to whom I have crea- 
 ted. For my glory is emphatic. God had not only made them 
 what they were, but he had done it for his own sake, not for 
 theirs. So likewise he now speaks of their being called by his 
 name, as he did before of his calling them by their name, the 
 latter denoting special designation, the former special authority 
 and right. 
 
 8. He hath brought out the blind people.^ and there are eyes (to 
 tliem) ; and the deaf and {there are) cars to them. The two 
 clauses are so constructed as to supply one another's ellipses. 
 On the whole, the most satisfactory interpretation of the verse 
 is that which understands it as descriptive of the change 
 wrought or to be wrought in the condition of mankind by Je- 
 hovah, through the agency of his people, whether the latter be 
 expressly mentioned here or not. He (i. e. God, or Israel as 
 his messenger) hath brovght out a people (once) blind, and (now) 
 ihry ha^ve eyes, and (once) deaf and (now) tliey have ears, i. e. 
 seeing eyes and hearing ears. This agrees perfectly with all 
 that goes before and follows as to the mission and vocation of 
 God's people. 
 
 9. All the nations are gathered together, and the. peoples arc to be 
 assembled. Who among them will declare this and let us hear the 
 first things ? Let them give (or produce) their witnesses and be jus- 
 tified ; and (if they cannot do this) let them hear (my witnesses), 
 
CHAPTER XLIII. 129 
 
 and say, (It is) the truth. The nations have been gathered, but 
 the process is not yet completed. This gathering of the nations 
 has been commonly explained as a judicial metaphor like that 
 in ch. 41:1. In that case the verse describes the heathen as 
 assembled at the judgment-seat to plead their cause against 
 Jehovah. This agrees well with the forensic terms employed 
 in the subsequent context. It is possible, however, that this 
 first clause may have been intended to describe not the process 
 but the subject of adjudication. The gathering of the nations 
 will then denote their accession to the church, as predicted in 
 vs 5-7 ; and this, in the next clause, will refer to the same 
 event. Who among them (i. e. the nations) could have foretold 
 their own change of condition ? On the other supposition, 
 this must either be indefinite, or mean the restoration of the 
 Jews from exile, of which, as we have seen, there is no specific 
 mention in the foregoing context. In either case, the usual 
 alternative is off'ered, viz that of pointing out some previous 
 instance of foreknowledge and prediction. The last clause 
 admits of two constructions. It may either be read, let them 
 be just (or candid) and hear and say it is the truth; or, let 
 them be justified (by the witnesses whom they produce), and 
 (if not) let them hear (my witnesses) and say, it is the truth. 
 The latter seems more natural. 
 
 10. Ye arc my witnesses, saith Jehovah, and my servant whom 
 I Jiave chosen, that ye may know and believe me, and may under- 
 stand that I avi He ; before me was not formed a god, and after 
 me there shall not be. Ye are my witnesses and (ye are) my ser- 
 vant whom I have chosen (for this very purpose). The combina- 
 tion of the plural witnesses with the singular servayit, although 
 strange in itself, is in perfect agreement with the previous rep- 
 resentations of Israel as both a person and a body politic. 
 That ye may knoio depends upon the words immediately pre- 
 ceding, lohom I have chosen, and the clause declares the purpose 
 
 6* 
 
130 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 not only of the testimony here adduced, but of the election 
 and vocation of his servant. The witness to whom God ap- 
 peals is Israel, his servant, constituted such for the very end 
 that he might know and understand and believe that of which 
 all other nations were entirely ignorant, viz. that Jehovah was 
 He, i. e. the being in question, the only wise God, the only in- 
 fallible foreteller of futurity. Various attempts have been 
 made to explain away the singular expression, there was no god 
 formed before me, as an inaccuracy of expression ; whereas 
 nothing else could have conveyed the writer's meaning in a 
 form at once sarcastic, ai'gumentative, and graphic. Instead 
 of saying, in a bald prosaic form, all other gods are the 
 work of men's hands, but I am uncreated and exist from all 
 eternity, he condenses all into the pregnant declaration, there 
 was no god manufactured before me, i. e. all other gods were 
 made, but none of them was made before I had a being. 
 There is not even such an incongruity of form as some sup- 
 pose, a notion resting on the false assumption that before me 
 must in this connection mean ie/bre J t^as /ory/jr'f?, whereas it 
 only means ie/b?-e J exis/ei, just as the parallel phrase ix/fe/ me 
 does not mean after I am formed, but after I shall cense to exist. 
 The sarcasm is rendered still more pungent by the use of the 
 divine name, thus bringing into the most revolting contrast 
 the pretended divinity of idols and their impotence ; as if he 
 had said, none of these almighty gods were made before I had 
 a being. 
 
 11. /, /, Jehovah, and besides me (or apart from mt) there is no 
 Saviour. In the first clause we may simply supply am, as in 
 the English and most other versions, or am He from the pre- 
 ceding verse, and in the sense there explained. The exclusive 
 honour here claimed is not merely that of infallible foreknowl- 
 edge, but of infinite power. Jehovah was able not only to 
 foretell the salvation of his people, but to save them. These 
 
CHAPTER XLIIL 131 
 
 terms are not to be restricted, if applied at all directlj', to the 
 final salvation of individual believers. There is evident allu- 
 sion to the deliverance of Israel as a people from external suf- 
 ferings or dangers, of which one signal instance is referred to 
 in V. 14 and another in v. 16. At the same time, the doctrine 
 here propounded, or the character ascribed to God, affords a 
 sure foundation for the personal trust of all who have really a 
 place among his people. 
 
 12. I have told and have saved and have declared (or let you 
 hear beforehand), and there is not among you {any) stranger ; 
 and ye are my loiincsses, saith Jehovah^ and I [am) God. Having 
 laid claim successively to divine prescience and power, he here 
 combines the tw©, and represents himself both as the foreteller 
 and the giver of salvation. The emphatic insertion of the 
 pronoun / at the beginning of the verse can only be expressed 
 in English by a circumlocution, it is I that have tpld etc. 
 
 13. Also (or even^ from the day I am Hc.^ and there is no one 
 freeing from my hand ; I will do., and %oho will undo it ? The 
 assonance in the last clause is not in the original, which liter- 
 ally means, / ivill act (or make), and who tvill cause it to return, 
 i. e. reverse or nullify it ? The interrogative form implies 
 negation. A similar expression of the same idea is found in 
 ch. 14 : 27. What is said specifically in the first clause of de- 
 livering from Jehovah's power, is extended in the last to all 
 counteraction or reversal of his acts. Fro)n the day is under- 
 stood by some as referring to a specific terminus a quo, such as 
 the origin of Israel as a nation, the exodus, etc. Others make 
 it indefinite, of old or long since. But the best interpreters 
 explain it as meaning since the first day, or since time began. 
 The words are then universal, both in the extent of power 
 claimed, and in relation to the time of its exercise, Over 
 
132 CHAPTER XLI 1 1. 
 
 every object and in every age the power of Jehovah had been 
 clearly proved to be supreme and absolute. 
 
 14. Thus saith Jehovah^ your Redeemer^ thi Holy One of 
 Israel : For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought 
 down (or viade to descend") fugitives all of them ; and the Chal- 
 deans, in the ships their shout (or song). This is a particular 
 instance of the general protection vouchsafed by Jehovah to 
 his people, and more especially of that providential substitution 
 or redemption, of which we read above in vs. 3, 4. The infer- 
 ence bi^fore drawn from the general terms of v. 4, that the 
 nations mentioned in v. 3 are only representatives or samples, 
 is confirmed by this explicit mention of the fall of Babylon as 
 an example of the same great truth. The titles added to Je- 
 hovah's name are not mere expletives or words of course, but 
 intimate that he would bring this great event to pass in his dis- 
 tinctive character as the Redeemer and the Holy One of 
 Israel. The event, although still future to the writer, is de- 
 scribed as past, in reference not only to the purposes of God, 
 but also to the perceptions of the Prophet. As presented to his 
 view by the prophetic inspiration, the destruction of Babylon 
 vras just as truly a historical event as that of Pharaoh and his 
 host. 
 
 15. / Jehova/i, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your 
 King. This verse may possibly have been intended merely to 
 identify the subject of the one before it. I sent to Babylon etc. 
 even /, Jehovah, your Holy One etc. It is simpler, however, and 
 more in accordance with the usage of the language to make 
 this a distinct proposition by supplying the verb of existence. 
 / am Jehovah, or, / Jehovah [am) your Holy One, or, / Jeho- 
 vah, your Holy One, {atn) the Creator of Israel, your King. 
 Even in this case, the event predicted in v. 14 is referred to, 
 as the proof of his being what he here asserts. 
 
CHAPTER XLIII. 133 
 
 16. Thus saith Jehovah^ the [one) giving in the sea a way^ and 
 in mighty waters a path. As the participle is very commonly 
 employed in Hebrew to denote continued and habitual action, 
 this verse might be regarded as a general description of God's 
 iTsual control of the elements and conquest of all difSculties. 
 But the terms of the next verse, and the subsequent contrast 
 between old and new deliverances, have led most interpreters 
 to understand this likewise as an allusion to the passage of the 
 Eed Sea, 
 
 17. The [one) bringing out chariot and horse, force and strength 
 (literally, strong) ; together they shall lie, they shall not rise ; they 
 are extinct, like tow (or like a wick) they are quenched. The con- 
 struction is continued from the foregoing verse, and the first 
 word agrees directly with Jehovah. Some understand the verse 
 as having reference to a naval victory of Cyrus over the Chal- 
 deans, othei's as relating to the destruction of Pharaoh and his 
 host. It is no objection to the latter application that the verb 
 is future, as it denotes not merely the act of lying down, but 
 the state of lying still, and is therefore a poetical equivalent 
 and parallel to shall not rise. That something long past is in- 
 tended, may be gathered from the exhortation of the next 
 verse. 
 
 18. Rcmemher not former things, and old things consider not. 
 As if he had said, why should I refer to ancient instances of 
 God's almighty intervention in behalf of his people, when others 
 equally remarkable are yet to come ? Some refer this to the 
 advent of Christ, but most to the fall of Babylon and restora- 
 tion of the Jews from exile. The necessity of this specific 
 application by no means follows from the express mention of 
 that event in v. 14 ; because, as we have seen, it is there intro- 
 duced as a single illustration or example of a general truth, 
 which had before been stated, and which may possibly be here 
 
134 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 repeated. This supposition is at least sufficient to meet all tlie 
 requisitions of the text and context. 
 
 19. Behold I [am) doing {something) new^ it is noio (or yet) to 
 sprout (or germinate) ; do you not know it ? Yes, I will place in 
 the wilderness a way, in the desert streams. The now does not 
 necessarily denote a proximate futurity, but only that the thing 
 is yet to happen, or in other words, that it is something new, as 
 distinguished from all former instances. As if he had said, it 
 is still future. The figure of germination implies that as yet 
 there was no appearance of the final issue. (See the same ex- 
 pression in ch 42: 9.) Do you not knoio it, i. e. know what it 
 is? Or, will you not know it, i. e. are you not willing to be con- 
 vinced ? Or, shall you not knoiv it, i. e. is not the event to be 
 attested by your own experience ? Not content with having made 
 a way through the sea, he would make one through the desert. 
 Now as this is really a less extraordinary act of power than the 
 other, it would seem to favour the opinion, that v. 16 and the 
 one before us do not relate indefinitely to the exhibition of Je- 
 hovah's omnipotence, but specifically to the exodus from Egypt 
 and the restoration of the Jews from exile. Even on this hy- 
 pothesis, however, the terms of this verse must be understood 
 not as a description of the literal return, but as a figurative 
 representation of deliverance and relief, whereas v. 16 describes 
 a literal deliverance. On the whole, therefore, it is best to take 
 both verses as strong metaphorical descriptions of deliverance 
 from suffering and danger by a direct divine interposition. Even 
 supposing an allusion to the literal journey through the desert, 
 what is said of rivers must be figurative, which makes it proba- 
 ble that the whole sentence is of the same description. Thus 
 understood, the Prophet's language means that God could 
 change the face of nature and control the angry elements in 
 favour of his people ; that he had so done in time past, and 
 would again do so in time to come. 
 
CHAPTER XLIII. 135 
 
 20. The living creature of the field shall honour me, jackals (or 
 wolves) and ostriches ; because I have given in the wilderness waters, 
 and streams in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen. 
 The change is fiii ther described by representing the irrational 
 inmates of the desert as rejoicing in its irrigation. This bold 
 conception makes it still more probable that what precedes does 
 not relate to a literal journey through a literal desert. As the 
 first phrase seems to be a general one, including the two 
 species afterwards mentioned, the translation beast is too re- 
 stricted, and should give way to that which is etymologically 
 most exact,- viz.. 'QSiov, animal, or living creature. The form 
 is singular, the sense collective. The two species represent the 
 whole class of animals inhabiting the wilderness. (Compare 
 ch. 13 : 21, 22.) The common version of the last words of this 
 verse is an exact one. My chosen people would be otherwise 
 expressed. To the simple designation oi my people, he adds, by 
 a kind of afterthought, wy chosen or elect. ^ 
 
 21. The people (or this people) I have formed for my self ; my 
 praise shall tliey recount (or they are to recount my praise). Another 
 declaration of the end for which Israel existed as a nation. This 
 brings us back to the main proposition of the chapter, namely, 
 that Jehovah had not only made them what they were, but had 
 made them for the purpose of promoting his own glory, so that 
 any claim of merit upon their part, and any apprehension of 
 entire destruction, must be equally unfounded. 
 
 22. And not me hast thou called, oh Jacob ; for thou hast been 
 weary of vie, oh Israel. Interpreters, almost without exception, 
 give the first Hebrew verb the sense of called upon, invoked 
 or worshipped. There is much, however, to be said in favour 
 of the sense, thou hast not called me, I have called thee ; as our 
 Saviour says to his disciples, ye hmte not chosen me, but I have 
 chosen you (John 15 : 16). Having thus far represented the 
 
136 CHAPTER XLHI. 
 
 vocation of Israel as a sovereign act on God's part, he now 
 presents the converse of the same proposition. This construc- 
 tion is further recommended by its accounting for the unusual 
 position of the words at the beginning of the verse, without 
 resorting to the arbitrary supposition that it is characteristic of 
 a later age than that of Isaiah. As if he had said, it is not I 
 that have been called by you. According to the usual construc- 
 tion of the first clause, the second may be rendered either whi-ii 
 or because thou wast weary of me. It is not easy to determine 
 whether labour or fatigue is the primary meaning of the word 
 translated weary. Sometimes the one idea is more prominent, 
 sometimes the other. In this case both would naturally be 
 suggested, as in the following paraphrase. It is not I that have 
 been called by thee ; for so far from manifesting such a prefer- 
 ence, thou hast been wearied and disgusted with the labour 
 which attends my service. The indirect construction (that 
 thou should st be weary of me) is only admissible in case of exe- 
 getical necessity. 
 
 23. Thou hast not brought to me the sheep of thy burnt-offermg, 
 and {loith) thy sacrifices thou hast not honoured me. I have not 
 made thee serve with oblation, and I have not made thee labour (or 
 wearied thee) with incense. The whole Mosaic ritual is here 
 represented by an enumeration of some of the principal offer- 
 ings ; the olah or general expiation, the zebahim or other ani- 
 mal sacrifices, the minhah or meal-oifering, and the lebonah 
 or aromatic fumigation. The Hebrew word includes the goat 
 as well as the sheep, and is therefore correctly rendered in the 
 English Version by the phrase sniall cattle. Of the whole verse 
 there are several distinct interpretations or rather applications. 
 Some place the emphasis upon the pronouns. It is not to me 
 that thou hast ofi"ered all this, but to idols. Another class of 
 writers understand the passage strictly as charging the Jews 
 with culpable neglect of the ceremonial law. A third hypothe- 
 
CHAPTER XLIII. 137 
 
 sis applies the passage to the unavoidable suspension of the 
 ceremonial service during the captivity in Babylon, which it 
 supposes to be here urged as a proof that the deliverance of 
 Israel from exile was an act of mercy, not of righteous retribu- 
 tion for their national obedience and fidelity. It is much more 
 obvious to give the words the general and unrestricted mean- 
 ing which they naturally bear as a description of the people's 
 conduct, not at one time or at one place, but throughout 
 their history. The most satisfactory interpretation of the 
 verse, and that which best agrees with the whole context, is, 
 that it has reference not merely to the outward or material 
 act, but to its moral value and eflect. You have not so per- 
 formed your ceremonial duties as to lay me under any obliga- 
 tion to protect you. You have not really given me your cattle, 
 you have not truly honoured me with sacrifices. The best ex- 
 planation of the last clause is, I have not succeeded in inducing 
 you to serve me, I have not prevailed upon you to exert your- 
 selves, much less wearied or exhausted you in ceremonial ser- 
 vices. 
 
 24. Thou hast not bought for vie sweet cane with money^ and 
 (with) the fat of thy sacrifices thou hast not drenched me ; thou hast 
 only made me serve with thy sins, and made me toil (or wearied me') 
 with thine iniquities. Sweet cane is mentioned, like the other 
 things with which it stands connected, as a specimen or sample 
 of the whole congeries of ceremonial services. The antithesis 
 between the clauses seems to show that the idea meant to be 
 conveyed in this whole context is, that their external services 
 were nullified by sin. So far from being satisfied or pleased 
 with what they ofi"ered, God was only vexed with their trans- 
 gressions and neglects. 
 
 25. /, I am he blotting out thy transgressions for mine own sake, 
 and thy sins I will not remember. This is the conclusion to which 
 
138 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 all that goes before was meant to lead, to wit, that God's good- 
 ness to bis peoj)le is gratuitous. If they, instead of choosing 
 God and his service, were averse to both ; if, instead of pleasing 
 him by their attentions, they had grieved him by their sins ; 
 it follows of course that he could still show them favour only by 
 gratuitously blotting out their sins from his remembrance, or iu 
 other words, freely forgiving them. 
 
 26. Remind me ; let us plead together (or judge one another) ; 
 state {thy case), that thou mayest be justified. After asserting, in 
 the foregoing verse, the total want of merit in the people and 
 their dependence upon God's gratuitous compassion, he now, as 
 it were, allows them to disprove his allegation, by reminding 
 him of some forgotten merit on their part. The badness of 
 their case could not have been more strongly or sarcastically 
 stated than in this ironical invitation to plead their own cause 
 and establish their own rights if they could, with a tacit condi- 
 tion, not expressed but implied, that if they could not justify 
 themselves in this way, they should submit to the righteousness 
 of God and consent to be justified by grace. 
 
 27. Thy first father sinned, and thy interpreters rebelled against 
 me. It may be considered as implied, that all their fathers who 
 had since lived shared in the original depravity, and thus" the 
 same sense is obtained that would have been expressed by the 
 collective explanation oi first father, while the latter is still 
 taken in its strict and full sense as denoting the progenitor of 
 all mankind. Interpreters, or organs of communication, is a title 
 given elsewhere to ambassadors (2 Chr. 32: 31) and to an inter- 
 ceding angel (Job 33 : 23). It here denotes all those who, under 
 the theocracy, acted as organs of communication between God 
 and the people, whether prophets, priests, or rulers. The idea 
 therefore, is the same so often expressed elsewhere, that the peo- 
 ple, and especially their leaders, were unfaithful and rebellious. 
 
CHAPTER XLIV. 139 
 
 28. And I will frofane the holy chi"fs, and unit give vp Jacob 
 to the curse and Israel to reproaches. The character just given 
 of the people in all ages is urged not only as a proof that God's 
 compassion must be perfectly gratuitous, but also as a reason 
 for the strokes which they experienced. This last phrase is 
 descriptive of the same persons called interpreters in v. 27, 
 namely, all the official representatives and leaders of the holy 
 (i. e. consecrated and peculiar) people. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIY. 
 
 This chapter opens, like the fortieth and forty-third, with 
 cheering promises to Israel, followed by reasons for confiding 
 in them, drawn from the wisdom, power, and' goodness of 
 Jehovah. The specific promise, which constitutes the theme or 
 basis of the prophecy, is that of abundant spiritual influences and 
 their fruits, not only internal prosperity, but large accessions 
 from without, vs. 1-5. The pledge for the fulfilment of this 
 promise is afforded by the proofs of God's omniscience, as con- 
 trasted with all other gods, vs 6-9. The folly of image-worship 
 is then established by two arguments. The first is that idols 
 are themselves the creatures of mere men, vs. 10-14. The 
 other is that they are not only made, and made by man, but 
 made of the very same materials that are constantly applied to 
 the most trivial domestic uses, vs. 15-20. From this demon- 
 stration of the power of Jehovah to perform his promise we are 
 now brought back to the promise itself, vs. 21-24. This is 
 again confirmed by an appeal to God's creative power, and 
 illustrated by the raising up of Cyrus as a deliverer to Israel, 
 vs. 25-28. 
 
 Here again it is important to the just interpretation of the 
 
140 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 passage that we keep in view the true relation which the main 
 theme (the safety and prosperity of Israel) bears to the argu- 
 ments and illustrations drawn from God's foreknowledge as 
 established by prediction, from the impotence of idols, and the 
 raising up of Cyrus. Through all these varied forms of promise 
 and of reasoning there runs a thread uniting them, and this 
 thread is the doctrine of the Church, its origin, its design, and 
 its relation to its Head and to the world around it. 
 
 1. And now hear, Jacob viy servant, and Israel I have chosen 
 him (i. e. whom I have chosen). The transition here is the 
 same as at the opening of the foregoing chapter, and the noio. 
 as there, has rather a logical than a temporal meaning. For 
 reasons which have been already given, there is no need of 
 supposing that a different Israel is here addressed, viz. the 
 penitent believing Jews in exile ; or a different period referred 
 to, namely, that succeeding the calamities before described. It 
 is simply a resumption and continuation of the Prophet's argu- 
 ment, intended to exhibit the true relation between God and 
 his people. The election here affirmed is probably the choice 
 and separation of the church, or God's peculiar people, from 
 the rest of men. 
 
 2. Thus saith Jehovah, iky malcer and thy former from the womb 
 will help thee; fear not, my servant Jacob, and Jeshurun xohom I 
 have chosen. The simplest construction is to make the words 
 of Jehovah begin with thy maker, the transition from the third 
 to the first person being altogether natural and one of perpetual 
 occurrence in Isaiah. Thy maker will help thee is equivalent to 
 /, who am thy maker, will help thee. But even on the common 
 supposition, that the words of God begin with the second 
 clause, it is better to take he will help thee as a short independ- 
 ent clause, parenthetically thrown in to complete the descrip- 
 tion or to connect it with what follows. Thus saith thy maker 
 
CHAPTER XLIV. 141 
 
 and thy former frovi the womb — he loill help thee — Fear not etc. 
 The use of these expressions in addressing Israel only shows 
 that the conception present to the writer's mind is that of an 
 individual man. Jeshurun occurs only here and in l)eut. 
 32 : 15. 33 : 5, 26. 
 
 3. For I will pour waters on the thirsty, and flowing {waters) 
 on the dry {land) ; I will pour my spirit on thy seed, and my 
 blessing on thine offspring. This is the grand reason why God's 
 people should not despair. The two clauses explain each other, 
 the water ot the first being clearly identical with the spirit of 
 the second. This is a common figure for influence from above. 
 (See ch. 32 : 15. Ez. 34 : 26. Mai. 3 : 10.) This promise in- 
 cludes all the influences of the Holy Spirit. The ideal object 
 of address is Jacob as the national progenitor, and the Jews 
 themselves are here described as his descendants. Even this, 
 however, does not necessarily exclude the spiritual ofi"spriug of 
 the patriarch, who are explicitly referred to in the context. 
 
 4. And they shall spring up in the midst of the grass, like wtl- 
 loios on (or by) the water-courses. This verse describes the effect 
 of the irrigation and effusion promised in the one before it. 
 The subject of the verb is the offspring or descendants of 
 Israel, by whom the blessing was to be experienced. The grass 
 and the willows are separated only by tlie rhythmical arrange- 
 ment of the sentence. The simple meaning of the whole verse 
 is, that they shall grow as willows grow anaong the grass, i. e. in 
 a moist or marshy spot. 
 
 5. This shall say, To Jehovah I {belong) ; and this shall call 
 on (or by) the name of Jacob ; and this shall itiscribe his hand (or 
 with his hand), To Jehovah, arid with the name of Israel shall 
 entitle. It is commonly agreed that this verse predicts the ac- 
 cession of the gentiles, whom it represents as publicly pro- 
 
142 CHAPTER X L I V. 
 
 fessing tlieir allegiance to Jehovah and attachment to his 
 people. The act of calling one by name, and that of calling 
 on his name (invoking him), are intimately blended in the He- 
 brew usage. Most interpreters understand it here as meaning 
 to praise or celebrate. Some understand the last verb to mean 
 he shall stirname himself {ox be surnamed), others he shall name 
 the name of Jacob in a flattering or respectful manner. Of 
 the intermediate clause there are two ancient explanations, one 
 of which makes it mean he shall write {with) his hand, in allu- 
 sion to the signing of contracts (Jer. 32 : 10. Neh. 9 : 38); the 
 other, he shall write upon (inscribe) his hand, in allusion to the 
 ancient custom of marking soldiers, slaves, and other depend- 
 ents, with the name of their superior, to which there seems to 
 be a reference in Ex. 13 : 9 and Rev. 13 : 16. 
 
 6. Thus saith Jehovah, king of Israel, and his redeems, Je- 
 hovah of Hosts: I (am) first, and I {am) last, and toithout me 
 there is no God. This is a description of the God whom the 
 nations, in the preceding verse, are represented as acknowl- 
 edging. The attributes ascribed to him afford, at the same 
 time, a sufficient reason for confiding in his promises. The 
 terras here used are appropriated to the Lord Jesus Christ 
 in Rev. 1 : 18. 2 : 8. 22 : 13. There is no need of giving 
 to the preposition in the last clause the restricted sense 
 besides, which is really included in the usual and strict sense 
 of without, i. e. without my knowledge and permission, or 
 without subjection to my sovereign authority. The mean- 
 ing is not simply, that there is no other true God in exist- 
 ence, but that even the Ityouei'oi Osoi (1 Cor. 8 : 5) exist only 
 by his sufferance, and canpot therefore be his equals or com- 
 petitors. 
 
 7. And who, like me, loill call, and tell it, and state it to me, 
 since I placed the anciejit people ; and coming things and things 
 
CHAPTER XLIV. 143 
 
 which are to come will tell to them (or for thein^elvcs) ? There is 
 no reason why the iuterrogatioii should not be considered as 
 extending through the verse, the rather as a different construc- 
 tion splits the sentence into several, and arbitrarily explains 
 some of the futures as imperatives. The usual construction 
 of the next words is, let him tell it etc. ; but this imperative 
 meaning is sufficiently implied in the strict translation of the 
 words as interrogative futures, ivho will tell it etc. xn;? is to call 
 aloud or publicly announce. It differs from the next verb, if 
 at all, by denoting an authoritative call, and suggesting the 
 idea not only of prediction but of creation, r^ns is a forensic 
 term meaning to state a case. The words siiice I placed etc. are 
 to be connected with ''Si^S, ivho can call., as I have done.^ ever 
 since I placed etc. To place is here to constitute, create, or 
 give existence. Instead of ancie7it people some would read 
 eternal people., but refer it simply to the divine purpose or 
 decree of election. Others give it the sense oi^verlasting peo- 
 ple., I. e. a people who shall last forever. In all these senses 
 the description is appropriate to Israel, not simply as a nation 
 but a church, the existence and prerogatives of which are still 
 continued in the body of Christ. It may be doubted, however, 
 whether anything more was here intended than a reference to 
 the origin of the human race. (See above, on ch. 42 : 5, 6.) 
 
 8. QvMne not and fe:ir not ; have I not since then let thee hear 
 and told (thee), and are ye not my witnesses ? Is there a God with- 
 out me? And there is no roc];., I knoic not {any). The alterna- 
 tion of the singular and plural form in reference to Israel, is 
 peculiarly appropriate to an ideal or collective person, and in 
 strict agreement with the usage of the Pentateuch, especially 
 with that of Deuteronomy, in which the same apparent con- 
 fusion of numbers is not a mere occasional phenomenon, but 
 one of perpetual occurrence. Since then may refer to the event 
 mentioned in the preceding verse, viz. the constitution of the 
 
144 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 " ancient people." And ye are my witnesses is usually construed 
 as an independent clause; but a possible construction is to in- 
 clude it in the question as above. Here, as in many other 
 cases, God is called a Hock, as being the refuge of his people, 
 and the firm foundation of their hopes. 
 
 9. The image-carvers all of them are vanity^ and their desired 
 (or beloved) mi'^s are icorthlcss ; and their vriincsses themselves will 
 not see and will not knoir, that they may be ashamed. Having for- 
 tified his promise by a solemn affirmation of his own supremacy, 
 in contrast with the ignorance and impotence of idols, he now 
 carries out this contrast in detail. The literal meaning of the 
 first phrase, is the formers of a graeen image^ here put for idols 
 in general. Vanity is here to be taken as a negative expression 
 of the strongest kind, denoting the absence of all life, intelli- 
 gence, and power, and corresponding to the parallel expression 
 thry cannot profit^ i. e. they are worthless. The desired or favour- 
 ite things of the idolaters are the idols themselves, upon which 
 they lavished time, expense, and misplaced confidence. The 
 next phra.se is commonly explained to mean, their witiiesses are 
 themselves^ i. e. they are their own witnesses, which may either 
 represent the idols as witnessing against their worshippers, or 
 the worshippers against the idols, or either of these classes 
 against itself Others connect these words with the fol- 
 lowing verbs. The meaning then is, that the idolaters who 
 bear witness to the divinity of their idols are themselves blind 
 and ignorant. 
 
 10. Wlio forined the god and cast the image to no use (or profit) ? 
 Most interpreters regard this as an exclamation of contemptuous 
 surprise, implying that no one in his senses would do so. But 
 it is best to understand what follows as the answer to this 
 question. Having affirmed the worthlessness of idols in gene- 
 ral, he now proceeds to prove it from their origin. So far from 
 
CHAPTER XLIV. 145 
 
 being makers, they are made themselves, and loho made them? 
 This is the precise force of the verse before us. Here as else- 
 where there is pungent sarcasm in the application of the name 
 El {Mighty God) to idols. 
 
 1 1. io, all his fdloios shall be ashamed^ and the loorkmcn them- 
 srlvcs are of men ; they shall assemble all of them, they shall stand, 
 they shall tremble, they shall be ashamed together. The pronoun 
 his refers to the idol itself, and by his fellows we are to under- 
 stand all who have anything to do with it, either as manufac- 
 turers or worshippers. (Compare Num. 25 : 3. Deut, 11 : 22. 
 30 : 20. Is 56 : 3, 6. Hos. 4:17. 1 Cor. 10 : 20.) Of men, 
 i. e. members of the human family or race. The makers of 
 the idol are themselves mere men, and cannot therefore pro- 
 duce anything divine. The senseless idol and its human 
 makers shall be witnesses against each other, and shall all 
 be involved in the same condemnation and confusip-n. 
 
 12. He has carved iron {ivilh) a graver, and has wrought (it) 
 in the coals, and with the hammers he will shape it, and then work 
 it with his arm of strength. Besides (or moreover), he is hungry 
 and has no strength, he has not drunk water and is faint. The 
 meaning and construction of several of the words here used 
 have been disputed, but the most probable meaning of the 
 whole verse is the one just expressed in the translation. The 
 common version, strength of his arms, is a needless and en- 
 feebling transposition. The true sense of the words is his arm 
 of strength. The description in the last clause seems intended 
 to convey these several ideas : that the man who undertakes 
 to make a god is himself a mortal, subject to ordinary human 
 infirmities ; that his god is utterly unable to relieve him or 
 supply his wants ; and that neither these considerations nor 
 the toil which he must undergo in order to attain his end are 
 sufficient to deter him from his self-tormenting efforts. 
 
 VOL. II. — "7 
 
146 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 13. He has carved toood^ he has stretched a line, he will mark it 
 with the aiol (or graver), he tdll form it with the chisels, and with 
 the compass (or circle) he ivill mark it, and then make it (or noio he 
 has made it) like the structure (i. e. after the model) of a man, 
 like the beauty of mankind, to dioell in a house. In this verse, as 
 in that before it, the alternation of the preterite and future in- 
 troduces us into the very midst of the process, and describes it 
 as already begun but not yet finished. This distinctive feature 
 of the passage is destroyed by making all the verbs indiscrimi- 
 nately present. The future at the opening of the second clause 
 may either denote simply that the act described is subsequent 
 to that just mentioned, or it may represent what was just now 
 future as already done, thereby rendering the view of a pro- 
 gressive operation still more vivid. The two markings or de- 
 lineations mentioned are commonly supposed to have respect 
 to the general dimensions of the figure and then to its precise 
 form and proportions. The meaning of the last words of the 
 verse seems to be that the idol, being like a man in form, is, 
 like a man, to dwell in a house. 
 
 14. To hew him doivn cedars; and (now) he has taken cypress 
 and an oak, and has strengthened (i. e. raised it) for himself 
 among the trees of the forest ; he has planted a pine, and the rain 
 shall increase (it, i. e. make it grow). To show more clearly the 
 absurdity of ascribing deity to material images, he here goes 
 back, not only to their human origin and their base material, 
 but to the very generation of the trees by which the wood is 
 furnished. The particulars are stated in an inverse order. 
 He begins with the felling of the trees, but interrupts himself 
 in order to go still further back to their very cultivation. The 
 essential idea is that man, instead of being the creature, is in 
 some sort the creator of the wood he worships, since it does 
 or may owe its existence to his agency. One of the Hebrew 
 words strictly denotes a species of oak, but the common ver- 
 
CHAPTER XLIV. 147 
 
 sion cypress may be retained, as it yields an appropriate 
 sense, and as botanical precision is in this case of no exe- 
 getical importance, since the meaning of the verse would 
 be the same whatever species had been mentioned. The 
 strict sense of mciking strong corresponds exactly to that 
 of making great expressed by the last words, both meaning 
 here to cause to grow. Thus understood, the word helps to 
 bring out with more strength and clearness the main idea of 
 the verse, viz. that the idolater not only chooses suitable trees, 
 but plants and raises them for the purpose. It is not neces- 
 sary to suppose that this is a description of a usual or frequent 
 custom. It is rather an ideal exhibition of the idol-manufac- 
 ture carried out to its extreme. The last clause is added to 
 complete the picture of the natural origin and growth of that 
 which the idolater adores as superhuman and divine. At the 
 same time it implies the patient perseverance of the devotee, 
 who first does his part and then waits for naitural causes to 
 do theirs, and all for the production of an idol ! 
 
 15. And it shall be to men for buriiing (i. e. for fuel), a7id he 
 has taken of them a^id warmed himself; yes^ he will kindle and bake 
 bread ; yes^ he will form a god and fall prostrate ; he has made it 
 a graven image and bowed down to them. The future meaning 
 of the first verb is determined by its intimate connection with 
 the last word of the foregoing verse. The Prophet seems de- 
 signedly to interchange the singular and plural forms, in order 
 to identify with more effect the idol worshipped and the sticks 
 consumed. He takes of them (the sticks), kindles a fire, warms 
 himself, bakes bread, then makes a god, and worships, yes, bows 
 down before them (the sticks of wood). The argument of this 
 and the succeeding verses is intended to exhibit the absurdity 
 of worshipping the same material that is constantly applied to 
 the most trivial domestic uses. 
 
148 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 16. Half of it he hath burned in the fire^ on half of it he will 
 tat fleshy he will roast roast and be filled ; yea, he will ivarm him- 
 self and say, Aha, I am tvarm, I have seen fire. The indefinite 
 translation ^j(*r/, given in the English version, ia intended to 
 avoid the incongruity of making two halves and a remainder. 
 But this incongruity has no existence in the original ; because 
 the first and second half of v. 16 are one and the same half, 
 and the other is not introduced until the next verse. The 
 phrase, on half of it he eats flesh, may be explained as a pregnant 
 or concise expression of the idea, that over or by means of the 
 fire made with half of it he cooks flesh for his eating. The 
 obscurity of this clause is immediately removed by the addition 
 of the unambiguous words, he roasts a roast and satisfies himself. 
 The force of yea, both here and in the foregoing verse, appears 
 to be equivalent to that of our expression nay more, not only 
 this but also, or moreover. The Hebrew verb in the last clause 
 not only may but must have here its proper meaning, I have 
 seen ; because the noun which follows does not denote the heat 
 of fire but its light, and there could not be a more natural ex- 
 pression of the feeling meant to be conveyed than by referring 
 to the cheerful blaze of a large wood fire. To the indiscrimi- 
 nate translationof the verbs, both in this verse and the next, as 
 descriptive presents, the same objections may be made as in the 
 foregoing context. 
 
 17. A7id the rest of it (i. e. the other half) he has made into a 
 god, into his graven image ; he will bow down to it, and will 
 tvorship, a?id will pray to it, and say, Deliver me, for thou (art) my 
 god. The consecution of the tenses is the same as in the pre- 
 ceding verse, and has the same effect of fixing the point of ob- 
 servation in the midst of the process. He has kindled his fire, 
 and will use it to prepare his food. He has made his idol, and 
 will fall down and pray to it. The pronoun at the end may be 
 regarded as emphatic and as meaning thou and thou alone. 
 
CHAPTER XLIV. 149 
 
 18. They have not kno^cn. and thry loill not understand, for he 
 halh smeared their eyes from seemg, their hearts from doing wisely. 
 The combination of the preterite and future makes the descrip- 
 tion more complete and compi-eheusive. As the smearing of 
 the eyes is merely a figure for spiritual blindness, it is here ex- 
 tended to the heart, of which it is not literally predicable. 
 
 19. And he will not bring it home to himself [ov to his heart), 
 and {there is) not knowledge, and [there is) not understanding to 
 say, Half of it I have burned in the fire, and have also baked bread 
 on, its coah, I roill roast flesh and eat, and the rest of it I will 
 make to {be) an abomination, to a log of wood (or the trunk of a 
 tree) I will cast myself down. The essential meaning is. that 
 they have not sense enough to describe their conduct to them- 
 selves in its true colours ; if they did, they would stand amazed 
 at its impiety and folly. In the form of expression the writer 
 passes from the plural to the singular, i. e. fr«m idolaters in 
 general to the individual idolater. The first phrase does not 
 correspond exactly to the English lay to heart, but compre- 
 hends reflection and emotion. The construction of the last 
 clause as an explanation or an interrogation has arisen from a 
 wish to avoid the incongruity of making the man call himself 
 a fool or express his resolution to perform a foolish act. But 
 this very incongruity is absolutely necessary to the writer's 
 purpose, which is simply to tell what the infatuated devotee 
 would say of his own conduct if he saw it in its true light. 
 Instead of saying, I will worship my god, he would then say. I 
 will worship a stick of wood, a part of the very log which I have 
 just burned, upon whichi I have just baked my. bread, and on 
 which I am just about to cook my dinner. The more revolting 
 and absurd this language, the more completely does it suit and 
 carry out the writer's purpose. Hence too the use of the term 
 abo7nination, i. e. object of abhorrence, not in the worshipper's 
 actual belief, but as it would be if his eyes were opened 
 
160 CHAPTER XL IV. 
 
 20. Feeding on ashes, {his) heart is deceived, it has led him 
 astray, and he cannot deliver himself {or his soul), and he will not 
 say, Is there not a lie in my right hand ? Another statement 
 of the reason why he cannot see his conduct in its just light 
 or describe it in correct terms, viz. because his very nnind or 
 heart is deceived, and this because it feeds on ashes. Feeding 
 on ashes is a figure for the love and prosecution of unsatisfying 
 objects, analogous to feeding on tvind, Hos. 12: 1. The word 
 denotes something more than simply to take pleasure in an 
 object, and suggests the idea of choosing it and resting in it as 
 a portion. The features of the last clause have, in part if not 
 exclusively, a potential meaning. It is best perhaps to com- 
 bine the ideas of unwillingness and inability. The concluding 
 question is equivalent in import to the long speech put into the 
 mouth of the idolater in v. 19. By a lie we are to understand 
 that which professes to be what it is not, and thereby deceives 
 the hopes of those who trust in it. (See Jer. 10 : 14. 
 Ps. 33: 17.) This description some apply to the idol itself, as 
 if he had said, Is not this, which I carry in my right hand, a 
 deception 1 But as this makes a part of the interrogation 
 literal and a part metaphorical, most writers give it uniformity 
 by understanding all the terms as figurative : Is not this, about 
 which I am busied, and upon which I am spending strength 
 and labour, a deception ? To any one rational enough to ask 
 the question, the reply would be affirmative of course. 
 
 21. Remember these {things), Jacob and Israel, for thou art my 
 servant ; I have formed thee, a servant unto me art thou ; Israel, 
 thou shalt not be forgotten by me. Having completed his detailed 
 exposure of the folly of idolatry, or rather of the impotence 
 of idols, as contrasted with the power of God, he now resumes 
 the tone of promise and encouragement with which the chapter 
 opens, and assures the chosen people, here personified as Israel 
 or Jacob, that having been constituted such by Jehovah for a 
 
CHAPTER XLIV. 151 
 
 special purpose, they could not cease to be the objects of his 
 watchful care. These things may possibly refer to the imme- 
 diately succeeding statements, which may then be rendered 
 that thou art my servant etc. To most interpreters, however, it 
 has seemed more natural to understand by these things the 
 whole foregoing series of arguments against the divinity of 
 idols and in favour of Jehovah's sole supremacy. 
 
 22. I have blotted out^ like a cloudy thy transgressions^ and^ like 
 a vapour, thy sins ; return to vie^for I have redeemed thee. As the 
 previous assurances were suited to dispel any doubt or hesitation 
 as to the power of Jehovah, so the one in this verse meets 
 another difficulty, namely, that arising from a sense of guilt. 
 The assurance given is that of entire and gratuitous forgive- 
 ness. The analogy of Exodus 32 : 32, 33, would seem to 
 favour an allusion to the blotting out of an inscription or an 
 entry in a book of accounts. The cloud may then be a dis- 
 tinct figure to denote what is transient or evanescent. (See 
 Hos. 6:4. 13 : 3. Job 7 : 9. 30: 15.) Most interpreters sup- 
 pose the blotting and the cloud to be parts of one and the 
 same metaphor, although they differ in their method of con- 
 necting them. The great majority of writers are agreed that 
 the cloud itself is here described as being blotted out, but some 
 suppose an allusion to the height and distance of the clouds 
 as being far beyond man's reach, implying that forgiveness is a 
 divine prerogative. A more usual and natural supposition 
 is that the clouds in general are here considered as intervening 
 between heaven and earth, as sin is expressly said, in eh. 59 : 2, 
 to separate between God and his people. This explanation of 
 the metaphor, however, does not exclude the supposition of a 
 reference to the fleeting nature of cloudy vapour, and the ease 
 and suddenness with which it is dispelled by sun or wind. 
 Cloud and vapour are poetical equivalents. So far as they can 
 be distinguished, either in etymology or usage, the correct dis- 
 
152 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 tinction is the one expressed in the English Version {thick cloud 
 and cloud). Return unto me is a phrase descriptive of all the 
 restorations of God's people from their spiritual wanderings 
 and estrangements. The restriction of this phrase and the 
 one which follows it to the restoration of the Jews from exile, 
 is as forced and arbitrary as the future form given to the verb 
 in many versions. 
 
 23. Sing^ oh heavens, for Jehovah hath done [it) ; shout ^ ye lower 
 parts of the earth; break forth, ye mountains, into song, the forest 
 and every tree in it : for Jehovah hath redeemed Jacob, and in Israel 
 he will glorify himself The prediction of glorious and joyful 
 changes, as in many other cases, is clothed in the form of an 
 exhortation to all nature to rejoice. The thing done is what is 
 mentioned in the last clause, i. e. the redemption of Israel, in- 
 cluding the deliverance from exile in Babylon, but not confined 
 to it. The arbitrary version of the two verbs in the last clause 
 as a preterite and present or a present and a future is in no 
 respect to be preferred to the exact translation as a preterite 
 and a future, expressive of what Grod had done and would yet 
 do for the chosen people. 
 
 24. Thus saith Jehovah thy redeemer, and thy former from the 
 womb, I Jehovah, making all, stretching the heavens alone, spread- 
 ing the earth by myself {ox who was zvith me ?). Some refer thus 
 saith to the preceding promises, and take all that follows till 
 the end of the chapter as a description of the being who 
 uttered them. Others refer thus saith to what follows, supply 
 the verb am before Jehovah, and regard the last clause of the 
 verse as the divine declaration. A third conceivable construc- 
 tion would restrict it to the closing question, who (is) loith me ? 
 i. e. who can claim equality or likeness with me? Who' [is or 
 ivas) with me? implying strong negation and equivalent in 
 meaning to the affirmation, there was no one with vie. 
 
CHAPTER XLIV. 153 
 
 25. Breaking the signs of babblers, and diviners he will madden ; 
 turning sages back, and their knowledge he will stultify. The 
 whole verse is descriptive of Jehovah as convicting all prophets, 
 except his own, of folly and imposture, by falsifying their prog- 
 nostications. The second noun is commonly translated either lies 
 or liars ; but it is rather an expression of contempt, denoting 
 praters, vain or idle talkers, and by implication utterers of 
 falsehood. Signs are properly the pledges and accompaniments 
 of predictions, but may here be regarded as equivalent to pro- 
 phecy itself. These are said to be broken in the same sense 
 that breathing may be predicated of a promise or a covenant. 
 The effect of course would be to make such prophets seem like 
 fools or madmen. (See 2 Sam. 15 : 31. Hos. 9 : 7.) The re- 
 striction of these terms to the false prophets of the Babylonish 
 exile is not only arbitrary, but at variance with the context, 
 which repeatedly contrasts the omnipotence and omniscience 
 of Jehovah with the impotence of idols and the ignorance of 
 heathen prophets. The alternation of the future and participle 
 seems to have a rhythmical design. The distinction may how- 
 ever be, that while the latter signifies habitual or customary 
 action, the former expresses certain futurity and fixed deter- 
 mination. 
 
 26. Confirming the word of his servant, and the counsel of his 
 messengers he will fulfil ; the {one) saying to (or as to) Jerusalem, 
 She shall be inhabited, and to (or as to) the cities of Judah, They 
 shall be built, and her ruins I will raise. With the frustration 
 of the heathen prophecies is here contrasted the fulfilment of 
 Jehovah's, who is himself represented as securing their ac- 
 complishment. The word translated confirming has here the 
 same sense as in Jer. 29 : 10. 33 : 14, viz. that of bringing a 
 promise or prophecy to pass. His servant may refer primarily 
 and directly to the writer himself, but con.sidered as one of a 
 class, who are then distinctly mentioned in the other member as 
 
 7* 
 
154 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 his messengers. The specific application of the title of God's 
 servant to the prophets is apparent from 2 Kings 24 : 2. 
 Jer. 29 : 19. 35 : 15. 44 : 4. Most writers make counsel a 
 description of prophecy, considered as involving or suggesting 
 counsel and advice with respect to the future. (Compare the 
 similar application of the verb in ch. 41 : 28.) The last clause, 
 beginning with the words the one saying might be considered as 
 a more specific designation or description of his servant, viz. the 
 {servant) saying etc. But this interpretation is precluded by 
 the double repetition of the words in the two succeeding verses 
 and in evident application to Jehovah himself. To raise up 
 the ruins of a city is of course to rebuild it. 
 
 27. The {one) saying to the decp.^ Be dry. and I will dry up thy 
 floods (or streams). This may be understood as a description 
 of God's power over nature and the elements, with or without 
 an allusion to the passage of the Red Sea at the exodus. This 
 
 -exposition is strongly recommended by the analogy of ch. 42 : 15. 
 43 : 16. 50 : 2. 51 : 10. That of Jer. 50 : 38. 51 : 36 does not 
 prove that Isaiah's description was designed to have exclusive 
 reference to the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus, but only that 
 this was included in it as a signal instance of God's power to 
 overcome all obstacle*, and that the later prophet made a spe- 
 cific application of the words accordingly. 
 
 28. The {one) saying, to (or as to) Cyi-us, My shepherd, and all 
 my pleasure he will fulfil, and saying to Jerusalem, Thou shall be 
 built, and {to) the temple. Thou shall be fou?ided. It is now 
 universally admitted that this verse has reference to Cyrus the 
 Elder or the Great, the son of Cambyses king of Persia and 
 the grandson of Astyages the Mede, the hero of the Cyropaedia 
 and of the first book of Herodotus, the same who appears in 
 sacred history (2 Chr. 36 : 23. Ezra 1 : 1) as the actual re- 
 storer of the Jews from exile. He is here called Jehovah's 
 
CHAPTER XLV. 165 
 
 shepherd, which may either be the usual poetical designation of 
 a king, so common in the oldest classics, or a special descrip- 
 tion of his mission and vocation to gather the lost sheep of the 
 house of Israel. All my pleasure, i. e. with respect to the de- 
 liverance of the Jews from exile. The construction of the 
 word translated saying is obscure and difficult. Some refer it 
 to Cyrus, and understand it as explaining how he was to fulfil 
 Jehovah's pleasure, namely, by saying etc. This, on the whole, 
 is the most natural construction, although, like the others, it 
 leaves unexplained the introduction of the copulative particle 
 before the verb, which must either be rendered as in the Eng- 
 lish Version [even saying), or disregarded as an idiomatic 
 pleonasm. The same ambiguity respecting the person of the 
 verb exists in the last clause of this verse as in v. 26. 
 
 CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 This chapter contains the same essential elements with those 
 before it, but in new combinations and a varied form. The 
 great theme of the prophecy is still the relation of Israel to 
 God as his chosen people, and to the nations as a source or 
 medium of saving knowledge. This last idea is brought out 
 with great distinctness at the close of the chapter. The proofs 
 and illustrations of the doctrine taught are still drawn from 
 the power of Jehovah, as displayed in the creation of the 
 world, and as contrasted with the impotence of idols. The 
 evidence of prescience afibrded by prophecy is also here re- 
 peated and enlarged upon. As a particular prospective exhi- 
 bition both of power and foreknowledge, we have still before 
 us the conquests of Cyrus, which are specifically foretold and 
 
156 CHAPTER XL V. 
 
 explicitly connected with the favour of Jehovah as their pro- 
 curing cause, and with the liberation of his people and the 
 demonstration of his deity as their designed effect. 
 
 As to the order and arrangement of tlie parts, the chapter 
 opens, in direct continuation of the forty-fourth, with a further 
 prophecy of Cyrus and of his successes, vs. 1-3. These are 
 then referred to the power of Grod and his design of mercy 
 towards his people, so that all misgivings or distrust must be 
 irrational and impious, vs. 4-13. Then leaving Cyrus out of 
 view, the Prophet turns his eyes to the nations, and declares 
 that they must be subdued, but only in order to be blessed and 
 saved, which is declared to have been the divine purpose and 
 revealed as such from the beginning, vs. 14-25. 
 
 1. Thus saith Jehovah to his a7iomtecl^ to Cyrus^ whose right 
 hand I have held fast, to tread down before him nations, and the 
 loins of kings I will loose ; to open before him double doors, a?id 
 gates shall not be shut. The words of Jehovah seem to begin 
 regularly with the next verse ; but even in this, which is 
 strictly introductory, they are mingled with the Prophet's de- 
 scription of Cyrus, a mode of composition very common in He- 
 brew, and among the oldest writers, who thought more of the 
 idea than of the form in which it was expressed. The accumu- 
 lation of descriptive epithets, which is represented as char- 
 acteristic of these Later Prophecies, arises from the fact that 
 one main object which the writer had in view was to impress 
 upon the reader's mind the attributes of God and of his chosen 
 instruments. Cyrus is here called the Lord's anointed, a des- 
 ignation elsewhere limited, as Calvin says, to the sacerdotal 
 monarchy of Judah, which prefigured Christ in both his offices 
 of priest and king. Most writers understand it hert as a 
 synonyme of ki7ig, derived from Jewish usages, and not in- 
 tended to indicate anything peculiar in the royalty of Cyrus, 
 except that he was raised up by Jehovah for a special purpose. 
 
CHAPTER XLV. 157 
 
 Calvin thinks it still more pregnant and emphatic, and descrip- 
 tive of Cyrus as a representative of Christ in this one thing, 
 that he was instrumentally the saviour or deliverer of Israel 
 from bondage. The treading down of nations is a trait pecu- 
 liarly appropriate in this case, as the Greek historians give 
 long catalogues of distinct nations subjugated by Cyrus, such 
 as the Medes, Assyrians, Arabians, Cappadocians, Phrygians, 
 Lydians, Carians, Babylonians, etc. To loose the loins of 
 kings is explained by Calvin as meaning to weaken them, 
 because the strength is in the loins ; others suppose an allu- 
 sion to the removal of the sword-belt, as the ancient method 
 of disarming or dismissing from active service. But most of 
 the modern writers are agreed that the words at least include a 
 reference to the ordinary use of the girdle as a part of oriental 
 drcfss, on which the activity of the wearer and his exercise of 
 strength are in a great degi'ee dependent, as it gathers up and 
 tightens the flowing garments which would otherwise impede 
 his movements. All interpreters admit that while this clause, in 
 its most general sense, is perfectly appropriate to all the fortified 
 places which were attacked by Cyrus, it is specifically and re- 
 markably appropriate to the taking of Babylon. It can scarcely 
 be considered a fortuitous coincidence, that Herodotus speaks 
 of the gates which led to the river as having been left open on 
 the night of the attack; and Xenophon says the doors of the 
 palace itself having been unguardedly opened, the invaders 
 took possession of it almost without resistance. These appa- 
 rent allusions to particular circumstances and events, couched 
 under general predictions, are far more striking and conclusive 
 proofs of inspiration than the most explicit and detailed pre- 
 diction of the particular event alone could be. 
 
 2. I will go before thee, and U72 even places I will kvel, doors of 
 brass I will break, and bars of iron I will cut. The first clause 
 describes the removal of difficulties under the figures used 
 
158 CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 for the same purpose in cli*40 : 4. The other clause would 
 seem at first sight to contain an analogous figure ; but it really 
 includes one of those minute coincidences with history, of which 
 we have already had an example in the preceding verse. 
 Herodotus and Abydenus say expressly that the gates of 
 Babylon were all of brass. (Compare Ps. 107 : 16.) 
 
 3. And I tvill give thee treasures of darkness and hidden riches 
 of secret places, in order that thou mayest know that I Jehovah, the 
 [one) calling thee by name, am the God of Israel. It is thought 
 by some eminent writers that no conquests have ever been at- 
 tended with such acquisition of wealth as those of Cyrus. 
 Pliny's account of what he obtained from Croesus makes it, 
 according to Brerewood's computation, more than 126,000,000 
 pounds sterling. The last clause gives a reason why this cir- 
 cumstance is mentioned, namely, in order that Cyrus might be 
 able to identify the being who brought it to pass wjth the being 
 who foretold it. The same consideration will account for the 
 mention of the name of Cyrus ; so that even if it were a bolder 
 violation of analogy and usage than it is, there would still be 
 a sufl&cient explanation of it furnished by the divine purpose 
 to exert a direct influence through this prediction upon Cyrus 
 himself That such an influence was really exerted by the 
 writings of Isaiah is expressly asserted by Josephus, and would 
 seem to be implied in the monarch's solemn recognition of 
 Jehovah as the true God and the author of his own successes. 
 (Ezra 1 : 2.) 
 
 4. For the sake of my servant Jacob and Israel my chosen, there- 
 fore will I call thee by thy name, I ivill give thee a title., and thou 
 hast not kyimvn me. Not only for God's glory in the general, 
 but with a view to the promotion of his gracious purposes to- 
 wards Israel. Thou hast not known me may either mean that 
 he was not a follower of the true religion, or that the name 
 
CHAPTER XLV. 159 
 
 was given long before he did or could know anything of him- 
 who gave it. The verb expresses past time not in reference to 
 the date of the prediction, but to that of the fulfilment. 
 
 5. / am Jehovah (i. e. the eternal, self-existent God) and 
 there is no other ; except me there is no Gnd ; I will gird thee and 
 thou hast not knoum me. What is said before of naming him is 
 here said of girding him, i. e. investing him with royal dignity 
 or personally strengthening him ; both may be included. 
 
 6. That they may knoio, from the rising of the sun to the tvest 
 (or to his going doivn), that there is 7ione without me ; I am Je- 
 hovah, and there is no other. What was said before of Cyrus in 
 particular is now said of men in general, viz. that they must be 
 convinced in this way that the God of Israel is the one true 
 God. 
 
 7. Forming light and creating darkness, making peace and 
 creating evil, I {am) Jehovah doing all these (things). Some 
 suppose an allusion to the dualism or doctrine of two co- 
 eternal principles as held by the ancient Persians. Others 
 object that the terms are too indefinite, and their general sense 
 too obvious, to admit of this specific application. But this 
 whole passage is characterized by the recurrence of expres- 
 sions, the generic sense of which seems clear, but which, at the 
 same time, seems to bear and even to require a more specific 
 explanation, unless we choose rather to assume an extraordi- 
 nary series of fortuitous coincidences. The open doors, the 
 gates of brass, the hidden treasures, are examples of this 
 double sense, if such it may be called, within the compass 
 of three verses. This analogy makes it rather probable than 
 otherwise that in the case before us, while the Prophet's lan- 
 guage may be naturally taken as a general description of God's 
 universal power, an allusion was intended to the great distinc- 
 
160 CHAPTER XL V. 
 
 live doctrine of the faitli in which Cyrus had most probably 
 been educated. For if it cannot be distinctly proved, 
 it can as little be disproved, and is intrinsically altogether 
 credible, that the doctrine of the Zendavesta is as old as 
 Cyrus. 
 
 8. Drof (or distil) ye heavens from abovr, and let the clouds pour 
 out righteousness ; let the earth open^ and let salvation and right- 
 eousness groic^ let her bring (th&ni) forth together. I Jehovah have 
 have created it. There is a singular equivoque in the common 
 version of the first clause, drop down ye heavens from above, 
 which might seem to be a call upon the skies to fall, if the 
 sense were not determined by the parallel expression. The 
 prediction of events in the form of a command is peculiarly 
 frequent in Isaiah's later prophecies. The manifestation of 
 God's righteousness, including his fidelity to his engagements, 
 is constantly recognized in Scripture as one chief end of his 
 dispensations. 
 
 9. Woe to (or alas for) him striving with his maker — a potsherd 
 with potsherds of earth. Shall clay say to its former, What art 
 thou doing? and thy tvork, lie has no hands ? Striving with God 
 is not merely active resistance, but opposition of judgment and 
 affection. The second member of the first clause has been very 
 variously construed. The analogy of what precedes would seem 
 to make it mean, tcoe to the potsherd (^striving) with the potsherds 
 of the earth. But this is universally agreed to be inadmissible, 
 a proof that the principle of parallelism has its limitations. 
 The Peshito renders it, a potsherd of {ov from) the potsherds of the 
 earth, thus making the whole phrase a description of the weak- 
 ness and insignificance of man. This consti'uction is adopted 
 by the modern writers, almost without exception ; most of whom, 
 however, give to the preposition its proper sense of with, which 
 they suppose to imply likeness and relationship. It seems to 
 
CHAPTER XLV. 161 
 
 be a just observation that earth is not mentioned as the dwelling 
 of the potsherd, but as its material. What art thou doin^- is the 
 common Hebrew formula for calling to account, or questioning 
 the propriety of what one does. (See Job 9 : 12, Ecc. 8:4. 
 Dan. 4: 35.) The last words of the verse have also been the 
 subject of many discordant explanations. Some of the older 
 writers make them a continuation of the same speech : tchat art 
 thou doing ? and [as for) thy ivork, it has no ha)id.s, i. e. it is un- 
 finished. But most interpreters agree that thy work introduces 
 a new speaker. And (shall) thy work {say of thee)^ he has no 
 hands? There, are no hands to him, i. e. he has no power. The 
 absurdity consists in the thing made denying the existence of 
 the hands by which it was itself produced. The essential idea 
 is the same as in ch. 10: 15, but the expression here much 
 stronger, since the instrument is not merely charged with ex- 
 alting itself above the efficient agent, but the creature with 
 denying the power or skill of its creator. The Restriction of 
 this verse, and of those which follow, to the Babylonians, or the 
 Jews in exile, is entirely arbitrary and at variance with the 
 context, which refers to the conquests of Cyrus and their con- 
 sequences, not as the main subject of the prophecy, but as illus- 
 trations of a general truth. The form of speech used by Paul 
 in Bom. 9 : 20 {ichy hast thou made vie thus ?) is not a version 
 but a paraphrase of the one here, in which however it is really 
 included. 
 
 10. Woe to (him) saying to a father, What tvilt thou, beget, and 
 to a woman. What wilt thou bring forth ? The same idea is again 
 expressed, but in a form still more emphatic and revolting. 
 The incongruities which have perplexed interpreters in this 
 verse are intentional aggravations of the impious absurdity 
 which it describes. The writer's main design is to represent 
 tlie doubt and discontent of men in reference to God's future 
 dealings with them as no less monstrous than the supposition 
 
162 CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 of a child's objection to its own birth. Such an objection, it is 
 true, cannot be ofl'ered in tlie case supposed ; but in the real 
 case it ought to be held equally impossible. This view of the 
 Prophet's meaning, if correct, of course precludes the explana- 
 tion of the words as a complaint of weakness or deformity, or 
 an expression of disgust with life, like that in Job 3 : 20 and 
 Jeremiah 20 : 14. 
 
 1 1 . Thus sailh Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel and his Maker, 
 Ask me {of) the things to come, concerning my sous and concerning 
 the work of my hands ye m.ay command me. You may ask me 
 concerning things to come, for I am able to inform you ; you 
 may trust my children to my own care, for I am abundantly able 
 to protect them. Command is a common expression for giving 
 one authority over any thing or person, or in other words com- 
 mitting it to him, and leaving it at his disposal. For the mean- 
 ing of work of my hands as an equivalent to my children, or my 
 people, see vol. i. p 248. 
 
 12. I made the earth, and man upon it I created ; I, my hands, 
 spread the heavens, and all their host commanded. This is a justi- 
 fication of the claim in the last clause of the foregoing verse, or 
 a statement of the reason why he could be trusted to protect 
 his people, namely, because he was almighty, and had proved 
 himself to be so in creation. The personal pronoun is emphatic 
 in both clauses, as if he had said, it is I who made, or, I (and no 
 other) made etc. The construction of the second of these pro- 
 nouns with my hands has been variously explained. Some re- 
 gard the latter as equivalent to an ablative of instrument in 
 Latin : I with my hands have spread etc. Others consider it an 
 instance of the idiom which adds the personal pronoun to the 
 suffix for the sake of emphasis : /, ?ny hands, spread, i. e. my own 
 hands spread. In such constructions the personal pronoun 
 commonly stands last. A third supposition is that the pronoun 
 
CHAPTER XLV. 163 
 
 is in apposition with the noun itself, and not so much emphatic 
 as explanatory. I {that is lo say, my hands) have spread. (Com- 
 pare Ps. 3 : 5. 17 : 13, 14. 44 : 3. 60 : 7.) The last words of the 
 verse admit of two explanations. We may understand the 
 figure as a military one, and give the verb the military sense of 
 commanding. Or we may take host as a common expression for 
 contents or inhabitants, and understand the verb as meaning 
 called into existence. (Compare Ps. 33 : 9.) In itself, the former 
 explanation seems entitled to the preference ; but it requires 
 the verb to be construed as an indefinite preterite or a present, 
 whereas all the other verbs, though similar in form, relate to a 
 determinate past time, viz. the time of the creation. 
 
 13: /(and no other) raised him up in righteousness, and all his 
 ways loill I make straight (or level); [it is) he {that) shall build 
 my city, and my captivity (or exiles) he will send {home), not for 
 reward, and not for hire, saith Jehovah of Hosts. Fi'6m the gene- 
 ral proof of divine power afi'orded by creation he descends to 
 the particular exercise of his omnipotence and wisdom in the 
 raising up of Cyrus, who is thus referred to without the express 
 mention of his name, because he had been previously made the 
 subject of a similar appeal, and the Prophet simply takes up 
 the thread which he had dropped at the close of the fifth verse, 
 or perhaps of the seventh. For the sense of raising up in right- 
 eousness see above, on ch. 41 : 2, 25. 42 : 6. In this, as well as 
 in the other places, some suppose an allusion to the personal 
 character of Cyrus, which they defend with great warmth 
 against Burnet's remark in his History of the Keformation, 
 that God sometimes uses bad men as his instruments, such as 
 the cruel Cyrus. The statements of Herodotus to this effect 
 they treat as fabulous, and claim full credit for the glowing 
 pictures of the Cyropaedia. This distinction is not only strange 
 in itself, but completely at war with the conclusions of the ablest 
 modern critics and historians. Nor is there the least need of 
 
164 CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 insisting thus upon the moral excellence of Cyrus, who in either 
 case was just as really a consecrated instrument of the divine 
 righteousness as the Medes and Persians generally, who are so 
 described in ch. 13: 3. At the same time allowance must be 
 made for the difference between what Cyrus was before and 
 after he became acquainted with the true religion. (See above, 
 on V. 3.) The figure of straight or level paths has the same 
 sense as in ch. 40 : 3. My city^ i. e. the holy city, Jerusalem, 
 of which Cyrus was indirectly the rebuilder. The form of the 
 verb send here used is not unfiequently applied to the setting 
 free of prisoners or slaves. The last clause seems decisive of 
 the question whether ch. 43 : 3, 4. should be understood as a 
 general declaration of God's distinguishing affection for his 
 people, disposing him to favour them at the expense of other 
 nations, or as a specific promise that Cyrus should conquer 
 Ethiopia and Egypt, as a compensation for releasing Israel, in 
 which case he could not be said, in any appropriate sense, to 
 have set them free without reward or hire. 
 
 14. Thus saith Jehovah, The toil of Egypt and the gain of Cush 
 and the Sebaim men of measure unto thee shall pass, and to thee shall 
 they belong, after thee shall they go, in chains shall they j^ass over 
 (or along) ; and unto thee sJmll they bow themselves, to thee shall 
 they pray {saying). Only in thee (is) God, and there is none be- 
 sides, no {other) God. The first clause specifies labour and 
 traffic as the two great sources of wealth, here put for wealth 
 itself, or for the people who possessed it. For the true sense 
 of the geographical or national names here mentioned, see above, 
 on ch, 43 : 3. In both places they are named by way of sample 
 for the heathen world. To the reasons before given for this 
 interpretation we may here add the general reference to idola- 
 ters in V. 16. The meaning men of measure, i. e. of extraordinary 
 stature, is determined by the analogy of Num. 13:32. I Chr. 
 1 1 : 23. 20 : 6, and confirmed by the description of the Ethio- 
 
CHAPTER XL*/. 165 
 
 plans in ancient history, Herodotus speaking of them as 
 fiiyiarot, u>{)(Jwnojv ' tlie largest of men.' Their stature is 
 here mentioned to enhance the glory and importance of 
 the conquest. Whether the chains are here considered as 
 imposed by their conquerors, or by themselves in token of 
 a voluntary submission, is a question which the words them- 
 selves leave undecided. The same thing may be said of the 
 prostration mentioned afterwards, which in itself might be con- 
 sidered as denoting the customary oriental act of obeisance or 
 civil adoration, although usually found in such connections as 
 require it to be taken in a religious sense, which is here further 
 indicated by the addition of the verb to pray. These strong 
 expressions were employed because the explanation was to fol- 
 low. .Instead of saying, thei/ shall worship God who dwtils in 
 thcc, the Prophet makes his language more expressive by saying, 
 they shall ivorship thee ; and then immediately explains his own 
 language by adding their acknowledgment, only iiiAhee is God, 
 or to give the Hebrew word its full force, an almighly God, 
 implying that the gods of other nations were but gods in name. 
 This exclusive recognition of the God of Israel is then repeated 
 in a way which may to some seem tautological, but which is 
 really emphatic in a high degree. The question now presents 
 itself, in what sense the subjection of the nations is here prom- 
 ised. That a literal conquest of Ethiopia and Egypt by the 
 Jews themselves is here predicted, none can maintain but those 
 who wish to fasten on Isaiah the charge of ignorance or gross 
 imposture. The most natural interpretation of the passage is 
 the common one. which makes it a prophecy of moral and 
 spiritual conquests, to be wrought by the church over the nations, 
 and, as one illustrious example, by the Jews' religion over the 
 heathenism of many countries, not excepting the literal Ethio- 
 pia, as we learn from Acts 8 : 27. 
 
 15. Verily thou art a God hiding thyself, oh God of Israel, the 
 
166 CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 Saviour ! The abrupt transition here has much perplexed in- 
 terpreters. The most natural supposition is that the verse is 
 an apostrophe, expressive of the Prophet's own strong feelings 
 in contrasting what God had done and would yet do, the dark- 
 ness of the present with the brightness of the future. If these 
 things are to be hereafter, then oh thou Saviour of thy people, 
 thou art indeed a God that hides himself, that is to say, con- 
 ceals his purposes of mercy under the darkness of his present 
 dispensations. Let it be observed, however, that the same 
 words, which furnish a vehicle of personal emotion to the 
 Prophet, are in fact a formula of wider import, and contain 
 the statement of a general truth. 
 
 16. T/ic]/ are ashamed and also confounded all of them together, 
 they are gone into coiifusion. (or aioaij in confusion) — the carvers 
 of hnages. Unless we assume, without necessity or warrant, an 
 abrupt and perfectly capricious change of subject, this verse 
 must contain the conclusion of the process described in the 
 foregoing context. We might therefore expect to find Egypt, 
 Ethiopia, and Seba, introduced again by name ; but instead of 
 these, the sentence closes with a general expression, which has 
 already been referred to as a proof that the war in question is 
 a spiritual war, and that the enemies to be subdued are not cer- 
 tain nations, in themselves considered, but the heathen world, 
 the vast mixed multitude who worship idols. These are de- 
 scribed as the carvers or artificers of images, which strengthens 
 the conclusion before drawn, that the smith and carpenter and 
 cook and baker and cultivator of ch. 44 : 12-16, are one and 
 the same person, viz. the idolatrous devotee himself. 
 
 17. Israel is saved in Jehovah {with) an everlasting salvation 
 (literally, salvation of ages or eternities) ; ye shall not be ashamed, 
 and ye shall 7iot be confounded forever (literally, n7itil the ages of 
 eternity), or as the English Version has it, world without end. 
 
CHAPTER XLV. 167 
 
 This is the counterpart and contrast to the threatening in the 
 verse preceding, upon which it throws some light by showing 
 that the shame and confusion which awaits the idolater is not 
 mere wounded pride or sense of disappointment, but the loss 
 and opposite of that salvation which is promised to God's peo- 
 ple, or in other words, eternal perdition. Israel is saved 
 already, i. e. his salvation is secured, not merely through the 
 Lord but ill him, i. e. by virtue of an intimate and vital union 
 with him, as genuine and living members of his body. The 
 general form of this solemn declaration, and the eternity again 
 and again predicted of the salvation promised, seems to show 
 that the Israel of this text and of others like it, is not the 
 Jewish people, considered simply as an ancient nation, but the 
 Jewish people considered as the church of God, a body which 
 has never ceased and never will cease to exist and claim the 
 promises. 
 
 18. For thus saith Jehovah, the creator of the heavens — he is 
 God — the former of the earth and its maker — he established it — not 
 in vain (or not to be empty) did he create it — to dwell in (or to be 
 inhabited) he formed it — I am Jehovah, and there is none besides. 
 This verse assigns a reason for believing in the tlireatening 
 and the promise of the two preceding verses, viz. that he who 
 uttered them not only made the heavens and the earth, but 
 made them for a certain purpose, which must be accomplished. 
 The ojjly difficulty of construction is the question where Jehovah's 
 words begin, and this admits of several different answers. We 
 may read. Thus saith Jehovah, The creator of the heavens is God ; 
 in which case the divine address begins with a formal state- 
 ment of the argument derived from the creation. Again, we 
 may read, Thus saith Jehovah, The creator of the heavens is the 
 God who formed the earth. But most interpreters suppose the 
 beginning of Jehovah's own words to be marked by the intro- 
 duction of the pronoun of the first person, I am Jehovah and 
 
168 CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 there is no other. All that precedes is then to be regarded as a 
 description of the speaker, including two parenthetical proposi- 
 tions, each beginning with the pronoun He : the creator of the 
 heavens {he is God), the former of the earth and its viaker {he estab- 
 lished it). The common version of the next clause, he created 
 it not in vain, is admissible, but less expressive than the more 
 specific rendering, he created it 7iot {to be) a ^oaste (or empty). 
 In the last clause Jehovah is employed as a descriptive title, 
 and is substantially equivalent to bx, which the Prophet uses in 
 a similar connection in v. 22 below. 
 
 19. Not in secret have I spoken, in a dark place of the earth 
 (or i?i a place, to wit, a land of darkness). I have not said to the 
 seed of Jacob, In vain seek ye me. I (am) Jehovah, speaking truth, 
 declaring rectitudes (or right things). The doctj-ine of the pre- 
 ceding verse is no new revelation, but one long ago and uni- 
 versally made known. Some suppose an allusion to the mys- 
 terious and doubtful responses of the heathen oracles. The 
 analogy of vs. 1, 2, 3, makes it not improbable that such an 
 allusion is couched under the general terms of the verse before 
 us. Of the next clause there are several distinct interpreta- 
 tions. The oldest and most common makes it mean that Grod 
 had not required the people to consult him in relation to futurity 
 "without obtaining satisfactory responses. 
 
 20. Gather yourselves and come, draio near together ye escaped 
 of the nations. They knoiv not, those carrying the wood, their 
 graven image, and praying to a God {who) cannot save. In the 
 first clause the idolaters are addressed directly ; in the second 
 they are spoken of again in the third person. The challenge 
 or summons at the beginning is precisely similar to that in 
 ch. 41:21 and 43 : 9. Escaped of the nations has been variously 
 explained to mean the Jews who had escaped from the oppres- 
 sion of the gentiles, and the gentiles who had escaped from the 
 
CHAPTER XLV. 169 
 
 dominion of idolatry. But these last would scarcely have 
 been summoned to a contest. On the whole, it seems most 
 natural to understand the nations who survived the judgments 
 sent by God upon them. The Hebrew phrase is in itself am- 
 biguous. The explanation which agrees best with the whole 
 connection is the one that supposes the idolaters still left 
 (i. e. neither converted nor destroyed) to be the object of 
 address. If there are any still absurd enough to carry about 
 a wooden god and pray to one who cannot save, let them as- 
 semble and draw near. They do not know is commonly ex- 
 plained to mean they have no knowledge ; but it is more accord- 
 ant with the usage of the language to supply a specific object. 
 They do not know it, or, they do not know what they are 
 doing, they are not conscious of their own impiety and folly. 
 The Averse contains two indirect reflections on the idols, first, 
 that they are wooden, then, that they are lifeless and depend- 
 ant on their worshippers for locomotion. 
 
 21. Bring forward and bring near ! Yca^ let them consult to- 
 gether. Who has caused this to be lieard of old, since then declared 
 it ? Have not I Jehovah ? and there is 7io other God besides me ; 
 a righteous and a saving God, there is none besides me. The ob- 
 ject of the verbs in the first clause, is yoitr cause or your argu- 
 ments, as in ch. 41 : 21. The change of person in the next 
 clause implies that they are unable or unwilling to accept the 
 challenge, or at least in doubt and hesitation with respect to 
 it They are therefore invited to deliberate together, or, as 
 some understand it, to take counsel of those wiser than them- 
 selves. Instead of waiting longer for their plea, however, he 
 presents his own, in the common form of an interrogation, ask- 
 ing who except himself had given evidence of prescience by 
 explicitly foretelling events stllf far distant, and of saving 
 power by delivering his people from calamity and bondage. 
 Have not I Jehovah, and there is no other God besides me ? is a 
 
 VOL. II. — 8 
 
no CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 Hebrew idiom equivalent to the Euglish question, Have not /, 
 besides whom there is no other God ? 
 
 22. Turn unto me and be saved all ye ends of the eaiih^ for I 
 am God and there is none besides. From the preceding declara- 
 tions it might seem to follow that the gentile world had noth- 
 ing to expect but the perdition threatened in v. 15. But now 
 the Prophet brings to view a gracious alternative, inviting 
 them to choose between destruction and submission, and show- 
 ing that the drift of the foregoing argument was not to drive 
 the heathen to despair, but to shut them up to the necessity 
 of seeking safety in the favour of the one true God, whose ex- 
 clusive deity is expressly made the ground of the exhortation. 
 The Hebrew word does not correspond exactly to the English 
 ZooA:, but denotes the act of turning round in order to look in 
 a different direction. The text therefore bears a strong an- 
 alogy to those in which the heathen when enlightened are de- 
 scribed as turning from their idols unto God. (See 1 Thess. 
 1 : 9. Acts 14 : 15. 15 : 19.) The ends of the earth is a phrase 
 inclusive of all nations, and is frequently employed in refer- 
 ence to the conversion of the gentiles. (See Ps 22 : 27. 72 : 8. 
 Zech. 9 : 10.) The question whether Christ is to be regarded 
 as the speaker in this passage, is of little exegetieal impor- 
 tance. To us. who know that it is only through him that the 
 Father saves, this supposition appears altogether natural ; but 
 it does not follow that any such impression would be made or 
 was intended to be made upon an ancient reader. 
 
 23. By myself I have sworn ; the word is gone out of a mouth of 
 righteousness., and shall not return., that unto me shall how every 
 knee., shall swear every tongue. The form of the divine oath 
 elsewhere used is by my life or as I live (Num. 14 : 21, 28. 
 Deut. 32 : 40). Hence Paul in his quotation of this text 
 (Rom. 14: 11) uses the formula, Zw i-^ih, which may be re- 
 
CHAPTER XL V. 171 
 
 garded as an accurate paraphrase, though not as a rigorous 
 translation. A word, i. e. a promise or prophecy, is said in 
 Hebrew to return when it is cancelled or recalled. (See Isaiah 
 55: 11.) The kneeling and swearing in the last clause are 
 acts of homage, fealty, or allegiance, which usually went to- 
 gether (1 Kings 19 : 18) and involved a solemn recognition of 
 the sovereignty of him to whom they were tendered. This 
 verse affords a clear illustration of the difference between the 
 act of swearing to and swearing by another. (Compare ch. 
 19 : 18.) This test is twice applied by Paul to Christ 
 (Rom. 14 J 11. Phil. 2: 10), in proof of his regal and judi- 
 cial sovereignty. It does not necessarily predict that all 
 shall be converted to him, since the terms are such as to in- 
 clude both a voluntary and a compulsory submission, and in 
 one of these ways all without exception shall yet recognize him 
 as their rightful sovereign. 
 
 24. Only in Jehovah have I, says he (or says one)^ righteousness 
 and strength ; unto him shall he (or shall one or shall they) come, 
 and all that were incensed (or inflamed) at him shall be ashamed. 
 The general meaning evidently is that God alone can justify 
 or give protection. 
 
 25. In Jehovah shall be justified and boast themselves (or glory) 
 all the seed of Israel. This verse is intended to wind up the 
 previous addresses to the gentiles with a solemn declaration of 
 their true relation to the chosen people, as composed of those 
 who really believed and feared God, whether Jews or gentiles. 
 This principle was recognized in every admission of a proselyte 
 to the communion of the ancient church, and at the change of 
 dispensations it is clearly and repeatedly asserted as a funda- 
 mental law of Christ's kingdom under every variety of form 
 (See Rom. 10: 12. Gal. 3 : 28, 29. Col. 3:11.) 
 
172 CHAPTER XLVI. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVI. 
 
 Interpreters are strangely divided in opinion as to tlie 
 connection of this chapter with the context. The arbitrary and 
 precarious nature of their judgments may be gathered from the 
 fact, that some separate the first two verses from the body of 
 the chapter and connect them with the one before it, while 
 others commence a new " cycle" with the first verse of this 
 chapter, and one represents it as an isolated composition, 
 unconnected either with what goes before or follows. Even 
 the older writers, who maintain the continuity of the dis- 
 course, appear to look upon the order of its parts as being not 
 so much an organic articulation as a mere mechanical juxtapo- 
 sition. They are therefore obliged to assume abrupt transitions, 
 which, instead of explaining anything else, need to be explained 
 themselves. All this confusion is the fruit of the erroneous exe- 
 getical hypothesis, that the main subject and occasion of these 
 later prophecies is the Babylonish exile and the liberation from 
 it, and that with these the other topics must be violently brought 
 into connection by assuming a sufficiency of types and double 
 senses, or by charging the whole discourse with incoherence. 
 Equally false, but far less extensive in its influence, is the as- 
 sumption that the whole relates to Christ and to the new dis- 
 pensation, so that even what is said of Babylon and Cyrus must 
 be metaphorically understood. Common to both hypotheses is 
 the arbitrary and exclusive application of the most comprehen- 
 sive language to a part of what it really expresses, and a dis- 
 torted view of the Prophet's themes considered in their mutual 
 relations and connections. The whole becomes perspicuous, 
 continuous, and orderly, as soon as we admit that the great 
 theme of these .prophecies is God's designs and dealings with 
 
CHAPTER XLVI. 173 
 
 the church and with the world, and that the specific predictions 
 which are introduced are introduced as parts or as illustrations 
 of this one great argument. By thus reversing the preposterous 
 relation of the principal elements of the discourse, and restoring 
 each to its legitimate position, the connection becomes clear and 
 the arrangement easy. 
 
 In confirmation of the general threats and promises with 
 which ch. XLV. is wound up, the Prophet now exhibits the par- 
 ticular case of the Babylonian idols, as a single instance chosen 
 from the whole range of past and future history. They are 
 described ,as fallen and gone into captivity, wholly unable to 
 protect their worshippers or save themselves, vs. 1, 2. With 
 these he then contrasts Jehovah's constant care of Israel in 
 time past and in time to come, vs. 3, 4. The contrast is carried 
 out by another description of the origin and impotence of idols, 
 vs. 5-7, and another assertion of Jehovah's sole divinity, as 
 proved by his knowledge and control of the future, and by the 
 raising up of Cyrus in particular, vs. 8-11. This brings him 
 back to the same solemn warning of approaching judgments, 
 and the same alternative of life or death, with which the fore- 
 going chapter closes, vs. 12, 13. 
 
 1. Bel is bowed doivn, Ncbo stoopi?ig ; their images are (con- 
 signed) to the beasts arid to the cattle. Your burdens are packed up 
 [as) a load to the weary (beast.) The connection with what goes 
 before may be indicated thus : see for example the fate of the 
 Babylonian idols. Of these two are mentioned, either as arbi- 
 trary samples, or as chief divinities. The dignity of these two 
 imaginary deities among the Babylonians may be learned from 
 the extent to which these names enter into the composition of 
 the names of men, both in sacred and profane history. Such 
 are Belshazzar, Belteshazzar, Belesys, Nebuchadnezzar, Nebu- 
 zaradan, Nabopolassar, Nebonned, etc. Beyond this nothing 
 more is needed for the right interpretation of the passage, where 
 
174 CHAPTER XLVI. 
 
 the names are simply used to represent the Babylonian gods 
 collectively. Although not essential to the general meaning, it 
 is best to give the past tense and the participle their distinctive 
 sense, as meaning strictly that the one has fallen and the other 
 is now falling, in strict accordance with Isaiah's practice, in 
 descriptive passages, of hurrying the reader in medias rcs^ of 
 which we have already had repeated instances. The pronoun 
 in their images might be supposed to refer to the Babylonians, 
 though not expressly mentioned ; but as these are immediately 
 addressed in the second person, it is best to understand the 
 pronoun as referring to Bel and Nebo, who, as heavenly bodies 
 or imaginary deities, are then distinguished from the images 
 which represented them in the vulgar worship. The word 
 translated burdens is properly a passive participle used as a 
 noun and meaning your carried things (in old English, carriages), 
 the things which you have been accustomed to carry in proces- 
 sions or from place to place, but which are now to be carried in 
 a very diflFerent manner, on the backs of animals, as spoil or 
 captives. The last verb properly means lifted up in order to be 
 carried, but may here be rendered packed or loaded, though this 
 last word is ambiguous. Load does not necessarily denote a 
 heavy load, but simply something to be carried. 
 
 2. They stoop, they boto together; they cannot save the load; 
 themselves are gone into captivity. The first clause may mean 
 that they are now both fallen ; or together may have reference to 
 the other gods of Babylon, so as to mean that not only Bel a«d 
 Nebo but all the re.st are fallen. The last member of the first 
 clause has been variously explained. The most satisfactory 
 interpretation is the one which gives the word load the same 
 sense as in v. 1, and applies it to the images with which the 
 beasts were charged or laden. These are then to be considered 
 as distinguished by the writer from the gods which they repre- 
 sented. Bel and Nebo are unable to rescue their own images. 
 
CHAPTER XLVI. _ 176 
 
 This agrees well with the remainder of the sentence, themselves 
 arc gone (or literally their self is gone) into caplivity. This is the 
 only way in which the reflexive pronoun could be made emphatic 
 here without an awkward circumlocution. The antithesis is 
 really between the material images of Bel and Nebo and them- 
 selves^ so far as they had any real existence. The whole god, 
 soul and body, all that there was of him, was gone into captivity. 
 The idea of the conquest and captivity of tutelary gods was 
 common in the ancient east, and is alluded to, besides this 
 place, in Jer. 48 : 7. 49 : 3. Hos. 10:5, 6. Dan. II : 8, to which 
 may be added 1 Sam. 5:1. Whether the Prophet here refers 
 to an actual event or an ideal one, and how the former supposi- 
 tion may be reconciled with the statement of Herodotus and 
 Diodorus, that the great image of Bel at Babylon was not de- 
 stroyed until the time of Xerxes, are questions growing out of 
 the erroneous supposition that the passage has exclusive refer- 
 ence to the conquest by Cyrus ; whereas it may include the 
 whole series of events which resulted in the final downfall of 
 the Babylonian idol worship. 
 
 3. Hearken unto me^ oh house of Jacob, and all the remnant of 
 the house of Israel^ those home from the belly, those carried from the 
 womb. This repetition, analogous to that in oh. 42 : 2, 3, is 
 intended to suggest a contrast between the failure of the idols 
 to protect their worshippers and God's incessant care of his own 
 people. The gods of the heathen had to be borne by them ; 
 %it Jehovah was himself the bearer of his followers. And this 
 was no new thing, but coeval with their national existence. 
 The specific reference to Egypt or the Exodus is no more neces- 
 sary here than in ch. 44 : 2, 24. 48 : 8. The carrying meant ia 
 that of children by the nurse or parent. The same comparison 
 is frequent elsewhere. (See Num. 11: 12. Deut. 1:31. Ex. 19 : 
 4. Is. 63 : 9, and compare Deut. 32 : II, 12. Hos. 11:3. Is. 
 40: II.) 
 
116 CHAPTER XLVI. 
 
 4. The figure of an infant and its nurse was not sufficient to 
 express the whole extent of Grod's fidelity and tenderness to 
 Israel. The first of these relations is necessarily restricted to 
 the earliest period of life, but God's protection is continued 
 without limit. And to old age I am He (i. e. the same), atid to 
 gray hair I will bear {you) ;' I have doyie it and I will carry and 
 I ivill bear and save {you). As I have done in time past, so I 
 will do hereafter. The general analogy between the life of 
 individuals and that of nations is sufficiently obvious. 
 
 5. To whom will ye liken me and equal and compare me., that 
 we may be (literally, and we shall be) like ? This is an indirect 
 conclusion from the contrast in the foregoing context. If such 
 be the power of idols, and such that of Jehovah, to whom will 
 ye compare him ? The form of expression is like that in ch. 40 : 
 18, 25. 
 
 6. The prodigals (or lavish ones) will weigh gold from the bag, 
 amd silver with the rod ; they will hire a gilder., and he will mOjke 
 it a god ; the.y will how down., yea they will fall prostrate. From 
 the bag may be explained either as meaning taken out of the 
 purse, or in reference to the bag of weights, in which sense it is 
 used in Deut. 25: 13. Mic. 6:11. The word translated rod is 
 properly a reed, then any rod or bar, such as the shaft of a 
 candlestick (Ex. 25 : 31), and here the beam of a balance or the 
 graduated rod of a steelyard. The verse has reference to the 
 wealthier class of idol-worshippers. #' 
 
 7. They will lift him on the shoulder, they tvill carry him, they 
 will set him in his place, and he will stand (there), from his place 
 he will not move ; yes, one will cry to him, and he will not arisiver ; 
 from his distress he will (or can) not save him. The idol is not 
 only the work of man's hands, but entirely dependent on him 
 for the slightest motion. No wonder therefore that he cannot 
 
CHAPTER XL VI. 177 
 
 hear the prayers of his worshippers, much less grant them the 
 deliverance and protection which they need. 
 
 8. Remember this and show yourselves men ; briyig it home, ye 
 apostates, to {your) mind (or heart). By this some understand 
 what follows ; but it rather means what goes before, viz. the 
 proof just given of the impotence of idols, the worshippers of 
 which, whether Jews or gentiles, are addressed in this verse as 
 apostates or rebels against God. 
 
 9, 10. Remember former thiiigs of old [ox from eternity), for lam 
 the Mighty and there is no other, God and there is none like me, 
 declaring from the first the last, and from ancient time the things 
 which are not {yet) done (or made), saying. My counsel shall stand 
 and all my pleasure I will do. He calls upon them to consider 
 the proofs of his exclusive deity, afforded not only by the nul- 
 lity of all conflicting claims, but by the fact of his infallible 
 foreknowledge, as attested by the actual prediction of events 
 long before their occurrence. Instead of /or some read that, ou 
 the ground that the thing to be believed was his divinity ; the 
 former things being cited merely as the proofs of it. Declaring 
 the last from the first, or the end from the beginning, means 
 declaring the whole series of events included between these ex- 
 tremes. My counsel shall stand, i. e. my purpose shall be exe- 
 cuted. (See ch. 7 : 7. 8 : 10. 14 : 24. 44 : 26.) All the expres- 
 sions of the ninth verse have occurred before in different com- 
 binations. (See ch. 42 : 14. 43 : 18. 45 : 21 etc.) 
 
 11. Calling from the east a bird of prey, from a land of distance 
 the man of his counsel; I have both said and will also bring it to 
 pass, I have formed (the plan) and toill also do it. From the 
 general assertion of his providence and power, he now passes to 
 that specific proof of it which has so frequently been urged 
 before, viz. the raising up of Cyrus ; but without the mention 
 
178 CHAPTER XLVI. 
 
 of liis name in this case, and with an indefiniteness of expres 
 sion which is perfectly well suited to the general analogy of 
 prophecy, as well as to the views already taken in the exposi- 
 tion of ch. 44 : 28. Calling includes prediction and efficiency, 
 not only announcing but calling into being. The point of com- 
 parison is not mere swiftness or rapidity of conquest (Hos. 8 : 
 1. Hab. 1 : 8. Jer. 48: 40), but rapacity and fierceness. Man 
 of his coimsel does not mean his counsellor, as it does in ch. 40 : 
 13, but either the executor of his purpose, or the agent himself 
 purposed i. e. foreordained by God. It is as if he had said. I am 
 he that calls the man of his counsel, after which the construction is 
 continued regularly in the first person. The antithesis ex- 
 pressed is that between design and execution. 
 
 12. Hearken to me, ye stout of heart, those far from righteousness. 
 By an easy and natural association, he subjoins to these proofs 
 of his own divinity, both past and future, a warning to those 
 who were unwilling to receive them. Strength of heart implies, 
 though it does not directly signify, stubbornness or obstinacy 
 and a settled opposition to the will of God. The same persons 
 are described as far from righteousness, which some understand 
 as meaning far from rectitude or truth, i. e. deceitful, insincere. 
 But the only natural interpretation is the one which gives the 
 words their obvious and usual sense, as signifying those who 
 are not righteous before God, in other words the wicked, the 
 Vfords far from expressing the degree of their depravity. 
 
 13. I have brought near my righteousness, it shall not be far off; 
 a7id my salvation, it shall not tarry ; and I will give (or place) 
 in Zion my salvation, to Israel my glory. Because righteousness 
 and salvation frequently occur as parallel expressions, most of 
 the modern German writers treat them as synonymous, whereas 
 one denotes the cause and the other the effect, one relates to 
 God and the other to man. The sense in which salvation can 
 
CHAPTER XL VII. Il9 
 
 be referred to the righteousness of God is clear from ch. 1 : 27. 
 The exhibition of God's righteousness consists in the salvation 
 of his people and the simultaneous destruction of his enemies. 
 To these two classes it was therefore at the same time an object 
 of desire and dread. The stouthearted mentioned in v. 12 
 were not prepared for it, and, unless they were changed, must 
 perish when God's righteousness came near. The last words 
 admit of two constructions, one of which repeats the verb and 
 makes it govern the last noun (I will give my glory unto Israel) ; 
 the other makes the clause a supplement to what precedes, I 
 will give salvation in Zion unto Israel (who is) my glory. In 
 illustration of the latter, see ch. 44 : 23. 62 ; 3. Jer. 33 : 9. The 
 other construction has more of the parallel or balanced form 
 which is commonly considered characteristic of Hebrew compo- 
 sition. In sense they ultimately coincide, since Israel could 
 become Jehovah's glory only by Jehovah's glory being bestowed 
 upon him. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVII. 
 
 Here again v.'e meet with the most discordant and unfounded 
 assumptions, as to the connection of this chapter with the con- 
 test, and arising from the same misapprehension of the general 
 design of the whole prophecy. The following seems to be the 
 true analysis. 
 
 Having exemplified his general doctrine, as to God's ability 
 and purpose to do justice both to friends and foes, by exhibiting 
 the downfall of the Babylonian idols, he now attains the same 
 end by predicting the downfall of Babylon itself and of the 
 state to which it gave its name. Under the figure of a royal 
 virgin, she is threatened with extreme degradation and expo- 
 
180 CHAPTER XLVII. 
 
 sure, vs. 1-3. Connecting the event with Israel and Israel's 
 God, as the great themes which it was intended to illustrate, 
 V. 4, he predicts the fall of the empire more distinctly, v. 5. and 
 assigns as a reason the oppression of God's people, v. 6, pride 
 and self-confidence, vs. 7-9, especially reliance upon human 
 wisdom and upon superstitious arts, all which would prove 
 entirely insufficient to prevent the great catastrophe, vs. 10-15. 
 
 1. Comedoion! By a beautiful apostrophe, the mighty power 
 to be humbled is addressed directly, and the prediction of her 
 humiliation clothed in the form of a command to exhibit the 
 external signs of it. Sit on the dust ! This, which is the literal 
 translation of the Hebrew phrase, may be conformed to our 
 idiom either by substituting in for on, or by understanding the 
 Hebrew noun to denote, as it sometimes does, the solid ground. 
 The act of sitting on the ground is elsewhere mentioned as a cus- 
 tomary sign of grief (See ch. 3 : 26. Lam. 2: 10. Job 2 : 13 ) 
 But here it is designed, chiefly if not exclusively, to suggest 
 the idea of dethronement, which is afterwards expressed dis- 
 tinctly. The next phrase is commonly explained to mean 
 virgin daughter of Babel (i. e. Babylon), which, according to 
 some, is a collective personification of the inhabitants. What- 
 ever may be the primary import of the phrase, it is admitted 
 upon all hands to be descriptive either of the city of Babylon, 
 or of the Babylonian state and nation. Sit to the earth ! i. e. 
 close to it, or simply on it, the vague sense of the particle 
 being determined by the verb and noun with which it stands 
 connected. To sit as to a throne can only mean to sit upon 
 it. There is no throne. Some connect this with what goes 
 before, in this way : sit on the earth without p, throne. But 
 there is no need of departing from the idiomatic form of the 
 original, in which these words are a complete proposition, which 
 may be connected with what goes before by supplying a causal 
 particle : ' sit on the earth for you have now no throne.' Daugh- 
 
CHAPTER XLVII. 181 
 
 ter of Chasdwi! This last is the common Hebrew name for the 
 Chaldees or Chaldeans, the race introduced by the Assyrians, 
 at an early period, into Babylonia. (See ch. 23: 13. Compare 
 also what is said above, on ch. 43 : 14.) If taken here in this 
 sense, it may be understood to signify the government or the 
 collective members of this race. Daughter of Chasdim must of 
 course be an analogous expression to the parallel phrase daugh- 
 ter of Babel. For thou shalt not add (or continue) to he called^ 
 would be the natural and usual conclusion of the phrase ; instead 
 of which we have here they shall not call thee^ which is common 
 enough as an indefinite expression equivalent to a passive, and 
 only remarkable from its combination with the preceding words, 
 although the sense of the whole clause is quite obvious. Thou 
 shalt not continue to be called (or they shall no longer call thee) 
 tender and delicate, i. e. they shall no longer have occasion so to 
 call thee, because thou shalt no longer be so. The same two 
 epithets are found in combination Deut. 28 : 54, from which 
 place it is clear that they are not so much descfriptive of volup- 
 tuous and vicious habits as of a delicate and easy mode of life, 
 such as that of a princess compared with that of a female slave. 
 The testimonies of the ancient writers as to the prevalent ini- 
 quities of Babylon belong rather to a subsequent part of the 
 description. All that is here meant is that the royal virgin 
 must descend from the throne to the dust, and relinquish the 
 luxuries and comforts of her former mode of life. 
 
 2. Take 7mll-st07ies and grind meal ! Even among the Romans 
 this was considered one of the most servile occupations. In 
 the east it was especially the work of female slaves. (Ex. 11:5. 
 Matt. 24 : 41.) Uncover (i. e. lift up or remove) thy veil! 
 One of the Arabian poets speaks of certain ladies as appearing 
 unveiled so that they resembled slaves, which is exactly the 
 idea here expressed. Uncover the kg, cross streams ! The only 
 question as to this clause is whether it refers to the fording of 
 
182 CHAPTER XLVII 
 
 rivers by female captives as they go into exile, or to the habitual 
 exposure of the person, by which women of the lowest class are 
 especially distinguished in the east. The latter explanation is 
 entitled to the preference, not only because we read of no de- 
 portation of the Babylonians by Cyrus, but because the other 
 terms of the description are confessedly intended to contrast 
 two conditions of life or classes of society. 
 
 3. The same idea of exposure is now carried out to a revolt- 
 ing extreme. Lei thy nakedness be uncovered^ likewise let thy shame 
 be seen. This conveys no new idea, but is simply the climax of 
 the previous description. I will take vengeance. The metaphor 
 is here exchanged for literal expressions by so easy a transition 
 that it scarcely attracts notice. The destruction of Babylon is 
 frequently set forth as a righteous retribution for the wrongs of 
 Israel. (See Jer. 50 : 15, 28.) I xoill not (or I shall not) meet 
 a man. The most probable sense of this obscure clause is, / 
 shall encounter no man.^ i. e. no man will be able to resist me. 
 This simple explanation is at the same time one of the most 
 ancient. The whole clause is a laconic explanation of the 
 figures which precede, and which are summed up in the simple 
 but terrific notion of resistless and inexorable vengeance. 
 
 4. Our Redeemer (or as for our Redeemer)^ Jehovah of Hosts {is) 
 his name., the Holy One of Israel. The downfall of Babylon waa 
 but a proof that the Deliverer of Israel was a sovereign and 
 eternal being, and yet bound to his own people in the strongest 
 and tenderest covenant relation. Thus understood, the verse 
 does not even interrupt the sense, but makes it the clearer, by 
 recalling to the reader's mind the great end for which the event 
 took place and for which it is here predicted. This is a distinct 
 link in the chain of the prophetic argument, by which the fall 
 of Babylon is brought into connection and subordination to the 
 proof of God's supremacy as shown in the protection and salva- 
 
GHAPTER XLVII. 183 
 
 tion of his people. That the Prophet speaks here in his own 
 person, is but a single instance of a general" usage, characteristic 
 of the whole composition, in which God is spoken of, spoken to, 
 or introduced as speaking, in constant alternation ; yet without 
 confusion or the slightest obscuration of the general meaning. 
 
 5. Sit silent (or in silence), and go into darkness (or a dark 
 place), daughter of Chasdim ! The allusion is to natural and 
 usual expressions of sorrow and despondency. (See Lam. 2 : 
 10. 3:2. 28.) For thou shalt not continue to be called (or they 
 shall not continue to call thee) mistress of kingdoms. This is an 
 allusion to the Babylonian empire, as distinguished from Baby- 
 lonia proper, and including many tributary states, which Xeno- 
 phon enumerates. In like manner the Assyrian king is made 
 to ask (ch. 10:8), Are not my princes altogether kings'? 
 
 6. I was wroth agai7ist my people ; I profaned my heritage, i. e, 
 I suffered my chosen and consecrated people^ to be treated as 
 something common and unclean. In the same sense God is 
 said before (ch. 43 : 28) to have profaned, the holy princes. Israel 
 is called Jehovah's heritage, as being his perpetual possession, 
 continued from one generation to another. This general import 
 of the figure is obvious enough, although there is an essential 
 difference between this case and that of literal inheritance, 
 because in the latter the change and succession affect the pro- 
 prietor, whereas in the former they affect the thing possessed, 
 and the possessor is unchangeable. A7id I gave them into thy 
 hand, as my instruments of chastisement. Thou didst not show 
 them ncrcy.j literally place (give or appoint) it to them. God's 
 providential purpose was not even known to his instruments, 
 and could not therefore be the rule of their conduct or the 
 measure of their responsibility. Though unconsciously promot- 
 ing his designs, their own ends and motives were entirely cor- 
 rupt. In the precisely analogous case of the Assyrian, it is 
 
184 CHAPTER XLVII. 
 
 said (ch. 10 : 7), he will not think so, and his heart not so ivill 
 purpose, because to destroy {is) in his heart and to cut off nations 
 not a few. The general charge is strengthened by a specific 
 aggravation. On the aged thou didst aggravate thy yoke (or make 
 it heavy) exceedingly. Some understand this of the whole people, 
 whom they suppose to be described as old, i. e. as having reached 
 the period of national decrepitude. Others prefer the strict 
 sense of the words, viz. that they were cruelly oppressive even 
 to the aged captives, under which they include elders in office 
 and in rank as well as in age. This particular form of inhu- 
 manity is charged upon the Babylonians by Jeremiah twice 
 (Lam. 4 ; 16. 5 : 12), and in both cases he connects the word 
 with a parallel term denoting rank or office, viz. priests and 
 princes. The essential meaning of the clause, as a description 
 of inordinate severity to those least capable of retaliation or 
 resistance, still remains the same in either case. 
 
 7. And thou saidst. Forever I shall he a mistress, i. e. a mistress 
 of kingdoms, the complete phrase which occurs above in v. 5. 
 The conjunction has its proper sense of until, as in Job 14:6. 
 1 Sam. 20 ; 41 ; and the meaning of the clause is, that she had 
 persisted in this evil course until at last it had its natural effect 
 of blinding the mind and hardening the heart. Thou saidst. For- 
 ever I shall be a mistress, till (at last) thou didst not lay these 
 {things) to thy heart. The idea of causal dependence {so that) is 
 implied but not expressed. Laying to heart, including an exer- 
 cise of intellect and feeling, occurs, with slight variations as to 
 form, in ch. 42 : 25. 44 : 19. 46 : 8. Thou didst not remember the 
 e7id (or latter part, or issue) of it, i. e. of the course pursued. 
 The apparent solecism of remembering the future may be solved 
 by observing that the thing forgotten was the knowledge of the 
 future once possessed, just as in common parlance we use hope 
 in reference to the past, because we hope to find it so, or hope 
 
CHAPTER XLVII. 185 
 
 that sometliing questionable now will prove hereafter to be thus 
 or thus. 
 
 8. And now, a common form of logical resumption and con- 
 clusion, very nearly corresponding to our phrases, this being so, 
 or, such being the case. Hear this, i. e. what I have just said, 
 or am just about to say, or both. Oh voluptuous 07ie! The 
 common version, tkou that art given to pleasures, is substantially 
 correct, but in form too paraphrastical. The translation deli- 
 cate, which some give, is inadequate, at least upon the common 
 supposition that this term is not intended, like the kindred 
 ones in v. 1, to contrast the two conditions of prosperity and 
 downfall, but to bring against the Babylonians the specific 
 charge of gross licentiousness. This corruption of morals, as 
 in other like cases, is supposed to have been aggravated by the 
 wealth of Babylon, its teeming population, and the vast con- 
 course of foreign visitors and residents. After all, however, as^ 
 this charge is not repeated or insisted on, it 'may be doubted 
 whether the epithet in question was intended to express more 
 than the fact of her abundant prosperity about to be exchanged 
 for desolation and disgrace. The [one) sitting i?i security/. The 
 common version, dwellest, is much too vague. Sitting seems 
 rather to be mentioned as a posture of security and ease. The 
 {one) saying in her heart (or to herself), / [am) and none besides, 
 i. e. none like or equal to me. I shall not sit (as) a widow. The 
 figure of a virgin is now exchanged for that of a wife, a strong 
 proof that the sign was, in the writer's view, of less importance 
 than the thing signified. The same comparison is used by 
 Jeremiah of Jerusalem (Lam. 1:1. Compare Is. 51 : 18-20. 
 54 : 1,4, 5). Many interpreters understand widowhood as a 
 specific figure for the loss of a king ; but others apply the 
 whole clause to the loss of allies, or of all friendly intercourse 
 with foreign nations. And I shall not know (by experience) the 
 loss of children. This paraphrastical expression is the nearest 
 
186 CHAPTER XL VII. 
 
 approach that we can make in English to the pregnant He- 
 brew word. Bereavement and childlessness may seem at first 
 sight more exact, but the first is not exclusively appropriate to 
 the loss of children, and the last does not suggest the idea of 
 loss at all. 
 
 9. And they shall come to thee. The form of expression seems 
 to have some reference to the phrase / shall not know in the 
 preceding verse. As if he had said, they shall no longer be 
 unknown or at a distance, they shall come near to thee. These 
 two., or both these [things) from which she thought herself secure 
 forever. Suddenly. The Hebrew word is a noun, and origin- 
 ally means the twinkling of an eye and then a moment, but is 
 often used adverbially in the sense of suddenly. Tliat it has 
 the derivative sense here, may be inferred from the addition of 
 the words in one day.^ which would be a striking anticlimax if it 
 strictly meant a moment or the twinkling of an eye. Loss of 
 children and widowhood., as in the verse preceding, are explained 
 by most interpreters as figures for the loss of king and people. 
 In their ferfcction., literally, according to it, i. e. in the fullest 
 measure possible, implying total loss and destitution. They 
 have come upon thee. The English Version makes it future like 
 the verb in the preceding clause ; but this is wholly arbitrary. 
 According to the principle already stated and exemplified so 
 often, it is best to give the word its proper meaning, and to 
 understand it not as a mere repetition of what goes before, but 
 as an addition to it, or at least a variation in the mode of exhi- 
 bition. What he at first saw coming, he now sees actually 
 come, and describes it accordingly. In the multitude of thy en- 
 chantmentSj in the abundance of thy spells (or charms). The par- 
 allel terms, though applied to the same objects, are of different 
 origin, the first denoting primarily prayers or acts of worship, 
 and then superstitious rites ; the other specifically meaning 
 bans or spells (from a word signifying to bind), with reference, 
 
CHAPTER XLVIL 187 
 
 as some suppose, to the outward act of tying magical knots, but 
 as the older writers think, to the restraining or constraining 
 influence supposed to be exerted on the victim or even on the 
 gods themselves. The prevalence of these arts in ancient Baby- 
 lon is explicitly affirmed by Diodorus Siculus, and assumed as 
 a notorious fact by other ancient writers. 
 
 10. And [yet) thou art [ox least) secure in thy wickedness. There 
 is no sufficient reason for departing from the wide sense of the 
 last word as descriptive of the whole congeries of crimes with 
 which the Babylonians were chargeable. But neither in the 
 wide nor the restricted sense could their wickedness itself be 
 an object of trust. It is better, therefore, to give the verb the 
 absolute meaning which it frequently has elsewhere, and to 
 explain the whole phrase as denoting that they went on in their 
 wickedness without a fear of change or punishment. The idea 
 of security in wickedness agrees precisely with what follows-. 
 Thou hast said., there is no one seeing me^ a fortn of speech fre- 
 quently ascribed to presumptuous sinners and unbelievers in 
 the doctrine of providential retribution. (See Ps. 10 : 11. 94 : 
 7. Ezek. 8 : 12. 9 : 9. Job 22 : 14.) This, on the other hand, is 
 not a natural expression of specific trust in any form of wicked- 
 ness. He who relies upon his power or his cunning as a com- 
 plete protection will be not so apt to say "None seeth me" as 
 to feel indiflfereut whether he is seen or not. Thy wisdo7n and 
 thy knowledge, it has seduced thee. The insertion of the pronoun 
 it admits of a twofold explanation. It may mean, thy very tvis- 
 do?n, upon which thou hast so long relied for guidance, has itself 
 misled thee. But at the same time it may serve to show that 
 wisdom and knowledge are not here to be distinguished but 
 considered as identical. He does not say they have, but it has, 
 seduced thee. By wisdom and knowledge some understand 
 astronomy and astrology, others political sagacity and diplo- 
 matic skill, for which it is inferred that the Babylonians were 
 
188 CHAPTER XLVIL 
 
 distinguished, from the places where their wise men are par- 
 ticularly mentioned. (See for example Jer. 50 : 35. 51 : 57.) 
 But in these descriptions of the Babylonian empire, and 
 the analogous accounts of Tyre (Ezek. 28 : 4) and Egypt 
 (Is. 19 : II), the reference seems not so much to anything 
 peculiar to the state in question, as to that political wisdom 
 which is presupposed in the very existence, much more in 
 the prosperity, of every great empire. The remainder of the 
 verse describes the effect of this perversion or seduction in the 
 same terms that had been employed above in v. 8, and which 
 occur elsewhere only in Zeph. 2; 15, which appears to be an 
 imitation of the place before us. Atid thou saidst (or hast said) 
 i)i thy heart. The indirect construction, so that thou hast said, 
 contains more than is expressed, but not more than is im- 
 plied, in the original. I am and there is no other. I am what 
 no one else is ; there is no one like me, much less equal to 
 me. (See above, on v. 8.) This arrogant presumption is 
 ascribed to their wisdom and knowledge, not as its legitimate 
 effect, but as a necessary consequence of its perversion and 
 abuse, as well as of men's native disposition to exaggerate 
 the force and authority of unassisted reason. (Compare 
 ch. 5:21.) 
 
 11. And (so) there Cometh (or has come) upon thee evil ; with 
 an evident allusion to the use of wickedness in the verse pre- 
 ceding, so as to suggest an antithesis between natural and moral 
 evil, sin and suffering, evil done and evil experienced. The 
 common version [therefore shall evil come) is not strictly accurate. 
 Most of the modern writers make it present ; but the strict 
 sense of the preterite is perfectly consistent with the context 
 and the usage of the Prophet, who continually depicts occur- 
 rences still future, first as coming, then as come, not in fact but 
 in vision, both as certain to occur and as historically represented 
 to his own mind. Ajid there shall fall upon thee (a still stronger 
 
CHAPTER XLVII. 189 
 
 expression than the one before it, there shall come ujjon thee) 
 ruin. According to the modern lexicographers the noun itself 
 means fall., but in its figurative application to destruction or 
 calamity. It occurs only here and in Ezek. 7 : 26. Thou, shalt 
 not be able to avert it., or resolving the detached Hebrew clauses 
 into one English period, ivhich thou shalt not be able to avert. 
 The exact meaning of the last word is atone for, expiate, and 
 in this connection, to avert by expiation, whether in the strict 
 sense of atoning sacrifice or in the wider one of satisfaction 
 and propitiation. If we assume a personification of the einl, 
 the verb may mean to appease., as in Gen. 32 : 20. Prov. 16 : 14. 
 In any case, the clause describes the threatened judgment as 
 • inexorable and inevitable. And there shall come upon thee sud- 
 denly a crash., or as it has been rendered, a crashing fall., a 
 common metaphor for sudden ruin, [which) thou shall not 
 know.^ This may either mean, of which thou shalt have no 
 previous experience., or of which thou shalt have no previous ex-^ 
 pectatioH. The former meaning is the one m'ost readily sug- 
 gested by the words. The latter may be justified by the an- 
 alogy of Job 9 : 5, who rcmoveth the mountains and they know 
 not., Avhich can only mean that he removes them suddenly or 
 unawares. 
 
 12. Stand now ! The word here rendered noio is not a 
 particle of time but of entreaty, very often corresponding to I 
 pray, or if you please. In this case it indicates a kind of con- 
 cession to the people, if they still choose to try the virtue of 
 their superstitious arts which he had already denounced as 
 worthless. Stand now in thy spells (or charms). Some suppose 
 an allusion to the customary standing posture of astrologers, 
 conjurers, etc. Others understand the verb to mean stand fast, 
 be firm and courageous. But the modern writers generally 
 understand it to mean persist or persevere, which of course re- 
 quires the preposition to be taken in its usual proper sense of 
 
190 CHAPTER XLVII. 
 
 in. Persist now in thy spells arid in the abundance of thy charms.^ 
 the same nouns that are joined above in v. 9. In which thou 
 hast laboured. Frovi thy youth, may either mean of old., or more 
 specifically, since the earliest period of thy national existence. 
 The antiquity of occult arts, and above all of astrology, in Baby- 
 lon, is attested by various profane writers. Diodorus Siculus 
 indeed derives them fi-om Egypt, and describes the Chaldecs or 
 astrologers of Babylon as Egyptian colonists. But as this last 
 is certainly erroneous (see above on v. 1), the other assertion 
 can have no authority. The Babylonians are reported by the 
 same and other writers to have carried back their own antiquity, 
 as proved by recorded scientific observations, to an extravagant 
 and foolish length, to which some think there is allusion here 
 in the expression from thy youth. Perhaps thou wilt be able to 
 sucreedj or help thyself the verb commonly translated profit. (See 
 above, ch. 44: 10.) This faint suggestion of a possibiiity is 
 more expressive than a positive denial. 
 
 13. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsel., not merely 
 weary of it, but exhausted by it, and in the very act of using it. 
 By counsel we are to understand all the devices of the govern- 
 ment for self-defence. Let now (or pray let) thevi stand and save 
 thee. We may take stand either in the same sense which it has 
 above in v. 12, or in that of appearing, coming forward, present- 
 ing themselves. The subject of the verbs is then defined. Tlie 
 dividers of the heavens., i. e. the astrologers, so called because 
 they divided the heavens into houses with a view to their prog- 
 nostications. The same class of persons is then spoken of as 
 star-gazers., an English phrase which well expresses the peculiar 
 force of the Hebrew word followed by the preposition. Some 
 however give the former word its frequent sense of seers or 
 prophets, and regard what follows as a limiting or qualifying 
 term, the whole corresponding to the English phrase star-prophets 
 i. e, such as prophesy by means of the stars. The next phrase 
 
CHAPTER XLVI I. 191 
 
 does not mean making known the new moons^ for these returned 
 at stated intervals and needed no prognosticator to reveal them. 
 The sense is either at the new moons^ or by means of the new moons, 
 i. e. the changes of the moon, of vrhich the former is the sim- 
 pler explanation. Interpreters are much divided as to the way 
 in which the remaining words of this verse are to be connected 
 with what goes before. 
 
 14. Behold they are like stubble, fire has burned them (the Baby- 
 lonian astrologers). Behold brings their destruction into view 
 as something present. He not only prophesies that they shall 
 be burnt, but sees them burning. The comparison with stub- 
 ble seems intended to suggest that they are worthless and 
 combustible, whose end is to be burned. (Heb. 6 : 8.) At the 
 same time a contrast is designed between the burning of stub- 
 ble and the burning of wood, the former being more complete 
 and rapid than the latter. T/iey cannot deliver themselves from'' 
 the hand (i. e. the power) of the fiame. The last clause contains 
 a negative description of the fire mentioned in the first. Of 
 this description there are two interpretations. Some under- 
 stand it to mean that the destruction of the fuel will be so 
 complete that nothing will be left at which a man can sit and 
 warm himself Others explain it to mean, {this fire) is not a 
 coal (at which) to ^carm one^s self afire to sit before, but a devour- 
 ing and consuming conflagration. With either of these expo- 
 sitions of the whole clause may be reconciled a different inter- 
 pretation of the word Q^nb^ proposed by some writers, who give 
 the word the sense which it invariably has in every other place 
 where it occurs, viz. their bread. (See Job 30 : 4. Prov. 30 : 25. 
 Ezek. 4: 13. 12: 19. Hos. 9:4.) The whole expression then 
 means that it is not a common fire for baking bread, or, on the 
 other supposition, that there are not coals enough left for that 
 purpose. The phrase coal of their bread presents a harsh and 
 unusual combination, rendered less so however by the use of 
 
192 CHAPTER XLVII. 
 
 both words in ch. 44 ; 19. The general sense of sudden, rapid, 
 and complete destruction, is not affected by these minor ques- 
 tions of grammatical analysis. 
 
 15. Thus are they to thee^ i. e. such is their fate, you see what 
 has become of them. The words to thee suggest the additional 
 idea that the person addressed was interested in them and a 
 witness of their ruin. With respect to whom thou hast laboured. 
 This may either mean loith whom or for whom ; or both may be 
 included in the general idea that these had been the object and 
 occasion of her labours. Thy dealers (or traders) from thy 
 youth. This is commonly regarded as explanatory of the fore- 
 going clause. Thus the English Version, they with lohom thou 
 hast laboured.^ even thy merchants etc. It then becomes a ques- 
 tion whether these are called traders in the litei'al and ordinary 
 sense, or at least in that of national allies and negotiators ; or 
 whether the epithet is given in contempt to the astrologers and 
 wise men of the foregoing context, as trafficking or dealing in 
 imposture. According to another arrangement we are not to 
 read and so are thy dealers, or even thy dealers, but thy dealers 
 from thy youth wander each his own way. We have then two 
 classes introduced, and two distinct events predicted. As if 
 he had said, thy astrologers etc. are utterly destroyed, and as 
 for thy dealers, they wander home etc. widely different in fate, 
 but both alike in this, that they leave thee defenceless in the 
 hour of extremity. Thy traders may then be taken either in 
 its strict sense as denoting foreign merchants, or in its wider 
 sense as comprehending all, whether states or individuals, with 
 whom she had intercourse, commercial or political. Each to 
 his own quarter, side, direction, substantially synonymous with 
 the expression in Ezek. 1:9, 12, and other phrases all mean- 
 ing straight before him, without turning to the right hand or 
 the left, they watidcr (or have wandered), a term implying not 
 only flight but confusion. There is no one helping thee, or still 
 
CHAPTER XLVIIL 193 
 
 more strongly, saving thee, thou hast no saviour, with particular 
 reference' -to those just mentioned, who, instead of thinking 
 upon her or bringing her assistance, would be wholly engrossed 
 by a sense of their own danger and the effort to escape it. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVIII. 
 
 From his digression with respect to the causes and effects 
 of the catastrophe of Babylon, the Prophet now returns to his 
 more general themes, and winds up the first great division of 
 the Later Prophecies by a reiteration of the same truths and 
 arguments which run through the previous portion of it, with 
 some variations and additions which will be noticed in the 
 proper place. The disproportionate prominence given to the 
 Babylonish exile and the liberation from it, iu/'inost modern 
 espositions of the passage, has produced the same confusion 
 and the same necessity of assuming arbitrary combinations and. 
 transitions, as in other cases which have been already stated. 
 This is less surprising in the present case, however ; because the 
 Prophet, in the close as in the opening of this first book, does 
 accommodate his language to the feelings and condition of 
 the Jews in exile, though the truths which he inculcates are 
 still of a general and comprehensive nature. 
 
 Although Israel is God's chosen and peculiar people, he is 
 in himself unworthy of the honour and unfaithful to the trust, 
 vs. 1, 2, Former predictions had been uttered expressly to 
 prevent his ascribing the event to other gods, vs 3-5. For 
 the same reason new predictions will be uttered now, of events 
 which have never been distinctly foretold, vs. 6-8. God's con- 
 tinued favour to his people has no reference to merit upon 
 their part, but is the fruit of his own sovereign mercy and in- 
 
 VOL. II. — 9 
 
194 CHAPTER XLVIII. 
 
 tended to promote his own designs, vs. 9-11. He again asserts 
 his own exclusive deity, as proved by the creation of the world, 
 by the prediction of events still future, and especially by the 
 raising up of Cyrus, as a promised instrument to execute his 
 purpose, vs. 12-16. The sufferings of Israel are the fruit of 
 his own sin, his prosperity and glory that of Grod's sovereign 
 grace, vs. 17-19. The^jiook closes as it opened with a promise 
 of deliverance from exile, accompanied, in this case, by a solemn 
 limitation of the promise to its proper objects, vs. 20-22. 
 
 It is evident that these are the same elements which enter 
 into all the Later Prophecies, so far as we have yet examined 
 them, and that these elements are here combined in very 
 much the usual proportions, although not in precisely the same 
 shape and order. The most novel feature of this chapter 
 is the fulness with which one principal design of prophecy, and 
 the connection between Israel's sufferings and his sins, are 
 stated. 
 
 1. Hear this, not exclusively what follows or what goes be- 
 fore, but this whole series of arguments and exhortations. 
 This is a formula by which Isaiah frequently resumes and con- 
 tinues his discourse. Oh house of Jacob, the [men) called by the 
 name of Israel, a periphrasis for Israelites or members of the 
 ancient church. And from tJie waters of Judah tliey have come 
 out. By an easy transition, of perpetual occurrence in Isaiah, 
 the construction is continued in the third person ; as if the 
 Prophet, after addressing them directly, had proceeded to de- 
 scribe them to the by-standers. The people, by a natural 
 figure, are described as streams from the fountain of Judah. 
 (Compare ch. 51 : 1 and Ps. 6S : 27.) Some German writers 
 fasten on this mention of Judah as a national progenitor, as 
 betraying a later date of composition than the days of Isaiah. 
 But this kind of reasoning proceeds upon the shallow and 
 erroneous supposition that the application of this name to the 
 
CHAPTEll XLVIII. 195 
 
 whole people was the result of accidental causes at a compara- 
 tively recent period, whereas it forms part of a change designed 
 from the beginning, and developed by a gradual process, 
 through the whole course of their history. Even in patri- 
 archal times the pre-eminence of Judah was determined. 
 From him the Messiah was expected to descend (Gen. 49 : 10). 
 To^ hira the first rank was assigned in the exodus, the journey 
 through the desert, and the occupation of the promised land. 
 In his line the royal power was first permanently established. 
 To him, though deserted by five sixths of the tribes, the hon- 
 ours and privileges of the theoci'acy were still continued ; so 
 that long before the Babylonish exile or the downfall of the 
 kingdom of the ten tribes, the names of Israel and Judah 
 were convertible, not as political distinctions, but as designa- 
 tions of the chosen people, the theocracy, the ancient church. 
 In this sense, Israelite and Jew were as really synonymous 
 when Isaiah wrote, as they are now in common parlance. 
 Those swearing by the name of Jehovah^ i. e. swearing by him as 
 their God, and thereby not only acknowledging his deity, but 
 solemnly avouching their relation to hiin. (See above, on 
 ch. 45 : 23.) And of the God of Isral make iwntian. not in 
 conversation merely, but as a religious act, implying public 
 recognition of his being and authority, in which sense the 
 same Hebrew phrase with unimportant variations in its form 
 is frequently used elsewhere. (For examples of the very form 
 which here occurs, see Josh. 23 : 7. Ps. 20 : 8. 45 : 18.) Not 
 in truth and not in righteousness, uprightness, sincerity. It is 
 not necessary to infer from these words, that the Prophet's 
 language is addressed to a distinct class of the Jews, or to the 
 Jews of any one exclusive period, his own, or that of the cap- 
 tivity, or that of Christ. The clause is an indirect reitera- 
 tion of the doctrine so continually taught throughout these 
 prophecies, and afterwards repeated in this very chapter, that 
 God's choice of Israel and preservation of him was no proof 
 
196 CHAPTER XLVIII. 
 
 of merit upon his part, nor even an act of mere compassion 
 upon God's part, but the necessary means to an appointed end. 
 The reference therefore here is not so much to individual 
 hypocrisy or unbelief, as to the general defect of worthiness 
 or merit in the body. They were really called by the name 
 of Israel, and that not only by themselves and one another, 
 but by God. Both parts are equally essential, the description 
 of the Jews as the chosen people of Jehovah, and the denial 
 of their merit ; for the error into which they were continually 
 falling was the error of sacrificing one of these great doc- 
 trines to the other, or imagining that they were incompatible. 
 It was necessary to the Prophet's purpose that the people 
 should never forget either, but believe them both. 
 
 2. For from the Holy City thry are called. The same name 
 is given to Jerusalem below (ch. 51 : I), and also in the later 
 books (Dan. 9 : 24. Neh. 12 : 1) and the New Testament 
 (Matth. 4:5. 27 : 53). It is so called as the seat of the true 
 religion, the earthly residence of God, and the centre of the 
 church. That the reference is not to mere locality is plain 
 from the application of the name to the whole people. The 
 particle at the beginning of this verse has somewhat perplexed 
 interpreters. The safest because the simplest course is to take 
 it in its ordinary sense of /or, because, and to regard it as con- 
 tinuing the previous description, or rather as resuming it after 
 a momentary interruption, for which reason /c^r is used instead 
 of and. The connection may be thus rendered clear by a 
 paraphrase: 'I speak to those who bear the name of Israel 
 and worship Israel's God, however insincerely and imperfectly ; 
 for they are still the chosen people, and as such entitled to 
 rely upon Jehovah.' This last is then descriptive not of a 
 mere professed nor of a real yet presumptuous reliance, but of 
 the prerogative of Israel considered as the church or chosen 
 people, a prerogative not forfeited by their unfaithfulness, so 
 
CHAPTER XLVII I. 197 
 
 long as its continuance was necessary to tlie end for which it 
 was originally granted. The false interpretations of the pas- 
 sage have arisen from applying it dii-ectly to the faith or un- 
 belief of individuals, in which case there appears to be an in- 
 congruity between the parts of the description ; but as soon as 
 we apply it to the body, this apparent incongruity is done 
 away, it being not only consistent with Isaiah's purpose, but a 
 necessary part of it, to Jiold up the prerogatives of Israel as 
 wholly independent of all merit upon their part. Jehovah of 
 Hosts {is) his name. These words are added to identify the 
 object of reliance more completely, as the being who was called 
 the God of Israel and Jehovah of Hosts. At the same time 
 they suggest the attributes implied in both parts of the name. 
 As if he had said, they rely upon the God of Israel, whom 
 they acknowledge as an independent and eternal Being, and 
 the Sovereign of the universe. 
 
 3. The first {ox former things) since then I have declared. That 
 is, I prophesied of old the events which have already taken 
 place. For the sense of the particular expressions, see above 
 on ch 45 : 21. 46 : 10. There is no abrupt transition here, as 
 some interpreters assume. This verse asserts God's prescience, 
 not absolutely as in other cases, but for the purpose of explain- 
 ing why he had so carefully predicted certain future events. 
 It can be fully understood, therefore, only in connection with 
 what goes before and follows. And out of my mouth they went 
 forth. Some regard this as a proof that former <Aw?^s means 
 former prophecies and not events ; but even the latter might 
 be figuratively said to have gone out of his mouth, as having 
 been predicted by him. And I cause them to be heard, a 
 synonymous expression. Suddenly I do {them) and they come to 
 pass. All this is introductory to what follows respecting the 
 design of prophecy. The sense is not simply, I foretell things 
 
198 CHAPTER XLVIIL 
 
 to come, but I foretell things to come for a particular purpose, 
 which is now to be explained. 
 
 4. From my knowing. This may either mean fiecawst' J ^?ic2^) 
 or since I knew., or the last may be included in the first, as in 
 ch. 43 : 4. That thou art hard. This is commonly considered 
 an ellipsis for hard-hearted or stiff-necked ; more probably the 
 latter, as the sense required by the context is not so much that 
 of insensibility as that of obstinate perverseness. The same 
 idea is expressed still more strongly by the following words, 
 and an iron shieio (is) thy 7ieck ; and thy forehead brass. The 
 hardening of the face or forehead, which is sometimes used in 
 a good sense (e. g. ch. 50 : 7), here denotes shameless persis- 
 tency in opposition to the truth. 
 
 5. TJierefore I told thee long ago. This is often the force of 
 the conjunction and after a conditional clause or sentence. 
 Because I knew thee to be such, and I told thee, i. e. therefore 
 I told thee. Before it coines I have let thee hear (it), lest thou 
 say, My idol did them, i. e. did the things before referred to 
 collectively in the singular. The Hebrew word for idol, from 
 the double meaning of its root, suggests the two ideas of an 
 image and a torment or vexation. My graven image and my 
 molten image ordered them, i. e. called them into being. 
 
 6. Thou hast heard (the prediction), see all of it (accomplished). 
 A7id ye (idolaters or idols), loill not ye declare, the same word 
 used above for the prediction of events, and therefore no doubt 
 meaning here, will not ye predict something ? / have made 
 thee to hear new things. He appeals not only to the past but to 
 the future, and thus does what he vainly challenges them to do. 
 There is no need of inquiring what, particular pre actions are 
 referred to. All that seems to be intended is the general dis- 
 tinction between past and future, between earlier and later 
 
CHAPTER XLVIII. 199 
 
 prophecies. From now, henceforth, after the present time. 
 And {things) kept (in reserve), and thou hast not known them, or 
 in our idiom, which thou hast not known. 
 
 7. Now th'-y are created (i. e. brought into existence for the 
 first time) and not of old, or never before. The literal meaning 
 of the next words is, and before the day and thoii hast 7iot heard 
 them. This probably means before this dg,y (or before to-day) 
 thou hast never heard them. The same reason is assigned as 
 before : i"*/ thou shouldst say, Behold, I knew them. 
 
 8, Nay, thou didst not hear ; nay, thou didst not know. The 
 idiomatic form of this sentence is not easily expressed in a 
 translation, which, if too exact, will fail to show the true con- 
 nection. Having given the perverseness of the people as a 
 reason why they knew so much by previous revelation, he now 
 assigns it as a reason why they knew so little. These, although 
 at first sight inconsistent statements, are but varied aspects of 
 the same thing. God had told them so much beforehand, lest 
 they should ascribe the event to other causes. He had told 
 them no more, because he knew that they would wickedly 
 abuse his favour. In a certain sense and to a certain extent, 
 it was true that they had heard and known these things before- 
 hand. In another sense, and beyond that extent, it was 
 equally true that they had neither heard nor known them. 
 It was true that they had heard, but it was also true that they 
 had not heard. The strict sense of the clause is, likewise thou 
 hadst not heard, likewise thou hadst not known ; but as this form 
 of expression is quite foreign from our idiom, 7iay may be sub- 
 stituted, not as a synonyme but an equivalent. The yea of 
 the common version fails to indicate the true connection, by 
 suggesting the idea of a climax rather than that of an an- 
 tithesis, of something more rather than of something different. 
 Likewise of old (or beforehand) thitie ear teas not open, literally, 
 
200 CHAPTER XLVIII. 
 
 did not ope7i, the Hebrew usage coinciding with the English in 
 giving to this verb both a transitive and intransitive sense. 
 (For another clear example of the latter, see below, ch. 60 : 11.) 
 The sense is not, that because they would not hear or know 
 what was revealed, God denounced them as traitors and apos- 
 tates ; but that because they were traitors and apostates, he 
 would not allow them to hear or know the things in question. 
 / know thou wilt (or / kneio thou wouldest) act very treacherously. 
 Some suppose the emphatic repetition of the verb to express 
 certainty rather than intensity, and both may be included, 
 i. e. both would perhaps be unavoidably suggested by this form 
 of expression to a Hebrew reader. And apostate (rebel, or de- 
 serter) //'om the ivomb loas called to thee, i. e. this name was used 
 in calling thee, or thou wast called. Besides the idiom in the 
 syntax, there is here another instance of the use of the verb 
 call or name to express the real character. They were so 
 called, i. e. they might have been so, they deserved to be so. 
 (See above, on ch. 1 : 26.) Here, as in ch. 42 : 2, 24, most in- 
 terpreters explain the womb as meaning Egypt, but in all the 
 cases, it seems far more natural to understand this trait of the 
 description as belonging rather to the sign than the thing sig- 
 nified, as representing no specific circumstance of time or place 
 in the history of Israel, but simply the infancy or birth of the 
 ideal person substituted for him. 
 
 9. For my valuers sake. Most interpreters explain this as an 
 equivalent but stronger expression than for my oicn sake, for 
 the sake of the revelation which I have already made of my 
 own attributes. This explanation agrees well with the lan- 
 guage of V. 11 below. I will defer my anger. Literally, jJi'o- 
 long k; but this would be equivocal in English. The common 
 version, I toill defer my anger, is approved by the latest writers, 
 and confirmed not only by our familiar use of long and slow, in 
 certain applications, as convertible terms, but also by the uu- 
 
CHAPTER XLVIII. 201 
 
 equivocal analogy of the Greek fiaxqodvfiog and the Latin 
 
 longanimis. And {for) my praise I will reslrain [ii) toivards 
 thee. The last words of the verse express the effect to be pro- 
 duced, 50 as not to cut thee off, or destroy thee. 
 
 10. Behold I have melted thee. This is the original meaning 
 of the word ; but it is commonly applied to the smelting of 
 metals, and may therefore be translated proved or tried thee. 
 And not loith silver. Some read as silver, and others bring 
 out substantially the same sense by rendering it icith (i. e. in 
 company with) silver, or by means of the same process. Apart 
 from these interpretations, which assume the sense like silver, 
 the opinions of interpreters have been divided chiefly between 
 two. The first of these explains the Prophet's words to mean, 
 not for silver (or money), but gratuitously. This is certainly 
 the meaning of the expression in a number of places ; but it 
 seems to be entirely inappropriate when speaking of affliction, 
 which is rather aggravated than relieved by the idea of its 
 being gratuitous, i. e. for nothing. The other explanation, 
 and the one now commonly adopted, takes the sense to be, not 
 with silver (i. e. pure metal) as the result of the process. This 
 agrees well with the context, which makes the want of merit 
 on the part of Israel continually prominent. It also corres- 
 ponds exactly to the other clause, I have chosen thee (not in 
 wealth, or power, or honour, but) in the furnace of affliction. If 
 the furnace of affliction was designed to have a distinct histori- 
 cal meaning, it probably refers not to Babylon but Egypt, 
 which is repeatedly called an iron furnace. This '<;\<^uld agree 
 exactly with the representations elsewhere made respecting the 
 dection of Israel in Egypt, 
 
 11. For my own sake, for my own sake, I will do (what is to 
 be done). This is commonly restricted to the restoration of 
 the Jews from exile ; but this specific application of the promise 
 
 9* 
 
202 CHAPTER XLVIII. 
 
 is not made till afterwards. The terms are comprehensive and 
 contain a statement of the general doctrine, as the sum of the 
 whole argument, that what Jehovah does for his own people, is 
 in truth done not for any merit upon their part, but to protect 
 his own divine honour. For hoiv icill it be profaned ? This 
 may either mean. How greatly would it be profaned ! or. How 
 can I suffer it to be profaned ? And my glory (or honour) to 
 another will I not give, as he must do if his enemies eventually 
 triumph over his own people. The same words with the same 
 sense occur above in ch. 42 : 8. 
 
 12. Hearken unto me, oh Jacob, and Israel my called; I am 
 He, I am tiie First, also I the last. A renewed assurance of 
 his ability and willingness to execute his promises, the latter 
 being implied in the phrase my called, i. e. specially elected by 
 me to extraordinary privileges. The threefold repetition of 
 the pronoun I is supposed by some of the older writers to con- 
 tain an allusion to the Trinity. I am He is understood by 
 the later writers to mean I am the Being in question, or, it is 
 I that am the First and the Last. The older writers give the 
 pronoun He a more emphatic sense, as meaning He that really 
 exists. 
 
 13. Also my hand founded the earth, atid my right hand spasmed 
 the heave?is. The force of also seems to be this : not only am 
 I an Eternal Being, but the Creator of the heavens. Hand 
 and right hand is merely a poetical or rhetorical variation. 
 In the lai^ clause of the verse the English Version has ivhcn 
 I call. But in Hebrew usage, the pronoun and participle thus 
 combined are employed to express present and continuou| 
 action / {am) calling, i. e. I habitually call. The words must 
 either be referred to the constant exertion of creative power 
 in the conservation of the universe, or to the authority of the 
 Creator over his creatures as his instruments and servants. / 
 
CHAPTER XLVIII. 203- 
 
 call to them (summon them), and they will stand up together 
 (i. e. all without exception). This agrees well with the usage 
 of the phrase to stand before^ as expressing the attendance of 
 the servant on his master. (See for example 1 Kings 17 : 1.) 
 The same two ideas of creation and service are connected in 
 Ps. 119: 90, 91. The exclusive reference of the whole verse 
 to creation, on the other hand, is favoured by the analogy of 
 Rom. 4:17 and Col. 1 : 17. For the different expressions 
 here used, see above, ch. 40 : 22. 42 : 5. 44 : 24. 45 : 12. 
 
 14. Assemble yourselves, all of you, and hear! The object 
 of address is Israel, according to the common supposition, but 
 more pi'obably the heathen. Who among them, i. e. the false 
 gods or their prophets, hath declared (predicted) these things, the 
 whole series of events which had been cited to demonstrate 
 the divine foreknowledge. Jehovah loves him, i. e. Israel, and 
 to show his love, he will do his pleasure (execute his purpose)- 
 171 Babylon, and his (Jehovah's) arm (shall be 'Upon) the Chal- 
 dees. This explanation seems to answer all the conditions of 
 the text and context. Most interpreters, however, make the 
 clause refer to Cyrus, and translate it thus : ' he whom Jehovah 
 loves shall do his pleasure in Babylon, and his arm (i. e. ex- 
 ercise his power or his vengeance) on the Chaldees.' 
 
 15. /, /, have spoken (i. e. predicted) ; / have also called him 
 (effectually by my providence) ; / have brought him (into exist- 
 ence, or into public view) ; a?id he prospered his way. The 
 subject of the last verb is Cyrus or Israel, and we may under- 
 stand the phrase as meaning, he makes his own way prosperous, 
 i. e. he prospers in it. (Compare Ps. 1:3.) 
 
 16. Draw near u?ito mc! As Jehovah is confessedly the 
 speaker in the foregoing and the following context, and as 
 similar language is expressly ascribed to him in ch. 45 : 19, 
 
204 CHAPTER XLVII I. 
 
 some regard it as most natural to make these his words like- 
 wise, assuming a transition in the last clause from Jehovah to 
 the Prophet, who there describes himself as sent by Jehovah. 
 Others reconcile the clauses by making Christ the speaker. 
 Those who believe that he is elsewhere introduced in this same 
 book, can have no difficulty in admitting a hypothesis, which 
 reconciles the divine and human attributes referred to in the 
 sentence, as belonging to one person. Hear this ; not from the 
 beginning in secret have I spoken. See above, on ch. 45 : 19. 
 From the time of its being. Most interpreters refer the pro- 
 noun {it) to the raising up of Cyrus and the whole series 
 of events connected with it, which formed the subject of the 
 prophecies in question. (See above, ch. 46 : 11.) Since these 
 events began to take place, I was there. Those who regard 
 these as the words of Isaiah, understand them to mean that 
 he had predicted them. Those who refer the words to the 
 Son of God specifically, make the verse substantially identical 
 in meaning with the one in Prov. 8 : 27, which the church in 
 every age has been very much of one mind in applying to the 
 second person of the Godhead as the hypostatical wisdom of 
 the Father. Those who take the words more generally as the 
 language of Jehovah, understand him to declare that these 
 events had not occurred without his knowledge or his agency ; 
 that he was present, cognizant, and active, in the whole affair* 
 Thus far this last hypothesis must be allowed to be the simplest 
 and most natural. And now the Lord Jehovah hath sent me. 
 Those who regard Isaiah as the speaker in the whole verse 
 understand this clause to mean, that as he had spoken be- 
 fore by divine authority and inspiration, he did so still. 
 Those who refer the first clause simply to Jehovah, without 
 reference to personal distinctions, are under the necessity of 
 here assuming a transition to the language of the Prophet 
 himself The third hypothesis, which makes the Son of God 
 the speaker, understands both clauses in their strict sense as 
 
CHAPTER XLVIIL 205 
 
 denoting bis eternity on the one hand and his mission on the 
 other. The sending of the Son by the Father is a standing 
 form of speech in Scripture. (See Ex. 23 : 20. Is. 61 : 1. 
 Mai. 3:1. John 3 : 34. 17:3. Heb. 3:1.) A/id his Si.irit. It 
 has long been a subject of dispute whether these words belong 
 to the subject or the object of the verb hath sent. The English 
 Version removes all ambiguity by changing the collocation of 
 the words {the Lord God and his Spirit hath sent me). The 
 exegetical question is not one of much importance : because 
 both the senses yielded are consistent with the usage of the 
 Scriptures, and the ambiguity may be intended to let both 
 suggest themselves. The main proposition is, the Lord God 
 hath sent me. The supplementary expression and his Spirit 
 may be introduced, without absurdity or any violation of the 
 rules of syntax, either before the verb or after it. Mere usage 
 therefore leaves the question undecided. As little can it be 
 determined by the context or the parallelisms. The argument,' 
 which some urge, that the Spirit is never said "to send the Son, 
 takes for granted that the latter is the speaker, an assumption 
 which precludes any inference from the language of this clause 
 in proof of that position. Those on the other hand, who con- 
 sider these the words of Isaiah, argue in favour of the other 
 construction, that the Spirit is said to send the prophets. . On 
 the whole this may be fairly represented as one of the most 
 doubtful questions of construction in the book, and the safest 
 course is either to admit that both ideas were meant to be 
 suggested, although probably in different degrees, or else to 
 fall back upon the general rule, though liable to numberless 
 exceptions, that the preference is due to the nearest antecedent 
 or to that construction which adheres most closely to the 
 actual collocation of the words. The application of this prin- 
 ciple in this case would decide the doubt in favour of the pre- 
 vailing modern doctrine, that Jehovah had sent the person 
 
206 CHAPTER XLVIII. 
 
 speaking and endued laim with his Spirit, as a necessary 
 preparation for the work to which he was appointed. 
 
 17. Thus saith Jehovah^ thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel 
 (see the same prefatory formulas above, ch. 41 : 14. 43 : 14). 
 I am Jehovah thy God (or / Jehovah am thy God), teaching thee 
 to profit (or /, Jehovah, thy God, am teaching thee to frofit). To 
 profit, i. e. to be profitable to thyself, to provide for thy own 
 safety and prosperity. There seems to be a reference to the 
 unprofitableness so often charged upon false gods and their 
 worship. (See ch. 44: 10. 45: 19. Jer, 2: 11.) Leading thee 
 (literally, maldng thee to tread) in the way thou shall go. The 
 ellipsis of the relative is just the same as in familiar English. 
 The future includes the ideas of obligation and necessity, 
 without expressing them directly ; the precise sense of the 
 words is, the way thou ivilt go if thou desirest to profit. 
 
 18. The first verb in the verse is commonly taken in the 
 wide sense of attending, that of listening being looked upon as 
 a specific application of it. It may be questioned, however, 
 whether there is any clear case of its being used without ex- 
 plicit reference to hearing. If not, this must be regarded as 
 the proper meaning, and the wider sense considered as implied 
 but not expressed. The common explanation of the first 
 clause is, Oh that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments ! 
 Nothing could well be more appropriate at the close of this 
 division of the prophecies, than this afi"ecting statement of the 
 truth, so frequently propounded in didactic form already, that 
 Israel, although the chosen people of Jehovah, and as such 
 secure from total ruin, was and was to be a suff"erer, not from 
 any want of faithfulness or care on God's part, but as the 
 necessary fruit of his own imperfections and corruptions. 
 Then had thy peace been as the river, which some understand 
 to mean the Euphrates in particular, with whose inundations, 
 
CHAPTER XLVIII. 207 
 
 as well as with its ordinary flow, the Prophet's original readers 
 were familiar. It seems to be more natural, however, to regard 
 the article as pointing out a definite class of objects rather 
 than an individual, and none the less because the parallel ex- 
 pression is the sm, which some, with wanton violence, apply to 
 the Euphrates also. Peace is here used in its wide sense of 
 prosperity ; or rather peace, in the strictest sense, is used to 
 represent all kindred and attendant blessings. The parallel 
 term righteousness adds moral good to natural, and supplies 
 the indispensable condition without which the other cannot be 
 enjoyed. The ideas suggested by the figure of a river are 
 abundance, perpetuity, and freshness, to which the waves of 
 the sea add those of vastness, depth, and continual succession. 
 
 ■ 19. Then should have been lib? the sand thy seed^ a common 
 scriptural expression for great multitude, with special reference, 
 in this case, to the promise made to Abraham and Jacob 
 (Gen. 22 : 17. 32 : 12), the partial accomplis'hment of which 
 (2 Sam. 17 : 11) is not inconsistent with the thought here ex- 
 pressed, that, in the case supposed, it would have been far 
 more ample and conspicuous. The image is that of a parent 
 (here the patriarch Jacob) and his personal descendants. And 
 the issues (or offspring) of thy boioels (an equivalent expression 
 to thy seed). Of the next word there are two interpre*itions. 
 Some give it the sense of stones, pebbles, gravel c4,ud make it 
 a poetical equivalent to sand. Others xiiake the antithesis 
 between thy bowels and its buweis, viz. those of the sea ; and 
 the whole clause, supplying- the ellipsis, will read thus, the off- 
 spring of thy boiccls like (the offspring of) its botvels, in allusion 
 to the vast increase of fishes. His name. We must either 
 suppose an abrupt transition from the second to the third 
 person, or make seed the antecedent of the pronoun, which is 
 harsh in itself, and rendered more so by the intervening plural 
 forms. All the requisitions of the text are answered by the 
 
208 CHAPTER XL VIII. 
 
 common understanding of namc^ in such connections, as equiva- 
 lent to memory. The excision or destruction of the name from 
 before God is expressive of entire extermination. The precise 
 sense of the futures in this clause is somewhat dubious. Most 
 interpreters assimilate them to the futures of the foregoing 
 clause, as in the English Version {xhould not have been cut off 
 nor destroyed). Those who understand the first clause as ex- 
 pressing a wish in relation to the present or the future, make 
 this last a promise, either absolute {his name shall not be cut off) 
 or conditional {his name should not be cut off). Nor is this 
 direct construction of the last clause inconsistent with the old 
 interpretation of the first ; as we may suppose that the writer, 
 after wishing that the people had escaped the strokes provoked 
 by their iniquities, declares that even now they shall not be 
 entirely destroyed. This is precisely the sense given to the 
 clause in the Septuagint, and is recommended by its perfect 
 agreement with the whole drift of the passage and the analogy 
 of others like it, where the explanation of the sufl:erings of the 
 people as the fruit of their own sin is combined with a promise 
 of exemption from complete destruction. 
 
 20. Go forth from Babel ! This is a prediction of the de- 
 liv'erance from Babylon, clothed in the form of an exhortation 
 to escape from it. "We have no right to assume a capricious 
 change of subject, or a want of all coherence with what goes 
 before. The connectioi^ r^ay be thus stated. After the gen- 
 eral reproof and promise of the nmtt-^enth verse, he recurs to 
 the great example of deliverance so often introduced before. 
 As if he had said, Israel, notwithstanding his unworthiness, 
 shall be preserved ; even in extremity his God will not forsake 
 him ; even from Babylon he shall be delivered ; and then 
 turning in prophetic vision to the future exiles, he invites them 
 to come forth. Flee from the Chasdim (or Chaldees) ! With a 
 voice of joy. The last word properly denotes a joyful shout, 
 
CHAPTER XLVIII. 209 
 
 and not articulate song. The whole phrase means, with the 
 sound or noise of such a shout. It has been made a question 
 whether these words are to be connected with what goes be- 
 fore or with what follows. Tell this^ cause it to be heard. The 
 Hebrew collocation (/e//, cause to he heard^ this) cannot be re- 
 tained in English. Ulter it (cause it to go forth) even to the 
 end of the earth. Compare ch, 42 : 10. 43 : 6. Say ye^ Jehovah 
 hath redeemed his servant Jacob. The deliverance from Baby- 
 lon is here referred to, only as one great example of the gen- 
 eral truth that God saves his peojjje. 
 
 21. And they thirsted not in the deserts (through which) he 
 made them go. Water from a well he made to flow for them ; and 
 he clave the rock., and waters gushed out. There is evident refer- 
 ence here to the miraculous supply of water in the journey 
 through the wilderness. (Ex. 17 : 6. Num. 20 : 11. Ps. 78 : 15.) 
 It miffht even seem as if the writer meant to state these facts 
 historically. Such at least would be the simpler exposition of 
 his words, which would then contain a reference to the exodus 
 from Egypt, as the great historical example of deliverance. 
 As if he had said, Relate how God of old redeemed his servant 
 Jacob out of Egypt, and led him through the wilderness, and 
 slaked his thirst with water from the solid rock. Most inter- 
 preters, however, are agreed in applying tha»words to the de- 
 liverance from Babylon. 
 
 22. There is no peace, saith Jehovah, to the wicked. The mean- 
 ing of this sentence, in itself considered, is too clear to be dis- 
 puted. There is more doubt as to its connection with what 
 goes before. That it is a mere aphorism, added to this long 
 discourse, like a moral to an ancient fable, can only satisfy the 
 minds of those who look upon the whole book as a series of 
 detached and incoherent sentences. Vastly more rational is 
 the opinion, now the current one among interpreters, that this 
 
210 CHAPTER X L I X. 
 
 verse was intended to restrict the operation of the foregoing 
 promises to true believers, or the genuine Israel ; as if he had 
 said, All this will God accomplish for his people, but not for 
 the wicked among them. The grand conclusion to which all 
 tends is, that God is all and man nothing ; that even the chosen 
 people must be sufferers, because they are sinners ; that pecu- 
 liar favour confers no immunity to sin or exemption from re- 
 sponsibility, but that even amidst the enjoyment of the most 
 extraordinary privileges, it still remains forever true that 
 " there is no peace to the wicked." 
 
 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 This chapter, like the whole division which it introduces, 
 has for its great theme the relation of the church to the world, 
 or of Israel to the gentiles. The relation of the former to Je- 
 hovah is of course still kept in view, but with less exclusive 
 prominence than in the preceding part (ch. xl-xlviii). The 
 doctrine there established and illustrated, as to the mutual rela- 
 tion of the body and the head, is here assumed as the basis of 
 more explicit teachings with respect to their joint relation to 
 the world and the great design of their vocation. There is not 
 so much a change of topics as a change in their relative posi- 
 tion and proportions. 
 
 The chapter opens with an exhibition of the Messiah and 
 his people, ^under one ideal person, as the great appointed 
 Teacher, Apostle, and Restorer, of the apostate nations, vs. 1-9. 
 This is followed by a promise of divine protection and of glori- 
 ous enlargement, attended by a joyous revolution in the state 
 «f the whole world, vs. 10-13. The doubts and apprehensions 
 
CHAPTER XLIX. 211 
 
 of the church herself are twice recited under different forms, 
 vs. 14 and 24, and as often met and silenced, first by repeated 
 and still stronger promises of God's unchanging love to his 
 people and of their glorious enlargement and success, vs. 
 15-23 ; then by an awful threatening of destruction to their 
 enemies and his, vs. 25, 26. 
 
 1. Hearken ye islands unto mr^ and attend ye nations from afar. 
 Here, as in eh. 41 : 1, he turns to the gentiles and addresses 
 them directly. There is the same diversity in this case as to 
 the explanation of n"<'^x. But there seems to be no sufficient 
 reason for departing from the sense of islands., which may be 
 considered as a poetical representative of foreign and especially 
 of distant nations, although not as directly expressing that 
 idea. Froin afar is not merely at a distance (although this ex- 
 planation might, in case of necessity, be justified by usage), 
 but suggests the idea of attention being- drawn to a central 
 point /yo?« other points around it. Jehovah from the womb hath 
 called me., from the bowels of my mother he hath me^itioned my name 
 (or literally, caused it to be remembered). The expression 
 from the womb may be either inclusive of the period before 
 birth, or restricted to the actual vocation of the speaker to his 
 providential work. The speaker in this and the following 
 verses is not Isaiah, either as an individual, or as a represen- 
 tative of the prophets generally, on either of which supposi- 
 tions the terms used are inappropriate and extravagant. 
 Neither the prophets as a class, nor Isaiah as a single prophet, 
 had been intrusted with a message to the gentiles. In favour 
 of supposing that the speaker is Israel, the chosen people, 
 there are various considerations, but especially the aid which 
 this hypothesis affords in the interpretation of the third verse. 
 At the same time there are clear indications that the words 
 are the words of the Messiah. These two most plausible in- 
 terpretations may be reconciled and blended, by assuming that 
 
212 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 in this case as in ch. 42 : 1, the ideal speaker is the Messiah 
 considered as the head of his people and as forming with them 
 one complex person. If, as we have seen cause to believe, the 
 grand theme of this whole book is the Church, in its relation 
 to its Head and to the World, the anterior presumption is no 
 longer agaiust but decidedly in favour of the reference of this 
 verse to the Head and the Bod}' as one person, a reference 
 confirmed, as we shall see, by clear New Testament authority. 
 
 2. And he hath placed (i. e. rc?idered or made) my mouth like a 
 sharp sword. By mouth we are of course to understand speech, 
 discourse. The comparison is repeated and explained in the 
 Epistle to the Hebrews (4: 12): "The word of God is quick 
 and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing 
 even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the 
 joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and in- 
 tents of the heart." In both cases these qualities are pred- 
 icated not of literal speech merely, but of the instruction of 
 which it is the natural and common instrument. As tropical 
 parallels, Lowth refers to Pindar's frequent description of his 
 verses as darts, but especially to the famous panegyric of 
 Eupolis on Pericles, that he alone of the orators left a sting 
 in those who heard him. In the shadow of his hatid he hid me. 
 It has been made a question whether i?i the shadow of his hand 
 means in his hand or under it ; and if the latter, whether there 
 is reference to the usual position of the sword-belt, or to the 
 concealment of the drawn sword or dagger under the arm or 
 in the sleeve. Most interpreters, however, prefer the obvious 
 sense, in the protection of his hand, or rather in its darkness, 
 since the reference is not so much to safety as to concealment. 
 Thus understood, the figure is appropriate not only to the per- 
 sonal Messiah, but to the ancient church, as his precursor and 
 representative, in which high character it was not known for 
 ages to the nations. And he placed me for (that is, rendered m£, 
 
CHAPTER XLIX. 213 
 
 or, used me as) a polished arrow. This is the parallel expres- 
 sion to the first member of the other clause. What is there 
 called a sword is here an arrow. The essential idea is of 
 course the same, viz. that of penetrating power, but perhaps 
 with an additional allusion to the directness of its aim and the 
 swiftness of its flight. The common version shaft is not en- 
 tirely accurate, the Hebrew word denoting strictly the metallic 
 head of the arrow. In his quiver he has hid me. This is the 
 corresponding image to the hiding in the shadow of God's 
 hand. It is still more obvious in this case that the main idea 
 meant to be conveyed is not protection but concealment. The 
 archer keeps the arrow in his quiver not merely that it may be 
 safe, but that it may be ready for use and unobserved until it 
 is used. 
 
 3. And h" (Jehovah) said to me, Thou art my servant, i. e. my 
 instrument or agent constituted such for a specific and impor- 
 tant purpose. In this same character both Israel and the 
 Messiah have before been introduced. There is therefore the 
 less reason for giving any other than the strict sense to the 
 words which follow, Isra<iVin lohom I tuill be glorified or glorify 
 myself. The version I lo ill glory seems inadequate and not suf- 
 ficiently sustained by usage. The only supposition which adheres 
 to the natural and obvious meaning of the sentence, and yet 
 agrees with the context, is the one above mentioned, viz. that 
 of a complex subject including the Messiah and his people, 
 or the body with its head. 
 
 4. And I said, in opposition or reply to what Jehovah said. 
 The pronoun in Hebrew, being not essential to the sense, is 
 emphatic. In vain (or (or a vain thing, i. e. an unattainable 
 object) have I toiled. The Hebrew word suggests the idea of 
 exhaustion and weariness. For empliniss and vanity my strength 
 have I consumed. But my right is with Jehovah and my work 
 
214 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 with my God. Work is no doubt here used in the same sense 
 as in ch. 40 : 10, viz. that of recompense, being put for its 
 result or its equivalent. If so, it is altogether probable that 
 right here means that to which I have a right or am entitled, 
 that is to say in this connection, my reward or recompense. 
 This explanation of the term is certainly more natural than 
 that which makes it mean^wi^/ cause^ my suit, as this needlessly 
 introduces a new figure, viz that of litigation, over and above 
 that of labour or service for hire. This clause is universally 
 explained as an expression of strong confidence that God 
 would make good what was wanting, by bestowing the reward 
 which had not yet been realized. With therefore means in 
 his possession, and at his disposal. The next verse shows that 
 the failure here complained of is a failure to accomplish the 
 great work before described, viz. that of converting the world. 
 
 5. And noio, saith Jehovah, my maker (or ivho formed me) from 
 the womb, for a servant to himself, i. e. to be his servant in the 
 sense before explained. The noio may be here taken either in 
 its temporal or logical sense. To convert (or bring back) Jacob 
 to him. This cannot mean to restore from exile ; for how could 
 this work be ascribed directly either to the Prophet or the 
 Prophets, or to the Messiah, or to Israel himself? It might 
 indeed apply to Cyrus, but the whole context is at war with 
 such an explanation. All that is left, then, is to give the verb 
 the sense of bringing back to a state of allegiance from one of 
 alienation and revolt. But how could Jacob or Israel be said 
 to bring himself back? This is the grand objection to the 
 assumption that the servant of Jehovah was Israel himself. 
 This is one of the cases where the idea of the head predomi- 
 nates above that of the body, because they are related to each 
 other as the subject and object of one and the same action. 
 The vocation of Israel was to reclaim the nations ; that of the 
 Messiah was first to reclaim Israel himself and then the 
 
 
CHAPTER XLIX. 215 
 
 nations. Some read the next clause as an interrogation, shall 
 not Israel be gathered ? Others as a concession, although Israel 
 be not gathered. Others as a simple affirmation in the present 
 tense, and (yet) Israel is not gathered. All that is needed to 
 give this last the preference is the substitution of the future 
 for the present, after which the whole verse may be paraphrased 
 as follows : Thus saith Jehovah, who formed me from the 
 womb as a servant for himself, to restore Jacob to him — and 
 (yet) Israel will not be gathered — and (yet) I shall be honoured 
 in the eyes of Jehovah, and my God has (already) been my 
 strength/ The first ijet introduced to show the true connection 
 is equivalent to saving, though I was called and raised up for 
 this purpose ; the other is equivalent to saying, although 
 Israel will not be gathered. This last phrase may be taken as 
 a simple prediction that they should not be gathered, or a 
 declaration that they would not (consent to) be gathered. 
 This last, if not expressed, is implied. The general meaning 
 of the verse is that Messiah and his people should be honoured 
 in the sight of God, although the proximate design of their 
 mission, the salvation of the literal Israel, might seem to fail. 
 
 6. And he said. This does not introduce a new discourse or 
 declaration, but resumes the construction which had been in- 
 terrupted by the parenthetic clauses of the foregoing verse. 
 And now saith lehovah [toho formed me from the womb to be a ser- 
 vant to himself to restore Jacob to him., and yet Israel will not be 
 gathered, and yet / shall be honoured in the eyes of Jehovah, and 
 my God has bee?i my strength) — he said or says as follows. It is 
 a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant. The original 
 form of expression is so purely idiomatic, that it cannot be re- 
 tained in English. Accoi'ding to the usual analogy, the He- 
 brew words would seem to mean it is lighter than thy being my 
 servant ; but this can be resolved into it is too light for thee to 
 he my servant, with at least as much ease as a hundred other 
 
216 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 formulas, the sense of which is obvious, however difficult it 
 may be to account for the expression. The form of expression 
 is anomalous and rare, though not unparalleled, as may be seen 
 by a comparison of this verse with Ezek. 8:17. The sense, 
 if it were doubtful iu itself, would be clear from the context, 
 which requires this to be taken as a declaration that it was not 
 enough for the Messiah (and the people as his representative) 
 to labour for the natural descendants of Abraham, but he and 
 they must have a wider field. Thy being to me a servant to 
 raise up the tribes of Jacob and the preserved of Israel to restore. 
 This form of expression shows very clearly that in this and 
 the parallel passages servant is not used indefinitely, but in the 
 specific sense of an appointed instrument or agent to perform 
 a certain "work. That work is here the raising up of Jacob, a 
 phrase which derives light from the parallel expression, to 
 restore the preserved of Israel, i. e to raise them from a state 
 of degradation, and to restore them from a state of estrange- 
 ment. A specific reference to restoration from the Babylonish 
 exile would be gratuitous ; much more the restriction of the 
 words to that event, which is merely included as a signal in- 
 stance of deliverance and restoration in the general. And I 
 have given thee for a light to the gentiles (as in ch. 42 : 6), to be 
 my salvation even to the end of the earth. This, according to 
 the English idiom, would seem to mean that thou mayest be my 
 salvation etc. ; but Hebrew usage equally admits of the inter- 
 pretation, that my salvation may be (i. e. extend) to the end of 
 the earthy which is in fact preferred by most interpreters. The 
 meaning of this verse is not, as some suppose, that the heathen 
 should be given to him in exchange and compensation for the 
 unbelieving Jews, but that his mission to the latter was, from 
 the beginning, but a small part of his high vocation. The ap- 
 plication of this verse by Paul and Barnabas, in their address 
 to the Jews of Antioch iu Pisidia (Acts 13 : 47) is very im- 
 portant, as a confirmation of the hypothesis assumed above, 
 
 m 
 
CHAPTER XLIX. 217 
 
 that the person here described is not the Messiah exclusively, 
 but that his people are included in the subject of the descrip- 
 tion. " It was necessary that the word of God should first 
 have been spoken unto you ; but seeing ye put it from you, 
 and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn 
 to the gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded us 
 (saying), I have set thee to be a light to the gentiles, that thou 
 shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth." Al- 
 though this is not irreconcilable with the exclusive Messianic 
 explanation of the verse before us, its agreement with the 
 wider explanation is too striking to be deemed fortuitous. 
 
 7. Thus sailh Jehovah^ the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, 
 to the heartily despised, to the nation exciting abhorrence. The two 
 epithets in this clause are exceedingly obscure and difi&cult. 
 Whom the 7iation abhorrcth, who abhorrcth the nation, who excites 
 the abhorrence of the nation, the nation, which excites abhorrence, 
 all these are possible translations of the Hebrew ^ords, among 
 which interpreters choose according to their different views 
 respecting the whole passage. In any case it is descriptive of 
 deep abasement and general contempt, to be exchanged here- 
 after for an opposite condition. To a servant of rulers, one who 
 has hitherto been subject to them but is now to receive their 
 homage Kings shall see (not him or fhe?n, but it, viz that which 
 is to happen) and rise ttj) (as a token of respect), princes {shall 
 see) and boiv thrmselvcs. For the sake of Jehovah ivho is faithful 
 (to his promises), the Holy One of Israel, and he hath chosen thee, 
 or in our idiom ivho has chosen thee. This last clause not only 
 ascribes the promised change to the power of God, but represents 
 it as intended solely to promote his glory. 
 
 8. Thus saith Jehovah, In a time of favour have I heard (or 
 ansicered) thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee. The 
 common version, an acceptable time, does not convey the sense 
 
 VOL. II. — 10 
 
218 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 of the original, whicli signifies a suitable or appointed time for 
 showing grace or favour. The object of address is still the 
 Messiah and his people, whose great mission is again described. 
 A7id I will keep thee, and tvill give tJieefor a covenant of the people^ 
 i. 6. of men in general (see above, ch. 42 : 7), to raise up the 
 earth or world from its present state of ruin, and to cause to 
 inherit the desolate heritages, the moral wastes of heathenism. 
 There is allusion to the division of the land by Joshua. Here 
 again we have clear apostolical authority for applying this de- 
 scription to the Church, or people of God, as the Body of which 
 Christ is the Head. Paul says to the Corinthians, " We then 
 as workers together (with him) beseech you also that ye receive 
 not the word of God in vain. For he saith, I have heard thee 
 in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured 
 thee." What follows is no part of the quotation but Paul's 
 comment on it. '' Behold, now is the accepted time ; behold, 
 now is the day of salvation." (2 Cor. 6 : 2.) This, taken in 
 connection with the citation of v. 6 in Acts 13 : 47, precludes 
 the supposition of an accidental or unmeaning application of 
 this passage to the people or ministers of Christ as well as to 
 himself. 
 
 9. To say to those bound, Come forth ; to (those) who (a?-e) in 
 darkness, Be revealed (or show yourselves). On the ways (or 
 roads) they shall feed, and in all bare hills (shall be) their pasture. 
 There is here a change of figure, the delivered being repre- 
 sented not as prisoners or freedmen but as flocks. Some read 
 by the way or on their way homeward ; but it is commonly 
 agreed that the Prophet simply represents the flock as finding 
 pasture even without going aside to seek it, and even in the 
 most unlikely situations. The restriction of these figures to 
 deliverance from Babylon, can seem natural only to those who 
 have assumed the same hypothesis throughout the foregoing 
 chapters. 
 
CHAPTER XLIX. 219 
 
 10. They shall not hunger and they shall not thirst, and there 
 shall not smite them mirage and sun ; for he that hath mercy on 
 them shall guide them, and by springs of water shall he lead them. 
 The image of a flock is still continued. (Compare ch. 40 : 10, 
 11, 41 : 18. 43 : 19.) i"iiu is tlie same word that is now uni- 
 versally explained in ch. 35 : 7 to mean the mirage, or delusive 
 appearance of water in the desert. For the true sense of the 
 verb lead, see above, on ch. 40 : 11. 
 
 1 1 . And I will place all my mountains for the way, and my 
 roads shall ie high. The image of a flock is now exchanged for 
 that of an army on the march. My mountains is by some 
 understood to mean the mountains of Israel ; but why these 
 should be mentioned is noT~easiTyexplained. Others with 
 more probability explain it as an indirect assertion of God's 
 sovereignty and absolute control, and more especially his power 
 to remove the greatest obstacles from the way of his people. 
 The original expression is not merely /or a u-ay but /or the way, 
 i. e. the way in which my people are to go. The word trans- 
 lated road is an artificial road or causeway made by throwing 
 up the earth, which seems to be intended by the verb at the 
 close. (Compare the use o{ way, ch. 57 : 14.) 
 
 12. Behold, these from afar shall come; and behold, these from 
 the 7iorth and from tlie sea, and these from the land of Sinim. 
 There is not the least doubt as to the literal translation of this 
 verse ; and yet it has been a famous subject of discordant expo- 
 sitions, all of which turn upon the question, what is meant by 
 the land of Sinim ? In addition to the authors usually cited, 
 respect will here be had to an interesting monograph, by an 
 American Missionary in China,* originally published in the 
 Chinese Repository, and republished in this country under the 
 title of " The Land of Sinim, or an exposition, of Isaiah 49 : 12, 
 
 * Now understood to be the lamented Walter Macon Lowrie. 
 
220 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 together with a brief account of the Jews and Christians in 
 China." (Philadelphia, 1845.) It is well said by this writer, 
 that the verse before us is the central point of the prophetical 
 discourse, of which it forms a part ; inasmuch as it embodies 
 the great promise, which in various forms is exhibited before 
 and afterwards. This relation of the text to the context is impor- 
 tant, because it creates a presumption in favour of the widest 
 meaning which can be put upon the terms of the prediction, 
 and against a restricted local application. A preliminary 
 question, not devoid of exegetical importance, is the question 
 with respect to the mutual relation of the clauses. The doubt- 
 ful point is, whether the first clause is a single item in an enu- 
 meration of particulars, or a generic statement, comprehending 
 the specific statements of the other clause. Almost all inter- 
 preters assume the former ground and understand the verse 
 as naming or distinguishing the four points of the compass. 
 But the other supposition is ingeniously maintained by the 
 Missionary in China, who makes the first clause a general pre- 
 diction that converts shall come from the remotest nations, 
 and the other an explanation of this vague expression, as 
 including the north, the west, and the land of Sinim. Upon 
 this construction of the sentence, which is certainly plausible 
 and striking, it may be observed, in the first place, that it is not 
 necessary for the end at which the author seems to aim in 
 urging it. This end appears to be the securing of some proof 
 that the specifications of the second clause relate to clistayit 
 countries. But this conclusion is almost as obvious, if not 
 entirely so, upon the other supposition ; for if one of the four 
 quarters is denoted by the phrase/raw afar^ the idea necessarily 
 suggested is that all the other points enumerated are remote 
 likewise. The same thing would moreover be sufiiciently appar- 
 ent from the whole drift of the context as relating not to prox- 
 imate or local changes but to vast and universal ones. Nothing 
 is gained, therefore, even for the author's own opinion, by the 
 
CHAPTER XLIX. 221 
 
 admission of this new construction. Another observation is, 
 that the authority on which he seems to rest its claims is incon- 
 clusive, namely, that of the Hebrew accents. He states the testi- 
 mony thus afforded much too strongly, when he speaks of '• a 
 full stop" after the clause from afar they shall coifle, and points 
 the verse accordingly. The accent which occurs here, as a 
 general rule, indicates the pavise not at the end but in the 
 middle of a sentence or complete proposition. It is therefore 
 prima facie proof that the sentence is incomplete ; and although 
 there may be numerous exceptions, it cannot possibly demon- 
 strate that the first clause does not form a part of the same 
 series of particulars which is concluded in the second. That 
 the first clause frequently contains what may be logically called 
 an essential portion of the second, any reader may convince 
 himself by the most cursory inspection of the book before us; 
 and for two decisive examples in this very chapter, he has only 
 to examine the fifth and seventh verses, where the substitution 
 of a " full stop" would destroy the sense. But even if the tes- 
 timony of the accents were still more explicit and decisive than 
 it is, their comparatively recent date and their mixed relation 
 to rhythmical or musical as well as to grammatical and logical 
 distinctions make it always proper to subject their decision to 
 the requisitions of the text and context in themselves con- 
 sidered. Notwithstanding the great value of the masoretic 
 accents as an aid to interpretation, the appeal must after all be 
 to the obvious meaning of the words, or in default of this to 
 analogy and usage. The accents leave us therefore perfectly 
 at liberty to look upon the mutual relation of the clauses as an 
 open question, by inquiring whether there is any valid reason 
 for departing from the ancient and customary supposition that 
 the four points of the compass, or at least four quarters or direc- 
 tions, are distinctly mentioned. This leads me, in the third 
 place, to observe that the objection which the Missionary makes 
 to this hypothesis, apart from the question of accentuation, is 
 
222 CHAPTER XL IX. 
 
 an insufficient one. He objects to the explanation of the 
 phrase from afar as meaning /ro?« the cast (and the same objec- 
 tion would by parity of reasoning apply to the explanation of 
 it as denoting from the so?/.^//), that afar does not mean the east, 
 and is not el^where used to denote it. But it is not said that 
 afar means the cast^ but simply that it here supplies its place. 
 If any one, in numbering the points of the compass, should, 
 instead of a complete enumeration, say the north, south, east, 
 and so on, his obvious meaning could not well be rendered 
 doubtful by denying that and so on ever means the west. It is 
 not the words themselves, but the place which they occupy, 
 and their relation to the rest of the sentence, that suggests 
 rather than expresses the idea. So here, the north, the west, the 
 land of Sinim, and afax", may denote the four points of the 
 compass, although not so explicitly as in the case supposed, 
 because in that before us we have not merely one doubtful 
 point, but two, if not three ; and also because the one most 
 dubious [from afar) is not at the end like and so 07i, but at the 
 beginning. Still it seems most natural, when four distinct 
 local designations are given, one of which is certainly, another 
 almost certainly, and a third most probably, indicative of par- 
 ticular quarters or directions, to conclude that the fourth is so 
 used likewise, however vague it may be in itself, and however 
 situated in the sentence. The presumption thus created is 
 confirmed by the fact that the hypothesis of only three divisions 
 admits that the whole earth was meant to be included ; and it 
 thus becomes a question, which is most agreeable to general 
 usage, and to that of Scripture in particular, a threefold or a 
 fourfold distribution of the earth in such connections 1 If the 
 latter, then analogy is strongly in favor of the common suppo- 
 sition that the first clause is not co-extensive with the other, 
 but contains the first of four particulars enumerated. Over 
 and above this argument derived from the usual distinction of 
 four points or quarters, there is another furnished by the usage 
 
CHAPTER XLIX. 223 
 
 of the pronoun th^se^ when repeated so as to express a distribu- 
 tive idea. In all such cases, these and these means some and 
 others ; nor is there probably a single instance in which the first 
 these comprehends the whole, while the others divide it into 
 parts. This would be just as foreign from the Hebrew idiom 
 as it is from ours to say, ' Some live in Europe, some in France, 
 some in Holland,' when we mean that some live in Holland, 
 some in France, and all in Europe. From all this it seems to 
 follow that the verse most probably contains the customary 
 distribution of the earth or heavens into four great quarters, 
 and that one of these is designated by the phrase from afar. 
 Which one is so described can only be determined by deter- 
 mining the true sense of the other three. The Missionary in 
 China is therefore perfectly correct in setting aside all argu- 
 ments against his own opinion founded on the supposition that 
 from nfar must mean the south or the east. The expression is 
 so vague that it must be determined by the others, and cannot 
 therefore be employed to determine them, without reasoning in 
 a vicious circle. This serves to show that the question after all 
 is of no great exegetical importance, since in either case the 
 same conclusion may be reached. It is always best, however, 
 to adhere to the more obvious and usual construction of a 
 passage, in the absence of decisive reasons for departing from 
 it Assuming then that four points are mentioned, and that 
 the first {from afar) can only be determined by determining the 
 others, let us now attempt to do so. One of these {the north) 
 is undisputed ; for although interpreters may difi"er as to its 
 precise bounds and extent, its relative position is unquestionably 
 fixed by the usage of the Hebrew word. Another term is n''^, 
 which strictly means the sea, but is often used for west, because 
 on that side Palestine is naturally bounded by the Mediter- 
 ranean. The geographical import of the term is to be decided 
 by the predominant usage, which determines it to mean the 
 west, and so it is explained both by the oldest and the latest 
 
224 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 writers. Having two points thus determined, we are sure that 
 the two which remain must be the east and south ; and as we 
 have already seen that//w« afar from its vagueness must receive 
 but cannot give light, we have now to ascertain, if possible, in 
 which of these directions lay the land of Sinim. The discrep- 
 ancy of the versions as to these concluding words is remark- 
 able, and shows the doubt in which the subject was involved at 
 a very early period. Dismissing these gratuitous conjectures, 
 we may now confine ourselves to those interpretations wliich 
 have some foundation or appearance of it either in philology or 
 history. Among these may be mentioned, first, the supposition 
 that the land of Sinim is the country of the Sinites spoken of in 
 Gen. 10 : 17 and 1 Chron. 1 : 15. But why should a Canaan- 
 itish tribe of no importance, and which nowhere reappears in 
 history, be here made to represent one of the four quarters of 
 the globe ? This question becomes still more difiicult to answer 
 when it is added that the Sinites must have been immediately 
 adjacent to the land of Israel, and on the north side which is 
 separately mentioned. Others understand the Land of Sinim 
 to be the wilderness of Sin or the peninsula of Sinai, and some 
 even identify these with the country of the Canaanitish Si- 
 nites. To this opinion the decisive objection is. not the one 
 which the Missionary in China draws from the difi"erence of 
 name and from the plural form Sinim. That there were not 
 two deserts of Sin, proves no more in this case than the asser- 
 tion that there were not two Hermons proves against the 
 application of tlie plural Ilermonim to that mountain in Ps. 42: 
 7. If a mountain might be so called, why not a desert ? Or 
 if Hermonim means Hermonites, why may not Sinim mean 
 Sinites ? This question is especially appropriate, because the 
 author gives no explanation of the plural form, upon his own 
 hypothesis. But although this objection is invalid, the other 
 which the author urges is conclusive, namely, that Sinai and 
 the wilderness of Sin were too near and too limited to be em- 
 
CHAPTER XLIX. 225 
 
 ployed in this connection. Another explanation founded on 
 analogy of names is that the land of Sinim is the land of Egypt, 
 so called from Syem\ or from Sin^ i. e. Pelusium, mentioned 
 under that name by Ezekiel (30 : 15, 16). Here again it 
 seems unfair to argue, with the Missionary in China, from the 
 plural form of the Hebrew name ; for if, as he observes, it is 
 merely fanciful to refer it to the old geographical distinction 
 of Upper and Lower Egypt, is it not more than fanciful to 
 refer it to China where there is no such distinction to account 
 for it at all ? If it be said, that Sinim means the Chinese, it 
 may just as easily be said that it means the Egyptians. There 
 is no force therefore in the argument from this peculiarity in 
 form, any more than in the argument which the Missionary in 
 China himself admits to be here inapplicable, that Egypt was 
 not sufficiently important to be made the representative of one 
 great quarter. As little weight attaches to his argument that 
 this interpretation of the name would make die distribution 
 too unequal ; for as he adjusts the limits of the north and even 
 of the land of Sinim at discretion, there is no sufficient reason 
 why the same thing might not be done with Sinim if it did 
 mean Egypt. The really decisive ground, assumed by the 
 same writer, is that Egypt, notwithstanding its extent and 
 historical importance, was too near at hand to suit the context, 
 which requires a remote land to be here meant, whether from 
 afar be taken as a general description or as a distinct specifica- 
 tion. Another strong objection is that no cause can be shown, 
 from analogy or otherwise, for the designation of this well- 
 known country, in this one place only, by a name derived from 
 one of its cities, and that not of the first rank. The only 
 remaining explanation, which will be referred to, is that the 
 land of Sinim is China. An objection to this interpretation 
 has been drawn from its resemblance to an etymological conceit 
 founded merely on an assonance of names. But in modern 
 times it has been generally adopted not only by the most 
 
 10* 
 
226 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 distinguished writers on Isaiah, but by the most eminent com- 
 parative pliilologists, who have investigated the question as 
 one of historical and literary interest. The only plausible 
 objections which are still urged against it may be reduced to 
 two. The first is that China was unknown to the Jews at the 
 date of the prophecy. To this it may be answered, first, that 
 no one who believes in the inspiration of the prophets, can 
 refuse to admit the possibility of such a prediction, even if the 
 fact were so ; and secondly, that in all probability China 
 was known to the Jews at a very early period. The rashness 
 of asserting a negative in such cases has been clearly proved 
 by the modern discovery of porcelain vessels with Chinese 
 inscriptions in the monuments of Thebes. But it is still 
 objected, that the name Sinijn is not that used by the Chinese 
 themselves, nor by other nations until long after the date of 
 this prophecy, it having been derived from a family which did 
 not ascend the throne until about 246 years before the birth of 
 Christ. It is remarkable how readily this date in Chinese 
 history is taken for granted as undoubtedly correct by those 
 who wish to use it for an argument, although it rests upon a 
 dark and dubious tradition of a distant unknown country ; 
 although the very text before us makes it doubtful ; although 
 the universal prevalence of the name Sin, Chin, or Jin, through- 
 out western and southern Asia from time immemorial presup- 
 poses an antiquity still more remote ; and although Chinese 
 historians themselves record that the family from which the 
 name derives its origin, for ages before it ruled the empire 
 ruled a province or kingdom on the western frontier, whence 
 the name might easily have been extended to the western 
 nations. There are in fact few cases of a name being more 
 extensively or longer prevalent than that of Chhia^ the very 
 form which it exhibits in the Sanscrit, the mother language of 
 southern Asia. That the Chinese themselves have never used 
 it, although acquainted with it, is nothing to the purpose. A 
 
CHAPTER XLIX. 227 
 
 Hebrew writer would of course use the name familiar in the 
 west of Asia. This universal name is allowed to be essentially 
 identical with Sin by the highest philological authorities. There 
 is therefore no conclusive force in either of the arguments 
 advanced against this explanation of the name. As positive 
 reasons on the other side, besides the main one drawn from 
 the coincidence of name, may be mentioned the agreement of 
 so many different and independent writers, and the appropri- 
 ateness of the explanation to the context. Under the first 
 head may be classed precisely those philologists whose peculiar 
 studies best entitle them to speak with authority on such a 
 point, and those German commentators on Isaiah, who are 
 most accustomed to differ among themselves and with the older 
 writers, especially where anything is likely to be added by a 
 proposed interpretation to the strength of revelation or rather 
 to the clearness of its evidences. Prejudice and interest would 
 certainly have led this class of writers to oppose rather than 
 favour a hypothesis which tends to identify the subject of this 
 prophecy with China, the great object of missionary eflfort at 
 the present day. The other confirmation is afforded by the 
 suitableness of the sense thus evolved to the connection. If 
 the land of Sinim meant the wilderness of Sin or even Egypt, 
 it would be diOicult if not impossible to give a satisfactory 
 solution of its singular position here as one of the great quarters 
 or divisions of the world. But if it mean China, that extreme 
 limit of the eastern world, that hive of nations, supposed to 
 comprehend a third part of the human race, the enigma 
 explains itself Even to us there would be nothing unintelli- 
 gible or absurd, however strange or novel, in the combination, 
 north, west, south, and China. On the wholef, then, a hypothesis 
 which solves all difficulties, satisfies the claims of philology and 
 history, unites the suffrages of the most independent schools and 
 parties, fully meets the requisitions of the text and context, 
 and opens a glorious field of expectation and of effort to the 
 
228 CHAPTERXLIX. 
 
 church, may be safely regarded as the true one. For an inter- 
 esting view of the extent to which the promise has ah-eady 
 been fulfilled, and of the encouragements to hope and pray for 
 its entire consummation, the reader is referred to the little 
 book, of which we have so frequently made mention, although 
 our citations have been necessarily confined to the first or 
 expository chapter, the remaining four being occupied with the 
 fulfilment of the prophecy. 
 
 13. Shout, oh heavens, and rejoice, oh earth; let the mountains 
 hurst into a shout ; because Jehovah has comforted his people, and 
 on his sufferers he will have mercy. This is a very common 
 method with Isaiah of foretelling any joyful chaage by sum- 
 moning all nature to exult in it as already realized. See 
 especially ch. 44 : 23. Jehovah's consolation of his people is 
 administered by deed as well as by word. (Compare ch. 
 51 : 3, 12. 52 : 9. 66 : 13. Luke 2 : 25, 38 ) The consolation 
 here meant is the joyful assemblage of his people from all parts 
 of the earth, predicted in the foregoing verse. The Hebrew 
 word which is commonly translated in the English Bible poor, 
 is here rendered more correctly afflicted. The expression his 
 afflicted intimates at once their previous condition and their in- 
 timate relation to the Lord as their protector. 
 
 14. And (yet) Zion said, Jehovah hath forsaken me, a?id the 
 Lord hath forgotten me. So far was this glorious change from 
 having been procured by confidence in God, that Zion thought 
 herself forsaken and forgotten. Those who restrict these 
 prophecies to the Babylonish exile are compelled to under- 
 stand this either of the captive inhabitants of Zion, as distin- 
 guished from the other exiles, or of Jerusalem itself, complain- 
 ing of its desolation. But the former distinction is as arbitrary 
 here as in ch. 40 : 9, and the long argumentative expostulation 
 which ensues would be absurd if addressed to the bare walls 
 
CHAPTER XL IX. 229 
 
 of an empty town. The only satisfactory conclusion is, that 
 Zion or Jerusalem is mentioned as the capital of Israel, the 
 centre of the true religion, the earthly residence of God him- 
 self, and therefore an appropriate and natural emblem of his 
 chosen, people or the ancient church, just as we speak of the 
 corruptions or spiritual tyranny of Rome, meaning not the 
 city but the great ecclesiastical society or corporation which it 
 represents and of which it is the centre. 
 
 15. Will a wovian forget her suckling^ from having mrrcy 
 (i. e. so as not to have mercy) on the son of her womb ? Also 
 (or eveti) these toill forget, and I will -not forget thee. The con- 
 stancy of God's affection for his people is expressed by the 
 strongest possible comparison derived from human instincts. 
 There is a climax in the thought, if not in the expression. 
 What is indirectly mentioned as impossible in one clause, is, 
 declared to be real in the other. He first declares that he can 
 no more forget them than a woman can forget her child ; he 
 then rises higher and declares that he is still more mindful of 
 them than a mother. The future verb at the beginning im- 
 plies without expressing a potential sense. If she will, she \ 
 can ; if she cannot, then of course she will not. For the nega- 
 tive use of the preposition from, see above, on eh. 44 : 18. 
 There is no need of departing from the obvious meaning of 
 the prophet's language, which is not hypothetical but cate- 
 gorical. He does not say that if or though a woman could for- 
 get her child he would not follow her example, but asserts 
 directly that she can and will, and puts this fact in contrast 
 with his own unwavering constancy. The plural in the last 
 clause, like the singular in the first, denotes the whole class. 
 He does not say that all mothers thus forget their children, 
 nor that mothers generally do so, but that such oblivion is not 
 unknown to the experience of mothers as a class, or of woman 
 as an ideal individual. The primitive simplicity with which 
 
230 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 the Hebrew idiom employs the simple copulative and^ where 
 we feel the strongest adversative expression to be necessary, 
 really adds to the force of the language, when it is once uu- 
 derstood and familiar. The and may be retained, and yet 
 the antithesis expressed in English by supplying yet : and (yet) 
 I will not forgive thee. 
 
 16. Behold, on (my) palms I have graven thee ; thy walls [are) 
 before me continually. The true sense of the Prophet's figure 
 seems to be the one expressed by those who suppose him to 
 allude, not to a picture or a plan of Zion, but to her name im- 
 printed on his hands for a memorial, as the ancient slave and 
 soldier wore his master's name but for a different purpose. 
 (See above, on ch. 44 : 5 ) The use of the word palms implies 
 a double inscription and in an unusual position, chosen with a 
 view to its being constantly in sight. Thy walls, i. e. the 
 image of thy walls upon my hands. But this is not neces- 
 sarily or certainly the true relation of the clauses, which may 
 be considered not as parts of the same image but as two dis- 
 tinct images of one and the same thing. The essential idea, 
 I will not forget thee, is first expressed by saying, I will write 
 thy name upon my hands, and then by saying, I will keep 
 thy walls constantly before me, i. e. in my sight and memory. 
 (See Ps. 16 : 8. Is. 3S : 13. The mention of the walls is no 
 proof that Zion is mentioned merely as a city, since the image 
 of a city is the proximate object here presented, even if the 
 object which it symbolizes be the church or chosen people. 
 
 17. Thy sons hasten (to thee) ; thy destroyers and thy wasters 
 shall go out from thee. This is the proof that God had not for- 
 saken her. The true construction, as in many other cases, 
 seems to be that which represents the process as begun but 
 not complete. Already had her sons begun to hasten to her, 
 and ere long her enemies should be entirely departed. The 
 
CHAPTER XLIX. 231 
 
 natural interpretation of the last clause is that which under- 
 stands it as containing simply an emphatic contrast between 
 friends and foes, the latter taking their departure, and the 
 former coming into possession. 
 
 18. Lift up thine eyes round about and see, all of them are 
 gathered together^ they are come to thee. (-4s) / live^ sailh Jeho- 
 vah. [I swear) that all of them as an ornament thou shalt put on, 
 and bind (or gird) them like the bride. The sons, described in 
 V. 17 as rapidly approaching, are now in sight, and their 
 mother is iftvited to survey them, by lifting up her eyes round 
 about, i. e. in all directions, with allusion to their coming from 
 the four points of the compass, as predicted in v. 12. The 
 coHjmon version all these, seems to introduce a new subject. 
 The strict translation, all of them, refers to what precedes, and 
 means all the sons who are described in the first clause of 
 V. 17 as hastening to her. They are now already gathered, 
 i. e. met together at the point to which they tended from so 
 many distinct quarters. They come to thee is an inadequate 
 translation. The true sense is that they are actually come, 
 i. e. arrived. The formula of swearing here used strictly 
 means, / (am) alive (or living), and is itself equivalent to / 
 swear in English. The sons are then compared to ornaments 
 of dress, which the mother girds or binds upon her person. 
 As a bride puts on her ornaments, so thou shalt be adorned 
 with thy children. 
 
 19. For thy ruins, and thy wastes, and thy land of desolation 
 (i. e. thy desolated land) — for now thou shalt be too narroio for 
 the inhabitant, and far off shall be thy devourers (those vs'ho swal- 
 low thee up). The general meaning of this verse is evident, 
 although the construction is obscure. Perhaps the best solu- 
 tion is the one which supposes the construction to be inter- 
 rupted and resumed : For thy wastes, and thy ruins, and thy 
 
232 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 land of desolation — (then beginning anew, without completing 
 the first sentence) — for thou shalt be too narrow ttc. This 
 mode of composition, not unlike what appears in the first draft 
 of any piece of writing till obliterated by correction, is com- 
 paratively frequent in the ancient writers, not excepting some 
 of the highest classical models, though proscribed as inelegant 
 and incorrect by the fastidious rules of modern rhetoric. For 
 the inhahitant is literally from the inhabitant, the Hebrew prep- 
 osition being here used as in 1 Kings 19:7. For the appli- 
 cation of the verb sivallow up to enemies, see Lam. 2 : 2, 5. 
 The devourers of this verse are of course the destroyers of v. 1 7. 
 
 20. Again (or still) shall they say in thine ears, the sons of thy 
 childlessness, (Too) narroio for me is the place ; come near for me, 
 and I will dioell (or that I may dwell). The again may simply 
 indicate that something more is to be said than had been said 
 before, in which case it is nearly equivalent to over and above 
 this or moreover. Or it may have its true sense as a particle 
 of time, and intimate that these words shall be uttered more 
 than once, again and again, or still, i e. continually, as the 
 necessity becomes more urgent. The relative position of the 
 verb and its subject is retained in the translation, as it causes 
 no obscurity, and exhibits more exactly the characteristic form 
 of the original. By the sons of thy childlessness we may under- 
 stand the sons of thee a childless one, or, thy sons oh childless one. 
 The apparent contradiction is intentional, as appears from 
 M'hat follows. She who was deemed by others, and who deemed 
 herself, a childless mother, hears the voices of her children, 
 complaining that they have not a sufficient space to dwell in. 
 In thy ears means in thy hearing, although not addressed to 
 thee. (Compare 2 Sam. 18 : 12.) Even in ch. 5: 9, the idea 
 seems to be not merely that of hearing, but of overhearing. 
 The idea of excess {too narrow) is not expressed but implied, 
 the strict translation being simiplj this, the placets uarroic for 
 
CHAPTER XLIX. 233 
 
 me. All interpreters agree that the first verb in the last clause 
 means make room for me., but they differ in explaining how this 
 sense may be extracted from the Hebrew words. Some ex- 
 plain the phrase to mean, Come near to mc.^ that there may be 
 more room, but the sense thus given to the words is inappro- 
 priate, because the person speaking demands room not for 
 others but for himself, which he could not possibly secure by 
 calling on his neighbour to come close to him. The whole dif- 
 ficulty seems to have arisen from assuming that the preposition 
 means to, and denotes the direction of the motion, in opposi- 
 tion to the fact that it is never so used after this verb, but 
 always indicates the purpose or design. This usage fully jus- 
 tifies the explanation of the phrase before us as meaning, ' ap- 
 proach to one side for me or on my account' leaving the precise 
 direction of the motion undetermined. The sense for me is 
 the more probable, because it is precisely that which it has 
 in the first clause of this verse and the first clause of the 
 next. '^ 
 
 21. And thou shalt say in thine heart., i. e. to thyself, in strict 
 agreement with the preceding verse, as a dialogue not between 
 the mother and her children, but between the children in their 
 mother's hearing. This is consequently not an answer to 
 what goes before, but an observation uftered, as it were, aside 
 by an eye and ear witness of the struggle and the clamour for 
 more room. With them the question is, where they shall 
 dwell ; with her it is, whence they came. Who hath produced 
 these for me? As in other cases the mother is said to bear a 
 child to the father, so in this case one mother may without ab- 
 surdity be said to bear a child to another, because in either 
 case the essential idea is that of one person being provided 
 with a child by another, whether it be a husband by his wife, 
 or a childless woman by a woman who has children. The truth 
 is, however, that the force and beauty of the passage are ex- 
 
234 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 ceedingly impaired by cuttiag its bold figures to the quick, and 
 insisting on a rigorous conformity to artificial rules, instead of 
 resting in the general conception, so clearly and affectingly 
 presented, of a childless mother finding herself suddenly sur- 
 rounded by the clamour of a multitude of ciiildren, and asking 
 in amazement whence they came and who they are. The dis- 
 tinction between father and mother is one which would never 
 occur to the speaker in such a case, and may therefore be 
 safely overlooked by the interpreter. The cause of her aston- 
 ishment is then assigned. And I ivas berevasd and barren. 
 These almost incompatible expressions for a childless one are 
 joined for the purpose of expressing that idea in the strongest 
 manner, and with more regard to the idea itself than to the 
 rules of rhetorical propriety. An exile and a banished one. 
 The last word strictly means removed^ i. e. from home and from 
 society. And these who brought up ? literally made great, as in 
 ch. 1 : 2. Behold, I teas left alone (or b7/ myself) ; these, where 
 were they ? The pronoun at the end is emphatic : "where were 
 they ? She asks how it is that she was so long desolate and 
 childless, when she sees so many children round her now. The 
 Zion of this context is the ancient church or chosen people, 
 represented by the Sanctuary and the Holy City, as its local 
 centre and appointed symbol. Of this ideal subject, desola- 
 tion, childlessness, captivity, exile, and the other varying con- 
 ditions here described, may all be predicated with the same 
 propriety. If this, however, be the true exegetical hypothesis, 
 and no other seems to answer all the requisitions of the 
 case, then the Babylonish exile, and the state of the church 
 at that period of her history, has no claim to be recognized as 
 anything more than a particular exemplification of the gen- 
 eral promise, that the church, after passing through extreme 
 depression and attenuation, should be raised up and replen- 
 ished like a childless mother who suddenly finds herself sur- 
 rounded by a large and joyous family of children. 
 
CHAPTER XLIX. 235 
 
 22. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah^ Behold, I toill lift up to the 
 nations my hand, and I will set up to the peoples my standard (or 
 signal) ; and they icill bring thy sons in the bosom (or arms), and 
 thy daughters on the shoulders shall he carried. The idea ex- 
 pressed by the figures of the first clause is that of summoning 
 the nations to perform their part in this great work. The 
 figures themselves are the same as in ch. 13 : 2, viz. the shaking 
 or waving of the hand and the erection of a banner, pole, or 
 other signal, with distinct reference perhaps to persons at a 
 distance and at hand. The figurative promise would be veri- 
 fied by any -divine influence securing the co-operation of the 
 heathen in accomplishing Jehovah's purpose, whatever might 
 be the external circumstances either of the call or their com- 
 pliance with it. The effect of that compliance is described in 
 the last clause, as the bringing home of Z ion's sons and 
 daughters, with all the tender care which is wont to be lavished 
 upon infants by their parents or their nurses. The same im^ 
 age is again presented in ch. 60 : 4. 66: 12. Peculiar to this 
 case is the use of the word y^n, which seems most probably to 
 signify either the bosom or the arm, when spoken of in refer- 
 ence to carrying and especially the carrying of children. 
 Strictly perhaps the word expresses an idea intermediate be- 
 tween arm and bosom, or including both, viz. the space enclosed 
 by them in the act of grasping or embracing. Those who re- 
 strict the promise to the exiled Jews in Babylon are under 
 the necessity of making this a restoration, which is not only 
 perfectly gratuitous but inconsistent with the verse preceding, 
 where these same children are described as appearing for the 
 first time and thereby exciting the surprise of the forsaken 
 mother. 
 
 23. And Icings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens 
 thy nursing mothers ; face to the ground shall they bow to thee, and 
 the dust of thy feet shall thmUck ; and thou shall know that I 
 
236 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 am Jehovah^ whose waiters (or hopers, i. e. those who trust in 
 him) shall not be ashamed (or disappointed). The same promise 
 is repeated in substance with a change of form. Instead of 
 the nations, we have now their kings and queens ; and instead 
 of Z ion's sons and daughters, Zion herself. This last varia- 
 tion, while it either perplexes or annoys the rhetorical precisian, 
 aids the rational interpreter by showing that the figures of the 
 preceding verse, however natural and just, are not to be rigidly 
 explained. In other words, it shows that between the Zion of 
 this passage and her childi'en there is no essential difference, 
 and that what is promised to the one is promised to the other. 
 This identity is clear from the apparent solecism of represent- 
 ing the bereaved and childless mother as herself an infant in 
 the arms and at the breast, because really as much in need of 
 sustenance and care as those before called her sons and daugh- 
 ters, or rather because she is but another figure for the same 
 thing. This confusion of imagery all tends to confirm the 
 supposition that the Zion of these prophecies is not a city, 
 which could scarcely be thus confounded with its citizens, but 
 a society or corporation, between which as an ideal person and 
 its individual members or any given portion of them, there is 
 no such well-defined and palpable distinction. The Hebrew 
 word to which the English Version and some others give the 
 sense of nourisheis, is now explained to mean a carrier or bearer, 
 which last name is applied by the English in India to the 
 male nurses of their children. Some regard it as equivalent 
 to nuiSaywyog (Gal. 3 : 24), and as referring to a later period 
 of childhood than the other, which is properly a suckler or 
 wet-nurse. But as there is nothing in the text to suggest the 
 idea of succession in time, they may be regarded as poetical 
 equivalents. The image is still that of a tender infant, with 
 an almost imperceptible substitution of the mother for her 
 children. Face-to-ihe-ground is a kind of compound adverb 
 like our English phrases sword-in-hand, arm-in-arm, but still 
 
CHAPTER XLIX. 237 
 
 more concise in the original. The addition of these words 
 determines the meaning of the preceding verb' as denoting 
 actual prostration, which is also clear from the next clause, 
 where the licking of the dust cannot be naturally understood 
 as a strong expression for the kissing of the feet or of the 
 earth in token of homage, but is rather like the biting of the 
 dust in Homer, a poetical description of complete and compul- 
 sory prostration, not merely that of subjects to their sovereign, 
 but of vanquished enemies before their conquerors. (Compare 
 Mic. 7: 17. Ps. 72:9.) 
 
 24. 'Shall the prey be taken from the mighty^ and shall the cap- 
 tivity of the righteous be deliirred ? This verse suggests a diffi- 
 culty in the way of the fulfilment of the promise. The words 
 here translated prey and captivity are combined likewise else- 
 where to describe whatever can be taken in war, including 
 prisoners and booty. (Num. 31:11, 12, 27, 32.)^ The latter, 
 thoj^gh properly an abstract, is continually used as a collective 
 term for captives. Its combination here with righteousness has 
 perplexed interpreters. The English Version gives it the 
 sense of lauful captive, i. e. one who has been lawfully enslaved, 
 or one who deserves to be a captive. The simplest and most 
 obvious construction of the words is that which makes them 
 mean the captives of a righteous conqueror. The argument 
 may then be stated thus : Shall the captives even of a righteous 
 conqueror be freed in such a case ? How much more the 
 captives of an unjust oppressor ! 
 
 25. For thus sailh Jehovah, also (or even) the captivity (or 
 captives) of tJie mighty shall be taken, and the prey of the terrible 
 shall be delivered, and toith thy strivers will I strive, and thy sons 
 will I save. Shall the captives of the righteous be delivered ? 
 Yes, and more ; for thus saith Jehovah, not only this but also 
 the captives of the tyrant or oppressor. The logical connection 
 
238 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 between this verse and the one before it has been already 
 stated. Its general sense is clear, as a solemn declaration that 
 the power of the captor can oppose no real obstacle to the fulfil- 
 ment of the promise of deliverance. The same idea is expressed 
 in the last clause in more general and literal terms. 
 
 26. Aiicl I ivill make thy oppressors cat their (own) Jlesh, and 
 as with new winc^ tvith their blood shall they be drunken ; and all 
 Jicsh shall know, that /, Jehovah, am thy Saviour, and [that) 
 thy Redeemer is the Mighty One of Jacob. The first clause is 
 commonly explained as a strong metaphorical description of 
 intestine wars and mutual destruction, similar to that in Zech. 
 11:9. In this case, however, as in ch. 9 : 19, the image is 
 perhaps rather that of a person devouring his own flesh in im- 
 potent and desperate rage. The last clause winds up this 
 part of the prophecy by the usual return to the great theme 
 of the whole book, the relation of Jehovah to his people, as their 
 Saviour, Redeemer, and Protector, self-existent, eternal,. and 
 almighty in himself, yet condescending to be called the Mighty 
 One of Jacob. The last words may be construed as a single 
 proposition, ' that I am Jehovah thy Saviour and thy Redeemer 
 the Mighty One of Jacob.' This will be found upon compar- 
 ison, however, to express much less than the construction above 
 given, which asserts not only that the speaker is Jehovah etc. 
 but that the Being who possesses these attributes is the 
 peculiar covenanted God of Israel or Jacob. For the different 
 epithets of this clause, see above, ch. 1 : 24. 41 : 14. 43 : 3. 
 For a similar statement of the purpose of God's providential 
 dealings with his people, see ch. 45 : 3, and v. 23 of this same 
 chapter. 
 
• 
 
 CHAPTER L. 239 
 
 CHAPTER L. 
 
 This chapter contains no entirely new element, but a fresh 
 view of several which have already been repeatedly exhibited. 
 The first of these is the great truth, that the sufi"erings of God's 
 people are the necessary fruit of their own sins, vs. 1. The 
 second is the power of Jehovah to accomplish their deliverance, 
 vs. 2, 3. The third is the Servant of Jehovah, his mission, his 
 qualifications for it, his endurance of reproach and opposition 
 on account of it, vs. 4-9. The fourth is the way of salvation 
 and the certain doom of those who neglect it, vs. 10, 11. 
 
 This perpetual recurrence of the same great themes in various 
 corfibinatious makes the mere division of the chapters a com- 
 paratively unimportant matter, although some writers seem to 
 attach great importance to the separation of the first three 
 verses from what follows, and their intimate connection with 
 what goes before. It should be ever borne in mind that these 
 divisions are conventional and modern, and that in this part of 
 Isaiah more especially they might have been omitted altogether 
 without any serious inconvenience to the reader or interpreter. 
 A much greater evil than the want of these divisions is the 
 habit of ascribing to them undue authority and suffering the 
 exposition to be governed by them, as if each were a separate 
 prediction or discourse, instead of being arbitrary though con- 
 venient breaks in a continued composition, not materially differ- 
 ing from the paragraphs now used in every modern book. The 
 re-arrangement of the chapters in the present case would 
 answer no good purpose, since the first three verses are not 
 move closely connected with the #nd of the preceding chapter 
 than what follows is with its beginning. The true course is 
 to make use of the common divisions as convenient pauses, but 
 to read and expound the text as one continuous discourse. 
 
240 CHAPTER L. 
 
 1. This saith Jehovah. This prefatory formula has no doubt 
 had some influence on the division of the chapters. It does 
 not, however, always indicate the introduction of a new subject, 
 as may be seen by a comparison of ch. 48 : 17 with ch. 49 : 1. 
 Where is or what is ? The bill of divorcement, literally, writing 
 of excision or repudiation, translated in the Septuagint ^i^Uot> 
 rod (xnoaTuolov, which form is retained in the New Testament 
 (Matt. 19:7. Mark 10:4) though sometimes abridged (Matt. 
 5 ; 31). The Hebrew phrase denotes the legal instrument 
 by which the Mosaic law allowed a husband to repudiate his 
 wife (Deut. 24 : 1-3). Of your mother . The persons addressed 
 are the individual members of the church or nation ; their 
 mother is the church or nation itself These are of course 
 distinguished from each other only by a poetical figure. Whom 
 
 1 have sent (or fut) away. These words admit of a twofold con- 
 struction. According to the common Hebrew idiom, the rela- 
 tive pronoun, when the object of a verb, is followed by the 
 personal pronoun which it represents. According to this 
 idiom, lohom I have sent her., means nothing more that whom I 
 have scjit, except that it more distinctly indicates the gender 
 of the object. This construction is recommended here, not 
 only by its strict conformity to general usage, but by its recur- 
 rence in the very next clause, where the Hebrew words are 
 agreed on all hands to mean to whom I sold you. But as the 
 verb to send governs two accusatives in Hebrew, the relative 
 may take the place of one of them, denoting the end for which 
 or the means by which, as it actually does in ch. 55 : 1 1. 
 
 2 Sam. 1 1 : 22. 1 Kings 14:6, and in the case before us, accord- 
 ing to the judgment of most modern writers, who explain the 
 words to mean wherewith I have sent her aioay. The use of the 
 disjunctive or in Hebrew #9 comparatively rare, and conse- 
 quently more significant when it does occur, as in this case, 
 where it seems designed to intimate that the two figures of the 
 clause are to be taken separately, not together, that is to say, 
 
CHAPTER L. 241 
 
 that the punishment of the people is not compared to the repu- 
 diation of a wife and the sale of her children in the same ideal 
 case, but represented by the two distinct emblems of a wife 
 divorced and children sold. Or lohlch of my creditors (is it) 
 to ichovi I have sold you ? We have here an allusion to 
 another provision of the Mosaic law, which allows debtors to 
 be sold in payment of their debts (Matt. 18 : 25), and even 
 children by their parents (Exod. 21 : 7). The answer follows 
 in the other clause. Behold, for your iniqidties ye have been soH. 
 The reflexive meaning, ye have sold yourselves, is frequently 
 expressed by this form of the verb, but not invariably nor even 
 commonly ; it is not, therefore, necessary here, nor even 
 favoured by the parallelism, as the corresponding term is a 
 simple passive of a diiferent form, and one which cannot, from 
 the nature of the case, denote a reflexive or reciprocal action. 
 And for your transgressions, your mother has been sent (or fut) 
 away. The repetition of your, where her transgressions might 
 have been expected, only serves to show more cl^rly the real 
 identity of those who are formally distinguished as the mother 
 and the children. The interrogation in the first clause of this 
 verse has been variously understood. The simplest and most 
 obvious interpretation of the first clause is the one suggested 
 by the second, which evidently stands related to it as an answer 
 to the question which occasions it. In the present case, the 
 answer is wholly unambiguous, viz. that they were sold for their 
 sins, and that she was put away for their transgressions. The 
 question naturally corresponding to this answer is the question, 
 why the mother was divorced, and why the sons were sold. 
 Supposing this to be the substance of the first clause, its form 
 is very easily accounted for. Where is your mother^s bill of 
 divorcement ? produce it that we may see the cause of her repu- 
 diation. Where is the creditor to whom I sold you ? let him 
 appear and tell us what was the occasion of your being sold. 
 The general idea of rejection is twice clothed in a figurative 
 VOL. II, — 11 
 
242 CHAPTER L. 
 
 dress, first by emblems borrowed from the law and custom of 
 divorce, and then by emblems borrowed from the law and 
 custom of imprisonment for debt. The restriction of this 
 passage to the Babylonish exile is entirely arbitrary. If it 
 admits of any special application, it is rather to the repudiation 
 of the Jewish people at the Advent. 
 
 2. Why did I come, and there ivas no man ? {lohy) did I call, 
 and there was no one answering ? The idiom of occidental lan- 
 guages would here admit, if not require, a more involved and 
 hypothetical construction. ' Why, when I came, was there no 
 one (to receive me), and, when I called, no one to answer me? 
 (See above, eh. 5 : 4.) In themselves, the words imply nothing 
 more than that God had come near to the people, by his word 
 and providence, but without any suitable response on their 
 part. The clause is explanatory of their being sold and put 
 away, as represented in the foregoing verse. The general 
 truth which it teaches is, that God has never and will never 
 put away his people even for a time without preceding disobe- 
 dience and alienation upon their part. Particular examples 
 of this general truth are furnished by the Babylonish exile and 
 by every season of distress and persecution. The other clause 
 precludes the vindication of their unbelief and disobedience on 
 the ground that they had not sufficient reason to obey his com- 
 mands and rely upon his promises. Such doubts are rendered 
 impious *and foolish by the proofs of his almighty power. This 
 power is first asserted indirectly by a question implying the 
 strongest negation : Is my hand shortened, shortened, from re- 
 demption ? and is there loith me no power (i. e. have I no power) 
 to deliver ? Shortness of hand or arm is a common oriental 
 figure for defect of power, especially in reference to some 
 particular eflfect, which is thus represented as beyond the 
 reach. (See ch. 59 : 1. Num. 11 : 23. ch. 37 : 17.) According 
 to Gesenius, Artaxerxes Longimanus was so called, not in 
 
CHAPTER L. 243 
 
 reference to any corporeal peculiarity, but as being possessed 
 of extraordinary power. The emphatic repetition of the 
 Hebrew verb may, as usual, be variously expressed in trans- 
 lation by the introduction of intensive phrases, such as altogether 
 or at all, or by a simple repetition of the verb in English. Front 
 redemption, i. e. so as not to redeem or deliver from distress. 
 (See above, on ch. 49 : 15.) Behold, by my rebuke (a term often 
 used to express God's control over the elements) / will dry up 
 the sea. I can make a complete change in the face of nature. 
 Most of the modern writers use the present form, I dry up the 
 sea. But this, as expressing an habitual fact, fails to give the 
 sense of the original, which is not a description of what he 
 usually does, but a declaration of what he can do and what he 
 will do in the present instance if it should be necessary. Hence 
 the best translation of the verb is the exact one which adheres 
 to the strict sense of the future. As in many other cases, this 
 general expression may involve a particular allusion, namely, 
 to the crossing of the Red Sea at the exodus from Egypt. But 
 to make this the direct and main sense of the words, is 
 equally at variance with good taste and the context. The 
 remaining words of this verse are intended merely to complete 
 the picture, by subjoining to the cause its natural effect. Let 
 their fish stink for ivant of water and die of thirst. It seems 
 that the writer here passes from the tone of prediction or general 
 description to that of actual command. It may however be a 
 poetical variation of the ordinary future form, in which case the 
 sense will be. their fish shall die etc. ; or it may indicate an 
 indirect or oblique construction, 50 that their fish shall stink etc., 
 which last explanation is the one preferred by the latest writers. 
 The pronoun their refers to sea and rivers, or to the last alone. 
 
 3. The description of Jehovah's power, as displayed in his 
 control of the elements, is still continued. / xoill clothe the 
 heavens in blackness. The Hebrew noun, according to its 
 
244 CHAPTER L. 
 
 etymology, denotes not merely a black colour, but such a colour 
 used as a sign of mourning. Thus understood, it corresponds 
 exactly to the following words, where the customary mourning 
 dress of ancient times is mentioned. And sackcloth I icill 
 place (or make) their covering. The reference of this verse to 
 the plague of darkness in the land of Egypt is admissible only 
 in the sense explained above with respect to the passage of the 
 Eed Sea, namely, as a particular allusion comprehended in a 
 general description. Some writers understand it as referring 
 to the usual phenomena of storms, or even to the obscuration 
 of the sky by clouds ; but it is inconceivable that such an 
 every-day occurrence should be coupled with the drying up of 
 seas and rivers, as a proof of God's power over nature and the 
 elements. The sense required by the connection is that of an 
 extraordinary darkness (such as that of an eclipse), or even an 
 extinction of the heavenly bodies, as in ch. 13 : 10. 
 
 « 
 4. The Lord Jehovah hath given to me. As Jehovah is the 
 speaker in the foregoing verse, many regard this clause as a 
 proof that these are the words of the Messiah, who, in virtue 
 of his twofold nature, might speak in the person of Jehovah, 
 and yet say, Jehovah hath given to ?«''. The true hypothesis is 
 still the same which we have found ourselves constrained to 
 assume in all like cases throughout the foregoing chapters, 
 namely, that the servant of Jehovah., as he calls himself in v. 10 
 below, is the Messiah and his People as a complex person, or 
 the Church in indissoluble union with its Head, asserting his 
 divine commission and authority to act as the great teacher 
 and enlightener of the world. For this end God had given 
 him a ready tongue or speech. Most interpreters adopt a dif- 
 ferent version of d^'isiab in the first and last clause, giving it 
 at first the sense of learned., and afterwards that of learriers. 
 These two ideas, it is true, are near akin, and may be blended 
 in the Hebrew word as they are in the English scholar, which 
 
CHAPTER L. 245 
 
 is used both for a learner and a learned person. It is best, 
 however, for that very reason, to retain the same word in trans- 
 lation. As applied to Christ, this passage is descriptive of 
 that power of conviction and persuasion which is frequently 
 ascribed in the New Testament to his oral teaching. As his 
 representative and instrument, the Church has always had a 
 measure of the same gift enabling her to execute her high 
 vocation. To know (that I might know) to help or succour the 
 weary (loith) a word. He u-ill waken., in the vior7nn;^, in the 
 morning, he will ivaken for mc the ear, i. e. he will waken my 
 ear, rouse -my attention, and open my mind to the reception of 
 the truth. (See ch. 4S : 8. 1 Sam. 9 : 15. 20 : 2. Ps. 41:7.) 
 The present tense {he ^vakeneth) asserts a claim to constant in- 
 spiration ; the future expresses a confident belief that God 
 will assist and inspire him. The accents require in the morn- 
 ing in the morning to be read together, as in ch. 28 : 19, where 
 it is an intensive repetition meaning every morning. It might 
 otherwise be thought more natural to read the sentence thus, 
 he trill loaken in the morning, in the morning he will waken, a 
 twofold expression of the same idea, viz. that he will do so 
 early. In either case the object of both verbs is the same ; 
 the introduction of the pronoun 7nc after the first in the Eng- 
 lish Version being needless and hurtful to the sentence. The 
 last words of the verse declare the end or purpose of this 
 wakening, to hear (i. e. that I may hear) like the disciples or the 
 taught, i. e. that I may ^ive attention as a learner listens to 
 his teacher. 
 
 5. The Lord Jehovah opened for me the ear, and I resisted not. 
 The common version, / tvas not rebellious, seems to convert the 
 description of an act into that of a habit. I did not draw back, 
 or refuse the of&ce, on account of the hardships by which I 
 foresaw that it would be accompanied. There may be an allu- 
 sion to the conduct of Moses (4: 13) in declining the danger- 
 
246 CHAPTER L. 
 
 ous but honourable work to which the Lord had called him. 
 (Compare Jer. 1 : 6. 17 : 16.) 
 
 6. My back I gave to [those) smiting. We may understand 
 by gave either yielded unresistingly or offered voluntarily. 
 (Compare Matt. 5 : 39.) The punishment of scourging was 
 a common one, and is particularly mentioned in the history of 
 our Lord's maltreatment. And my cheeks to [those) plucking 
 (the beard or hair). The context here requires something 
 more than the playful or even the contemptuous pulling of the 
 beard, the vellere barbam of Horace and Persius, to which 
 some writers have referred. A better parallel is Neh. 13 : 25, 
 where the Tirshatha is said to have contended with the Jews, 
 and cursed them, and smote them, and plucked off their hair. 
 (Compare Ezra 9 : 3.) This particular species of abuse is not 
 recorded in the history of our Saviour's suflferings, but some 
 suppose it to be comprehended in the general term buffeting. 
 ]My face I did not hide from shame and spitting. In the phrase 
 I did not hide my face there may be an allusion to the common 
 figure of confusion covering the face (Jer. 51 : 51), in reference 
 no doubt to the natural expression of this feeling by a blush, 
 or in extreme cases by a livid paleness overspreading the 
 features. Some have imagined that by spitting nothing more 
 is meant than spitting on the ground in one's presence, which, 
 according to the oriental usages and feelings, is a strong ex- 
 pression of abhorrence and contempt. But if spitting in a 
 person's presence was such an indignity, how much more spit- 
 ting in his face ; and the whole connection shows that the 
 reference is not to any mitigated form of insult but to its ex- 
 treme. That this part of the description was fulfilled in the 
 experience of our Saviour, is expressly recorded, Matt. 26 : 67. 
 27 : 30. From the impossibility of proving any literal coinci- 
 dence between the prophetic description and the personal ex- 
 perience of the Prophet himself, when taken in connection with 
 
CHAPTER L. 247 
 
 the palpable coincidences which have been already pointed out 
 in the experience of Jesus Christ, many interpreters infer that 
 it was meant to be a literal prediction of his sufferings. But 
 it has been observed that if it were so, its fulfilment, or the 
 record of it, would be imperfect, since the points of agreement 
 are not fully commensurate with those of the description. 
 (See for example what has been already said with respect to 
 the plucking of the beard or hair.) The most satisfactory 
 solution of the difficulty is the one which regards the prophecy 
 as metaphorical, and as denoting ci'uel and contemptuous treat- 
 ment in general, and supposes the literal coincidences, as in 
 many other cases, to have been providentially secured, not 
 merely to convict the Jews, but also to identify to others the 
 great subject of the prophecy. But if the prophecy itself be 
 metaphorical, it may apply to other subjects, less completely 
 and remarkably but no less really ; not to Isaiah, it is true, 
 fi-om whom its terms, even figuratively understood, are foreign,- 
 but to the church or people of God, the body 0f Christ, which 
 like its head has ever been an object of contempt with those 
 who did not understand its character or recognize its claims. 
 What is literally true of the Head is metaphorically true of 
 the Body. ' I gave my back to the smiters and my cheeks to 
 the pluckers, my face I did not hide from shame and spitting.' 
 
 7. And the Lord Jehovah will help me, or afford help to me. 
 Thcrrfore I am not confounded by the persecution and contempt 
 described in the foregoing verses. The common version, / 
 shall not be confounded, is not only arbitrary but injurious to 
 the sense, which is not that God's protection will save him 
 from future shame, but that the hope of it saves him even now. 
 The words strictly mean / have 7iot been confounded, which im- 
 plies of course that he is not so now. Therefore I have set my 
 face as afli7it. This is a common description of firmness and 
 determination, as expressed in the countenance. It is equally 
 
248 CHAPTER L. 
 
 applicable to a wicked impudence (Jer. 5 ; 3. Zech. 7:12) and 
 a holy resolution (Ez'ek. 3 : 8, 9). The same thing is expressed 
 by Jeremiah under different but kindred figures (Jer. I : 17, 
 18. 15:20.) It is probable that Luke alludes to these pas- 
 sages, when he says that our Lord steadfastly set his face (to 
 TXQoaianov aiiov ^aiTJ^tlf) to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9 : 51.) 
 And I know that I shall not- be ashamed. 
 
 8. iVbar (is) w;.?/yas/z)?ie?- (or the one justifying me). This is 
 strictly a forensic term meaning to acquit or pronounce inno- 
 cent, in ease of accusation, and to right or do justice to. in 
 case of civil controversy. The use of this word and of several 
 correlative expressions, maybe clearly learned from Deut. 25 : 1. 
 The justifier is of course Jehovah. His being riear is not in- 
 tended to denote the proximity of an event still future, but to 
 describe his intervention as constantly within reach and avail- 
 able. It is not the justification which is said to be near to the 
 time of speaking, but the justifier who is said to be near the 
 speaker himself The justification of his servant is the full 
 vindication of his claims to divine authority and inspiration. 
 At the same time there is a designed coincidence between the 
 terms of the prediction and the issue of our Saviour's trial ; 
 but the prophecy is not to be restricted to this object. The 
 general meaning of the words is, all this reproach is un- 
 deserved, as will be seen hereafter. Since God himself has un- 
 dertaken his defence, the accuser's case is hopeless. He there- 
 fore asks triumphantly. Who will contend with me ? The He- 
 brew verb denotes specifically litigation or forensic strife. 
 Rom. 8 : 33, 34, is an obvious imitation of this passage as to 
 form. But even the warmest advocates for letting the New Tes- 
 tament explain the Old, are forced to acknowledge that in this 
 case Paul merely borrows his expressions from the Prophet, 
 and applies them to a different object. In any other case this 
 class of writers would no doubt have insisted that the justi- 
 
CHAPTER L. 249 
 
 fier must he Christ and the justified his people ; but from this 
 they are precluded by their own assumption, that the Messiah 
 is the speaker. Both hypotheses, so far as they liave any just 
 foundation, may be reconciled by the supposition that the ideal 
 speaker is the Body and the Head in union. In the sense 
 here intended, Christ is justified by the Father, and at the 
 same time justifies his people. We loill stand (or Id us stand) 
 together^ at the bar, before the judgment-seat, a frequent ap- 
 jilication of the Hebrew verb. (See Num. 27 : 2. Deut.- 19 : 17. 
 1 Kings 3 : 16.) This is an indirect defiance or ironical chal- 
 lenge ; as if he had said, If any will still venture to accuse 
 me, let us stand up together. The same thing is then expressed 
 in other words, the form of interrogation and proposal being 
 still retained. Who is my adversary ? This is more literally 
 rendered in the margin of the English Bible, who is the master 
 of my cause? But even this fails to convey the precise sense 
 of the original, and may be even said to reverse it, for the 
 master of my cause seems to imply ascendency or better right, 
 and is not therefore applicable to a vanquished adversary 
 whose case was just before described as hopeless. The truth 
 is that the pronoun my belongs not to the last word merely 
 but to the whole complex phrase, and b>3 simply means ' pos- 
 sessor,' i. e. one to whom a given thing belongs. Thus a cause- 
 master means one who has a cause or lawsuit, a party litigant ; 
 and my cause-master means one who has a controversy with me, 
 my opponent or adversary ; so that the common version really 
 conveys the meaning better than what seems to be the more 
 exact translation of the margin. In sense, the question is 
 precisely parallel and tantamount to the one before it, who will 
 contend with me ? Let him draw near to me., confront me, or en- 
 gage in conflict with me. The forensic figures of this verse, 
 and some of its expressions, have repeatedly occurred in the 
 course of the preceding chapters. (See ch. 41 : 1, 21. 43 : 9, 26. 
 45:20. 48: 14, 16.) 
 
 II* 
 
250 CHAPTER L. 
 
 9. Behold, the Lord Jehovah will help me ; tvho {is) he {that) 
 will condemn me? The help specifically meant is that afforded 
 by an advocate or judge to an injured party. The potential 
 meaning {caii condemn) is included in the future {ivill condemn), 
 though not directly much less exclusively expressed by it. 
 The last clause adds to the assurance of his own safety that 
 of the destruction of his enemies. All they (or all of them, his 
 adversaries, not expressly mentioned but referred to in the 
 questions which precede) like the garment shall grow old (or be 
 worn out), i. e. like the garment which is worn out or decays. 
 The moth shall devour them. By a perfectly natural and com- 
 mon transition, the writer passes from comparison to metaphor, 
 and having first transformed them into garments, says directly 
 that the moth shall devour them, not as men, in which light he 
 no longer views them, but as old clothes. This is a favourite 
 comparison in Scripture to express a gradual but sure decay. 
 (Compare ch. 51 : 8 and Hos. 5 : 12.) In Job 13 : 28. Ps. 39 : 12, 
 it seems to denote the effect of pining sickness. 
 
 10. Who among you is a fearer of Jehovah, hearkening to the 
 voice of his servant, who ivalkdh in darkness and there is no light 
 to him? Let him trust in the name of Jehovah, and lean upon his 
 God. The same sense may be attained by closing the interro- 
 gation at his servant, and reading the remainder of the sentence 
 thus : lohoso walketh in darkness and hath no light, let him trust etc. 
 Obedience to the word is implied in hearing it, but not ex- 
 pressed. Darkness is here used as a natural and common 
 figure for distress. (See above, ch. 8 : 20. 9 : 1.) Trusting in 
 the name of Jehovah is not simply trusting in himself, or in 
 the independent self-existence which that name implies, but in 
 his manifested attributes, attested by experience, which seems 
 to be the full sense of the word name, as applied to God in the 
 Old Testament Two exegetical questions, in relation to this 
 verse, have much divided and perplexed interpreters. The 
 
CHAPTER L. 251 
 
 first has respect to the person speaking and the objects of 
 address ; the other to the Servant of Jehovah. These ques- 
 tions, from their close connection and their mutual dependence, 
 may be most conveniently discussed together. There would 
 be no absurdity, nor even inconsistency, in supposing that his 
 servant means the prophet or the prophets indefinitely, as the 
 organs of the divine communications. This may be granted 
 even by those who give the title a very difi"erent meaning else- 
 where, as it cannot reasonably be supposed that so indefinite a 
 name, and one of such perpetual occurrence, is invariably used 
 in its most^ pregnant and emphatic sense. It is certain, on the 
 contrary, that it is frequently applied to the prophets and to 
 other public functionaries of the old economy. There is 
 therefore no absurdity in Calvin's explanation of the phrase as 
 here descriptive of God's ministers or messengers in general, 
 to whom those who fear him are required to submit. The 
 verse may then be connected immediately with what precedes, 
 as the words of the same speaker. But while 'till this is un- 
 questionably true, it cannot be denied that the frequency and 
 prominence with which the Servant of Jehovah is exhibited 
 in these Later Prophecies, as one distinguished from the ordi- 
 nary ministry, makes it more natural to make that application 
 of the words in this case, if it be admissible. The only diffi- 
 culty lies in the mention of the Servant of Jehovah in the 
 third person, while the preceding context is to be considered 
 as his own words. (See above, on ch. 49 : 1.) This objection 
 may be easily removed, if we assume that the words of the 
 Servant of Jehovah are concluded in the preceding verse, and 
 that in the one before us the Prophet goes on to speak in hia 
 own person. This assumption, although not demonstrably cor- 
 rect, agrees well with the dramatic form of the context, both 
 before and after, and the frequent changes of person without 
 any explicit intimation, which even the most rigorous inter- 
 preters are under the necessity of granting. On this hypoth- 
 
252 CHAPTER L. 
 
 esis, which seems to be approved by the latest as well as the 
 older writers, the Servant of Jehovah here referred to is the 
 same ideal person who appears at the beginning of the forty- 
 ninth and forty-second chapters, namely, the Messiah and his 
 People as his type and representative, to whose instructions in 
 the name of God the world must hearken if it would be saved. 
 The question, which part of the complex person here predomi- 
 nates, must be determined by observing what is said of him. 
 If the exhortation of the verse were naturally applicable to 
 the world at large, as distinguished from the chosen people, 
 then the latter might be readily supposed to be included under 
 the desciiption of the Servant of Jehovah. But as the terms 
 employed appear to be descriptive of the people of Jehovah, 
 or of some considerable class among them, the most probable 
 conclusion seems to be, that by the Servant of Jehovah we are 
 here to understand the Head as distinguished from the Body, 
 with a secondary reference, perhaps, to his ofl&cial represen- 
 tatives, so far as he employs them in communicating even with 
 the Body itself 
 
 11. Lo. all of you kiiLdling firc^ glrcUng sparks {ov fiery daiis), 
 go in the light of your fire^ and in the sparks ye have kindled. 
 From my hand is this to you; in paiti (or at the place of torment) 
 shall ye lie down. The construction of the first clause is am- 
 biguous, as kindling and girding, with their adjuncts, may be 
 either the predicates or subjects of the proposition. The great 
 majority of writers explain the participles as the subject of the 
 sentence, or a description of the object of address, all of you 
 kindling, i. e. all of you who kindle. Thus understood, the 
 clause implies that the speaker is here turning from one class 
 of hearers to another, from the Gentiles to the Jews, or from 
 the unbelieving portion of the latter to the pious, or still more 
 generally from the corresponding classes of mankind at large, 
 without either national or local limitation. The wider sense 
 
CHAPTER LI. 263 
 
 agrees best with the comprehensive terms of the passage, what- 
 ever specific applications may be virtually comprehended iu it 
 or legitimately deducible from it. There is also a diiFerence 
 of opinion with respect to the impoit of the figures. The 
 rabbinical interpreters suppose the fire to denote the wrath 
 of God, iu proof of which they are able to allege, not only the 
 general usage of the emblem in that sense, but the specific 
 combination of this very noun and verb in Deut. 32 : 22. 
 Jer. 15:14. 17:4. In all these cases the meaning of the 
 figure is determined by the addition of the words in mij anger. 
 (See above,^ on ch. 48 : 9 ) Common to all the explanations is 
 the radical idea of a fire kindled by themselves to their own 
 eventual destruction. This result is predicted, as in many 
 other cases, under the form of a command or exhortation to 
 persist in the course which must finally destroy them. Go 
 (i. e. go on) in ti.e Vght of your fire. From my hand is this to 
 you., i. e. my power has decreed and will accomplish what is 
 now about to be declared, viz. that you shall life down in sor- 
 row, or a place of sorrow, if we give the noun the local sense 
 usual in words of this formation. The expression is a general 
 one, denoting final ruin, and of course includes, although it 
 may not specifically signify, a future state of misery. 
 
 CHAPTER LI. 
 
 Inteupreters are much divided with respect to the par- 
 ticular period which constitutes the subject of this prophecy. 
 The modern Jews regard it as a promise of delivei'ance from 
 their present exile and dispersion by the Messiah whom they 
 still expect. The Christian Fathers refer it to the time of the 
 
254 CHAPTER LI. 
 
 first advent. Modern writers are divided between this bypo- 
 thesis and that which confines it to the Babylonish exile. The 
 truth appears to be, that this chapter is a direct continuation 
 of the preceding declarations with respect to the vocation of 
 the Church and the divine administration towards her. The 
 possibility of her increase, as previously promised, is evinced 
 by the example of Abraham, from whom all Israel descended, 
 vs. 1-3. In like manner many shall be added from the gen- 
 tiles^ vs. 4-6. Their enemies shall not only fail to destroy 
 theiJ, but shall be themselves destroyed, vs. 7, 8. This is con- 
 firmed by another historical example, that of Egypt, vs. 9, 10. 
 The came assurances are then repeated, with a clearer promise 
 of the new dispensation, vs. 11-lG. The chapter closes with 
 a direct address to Zion, who, though helpless in herself and 
 destitute of human aid, is sure of God's protection and of the 
 destruction of her enemies and his, vs. 17-23. 
 
 1. Hearken unto me ! A common formula, when the writer 
 or speaker turns away from one object of address to another. 
 It is here used because he is about to address himself to the 
 faithful servants of Jehovah, the true Israel, who are described 
 as seeking after righteousness ^ i. e. making it the end of all their 
 efibrts to be righteous, or conformed to the wall of God. The 
 originjil application of the phrase here used is by Moses 
 (Deut. 16 : 20), from whom it is copied twice by Solomon 
 (Prov. 15 : 9. 21 : 21), and twice by Paul (1 Tim. 6:11.2 Tim. 
 2 : 22.) The same apostle uses, in the same sense, the more 
 general expression, /o//ow after good (1 Thess. 5 : 15), which is 
 also used by David (Ps. 38 : 21, comp. Ps. 34 : 15). The same 
 class of persons is then described as seeking (or seekers of) Je- 
 hovah^ i. e. seeking his presence, praying to him, worshipping 
 him, consulting him. The first description is more abstract, 
 the second expresses a personal relation to Jehovah ; both 
 together are descriptive of the righteous as distinguished from 
 
CHAPTER LI. 255 
 
 the wicked. Now as these have ever been comparatively few, 
 not only in relation to the heathen world, but in relation to 
 the spurious members of the church itself, a promise of vast 
 increase (like that in ch. 49 : 18-21) might well appear in- 
 credible. In order to remove this doubt, the Prophet here 
 appeals, not, as in many other cases, to the mere omnipotence 
 of God, but to a historical example of precisely the same kind, 
 viz. that of Abraham, from whom the race of Israel had 
 already sprung, in strict fulfilment of a divine promise. Look 
 unto the rock (from which) i/e have beui heion^ and to the hole of 
 the pit (from which) i/e have been digged. 
 
 2. Look unto Abraham your father and unto Sarah (that) bare 
 you. That Sarah is mentioned chiefly for rhythmical effect, 
 may- be inferred from the writer's now confining what he says 
 to Abraham alone. Instead of speaking further of both parents, 
 he now says. For I have called him one ; which does not mean, 
 I have declared him to be such or so described hi;n, but I have 
 called (i. e. chosen, designated) him, when he was only one, i. e. 
 a solitary individual, although the destined father of a great 
 nation (Gen. 12 : 2). This sense of the word one is clear from 
 Ezek. 33 ; 24, where, with obvious allusion to this verse, it is 
 put in opposition to many. Abraham ivas one, and he inherited 
 the land; and ice are many, (much mor« then) is the land given 
 io us for an inheritance. The same antithesis is far more obvious 
 and appropriate in this place, than that between Abraham, as 
 sole heir of the promise, and the rest of men, who were excluded 
 from it. The design of the Prophet is not so much to magnify 
 the honour put upon Abraham by choosing him out of the 
 whole race to be the father of the faithful, as it is to show the 
 power and faithfulness of God in making this one man a nation 
 like the stars of heaven for multitude, according to the promise 
 (Gen. 15 : 5). Interpreters, with almost perfect unanimity, 
 explain the two verbs at the end of this verse as expressing past 
 
256 CHAPTER LI. 
 
 time (^and I blessed him and caused him to increase)^ although the 
 preterite translation is entirely gratuitous and therefore un- 
 grammatical. The masoretic pointing, it is true, is not of 
 absolute authority, but it is of the highest value as the record 
 of an ancient critical tradition ; and the very fact that it departs 
 in this case from the sense which all interpreters have felt to 
 be most obvious and natural, creates a strong presumption that 
 it rests upon some high authority or some profound view of the 
 Prophet's meaning. And we find accordingly that by adhering 
 to the strict sense of the future, we not only act in accordance 
 with a most important general principle of exegesis, but obtain 
 a sense which, though less obvious than the common one, is 
 really better in itself and better suited to the context. Accord- 
 ing to the usual interpretation, this verse simply asserts the 
 fulfilment of the promise to Abraham, leaving the reader to 
 connect it with what follows as he can. But by a strict trans- 
 lation of the futures, they are made to furnish an easy and 
 natural transition from the one case to the other, from the 
 great historical example cited to the subject which it was in- 
 tended to illustrate. The concise phrase, one I called him^ really 
 includes a citation of the promise made to Abi*aham, and 
 suggests the fact of its fulfilment, so far as this had yet taken 
 place. The Prophet, speaking in Jehovah's name, then adds a 
 declaration that the promise should be still more gloriously 
 verified. As if he had said, I promised to bless him and 
 increase him, and I did so, and I will bless him and increase him 
 (still). But how ? By showing mercy to his seed, as I have 
 determined and begun to do. This last idea is expressed in 
 the first clause of the next verse, which is then no longer inco- 
 herent or abrupt, but in the closest and most natural connection 
 ■with what goes before. This consideration might have less 
 force if the illustration had been drawn from the experience of 
 another race, for instance from the history of Egypt or Assyria, 
 or even from the increase of the sons of Lot or Ishmael. But 
 
CHAPTER LI. 257 
 
 when the promise which he wished to render credible is really 
 a repetition or continuation of the one which he cites as an illus- 
 trative example, the intimate connection thus establishtd or 
 revealed between them is a strong proof that the explanation 
 which involves it is the true one. 
 
 3. For Jehovah hath comforted Zion. As soon as the strict 
 sense of the futures in v. 2 has been reinstated, the connection 
 becomes obvious. ' I have blessed and increased him, and I 
 bless and increase him ; for Jehovah has begun to comfort 
 Zion.' The. comparison of ch. 40 : 1 shows what we are here to 
 understand by Zion, viz Jehovah's people, of which it was the 
 capital, the sanctuary, and the symbol. What is there com- 
 manded is here, in a certain sort, performed, or its performance 
 more distinctly and positively pronounced. He hath comforted all 
 her wastes (or ruins), i. e. restored cheerfulness to what was 
 wholly desolate. This phrase proves nothing as to the Prophet's 
 viewing Zion merely as a ruinous city, since in'any case this 
 is the substratum of his metaphor. The question is not 
 whether he has reference to Zion or Jerusalem as a town, but 
 whether this town is considered merely as a town, and men- 
 tioned for its own sake, or in the sense before explained, as 
 the established representative and emblem of the church or 
 chosen people. (See above, on ch. 49 : 21.) A?id hath placed 
 (or made) her ivilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of 
 the Lord. This beautiful comparison is the strongest possible 
 expression of a joyful change from total barrenness and deso- 
 lation to the highest pitch of fertility and beauty. It is closely 
 copied in Ezekiel 31:9; but the same comparison, in more 
 concise terms, is employed by Moses (Gen. 13 : 10). Even 
 there, notwithstanding what is added about Egypt, but still 
 more unequivocally here, the reference is not to a gardm or to 
 pleasure-grounds in general, as Luther and several of the later 
 Germans have assumed, with no small damage to the force and 
 
258 CHAPTER LI. 
 
 beauty of their versions, but to Eden as a proper name, the gar- 
 den of Jehovah, the Paradise^ as the Septuagint renders it, both 
 here and in Gen. 2 : 8, the grand historical and yet ideal desig- 
 nation of the most consummate terrene excellence, analogous, 
 if not still more nearly related, to the Grecian pictures of 
 Arcadia and of TempG. Joy a;id gladness shall be found in her, 
 i. e. in Zion, thus transformed into a paradise. Shall be found 
 does not simply mean shall be, but also that they shall be there 
 accessible, not only present in their abstract essence, as it were, 
 but in the actual experience of those who dwell there. Thanhs- 
 giving and the voice of melody. The music of the common ver- 
 sion of this last clause is at once too familiar and too sacred to 
 be superseded, simply for the purpose of expressing more dis- 
 tinctly the exact sense of the last word, which originally signifies 
 the sound of an instrument or instrumental music, but is 
 afterwards used to denote song in general, or rather as a vehicle 
 of praise to God. 
 
 4. Attend (or hearken) unto me, my people; and my nation, 
 unto me give ear. This may seem to be a violation of the usage 
 which has been already stated as employing this form of speech 
 to indicate a change in the object of address. But such a 
 change, although a slight one, takes place even here ; for he 
 seems no longer to address those seeking righteousness exclu- 
 sively, but the whole body of the people as such. The next 
 clause .^^^^ains what it is that they are thus called upon to 
 hear, viz. that laiv from me shall go forth, i. e. revelation or the 
 true religion, as an expression of God's will, and consequently 
 man's rule of duty. In like manner Paul describes the gospel 
 as the law oj faith (Rom. 3 : 27), not binding upon one race or 
 nation merely, but by the commandment rf the everlasting God 
 made knoivn to all nations for the obedience of faith (Rom. 
 16 : 26). The meaning of the clause is that the nations can 
 expect illumination only from one quarter. The same thing 
 
CHAPTER LI. 259 
 
 is then said in another form. And my judgment for the light of 
 the nations (as in ch. 42 : 6, 49 : 6) will I cause to rest, i. e. fix, 
 establish. 
 
 5. Near {is) my righleousncss^ i. e. the exhibition of it in the 
 changes previously promised and threatened. Near, as often 
 elsewhere in the prophecies, is an indefinite expression which 
 describes it simply as approaching, and as actually near to the 
 perceptions of the Prophet or to any one who occupies the same 
 point of vision. Gone forth is ?)iy sah-ation. Not only is the 
 purpose formed, and the decree gone forth, but the event itself, 
 in the sense just explained, may be described as past or actually 
 passing. And my arms shall judge the nations. As the fore- 
 going clause contains a promise, some interpreters suppose it to 
 be necessary to give judge the favourable sense of vindicating, 
 righting (as in ch. 1 : 17, 23), or at least the generic one of 
 ruling (as in 1 Sam. 8 : 5). But nothing can be more in keep- 
 ing with the usage of the Scriptures, and of this book in par- 
 ticular, than the simultaneous exhibition of God's justice in his 
 treatment both of friends and foes. (Compare ch. 1 : 27.) For 
 me shall the islands tvait, i. e. for me they must wait ; until I 
 reveal myself they must remain in darkness. (See above, on 
 ch. 42 : 4.) The usual sense of islmids is entirely appropriate 
 here, as a poetical or representative expression for countries in 
 general, with more particular reference to those across the sea. 
 And in my arm they shall hope, i. e. in the exercise of my 
 almighty power. As in ch. 42 : 6, the sense is not so much 
 that they shall exercise a feeling of trust, but that this will be 
 their only hope or dependence. To be enlightened, they must 
 wait for my revelation ; to be saved, for the exertion of my 
 power. It is not descriptive, therefore, of the feelings of the 
 nations after the way of salvation is made known to them, but 
 of thsir desperate and helpless condition until they hear it. 
 
260 CHAPTER LI. 
 
 6. Raise to the heavens your eyes^ and, look unto the earth 
 beneath. A similar foi'in of address occurs above, in ch. 40 : 26. 
 (Compare Gen. 15 : 5.) Heaven and earth are here put, as in 
 many other places, for the whole frame of nature. The next 
 clause explains why they are called upon to look. For the 
 heavens like smoke are dissolved or driven away. Most writers 
 give this verb a future sense (or a present one as an evasive 
 substitute), because the real future follows ; but for this very 
 reason it may be presumed that the writer used distinct forms 
 to express distinct ideas, and that he first gives a vivid descrip- 
 tion of the dissolution as already past, and then foretells its 
 consummation as still future. And the earth like the garment 
 (which grows old) shall groiv old (or ^cear out). The same com- 
 parison occurs above in ch. 50 : 9, and serves to identify the 
 passages as parts of one continued composition. And their in- 
 habitants shall die. The translation recommended by analogy 
 and usage as well as by the testimony of the ancient versions 
 is, they shall likcioise perish, to which there may possibly be an 
 allusion in our Saviour's words recorded in Luke 13:3,5. 
 The contrast to this general destruction is contained in the 
 last clause. A7id my salvation to eternity shall be, and my right- 
 eousness shall not be broken., i. e. shall not cease from being what 
 it is, in which sense the same verb is evidently used by Isaiah 
 elsewhere (ch. 7 : 8). In this as in many other cases, salvation 
 and righteousness are not synonymous but merely correlative 
 as cause and effect. (See above, on ch. 42 : 6.) The only 
 question as to this clause is Avhether it is a hypothetical or 
 absolute proposition. If the former, then the sense is that 
 until (or even if) the frame of nature be dissolved, th-^ justice 
 and salvation of Jehovah shall remain unshaken. The other 
 interpretation understands the first clause as a positive and 
 independent declaration that the heavens and earth sliall be 
 dissolved. All these hypotheses are reconcilable by making 
 the first clause mean, as similar expressions do mean elsewhere, 
 
CHAPTER LI. 261 
 
 that the most extraordinary changes shall be witnessed, moral 
 and physical ; but that amidst them all this one thing shall re- 
 main unchangeable, the righteousness of God as displayed in 
 the salvation of his people. (See ch. 40 ; 8. 65 : 17. Matt. 
 5: 18. 1 John 2: 17.) 
 
 7. Hearken unto me, ye that knoio righteousness, people (loith) 
 my law in their heart ; fear not the reproach of men, and by their 
 scoffs be 7iot broken (in spirit, i. e. terrified). The distinction 
 here implied is still that between the righteous and the wicked 
 as the two great classes of mankind. Tho.se who are described 
 in V. 1 as seeking after righteousness are here said to know it, 
 i. e. know it by experience. The presence of the law in the 
 heart denotes not mere affection for it but a correct apprehen- 
 sion of it, as the heart in liebrev>^ is put for the whole mind 
 or soul j it is therefore a just parallel to knowing in the other 
 member of the clause. The opposite class, or those who kuow 
 not what is right, and who have not God's law in their heart, 
 are comprehended under the generic title man, with particular 
 reference to the derivation of the Hebrew word from a root 
 meaning to be weak or sickly, so that its application here sug- 
 gests the idea of their frailty and mortality, as a sufficient 
 reason why God's people should not be afraid of them. 
 
 8. For like the (moth-eaten) garment shall the moth devour 
 them, and. like tlie (worm-eaten) uwol shall the ivorm detjour them; 
 and my righteousness to eternity shall be, and m,y salvation, to an 
 age of ages. The same contrast between God's immutability 
 and the brief duration of his enemies, is presented in ch. 50 : 9, 
 and in v. 6 above. 
 
 9. Awake, awake, put on strength, arm. of Jehovah, awake, as 
 {in the) days of old, the ages of eternities ; art not tlioxh the same 
 that hewed Rahab in pieces, that wounded the serpent (or dragon?) 
 
262 CHAPTER LI. 
 
 The only probable hypothesis is that which puts the words 
 into the mouth of the people or of the Prophet as their repre- 
 sentative. The verse is then a highly figurative but by no 
 means an obscure appeal to the former exertion of that power, 
 as a reason for its renewed exertion in the present case. The 
 particular example cited seems to be the overthrow of Egypt, 
 here described by the enigmatical name Rahab, for the origin 
 and sense of which see above, on eh. 30 : 7. The same thing 
 is probably intended by the parallel term dragon^ whether 
 this be understood to mean an aquatic monster in the general, 
 or more specifically the crocodile, the natural and immemorial 
 emblem of Egypt. 
 
 10 Art not thou the same that dried the sea, the waters of the 
 great deep, that placed the depths of the sea [as) a loay for tlie fas- 
 sage of redeemed ones ? The allusion to the overthrow of Egypt 
 is carried out and completed by a distinct mention of the mirac- 
 ulous passage of the Red Sea. The interrogative form of the 
 sentence is equivalent to a direct affirmation that it is the same 
 arm, or in other words, that the same power which destroyed 
 the Egyptians for the sake of Israel still exists, and may again 
 be exerted for a similar purpose. The confidence that this will 
 be done is expressed somewhat abruptly in the next verse. 
 
 11. And the ransomed of Jehovah shall return and come to Zion 
 with shouting, arid everlasting joy upon their heads ; gladness and 
 joy shall overtake (them), sorrow and sighing have fled away. 
 The same words occur in ch. 35 : 10. 
 
 12. 1,1, am he that comfortcth you; who art thou, that thou 
 shouldest be afraid of man [who) is to die, and of the son of man 
 who {as) grass is to be given 1 The important truth is here 
 reiterated, that Jehovah is not only the deliverer but the sole 
 deliverer of his people, and as the necessary consequence, that 
 
CHAPTER LI. 268 
 
 they have not only no need but no right to be afraid, which 
 
 seems to be the force of the interrogation, W/io art iliou, that 
 thou shouldest be afraid, or still more literally, roho art thou and 
 thou hast lecn afraid? i. e. consider who is thy protector and 
 then recollect that thou hast been afraid. The last verb is 
 commonly explained as if simply equivalent to shall be or 
 shall become, which is hardly consistent with its usage elsewhere. 
 Some adhere more closely to the strict sense by supposing it 
 to mean he shall be given up, abandoned to destruction. 
 
 13. And hast forgotten Jehovah thy Maker, spreading the 
 heavens and founding the earth, and hast trembled continually all 
 the day, from before the %vrath of the oppressor, as he made ready to 
 destroy? And where is (no^) the wrath of the oppressor ? The 
 form of expression in the first clause makes it still more clear 
 that the statement in v. 12 is not merely hypothetical but 
 historical, implying that they had actually feared man and 
 forgotten God. The epithets added to God's name are not 
 merely ornamental, much less superfluous, but strictly appro- 
 priate, because suggestive of almighty power, which ensured the 
 performance of his promise and the effectual protection of his 
 people. Continually all the day is an emphatic pleonasm, such 
 as are occasionally used in every language. From before is a 
 common Hebrew idiom {or because of, on account of but may here 
 be taken in its strict sense as expressive of alarm and flight 
 before an enemy. (See ch. 2: 19.) Some render "iirss as if, 
 to which there are two objections : first, the want of any satis- 
 factory authority from usage ; and secondly, the fact that the 
 words then imply that no such attempt has really been made. 
 As if he could destroy would be appropriate enough, because it 
 is merely an indirect denial of his power to do so ; but it cannot 
 be intended to deny that he had aimed at it. The word trans- 
 lated rnake ready, is particularly used in reference to the prep- 
 aration of the bow for shooting by the adjustment of the 
 
264 CHAPTER LI. 
 
 arrow on the string ; some suppose that it specifically signifies 
 the act of taking aim. (Compare Ps. 7 : 13. 11 : 2. 21 : 13.) 
 The question at the close implies that the wrath is at an end, 
 and the oppressor himself vanished. We have no authority 
 for limiting this reference to any particular historical event 
 It is as if he had said, How often have you trembled when 
 your oppressors threatened to destroy you ; and where are they 
 now? 
 
 14. He hastms bowing to h loosed, and he shall 7wt die in the 
 pit, and his bread shall not fail. The essential idea is that of 
 liberation, but with some obscurity in the expression. The 
 modern lexicographers appear to be agreed that the radical 
 meaning of the verb here translated bowing is that of bend- 
 ing, either backward (as in ch. 63 : 1) or downward (as 
 in Jer. 48 : 12). The latest versions accordingly explain it 
 as a poetical description of the prisoner bowed down under 
 chains. With still more exactness it may be translated as 
 a participle qualifying the indefinite subject of the verb at 
 the beginning. There is however no objection to the usual 
 construction of the word as a noun ; the sense remains the 
 same in either case. The next clause is sometimes taken as an 
 indirect subjunctive proposition, that he may not die ; but it is 
 best to make it a direct affirmation that he shall not. The 
 general sense is still that the captive shall not perish in 
 captivity. This general promise is then rendered more specific 
 by the assurance that he shall not starve to death, which seems 
 to be the only sense that can be put upon the last clause. 
 
 15. And I [am) Jehovah thy God, rousing the sea and then its 
 waves roar ; Jehovah of Hosts {is) his name. Another appeal to 
 the power of God as a pledge for the performance of his promise. 
 S;""i has been understood in two directly opposite senses, that 
 of stilling and that of agitating. The first is strongly recom- 
 
CHAPTER LI. 265' 
 
 mended by the not unfrequent use of the derivative conjuga- 
 tions in the sense of quieting or being quiet. 
 
 16. And I have put my ivords in thy mouthy and in the shadow 
 of my hand I have hid thee, to plant the heavens, and to found the 
 earth, and to say to Zion, Thou art my people. That these words 
 are not addressed to Zion or the Church is evident; because 
 in the last clause she is spoken of in the third person, and ad- 
 dressed in the next verse with a sudden change to the feminine 
 form from the masculine which is here used. That it is not 
 the Prophet may be readily inferred from the nature of the 
 work described in the second clause. The only remaining 
 supposition is that the Messiah is the object of address, and 
 that his work or mission is here described, viz. to plant the 
 heavens, i e. to establish them, perhaps with allusion to the 
 erection of a tent by the insertion of its stakes in the ground. 
 The new creation thus announced can only mean tlj^e reproduc- 
 tion of the cliurch in a new form, by what we usually call the 
 change of dispensations. The outward economy should all be 
 new, and yet the identity of the chosen people should remain 
 unbroken. For he whom God had called to plant new heavens 
 and to found a new earth was likewise commissioned to say to 
 Zion, Thou art still my people. 
 
 17. This maybe considered a continuation of the address 
 begun at the end of the preceding verse. The same voice 
 which there said, Thou art my people, may be here supposed to 
 say, Rouse thyself! rouse thyself! Arise Jerusalem! {thou) who 
 hast drunk at the hand of Jehovah the cup of his ivrath ; the bowl 
 of the cup of reeling thou hast drunk, thou hast lorung (or sucked) 
 out, i. e. drunk its very dregs. The cup is of course put for 
 its contents, a natural figure for anythii^ administered or prof- 
 fered by a higher power. (Compare Jer. 25 : 15, 16. 49 : 12. 
 51 : 7. Lam. 4 : 21. Ob. 16. Ezek. 23 : 34. Rev. 14 : 10.) 
 
 VOL. II. — 12 
 
266 CHAPTER LI. 
 
 18. There is no guide to her (or no one leading her) of alt the 
 sons she has brought forth^ and no one grasping her hand of all 
 the sons she has brought up. From addressing Z ion in the sec- 
 ond person, he now proceeds to speak of her in the third. This 
 verse is not so much descriptive of unnatural abandonment as 
 it is of weakness. The sense is not that no one will, but that 
 no one can protect or guide her. Some interpreters suppcse 
 the figure of a drunken person to be still continued. The 
 mother and the sons, i. e. the people collectively and individ- 
 ually, are distinguished only by a figure of speech. 
 
 19. Both those things are befalling (or about to befall) thee ; tvho 
 ioill mourn for thee ? Wasting and ruin, famine and sword ; who 
 {but) I will comfort thee? A difficulty here is the mention of 
 two things in the first clause, followed by an enumeration of 
 four in the second. Some suppose the two things to refer to 
 what precedes, others to wasting and ruin only. Others think 
 that wasting and famine, ruin and sword, are to be combined 
 a^ synonymes. The modern writers understand the second 
 phrase as an explanation or specification of the first. As if he 
 had said, wasting and ruin (such as are produced by) famine 
 and the sxcord. The general meaning of the verse evidently is 
 that her grief was beyond the reach of any human comforter. 
 
 20. Thy sons were faint (or helpless). This explains why 
 they did not come to her assistance. They lie at the head of all 
 the streets. A conspicuous place is evidently meant, but whether 
 the corners or the higher part of an uneven street, is a question 
 of small moment. Like a toild bull in a net, i. e. utterly unable 
 to exert their strength. The true cause of their lying thus is 
 given in the last clause. Filled with the wrath of Jehovah, the 
 rebuke of thy God. The expression^/??/ God is emphatic, and 
 suggests that her sufferings proceeded from the alienation of 
 her own divine protector. This verse is a figurative represen- 
 
CHAPTER LI. 267 
 
 tation of the helplessness of Zion or the Church when partially 
 forsaken for a time by her offended Head. 
 
 21. Therefore fray hear this, thou suffering one and drunken 
 but not with iciiie. The antithesis in the last clause is to be 
 completed from the context. Not with wine, but with the 
 wrath of God, which had already been described as a cvp of reel- 
 ing or intoxication. The same negative expression is employed 
 in oh. 29 : 9. 
 
 22. Tlius saith thy Lord, Jehovah, and thy God — he tvill de- 
 fend (or avenge) his people — Behold, I have taken from thy hand 
 the cup of reeling (or intoxication), the boivl of the cup of my fury ; 
 thou shall not add {continue or repeat) to drink it any more (or 
 again). All are compelled to admit that the writer has refer- 
 ence less to the place than to the people of Jerusalem, and- 
 even to this only as the representative of the entire nation ; a 
 concession which goes far to confirm the explanation of the 
 " Zion" of these prophecies which has been already given. It 
 is usual to explain 153? 3"'"i^ as a relative clause [who pleads the 
 cause of his people) ; but it is simpler, and at the same time 
 more in accordance with the genius of tlie language, to regard 
 it as a brief but corajJete parenthetical proposition. The 
 same character is often ascribed elsewhere to Jehovah. (See 
 ch. 49 : 25. and compare 34 : 8. 41 : 11.) As the cup was the 
 cup of God's wrath, not of man's, so God himself is represented 
 as withdrawing it from the sufferer's lips, when its purpose is 
 accomplished. 
 
 23. And put it into the hand of those that afflicted thee, that said 
 to thy soul. Bow down, and loe will (or that we may) pass over ; 
 and thou didst lay thy back as the ground and as the street for the 
 passengers. To thy soul always implies a strong and commonly 
 a painful affection of the mind in the object of address. Who 
 
268 CHAPTER LI I. 
 
 said to thy soul is then equivalent to saying, who distressed thy 
 soul by saying. The last clause is commonly explained as a 
 proverbial or at least a metaphorical description of extreme 
 humiliation, although history affords instances of literal humil- 
 iation in this form. Such is the treatment of Valerian by 
 Sapor, as described by Lactantius and Aurelius Victor ; with 
 which may be compared the conduct of Sesostris to his royal 
 captives, as described by Diodorus, and that of Pope Alexander 
 III to the Emperor Frederic, as recorded by the Italian 
 historians. For scriptural parallels see Josh. 10 : 24 and 
 Judg. 1:7. If we had any right or reason to restrict this 
 prediction to a single period or event, the most obvious would 
 be the humiliation of the Chaldees, who are threatened with 
 the cup of God's wrath in Jer, 25 : 26. 
 
 CHAPTER LII. 
 
 However low the natural Israel may sink, the true Church 
 shall become more glorious than ever, being freed from the 
 impurities connected with her former state, v. 1. This is 
 described as a captivity, from which she is exhorted to escape, 
 V. 2. Her emancipation is the fruit of God's gratuitous com- 
 passion, V. 3. As a nation she has suffered long enough, vs. 
 4, 5. The day is coming when the Israel of God shall know 
 in whom they have believed, v. 6. The herald of the new dis- 
 pensation is described as already visible upon the mountains, 
 V. 7. The watchmen of Zion hail their coming Lord, v. 8. 
 The very ruins of Jerusalem are summoned to rejoice, v. 9. 
 The glorious change is witnessed by the whole world, v. 10. 
 The true Church or Jsrael of God is exhorted to come out of 
 
CHAPTER LI I. g69 
 
 Jewry, v. 11. This exodus is likened to the one from Eg3'pt, 
 but described as even more auspicious, v. 12. Its great leader, 
 the Messiah, as the Servant of Jehovah, must be and is to be 
 exalted, V. 13. And this exaltation shall bear due proportion 
 to the humiliation which preceded it, vs. 14, 15. 
 
 1. Awake^ aioake, put on thy strength^ oh Zioii ! Put on thy 
 garments of beauty, oh Jerusalem the Holy City! For no more 
 shall there add (or continue) to come into thee an uncircmncised and 
 unclean [person). The encouraging assurances of the foregoing 
 context are now followed by a summons similar to that in ch. 
 51 : 17, but in form approaching nearer to the apostrophe in 
 ch. 51 : 9. To put on strength is a perfectly intelligible, figure 
 for resuming strength or taking courage, and is therefore 
 entirely appropriate in this connection. That the city is here 
 addressed only as a symbol of the nation, is certain from tha 
 next verse. Beautiful garments is by mostxinterpreters re- 
 garded as a general expression meaning fine clothes or holiday 
 dresses; but some suppose a special contrast with widow's 
 weeds (2 Sam. 14 : 2) or prison-garments (2 Kings 25 : 29). 
 Perhaps the Prophet here resumes the metaphor of ch. 49 : 18, 
 where Z ion's children are compared to bridal ornaments. The 
 Holy City, literally, city cf holiness, an epithet before applied 
 to Zion (ch. 48 : 2), and denoting her peculiar consecration, 
 and that of her people, to the service of Jehovah. (Compare 
 Dan. 8 : 24.) Henceforth the name is to be more appropriate 
 than ever, for the reason given in the last clause. Uncircum- 
 cised is an expression borrowed from the ritual law and signi- 
 fyi' g unclean. That it is not here used in its strict sense, is 
 intimated by the addition of the general term. The restric- 
 tion of these epithets to the Babylonians is purely arbitrary, 
 and intended to meet the objection that Jerusalem was not 
 free from heathen intrusion after the exile. The words con- 
 tain a general promise of exemption from the contaminating 
 
270 CHAPTER LII. 
 
 presence of the impure and unworthy, as a part of the bless- 
 edness and glory promised to God's people, as the end and 
 solace of their various trials. 
 
 2. Shake thysdf from the dusi, arise, sU, oh Jerusalem ! loose 
 the hands of thy neck, oh captive daughter Zion (or of Zioji) ! 
 The dust, from which she is to free herself by shaking it off, is 
 either that in which she had been sitting as a mourner (ch. 
 3 : 26. 47 : 1. Job 2 : 13), or that which, in token of her grief, 
 she had sprinkled on her head ( Job 2 : 12). The common 
 English version, sit down, until explained, suggests an idea 
 directly opposite to that intended. Some make it mean sit up^ 
 in opposition to a previous recumbent posture. To this it may 
 be objected, that the verb is elsewhere absolutely used in the 
 sense of sitting doion, especially in reference to sitting on the 
 ground as a sign of grief; and also, that the other verb does 
 not merely qualify this, but expresses a distinct idea, not 
 merely that of rising but that of standing up, which is incon- 
 sistent with an exhortation to sit up, immediately ensuing. 
 As a whole, the verse is a poetical description of the libera- 
 tion of a female captive from degrading servitude, designed 
 to represent the complete emancipation of the Church from 
 tyranny and persecution. 
 
 3. For thus saith Jehovah, Ye loere sold for nought, and not 
 for money shall ye be redeemed. These words are apparently 
 designed to remove two difficulties in the way of Israel's de- 
 liverance, a physical and a moral one. The essential meaning 
 is, that it might be effected rightly and easily. As Jehovah 
 had received no price for them, he was under no obligations 
 to renounce his right to them ; and as nothing had been gained 
 by their rejection, so nothing would be lost by their recovery. 
 The only obscurity arises from the singular nature of the 
 figure under which the truth is here presented, by the transfer 
 
CHAPTEIl LII. 211 
 
 of expressions borrowed from the commercial intercourse of 
 men to the free action of the divine sovereignty. The verse 
 as thus explained, agrees exactly with the terras of Ps. 44 : 12. 
 The reflexive meaning given in the English Version (ye have 
 sold yourselves) is not sustained by usage nor required by the 
 context. 
 
 4. For thus sa'ith the Lord Jehovah^ Irdo Egypt went down 
 my people at the first to sojourn there, and Assyria oppressed them 
 for nothing. The interpretation of this verse and the next 
 has been' not a little influenced by the assumption of one or 
 more strongly marked antitheses. Thus some writers take it 
 for granted that the Prophet here intended to contrast the 
 E.gyptian and Assyrian bondage. They accordingly explain 
 the verse as meaning that the first introduction of Israel into 
 Egypt was without any evil design upon the part of the Egyp-, 
 tiaus, who did not begin to oppress them uivtil there arose a 
 king who knew not Joseph (Ex. 1 : 8), whereas the Assyrian 
 deportation of Israel was from the beginning a high-handed 
 act of tyranny. One commentator appears to exclude the 
 supposition of a contrast altogether, and to understand the 
 passage as a chronological enumeration of events, designed to 
 show how much had been endui'ed already as a reason why 
 they should endure no more. (Compare ch. 40 : 2.) In an- 
 cient times they were oppressed by the Egyptians, at a later 
 period by Assyria, and later still by Babylonia, whose oppres- 
 sions are supposed to be described in v. 5, either as already 
 suffered, or as an object of prophetic foresight. This is the 
 simplest and most natural interpretation, and is very strongly 
 recommended by the difficulty of defining the antithesis in- 
 tended on the other supposition. Most writers understand 
 the last words as meaning for nothing or without cause, 
 i. e. unjustly. The explanation of Assyria as meaning or in- 
 cluding Babylonia, though not without authority from usage, is 
 
2*72 CHAPTER LII. 
 
 as unnecessary here as in various other places where it has been 
 proposed. 
 
 5. And 71010, what is there to me here (lohat have I here), saith 
 Jehovah, that my people is taken away for nothing, its rulers howl, 
 saith Jehovah, and continually, all the day, my name is blas- 
 phemed ? Some understand now strictly as meaning at the pres- 
 ent time, in opposition to the ancient times when Israel suffered 
 at the hands of Egypt and Assyria. The same antithesis may 
 he obtained -by giving now a modified sense so as to mean in 
 the present case, as distinguished from the two already men- 
 tioned. It would even be admissible to give the now its logical 
 eense as substantially meaning since these things are so, although 
 such a departure from the proper import of the word is by no 
 means necessary. The other adverb, here, admits of no less 
 various explanations. Some older writers understand it to 
 mean heaven as the customary residence of God. {1 Kings 
 8 : 30.) Some suppose it to mean Babylon, while others, with 
 a bolder departure from the strict sense, understand it as 
 equivalent to iri the present case, viz. that of the Babylonian 
 exile ; which, however, even if correct in substance, is rather a 
 paraphrase than a translation. With the meaning put upon 
 this adverb varies the interpretation of the whole phrase, vjhat 
 have I here ? If here means in Babylon, the sense would seem 
 to be, what else have I to do here but to free ray people ? If 
 it mean in heaven, then the question is, what is there to detain 
 me here from going to the rescue of my people ? If it mean 
 in the presetit case, whether this be referred to the Babylonish 
 exile or more generally understood, the best explanation of the 
 question is, what have I gained in tliis case, any more than in 
 the others, since my people are still taken from mo without 
 any compensation ? The conclusion implied, though not ex- 
 pressed, is that in this as in the other instances referred to, a 
 regard to his own honour, metaphorically represented as his 
 
CHAPTER LIL 273 
 
 interest, requires that lie should interpose for the deliverance 
 of his people. The next clause likewise has been very vari- 
 ously explained Among the vast majority of writers who re- 
 tain the common meaning of the word translated rulers, the 
 question chieflj' in dispute is whether it denotes the native 
 rulers of the Jews themselves, as in ch. 28 : 14, or their foreign 
 oppressors, as in ch. 49 : 7. Most interpreters, however, seem 
 disposed to understand it as meaning his foreign oppressors. 
 The form of expression in the last clause is copied by Ezekiel 
 (36 : 20, 23), but applied to a diiferent subject ; and from 
 that place, rather than the one before us, the Apostle quotes in 
 Rom 2 : 24. 
 
 6. Therefore (because my name is thus blasphemed) my peo- 
 ple shall knoio my name ; therefore in that day (shall they know) 
 thai I am he that said, Behold mc ! The exact sense of the 
 last words according to this construction is, ' I am he that 
 spake (or promised) a Behold me?' To know the name of 
 God, is to know his nature so far as it has been revealed ; and 
 in this case more specifically, it is to know that the name blas- 
 phemed among the wicked was deserving of the highest honour. 
 The second therefore is to be regarded pregnant and emphatic. 
 
 7. How timely on the mountains are the feet of one bringing glad 
 tidings, publishing peace, bringing glad tidings of good, publish- 
 ing salvation, saying to Zion, Thy God reigneth. The verb ^nsa 
 means to be suitable, becoming, opportune, and though not ap- 
 plied to time in either of the two cases where it occurs else- 
 where, evidently admits of such an application, especially 
 when there is no general usage to forbid it. It is here recom- 
 mended by the context, which is much more coherent if we 
 understand this verse as intimating that the help appears at 
 the very juncture when it is most needed, than if we take it as 
 a mere expression of delight. It is also favoured by the ana- 
 
 12* 
 
274 CHAPTER LI I. 
 
 logy of Nail. 1:15, where a similar connection is expressed by 
 the word nirt . It is favoured lastly by the use of the Greek 
 word (h(j(xioi. in Paul's translation of the verse (Kom 10 ; 15), 
 of which (3o« in our copies of the Septuagint is probably a 
 corruption. This Greek word, both from etymology and usage, 
 most explicitly means timely or seasonable, although sometimes 
 employed in the secondary sense of beautiful (Matt. 23 : 27. 
 Acts 3 : 2), like the Hebrew ^nN! (Cant. 1 : 10), decor us in 
 Latin, and becoviing in English. The mountains meant may 
 be the mountains round Jerusalem, or the word may be more 
 indefinitely understood as adding a trait to the prophetic 
 picture. The word ~itan?3 has no equivalent in English, and 
 must therefore be expressed by a periphrasis, in order to in- 
 clude the two ideas of annunciation and the joyful character of 
 that which is announced. The sense is perfectly expressed by 
 the Greek ivayyEli'Q6!.iEvog, but our derivatives, evangelizing 
 and evangelist, would not convey the meaning to an English 
 reader. The joyous nature of the tidings brought is still 
 more definitely intimated in the next clause by the addition of 
 the word good, which is not explanatory but intensive. The 
 explanation of "itiJ?^ as a collective referring to the prophets, 
 or the messengers from Babylonia to Jerusaleni, is perfectly 
 gratuitous. The primary application of the term is to the 
 Messiah, but in itself it is indefinite ; and Paul is therefore 
 chargeable with no misapplication of the words when he ap- 
 plies them to the preachers of the gospel. The contents of 
 the message are the manifestation of the reign of God, the 
 very news which Christ and his forerunner published when 
 they cried saying, The kingdom of God is at hand. 
 
 8. The voice of thy watchmen ! They raise the voice, together 
 will they shout ; for eye to eye shall they see in Jehovah^ s returning 
 (i e. when he returns) to Zion. The first clause is obviously a 
 poetical apostrophe or exclamation. The second clause seems 
 
CHAPTER LII. 275 
 
 to intimate that they should have still further cause to shout 
 hereafter ; they have already raised the voice, and ere long 
 they shall all shout together. Because the prophets are else- 
 where represented as loaichmen on the walls of Zion (oh. 56 : 10. 
 Jer. 6:17. Ez. 3:17. 33 : 2, 7), most interpreters attach that 
 meaning to the figure here ; but the restriction is unnecessary, 
 since the application of a metaphor to one object does not pre- 
 clude its application to another, and objectionable, as it mars 
 the unity and beauty of the scene presented, which is simply 
 that of a messenger of good news drawing near to a walled town, 
 whose watchmen take up and repeat his tidings to the people 
 within. The phrase eye to eye^ or in eye, occurs only here and 
 in Num. 14:14. It is properly descriptive of two persons so 
 near as to look into each other's eyes. The phrases /ace to face 
 (Ex. 33 : 11) and mouth to mouth (Num. 12 : 8) are kindred 
 and analogous, but not identical with that before us. They 
 (i. e. the people of Jerusalem or men in general) shall see. 
 The transitive meaning {restore or tiring back) ascribed to 21tJ 
 in this and many other places is doubtful and disputed. In 
 this case the proper sense is not only appropriate but required 
 by the context and the analogy of other places in which the 
 reconciliation between God and his people is represented as vt 
 return after a long absence. (See above, on ch. 4U : 11.) 
 
 9. Burst forth, shout together, ruins of Jerusalem ! For Jeho- 
 vah hath comforted his people, hath redeemed Jerusalem. The 
 phrase to burst forth into shouting, is a favourite expression 
 with Isaiah (see above, ch. 14 : 7. 44 : 23. 49 : 13, and below, 
 ch. 54 : 1. 55 : 12) ; but in this case the qualifying noun is ex- 
 changed for its verbal root, a combination which occurs else- 
 where only in Ps. 98 : 4. As this word is never used in any 
 other connection, and therefore denotes only this one kind of 
 bursting, it may be considered as involving the idea of the 
 whole phrase, and is so translated in the English Version 
 
216 CHAPTER LI I. 
 
 {break fortn into joy) Together may either mean all of you^ or 
 at the same time with the watchmen mentioned in v. 8. Such 
 appeals to inanimate objects are of frequent occurrence in 
 Isaiah. (See above, ch. 44 : 23. 49 : 13, and below, ch. 55 : 
 12.) The translation of the verbs in the last clause as pres- 
 ents is unnecessary and enfeebling, as it takes away the strong 
 assurance always conveyed by the prcBteritum propheticmn. See 
 above, on ch. 49 ; 13. 
 
 10, Jehovah hath bared his holy arm to the eyes of all the na- 
 tions^ and all thz ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our 
 God. The allusion in the first clause is to the ancient military 
 practice of going into battle with the right arm and shoulder 
 bare. The same Hebrew verb is used in the same application 
 by Ezekiel (4 : 7). The baring of the arm may be mentioned 
 as a preparation for the conflict, or the act of stretching it 
 forth may be included. The bare arm is here in contrast 
 either with the long sleeves of the female dress, or with the 
 indolent insertion of the hand into the bosom. (Ps. 74 : 11 ) 
 The exertion of God's power is elsewhere expressed by the 
 kindred figure of a great hand (Ex. 14 : 30), a strong hand 
 (Ez. 20 : 34), or a hand stretched out (Is. 9 : 11). The act 
 here described is the same that is described in ch 51 : 9. The 
 comparison of Jehovah to a warrior occurs above in ch. 42 : 
 13. Jehovah's arm is here described as holy, in its widest 
 sense, as denoting the divine perfection, or whatever dis- 
 tinguishes between God and man, perhaps with special ref- 
 erence to his power, as that by which his deity is most fre- 
 quently and clearly manifested to his creatures. Compare this 
 clause with ch. 18 : 3. 33 : 13, and Ps. 98 : 3, where it is re- 
 peated word for word. Another coincidence between this pas- 
 sage of Isaiah and that Psalm has been already pointed out in 
 expounding the foregoing verse. 
 
CHAPTER LII. 277 
 
 11. Away I aivay ! go out from thence ! the unclean touch not! 
 come ovt from the midst of her ! he clean (or cleanse yourselves) yz 
 armour-hearers of Jehovah ! The first word in Hebrew is a verb, 
 and literally means depart ; but there is something peculiarly 
 expressive in the translation of it by an adverb. The analogy 
 of ch. 48 : 20 seems to show that the Prophet had the depart- 
 ure from Babylon in view ; but the omission of the name here, 
 and of any allusion to that subject in the context, forbids the 
 restriction of the words any further than the writer has him- 
 self restricted them. The whole analogy of language and es- 
 pecially of poetical composition shows that Babylon is no more 
 the exclusive object of the writer's contemplation than the local 
 Zion and the literal Jerusalem in many of the places where 
 those names are mentioned. Like other great historical events, 
 particularly such as may be looked upon as critical conjunc 
 tures, the deliverance becomes a type, not only to the prophet, 
 but to the poet and historian, not by any arbitrary process, but 
 by a spontaneous association of ideas. As sofhe names, even in 
 our own day, have acquired a generic meaning and become de- 
 scriptive of a whole class of events, so in the earliest authentic 
 history, the Flood, the Fall of Sodom and Gomorrah, the Exo- 
 dus, the Babylonish Exile, are continually used as symbols of 
 divine interposition both in wrath and mercy. There is no in- 
 consistency whatever, therefore, in admitting that the Prophet 
 has the exodus from Babylon in view, and yet maintaining that 
 his language has a far more extensive scope. The sense of ar- 
 mour-bearers is not only in the highest degree suitable to the 
 idea of a solemn march, but strongly recommended by the fact 
 that the same Hebrew phrase in historical prose is the appro- 
 priated title of an armour-bearer. (See 1 Sam. 14: 1, 6, 7. 16: 
 21.) At the same time the mention of the sacred vessels would 
 scarcely be omitted in the description of this new exodus Both 
 explanations may be blended without any violation of usage, 
 and with great advantage to the beauty of the passage, by sup- 
 
278 CHAPTER LI 1. 
 
 ponng an allusion to the mixture of the martial and the sacer- 
 dotal in the whole organization of the host of Israel during the 
 journey through the wilderness. Not even iu the crusades 
 were the priest and soldier brought so near together, and so 
 mingled, not to say identified, as in the long march of the cho- 
 sen people from the Red Sea to the Jordan. By applying this 
 key to the case before us, we obtain the grand though blended 
 image of a march and a procession, an army and a church, a 
 " sacramental host" bearing the sacred vessels not as Priests and 
 Levites merely, but as the armour-bearers of Jehovah^ the weap- 
 ons of whose warfare, though not carnal, are mighty to the 
 pulling down of strong holds. (2 Cor. 10 : 4.) With this com- 
 prehensive exposition of the clause agi-ees the clear and settled 
 usage of the word in the wide sense of implemeyits, including 
 weapons on the one hand and vessels on the other. The ap- 
 plication of the terms of this verse by John to the spiritual 
 Babylon (Rev. 18 : 4), so far from standing in the way of the 
 enlarged interpretation above given, really confirms it by show- 
 ing that the language of the prophecy is suited to express far 
 more than the literal exodus of Israel from Babylon. 
 
 12. For not in haste shall ye go out, and in flight ye shall not 
 depart ; for going bfore you, {is) Jehovah, and bringing up your 
 rear the God of Israel. This verse is crowded with allusions to 
 the earlier history of Israel, some of which consist in the adap- 
 tation of expressions with which the Hebrew reader was famil- 
 iar, but which must of course be lost in a translation. Thus 
 the hasty departure out of Egypt is not only recorded as a fact 
 in the Mosaic history (Ex. 11 : 1. 12 : 33, 39), but designated 
 by the very term here used (Ex. 12 : 11. Deut. 16 : 3), meaning 
 terrified and sudden flight. There is likewise an obvious allu- 
 sion to the cloudy pillar going sometimes before and someiimes 
 behind the host (Ex. 14 : 19, 20), and possibly to Moses' poeti- 
 cal description of Jehovah as encompassing Israel with his 
 
CHAPTER LII. 279 
 
 protection (Deut. 32 : 10). These minute resemblances are 
 rendered still more striking by the distinction which the 
 Prophet makes between the two events. The former exodus 
 was hurried and disorderly ; the one here promised shall be 
 solemn and deliberate. The connection of the verse with that 
 before it may be easily ex[ilained. The for, as in many other 
 cases, has relation to an intermediate thought which may be 
 easily supplied though not expressed. Or rather, it has refer- 
 ence to the promise, implied in the preceding exhortation, of 
 protection and security. From this verse, taken in connection 
 with the one before it, we may derive a confirmation of our pre- 
 vious conclusions; first, that the image there presented is a mil- 
 itary no less than a prie.-tly one ; and secondly, that this whole 
 passage has a wider scope and higher theme than the deliver- 
 ance from Babylon, because the latter is no more vividly exhib- 
 ited t> view than the deliverance from Egypt ; and if this is a 
 mere emblem, so may that be, nay it must be, when we add to 
 the consideration just presented, the result of the inductive 
 process hitherto pursued in the interpretation of these prophe- 
 cies, viz. that -the deliverance of Israel from exile does not con- 
 stitute the theme of the predictions, but is simply one remark- 
 able historico-prophetical example which the Prophet cites in 
 illustration of his general teachings as to the principle and 
 mode of the Divine administration, and his special predictions 
 of a great and glorious change to be connected with the abro- 
 gation of the old economy. 
 
 13. Behold, my servant shall do ivisehj, (and as a necessary 
 consequence) shall rise and be exalted and high exceedingly. The 
 parenthesis introduced to show the true relation of the clauses 
 serves at the same time to preclude the necessity of giving the 
 nebrew verb the doubtful and secondary sense of prospering. 
 The parallel expressions are not synonymous but simply correl- 
 ative, the mutual relation being that of cause and effect. He 
 
280 CHAPTER LII. 
 
 shall be exalted because he shall act wisely, in the highest sense, 
 i.e. shall use the best means for the attainment of the highest end. 
 not merely as a possible result, but as a necessary consequence. 
 We have no right, however, to substitute the one for the other, 
 or to merge the primary idea in its derivative. The version of 
 the Septuagint (auir^ati) and the Vulgate [inteUigrt) is only de- 
 fective because it makes the verb denote the possession of in- 
 telligence, and not its active exercise, which is required by the 
 Hiphil form and by the connection, as well here as in the par- 
 allel passage, Jer. 23 : 5. (Compare 1 Kings 2 : 3.) Connect- 
 ed with this verse there are two exegetical questions which are 
 famous as the subject of dispute among interpreters. The first 
 and least important has respect to the division and arrange- 
 ment of the text, viz. whether this verse is to be connected with 
 what goes before, or separated from it and regarded as the in- 
 troduction of a new subject. The former method is adopted in 
 the older vei'sions and in the masoretic Hebrew text. The lat- 
 ter was pursued in the ancient distribution of the book, with 
 which the Fathers were familiar, and has been adopted in our 
 own day by most writers on Isaiah. The only satisfactory 
 method, as we have already seen, is to regard the whole as a 
 continuous composition, and to recognize the usual division into 
 chapters, simply because it is familiar and on the whole conve- 
 nient, although sometimes very injudicious and erroneous. 
 According to this view of the matter, the precise distribution 
 of the chapters is of no more importance than that of the para- 
 graphs in any modern book, which may sometimes facilitate and 
 sometimes hinder its convenient perusal, but can never be re- 
 garded as authoritative in determining the sense. In the case 
 immediately before us, it is proper to resist the violent division 
 of the chapter ; because when read in its natural connection, it 
 shows how easy the transition was from the foregoing promise 
 of deliverance to the description of the Servant of Jehovah as 
 the leader of the grand march just described, and confirms our 
 
CHAPTER LII. 281 
 
 previous conclusions as to the exalted meaning of the promises 
 in question, and against a forced restriction of them to the 
 Babylonish exile. At the same time it is equally important 
 that the intimate connection of these verses with the following 
 chapter should be fully recognized, in order that the Servant of 
 the Lord, whose humiliation and exaltation are here mentioned, 
 may be identified with that mysterious person whose expiatory 
 sufferings and spiritual triumphs form the great theme of the 
 subsequent context. It follows, therefore, that the meaning of 
 the whole passage, to tlie end of the fifty-third chapter, turns 
 upon th& question, Who is meant by my servant in the verse 
 before us 1 An individual or a collective body 1 If the latter, 
 is it Israel as a whole, or its better portion, or the Prophets, or 
 the Priesthood 1 If the former, is it Moses, Abraham, Uzziah, 
 Josiah, Jeremiah, Cyrus, an anonymous prophet, the author 
 himself, or the Messiah 1 This is the other exegetical question 
 which has been referred to, as connected with this verse and 
 materially affecting the interpretation of the whole passage. 
 The answer to this question, which at once suggests itself as 
 the result of all our previous inquiries, is that the Servant of 
 Jehovah here, as in ch. 42 : 1-6 and ch. 49 : 1-9, is the Mes- 
 siah, but presented rather in his own personality than in con- 
 junction with his people. According to the rule ali-eady 
 stated, the idea of the Body here recedes, and that of the 
 Head becomes exclusively conspicuous ; because, as we shall 
 see below, the Servant of Jehovah is exhibited, not merely as a 
 teacher or a ruler, but as an expiatory sacrifice. This applica- 
 tion of the verse and the whole passage to the Messiah was held 
 by the oldest school of Jewish interpreters. In its favour may 
 be urged, besides the tradition of the synagogue and church, 
 the analogy of the other places where the Servant of Jehovah 
 is mentioned, the wonderful agreement of the terms of the pre- 
 diction with the character and history of Jesus Christ, and the 
 express application of the passage to him by himself and his in- 
 
282 CHAPTER LI I. 
 
 spired apostles, who appear to have assumed it as the basis of 
 their doctrine with respect to the atonement, and to have quoted 
 it comparatively seldom only because they had it constantly ia 
 view, as appears from their numerous allusions to it, and the 
 perfect agreement of their teachings with it. The detailed 
 proofs of the Messianic exposition will be given in the course 
 of the interpretation. In the verse immediately before us all 
 that need be added is, that the extraordinary exaltation prom- 
 ised in the last clause is such as could never have been looked 
 for by the Prophet, for himself or for his order, especially upon 
 the Tnodern supposition, that he lived in the time of the exile, 
 when the grounds for such an expectation were far less than at 
 any former period. The objection, that the title servant is not 
 applied elsewhere to Messiah, would have little force if true, 
 because the title in itself is a general one and may be applied 
 to any chosen instrument It is not true, however, as the single 
 case of Zech 3 : 8 will suffice to show, without appealing to the 
 fact that the same application of the title, either partial or ex- 
 clusive, has been found admissible above in ch. 42: 1. 49 : 3, 
 and 50 : 10. 
 
 14, 15. As many were shocked at thee — so marred from man his 
 look, and his form from the sons of man — .so shall he sprinkle many 
 nations; concerning him shall kings stop their mouth, because what 
 was not recounted to them they have seen, and what they had not 
 heard they have perceived. His exaltation shall bear due pro- 
 portion to his humiliation ; the contempt of men shall be 
 exchanged for wonder and respect. According to the common 
 agreement of interpreters, v. 14 is the protasis and v. 15 the 
 apodosis of the same sentence, the correlative clauses being 
 introduced, as usual in cases of comparison, by as and so. The 
 construction is somewhat embarrassed by the intervening so at 
 the beginning of the last clause of v. 14, which most interpreters 
 however treat as a parenthesis explanatory of the first clause : 
 
CHAPTER LII. 283 
 
 ' as many were shocked at thee — because his countenance was 
 so marred, etc. so shall he sprinkle many nations,' etc. A 
 simpler construction, though it does not yield so clear a sense, 
 would be to assume a double apodosis : ' as many were shocked 
 at thee, so was his countenance marred, etc., so also-^hall he 
 sprinkle,' etc. As thus explained the sense would be, their 
 abliorrence of him was not without reason and it shall not 
 be without requital. The first verb expresses a mixture of 
 surprise, contempt, and aversion ; it is frequently applied to 
 extraordinary instances of suffering when viewed as divine 
 judgments. (Lev. 26 : 32. Ezek. 27 : 35. Jer. 18:16. 19:8.) 
 Many does not mean all, nor is nations to be anticipated from 
 the other clause ; there seems to be rather an antithesis between 
 many individuals and many nations. As a single people had 
 despised him, so the whole world should admire him. By look 
 and form we are neither to understand a mean condition nor 
 the personal appearance, but as an intermediate idea, the visible 
 effects of suffering. The idiomatic phrase //•o??i ??i«??, may be 
 taken simply as expressive of comparison {more than other men), or 
 more emphatically of negation [so as not to be huma?i), which are 
 only different gradations of the same essential meaning. n;n is a 
 technical term of the Mosaic law for sprinkling water, oil, or 
 blood, as a purifying rite. This is a description, at the very 
 outset, of the Servant of Jehovah as an expiatory purifier, one 
 who must be innocent himself in order to cleanse others, an 
 office and a character alike inapplicable either to the prophets 
 as a class, or to Israel as a nation, or even to the better class 
 of Jews, much more to any single individual except the One 
 who claimed to be the Purifier of the guilty, and to whom many 
 nations do at this day ascribe whatever purity of heart or life 
 they either have or hope for. The next clause is understood 
 by some to mean that they shall be reverently silent before him, 
 by others that they shall be dumb with wonder on account of 
 him, by others that they shall be silent respecting him, i. e, no 
 
284 CHAPTER LIII. 
 
 longer utter expressions of aversion or contempt. The reason 
 of this voluntary humiliation is expressed in the last clause, viz. 
 because they see things of which they had never had experience 
 or even knowledge by rejjort. This expression shows that many 
 nations must be taken in its natural and proper sense, as denoting 
 Llie gentiles. It is accordingly applied by Paul (Rom. 15:21) 
 to the preaching of the gospel among those who had never before 
 lieard it. Interpreters have needlessly refined in interpreting 
 tlie verb sec as signifying mental no less than bodily perception. 
 Tlie truth is that the language is not scientific but poetical ; 
 the writer does not put sight for experience, but on the con- 
 trary describes experience as simple vision. For the stopping 
 of the mouth, as an expression of astonishment or reverence, 
 see Job 29 : 9. 40 : 4. Ps. 107 : 42. Ezek. 16 : 63. Mic. 7 : 16. 
 
 CHAPTER LIII. 
 
 Notwithstanding these and other prophecies of the Messiah, 
 he is not recognized when he appears, v. 1. He is not the 
 object of desire and trust for whom the great mass of the people 
 have been waiting-, v. 2. Nay, his low condition, and especially 
 his sufferings, make him rather an object of contempt, v. 3. 
 But this humiliation and these sufferings are vicarious, not 
 accidental or incurred by his own fault, vs. 4-6. Hence, though 
 personally innocent, he is perfectly unresisting, v. 7. Even 
 they for whom he sufi"ers may mistake his person and his ofiice, 
 V. 8. His case presents the two extremes of righteous punish- 
 ment and perfect innocence, v. 9. But the glorious fiuit of 
 these very sufferings will correct all errors, v. 10. He becomes 
 a Saviour only by becoming a substitute, v. 11. Even after the 
 
CHAPTER LIII. 286 
 
 work of expiation is completed and his glorious reward secured, 
 the work of iutereessiou will be still continued, v.' 12. 
 
 1. Who hath believed our report? and the arm of Jehovah, to 
 whom (or upon lohom) has it been revealed? nsiTO'iJ is properly 
 the passive participle of the verb to hear, the femiuiue being 
 used like the neuter in Greek and Latin to denote what is heard, 
 and may therefore be applied to rumour, to instruction, or to 
 speech in general. (See ch. 28:9. 19. Jer. 49: 14, and com- 
 pare the Greek (ixoij, Eom. 10: 16. Gal. 3:2. 1 Thess 2: 13.) 
 The restricted application of tlie term to the news of the 
 deliverance from Babylon is quite gratuitous. Some under- 
 stand the whole phrase passively, as meaning ' that which we 
 h'Rve heard ;' others understand it actively, as meaning that 
 which we have published in the hearing of others ; which 
 agrees well with the context and with Paul's quotation (Rom, 
 10: IG), and is perfectly consistent with the^ strict sense of 
 the Hebrew words, though not sustained by any definite 
 usage. That the words might have either of these senses 
 in diiFerent connections, may be gathered from the fact, that in 
 2 Sam. 4 : 4, the qualifying noun denotes neither the author 
 nor the recipient of the declaration, but its subject, so thut in 
 itself the phrase is quite indefinite; The implied negation is 
 not absolute, but simply expressive of wonder at the paucity of 
 true believers in the world at large, but more especially among 
 the Jews, to whom some understand the passage as specifically 
 referring, because it had already been predicted, in the fore- 
 going verse, that the heathen would believe. There is no incon- 
 sistency, however, even if we take the words before us in their 
 widest sense ; because, as Calvin has observed, the Prophet inter- 
 rupts his prediction of success and triumph to bewail the dis- 
 couragements and disappointments which should intervene. 
 The same thing had already been predicted indirectly in 
 cb. 42 ; 24, and similar objections to his own assurances occur 
 
286 CHAPTEE, LIII. 
 
 in ch. 49 : 14, 24. The two clauses are parallel expressions of 
 the same idea ; to believe what God said, and to see his arm 
 revealed, being'ideutical. The advent of Christ, his miracles, 
 his resurrection, his aecession, are among the clearest proofs of 
 the divine omnipotence and of its real exercise, a skeptical mis- 
 giving as to which is involved in a refusal to believe. The 
 arm as the seat of active strength is often put for strength 
 itself (2 Chr. 32 : 8. Jer. 17 : 5), and especially for the 
 power of Jehovah (ch. 59: 16. Deut. 4 : 34. 5 : 15. 26 : 8). The 
 manifestation of God's justice is commonly described by Isaiah 
 as including at the same time the deliverance of his friends and 
 the destruction of his enemies. (See above, ch. 51 : 5.) 
 
 2. And he came up like, the tender plant before him, and like the 
 root J rovi a dry ground ; he had no form nor comeliness, and [ivheii) 
 we shall see him, no sight (or appearance) that ice should desire it. 
 Most of the modern writers make all that follows the first verse 
 the language of the people acknowledging their own incredulity 
 with respect to the Messiah, and assigning as its cause their car- 
 nal expectations of a temporal prince, and their ignorance of 
 the very end for which he came. The common version he shall 
 grow up is ungrammatical and gratuitously violates the uniform- 
 ity of the description, which presents the humiliation of Messiah 
 as already past. Out of a dry ground implies a feeble sickly 
 growth, and as its consequence a mean appearance. Out of a 
 dry ground and the parallel expression [before him) may be con- 
 sidered as qualifying both the nouns, and separated only for 
 the sake of the rhythmical arrangement of the sentence. He 
 had not, literally, there was not to him, the only form in which 
 that idea can be expressed in Hebrew. Form is here put for 
 beautiful or handsome form; as in 1 Sam. 16: 18, David is 
 called a man of form, i. e. a comely person. The two nouns 
 here used are combined in literal description elsewhere (e. g. 
 Gen. 29: 17. 1 Sam. 25 : 3), and in this very passage (see 
 
CHAPTER LIU. 28Y 
 
 above, ch. 52 : 14). They denote in this case, not mere per- 
 sonal appearance, but the whole state of humiliation. In what 
 sense thfe^ prophets thus grew up like suckers from a dry soil, or 
 the^'Jewish nation while in exile, or tire pious portion of them, 
 or the-'jounger race, it is as difficult to understand, or even to 
 conceive, as it is easy to recognize this trait of the prophetic 
 picture in the humiliation of our Saviour, and the general con- 
 tempt to which it exposed him. 
 
 3. Despised and forsaken of men (or ceasiyig from among men), 
 a man of sorrows and acquainted zvitk sickness, and like one hid- 
 ing the face from him (or «.?), despised, a?id ive esteemed him not. 
 From the general description of his humiliation, the Prophet 
 now passes to a more particular account of his sufferings. The 
 phrase man of sorrows seems to mean one whose afflictions are 
 his chief characteristic, perhaps with an allusion to their num- 
 ber in tlie plural form. Like one hiding Jiis face from us, 
 or like a hiding of the face from us, i. e. as if he hid his face 
 from us in shame and sorrow. Here again the reader is invited 
 to compare the forced application of this verse to the Proph- 
 ets, to all Israel, to the pious Jews, or to the younger race of 
 exiles, with the old interpretation of it as a prophecy of Christ's 
 humiliation. 
 
 4. Surely our sicknesses he hare, and our griefs he carried ; and 
 we thought him stricken, smitten of God, and nfiicted. The meta- 
 phor is that of a burden, and the meaning of the whole verse, 
 that they had misunderstood the very end for which Messiah 
 was to come. Sickness, as in the verse preceding, is a repre- 
 sentative expression for all suffering. Our griefs, those which 
 we must otherwise have suffered, and that justly. Henderson 
 makes his English version more expressive of the writer's main 
 drift by employing the idiomatic form, it was our griefs he bore, 
 it was our sorrows he carried. The explanation of Nir: as mean- 
 
288 CHAPTER LIII. 
 
 ing merely took aioay. is contradicted by the context and espe- 
 cially by the parallel phrase, which can only mean he bore or 
 carried them. It is alleged indeed that one is never said to 
 bear the sins of another, and some go so far as to explain these 
 words as meaning that he bore with them patiently, while 
 others understand the sense to be that he shared in the suffer- 
 ings of others. The terms are evidently drawn from the 
 Mosaic law of sacrifice, a prominent feature in which is the 
 substitution of the victim for the actual offender, so that the 
 former bears the sins of the latter, and the latter, in default of 
 such an expiation, is said to bear his own sin. (See Lev. 5:1, 
 17. 17: 16. 24: 15. Num. 9 : 13. 14 : 33. Ex. 23: 38. Lev. 10: 
 17. 16 : 22.) For the use of the parallel term in the same 
 vicarious sense, see Lam. 5 : 7. (Compare Ez. 18 : 19.) The 
 application of these words by Matthew (8 : 17) to the removal 
 of bodily diseases cannot involve a denial of the doctrine of 
 vicarious atonement, which is clearly recognized in Matt. 20 : 
 28 ; nor is it an exposition of the passage quoted in its full 
 sense, but, as Calvin well explains it, an intimation that the 
 prediction had begun to be fulfilled, because already its effects 
 were visible, the Scriptures always representing sorrow as the 
 fruit of sin. Sli-'icken, as in some other cases, has the preg- 
 nant sense of stricken from above, or smitten of God. as it is fully 
 expressed in the next clause. (See Gen. 12 : 17. 2 Kings 15 : 
 5. 1 Sam 6:9.) The verb translated afflicted was particularly 
 applied to the infliction of disease (Num. 14 : 12. Deut.- 23 : 
 22), especially the leprosy. Hence the old Jewish notion that 
 the Messiah was to be a leper. 
 
 5. And he was pierced (or ivounded) for our transgressions, 
 bruised (or crushed) for our iniquities ; the chastisement (or ptmish- 
 ment) of our jjeace (^was) upon him, and by his stripes we were 
 healed. There may be a secondary and implicit reference to 
 the crucifixion, such as we have met with repeatedly before in 
 
CHAPTER LIII. 289 
 
 cases where the direct and proper meaning of the woids was 
 more extensive. The chastisement of peace is not only that 
 which tends to peace, but that by which peace is procured 
 directly. It is not merely a chastisement morally salutary for 
 us. nor one which merely contributes to our safety, but, accord- 
 ing to the parallelism, one which has accomplished our salva- 
 tion, and in this way, that it was inflicted not on us but on him, 
 so that we came off safe and uninjured. The application of the 
 phrase to Christ, without express quotation, is of frequent occur- 
 rence in the New Testament. (See Eph. 2 : 14-17. Col. 1 : 20, 
 21. Heb. L3: 20, and compare Isaiah 9: 6. Mic. 6: 5. Zech. 1 : 
 13 ) The word translated stripes is properly a singular, denot- 
 ing the tumour raised by scourging, here put collectively for 
 stripes, and that for suffering in general, but probably with 
 secondary reference to the literal infliction of this punishment 
 upon the Saviour. We ■icere healed^ literally, it was healed to us. 
 It teas haled is a general proposition ; with respect to us is 
 the specific limitation. Healing is a natural and common 
 figure for relief from suffering considered as a wound or 
 malady. (Compare ch. 6 : 10. 19 : 22, 30 : 26. Jer. 8 : 22, 17. 
 2 Chron. 7 : 14.) The preterite is not used merely to signify 
 the certainty of the event, but because this effect is considered 
 as inseparable from the procuring cause which had been just 
 before described in the historical or parrative form as an 
 event already past : when he was smitten we were thereby 
 healed. It is therefore injurious to the strength as well as to 
 the beauty of the sentence to translate it, tJiat by his stripes we 
 miffht be healed. The mere contingency thus stated is immeas- 
 urably less than the positive assertion that bt/ his stripes toe 
 were healed. The same objection, in a less degree, applies to 
 the common version, we are healed^ which makes the statement 
 too indefinite, and robs it of its peculiar historical form. 
 
 6. All we like sheep had gone astray^ each to his own way we 
 VOL. 11. — 13 
 
290 CHAPTER LIIl. 
 
 had turned, and Jehovah laid on him the iniquity of us all. This 
 verse describes the occasion or rather the necessity of the suf- 
 ferings mentioned in those before it. It was because men were 
 wholly estranged from God, and an atonement was required 
 for their reconciliation. All ive does not mean all the Jews 
 or all the heathen, but all men without exception. The com- 
 mon version, have gone astray, have turned, does not express 
 the historical form of the original sufficiently, but rather means 
 we have done so up to the present time, whereas the prominent 
 idea in the Prophet's mind is that we had done so before 
 Messiah suffered. The figure of wandering or lost sheep is 
 common in Scripture to denote alienation from God and the 
 misery which is its necessary consequence. (See Ezek. 34 : 5. 
 Matt. 9 : 36.) The entire comparison is probably that of 
 sheep without a shepherd (1 Kings 22 : 17. Zech. 10 : 2). 
 The original expression is like the sheep (or collectively the 
 flock) i. e. not sheep in general but the sheep that wander or 
 have no shepherd. The idea of a shepherd, although not ex- 
 pressed, appears to have been present to the writer's mind, not 
 only in the first clause but the last, where the image meant to 
 be presented is no doubt that of a shepherd laying down his 
 life for the sheep. This may be fairly inferred not merely 
 from the want of connection which would otherwise exist be- 
 tween the clauses, and which can only be supplied in this way, 
 nor even from the striking analogy of Zech. 13:7 where the 
 figure is again used, but chiefly from the application of the 
 metaphor in the New Testament, with obvious though tacit 
 reference to this part of Isaiah, to Christ's laying down his life 
 for his people. (See John 10: 11-18 and 1 Peter 2: 24, 25.) 
 The meaning given to the last verb in the margin of the Eng- 
 lish Bible {made to meet) is not sustained by etymology or 
 usage, as the primitive verb does not mean simply to come to- 
 gether, but always denotes some degree of violent collision, 
 either physical, as when one body lights or strikes upon an- 
 
CHAPTER LIII. 291 
 
 other, or moral, as when one person falls upon i, e. attacks 
 another. The secondary senses of the verb are doubtful and 
 of rare occurrence. (See above, on ch. 47 : 3, and below on 
 ch. 64 : 4 ) The common version {laid wpon him) is objection- 
 able only because it is too weak, and suggests the idea of a 
 mild and inoifensive gesture, whereas that conveyed by the 
 Hebrew word is necessarily a violent one, viz. that of causing 
 to strike or fall. If vicarious suffering can be described in 
 words, it is so described in these two verses. Compare 
 Rom. 4 : 25. 2 Cor. 5 : 21. 1 Pet. 2 : 22-25. 
 
 7. He teas oppressed and he humbled himself^ and he will not 
 open his mouth — as a lamb to the slatighter is brought, and as a 
 sheep before its shearers is dumb — aiid he will not open his mouth. 
 Having explained the occasion of Messiah's sufferings, the 
 Prophet now describes his patient endurance of them. The, 
 second verb has been usually understood as a ^mple repetition 
 of the same idea in other words. Thus the English Version 
 renders it, he urns oppressed and he ^cas afflicted. Besides the 
 tautology of this translation which would prove nothing by 
 itself, it fails to represent the form of the original, in which 
 the pronoun is introduced before the second verb, and accord- 
 ing to usage must be regarded as emphatic. By far the sim- 
 plest and most natural construction is to give it its ordinary 
 sense as a conjunction and emphatic pronoun, he was oppressed 
 and he himself submitted to affliction, or allowed himself to be 
 afflicted. There is then no tautology nor any arbitrary differ- 
 ence of tense assumed between the two verbs, while the whole 
 sense is good in itself and in perfect agi'eement with the con- 
 text. All interpreters render nns";! as a preterite or a present, 
 which is no doubt substantially correct, as the whole passage 
 is descriptive. It seems desirable, however, to retain, as far 
 as possible, the characteristic form of the original, especially 
 as it is very hard to account for the repeated use of the future 
 
292 CHAPTER LIII. 
 
 here, if nothing more was intended than might have been ex- 
 pressed by the preterite. At all events, the strict translation 
 of the form should be retained, if it can be done without in- 
 jury to the sense, which is certainly the case here, as we have 
 only to suppose that the writer suddenly but naturally changes 
 his position from that of historical retrospection to that of ac- 
 tual participation in the passing scene, and, as if he saw the 
 victim led to the slaughter, says, ' he will not open his mouth.' 
 Besides those places where Christ is called the Lamb of God 
 (e. g John 1 : 29. 1 Peter 1:18, 19. Acts 8 : 32, 35), there 
 seems to be reference to this description of his meek endur- 
 ance in 1 Peter 2 : 23. 
 
 • 
 
 8. From distress and from judgment he was taken ; and in his 
 generation who will think ^ that he was cut off from the land of the 
 living, for the transgression of my people, {as) a curse for them ? 
 Every clause of this verse has been made the subject of dis- 
 pute among interpreters ; but the general meaning is most 
 probably the one expressed in the above translation. 
 
 9. And he gave with wicked (men) his grave, and with a rich 
 (man) in his death ; because (or although) he had done no violence, 
 a?id no deceit (was) in his mouth. They appointed him his grave 
 with the wicked, but in his death he really reposed with a rich 
 man, viz. Joseph of Arimathea, who is expressly so called. 
 Matt. 27 : 57. Malefactors were either left unburied or dis- 
 graced by a promiscuous interment in an unclean place. As 
 the Messiah was to die like a criminal, he might have expected 
 to be buried like one ; and his exemption from this posthu- 
 mous dishonour was occasioned by a special providential inter- 
 ference. 
 
 10. And Jehovah was pleased to crush (or bruise) him, he put 
 him to grief (or made him sick) ; if (or when) his soul shall make 
 
CHAPTER LIU. 293 
 
 an offering for sin, he shall see (his) seed, he shall prolong [his) 
 daps, aud the pleasure of Jehovah in his hand shall 2}rosper. 
 Here begins the account of the Messiah's exaltation. All the 
 previous sufferings were to have an end in the erection of 
 God's kingdom upon earth. As the first clause is in contrast 
 with the last of v. 9. it may be read, a?id {yet) Jehovah urns 
 pleased, i. e. notwithstanding the Messiah's perfect innocence. 
 The sense is not, that Jehovah u-as pleased with his being 
 crushed, which might imply that he was crushed by another, 
 but that Jehovah was pleased himself to crush or bruise 
 him, since the verb is not a passive but an active one. In 
 the text of the English Version we find ivhen thou shall 
 make etc. ; but as Jehovah is nowhere else directly addressed 
 in this whole context, the construction in the margin [when 
 his soul shall make) is the one now commonly adopted. The 
 word soul may be explained as referring the oblation to the, 
 life itself, which was really the thing offere^ ; just as the 
 blood of Christ is said to cleanse from all sin (1 John 1 : 7), 
 meaning that Christ cleanses by his blood, i. e his expiatory 
 death. As the terms used to describe the atonement are bor- 
 rowed from the ceremonial institutions of the old economy, so 
 those employed in describing the reward of the Messiah's suf- 
 ferings are also drawn from theocratical associations. Hence 
 the promise of long life and a numerous offspring, which of 
 course are applicable only in a figurative spiritual sense. The 
 seed here mentioned is identical with the mighty, whom he is 
 described as sprinkling in ch. 52 : 15, and as spoiling in v. 13 
 below, whom he is represented in v. II as justifying, in v. 5 as 
 representing, in v. 12 as interceding for. They are called his 
 seed, as they are elsewhere called the sons of God (Gen. 6 : 2), 
 as the disciples of the prophets were called their sons (1 Kings 
 2 : 25), and as Christians are to this day in the east called the 
 ofi'spring or family of the Messiah. 
 
294 CHAPTER LIII. 
 
 1 1. From (or o/") the labour of his soul (or life) he shall see, he shall 
 be satisfied; by his knowledge shall my servant [as) a righteous o?ie 
 justify (or give righteousness to) many^ and their iniquities he shall bear. 
 In this verse Jehovah is again directly introduced as speaking. 
 The first word is explained by some as a particle of time, after 
 the labour of his soul ; by others as implying freedom or deliv- 
 erance. Most interpreters follow the Vulgate in making it 
 denote the efficient or procuring cause, pro eo quod laboravit 
 anima ejus. The English Version makes it partitive : but this 
 detracts from the force of the expression, and implies that he 
 should only see a portion of the fruit of his labours. Satisfied.^ 
 not in the sense of being contented, but in that of being filled 
 or abundantly supplied, applied to spiritual no less than 
 to temporal enjoyments. (Ps. 17 : 15. 123 : 3. Jer. 31 : 14.) 
 Some interpreters regard this as a case of hendiadys, in which 
 the one word simply qualifies the other : he shall see, he shall 
 be satisfied, i. e. he shall abundantly see or see to his heart's 
 content. The only satisfactory construction of his knowledge 
 is the passive one which makes the phrase mean by the Iti^oiv- 
 ledge of him u-pon the part of others; and this is determined 
 by the whole connection to mean practical experimental know- 
 ledge, involving faith and a self-appropriation of the Messiah's 
 righteousness, the effect of which is then expressed in the fol- 
 lowing words. That justification in the strict forensic sense is 
 meant, may be argued from the entire context, in which the 
 3Iessiah appears, not as a Prophet or a Teacher, but a Priest 
 and a Sacrifice, and also from the parallel expression in this 
 very verse. In the next clause the common version (viy right- 
 eous servant) is forbidden by the Hebrew collocation, which can 
 only mean the righteous one, my servant, or my servant {as) a 
 righteous person. All mistake and doubt as to the nature of 
 the justification here intended, or of the healing mentioned in 
 V. 6, or of the cleansing mentioned in oh. 52 : 15, is precluded 
 by the addition of the words, and he shall bear their iniquities. 
 
CHAPTER L III. 295 
 
 The introduction of the pronoun makes a virtual antithesis, 
 suggesting the idea of exchange or mutual substitution. They 
 shall receive his righteousness, and he shall bear their burdens. 
 
 12. Therefore icill I divide to him among the many, and with 
 tlie strong shall he divide the spoil., inasmuch as he bared unto death 
 his soul, and with the transgressors was numbered, and he [him- 
 self] bare the sin of many, and for the transgressors he shall make 
 intercession. The simple meaning of the first clause is that 
 he shall be triumphant ; not that others shall be sharers in 
 his victory, but that he shall be as gloriously successful in 
 his enterprise as other victors ever were in theirs. The 
 Jewish objection, that Christ never waged war or divided 
 spoil, has been eagerly caught up and repeated by the ra- 
 tionalistic school of critics. But spiritual triumphs must be 
 here intended, because no others could be represented as 
 the fruit of voluntary humiliation and vicarious suSering, 
 and because the same thing is described in the context as a 
 sprinkling of the nations, as a bearing of their guilt, and as their 
 justification. The many and the strong of this verse are the 
 nations and the kings of ch. 52 : 15, the spiritual seed of v. 8 
 and 10 above. (Compare ch. 11: 10 and Ps. 2 : 8.) The last 
 clause recapitulates the claims of the Messiah to this glorious 
 reward. The application of this clause to our Saviour's cruci- 
 fixion between thieves (Mark 15 : 28) does not exhaust the 
 whole sense of the prophecy. It rather points out one of those 
 remarkable coincidences which were brought about by Provi- 
 dence between the prophecies and the circumstances of our Sa- 
 viour's passion. Intercession, not in the restricted sense of 
 prayer for others, but in the wider one of meritorious and pre- 
 vailing intervention, which is ascribed to Christ in the New 
 Testament, not as a work already finished, like that of atone- 
 ment, but as one still going on (Rom. 8 : 34. Heb. 9 : 24. 
 1 John 2:1), for which cause the Prophet here employs the fu- 
 
296 CHAPTER LIII. 
 
 ture form. The phrase translated inas7nuch as does not simply 
 mean because^ but instead^ or in lieu [of this) ihat^ which expresses 
 more distinctly the idea of reward or compensation. The most 
 specious objection to the old interpretation of this verse, as 
 teaching the doctrine of vicarious atonement, is that Nffij, when 
 directly followed by a noun denoting sin, invariably means to 
 forgive or pardon it, except in Lev. 10 : 17, where it means to 
 atone for it, but never to bear the sins of others, which can only 
 be expressed by 3 Nra, as in Ezek. 18 : 19, 20. (See Gen. 50 : 
 17. Ex. 10 : 17. 32 : 32. 34 : 7. Ps. 32 : 5. 85 : 2. Job 7 : 21.) 
 It is no sufficient answer to this argument to say that the par- 
 allel expression determines the meaning of the phrase in ques- 
 tion ; since all parallelisms are not synonymous, and no paral- 
 lelism can pi'ove anything in opposition to a settled usage. 
 But although the parallel phrase cannot change or even ascer- 
 tain the sense of this, it does itself undoubtedly express the 
 idea which the objector seeks to banish from the text ; since no 
 one can pretend to say that h'2'o means to pardon, and it mat- 
 ters not on which side of the parallel the disputed doctrine is 
 expressed, if it only be expressed at all. Little or nothing 
 would be therefore gained by proving that xon Nira only means 
 to pardon. But this is very far from being proved by the 
 usage of the Hebrew verb, which itself presupposes the doc- 
 trine, that the only way in which a holy God can take away sin 
 is by bearing it ; in other words he can forgive it only by pro- 
 viding an atonement for it. This alone enables him to be su- 
 premely just and yet a justifier, not of the innocent, but of the 
 guilty. Thus the usage so triumphantly adduced to disprove 
 the doctrine of atonement, is found, on deeper and more thor- 
 ough scrutiny, itself to presuppose that very doctrine. 
 
CHAPTEll LIV. 297 
 
 CHAPTER LIV. 
 
 Instead of suffering from the loss of her national preroga- 
 tives, the church shall be more glorious and productive than 
 before, v. 1. Instead of being limited to a single nation, she 
 shall be so extended as to take in all the nations of the earth, 
 vs. 2, 3. What seemed at first to be her forlorn and desolate 
 condition^ shall be followed by a glorious change, v. 4. He 
 who seemed once to be the God of the Jews only, shall now be 
 seen to be the God of the Gentiles also, v. 5. The abrogation 
 of the old economy was like the repudiation of a wife, but its 
 effects will show it to be rather a renewal of the conjugal rela- 
 tion, V. 6. The momentary rejection shall be followed by an 
 everlasting reconciliation, vs. 7, 8. The old economy, like 
 Noah's flood, can never be repeated or renewed, v. 9. That 
 was a temporary institution ; this shall outlast the earth itsejf, 
 V. 10. The old Jerusalem shall be forgotten in the splendoAr 
 of the new, vs. II, 12. But this shall be a spiritual splendoar 
 springing from a constant divine influence, v. 13. Hence it 
 shall also be a holy and a safe state, v. 14. All the enemies 
 of the Church shall either be destroyed or received into her 
 bosom, V. 15. The warrior and his weapons are alike God's 
 creatures and at his disposal, v. 16. In every contest, both of 
 hand and tongue, the Church shall be triumphant, not in her 
 own right or her own strength, but in that of Him who justifies, 
 protects, and saves her, v. 17. 
 
 1. Shout, oh barren, that did not bear, break forth into a shout 
 and cry aloud, she that did not writhe (in childbirth) ,• for more 
 («re) the children of the desolate than the children of the married 
 {tooman), saith Jehovah. According to some writers, the object 
 of address is the city of Jerusalem, in which no citizens were 
 
 13* 
 
298 CHAPTER LIV. 
 
 born during the exile, but which was afterwards to be more 
 populous than the other cities of Judah which had not been re- 
 duced to such a state of desolation. Besides other difficulties 
 which attend this explanation, it will be sufficient to observe 
 that those who apply the first verse to the city of Jerusalem 
 are under the necessity of afterwards assuming that this object 
 is exchanged for another, viz. the people, a conclusive reason 
 for regarding this as the original object of address, especially as 
 we have had abundant proof already that the Zion or Jerusa- 
 lem of these later prophecies is only a symbol of the church or 
 nation. In the first clause our idiom would require didst not 
 bear and didst not writhe ; but Hebrew usage admits of the 
 third person. Another Hebrew idiom is the expression of the 
 same idea first in a positive and then in a negative form, bar- 
 ren that did not bear. This very combination occurs more than 
 once elsewhere. (Judges 13:2. Job 24: 21.) The contrast 
 here presented occurs also in 1 Sam. 2 : 5. 
 
 2. Widen the place of thy tent, and the curtains of thy dwell- 
 ivgs let them stretch out ; spare not (or hhider it not) ; lengthen 
 thy cords and strengthen (or make fast) thy stakes. As in the 
 parallel passage (ch. 49 : 19, 20), the promise of increase is 
 now expressed by the figure of enlarged accommodations. The 
 place may be either the area within the tent or the spot on 
 which it is erected. The curtai?is are the tent-cloths stretched 
 upon the poles to form the dwelling. The stakes are the tent- 
 pins, to which the tent-cloths are attached by cords. The last 
 clause may either mean, take stronger pins, or fix them more 
 firmly in the ground ; both implying an enlargement of the 
 tent and a consequently greater stress upon the cords and 
 stakes. 
 
 3. For right and left shall thou break forth (or spread), and thy 
 seed shall possess (or dispossess or inherit) nations, and re-people 
 
CHAPTER LIT, 299 
 
 ruined {or forsaken) cities. Right and left are indefinite expres- 
 sions meaning on both sides or in all directions. The figura- 
 tive meaning of the terms, as in many other cases, is evinced by 
 an immediate change of figure, without any regard to mere rhe- 
 torical consistency. The same thing which is first represented 
 as the violent expulsion of an enemy from his dominions, is 
 immediately afterwards described as the restoration of deserted 
 places. The whole verse is a beautiful description of the won- 
 derful extension of the church and her spiritual conquest of the 
 nations. 
 
 4. Fear not^for thou shalt not be ashamed., and be not abaslied, 
 for thou shalt not blush ; for the shame of thy youth thou shalt 
 forget., and the reproach of thy widowhood thou shalt not remember 
 any more. Here, as in many other cases, shame includes the 
 disappointment of the hopes, but with specific reference to pre- 
 vious misconduct. (See Job 6 : 20.) The firs* clause declares 
 that she has no cause for despondency, the second disposes of 
 the causes which might seem to be suggested by her history. 
 The essential meaning of the last clause is, thy former experi- 
 ence of my displeasure. The figurative form of the expres- 
 sion is accommodated to the chosen metaphor of a wife for- 
 saken and restored to her husband. The specific reference of 
 youth to the Egyptian bondage, and of widowhood to the Baby- 
 lonian exile, is artificial and forbidden by the context. 
 
 5. For thy husband {is) thy Maker. Jehovah of Hosts {is) his 
 name ; and thy Redeemer [is) the Holy One of Israel, the God of 
 all the earth shall he be called. This verse is marked by a pecu- 
 liar regularity of structure, the two members of the first clause 
 corresponding exactly to the similar members of the other. In 
 each clause the first member points out the relation of Jehovah 
 to his people, while the second proclaims one of his descriptive 
 names. He i« related to the church as her Husband and JRe- 
 
300 CHAPTER LIV. 
 
 deemer ; he is known or shall be known to all mankind as the 
 Lord of Hosts and as the God of the ivhole earthy which are not 
 to be regarded as equivalent expressions. As the God of the 
 Jewish institutions, the redeemer of a forfeited inheritance, was 
 necessarily the next of kin. it is appropriately placed in opposi- 
 tion to the endearing name of husband ; and as the title Lord 
 of Hosts imports a universal sovereignty, it is no less exactly 
 matched with the God of the whole earth. But this last phrase 
 expresses the idea of universal recognition. Shall he be called^ 
 i. e. he shall be recognized hereafter in the character which even 
 now belongs to him. 
 
 6, For as a ivife forsaTcen and grieved in spirit has Jehovah 
 called thee, and (as) a tvife of youth ; for she shall be rejected^ said 
 thy God. Reduced to a prosaic form and order, this verse 
 seems to mean, that Jehovah had espoused her in her youth, 
 then cast her oiF for her iniquities, and now at last recalled her 
 from her solitude and grief to be his wife again. (Compare 
 Hosea 2 : 4, 7, 14, 16, 19.) A toife of youth, not merely a young 
 wife, but one married early. (See Proverbs 5:18, and Malachi 
 2 : 14.) The sense is not that she had been wedded to Jehovah 
 in her youth and now recalled, but that he now recalled her as 
 a husband might recall the long rejected wife of his youth. 
 The common version of the last clause, ivhcn thou toast refused, is 
 ungrammatical. The last clause is an explanation of the first, 
 in which she is said to have been recalled as a forsaken wife, 
 and that a wife of youth, because her God had said to her at 
 that time, thou shalt be rejected. This explanation, while it 
 simplifies the syntax, leaves the meaning of the verse unaltered. 
 
 7. 1)1 a little moment I forsook thee, and in great mercies I will 
 gather thee. The metaphor is here carried out in the form of an 
 afi^ectionate assurance that the love now restored shall experi- 
 ence no further interruption. The use of the preterite and 
 
CHAPTER LIV. 301 
 
 future implies an intermediate point of view between the 
 opposite treatments here described. I did forsake thee, and 
 now I am about to gather thee. If any specific application of 
 the words be made, it must be to the momentary casting ofi" of 
 Israel which seemed to accompany the change of dispensations. 
 The confusion of the metaphors in this whole passage springs 
 from the complexity of the relations which they represent. Aa 
 a nation, Israel was in fact cast off; as a church, it never 
 could be. 
 
 8. In a gush of wrath I hid my face a moment from thee, and in 
 everlasting kindness I have had mercy on thee., saith thy Rcdremcr, 
 Jehovah. The idea of the preceding verse is again expressed 
 more fully. The first noun occurs only here, but a cognate 
 form means a flood or inundation, and is elsewhere used in 
 reference to anger. So in eh. 42 : 25, the wrath of God is 
 said to have been poured out upon Israel. 'TThis verse, like 
 the one before it, is a general description of the everlasting 
 favour which shall drown the very memory of former alienations 
 between God and his people. The only specific application 
 which is equally consistent with the form of the expression and 
 the context is the one suggested in the note upon the foregoing 
 verse. 
 
 9. For the waters of Noah is this to me; what I sware from the 
 waters of Noah passing again over the earth (i. e. against their 
 passing, or, that they should not pass), so I have sicorn. from 
 being angry (that I will not be angry) against thee, and from 
 rebuking (that I will not rebuke) thee. The assurance of the 
 preceding verse is now repeated in another form. There can 
 no more be another such effusion of my wrath than there can 
 be another deluge, here called the ivatcrs of 'Noah, just as we 
 familiarly say " Noah's flood." The security in this case, as in 
 that, is a divine oath or solemn covenant, like that recorded 
 
302 CHAPTER LIV. 
 
 Gen. 8 : 21, and 9:11. Some convert a simile into a symbol, 
 and endeavour to enumerate the points of similarity between 
 the world and the deluge, the church and the ark. It is only 
 upon this erroneous supposition that such passages as Ps. 
 124 : 4, 5, can be regarded as illustrative parallels. Such 
 minute coincidences any reader is at liberty to search out for 
 himself; but the text mentions only one point of comparison 
 between the two events, namely, that neither can occur again. 
 The Prophet does not say that God's displeasure with the church 
 is a flood which shall never be repeated, but that it shall never 
 be repeated any more than the flood. There is no need of sup- 
 plying any preposition before waters^ since the meaning is that 
 this is the same thing as the flood, or just such another case ; 
 in what respect is afterwards explained. To mc does not simply 
 mean in my view or opinion, but expresses similarity of obliga- 
 tion ; the oath was as binding in the one case as the other. 
 Rebuke must here be taken in the strong and pregnant sense 
 which it has in ch. 17 : 13. 50 : 2. 51 : 20, and very generally 
 throughout the Old Testament, as signifying not a merely 
 verbal but a practical rebuke. That this is not a general prom- 
 ise of security, is plain from the fact that the church has always 
 been subjected to vicissitudes and fluctuations. Nor is there 
 any period in her history to which it can be properly applied in 
 a specific sense, except the change of dispensations, which was 
 made once for all and can never be repeated. That the church 
 shall never be again brought under the restrictive institutions 
 of the ceremonial law. is neither a matter of course nor a matter 
 of indifference, but a glorious promise altogether worthy of the 
 solemn oath by which it is attested here. 
 
 10. For the mountains shall move and the hills shall shake ; but 
 my favour from thee shall not move^ and my covenant of peace shall 
 not shahe^ saith thy piticr, Jehovah. The meaning is not that 
 God's promise is as stable as the mountains, but that it is more 
 
CHAPTER LIV. 303 
 
 80 ; they shall be removed, but it shall stand forever. The 
 mountains and hills in this place are not symbols of states 
 and empires, but natural emblems of stability. (See Deut, 
 
 33 : 15. Ps. 6.5 : 6. 125 : 1, 2.) The phrase covc?iant of peace 
 denotes a divine promise or engagement, securing the enjoy- 
 ment of peace, both in the strict sense and in the wide one of 
 prosperity or happiness. (Compare v. 13. ch. 53 : 5. Ezek. 
 
 34 : 25. 37 : 26.) The covenant of my peace does not give the 
 sense so fully as my covenant of peace, i. e. my peace-giving 
 covenant. The force of the last phrase is impaired by the 
 circumlocution of the common version, the Lord that hath mercy 
 on thee; still more by Lowth's diluted paraphrase, Jehovah who 
 beareth toward thee, the most tender affection. 
 
 11. Wretched^ storm-tossed, comfortless ! Behold I am laying 
 (or about to lay) thy stones in antimony, and I will found the& 
 upon sapphires. The past afflictions of Grod's^people are con- 
 trasted with the glory which awaits them, and which is here 
 represented by the image of a city built of precious stones, 
 and cemented with the substance used by oriental women in 
 the staining of their eyelids. (2 Kings 9 ; 30. Jer. 4 : 30.) 
 This eye-paint, made of stibium or antimony, may be joined 
 with sapphires as a costly substance, commonly applied to a 
 more delicate use ; or there may be allusion to the likeness be- 
 tween stones thus set and painted eyes. The stones meant are 
 not corner or foundation-stones, but all those used in building. 
 There is something singular, though not perhaps significant, 
 in the application to these stones of a Hebrew verb elsewhere 
 used only in reference to animals. 
 
 12. And I will make thy battlements {ox pinnacles) ruby, and 
 thy gates to (be) sparkling gems, and all thy border to {be) stones 
 of pleasure (or dAight). The splendid image of the preceding 
 verse is here continued and completed. The precise kinds of 
 
304 CHAPTER LIV. 
 
 gems here meant are not of much importance. The essential 
 idea, as appears from the etymology of the names, is that of 
 sparkling brilliancy. The last phrase is a more generic term, 
 including all the others, and equivalent to our expression, pre- 
 cious stones. Some put a specific sense on every part of the 
 description, understanding by the antimony of the preceding 
 verse the doctrine of Christ's blood, by the gates the synods 
 of the church, by the battlements its advocates and champions, 
 etc. Lowth, with better taste and judgment, says that " these 
 seem to be general images to express beauty, magnificence, 
 purity, strength, and solidity, agreeably to the ideas of the 
 eastern nations, and to have never been intended to be strictly 
 scrutinized, or minutely and particularly explained, as if they 
 had each of them some precise moral or spiritual meaning." 
 
 13. And all thy children disciples of Jchovahj and great (or 
 'plentiful) the peace of thy sons (or childreii). Some make the 
 sentence simply descriptive, by supplying are in the present 
 tense. Others supply shall be, and thus make it a prediction 
 or a promise. The common version, taught of God, which 
 Lowth changes into taught by God, though not erroneous, is in- 
 adequate ; since the Hebrew word is not a participle but a noun, 
 used elsewhere to denote a pupil, follower, or disciple. (See 
 oh. 8 : 16.) The promise is not one of occasional instruction, 
 but of permanent connection with Jehovah, as his followers 
 and partakers of his constant teaching. That the words are 
 applicable to the highest teaching of which any rational being 
 is susceptible, to wit, that of the Holy Spirit making known 
 the Father and the Son, we have our Saviour's own authority 
 for stating. (See John 6 : 45, and compare Matt. 23 : 8. Heb. 
 8 : 11. 1 John 2 : 27.) Paul too describes believers as 
 ■d-EodiSuxToi in relation to the duties of their calling (1 Thess. 
 4 : 9.) Similar promises under the Old Testament are given 
 in Jer. 31 : 34 and elsewhere. As in ch. 43 : 9, all the gifts 
 
CHAPTER LIV. 306 
 
 of the Spirit are included. The consequence of this blessed 
 privilege is peace, no doubt in the widest sense of spiritual 
 welfare and prosperity. (John 14 : 27. Phil. 4 : 7.) 
 
 14. In righteousness shalt thou be established: be far from op- 
 pression^ for thou shalt not fear ^ and from destruction, for it shall 
 not come near to thee. An additional promise of complete secu- 
 rity, made more emphatic by its repetition in a variety of 
 forms. By righteousness, some understand the righteousness or 
 faithfulness of God, securing the performance of his promises ; 
 others, th« justice of the government itself, or the practice of 
 righteousness among the people. The first, however, compre- 
 hends the others as its necessary consequences, public and pri- 
 vate virtue being always represented in Scripture as the fruit 
 of divine influence. (Compare ch. 1 : 27. 9:6. 11:5. 16 : 
 5.) Of the next clause there are several interpretations. The 
 ancient versions understand it as a warning or dissuasion 
 from the practice of oppression. But this does not agree 
 ■with the context, which is evidently meant to be consolatory 
 and encouraging. The explanation which has been most gene- 
 rally acquiesced in, is the one which supposes the imperative 
 to represent the future, or a promise to be clothed in the form 
 of a command : ' Be far from oppi'ession, i. e. thou shalt be far 
 from it.' Examples of this idiom are supposed to occur in 
 Gen. 42 : 18. Deut. 32 : 50. Prov. 20 : 13. Be far from oppres- 
 sion is not a promise of exemption from it, for that follows in 
 the next clause, which the modern interpreters correctly un- 
 derstand as meaning, thou hast no cause to fear. Be far from 
 oppression, i. e. far from apprehending it. The whole may 
 then be paraphrased as follows : ' "When once established by 
 the exercise of righteousness on my part and your own, you 
 may put far off all dread of oppression, for you have no cause 
 to fear it, and of destruction, for it shall not come nigh you.' 
 With the promise of this clause, compare ch. 32 : 16 and 62 : 
 
306 CHAPTER LIV. 
 
 12. The truth of the promise, in its true sense, is vindicated 
 by the fact that it relates to the covirse of the new dispensation 
 as a wholC; with special reference to its final consummation, 
 
 15. io, theij shall gather^ they shall gather, not at my sign (or 
 signal). Who has gathered against thee ! He shall fall aicay 
 to the". The promise of the preceding verse is here so modi- 
 fied as to provide for every possible contingency. If enemies 
 should be assembled, it will not be b}' divine command (com- 
 pare ch. 10 : 5. 47 : 6), and they shall end by coming over to 
 the side of those whom they assail. This, on the whole, ap- 
 pears to be the meaning, although every expression has re- 
 ceived a diff"erent explanation. The promise is not that' they 
 should never be assailed, but that they should never be con- 
 quered. IVot by my sign or signal, i. e. not by my authority 
 or not at my command. 
 
 16. Lo, I have created the smith, blowing into the Jive of coal ^ 
 and bringing out a weapon for his work ; and I have created the 
 waster to destroy. The general meaning evidently is, that God 
 can certainly redeem his pledge, because all instruments and 
 agents are alike at his disposal and under his control. He is 
 not only the maker of the weapons of war, but the maker of 
 their maker, as well as of the warrior who wields them. The 
 pronoun in both clauses is emphatic. It is I (and not another) 
 who created them. A similar glimpse into the ancient forge 
 or smithy has already been afforded in the scornful attack 
 upon the worshippers of idols, ch. 4 1 : 7. Bringing out does 
 not mean bringing out of his workshop or his hands, but 
 bringing into shape or into being, precisely as we say bringing 
 forth, producing, although commonly in reference to animal or 
 vegetable life. Perhaps, however, it would be still better to 
 explain it as meaning out of the fire, in which case there would 
 be a fine antithesis between blowing into it and bringing the 
 
CHAPTER LIV. 307 
 
 wrought iron out of it. ' It is I that create the smith who 
 makes the instruments, and it is also I that create the de- 
 stroyer who employs them.' 
 
 17. Every weapon (that) shall be formed against thee shall not 
 prosper, and every tovgue (that) shall rise tvith thee in judgment 
 thou, shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of Jeho- 
 vah, and their righteousiiess from me, saith Jehovah. The com- 
 mon version of the first clause expresses the same thought in 
 the English idiom, no ivcapon that is formed against thee shall 
 prosper, a form of speech which does not exist in Hebrew, and 
 can only be supplied by combining negative and universal 
 terms. The expression, though ambiguous, is determined by 
 the context. It cannot mean that only some of the weapons 
 formed should take effect — which might be the meaning of the 
 phrase in English — because in the affirmative clause which .^ 
 follows, and which must be co extensive in its^meaning, there 
 is no such ambiguity, it being said expressly that every tongue 
 shall be condemned. Another difference of idiom here exem- 
 plified has reference to the ellipsis of the relative pronoun, 
 which in English is familiarly omitted when the object of the 
 verb, but never when its subject. Every weapon they form 
 would be perfectly intelligible ; but every weapon is formed (for 
 which is formed) would convey a wrong idea. Shall not prosper, 
 i. e. shall not take effect or accomplish its design. To rise or 
 stand in judgment, literally /or or with respect to judgment, is to 
 appear before a judgment-seat, to invoke the decision of a 
 judge. With thee may either denote simply simultaneous 
 action, that of standing up together, or it may have the stronger 
 sense against thee, as it seems to have above in v. 15, and as it 
 has in our expressions io fight 'with or to go to law with. The 
 tongue is here personified, or used to represent the party liti- 
 gant whose only weapon is his speech. For the judicial or 
 forensic usage of the verb, see above, on ch, 50 : 9. Some sup- 
 
308 CHAPTER LV. 
 
 pose these two clauses to reduce all opposition and hostility to 
 that of word and that of deed ; but there may also be allusion 
 to the obvious distinction between warfare in its military and 
 its civil forms, or between wliat is properly called war aud 
 litigation. In all these varied forms of strife it is predicted 
 that the church shall be victorious. (Compare Rom. 8 : 37 
 and 2 Cbr. 2 : 14.) And this security is represented as her 
 heritage or lawful possession and as her right, i. e. what is due 
 to her from God. as the judge of the whole earth, who must do 
 right. 
 
 CHAPTER LY. 
 
 By the removal of the old restrictions, the church is, for 
 the first time, open to the whole woirid, as a source or medium 
 of the richest spiritual blessings, v. 1. It is only here that 
 real nourishment can be obtained, v. 2. Life is made sure by 
 an oath and covenant, v. 3. The Messiah is a witness of the 
 truth and a commander of the nations, v. 4. As such he will 
 be recognized by many nations who before knew nothing of the 
 true religion, v. 5. These are now addressed directly, and ex- 
 horted to embrace the offered opportunity, v. 6. To this there 
 is every encouragement afforded in the divine mercy, v. 7. 
 The infinite disparity between God and man should have the 
 same effect, instead of hindering it, vs. 8, 9. The commands 
 and promises of God must be fulfilled, vs. 10, 11. Nothing 
 therefore can prevent a glorious change in the condition of the 
 world under the dispensation of the Spirit, v. 12. This 
 blessed renovation, being directly promotive of God's glory, 
 shall endure forever, v. 13. 
 
CHAPTER LV. 309 
 
 1. Ho every thirsty one., come ye to the waters ; and he to tvhom 
 there is no money ^ come ye^ buy {food) and eat ; and conie^ buy^ 
 without money and todhout price, wine and milk. The promises 
 contained in the preceding chapters to the church, are now 
 followed by a general invitation to partake of the blessings 
 thus secured. Water, milk, and wine, are here combined to 
 express the ideas of refreshment, nourishment, and exhilara- 
 tion. Under these figures are included all things essential to 
 the spiritual life. The benefits here offered must of course 
 bear some proportion to the means by which they were 
 secured, viz. the atoning death of the Messiah and the influ- 
 ences of his Spirit. The reference to the water of baptism, 
 which some of the Fathers found in this verse, is excluded by 
 the fact that the water here meant is not water for washing but 
 water to be drunk. And^ he, after the universal expression 
 every one, does not add a new idea, but explains the one ex- 
 pressed already, and is therefore equivalent to et-e/i he in Eng- 
 lish. The same remark applies to the and before the second 
 come, which is not incorrectly rendered yea come in the com- 
 mon version. To whom there is not money is the only equiva- 
 lent in Hebrew to our phrase toho has no money. This appar- 
 ent contradiction was intended by the writer to express in the 
 strongest manner the gratuitous nature of the purchase. 
 Wine and milk are combined, either as necessities or luxuries, 
 by Jacob in G-en. 49 : 12. The images of this verse are 
 essentially the same with those in oh. 12 : 3. 25 : 6, 62 : 8, 9. 
 65 : 13 John 4 : 14. 7 : 37. Rev. 22 : 17. 
 
 2. Why will ye ivcigh money for (that which is) not bread, 
 and your labour for (that which is) not to satity ? Hearken, 
 hearken unto me, and eat (that which is) good, and your soul shall 
 enjoy itsdf in fatness. The gratuitous blessings offered by 
 Messiah are contrasted with the costly and unprofitable labours 
 of mankind to gain the same end iu another way. It was not 
 
310 CHAPTER LV. 
 
 that they refused food, nor even that they were unwilling to 
 buy it : but they mistook for it that which was not nourishing. 
 In the first clause there is reference to the primitive custom 
 of weighing instead of counting money, from which have arisen 
 several of the most familiar denominations, such as the He- 
 brew shekel, the Greek talent, the French livre, and the English 
 pound. The essential idea here is that of paying. Bread, as 
 the staff of life, is here and in many other cases put for food 
 in general. Labour, as in ch. 45 : 14, means the product or 
 result of labour. The emphatic repetition of the verb to hear 
 may be variously expressed in English as denoting to hear 
 diligently, attentively, by all means, or to purpose ; but the 
 best translation, because it may be considered as including all 
 the rest, is that which copies most exactly the peculiar form 
 of the original. The soul is probably mentioned for the pur- 
 pose of showing that the hunger and the food referred to are 
 not bodily but spiritual. Good is emphatic, meaning that 
 which is truly good, in opposition to the no-bread of the first 
 clause, a peculiar compound phrase like those in ch. 10 : 15. 
 31:3. Fat, by a figure common in all languages, is put for 
 richnesx both of food and soil. (See ch. 5 : 1. Ps. 36 : 8. 63 : 6. 
 Job 36 : 16.) 
 
 3. Incline your ear and come unto me, hear and yon.r soul shall 
 live (or let it live), and I will make with you an everlasting cove- 
 nant, the sure mercies of David. This is obviously a repetition 
 of the same offer in another form ; which shows that the two 
 preceding verses cannot have respect to literal food or bodily 
 subsistence. Here again the use of the word sow/ necessarily 
 suggests the thought of spiritual life. Of the phrase merci-s of 
 David, which is also used by Solomon (2 Chr. 6 : 42), there 
 are three interpretations. The first understands it to mean 
 favours, like those which were enjoyed by David. The second 
 regards David as a name of the Messiah, as in Ezek. 34 : 23, 
 
CHAPTER LV. 311 
 
 24. The third explanation, and the one most commonly- 
 adopted, is,, tha,Lih3^merdes_joJiI)(wiclja^^ prom/ 
 ised to him^:gitli__particula,r_j:fiference to 2 Sam. 7 : 8-16. 
 (Cmnpare 1 Chr. 17 : 11, 12 and Psalm 89 : 3, 4.) As the 
 main theme of this promise was a perpetual succession on the 
 throne of David, it was fulfilled in Christ, to whom it is ap- 
 plied in Acts 13 : 34. (Compare Is. 9 : 7 and Luke 1 ; 32, 33.) 
 That the promise to David was distinct from that respecting 
 Solomon (1 Chr. 22 : 8-13), and had not reference to any im- 
 mediate descendant, seems clear from 1 Chr. 17 : 12-14. Thus 
 understood, the text contains a solemn assurance that the 
 promise made to David should be faithfully performed in 
 its original import and intent. Hence the mercies of David 
 are called sure, i e. sure to be accomplished ; or it might be 
 rendered fai/hful. credible, or trusted, without any material 
 effect upon the meaning. 
 
 4. io, (as) a ivitness of nations I have given him, a chief and 
 commander of nations. The emphasis appears to be on nations, 
 which is therefore repeated without change of form. The es- 
 sential meaning is the same as that of ch. 49 : 6, viz. that the 
 Messiah was sent to be the Saviour not of the Jews only but 
 also of the Gentiles. His relation to the latter is expressed 
 by three terms. First, he is a witness, i. e. a witness to the 
 
 truth (John 18 : 37) and a witness against sinners (Mai. 3 : 5). 
 The same office is ascribed to Christ in Rev. 1 : 5. 3 : 14 
 (Compare 1 Tim. 6 : 13.) The application of this verse to the 
 Messiah, therefore, is entirely natural. The second term 
 strictly means the one in front, the foremost, and is therefore 
 naturally used to signify a chie f or leader. This title is ex- 
 pressly applied to the Messiah by Daniel (9 : 25), and the cor- 
 responding titles lio/Mv and d^/^^yos to Christ in the New Tes- 
 tament (Acts 3 : 15. Heb. 2 : 10. Rev. 1 : 5), considered both 
 as an example and a leader. The third name, being properly 
 
312 CHAPTER LV. 
 
 the participle of a verb wliicli means to command, might be con- 
 sidered as equivalent either to -preceptor or commander^ both 
 derivatives from verbs of the same meaning. The idea of com- 
 mander must predominate in any case, and is entitled to the 
 preference, if either must be chosen to the entire exclusion of 
 the other. 
 
 5. io, a nation [that) thou knowest not thou shalt call, and a 
 nation (thai) have not knoivn thee shall run unto thee, for the sake 
 of Jehovah thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel, for he hath 
 glorified thee. The question which has chiefly divided interpre- 
 ters, in reference to this verse, is, whether the object of ad- 
 dress is the Messiah or the Church. The masculine forms 
 prove nothing either way; because the Church is sometimes 
 presented in the person of Israel, and sometimes personified 
 as a woman. The most natural supposition is, that after 
 speaking of the Messiah, he now turns to him and addresses 
 him directly. If this be so, the verse affords an argument 
 against the application of v. 4 to David, who could not be the 
 subject of such a promise ages after his decease. At the same 
 time, the facility with which the words can be applied to either 
 subject, may be considered as confirming the hypothesis, that 
 although the Messiah is the main subject of the verse, the 
 Church is not entirely excluded. Their running indicates the 
 eagerness with which they shall attach themselves to him and 
 engage in his service. For he hath glorified thee. This expres- 
 sion is repeatedly used in the New Testament with reference 
 to Christ. (See John 17 : 1, 5. Acts 3 : 13.) The form of 
 expression in a part of this verse seems to be borrowed from 
 2 Sam. 22 : 44 ; but the resemblance neither proves that the 
 Messiah is the subject of that passage nor that David is the 
 subject of this. 
 
 6. Seek ye Jehovah while he may he found ; call ye upon him 
 
CHAPTER LV. 313 
 
 while he is near. The literal translation would be, in his being 
 founds in his being near. By a sudden apostrophe he turus 
 from the Messiah to those whom he had come to save, and ex- 
 horts them to embrace this great salvation, to be reconciled 
 with God. A similar exhortation, implying like the present 
 that the day of grace is limited, occurs in Zeph. 2 : 2, 3. The 
 Jew had great cause to beware lest the Gentile should outstrip 
 him, and the Gentile might be reasonably urged to partake of 
 those advantages which hitherto had been restricted to the 
 Jew ; but both are called to the same dut}^, namely, that of 
 seeking and- calling upon God, expressions elsewhere used 
 both severally and together to express the whole work of re- 
 pentance, faith, and new obedience. 
 
 7. Let the wicked forsake his way^ and the man of iniquity his 
 thoughts.) and let him return UJito Jehovah.^ and he will have mercy 
 on him, and to our God^for he will abundantly pardon (literally, 
 multiply to pardo7i). This is a continuation of the foregoing call, 
 and at the same time an explantion of the way in which it was 
 to be obeyed. We are here taught that the seeking of Jehovah 
 and the calling upon him, just enjoined, involve an abandonment 
 of sin and a return to rigliteousness of life. The imperative 
 version of the future is warranted, if not required, by the form 
 of the original. Even the future form, however, would convey 
 the same essential meaning both in Hebrew and in English. 
 The wicked shall forsake is in fact the strongest form of a com- 
 mand. Way is a common figure for the course of life. What 
 is hei'e meant is the icay of the wicked^ as Jeremiah calls it (12 : 1 ,) 
 i. e. a habitually sinful course. The common version of the next 
 phrase {the unrighteous man) gives the sense but not the whole 
 force of the original construction. It mattered little to the 
 writer's purpose whether he seemed to be himself the speaker 
 or a mere reporter of the words of God, to whom in either case 
 they must be finally ascribed. Hence the constant alternation 
 
 VOL. II. — 14 
 
314 CHAPTER LV, 
 
 of the first, second, and third persons, in a stjle which sets all 
 rules of unity and rigid laws of composition at defiance. The 
 word translated thoughts is commonly employed not to denote 
 opinions but designs or purposes, in which sense it is joined 
 with way^ in order to express the whole drift of the character 
 and life. To return to God in both these respects is a complete 
 description of repentance, implying au entire change of heart as 
 well as life. The encouragement to seek God is not merely 
 that he may^ but that he loill have mercy. Lowth's translation 
 {ivill receive him with compassion) is enfeebling as well as ine.xact; 
 because the act of receiving is implied not expressed, and the 
 verb denotes not mere compassion but gratuitous and sovereign 
 mercy. There is further encouragement contained in the 
 expression our God. To the Jew it would suggest motives 
 drawn from the covenant relation of Jehovah to his people, 
 while the Gentile would regard it as an indirect assurance that 
 even he was not excluded from God's mercy. 
 
 8. For my thoughts {(ire) not your thoughts.^ nor your ways my 
 ways, saith Jehovah. Clear and simple as these words are in 
 themselves, they have occasioned much dispute among inter- 
 preters, in reference to their nexus with what goes before. 
 The earliest commentators, Jews and Christians, seem to have 
 understood them as intended to meet an objection to the 
 promise arising from its vastness and its freeness, by assuring 
 us that such forgiveness, however foreign from the feelings and 
 the practices of men, is not beyond the reach of the divine com- 
 passion. As if he had said, ' to you such forgiveness may 
 appear impossible ; but my thoughts are not your thoughts, 
 neither your ways my ways.' Thus understood, the text may 
 be compared with Matt. 19 : 26. Another explanation rests 
 upon the false assumption that the words have reference to the 
 Jews, and were intended to correct their prejudice against the 
 calling of the Gentiles as at variance with the promises of God 
 
CHAPTER LV. 315 
 
 to themselves. As if he had said, ' you may think the extension 
 of my grace to them a departure from my settled ways and 
 purposes ; but my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your 
 ways my ways.' Others explain them as denoting the irrevo- 
 cable nature of God's purposes and promises. In this sense, it 
 may be considered parallel to Num. 23 : 19, and 1 Sam. 15 : 29. 
 Is 31:2. 45 : 23. But this is neither the natural meaning of the 
 words, nor one which stands in any obvious relation to what 
 goes before. It is indeed hard to see any coherence in this 
 sequence of ideas, ' let the wicked man repent, for my promise 
 is irrevocable.' This objection does not lie against another 
 very ancient explanation of the passage, founded on the obvious 
 correspondence of the terms employed in this verse and in that 
 before it, and especially the parallel expressions loays and 
 thoughts, there applied to man and here to God. According to 
 this last interpretation, we have here a reason given why the 
 sinner must forsake his ways and thoughts, viz. because they 
 are incurably at variance with those 6f God himself: 'Let the 
 wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; 
 for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither your ways my 
 ways.' This interpretation has so greatly the advantage of the 
 others, in facility and beauty of connection with what goes 
 before, that it must be considered as at least affording the 
 formal basis of the true interpretation, but without excluding 
 wholly the ideas which according to the other theories these 
 words express. They may all be reconciled indeed by making 
 the disparity asserted have respect not merely to moral purity, 
 but also to constancy, benevolence, and wisdom. As if he had 
 said, ' you must forsake your evil ways and thoughts, and by so 
 doing, you infallibly secure my favour ; for as high as the 
 heavens are above the earth, so far am I superior to you in 
 mercy, not only in the rigour and extent of my requirements, 
 but also in compassion for the guilty, in benevolent considera- 
 
316 CHAPTER LV. 
 
 tion even for the gentiles, and in the constancy and firmness of 
 my purposes when formed.' 
 
 9. For [as) the heavens arc higher than the earthy so are my 
 ways higher than your ivays, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 
 This is an illustration by comparison of the negative assertion 
 in the verse preceding The as in the first member of the com- 
 parison is left out, as in Hos. 11:2. Ps. 48 : 6 (5.) Job 7 : 9. Jer. 
 3 : 20. The full expression may be seen in ch. 10 : 11. The 
 Hebrew preposition might here be taken in its proper sense of 
 from^ away from^i as the reference is in fact to an interval of 
 space ; but our idiom would hardly bear the strict translation, 
 and comparison is certainly implied, if not expressed. The 
 same comparison and in a similar application occurs Ps. 103 ; 11. 
 
 10, 11. For as the rain cometh dow n, and the snow from heaven^ 
 and thither returneth not^ but when it has watered the earth and 
 made it bear and put forth and has giricn seed to the sower and 
 bread to the cater ^ so shall my word be which goclh out of my viouth; 
 it shall ?iot rcttirn unto me void (or without effect)^ but when it has 
 done that which I desired, and successfully done that for which I 
 se?it it. This is a new comparison, suggested by the mention 
 of the heavens and the earth in the preceding verse. The tenth 
 and eleventh form a single sentence of unusual length in Hebrew 
 composition. The one contains the comparison properly so- 
 called, the other makes the application. The tvord of v. 11 is 
 not merely prophecy or promise, but everything that God utters 
 either in the way of prediction or command. The English 
 version refers has given to the earth ; but this construction is 
 precluded in Hebrew by the difference of gender. The effect 
 is metaphorically represented as produced directly by the rain 
 and snow. The general design of these two verses is to gener 
 ate and foster confidence in what Jehovah has engaged to do. 
 
CHAPTER LV. 3lT 
 
 12. For ivith joy shall ye go forth, and in feace shall ye be led ; 
 the mountains and the hills shall break out before you, into a shout, 
 and all the trees of the field shall dap the hand. Here as in many 
 other places the idea of joyful change is expressed by repre- 
 senting all nature as rejoicing. The expression go forth is 
 eagerly seized upon by some interpreters as justifying the re- 
 striction of the passage to the restoration from the Babylonish 
 exile. But the real allusion in such cases is to the deliverance 
 from Egypt, which is constantly referred to as a type of deliv- 
 erance in general, so that every signal restoration or deliver- 
 ance is represented as another exodus. 
 
 13. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress, and instead 
 of the nettle the myrtle, and it shall be to Jehovah for a name, for 
 an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. The same change 
 which had just been represented by the shouting of the hills 
 and the applause of the forests is now described 'tis the substi- 
 tution of the noblest trees for the most unprofitable and oifen- 
 sive plants. (Compare ch. 41 : 19.) An analogous but differ- 
 ent figure for the same thing is the opening of rivers in the 
 desert. (See above, ch. 35 : 6, 7. 43 : 19, 20.) Dropping the 
 metaphor, the Prophet then says, in direct terms, that the 
 change predicted shall redound to the glory of its author. It 
 shall be for a name, i. e. it shall serve as a memorial, which is 
 then described in other words as a sign of perpetuity or ever- 
 lasting token. This memorial is called perpetual because it 
 shall not be cut off, pass away, or be abolished. 
 
318 CHAPTER LVI. 
 
 CHAPTER LVI. 
 
 While the church, with its essential institutions, is to con- 
 tinue unimpaired, the old distinctions, national and personal, 
 are to be done away, and the Jewish people robbed of that pre- 
 eminence of which its rulers proved themselves unworthy. 
 
 The day is coming when the righteousness of God is to be 
 fully revealed, without the veils and shackles which had hith- 
 erto confined it, v. 1. For this great change the best prepara- 
 tion is fidelity to the spirit of the old economy, v. 2. No per- 
 sonal or national distinctions will be any longer recognized, v. 
 3. Connection with the church will no longer be a matter of 
 hereditary right, vs. 4, 5. The church shall be henceforth co- 
 extensive with the world, vs. 6-8. But first, the carnal Israel 
 must be abandoned to its enemies, v. 9. Its rulers are neither 
 able nor worthy to deliver the people or themselves, vs. 10-12. 
 
 1. Thus saith Jehovah^ Keep ye judgment (or justice) and do 
 righteousness ; for near (is) my salvation to come, and my right- 
 eousness to be revealed. The Jews refer this passage to their 
 present dispersion, and understand it as declaring the condi- 
 tions of their restoration. On the principle heretofore assumed, 
 as the basis of our exposition, we can only regard it as a state- 
 ment of the general laws which govern the divine dispensations 
 towards the chosen people and the world at large. The refer- 
 ence is not merely to the ancient Israel, much less to the Jews 
 of the captivity, still less to the Christian church distinctively 
 considered, least of all to the Christian church of any one pe- 
 riod. The doctrine of the passage is simply this, that they who 
 enjoy extraordinary privileges, or expect extraordinary favours, 
 are under corresponding obligations to do the will of God ; and 
 moreover that the nearer the manifestation of God's mercy, 
 
CHAPTER LVL 319 
 
 whether in time or in eternity, the louder the call to righteous- 
 ness of life. These truths are of no restricted application, but 
 may be applied wherever the relation of a church or chosen 
 people can be recognized. 
 
 2. Happy the man [that) shall do this, and the son of man that 
 shall hold it fast, keeping the sabbath from profaning it, and keep- 
 ing his hand from doing all evil. The pronoun this seems to re- 
 fer to what follows, as in Ps. 7 : 4 (3) and Deut. 32 : 29, Son of 
 man is simply an equivalent expression to the man of the other 
 clause. The last clause is remarkable, and has occasioned 
 much dispute among interpreters, on account of its combining 
 a positive and negative description of the character required, 
 the last of which is very general, and the first no less specific. 
 A great variety of reasons have been given for the special 
 mention of the Sabbath here. It has especially perplexed those 
 writers who regard the Sabbath as a temporary ceremonial in- 
 stitution. The true explanation is afi'orded by a reference to 
 the primary and secondary ends of the sabbatical institution, 
 and the belief involved in its observance. In the first place, it 
 implied a recognition of Jehovah as the omnipotent creator of 
 the universe (Ex. 20 : 11. 31 : 17) ; in the next place, as the 
 sanctifier of his people, not in the technical or theological sense, 
 but as denoting him by whom they had been set apart as a pe- 
 culiar people (Ex. 31 : 13. Ez. 20 : 12) ; in the next place, as 
 the Saviour of this chosen people from the bondage of Egypt 
 (Deut. 5 : 15). Of these great truths the Sabbath was a weekly 
 remembrancer, and its observance by the people a perpetual 
 recognition and profession, besides the practical advantages ac- 
 cruing to the maintenance of a religious spirit by the weekly 
 recurrence of a day of rest. Holding fast is a common idio- 
 matic expression for consistent perseverance in a certain course. 
 It occurs not unfrequently in the New Testament. (Heb 4 : 4. 
 6: 18. Rev. 2:25.3: 11.) 
 
320 CHAPTER LVI. 
 
 3. And let not the foreigner say., tcho has joined himself unto 
 Jehovah, saying, Jehovah will separate me wholly from his people ; 
 a?id let not the eunuch say, Lo, I am a dry tree. The esseutial 
 meaning of this verse is, that all external disabilities shall be 
 abolished, whether personal or national. To express the latter 
 he makes use of a phrase which strictly means not the son of 
 the stranger, as the common version has it, but the son of 
 strangeness, or of a strange country. The whole class of per- 
 sonal disqualifications is represented by the case of the eunuch, 
 in reference to Deut. 23 : 1, and as Calvin thinks to the prom- 
 ise in Gen. 15:5 and 22: 17, from which that whole class 
 was excluded. / am a dry tree, a proverbial description of 
 childlessness, said to be still current in the east. It is possible, 
 however, that the eunuch may be mentioned, simply because 
 he stands at the beginning of the list of prohibitions in the 
 law. In either case, the expression is generic or representative 
 of more particulars than it expresses. 
 
 4, 5. For thus saith Jehovah to (or, as to) the eumichs toho 
 shall keep my sabbaths, and shall choose what I delight in, and 
 take fast hold of my covenant, I will give to them hi my house and 
 within my walls a place and name better than sons and than 
 daughters ; an everlasting name will J give to him, lohich shall 
 not be cut off. According to some, the plural sabbaths is in- 
 tended to include the sabbatical year and that of jubilee. If 
 any distinction was intended, it was probably that between the 
 wider and narrower meaning of the term sabbaths, i. e. the 
 Sabbath properly so called, and the other institutions of reli- 
 gion with which it is connected. What it is that God delights 
 in, may be learned from ch. 66 : 4. Jer. 9 : 24. IIos. 6 : 6. By 
 holding fast my covenant is meant adhering to his compact 
 rrith me, which includes obedience to the precepts and faith in 
 the promises. By ony walls we are not to understand those 
 of Jerusalem, nor, with the modern writers, those of the tem- 
 
CHAPTER LVI. 321 
 
 pie, but in a more ideal sense, the walls of God's house or 
 dwelling, which had just been mentioned. The promise is not 
 merely one of free access to the material sanctuary, but of a 
 home in the household or family of God, an image of perpetual 
 occurrence in the Psalms of David. Belter than sons and 
 daughters may either mean better than the comfort immediate- 
 ly derived from children (as in Ruth 4 : 15), or better than the 
 perpetuation of the name by hereditary succession. Most in- 
 terpreters prefer the latter sense, but both may be included. 
 A beautiful coincidence and partial fulfilment of the promise 
 has been pointed out in the case of the Ethiopian eunuch 
 whose conversion is recorded in the eighth of Acts, and whose 
 memory is far more honoured in the church than it could have 
 been by a long line of illustrious descendants. 
 
 6, 7. And (as to) the foreigners joining themselves to Jehovah^ to 
 serve him and to love the name of Jehovah, to hetohirp, for servants^ 
 every one keepitig the Sabbath from profaning it, and holding fast 
 my covenant, I loill bring them to my mount of holiness, and make 
 them joyful in my house of prayer ; their offerings and their sacri- 
 fices {shall be) to acceptance on my altar ; for my house shall be 
 called a house of prayer for all nations. The verb i^t!'^, although 
 strictly a generic term, is specially appropriated to the ofi&cial 
 service of the priests and Levites. Some interpreters accord- 
 ingly suppose it to be here said that the heathen shall partake 
 of the sacerdotal honours elsewhere promised to the church. 
 (See ch. 61 : 6. Ex. 19 : 6. 1 Pet. 2 : 5, 9. Rev. 1 : 6.) To 
 love the name of Jehovah, is to love his attributes as mani- 
 fested in his word and works. (Compare ch. 60 : 9. 66 : 5.) 
 Shall be called, as in many other cases, implies that it shall be 
 so. Our Saviour quotes a part of the last clause, not in refer- 
 ence to its main sense, but to what is incidentally mentioned, 
 viz. its being called a house of prayer. This part of the sen- 
 tence was applicable to the material temple while it lasted ; but 
 
 14* 
 
322 CHAPTER LVI. 
 
 the whole prediction could be verified only after its destruction, 
 ■when the house of God even upon earth ceased to be a limited 
 locality, and became co-extensive with the church in its en- 
 largement and diffusion. The form of expression is derived, 
 however, from the ceremonies of the old economy, and worship 
 is described by names familiar to the writer and his original 
 readers. (Compare Hos. 14 : 3. Heb. 13 : 13. John 4 : 21- 
 23.) The general promise is the same as that in Mai. 1:11, 
 and is so far from being inconsistent with the principles on 
 which the old economy was founded, that it simply carries out 
 its original design as settled and announced from the begin- 
 ning. 
 
 8. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah^ the gatherer of the outcasts of 
 Israel^ Still {more) will I gather upon him {in additio7i) to his 
 gathered. This may either mean, I will go on to gather still 
 more of his outcasts, or, besides his outcasts I will gather 
 others. There is less difference between the two interpreta- 
 tions than at first sight there might seem to be. In either 
 case the words are applicable to the calling of the gentiles. 
 On the second supposition, which is commonly adopted, even 
 by the Jewish writers, this is the direct and proper meaning 
 of the words. But even on the other, they amount to the 
 same thing, if we only give to Israel its true sense, as denoting 
 not the Jewish nation as such, but the chosen people or the 
 church of God, to which the elect heathen as really belong as 
 the elect Jews, and are therefore just as much entitled to be 
 called outcasts of Israel. It is true that our Saviour uses a 
 similar expression (lost sheep of the House of Israel) in a re- 
 stricted application to the Israelites properly so called ; but it 
 is in a connection which brings the Jews and Gentiles into evi- 
 dent antithesis, and therefore leaves no doubt as to the sense in 
 which the name Israel is to be understood. 
 
CHAPTER LVI. 323 
 
 9. All ye beasts of theficld^ come to devour^ all ye beasts in the 
 forest ! The structure of this verse is somewhat unusual, con- 
 sisting of two parallel members, with a third, equally related to 
 both, interposed between them. It is an invitation to the ene- 
 mies of Israel to destroy it. The people being represented, in 
 the following verses, as a flock, their destroyers are naturally 
 represented here as wild beasts. Some understand the invita- 
 tion as ironical, or as a mere poetical description of the de- 
 fenceless state in which Israel was left through the neglect of 
 its natural protectors. It is more natural, however, to explain 
 it as an indirect prediction of an actual event, clothed in 
 Isaiah's favourite form of an apostrophe. All the modern 
 writers seem to be agreed that the last clause as well as the 
 first is a description of the object of address, and that the thing 
 to* be devoured must be supplied from the following verses. 
 With the metaphors of this verse compare Ex. 23 : 29. Ez. 34 . 
 5-8. Jer. 7 : 33. 12 : 9, 50 : 17. Beasts of the field and of the 
 forest are parallel expressions. '^ 
 
 10. His watchmen (arc) blind all of them^ they have not known 
 (or do not know), all of them {ore) dumb dogs, they cannot bark, 
 dreaming, lying down, loving to sluinber. The pronoun his refers 
 to Israel, as in v. 8, and thus proves clearly that no new discourse 
 begins either with verse 9 or with that before us. Many give 
 do not know the absolute sense of knowing nothing, being with- 
 out knowledge ; but in all such cases it seems better to connect 
 it with a definite object understood. We may here supply their 
 duty, or the state of the flock, or the danger to which it is ex- 
 posed. The difi"erence between the past and present form is im- 
 material here ; because both are really included, the condition 
 described being one of ancient date, but still continued. The 
 dogs particularly meant are shepherds' dogs (Job 30 : 1), whose 
 task it was to watch the flock, and by their barking to give no- 
 tice of approaching danger. But these are dumb dogs which 
 
324 CHATTER LVI. 
 
 cannot even bark, and therefore wholly useless, They are also 
 negligent and lazy. Far from averting peril or announcing it, 
 they do not see it. What was before expressed by the figure of a 
 blind watchman, is here expressed by that of a shepherd's dog 
 asleep. Some writers make the watchmen of this verse denote 
 the prophets, as in ch. 52 : 8. Jer. 6 : 17. Ez. 3 : 17. 33 : 7. 
 But others more correctly understand it as a figure for the 
 rulers of the people generally, not excluding even the false 
 prophets. The figurative title is expressive of that watch- 
 fulness so frequently described in the New Testament as an 
 essential attribute of spiritual guides. 
 
 11. And the dogs are greedy, they know not satiety^ and they, 
 the shepherds (or the shepherds themselves), know 7iot hoiv to dis- 
 tinguish (or ad wisely) ; all of tJiem to their ow?i ivay are turned, 
 {every) man to his own gain from his own quarter (or without ex- 
 ception). A new turn is now given to the figures of the pre- 
 ceding verse. The dogs, though indolent, are greedy. The 
 pronoun they is emphatic, and may either mean that these same 
 dogs are at the same time shepherds, thus affording a transi- 
 tion to a different though kindred image, or it may be intended 
 to distinguish between two kinds of rulers ; as if he had said, 
 while the dogs are thus indolent and greedy, they (the shep- 
 herds) are incompetent ; or, while the shepherds' dogs are such, 
 the shepherds themselves know not how to distinguish. The 
 latter is probably the true construction ; for although the same 
 class of persons may be successively compared to shepherds' 
 dogs and shepherds, it cannot even by a figure of speech be 
 naturally said that the dogs themselves are shepherds. That 
 voluptuous as well as avaricious indulgences are here referred 
 to, is apparent from what follows in the next verse. The last 
 word literally means from his end or his extremity, to which the 
 older writers gave the sense of his quarter or direction, cor- 
 responding to his own way. 
 
CHAPTER LVII. 326 
 
 12. Come ye^ I will fetch wine, and we will intoxicate ourselves 
 with strong drink, and like to-day [shall be) to-morrow^ great, 
 abundantly, exceedingly. The description of the revellers is 
 verified by quoting their own words, as in ch. 22 : 13. The 
 language is that of one inviting others to join in a debauch ; 
 hence the alternation of the singular and plural. The last 
 clause professes or expresses a determination to prolong the 
 revel till the morrow. 
 
 CHAPTER LVII. 
 
 The righteous who died during the old economy were taken 
 away from the evil to come, vs. 1 , 2. The wicked who despised 
 them were themselves proper objects of contempt, vs. 3, 4. 
 Their idolatry is first described in literal terms, vs 5, 6. It 
 is then represented as a spiritual adultery, vs. 7-9. Their 
 obstinate persistency in sin is repi'esented as the cause of their 
 hopeless and remediless destruction, vs. 10-13. A way is pre- 
 pared for the spiritual Israel to come out from among them, 
 V. 14. The hopes of true believers shall not be deferred 
 forever, vs. 15, 16. Even these, however, must be chastened 
 for their sins, v. 17. But there is favour in reserve for all true 
 penitents, without regard to national distinctions, vs. 18, 19. 
 To the incorrigible sinner, on the other hand, peace is impos- 
 sible, vs. 20, 21. 
 
 1. The righteous perishcth, and there is no man layivg {it) to 
 heart, and men of m"rcy are talien away, with none conn'h.ring 
 (or perceiving) that from the presence of evil the righteous is taken 
 
326 CHAPTER LVII. 
 
 away. The terms of this verse are specifically applicable 
 neither to violent nor to natural death as such considered, but 
 are equally appropriate to either. Laying to heart is not merely 
 feeling or appreciating, but observing and perceiving. Mm of 
 mercy is another description of the righteous, so called as the 
 objects of God's mercy and as being merciful themselves. 
 (See Matt. 5 : 7.) The last verb is doubly appropriate, first in 
 its general though secondary sense of taking awa}', and then 
 in its primary specific sense of gathering, i. e. gathering to 
 one's fathers or one's people, an expression frequently ap- 
 plied in the Old Testament to death, and especially to that of 
 godly men. (See G-en. 49 : 29. Judges 2 : 10.) The verb is 
 used absolutely in this sense by Moses (Num. 20 : 26.) 
 
 2. He shall go in fcace (or enter into peace) — they shall rest 
 upon their beds — tvalking straight before him. The alternation 
 of the singular and plural shows that the subject of the sen- 
 tence is a collective person. The explanation commonly ap- 
 proved is that which makes the last phrase an additional de- 
 scription of the righteous, as one walking in his uprightness. 
 It seems to be added as a kind of afterthought, to limit what 
 immediately precedes, and preclude its application to all the 
 dead without distinction. The peace and rest here meant are 
 those of the body in the grave and of the soul in heaven ; the 
 former being frequently referred to as a kind of pledge and 
 adumbration of the latter. 
 
 3. And ye (or as for yon), draw near hither, ye sois of the ivitch, 
 seed of the adulterer and the harlot. These words are addressed 
 to the survivors of the judgments by which the righteous are 
 described as having been removed. They are summoned to 
 receive their punishment, or at least to appear before the judg- 
 ment-seat. (Compare ch. 41 : 1.) The description which fol- 
 lows was of course designed to be extremely opprobrious ; but 
 
CHAPTER LVII. 327 
 
 interpreters differ as to the precise sense of the terras employed. 
 Some suppose that instead of simply charging them with certain 
 crimes, he brings the charge against their parents, a species of 
 reproach peculiarly offensive to the orientals. The older writers 
 give a more specific meaning to the Prophet's metaphors, under- 
 standing by the adulterer the idol, by the harlot the apostate 
 church, and by the children the corrupted offspring of this 
 shameful apostasy. The occult arts are mentioned as insepara- 
 ble adjuncts of idolatry. Whoredom and sorcery are again 
 combined in Mai. 3 : 5, and elsewhere. 
 
 4. At whom do you amuse yourselves ? At whom do you enlarge 
 the mouthy prolong the tongue ? Are you not children of rebellion 
 (or apostasy), a seed of falsehood ? This retorts the impious con- 
 tempt of the apostates on themselves. There is no need, however, 
 of supposing that they had cast these very same reproaches on 
 the godly. The meaning is not necessarily that they were what 
 they falsely charged their brethren with befng. All that is 
 certainly implied is. that they were unworthy to treat them with 
 contempt. The opening or stretching of the mouth in mockery 
 is mentioned Ps. 22 : 7, 13. 35 : 21. Lam. 2 : 16, and in chap. 
 58 : 9 below. The lolling of the tongue as a derisive gesture is 
 referred to by Persius in poetry and Livy in prose. The form 
 of expostulation is similar to that in eh. 37 : 23. Here, as in 
 the preceding verse, some regard seed and children as mere idio- 
 matic pleonasms, or at most, as rhetorical embellishments. Of 
 those who understand them strictly, some suppose the qualities 
 of falsehood and apostasy to be predicated of the parents, others 
 of the children. Both are probably included ; they were worthy 
 of their parentage, and diligently filled up the measure of their 
 fathers' iniquity. (Sec ch. I : 4.) By ' a seed of falsehood' we 
 may understand a spurious brood, and at the same time one 
 itself perfidious and addicted to a false religion. 
 
328 CHAPTER LVII. 
 
 5. Inflamed (or infiaming yourselves) among the oaks (or tere- 
 binths), under every green tree, slaughtering the children in the 
 valleys, under the clefts of the rocks. Their idolatrous practices 
 are now described in detail. The first word of this verse 
 properly denotes libidinous excitement, and is here used with 
 reference to the previous representation of idolatry as spiritual 
 whoredom or adultery. There seems to be an allusion to the 
 valleys round Jerusalem, in one of which, the valley of the son 
 of Hinnora, we know that Moloch was adored with human vic- 
 tims. The clefts of the rocks, or cliffs projecting in consequence 
 of excavations, is a circumstance perfectly in keeping with the 
 topography of that spot. The minute description of idolatry 
 given in this passage is exceedingly perplexing to those writers 
 who fix the date of composition at the period of the exile. A 
 perfect solution of the difficulty is afforded by our own hypothe- 
 sis, that the Prophet, from the whole field of vision spread 
 before him, singles out the most revolting traits and images by 
 which he could present in its true aspect the guilt and madness 
 of apostasy from God. 
 
 6. Among the smooth (stones) of the valley (or the brook) is thy 
 portion; they, they, are thy lot ; also to them hast thou poured out 
 a drink-offering, thou hast brought up a meal-offering. Shall 1 
 for these things be consoled (i. e. satisfied without revenge) ? Thy 
 portion, i. e. the objects of thy choice and thy affection (Jer. 
 10 : 16). The word stones is correctly supplied in the English 
 version. (See 1 Sam. 17:40.) Others supply pZaces, and sup- 
 pose the phrase to mean open cleared spots in the midst of 
 wooded valleys, places cleared for the performance of religious 
 rites. In favour of this meaning, is the not unfrequent use of 
 the Hebrew word to signify not hairy, and in figurative applica- 
 tion to the earth, not wooded, free from trees. Smooth stones 
 may mean either polished or anointed stones, such as were set 
 up by the patriarchs as memorials (Gen. 28 ; 18. 35 ; 14), and 
 
CHAPTER LVII. 329 
 
 by the heathen as objects of worship. Thus Arnobius says, that 
 before his conversion to Christianity he never saw an oiled 
 stone without addressing it and praying to it. This explana- 
 tion of the first clause agrees best with what follows and with 
 the emphatic repetition, they^ they^ are thy jwrtion, which is more 
 natural in reference to the objects than to the mere place of 
 worship. 
 
 7. On a high and elevated mountain thou hast placed thy bed ; 
 also there (or even thither) hast thou gone up to offer sacrifice. The 
 figure of adulterous attachment is resumed. (Compare Ez. 
 16 : 24, 25, 31.) That the mountain is not used as a mere 
 figure for an elevated spot is clear from the obvious antithesis 
 between it and the valleys before mentioned. Still less ground 
 is there for supposing any reference to the worship of moun- 
 tains themselves. By the bed here, some understand the 
 couch on which the ancients reclined at their sacrificial feasts. 
 All other writers seem to give it the same sense as in Prov. 
 7 : 17, and Ezek. 23: 17. In the last clause the figure is re- 
 solved and making the bed explained to mean offering sacrifice. 
 
 8. And behind the door and the door-post thou hast placed thy 
 memorial^ for away from me thou hast uncovered (thyself or thy 
 bed), and hast gone up, thou hast enlarged thy bed and hast 
 covenanted with them, (or with some of them), thou hast loved 
 their bed, thou hast provided room. Interpreters are much 
 divided as to the particular expressions of this very obscure 
 verse, although agreed in understanding it as a description of 
 the grossest idolatry. The image of a false god may be 
 reckoned its memorial, or that which brings to mind the ab- 
 sent object. Perhaps they are here described as thrusting the 
 memorial of Jehovah into a corner to make room for that of 
 the beloved idol. Some suppose a special reference to the 
 worship of Penates, Lares, or household gods. The rest of 
 
330 CHAPTER LVII. 
 
 the verse describes idolatry as adulterous intercourse with them. 
 Room, literally hand, as in ch. 56 : 5. 
 
 9. A?id thou hast gone to the king in oil and hast multiplied 
 thine unguents, and hast sent thine ambassadors even to a far-cff 
 {land,) and hast gone (or sent) doivn even to hell. The first verb 
 has been variously explained as meaning to see, to look around, 
 to appear, to be adorned, to sing, to carry gifts. By the king 
 some understand the king of Babylon or Egypt, and refer the 
 clause to the eagerness with which the Prophet's contem- 
 poraries sought out foreign alliances. Most writers under- 
 stand it as a name for idols generally, or for Moloch in par- 
 ticular. "i^.^^S is commonly explained to mean with oil or 
 ointment (as a gift) ; but some understand it to mean in oil, 
 i. e. anointed, beautified, adorned. Upon the explanation of 
 this phrase of course depends that of the next, where unguents 
 are said to be multiplied, either in the way of gifts to others 
 or as means of self-adornment. 
 
 10. In the greatness of thy way (or the abundance of thy 
 travel) thou hast laboured ; (but) thou hast not said, There is no 
 hope. Thou, hast found the life of thy hand ; therefore thou art 
 not weak. Whether ivay be understood as a figure for the 
 whole course of life, or as involving a specific allusion to the 
 journeys mentioned in v. 9, the general sense is still the same, 
 viz. that no exertion in the service of her false gods could 
 weary or discourage her. This is so obviously the meaning 
 of the whole, that the common version thov. art wearied, seems 
 to be precluded, the rather as the verb may be used to denote 
 the cause as well as the efi"ect, i. e. exertion no less than 
 fatigue. The essential idea conveyed by the obscure phrase 
 life of thy hand is that of strength. In translation this essen- 
 tial sense may be conveyed under several difi"erent forms : Thou 
 hast found thy hand still alive, or still able to sustain life. etc. 
 
CHAPTER LVII. 331 
 
 1 1 . And whom hast thou feared and been afraid of that thou 
 shouldest lie ? and me thou hast not remcvibercd^ thou hast not 
 called to mind (or laid to heart). Is it not (because) I hold my 
 peace^ and that of old, that thou wilt not fear me ? They have 
 no real fear of God ; why then should they aiFect to serve 
 him ? His forbearance only served to harden and embolden 
 them. ' Have I not long kept silence 1 It cannot be that you 
 fear me.' The image is identical with that presented in 
 ch. 42 : 14. See also ch. 40 : 27. 51 : 12, 13. 
 
 12. J will declare thy righteousness and thy 7vorks, and they 
 shall not profit (or avail) thee. The earlier writers make the 
 first clause ironical ; but this is unnecessary, as the simplest 
 and most obvious construction is in all respects the most satis- 
 factory. I will declare thy righteousness^ i. e. I will show clearly 
 whether thou art righteous, and in order to do this I must de- 
 clare thy works ; and if this is done, they canipt profit thce^ be- 
 cause instead of justifying they will condemn thee. 
 
 13. In thy crying (i, e. when thou criest for help), let thy 
 gatherings save thee ! And (yet) all of them the wind shall take 
 up and a breath shall take atvay, and the [one) trusting in me shall 
 inherit the land and possess my holy mountain. This is merely 
 a strong contrast between the impotence of idols and the 
 power of Jehovah to protect their followers respectively. 
 Some understand the word translated gatherings generically, 
 as denoting all that they could scrape together for their own 
 security, including idols, armies, and all other objects of re- 
 liance. Those who restrict the passage to the Babylonish 
 exile must of course explain the promise as relating merely to 
 the restoration ; but the context and the usage of the Scrip- 
 tures is in favour of a wider explanation, in which the posses- 
 sion of the land is an appointed symbol of the highest bless- 
 ings which are in reserve for true believers here and hereafter. 
 
332 CHAPTER L VII. 
 
 14. And he shall saij^ Cast up, cast %p, clear the way, take vp 
 the stumbling-block from the way of my people ! He who had 
 long been silent speaks at last, and that to announce the resto- 
 ration of his people. The image here presented, and the form 
 of the expression, are the same as in ch. 35 : 8. 40 : 3. 49 : 11. 
 62 : 10. 
 
 15. Foi- thus saith the High and Exalted One, inhabiting eter- 
 nity, and Holy is his name ; On high and holy will I dimll, and 
 with the broken and humble of spirit, to revive the spirit of the hum- 
 ble, and to revive the heart of the broken Xpt contrite ones). This 
 verse assigns a reason why the foregoing promise might be 
 trusted, notwithstanding the infinite disparity between the giv- 
 er and the objects of his favour. Notwithstanding the intimate 
 connection of the verses, there is no need of referring thus sallh 
 to what goes before, as if he had said, these assurances are ut- 
 tered by the High and Exalted One. Analogy and usage 
 necessarily connect them with what follows, the relation of the 
 verse to that before it being clearly indicated by the for at the 
 beginning. You need not hesitate to trust the promise which 
 is involved in this command, for the High and Holy One baa 
 made the following solemn declaration. The only reason for 
 translating s'yaD exalted rather than lofty, is that the former re- 
 tains the participial form of the original. The same two epi- 
 thets are joined in ch. 6:1, which is regarded by the modern 
 critics as the oldest extant composition of Isaiah. Compare 
 with this verse ch. 33 : 5. 63 : 15. 66 : 1, 2. Ps. 22 : 4. 113: 5, 
 6. 138:6. 
 
 16. For not to eternity loill Icotiiend, and not to perpetuity will 
 I be wroth ; for the spirit from before me will fa.int, and the souls 
 {tc/iirh) I have made. A reason for exercising mercy is here 
 drawn from the frailty of the creature. (Compare ch. 42 : 3, 
 Ps. 78:38, 39. 103:9, 14.) SuflFering being always repre- 
 
CHAPTER LVIL 333 
 
 sented in Scripture as the consequence of sin, its infliction is 
 often metaphorically spoken of as a divine quarrel or contro- 
 versy with the sufferer. From before me is connected by the 
 Hebrew accents with the verb to faint, and indicates God's pres- 
 ence as the cause of the depression. A more pei'fect parallel- 
 ism would, however, be obtained by understanding /ro»i before me 
 as referring to the origin of human life and as corresponding to 
 the words which I have made in the other member. 
 
 17. For his covetous iniquity I am wroth and will smite him, (/ 
 will) hide me and will be wroth ; for he has gone on turning away 
 (i. e. persevering in apostasy) in, the way of his heart (or of his 
 own inclination). The futures in the first clause show that 
 both the punishment and mercy are still future. The first 
 phrase in the verse has been variously understood. Some sup- 
 pose covetousness to be here used in a wide sense for all selfish 
 desires or undue attachment to the things of time and sense, a 
 usage which they think may be distinctly traced both in the 
 Old and New Testament. (See Ps. 119 : 36. Ez. 33 : 31. 
 1 Tim. 6 : 10. Eph. 5 : 5.) Perhaps the safest and most satis- 
 factory explanation is that which adheres to the strict sense of 
 the word, but supposes covetousness to be here considered as a 
 temptation and incentive to other forms of sin. The singular 
 pronouns his and him refer to the collective noun people, or 
 rather to Israel as an ideal person. In the last clause the 
 writer suddenly reverts from the future to the past, in order to 
 assign the cause of the infliction threatened in the first. This 
 connection can be rendered clear in English only by the use of 
 the word/or, although the literal translation would be and he went. 
 
 18. His ways I have seen, and I loill Jieal him, and will guide 
 him, and restore comforts unto hi7n and to his mourners. The 
 healing here meant is forgiveness and conversion, with a refer- 
 ence to ch. 6 : 10 and Ps. 41 : 5 (4.) This obvious meaning of 
 
334 CHAPTER LVII. 
 
 the figure creates a difficulty in explaining the foregoing words 
 so as to make the connection appear natural. Some suppose an 
 antithesis, and make the particle adversative. ' I have seen 
 his (evil) ways, but I will (nevertheless) heal him.' There is 
 then a promise of gratuitous forgiveness similar to that in ch. 
 43 : 25 and 48 : 9. The promise to restore consolation implies 
 not only that it had been once enjoyed but also that it should 
 compensate for the intervening sorrows, as the Hebrew word 
 means properly to make good or indemnify. 
 
 19. Creating the fruit of the lips. Peace ^ peace to the far off and 
 to the near.) saith Jehovah, and I heal him. The fruit or product 
 of the lips is speech, and creating as usual implies almighty 
 power and a new effect. By i\\Q far and near some understand 
 the Jews and Gentiles (compare Acts 10 ; 34-36. Eph. 2 : 17) ; 
 others, all the Jews wherever scattered (ch. 43 : 5-7. 49 : 12). 
 The Targum makes the distinction an internal one, the just 
 who have kept the law, who have returned to it by sincere re- 
 pentance. Some understand the words as abolishing all differ- 
 ence between the earlier and later converts, an idea similar to 
 that embodied in our Saviour's parable of the labourers in the 
 vineyard. 
 
 20. And the wicked {are) like the troubled sea, for rest it cannot^ 
 and its waters cast up mire and dirt. Interpreters are common- 
 ly agreed in making this verse a necessary limitation of the 
 foregoing promise to its proper objects. There is a force in 
 the original which cannot be retained in a translation arising 
 from the etymological affinity between the words translated 
 wicked, troubled, and cast up. Among the various epithets ap- 
 plied to sinners, the one here used is that which originally 
 signifies their turbulence or restlessness. Lowth's version of this 
 last clause is more than usually plain and vigorous : its tcaiers 
 work up mire and filth. The verb means strictly to expel or drive 
 
CHAPTER LVIII. 335 
 
 out, and is therefore happily descriptive of the natural process 
 here referred to. There seems to be allusion to this verse in 
 Judev. 13. 
 
 21. There is no peace, saith my God, to the ivicked. That 
 peace is here to be taken in its strict sense, and not in that of 
 welfare or prosperity, is clear from' the comparison in the pre- 
 ceding verse. This verse, according to some writers, closes 
 the second great division of the Later Prophecies. For the 
 true sense of the words themselves, see above, on ch. 48 : 22. 
 
 CHAPTER LVIII. 
 
 The rejection of Israel as a nation is the 'just reward of 
 their unfaithfulness, v. 1. Their religious services are hypo- 
 critical, V. 2 Their mortifications and austerities are nullified 
 by accompanying wickedness, vs. 3-5. They should have been 
 connected with the opposite virtues, vs. 6 — 7. In that case 
 they would have continued to enjoy the divine favour, vs. 8, 9. 
 They are still invited to make trial of this course, with an 
 ample promise of prosperity and blessing to encourage them, 
 vs. 10-14. 
 
 1. Crp with the throat, spare not, like the trumpet raise thy voice, 
 and tell to my people their transgression and to the house of Jacob 
 their si>is. Although this may be conveniently assigned as the 
 beginning of the third part, according to the theory propounded 
 in the Introduction, it is really a direct continuation of the 
 previous discourse. The object of address is the Prophet 
 himself. Crying with the throat or from the lungs is here op 
 
336 CHAPTER LVIII. 
 
 posed to a simple motion of the lips and tongue. (See 1 Sam. 
 1 : 13.) The common version {cry aloud) is therefore substan- 
 tially correct, though somewhat vague. The positive command 
 is enforced by the negative one, spare not^ as in ch. 54 : 2. 
 The comparison with a trumpet is of frequent occurrence in the 
 Book of Revelation. (See e. g. ch. 1 : 10. 4 : 1.) The loud- 
 ness of the call is intended to suggest the importance of the 
 subject, and perhaps the insensibility of those to be convinced. 
 The Prophet here seems to turn away from avowed apostates 
 to hypocritical professors of the truth. The restriction of the 
 verse to Isaiah's contemporaries, or to the Jews of the 
 Babylonish exile, is as perfectly gratuitous as its restriction to 
 the Pharisees of Christ's time, or to the Protestant churches at 
 the decline of the Reformation. The points of similarity with 
 all or any of these periods arise from its being a description of 
 what has often occurred and will occur again. It was impor- 
 tant that a phrase of human history so real and important 
 should form a part of this prophetic picture, and accordingly it 
 has not been forgotten. 
 
 2. And me day {by) day they will seek, and the knowledge of 
 my ways they will delight in (or desire), like a nation which has 
 done right and the judgment of its God has not forsaken ; they will 
 ask of me righteous judgmeiits, the approach to God (or of God) 
 they will delight in (or desire). The older writers understand 
 this as a description of hypocrisy, as practised in a formal 
 seeking (i. e. worshipping) of God and a professed desire to 
 know his ways (i. e. the doctrines and duties of the true reli- 
 gion), the external appearance of a just and godly people, who 
 delight in nothing more than in drawing near to God (i. e. in 
 worship and communion with him). But all the later German 
 writers put a very different sense upon the passage. They ap- 
 ply it not to hypocritical formality, but to a discontented and 
 incredulous impatience of delay in the fulfilment of God's 
 
CHAPTER L VII L 33Y 
 
 promises. According to this view of tlie matter, seeding God 
 daily means importuDate solicitation ; delight iu the knowledge 
 of his ways is eager curiosity to know his providential plans 
 and purposes : the judgments of righteousness which they de- 
 mand are either saving judgments for themselves or destroying 
 judgments for their enemies ; the approach which they desire 
 is not their own approach to God but his approach to them 
 for their deliverance ; and the words like a nation etc. are de- 
 scriptive not of a simulated piety, but of a self-righteous belief 
 that by their outward services they had acquired a meritorious 
 claim to the- divine interposition in their favour. It is some- 
 what remarkable that a sentence of such length should without 
 violence admit of two interpretations so entirely different, and 
 the wonder is enhanced by the fact that both the senses may 
 be reconciled with the ensuing context. The only arguments 
 which seem to be decisive in favour of the first, are its supe- 
 rior simplicity and the greater readiness with w^ich it is sug- 
 gested to most readers by the language of the text itself, to- 
 gether with the fact that it precludes the necessity of limiting 
 the words to the Babylonish exile, for which limitation there is 
 no ground either in the text or context. 
 
 3. Why have ive fasted and thou hast not seen (it), ajfiicted our 
 soul (or ourselves) and thou tcilt not know [it) ? Behold, in the day 
 of your fast ye will find pleasure, and all your labours ye will 
 exact. The two interpretations which have been propounded 
 of the foregoing verse agree in making this a particular exem- 
 plification of the people's self-righteous confidence in the meri- 
 torious efficacy of their outward services. The first clause 
 contains their complaint, and the last the prophet's answer. 
 The structure of the first clause is like that in ch. 5:4. 50 : 2. 
 In our idiom the idea would be naturally thus expressed, 
 Why dost thou not see when we fast, or recognize our merit 
 when we mortify ourselves before thee 1 The word soul here 
 
 VOL. 11. — 16 
 
338 CHAPTER LVIII. 
 
 may either mean the appetite, or the soul as distinguished 
 from the body, or it may supply the place of the reflexive pro- 
 noun se//", which last is entitled to the preference, because the con- 
 text shows that their mortifications were not of a spiritual but 
 of a corporeal nature. The combination of the preterite {hast 
 not seen) and the future {^wilt not know) includes all time. The 
 clause describes Jehovah as indifi"erent and inattentive to their 
 laboured austerities. The reason given is analogous to that for 
 the rejection of their sacrifices in ch. 1 : 11-13, viz. the com- 
 bination of their formal service with unhallowed practice. 
 The meaning of the next clause is that they made their pre- 
 tended self-denial a means or an occasion of sinful gratifica- 
 tion. The remaining member of the sentence has been vari- 
 ously explained. According to the Septuagint and Vulgate, 
 it charges them with specially oppressing their dependants at 
 such times. Luther supposes a particular allusion to the 
 treatment of debtors. Some prefer the specific sense of 
 labourers or workmen forced to toil on fast-days as at other 
 times. Ye exact all your labours, i. e. all the labour due to 
 you from your dependants. 
 
 4. Behold^ for strife and contention ye ivillfast. and to smite ivith 
 the fist of wickedness ; ye shall not (or yc will not) fast to-day (so 
 as) to make your voice heard on high. Some understand this as 
 a further reason why their fasts were not acceptable to God ; 
 others suppose the same to be continued, and refer what is here 
 said to the maltreatment of the labourers or debtors mentioned 
 in the verse preceding. To smite with the fist of wickedness is 
 a periphrasis for fighting, no doubt borrowed from the provision 
 of the law in Ex. 21 : 18. Some early writers understand the 
 last clause as a prohibition of noisy quarrels, to make the voice 
 heard on high being taken as equivalent to letting it be heard 
 in the street (ch. 42 : 2). The later writers give it a meaning 
 altogether different, by taking cina in the sense of heaven (ch. 
 
CHAPTER LVIII. 339 
 
 57 : 15), and the whole clause as a declaration that such fasting 
 would not have the desired effect of gaining audience and 
 acceptance for their prayers. 
 
 5. Shall it he like this, the fast that I loill choose, the day of 
 man's humbling himself? Is it to hang his head like a bulrush 
 and make sackcloth and ashes his bed? Wilt thou call this a fast, 
 and a day of acceptance (an acceptable day) to Jchocah? The 
 general meaning of this verse is clear, although its structure 
 and particular expressions are marked with a strong idiomatic 
 peculiarity which makes exact translation very difficult. The 
 interrogative form, as in many other cases, implies strong nega- 
 tion mingled with surprise. Nothing is gained but something 
 lost -by dropping the future forms of the first clause. The 
 second member of the first clause is not part of the contemptuous 
 description of a mere external fast, but belongs to the definition 
 of a true one, as a time for men to practise self-humiliation. 
 He does not ask whether the fast which he chooses is a day for 
 a man to afllict himself, implying that it is not, which would be 
 destructive of the very essence of a fast: but he asks whether 
 the fast which he has chosen as a time for men to humble and 
 afflict themselves is such as this, i e. a mere external self-abase- 
 ment. The effect of fasting as an outward means and token of 
 sincere humiliation, may be learned from the case of Ahab 
 (1 Kings 21 : 27-29) and the Ninevites (Jonah 3 : 5-9). The 
 use of sackcloth and ashes in connection with fasting is recorded 
 in Esther 9 : 3. 
 
 6. Is not this the fast that I will choose^ to loosen hands of 
 wickedness, to undo the fastenings of the yoke, and to send aivaythe 
 crushed (or broken) free, and every yoke ye shall break ? Most 
 interpreters suppose a particular allusion to the detention of 
 Hebrew servants after the seventh year, contrary to the express 
 provisions of the law (Ex. 21 : 2. Lev. 25. 39, 41. Deut. 15: 12). 
 
340 CHAPTER LVII I. 
 
 It is evident, however, that the terms were so selected as to be 
 descriptive of oppression universally ; to make which still more 
 evident, the Prophet adds a general command or exhortation, 
 Ye shall break every yoke. The change of construction in the 
 last clause from the infinitive to the future, is so common as to 
 be entitled to consideration, not as a solecism but a Hebrew 
 idiom. There is no need therefore of adopting the indirect and 
 foreign construction, that ye break every yoke. Some understand 
 this passage as expressly condemning and prohibiting all fasts, 
 but most writers still maintain the old opinion, that it merely 
 shows the spirit which is necessary to a true fast. 
 
 7. Is it not to break unto the hungry thy bread ? aiid the afflicted^ 
 the homeless, thou shalt bring home ; for thou shalt see one naked 
 and shalt clothe him, and from thine own flesh shall not hide thyself. 
 The change of construction to the future in the first clause is 
 precisely the same as in the preceding verse. The construction 
 of the second clause is similar to that in v. 2. It is best to 
 retain the form of the original, not only upon general grounds, 
 but because thou shalt see the naked seems to be a substantive 
 command corresponding to thou shalt not hide thyself For the 
 use of flesh to signify near kindred, see Gen. 29 : 14. 37 : 27. 
 2 Sam. 5:1. With the general precepts of the verse compare 
 ch. 32 : 6. Job 31 : 16-22. Ez 18 : 7. Prov. 22 : 9. Ps. 112: 9. 
 Matt. 25 : 36. Rom. 12:13. Heb. 13 : 2j 3. James 2 : 15, 16; 
 and with the last clause, Matt. 15 : 5, 6. 
 
 8. Then shall break forth as the dawn thy light, and thy heal- 
 ing speedily shall spring up ; then shall go before thee thy right- 
 eousness, and the glory of Jehovah shall be thy rcreward (or bring 
 up thy rear). It is evident that the writer has here lost 
 sight of the particular example upon which he had been dwell- 
 ing so minutely, and is now entirely occupied with the effects 
 which would arise from a conformity to God's will, not in refer- 
 
CHAPTER LVIIL 341 
 
 ence to fasting merely ,but to every other part of duty. Thc7i, 
 i, e. when this cordial compliance shall have taken place. The 
 verb to break forth (literally, to be clef/), elsewhere applied 
 to the hatchiug of eggs (ch. 59 : 5) and the gushing of water 
 (ch. 35 : G), is here used in reference to the dawn or break of 
 day, a common figure for relief succeeding deep affliction. 
 (See ch. 8 : 20. 9 : 2. 60 : 1.) By a mixture of metaphors, 
 which does not in the least obscure the sense, this healing is 
 here said to sprout or germinate, a figure employed elsewhere 
 to denote the sudden, rapid, and spontaneous growth or rise 
 of anything: (See above, on ch. 42 : 9 and 43 : 19.) In the 
 last clause a third distinct figure is employed to express the 
 same idea, viz. that of a march like the journey through the 
 wild.erness, with the pillar of cloud, as the symbol of God's 
 presence, going before and after. (See above, on ch. 52 : 12; 
 and compare Ex. 13 : 21. 14 : 19.) Jehovah here assumes the 
 conduct of his people, as their righteousness or justifier. (See 
 Jer. 23 : 6. 33 : 16; and compare Isaiah 54 : 17.) The parallel 
 term glory may then be understood as denoting the manifested 
 glory of Jehovah, or Jehovah himself in glorious epiphany ; 
 just as his presence with his people in the wilderness was 
 manifested by the pillar of cloud and of fire, which sometimes 
 went before them and at other times brought up their rear. 
 (See above, on ch. 52 : 12.) 
 
 9. Then shaJt thou call and Jehovah tvill anstver, thou shall 
 cry and he will say, Behold me (here I am), if thou zcilt put 
 away from the midst of thee the yoke, the fointing of the finger, 
 and the speaking of vanity. The then may either be connected 
 •with what goes before or correspond to if in the other clause, 
 like then, when, in English. The conditional form of the 
 promise implies that it was not so with them now, of which 
 indeed they are themselves represented as complaining in v. 3. 
 The idea of this verse might be expressed in the occidental 
 
342 CHAPTER LVIII. 
 
 idiom by saying, when thou, callest, Jehovah will answer ; when 
 ihov. criest, he will say, Behold me. (See above, on ch. 50 : 2.) 
 The yoke is again mentioned as the symbol of oppression. 
 (See V. 6 ) The pointing of the finger is a gesture of derision. 
 The Arabs have a verb derived from. Jl/iger and denoting scorn- 
 ful ridicule. The object of contempt in this case may be 
 the pious or the unfortunate. Words of vanity in Zech. 10:2 
 means falsehood, which is here retained by some, while others 
 give it the specific sense of slander, secret and malignant 
 machination, censorious and unnecessary fault-finding, strife 
 and bickerings. All these may be included in the general 
 sense of evil speech or wicked words. 
 
 1 0. A7id (if) thou wilt let out thy soul to the hungry, and the 
 afflicted soul wilt satisfy, then shall thy light arise in the darkness., 
 and thy gloom as the {double light or) noon. The figure in the 
 last clause is a common one for happiness succeeding sorrow. 
 (See Judg. 5:31.Ps. 112:4. Job 11 : 17.) 
 
 11. And Jehovah will guide thee ever, and satisfy thy soul in 
 drought, and thy bones will he invigorate, and thou shall be like 
 a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters shall 
 not fail. The promise of guidance had already been given in 
 ch. 57 : 18. (Compare Ps. 73 : 24. 78 : 14.) The common ver- 
 sion of the next clause (a7id make fat thy bones) is sanctioned 
 by the Septuagint, but the version strengthen is adopted by most 
 modern writers. Similar allusions to the bones as the seat of 
 strength occur in Ps. 51 : 10 (8) and Job 21 : 24. The figure in 
 the last clause is the converse of that in ch. 1 : 30. There is 
 here a climax. Not content with the image of a well-watered 
 garden, he substitutes that of the stream, or rather of the 
 spring itself. The general idea is a favourite with Isaiah. 
 (See above, ch, 30 : 25. 33 : 21. 35 : 6, 7. 41 : 17. 43 : 20. 44 : 4. 
 
CHAPTER LVIIL 343 
 
 48 ; 21. 49 ; 10.) The exodus from Egypt had already made 
 these images familiar and appropriate to any great deliverance. 
 
 12. And they shall build from thee the ruins of antiquity (or 
 perpetuity), foundations of age and age (i. e. of agex) shall thou 
 raise up; and it shall be called to thee {ov thou, shall be caUi\) 
 Repairer of the breach, Restorer of paths for dwelling. From 
 thee denotes something more than mere connection or descent, 
 and, unless forbidden by something in the context, must be 
 taken to signify a going forth from Israel into other lands. 
 Thus understood, the clause agrees exactly with the work as- 
 signed to Israel in these prophecies, viz. that of reclaiming 
 the apostate nations, and building the wastes of a desolated 
 world. As cbis obviously refers to past time, this is the only 
 natural interpretation of the corresponding phrase, generation 
 and generation. Foundations which have lain bare, or build- 
 ings whose foundations have Iain bare for ages. For this 
 metaphor, compare Am. 9:11; for that of a highway, oh. 
 19 : 23. 35 : 8 ; and for that of the breach, Ez. 13 : 5. 22 ; 30. 
 For dicelli?ig, i. e. that the land may be inhabited. 
 
 13. If thou wilt turn away thy foot from the Sabbath to do thy 
 pleasure on my holy day,, and wilt call the Sabbath a delight, {and) 
 the holy {day) of Jehovah honourable, and wilt honour it by 7iot 
 doing thy own ways, by vot finding thy pleasure and talking 
 talk. The version of which some give, turn away thy foot on 
 the Sabbath, is inconsistent with the form of the original, as 
 well as with the figure, which is that of something trodden 
 down and trampled, or at least encroached upon. The mere 
 outward observance was of no avail, unless the institution were 
 regarded with reverence, as of God ; nay more, with compla- 
 cency, as in itself delightful. To call it a delight is to acknowl- 
 edge it to be such. As the construction of this Hebrew verb 
 is foreign from our idiom, it may be best explained by a para- 
 
344 CHAPTER LVIII. 
 
 phrase. ' If thou wilt give to the Sabbath the name of a de- 
 light, and to the holy day or ordinance of Jehovah that of 
 honourable,' But mere acknowledgment is not enough ; it 
 must not only be admitted to deserve honour, but in fact re- 
 ceive it. Hence he adds, and if thou wilt honour it thyself, 
 by not doings literally, away from doing, so as not to do. (See 
 eh. 5 : 6. 49 : 15.) Doing thy own ways, although not a usual 
 combination, is rendered intelligible by the constant use of 
 way in Hebrew to denote a course of conduct. Speaking 
 speech or talking talk is by some regarded as equivalent to 
 speaking vanity, in v. 9. The modern writers, for the most 
 part, are in favour of the explanation, speaking mere words, 
 idle talk. (Compare Matt. 12 : 36.) As to the importance 
 here attached to the Sabbath, see above, on eh. 56 : 2. 
 
 14. Then shalt thou be happy in Jehovah^ and I will make 
 thee ride upoii the heights of the earthy and I will make thee eat 
 the heritage of Jacob thy father^ for Jehovah''s mouth hath spoken 
 it. The first verb is combined with the divine name elsewhere 
 to express both a duty and a privilege. (Compare Psalm 
 37 : 4 with Job 22 : 26. 27 : 10.) The next phrase is descrip- 
 tive of conquest and triumphant possession, as in Deut. 32 : 13, 
 from which the expression is derived by all the later writers 
 who employ it. To eat the heritage is to enjoy it and derive 
 subsistence from it. It is called the heritage of Jacob, as dis- 
 tinct from that of Ishmael and Esau, although equally de- 
 scended from the Father of the Faithful. The last clause is 
 added to ensure the certainty of the event as resting not on 
 human but divine authority. See above, on ch. 1 ; 2. 
 
CHAPTER L IX. 345 
 
 CHAPTER LIX. 
 
 The fault of Israel's rejection is not in the Lord but in 
 themselves, vs. 1, 2. They "are charged with sins of violence 
 and injustice, vs. 3, 4. The ruinous effects of these corruptions 
 are described, vs. 5, 6. Their violence and injustice are as fatal 
 to themselves as to others, vs. 7, 8. The moral condition of 
 the people is described as one of darkness and hopeless degra- 
 dation, vs. 9-15. In this extremity Jehovah interposes to de- 
 liver the true Israel, vs. 16, 17? This can only be effected by 
 the destruction of the carnal Israel, v. 18. The divine pres- 
 ence shall no longer be subjected to local restrictions, v. 19. 
 A Redeemer shall appear in Zion to save the true Israel, v. 20. 
 The old temporary dispensation shall give place to the dispen- 
 sation of the Word and Spirit, which shall last forever, v. 21. 
 
 1. Behold, not shorte)ied is Jehovah's hand from saving, and 
 not benumbed is his ear from hearing, i. e. so as not to save, and 
 not to hear, or too short to save, too dull to hear. On this use 
 of the preposition, see above on ch. 58 : 13, and the references 
 there made. The Prophet merely pauses, as it were, for a mo- 
 ment, to exonerate his master from all blame, before continuing 
 his accusation of the people. The beginning of a chapter here 
 is simply a matter of convenience, as the following contest has 
 precisely the same character with that before it. The only ex- 
 planation of the passage which allows it to speak for itself, with- 
 out gratuitous additions or embellishments, is that which likens 
 it to ch. 42 : 18-25, 43 : 22-28, and 50 : 1, 2, as a solemn exhi- 
 bition of the truth that the rejection of God's ancient people 
 was the fruit of their own sin, and not to be imputed either to 
 unfaithfulness on his part, or to want of strength or wisdom to 
 
 15* 
 
346 CHAPTER L IX. 
 
 protect them, For the true sense of the metaphor here used, 
 see above, on oh. 50 : 2. 
 
 2. But your iniquities have been separating between you and 
 your God, and your sins have hid {his) face from you, so as not to 
 hear. The general idea of this verse is otherwise expressed iu 
 Jer. 5 : 25, while in Lam. 3 : 44 the same prophet reproduces 
 both the thought and the expression, with a distinct mention 
 of the intervening object as a cloud, which may possibly have 
 been suggested by the language of Isaiah himself in ch. 44 : 22. 
 The force of the particle before the last verb is the same as in 
 ch. 44 : 18 and 49 : 15. It does not mean specifically that he 
 will not, much less that he cannot hear, but that he doth not hear. 
 It is still better, however, to retain the infinitive form of the 
 original by rendering it, {so as) not to hear. 
 
 3. For your hands are defiled loith blood, and your fingers with 
 iniquity ; your lips have spoken falsehood, your tongue will utter 
 wickedness. The Prophet now, according to a common usage 
 of the Scriptures, classifies the prevalent iniquities as sins of 
 the hands, the mouth, the feet, as if to intimate that every 
 member of the social body was affected. On the staining of 
 the hands with blood, see above, ch. 1:15. The preterite and 
 future forms describe the evil as habitual, and ought to be 
 retained in the translation, were it only for the purpose of ex- 
 hibiting the characteristic form of the original. The wide 
 meaning of the whole description is evident from Paul's com- 
 bining parts of it with phrases drawn from several Psalms re- 
 markably resembling it, in proof of the depravity of human na- 
 ture. (Rom. 3: 15-17.) 
 
 4. There is none calling with (or for) justice, and there is none 
 contending with truth ; they trust in vanity ayid speak falsehood, 
 conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity. Some understand the 
 
CHAPTER LIX. 347 
 
 first clause as meaning that none demand justice because they 
 have no hope of obtaining it. Others make calling parallel 
 to contending, and ivith justice to with truth. ' No one pleads 
 fairly or sues honestly.' 
 
 5. Eggs of the basilisk they have hatched, and webs of the spider 
 they will spin (or weave) ; the [one) eating of their eggs shall die, 
 and the crushed (egg) shall hatch out a viper. The figure of the 
 serpent is substantially the same as in ch. 14 : 29. (Compare 
 Deut. 32 : 33 ) The precise varieties intended are of little ex- 
 egetical importance. The figure of the spider's vfeb is added 
 to express the idea both of hurtfulness and futility. (See Job 
 8:14.) 
 
 6. Tlieir icebs shall not become (or be for) clothing, aiid they shall 
 not cover themselves tvith their works ; their works are works of 
 mischirf (or iniquity), and the doing of violence is in their hands. 
 The first clause does not seem to form a part of what the writer 
 meant at first to say. but is a kind of after-thought, by which he 
 gives a new turn to the sentence, and expresses an additional 
 idea without a change of metaphor. Having introduced the 
 spider's web, in connection with the serpent's egg, as an em- 
 blem of malignant and treacherous designs, he here repeats the 
 first but for another purpose, namely, to suggest the idea of fu- 
 tility and worthlessness. This application may have been sug- 
 gested by the frequent reference to webs and weaving as con- 
 ducive to the comfort and emolument of men ; but spiders' webs 
 can answer no such purpose. The idea that it is not fit or can- 
 not be applied to this end, although not exclusively expressed, 
 is really included in the general declaration that they shall not 
 be so used. Works in the first clause simply means lohat they 
 have made ; but in the second, where the metaphor is dropped, 
 this version would be inadmissible. 
 
348 CHAPTER LIX. 
 
 7. Their feet to evil will rim^ and they will hasten to shed inno- 
 cent blood ; their thoughts are thoughts of mischief (or iniquity) ; 
 wasting and ruin are in their paths. The first clause expresses 
 not a mere disposition, but an eager proclivity to wrong. The 
 ■word translated thoughts has here and elsewhere the specific 
 sense of purposes, contrivances, devices. Their paths are the 
 paths in which their feet run to evil and make haste to shed in- 
 nocent blood. The two nouns combined in the last clause 
 strictly denote desolation and crushing, i. e. utter ruin. With 
 this verse compare Prov. 1:16, and the evil way of ch. 55 : 7 
 above. 
 
 8. The way of peace they have not known.^ and there is no justice 
 in their paths ; their courses they have rendered crooked for them ; 
 every one walking in them hiows not peace. The obvious and 
 simple meaning is, that their lives are not pacific but conten- 
 tious. The erroneous principle involved in all specific inter- 
 pretations is refuted by the comprehensive sense which the 
 apostle puts upon the words in the passage which has been 
 already cited (Rom. 3 : 15-17). 
 
 9. Therefore is judgment far from us., a7id righteousness will not 
 overtake us ; we loaitfor light and behold darkness; for splendours., 
 [and) in obscurities we walk. The future form of all the verbs 
 in this verse intimates that they expect this state of things to 
 continue, 
 
 10. We grope like the blind for the wall., like the eyeless we 
 grope ; we. stumble at noonday as in ticilight, in thick darkness 
 like the dead. These figures are expressive not only of physical 
 but of moral evil. Compare Deut. 28 : 29 and Zeph. 1 : 17. 
 
 11. We growl like the bears, all of us, and like the doves we 
 moan {we) moan ; we wait for justice and there is none, for salvo- 
 
CHAPTER LIX. 349 
 
 tion {and) it is far from us. The Latin poets also speak of the 
 voice of bears and doves as a gemitus or groaning. (See above, 
 ch. 38 : 14, and Ezek. 7 : 16.) The same efifect which is pro- 
 duced in the first clause by the use of the phrase all of vs, is 
 produced in the other by the idiomatic repetition of the verb. 
 Here, as in v. 9, we may understand by judgment or justice 
 that which God does by his providential dispensations both to 
 his people and his enemies. 
 
 12. For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our 
 sins testify against us ; for our transgressions are with us, and our 
 iniquities — we knoxo them. The Prophet here begins a general 
 confession in the name of God's people. For the form of 
 expiression, compare Ps. 51 : 5 (3). 
 
 13. To transgress and lie against Jehovah, and to turn back 
 from behind our God, to speak oppression and departure, to conceive 
 and utter from the heart words of falsehood. The specifications of 
 the general charge are now expressed by an unusual succession 
 of infinitives, because the writer wished to concentrate and con- 
 dense his accusation. This rhetorical efiect is materially injured 
 by the substitution of the finite verb. Although by no means 
 equal in conciseness to the Hebrew, our infinitive may be em- 
 ployed as the most exact translation. Departure means depart- 
 ure from the right course or the law, i. e. transgression or 
 iniquity. 
 
 14. And pidgment is thrust (or driven) back, and righteousness 
 afar off stands ; for truth has fallen in the street, and uprightness 
 cannot enter. The description is now continued in the ordinary 
 form by the finite verb. The word translated street properly 
 means an open place or square, especially the space about the 
 gate of an oriental town, where courts were held and other public 
 business was transacted. (See Job 29:7. Neh. 8:1.) The 
 
850 CHAPTER LIX. 
 
 present form which seems to be required by our idiom is much 
 less expressive than the preterite and futures of the original. 
 Those interpreters who commonly apply whatever is said of 
 tyranny to the oppression of the Jews in exile are compelled in 
 this case, where the sin is charged upon the Jews themselves, 
 to resort to the imaginary fact of gross misgovernment among 
 the exiles, for the purpose of avoiding the conclusion that the 
 passage has respect to a condition of society like that described 
 in the first chapter. 
 
 15. Then tnith was missed (i. e. found wanting), and whoso 
 departed from evil made himself a prey (or was plundered). Then 
 Jehovah saio and it was evil in his eyes that there was no judgment 
 (or practical justice). The passive participle is here used with 
 the substantive verb, as the active is in v. 2, to denote anterior 
 habitual action 
 
 16. And he saw that there was no man, and he stood aghast that 
 there ivas 7io one interposing ; and his own arm savdfor hirn, and 
 his otvn righteousness, it upheld him. The repetition of the words 
 and he sarv connects this verse in the closest manner with the 
 one before it. What was wanting was not merely a qualified 
 man, but any man whatever, to maintain the cause of Israel and 
 Jehovah. A like absolute expression is employed in 2 Kings 
 14 : 26, where it is said that Jehovah saw the affliction of Israel, 
 that it was very bitter, and that there was no helper for Israel, 
 not merely no sufficient one, but none at all. The desperate 
 nature of the case is then described in terms still stronger and 
 only applicable to Jehovah by the boldest figure. The common 
 version [wondered), though substantially correct, is too weak to 
 express the full force of the Hebrew word, which strictly means 
 to be desolate, and is used in reference to persons for the pur- 
 pose of expressing an extreme degree of horror and astonish- 
 ment. (See Ps. 143 : 4j and compare the colloquial use of 
 
CHAPTER L IX. 351 
 
 desole in French.) As applied to God, the term may be con- 
 sidered simply anthropopathic, or as intended to imply a certain 
 sympathetic union with humanity, arising from the mode in 
 which this great intervention was to be accomplished. ?'^53^ 
 strictly denotes causing to meet or come together, bringing into 
 contact. Hence it is applied to intercessory prayer, and this 
 sense is expressed here by the Chaldee paraphrase. But the 
 context, etymology, and usage, all combine to recommend the 
 wider sense of intervention, interposition, both in word and 
 deed. (See above, on ch. 53 : 12.) The full force of the last 
 clause can be given in English only by the use of the emphatic 
 form his oio?i, which is implied but cannot be distinctly expressed 
 in the original except by a periphrasis. To do anything with 
 one's own hand or arm, is an expression frequently used else- 
 where to denote entire independence of all foreign aid. (See 
 Judges 7 : 2. 1 Sam. 25 : 26 Ps. 44 : 3. 98 : 1.) The simple 
 and exact translation of the whole clause is,'^his arm saved 
 for him^ leaving the object to be gathered from the context, 
 namely, Israel or his people. This same idea is expressed 
 in the last words of the verse, where his righteousjiess siistained 
 him means that he relied or depended upon it exclusively. By 
 righteousness in this case we are not to understand a simple 
 consciousness of doing right, nor the possession of a righteous 
 cause, nor a right to do what he did, all which are modifications 
 of the same essential meaning, nor a zealous love of justice. It 
 is far more satisfactory to give the word its strict and proper 
 sense as denoting an attribute of God, here joined with his 
 power, to show that what are commonly distinguished as his 
 moral and his natural perfections are alike pledged to this great 
 work, and constitute his only reliance for its execution. The 
 extraordinary character of this description, and the very vio- 
 lence which it seems to offer to our ordinary notions of the 
 divine nature, unavoidably prepare the mind for something 
 
352 CHAPTER LIX. 
 
 higher than the restoration of the Jews from exile, or the 
 destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. 
 
 17. And he clothed himself with righteousiiess as a coat of mail, 
 and a helmet of salvation on his head, and he clothed himself ivith 
 garments of vengeance (for) clothing, and put on, as the cloak (or 
 tunic) jealous]/. The writer here carries out in detail his gene- 
 ral declaration that Jehovah undertook the cause of Israel 
 himself, under figures borrowed from the usages of war. The 
 older writers have in vain perplexed themselves with efforts to 
 determine why righteousness is called a breastplate, or salva- 
 tion a helmet, and to reconcile the variations in Paul's copies 
 of this picture (Eph. 6 : 14-17. 1 Thess. 5 : 8) with the origi- 
 nal. That the figures in this case were intended to convey 
 the general idea of martial equipment, may be gathered from 
 the fact that there is no reference whatever to offensive weap- 
 ons. The particular expressions of the verse need little ex- 
 planation. The first piece of armour specified is not the 
 breastplate, as the older writers generally render.it, perhaps in 
 reference to Eph. 6 : 14, but the habergeon or coat of mail. 
 The first and third terms denote parts of armour properly so 
 called, the second and fourth the dress as distinguished from 
 the armour. The last is either the tunic or the military cloak, 
 often mentioned in the classics as being of a purple colour. 
 The same noun is construed with the same verb in 1 Sam. 28 : 
 14. The meaning of the whole verse is, that God equipped 
 himself for battle, and arrayed his power, justice, and dis- 
 tinguishing attachment to his people, against their persecutors 
 and oppressors. 
 
 18. According to (theirj deeds, accordingly will he repay, wrath 
 to his enemies, (their) desert to his foes, to the isles (their) desert will 
 he repay. The essential meaning of this verse is evident and 
 undisputed ; but the form of expression in the first clause is 
 
^ CHAPTER LIX. 353 
 
 singular, if not anomalous. The difficulty, however, is not exe- 
 getical, but pui-ely grammatical, arising from the unexampled use 
 of the preposition bs without an object : According to their deeds — 
 according to — will he repay. The latest writers seem to have 
 come back to the simple and obvious supposition of the oldest 
 that it is a case of anomalous ellipsis, the object of the 
 preposition being not expressed, but mentally repeated from 
 the foregoing clause : According to their deeds, according to {them), 
 he will repay. (Compare the Hebrew of Ps. 45.) In the 
 mere repetition there is nothing singular, but rather some- 
 thing charatjteristic of the Prophet. (See above, ch. 52 : 6.) 
 The English Version happily approaches to a perfect repro- 
 duction of the Hebrew expression by employing the cognate 
 terms according and accordingly, which has the advantage 
 of retaining essentially the same term, and yet varying it so 
 as tp avoid a grammatical anomaly by which it might have 
 been rendered unintelligible. The only satisfactory solution 
 of the last clause is the one afforded by the hypothesis that 
 the salvation here intended is salvation in the highest sense 
 from sin and all its consequences, and that by Isi-ael and the 
 Isles (or Gentiles) we are to understand the church or people 
 of God, and the world considered as its enemies and his. 
 
 19. And they shall fear from the west the name of Jehovah, and 
 from the rising of the sun his glory ; for it shall come like a strait- 
 ened stream, the spirit of Jehovah raising a banner in it. The 
 name and glory of Jehovah are here not only parallels but 
 synonymes, as we learn from other places where the two terms 
 are jointly or severally used to signify the manifested excel- 
 lence or glorious presence of Jehovah. (See above, ch. 30 : 
 27. 35 : 2. 40 : 5. 42 : 12.) There is something pleasing, if 
 no more, in the suggestion that the usual order of the east and 
 west (ch. 43 : 5. Mai. 1 : 11) is here reversed, as if to intimate 
 that the diffusion of the truth shall one day take a new direc- 
 
354 CHAPTER LIX. 
 
 tion, an idea which has been applied specifically to the Chris- 
 tian missions of Great Britain and America, not only to new 
 countries but to Asia, the cradle of the gospel, of the law, and 
 of the human race. The last clause of this verse has been a 
 famous subject of dispute among interpreters, who differ more 
 or less in reference to every word, as well as to the general 
 meaning of the whole. From the combination of these vari- 
 ous senses have resulted several distinct interpretations of the 
 whole clause, two of which deserve to be particularly men- 
 tioned, as the two between which most writers have been and 
 are still divided. The first of these is the interpretation 
 found, as to its essence, in several of the ancient versions, and 
 especially the Vulgate, cam venerit quasi Jluvius violentus quem 
 Spiritus Domini cogit. This is substantially retained by 
 Luther and by Lowth, when he shall come like a river slraitimed 
 in his course^ ichich a strong ivincl drivelh along. It is also 
 given by most of the recent German writers, with trivial varia- 
 tions. The other principal interpretation explains the whole 
 to mean that when the enemy shall come in like a floocl.^ the Spirit 
 of the Lord shall lift uj) a standard aga.inst him. This is the 
 version of the English and Dutch Bibles, and of many emi- 
 nent interpreters. Between these two main interpretations 
 there are others too numerous to be recited, which agree essen- 
 tially with one, but in some minor points coincide with the 
 other, or dissent from both. The common version of this 
 vexed clause is entirely defensible, and clearly preferable to 
 the one which has so nearly superseded it. Considering, how- 
 ever, the objections to which both are open, it may be possible 
 to come still nearer to the true sense by combining what is 
 least objectionable in the other expositions. On the whole, 
 the meaning of the verse appears to be, that the ends of the 
 earth shall see and fear the name and glory of Jehovah, be- 
 cause when he approaches as their enemy, it will be like an 
 
CHAPTER LIX. 355 
 
 overflowing stream (ch. 8 : 7, 8. 28 : 15), in which his Spirit 
 bears aloft the banner or the signal of victory. 
 
 20. Then shall come for Zion a Redeemer, and for the converts 
 of apostasy in Jacob, saith Jehovah. The expression converts of 
 transgression or apostasy is perfectly intelligible, though unu- 
 sual and pei'haps without example ; since according to analogy 
 the phrase would seem to mean those relapsing into apostasy, 
 the impossibility of which conspires with the context to determ- 
 ine as the true sense that which every reader spontaneously 
 attaches to~ it. 
 
 2 1. And /(or as for me), this {is) my covenant loith them, saith 
 Jehovah. My Spirit which is on thee, and my icords which I have 
 placed in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of 
 the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seecVs seed, saith 
 Jehovah, from henceforth and forever {ov from noio ftnd to eternity). 
 The absolute pronoun at the beginning is not merely emphatic, 
 but intended to intimate a change of person, God himself 
 re-appearing as the speaker. There may also be allusion to the 
 similar use of the pronoun in the promise to Noah (Gen. 9:9), 
 which was ever present to the mind of Jewish readers as the 
 great standing type and model of God's covenants and promises. 
 The only natural antecedent of the pronoun them is the converts 
 of apostasy in Jacob, to whom the promise in v. 20 is limited. 
 These are then suddenly addressed, or rather the discourse is 
 turned to Israel himself, as the progenitor or as the ideal repre- 
 sentative of his descendants, not considered merely as a nation 
 but as a church, and therefore including proselytes as well as 
 natives, Gentiles as well as Jews, nay believing Gentiles to the 
 exclusion of the unbelieving Jews. This is not a mere inci- 
 dental application of Old Testament expressions to another sub- 
 ject, but a protracted and repeated exposition of the mutual rela- 
 tions of the old and new economy and of the natural and spirit- 
 
356 CHAPTER LX. 
 
 ual Israel. To this great body, considered as the Israel of 
 God. the promise uow before us is addressed, a promise of con- 
 tiuued spiritual influence exerted through the word and giving 
 it effect. The phrase vpon thee here as elsewhere implies in- 
 fluence from above and has respect to the figure of the Spirit's 
 descending and abiding on the object. The particular mention 
 of the mouth cannot be explained as having reference merely to 
 the reception of the word, in which case the ear would have 
 been more appropriate. The true explanation seems to be that 
 Israel is here, as in many other parts of this great prophecy, re- 
 garded not merely as a receiver but as a dispenser of the truth, 
 an office with which as we have seen the Body is invested in 
 connection with the Head, and in perpetual subordination to 
 him. Israel, as well as the Messiah, and in due dependence on 
 him, was to be the light of the Gentiles, the reclaimer of apos- 
 tate nations, and in this high mission and vocation was to be 
 sustained and prospered by the never-failing presence of the 
 Holy Spirit, as the author and the finisher of all revelation, 
 (See above, ch. 42 : 1-7. 44 : 1-3. 49 : 1-9. 5 1 : 16. 54 : 3. 56 : 6-8. 
 58: 12, and compare Jer. 31 : 31. Joel 2 : 28. Ezek. 36: 27. 
 39 : 29.) 
 
 CHAPTER LX. 
 
 Having repeatedly and fully shown that the national pre- 
 eminence of Israel was not to be perpetual, that the loss of it 
 was the natural consequence and righteous retribution of in- 
 iquity, and that this loss did not involve the destruction of the 
 true church or spiritual Israel, the Prophet now proceeds to 
 show that to the latter the approaching change would be a glo- 
 rious and blessed one. He accordingly describes it as a new 
 
CHAPTER LX. 357 
 
 and divine liglit rising upon Zion, v. 1. He contrasts it with 
 the darkness of surrounding nations, v. 2. Yet these are not 
 excluded from participation in the light, v. 3. The elect in 
 every nation are the children of the church, and shall be gath- 
 ered to her, vs. 4, 5. On one side, he sees the oriental caravans 
 and flocks approaching, vs. 6, 7. On the other, the commercial 
 fleets of western nations, vs. 8, 9. What seemed to be rejec- 
 tion is in fact the highest favour, v. 10. The glory of the true 
 church is her freedom from local and national restrictions, v. II. 
 None are excluded from her pale but those who exclude them- 
 selves and thereby perish, v. 12. External nature shall con- 
 tribute to her splendour, v. 13. Her very enemies shall do 
 her homage, v. 14. Instead of being cast off, she is glorified 
 forever, v. 15. Instead of being identified with one nation, she 
 shall derive support from all, v. 16. All that is changed in 
 her condition shall be changed for the better, v. 17. The evils 
 of her former state are done away, v. 18. Even^some of its ad- 
 vantages are now superfluous, v. 19. What remains shall no 
 longer be precarious, v. 20. The splendour of this new dis- 
 pensation is a moral and a spiritual splen^mir, but attended 
 by external safety and protection, vs. 21, 22. All this shall 
 certainly and promptl}' come to pass at the appointed time, 
 v. 22. 
 
 Here as elsewhere the new dispensation is contrasted as a 
 whole with that before it. We are not therefore to seek the 
 fulfilment of the prophecy in any one period of history exclu- 
 sively, nor to consider actual corruptions and afflictions as in- 
 consistent with the splendid vision of the New Jerusalem pre- 
 sented to the Prophet, not in its successive stages, but in one 
 grand panoramic view. 
 
 1. Arise, be light ; for thy light is come, and the glory of Jeho- 
 vah has risen upon tlwe. These are the words of Isaiah, speak- 
 ing in the name of God to Zion or Jerusalem, not merely as a 
 
358 CHAPTER LX. 
 
 city, nor even as a capital, but as the centre, representative, and 
 symbol of the church or chosen people. A precisely analogous 
 example is afforded by the use of the name Rome in modern 
 religious controversy, not to denote the city or the civil govern- 
 ment as such, but the Roman Catholic Church, with all its 
 parts, dependencies, and interests. The one usage is as natu- 
 ral and intelligible as the other ; and if no one hesitates to say 
 that Newman has apostatized to Rome, or that his influence has 
 added greatly to the strength of Rome in England, no one can 
 justly treat it as a wresting of the Prophet's language to ex- 
 plain it in precisely the same manner. The object of address 
 is here so plain that several of the ancient versions actually in- 
 troduce the name Jerusalem. The common version shine is 
 defective only in not showing the affinity between the verb and 
 noun which is so marked in the original. The English risen is 
 also less expressive, because more ambiguous and vague, than 
 the Hebrew verb, which means not to rise in general, but to 
 rise above the horizon, to appear. The glory of Jehovah is his 
 manifested presence, with allusion to the cloudy pillar and the 
 Shechinah. Upon thee represents Jerusalem as exposed and 
 subjected to the full blaze of this rising light. Light, and es- 
 pecially the light imparted by the divine presence, is a common 
 figure for prosperity, both temporal and spiritual. This is a 
 direct continuation of the foregoing context, and what follows is 
 distinguished from what goes before only by the increasing 
 prominence with which the normal and ideal perfection of the 
 church is set forth, as the prophecy draws near to a conclu- 
 sion. 
 
 2. For behold^ the darkness shall cover the earthy and a gloom 
 the nations^ and upon thee shall Jehovah rise, and his glory upon 
 thee shall be seen. The general description in the first verse is 
 now amplified and carried out into detail. Of this specifica- 
 tion the verse before us contains only the beginning. To 
 
CHAPTER LX. 359 
 
 regard it as the whole would be to make the Prophet say the 
 very opposite of what he does say. The perfection of the 
 glory promised to the church is not to arise from its contrast 
 with the darkness of the world around it, but from the diffu- 
 sion of its light until that darkness disappears. The Prophet 
 here reverts for a moment to the previous condition of the 
 world, in order to describe with more effect the glorious change 
 to be produced. He is not therefore to be understood as say- 
 ing that Zion shall be glorious because while the nations are in 
 darkness she is to enjoy exclusive light, but because the light 
 imparted to her first shall draw the nations to her. Jvhovah 
 and his glory^ which are jointly said to rise in the preceding 
 verse, are here divided between two parallel members, and the 
 rising predicated of the first alone, 
 
 3. And nations shall walk in thy light, and kings in the 
 brightness of thy rising, i. e. thy rising brightnessf or the bright 
 light which shall rise upon thee. The common version, to thy 
 light, may seem at first sight more exact than the one here 
 given, but is really less so. The Hebrew preposition here 
 used does not correspond to our to as a particle of motion or 
 direction, but expresses relation in the widest and most gen- 
 eral manner. It is often therefore interchanged with other 
 particles, and to among the rest, but is not to be so ti-an slated 
 here or in any other case without necessity. In this case it 
 seems to mean that they shall walk with reference to the light 
 in question, which in English may be best expressed by in, but 
 not as a literal translation. The sense thus yielded is in some 
 respects better than the other, as suggesting the idea not of 
 mere attraction but of general diffusion. By light we are 
 then to understand the radiation from the luminous centre 
 and not raere'y the centre itself This explanation of the 
 verse is given by the best of the modern interpreters. Some 
 of these, however, arbitrarily apply it to the restoration of the 
 
360 CHAPTER LX. 
 
 Jews from exile, who were to be accompanied by heathen kings 
 as their guides and protectors. As a prophecy this never was 
 fulfilled. As a visionary anticipation it could never have been 
 entertained by a contemporary writer, such as these inter- 
 preters suppose the author of the book to be. 
 
 4. Lift up thine eyes round about (i. e. in all directions) and 
 see ; all of them are gathered, they come to thee, thy sons from afar 
 shall come, and thy daughters at the side shall he borne. See 
 eh. 43 : 5-7 and 49 : 18-23. Those who confine these proph- 
 ecies to the Babylonish exile, understand this as describing the 
 agency of heathen states and sovereigns in the restoration. 
 But in this, as in the parallel passages, there is, by a strange 
 coincidence, no word or phrase implying restoration or return, 
 but the image is evidently that of enlargement and accession ; 
 the children thus brought to Zion being not those whom she 
 had lost, but such as she had never before known, as is evident 
 from ch. 49 : 21. 
 
 5. Then shall thou see (or fear) and brighten up (or overflov)), 
 and thy heart shall throb and swell ; because (or when) the abitn- 
 dance of the sea shall be turned upon thee, the strength of nations 
 shall come unto thee. This translation exhibits the points of 
 agreement as well as of difference among interpreters in refer- 
 ence to this verse. All agree that it describes a great and 
 joyful change to be produced by the accession of the gentiles 
 to the church or chosen people, and the effect of this enlarge- 
 ment on the latter. The form of the first verb is ambiguous. 
 If rendered fear, it may denote the painful sensation which 
 often attends sudden joy, and which is certainly described in 
 the next clause. A fine parallel is quoted from Lucretius : 
 
 His tibi me rebus quaedam divina voluptas 
 Percipit atque hoiror. 
 
 The other meaning is sanctioned by all the ancient versions, and 
 
CHAPTER LX. 361 
 
 preferred bj many of tlie best interpreters. Upon can hardly be 
 a simple substitute for /o, but is rather intended to suggest the 
 same idea as when we speak of gifts or favours being showered 
 or lavished on a person. This force of the particle is well ex- 
 pressed in Lowth's translation, tchcn the riches of the. sea shall be 
 pou-red in upon thee, but with too little regard to the proper 
 meaning of the Plebrew verb. The next clause is a repetition 
 of the same thought, but without a figure. The most natural 
 interpretation of the verse is that which makes it a promise of 
 indefinite enlargement, comprehending both the persons and 
 the riches of the nations. Even literally understood, the 
 promise is intelligible and most welcome to the philanthropic 
 Chrisjtian, as affording means for the diffusion of the truth and 
 the conversion of the world. 
 
 6. A flood of camels shall cover thee, young camels (or drome- 
 daries) of Midian and Ephah, all of them from Shebd shall come, 
 gold and incense shall they bear, and the praises of Jehovah as 
 good news. This last form of expression is adopted in order 
 to convey the full force of the Hebrew verb, M'hich does not 
 mean simply to announce or even to announce with joy. but to 
 announce glad tidings. (See above, on ch, 40 : 9.) Retain- 
 ing this sense here, the word would seem to signify not the 
 direct praise of God, but the announcement of the fact that 
 otliers praised him, and the messengers would be described as 
 bringing to Jerusalem the news of the conversion of their 
 people. The literal translation of the first word throws light 
 upon the phrase shall cover thee, a term elsewhere applied to 
 water (e. g. ch. 11:9), and suggesting here the poetical idea 
 of a city not merely thronged but flooded with Arabian cara- 
 vans. ' The camel has been always so peculiarly associated 
 with the Arabs that they are described by Strabo as oxijvtKxt 
 Kuui,lo:')OOitoi They are here, according to Isaiah's practice, 
 represented by a group of ancestral names. Ephah was the 
 
 VOL. II. — 16 
 
362 CHAPTER LX. 
 
 eldest son of Midian, who was himself the son of Abraham 
 by Keturah and the brother of Jokshau the father of Sheba. 
 (Gen. 25 : 1-4.) The first two represent northern and cen- 
 tral Arabia, the third Arabia Felix, so called by the old 
 geographers because of the rich products which it furnished 
 to the northern traders, either from its own resources or as 
 an entrepot of Indian commerce. The queen of this country, 
 by whom Solomon was visited, brought with her gold, gems, 
 and spices in abundance (1 Kings 10:2), and we read else- 
 where of its frankincense ( Jer. 6 ; 20), its Pheniciau commerce 
 (Ezek. 27 : 29), and its caravans (Job 6 : 19), while those of 
 Midian are mentioned even in the patriarchal history (Gen. 
 37 : 28). It is a common opinion of interpreters that this 
 verse represents the east as joining in the acts of homage 
 and of tribute which the one before it had ascribed to the 
 west ; but it may well be doubted whether this distinctive 
 meaning can be put upon the terras sea and nations there em- 
 ployed, and the antithesis would hardly be in keeping with an- 
 other which appears to be designed between these two verses 
 and the eighth, as will be explained below. 
 
 7. All the fiocks of Kedar shall be gathered for thee, the rams of 
 Nebaioth shall minister to thee, they shall ascend with good-will 
 (or acceptably) my altar, and my house of beauty I loill beautify. 
 To the traders of Arabia with their caravans and precious wares 
 he now adds her shepherds with their countless flocks. Kedar, 
 the second son of Ishmael (Gen. 25 : 13), who represents Arabia 
 in ch. 21 : 16 and 42 : 11, is here joined for the same purpose 
 with his elder brother Nebaioth, obviously identical with the 
 Nabataei, the name given to the people of Arabia Petraea by 
 Strabo and Diodorus Siculus, who represent them as po.ssessL'd 
 of no wealth except flocks and herds, in which they were 
 extremely rich. Ezekiel also speaks of Tyre as trading with 
 Arabia and all the chiefs of Kedar in lainbs and rams and goats 
 
CHAPTER LX. 363 
 
 (Ezeli. 27 : 21.) These are here described as gathered in one 
 vast flock to Jerusalem, or rather for her, i. e. for her use or 
 service, which agrees best with what follows, and with the usao-e 
 of the Hebrew preposition. They are then, by a bold and 
 striking figure, represented as offering themselves, which is first 
 expressed by the general term serve or minister, and then more 
 unequivocally by declaring that they shall themselves ascend 
 the altar. 
 
 8. Who are these that fly as a cloud and as doves to their win- 
 dows? The ships expressly mentioned in the next verse are 
 here described in their first appearance at a distance, resembling 
 with their outspread sails and rapid course a fleecy cloud driven 
 by the wind, and a flight of doves returning to their young. 
 Both comparisons are elsewhere used as here to indicate rapidity 
 of motion. (Job 30 : 15. Ps. 55 : 6. Hos. 11:11. Jer. 4; 13.) 
 The last word in Hebrew denotes lattices or IziiicQdf windoivs. 
 
 9. Because for me the isles are uiaiting (or must unit), and the 
 ships of Tarshish in the first place, to bring thy sons from far, their 
 silver and their gold with them, for the name of Jehovah thy God, 
 and for the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified thee. This 
 verse contains a virtual though not a formal answer to the 
 question in the one before it. As if he had said. Wonder not 
 that these are seen approaching, for the whole world is only 
 awaiting my command to bring thy sons, etc. For the true 
 sense of isles see above on ch. 42 : 4, and for ships of Tarshish. 
 It is an interesting question, what we are to understand in this 
 connection by the ships of Tarshish, to which such extraordinary 
 prominence is given in the work of restoration. Here, as in 
 many former instances, the writer does not even accidentally 
 use any term explicitly denoting restoration or return, but only 
 such as are appropriate to mere accession and increase ab extra. 
 It cannot therefore be absurd, even if it is erroneous, to apply 
 
364 CHAPTER LX. 
 
 ■wliat is here said to the growth of the true Israel or chosen 
 people by the calling of the gentiles, with particular allusion to 
 the wealth of the commercial nations, from among whom the 
 elect of God, the sons of Zion. when they come to the embraces 
 of their unknown mother, shall come bringing their silver and 
 gold with them. 
 
 10. And strangers shall build thy tvalls, and their kings shall 
 serve thee; for in my wrath I smote thee, and in my favour I have 
 had mercy on thee. For the true sense of the phrase translated 
 strangers, see above, on ch. 56:3; and with the last clause com- 
 pare ch. 54 : 7, 8. The for relates to the whole of that clause 
 taken together, not to the first member by itself It was not 
 because God had been angry, but because he had been angry 
 and relented, that they were to be thus favoured. (See above, 
 on ch. 12 : 1.) The Prophet here foretells the agency of 
 strangers or new converts in promoting the safety and prosperity 
 of Israel, under figures borrowed from the old economy, and 
 implying a vicissitude or alternation of distress and joy, such as 
 Isaiah frequently exhibits. The building of the walls here 
 mentioned is the same as that in Ps, 51 : 20, (18,) and 147 : 2, 
 where it is no more to be literally understood than the captivity 
 of Zion in Ps. 14 : 7, or that of Job in ch. 42 : 10. 
 
 1 1. And thy gates shall open (or be open') continually^ day and 
 night thry shall not be shut, to bring into thee the strength ofnatiojis 
 and their kings led [captive or in triumph). According to some 
 writers, there is here a resumption of the figures in v. 6, and 
 the gates are represented as kept open day and night by the 
 perpetual influx of Arabian caravans. But without going back 
 to the peculiar imagery of that verse, we may understand the 
 one before us as relating to the influx of strangers and new 
 converts generally. The two ideas expressed ai'e those of un- 
 obstructed access and undisturbed tranquillity. Upon this 
 
CHAPTER LX. 365 
 
 vevse, perhaps combined with Zech. 14 : 7, is founded that 
 beautiful and grand description, tlie gales of U shall twl be shut 
 at all by daij, for there shall be no night there (Rev. 21 : 25). 
 Strength has the same ambiguity or latitude of meaning as in 
 V. 5. The sense of wealth or treasure is preferred by most 
 of the late writers, but some understand it to mean military 
 force. Better than either, because comprehending both, is 
 the Latin version copia^ to which we have no exact equivalent 
 in English. The meaning of the last clause is that earthly 
 sovereigns must unite in this adhesion to the true religion 
 either willingly or by compulsion. 
 
 12. For the nation and the kingdom which will not serve thee 
 shall perish, and the nations shall be desolated, desolated. Similar 
 threatenings are found in Zechariah 12:2, 3, and 14; 17, 
 in the last of which places there is a specific threat of drought, 
 as the appointed punishment. This has led sortie writers to 
 explain the last verb here as meaning to be utterly dried up or 
 parched. But in ch. 37 : 18, above, it is applied to nations in 
 the general sense of desolation. The for at the beginning of 
 the verse is commonly explained as introducing a reason for the 
 confluence of strangers just before predicted, namely, the desire 
 of escaping this destruction; but it may as well be understood 
 to give a reason for the promise of increase in general. The 
 gates of Zion shall be crowded, because all shall enter into them 
 but those who are to perish. The nations in the last clause may 
 mean the nations just described, or, as the common version 
 expresses it, those nations. But it may also mean, perhaps more 
 naturally, those who still continue to be gentiles, heathen, by 
 refusing to unite themselves with Israel. The threatening in 
 this verse is a very serious one, however understood ; but it is 
 also very strange and unaccountable if understood as meaning 
 that all nations shall be utterly destroyed which will not serve ^ 
 the Jews when restored to their own country. Even if we give 
 
366 CHAPTER LX . 
 
 to serve the mitigated sense of showing favour and assisting, 
 there is still something almost revolting in the penalty annexed 
 to the omission ; how much more if we understand it as denoting 
 actual subjection and hard bondage. The whole is rendered 
 clear by the assumption that the threatening was intended to 
 apply, in its most obvious and strongest sense, to all those 
 nations which refuse to be connected with the Church or Israel 
 of God. 
 
 13. The glory of Lebanon to thee shall come^ cypress^ pla7ie, and 
 box together, to adorn the place of my sanctuary, and the place of 
 my feet I will honour. The glory of Lebanon is its cedars. For 
 the other trees here mentioned, see above, on ch. 41 : 19, where, 
 as here, they are merely representatives of ornamental forest- 
 trees in general. The place of my sanctuary has been generally 
 understood to mean the sanctuary itself; but several of the 
 latest writers understand by it Jerusalem, as being the place 
 where the temple was erected. The same sense is put by some 
 writers on the place of my feet, that is, the place where I habitu- 
 ally stand or walk. (Ezek. 43 : 7.) The older writers generally 
 understand by it the ark of the covenant, considered as the 
 footstool of Jehovah (I Chron. 28 : 2. Ps. 99 : 5. 132 : 7) when 
 enthroned upon or between the cherubim (ch. 37 : 16. Ps. 80 : 1). 
 In favour of the wider sense is the analogy of ch. 66 : 1, where 
 the sam« description is applied to the whole earth, but in refer- 
 ence to heaven as the throne of God. Another topic upon which 
 interpreters have been divided, is the question whether the 
 adorning mentioned here is that of cultivated grounds by living 
 trees, or that of buildings by the use of the choicest kinds of 
 timber. The latter opinion has most commonly prevailed, but 
 the other is far more pleasing in itself and more in keeping with 
 the poetical tone of the whole context. In either case the 
 meaning of the figure is that the earthly residence of God 
 shall be invested with the most attractive forms of beauty. 
 
CHAPTER LX. 367 
 
 14. Theii shall come to thee bending the sons of thy oppressors, 
 then shall bow doion to the soles of thy feet all thy despisers, and 
 shall call thee the City of Jehovah, Zion the holy {place) of Israel 
 (or the Zion of the Holy One of Israel). For the same ideas 
 and expressions, see above, ch. 45 : 14 and 49 : 23. The act 
 described is the oriental prostration as a sign of the profound- 
 est reverence. The sons are mentioned either for the purpose 
 of contrasting the successive generations more emphatically, 
 or as a mere oriental idiom without distinctive meaning. In 
 favour of the latter supposition is the circumstance that it is 
 wanting in the other clause, where the despisers are themselves 
 represented as doing the same thing with the sons of the op- 
 pressors. These humbled enemies are represented as acknowl- 
 edging the claim of Zion to be recognized as the holy place and 
 dwelling of Jehovah. On the supposition hitherto assumed 
 as the basis of the exposition, this verse simply means that the 
 enemies of the Church shall recognize her in het true relation 
 to her divine Head. 
 
 15. Instead of thy being forsaketi and hated and with none 
 passing (through thee), I will place thee for a boast of perpetuity, 
 a joy of age and age (i. e. forever). The first word may ex- 
 press either simply a change of condition (^whereas), or the rea- 
 son of the change {because), or the further idea of equitable 
 compensation. The and at the beginning of the second clause 
 in Hebrew is commonly regarded as the sign of the apodosis, 
 and as such cannot be expressed in English. 
 
 16. And thou shall suck the milk of nations, and the breast of 
 kings shall thou suck, and thou shall know that 1. Jehovah, am 
 thy saviour, and {that) thy redeemer {is) the Mighty One of Jacob. 
 All interpreters agree in applying this verse to the influx of 
 wealth and power and whatever else the kings and nations of 
 the earth can contribute to the progress of the true religion. 
 
868 CHAPTER LX. 
 
 The figure is derived from Deut. 33 : 19, they shall suck iJie 
 abundance of the seas. The catachresis in the second clause is 
 not a mere rhetorical blunder, but an example of the sense 
 overmastering the style, a license the occasional use of which 
 is characteristic of a bold and energetic writer. It also serves 
 the useful purpose of showing how purely ti'opical the language 
 is. Each member of the last clause contains a subject and a 
 predicate, and therefore a complete proposition. The sense is 
 nut merely that Jehovah is the Miglity One of Jacob, but that 
 the Mighty God of Jacob is Israel's redeemer, and the self- 
 existent everlasting- God his saviour. 
 
 17. Instead of brass (or copper) I ivill bring gold, and instead 
 of iron I will bring silver, and instead of loood brass, and instead 
 of stones iron, and I will place (or make) thy government peace and 
 thy rulers righteousness. The thought which is naturally sug- 
 gested by the words is that all things shall be changed for the 
 better. The change described is not a change in kind, i. e. 
 from bad to good, but in degree, i e from good to better ; be- 
 cause the same things which appear to be rejected in the first 
 clause are expressly promised in the second. See a similar 
 gradation in ch. 30 : 26. Zech. 14 : 20. 1 Cor. 3 : 12. 15 : 41. 
 The last clause resolves the figure into literal expressions, and 
 thus shows that the promise has respect not to money but to 
 moral advantages, fr^ps properly means office, magistracy, 
 government, here put for those who exercise it, like nobility, 
 ministry, and other terms in English. (Compare the Hebrew 
 of Ezek. 9 : 1. 2 Kings 11 : 18.) Q'^'i'Sb, which has commonly 
 a bad sense, is here used for magistrates or rulers in general, 
 for the purpose of suggesting, that instead of tyrants or exact- 
 ors the people should now be under equitable government. 
 
 18. There shall no more be heard violence in thy land, desola- 
 tion and ruin in thy borders (or within thy bounds) ; and thou, 
 
CHAPTER LX. 369 
 
 shall call salvation thy walls, and thy gat-^s praise. The most 
 natural explanation of the last clause is that which makes it 
 mean that the walls shall afiFord safety (ch 26 : 1) and the 
 gates occasion of praise Some understand by praise the praise 
 of God for her continued safety : others the praise or fame of 
 her defences, considered either as arising from victorious re:-ist- 
 ance to assault, or as preventing it. Thou shalt call, as in 
 many other cases, means, thou shalt have a right and reason so 
 to call them. With this verse compare ch. 65 : 19-25. 
 
 19. Ko more shall he to tJice the sun for a light by clay, and for 
 brightness the moon shall nut shine to thee^ and Jehovah shall be- 
 come thy everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Some regard 
 this merely as a figurative promise of prosperity, of which 
 light is a natural and common emblem. Others understand it 
 as a promise of God's residence among his people, clothed in 
 such transcendent brightness as to make the li^ht of the sun 
 and the moon useless. The true sense of the figures seems to 
 be, that all natural sources of illumination shall be swallowed 
 up in the clear manifestation of the presence, power, and will 
 of God. With this verse compare Rev. 21 : 23. 22 : 5. 
 
 20. Thy sun shall set no more., and thy moon shall not be with- 
 drawn ; for Jishovah shall be unto thee for an eternal light, and 
 compkted the days of thy mourning. There is no need of suppos- 
 ing any want of consistency between this verse and that be- 
 fore it, nor even that the Prophet gives a new turn to his meta- 
 phor. Thy su?i shall set no more is evidently tantamount to 
 saying, thou shalt no more have a sun that sets or a moon that 
 withdraws herself, because etc. The active verb rex is used 
 in the same way by Joel, where he says that the stars uilhdraw 
 their brightness, i. e. cease to shine. The expression is generic, 
 and may comprehend all failure or decrease of light, whether 
 by setting, waning, or eclipse, or by the temporary intervention 
 
 16* 
 
3'70 CHAPTER LX. 
 
 of a cloud. The last words of this verse furnish a key to the 
 whole description, by identifying joy with light, and grief with 
 darkness. Compare with this verse ch. 25 : 8. Zech. 14:7. 
 Rev. 7 : 16. 21:4; and with the phrase, ^ays of mour)u?ig-j Gen. 
 27: 41. 
 
 21. A7id t hi/ people, all of them righteous, forever shall inherit 
 the earth, the branch (or shoot) of my planting, the work of my 
 hands, to glorify myself (or to be glorified). Compare ch. 4 : 2. 
 33:24. 35:8. 52 : 1. Rev. 21:7,27. The first clause may 
 also be read as two distinct propositions, thy people all of them 
 are (or shall be) righteous, forever they shall inherit the earth. 
 According to the literal interpretation, so called, this is a prom- 
 ise that the Jews shall possess the Holy Land forever. But 
 even granting land to be a more literal and exact translation, 
 which it is not, still the usage of the Scriptures has attached to 
 this prophetic formula a much higher meaning, the possession 
 of the land being just such a type or symbol of the highest fu- 
 ture blessings as the exodus from Egypt is of ultimate deliver- 
 ance, or the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah of sudden, con- 
 dign, irretrievable destruction. But in favour of the wider ver- 
 sion, earth, is the analogy of ch. 49 : 8, where Israel is repre- 
 sented as occupying and restoring the desolate heritages of the 
 whole earth. The dependence of God's people on himself for 
 the origin and sustentation of their spiritual life is forcibly ex- 
 pressed by the figure of a plant which he has planted (Ps. 92 : 
 13. Matt. 15 : 13. John 15 : 1, 2), and by that of a work which 
 he has wrought (ch. 29 : 23. 43 : 7), in reference to the last of 
 which the Apostle says (Eph. 2: 10), we are his workmanship, 
 created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before 
 ordained thM we should walk in them ; and in reference to the 
 first, our Lord himself says (John 15:8), herein is my Father 
 glorified that ye bear much fruit, so shall ye be my disciples ; and 
 again, with an entire change of figure (Matt. 5 : 16), let your 
 
CHAPTER LX. 371 
 
 light so shi?ie before men that they may see your good works and 
 glorify your Father which is in heaven. The same ultimate design 
 is set forth in the words of the verse before us, which predicts 
 the elevation of the church to its normal or ideal state, a change 
 of which we may already see the rudiments, however far we 
 may be yet from its final consummation. 
 
 22. The little one shall become a thousand^ and the small one a 
 strong nation ; I, Jehovah, in its time will hasten it. This verse 
 is simply a description of increase, like that in ch. 26 : 15. 49 : 
 19, 20. etc. The pronouns in the last clause refer to the whole 
 preceding series of prophecies. (Compare ch. 43 : 13. 46 : 11.) 
 The his in the common version is equivalent to its in modern 
 English, a posses.sive form apparently unknown to the transla- 
 tors of the Bible. I tcill haste?i it has reference to the time or- 
 dained for the event, or may denote the suddenness of its oc- 
 currence, without regard to its remoteness or the length of the 
 intervening period. (See above, on ch. 13 : 22.) The Jerusa- 
 lem or Zion of this passage is not the primitive or apostolic 
 church, to which the description is in many points inapplicable ; 
 whereas it is perfectly appropriate to the New Jerusalem, the 
 Christian Church, not as it was, or is, or will be at any period 
 of its history exclusively, but viewed in reference to the whole 
 course of that history, and in contrast with the many disadvan- 
 tages and hardships of the old economy. 
 
372 CHATTER LXI. 
 
 CHAPTEli LXI. 
 
 After describing the new condition of the Church, he again 
 introduces the great personage by whom the change is to be 
 brought about. His mission and its object are described by 
 himself in vs. 1-3. Its grand result shall be the restoration 
 of a ruined world, v. 4. The church, as a mediator between 
 God and the revolted nations, shall enjoy their service and 
 support, vs. 5, G. The shame of God's people shall be changed 
 to honour, v. 7. His righteousness is pledged to this eflfect 
 v. 8. The church, once restricted to a-single nation, shall be 
 recognized and honoured among all, v. 9. lie triumphs in the 
 prospect of the universal spread of truth and righteousness, 
 vs. 10, 11. 
 
 1. The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah [is) upon me. because Jeho- 
 vah hath anointed me to bring good neios to the humble, he hath 
 sent me to bind vp the broken in heart, to proclaim to captives free- 
 dom, and to the bound opeti opening (of the eyes or of the prison- 
 doors). Unction in the Old Testament is not a mere sign of 
 consecration to oSce, whether that of a Prophet, Priest, or 
 King (1 Kings 19 : 16 Lev. 8 : 12 1 Kings 1 : 39), but the 
 symbol of spiritual influences, by which the recipient was both 
 qualified and designated for his work. (See 1 Sam. 10 : 1, 6. 
 16: 13.) The office here described approaches nearest to the 
 prophetic. The specific functions mentioned have all occurred 
 and been explained before. (See above, on ch, 42 : 1-7. 48:16. 
 49 : 1-9. 50 : 4. 51 : 16 ) The proclamation of liberty has ref- 
 erence to the year of jubilee under the Mosaic law (Lev. 25 : 10, 
 13. 27 : 24. Jer. 34 : 8-10), which is expressly called the year 
 of liberty or liberation by Ezekiel (46 : 17). For reasons which 
 have been already given, the only natural sense which can be 
 
CHAPTER LXI. '3l3 
 
 put upon the last words is that of spiritual blindness and illu- 
 mination. (See above, on cb. 42 : 7. 50 : 10.) With this ques- 
 tion is connected another as to the person here introduced as 
 speaking. Many orthodox interpreters regard the question as 
 decided by our Lord himself in the synagogue at Nazareth, 
 "when, after reading this verse and a portion of the next from 
 the book of the Prophet Isaiah, he began to say unto them, this day 
 is the scripture fulfilled in your ears. (Luke 4: 16-22.) The 
 brevity of this discourse, compared with the statement which 
 immediately follows, that the people bare him witness, and tcon- 
 dered at the-gracious words which proaeded out of his mouth, and 
 connected with the singular expression that he began, thus to 
 say unto them, makes it probable tliat we have only the begin- 
 ning or a summary of what the Saviour said on that occasion. 
 That the whole is not recorded may however be regarded as a 
 proof that his discourse contained no interpretation of the place 
 before us which may not be gathered from the few words left 
 on record, or from the text and context of the prophecy itself. 
 Now it must be admitted that the words of Christ just quoted 
 do not necessarily import that he is the direct and only subject 
 of the prophecy ; for even if the subject were Isaiah, or the 
 Prophets as a class, or Israel, yet if at the same time the effects 
 foretold were coming then to pass, our. Lord might say, this day 
 is this scrijiture fulfilled in your ears. Upon this ground some 
 adopt the application to Isaiah, without disowning the authority 
 of Christ as an interpreter of prophecy. But this restriction 
 of the passage is at variance with what we have already seen to 
 be the true sense of the parallel places (ch. 42 : \-T and ch. 
 49 ; 1-9), where the form of expression is the same, and where 
 all agree that the same speaker is brought forward. If it has 
 been concluded on sufficient grounds that the ideal person there 
 presented is the Messiah, the same conclusion cannot, without 
 arbitrary violence, be avoided here, and thus the prophecy it- 
 self interprets our Lord's words instead of being interpreted by 
 
374 CHAPTER LXI. 
 
 them. This in the present case is more satisfactory, because it 
 cuts off all objection drawn from the indefinite character of his 
 expressions. At the same time, and by parity of reasoning, a 
 subordinate and secondary reference to Israel as a representa- 
 tive of the Messiah, and to the Prophets as in some sense the 
 representatives of Israel as well as of Messiah in their prophetic 
 character, must be admitted ; and thus we are brought again 
 to Christ as the last and the ideal Prophet, and to the ground 
 assumed by the profound and far-seeing Calvin, for which he 
 has been severely censured even by Calvini&tic writers, and 
 which has been called a concession to the Jews instead of a 
 concession to candour, faith, good taste, and common sense. 
 
 2. To proclaim a year of favour for Jehovah and a day of ven- 
 geance for our God^ to comfort all mourners. Clement of Alexan- 
 dria inferred from the use of the word year in this verse that 
 our Lord's public ministry was only one year in duration, a 
 conclusion wholly irreconcilable with the gospel history. The 
 expression is a poetical equivalent to day^ suggested by the 
 previous allusion to the year of jubilee. The same two words 
 occur as parallels in ch. 34 : 8. 63 : 4, while in ch. 49 : 8 we 
 have the general expression tivie of favour. For the meaning 
 of the last words of the verse, see above, on ch 49 : 13 and 
 57 : 18. They may either be descriptive of sufferers, as the 
 persons needing consolation, or of penitents, as those who shall 
 alone receive it. 
 
 3. To clothe Zmi's mourners., to give them a crown instead of 
 ashes., the oil of joy for mom-ning, a garment of praise for a faint 
 spirit ; and it shall be called to them (or they shall be called) the 
 oaks of righteousness, the planting of Jehovah (i. e. planted by 
 Jehovah) to glorify himself. The construction seems to be inter- 
 rupted and resumed, a practice not unfrequent with Isaiah. 
 Of the many senses which might here be attached to the first 
 
CHAPTER LX I. 375 
 
 verb, the most appropriate is that of putting on, as applied to 
 dress, though with another particle, in Gen. 37 : 34. 41 : 42, 
 and often elsewhere. The English version has appoint, which 
 is justified by usage, but loss suitable in this case than the one 
 above proposed. By the repetition of the word mourners, this 
 verse is wrought into the foregoing context in a mode of which 
 we have had several examples. (See above, on ch. 60 : 15.) 
 Zion^s mourners may be simply those who mourn in Zion, or 
 those who mourn for her (ch. 66 ; 10); but as these ideas are 
 not incompatible, both may be included. (Compare ch. 57 : 18. 
 60 : 20.) That unguents were not used by mourners but re- 
 joicers, may be learned from a comparison of 2 Sam. 14 : 2 
 with Ps. 23 : 5. The mixture not only of metaphors but also 
 of literal and figurative language in this verse, shows clearly 
 that it has respect to spiritual not external changes. (Com- 
 pare ch. 44 : 4. 60 : 21.) 
 
 4. And they shall build up the ruins of antiquity, the desolations 
 of the ancients they shall raise, and shall renew the cities of ruin 
 (i. e. ruined cities), the desolations of age and age. Both the 
 thought and language of this verse have been explained already. 
 (See above, on ch. 49 : 8. 54 : 3. 58 : 12.) The verb renew is 
 applied as in 2 Chr. 15 : 8. 24 : 4. 
 
 5. Then shall stand strangers and feed your flocks, and the 
 children of outland {shall be) your ploughmen and your vine- 
 dressers. As to the meaning of this prophecy, interpreters are 
 much divided. Some seem to take it in the strictest sense as a 
 promise that the heathen should be slaves to the Jews. (See 
 above, on ch. 14 : 2.) Others understand it as meaning that 
 the Jews should confine themselves to spiritual services, and 
 leave mere secular pursuits to the gentiles. Nearly allied to 
 this is the explanation that the Jews and gentiles are described 
 as sustaining the relation of priests and laymen to each other. 
 
376 CHAPTER LXI. 
 
 Some qualify it still more by describing the relation to be tbat 
 of the Levites to the other tribes, and even this restricted by 
 the promise in oh. 66 : 21. But that verse shows conclusively 
 that no exclusive promise of Levitical or sacerdotal rank to the 
 Jews, as distinguished from the gentiles, can be here intended. 
 This is confirmed by the language of Peter, who applies the 
 promise of the next verse to the Christian church (1 Pet. 2 : 5). 
 The only way in which all these seeming discrepancies can be 
 reconciled, is by supposing, as we have done hitherto, that even 
 in Ex. 19 : 6 the promise is addressed to Israel not as a nation 
 but a church ; so that when the Jewish people ceased to bear 
 this character, they lost all claim to the fulfilment of the 
 promise, which is still in force and still enures to the benefit 
 of those to whom it was originally given, namely, the Israel of 
 God, that is to say, his church or chosen people. That the 
 holders of this office might in strict accordance with the usage 
 of Scripture and of this book be described as shepherds, hus- 
 bandmen, and vinedressers, may be seen by a comparison of 
 oh 3 : 14. 5:1. 11 : 6. 27 : 2. 30 : 23, 24. 40 : 11 with Acts 
 20 : 28. 1 Cor. 3:9. 9:7, and with the imagery of our 
 Saviour's parables. It does not follow necessarily, however, 
 that the office here assigned to strangers and foreigners is that 
 of spiritual guides, much less that they are doomed to a de- 
 grading servitude. The simplest explanation of the verse is 
 that which understands it as descriptive not of subjugation but 
 of intimate conjunction, as if he had said, those who are now 
 strangers and foreigners shall yet be sharers in your daily occu- 
 pations and intrusted with your dearest interests. By stran- 
 gers we are then to understand not Gentiles as opposed to Jews, 
 but all who have been aliens from the covenant of mercy and 
 the church of God. 
 
 6. And ye (or more emphatically, as for you), the priests of 
 Jehovah shall ye be called^ the mmUlers of our God shall be said to 
 
CHAPTER LXI. 377 
 
 yoxb (or of i/ou), the strength of nations shall ye eat^ and in thier 
 glory shall ye substitute yourselves (or into their glory shall ye 
 enter by exchange). Most of the earlier writers agree sub- 
 stantially in the version of the last word, which they regard as 
 an orthographical variation of ^laxn^ in Ps. 94 : 4, where it 
 seems to denote talking of one's self, and, by a natural transi- 
 tion, glorying or boasting. But all the latest writers have gone 
 back to the explanation of the word as denoting '• mutual 
 exchange or substitution.' This word is important as deter- 
 mining the sense, not only of the whole verse, but of that before 
 it, by requiring both to be considered as descriptive not of ex- 
 altation and subjection, but of mutual exchange, implying inti- 
 mate association. Some, it is true, attempt to carry out the 
 first idea even here, by making this last word denote an abso- 
 lute exclusive substitution, i. e. the dispossession of the Gentiles 
 by the Jews. But the context, etymology, and usage, all com- 
 bine to recommend the idea of reciprocal exchange or mutual 
 substitution. Interpreters, in seeking a factitious antithesis 
 between the verses, have entirely overlooked the natural an- 
 tithesis between the clauses of this one verse. They have sup- 
 posed the contrast intended to be that between servitude and 
 priesthood : ' they shall be your servants, and ye shall be their 
 priests.' But we have seen already that the fifth verse cannot, 
 in consistency with eh. 66 : 10, denote anything but intimate 
 conjunction and participation. The true antithesis is: 'ye 
 shall be their priests, and they shall be your purveyors ; you 
 shall supply their spiritual wants, and they shall supply your 
 temporal wants ' This explanation of the verse, to which we 
 have been naturally led by philological induction and the con- 
 text, coincides, in a manner too remarkable to be considered 
 accidental, with the words of Paul in writing to the Romans of 
 the contribution made by the churches of Macedonia and Achaia 
 for the poor saints at Jerusalem. // halh pleased them verily, and 
 llieir debtors they are (i. e. they have chosen to do it, and indeed 
 
378 CHAPTER LXI. 
 
 were bound to do it) ; for if the gentiles have been made partakers 
 of their spiritual things, their duly is also to minister unto them in 
 carnal things. (Rom. 15 : 27.) This may seem, however, to 
 determine the object of address to be the Jews ; but no such 
 inference can fairly be deduced from the words of the Apostle, 
 who is only making one specific application of the general truth 
 taught by the Prophet. What was true of the gentile converts 
 then, in relation to the Jewish Christians as their mother-church, 
 is no less true of the heathen now, or even of the converted 
 Jews, in reference to the Christians who impart the gospel to 
 them. The essential idea in both places is, that the church, 
 the chosen people, or the Israel of God. is charged with the 
 duty of communicating spiritual things to those without, and 
 entitled in return to an increase of outward strength from those 
 who thus become incorporated with it. But it is not merely 
 in this lower sense that the people of God are, in the law 
 and the gospel, as well as in the prophets, represented as 
 the ministers and priests of God. Not only as instructors 
 and reclaimers of the unbelieving world do they enjoy this 
 sacred dignity, but also as the only representatives of their 
 Great High Priest, in him and through him possessing free 
 access to the fountain of salvation and the throne of grace. 
 (Heb. 4 : 14-16.) In this respect, as in every other which 
 concerns the method of salvation and access to God, there is no 
 distinction of Jew and Gentile, any more than of Greek and 
 barbarian, male and female, bond and free ; but all are Christ's, 
 and Christ is God's, and all alike are priests and ministers of 
 God. 
 
 7. Instead of your shame (ye shall have) double, and (instead 
 of their) confusion they shall celebrate their portion ; therefore in 
 their land shall they inherit double, everlasting joy shall be to them. 
 It is not impossible that the Prophet has in view the same two 
 classes who are distinctly mentioned in the preceding verses. 
 
CHAPTER LXI. 379 
 
 Double is used indefinitely to denote a large proportion. Com- 
 pare ch. 40 : 2. 
 
 8. For I am Jehovah, loving justice, hating (that which is) 
 taken away unjustly, and I will give their hire truly, and an 
 everlasting covenant I strike for them. This verse is commonly 
 applied to the violence practised upon Israel by the Babylo- 
 nians. (Compare ch. 42 : 24.) It is rather an enunciation of 
 the general truth, that the divine justice renders absolutely 
 necessary the destruction of his obstinate enemies, and the de- 
 liverance of his people from oppression. (Compare 2 Thess. 
 1 : 6-8.) 
 
 9. Then shall be known among the 7iations their seed, and their 
 issue in the midst of the peoples. All seeing them shall acknowledge 
 them, that they are a seed Jehovah has blessed. The first clause 
 means that they shall be known among the nations in their 
 true character as a seed or race highly favoured of Jehovah. 
 Issue means progeny or offspring, as in ch. 48 : 19. In order 
 to apply this to the restored Jews, we must depart from the 
 literal and obvious import of among and in the midst, and un- 
 derstand them as denoting merely that they shall be heard of; 
 for how can they be said to be among and in the midst of the 
 nations at the very time when they are gathered from them to 
 their own land. And yet the whole connection seems to favour 
 the first meaning, and to show that they are here described as 
 being scattered through the nations, and there recognized by, 
 clear distinctive marks as being God's peculiar people, just 
 as the Jews took knowledge of Peter and John that they had 
 been with Jesus. (Acts 4 : 13.) The later writers liken the 
 construction to that in Gen. I ; 4, God saw the light that it 
 was good ; not simply saw that the light was good, but saw 
 the light itself, and in so doing saw that it was good. So here 
 the meaning is not merely that all seeing them shall acknowl- 
 
380 CHAPTER LXI. 
 
 edge that they are a seed, etc., but that all seeing them shall 
 recognize them, by recognizing the effects and evidences of the 
 divine blessing. I'he ellipsis of the relative is the same in 
 Hebrew and colloquial English The true application of the 
 verse is to the Israel of God in its diifusion among all the 
 nations of the earth, who shall be constrained by what they 
 see of their spirit, character, and conduct, to acknowledge that 
 they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed. The glorious 
 fulfilment of this promise in its original and proper sense, may 
 be seen already in the influence exerted by the eloquent exam- 
 ple of the missionary on the most ignorant and corrupted 
 heathen, without waiting for the future restoration of the Jews 
 to the laud of their fathers. 
 
 10. (/ to ill) joy, I ivill joy in Jehovah^ let my soul exult in my 
 God ; for he hath clothed me with garments of salvation^ a mantle 
 of righteousness has he put on me, as the bridegroom adjusts his 
 j')rieslly crown, and as the bride arrays her jewels. These are 
 the words of the same speaker who appears at the beginning 
 of this chapter and the next. The reference in the last clause 
 is no doubt to the sacerdotal mitre, which was probably re- 
 garded as a model of ornamental head-dress, and to which the 
 Hebrew word is explicitly applied (Ex. 39 : 28. Ez. 44 : 18). 
 Salvation and righteousness are here combined, as often else- 
 where, to denote the cause and the effect, the justice of God 
 as displayed in the salvation of his people. (See v. 8, above.) 
 Or righteousness may be referred to the people, as denoting 
 the practical justification afforded by their signal deliverance 
 from suffering. 
 
 1 1. For as the earth puts forth its growth, and as the garden 
 makes its plants to grow, so shall the Lord Jehovah make to grow 
 righteousness and praise before all the nations. Compare ch, 
 45 : 8 and Ps. 85 : 11, 12. The exact construction of the first 
 
CHAPTER LXII. 381 
 
 clause may be, ZiA'e the earth {ivhich) puts forth ; or the idiom 
 may resemble that in vulgar English which employs uLe as a 
 conjuuctiou uo less than a preposition, ///.;:' the earth puts forth. 
 By praise we are to understand the manifestation of exc 11- nee 
 in general, by righteousness that of moral excellence in par- 
 ticular. There is nothing either in the text or context to 
 restrict this verse to the former restoration of the Jews from 
 the Babylonian exile, any more than to their future restoration 
 to the Holy Land. The glory of the promise is its univer- 
 sality, in which the fulfilment will no doubt be coextensive 
 with the prophecy itself 
 
 CHAPTER LXII. 
 
 The words of the great Deliverer are continued from the 
 foregoing chapter. He will not rest until the glorious change 
 in the condition of his people is accomplished, v. 1. They 
 shall be recognized by kings and nations as the people of Je- 
 hovah, vs. 2, 3. She who seemed to be forsaken is still his 
 spouse, vs. 4. 5. The church is required to watch and pray 
 for the fulfilment of the promise, vs. 6, 7. God has sworn to 
 protect her and supply her wants, vs. 8, 9. Instead of a 
 single nation, all the nations of the earth shall flow unto her, 
 V. 10. The good news of salvation shall no longer be confined, 
 but universally diflused, v. 11. The glory of the church is 
 the redemption of the world, v. 12. 
 
 1. For Zion^s sake I will 7iot be still, and for Jerusalem's sake 
 I will not rest, until her righteousness go forth as brightness, and 
 her salvation as a lamp {that) burneth. It has been disputed 
 
382 CHAPTER LXII. 
 
 whether these are the words of the Messiah or the Prophet, 
 who frequently assumes the person and expresses the feelings 
 of different characters in this great drama, without any ex- 
 press intimation of the change in the text itself Perhaps 
 the most satisfactory conclusion is, that if the Prophet here 
 speaks of himself, he also speaks by implication of his asso- 
 ciates and successors in the office, not excluding Christ as the 
 last and greatest of the series ; so that both exegetical hy- 
 potheses may in this way be combined and reconciled. If an 
 exclusive subject must be chosen, it is no doubt the same as 
 in the first verse of the foregoing chapter. The sense of 
 righteousness and salvation is the same as in ch. 61 ; 10 and 
 elsewhere. The going forth here mentioned is the same as in 
 Ps. 19:6, and brightness may specifically signify the dawn 
 of day or the rising of the sun. as in Prov. 4:18. 
 
 2. And nations skall see thy righteousness^ and all kings thy 
 glory ; and there shall be called to thee a new vmme, tvhich the 
 mouth of Jehovah shall utter (or pronounce distinctly). The 
 mention of kings is intended to imply the submission even of 
 the highest ranks to this new power. (Compare ch. 49 : 7, 23. 
 52 : 15.) The idea evidently is that they shall witness it and 
 stand astonished. The neio name may be that which is after- 
 wards stated in v. 4, or the expression may be understood more 
 generally as denoting change of condition for the better. (See 
 above, ch. 1 : 26. 60 : 14, and compare Jer. 3 : 16. 33 : 16. 
 Ezek. 48 : 35. Rev. 2:17. 3 : 12.) Some suppose an allusion 
 to the change in the name of the chosen people from Jew to 
 Christian ; but the former name is still applied to the spiritual 
 Israel, in Rom. 2 : 29 and Rev. 2 : 9. (See below, on ch. 65 : 
 15.) Others suppose an allusion to the ancient practice of 
 imposing new names upon towns which have been ruined and 
 rebuilt. 
 
CHAPTER LXII. 383 
 
 3. And thou shall be a crown of beauty in Jehovah'' s hand^ and 
 a diadem of royalty in the pahi of thy God. The only diffi- 
 culty in this verse has respect to the crown's being twice em- 
 phatically placed in the hand and not upon the head. Some 
 suppose that Jehovah is here represented as holding the 
 crown in his hand to admire it ; or for the purpose of exhibit- 
 ing it to others ; or for that of crowning himself Others take 
 in the hand of God to mean at his disposal, or bestowed by 
 him. This is a good sense in itself ; but upon whom could 
 Zion or Jerusalem be thus bestowed? Others again think 
 it obvious that as it would be incongruous to place the 
 crown upon Jehovah's head ; the only place remaining was 
 the hand. 
 
 ' 4. ]Vo more shall it be called, to thee (shalt thou be called) 
 Azubah [Forsaken)^ and thy land shall ?io more be called Shevia- 
 mah [Desolate) ; but thou, shalt be called Uephzibah (My delight is 
 in her), and thy land Beulah [Married), for JeJ/ovah delights in 
 thee, and thy land shall be married. The joyful change of con- 
 dition is further expressed, in the Prophet's favourite manner, 
 by significant names. The common version not only mars the 
 beauty of the passage, but renders it in some degree unintel- 
 ligible to the English reader, by translating the first two 
 names and retaining the others in their Hebrew dress. It is 
 obvious that all four should be treated alike, i. e that all the 
 Hebrew forms should be retained or none. It is probable that 
 they were all familiar to the Jews as female names in real life. 
 This we know to have been the case with two of them : the 
 mother of Jehoshaphat was named Azubah (1 Kings 22 : 42), 
 and Manasseh's mother Hephzibah (2 Kings 21: 1). It is 
 better therefore to retain the Hebrew forms, in order to give 
 them an air of reality as proper names, and at the same time 
 to render them intelligible by translation. In the last clause 
 there is reference to the primary meaning of the verb, viz. that 
 
384 CHAPTER LXII. 
 
 of owning or possessing- ; and as the inhabitants of towns are 
 sometimes called in Hebrew their possessors, Di^sn, a noun de- 
 rived from this very verb (Josh. 24 : 11. Judg. 9:2. 2 !-am. 
 21 . 12 compared with 2 Sam. 2 : 4), its use here would sug- 
 gest, as at least one meaning of the promise, thy land shall be 
 inhabited. 
 
 5. JFor (as) a young man marrieth a virgin, (so) shall Ihy sons 
 marry thee, and (with) the joy of a bridegroom over a bride shall 
 thy God rejoice over thee. The particles of comparison are 
 omitted, or perhaps it would be more correct to say that the 
 comparison is only an implied one, and that the strict transla- 
 tion is, ' a young man marrieth a virgin, thy sons shall marry 
 thee,' leaving the copula and so to be suggested by the con- 
 text. So in the other clause there is no absolute need of as- 
 suming an ellipsis ; since the Hebrew idiom admits of such ex- 
 pressions as joying the joy of a bridegroom, just as we may 
 say in English a man lives the life of a saint, or dies the death of 
 the righteous, both which combinations occur in our translation 
 of the Bible. (Gal. 2 : 20. Num. 23 : 10.) 
 
 6, 7. On thy walls, oh Jerusalem, I have set watchmen ; all the 
 day and all the night long they shall not be silent. Ye that re- 
 mind Jehovah, let there be no rest to you, and give no rest to him, 
 until he establish and until he place Jerusalem a fraise in the earth. 
 The promise is a general one, or rather the command that 
 those who are constituted guardians of the church should be 
 importunate in prayer to God on her behalf Di-i''3T52ri ad- 
 mits of three interpretations, all consistent with Isaiah's usage. 
 In ch. 36 : 3, 22 it seems to mean an official recorder or histo- 
 riographer. In ch. 66 : 3 it means one burning incense as a 
 memorial oblation. Hence tr^STX the name used in the law of 
 Moses to denote such an offering. (See Lev. 2:2. 5 : 12. 24: 
 7. Num. 5 : 26.) In ch. 43 : 26 the verb means to remind God 
 
CHAPTER LXII. 385 
 
 of something which he seems to have forgotten ; and as this is 
 an appropriate description of importunate intercession, it is 
 here entitled to the preference. 
 
 8. Sworn hath Jehovah by his right hand and by his arm of 
 stroiglh, If I give thy corn any more as food to thine enemies^ 
 and if the sons of the outland shall drink thy new wine ichich 
 thou hast laboured in^ (I am not God). On the elliptical formula 
 of swearing, see above, on ch. 22 : 14. The declaration though 
 conditional in form is in fact an absolute negation. In swear- 
 ing by his hand and arm, the usual symbols of strength, he 
 pledges his omnipotence for the fulfilment of the promise. ' As 
 sure as I am almighty, thou shalt suffer this no more.' 
 
 9.- For those gathering it shall eat it and shall praise Jehovah, 
 and those collecting it shall drink it in my holy courts (or in the 
 courts of my sanctuary). That these are but types and emblems 
 of abundance, and security, and liberty of worship, is acknowl- 
 edged even by that school of interpreters supposed to be most 
 strenuous in favour of attaching to these promises their strict- 
 est sense. 
 
 10. Pass, pass through the gates, clear the way of the people, 
 raise high, raise high the highway, free [it) from stones, raise a 
 banner (or a signal) ocer the nations. The analogy of ch. 57 : 14 
 makes it probable that what is here described is the entrance of 
 the nations into Zion or the church, an event so frequently and 
 fully set forth in the preceding chapters. The gates are the gates 
 of the ideal Zion or Jerusalem, the passage is an inward not an 
 outward passage, and the exhortation of the text is one to all 
 concerned, or all who have the opportunity, to take away ob- 
 structions and facilitate their entrance. 
 
 1 1 . Behold, Jehovah has caused it to be heard to the end of t/ie 
 VOL. II. — 17 
 
386 CHAPTER LXI I. 
 
 earthy Say ye to the daughter of Zion, behold, thy sahation 
 Cometh ; behold, his reward is with him and his hire before him. 
 There is some doubt as to the connection of the clauses. It 
 may be questioned whether the verse contains the words ut- 
 tered by Jehovah to the end of the earth, and if so, whether 
 these continue to the end of the verse, or only to the third kc- 
 hold. But the plain sense of the words, the context here, and 
 the analogy of ch. 40 : 10, are all completely satisfied by the 
 hypothesis that the Messiah (or Jehovah) is here described as 
 coming to his people, bringing with him a vast multitude of 
 strangers or new converts, the reward of his own labours, and 
 at the same time the occasion of a vast enlargement to his 
 church. At the same time, let it be observed that this hypoth- 
 esis is not one framed for the occasion, without reference or 
 even in opposition to the previous explanation of passages in 
 every point resembling this, but one suggested at the outset of 
 the book, and found iipon comparison, at every step of the in- 
 terpretation, to be more satislactory than any other. 
 
 12. And they shall call them the Holy People, the redeevied of 
 Jehovah, and thou shalt be called Derushah (sought for)^ Ir-lo- 
 neezabah {City not forsaken). The first verb is indefinite, they 
 (i. e. men) shall call ; hence the parallel expression has the 
 passive form. The distinction here so clearly made by the 
 use of the second and third pei'sous, is supposed by the modern 
 Germans to ba that between the city and her returning citi- 
 zens ; but this, as we have seen repeatedly before, involves a 
 constant vacillation between different senses of Jerusalem and 
 Zion in the foregoing context. The only supposition which 
 can be consistently maintained, is that it always means the 
 city, but the city considered merely as a representative or sign 
 of the whole system and economy, of which it was the visible 
 centre. The true distinction is between the church or chosen 
 people as it is, and the vast accessions yet to be received from 
 
CHAPTER LX I II. 387 
 
 the world around it. Even the latter shall be honoured with 
 the name of Holy People, while the church itself, becoming 
 coextensive with the world, shall cease to be an object of con- 
 tempt or disregard to God or man. The sense of sought for 
 seems to be determined by the parallel description in Jer, 
 30: 14, as expressing the opposite of the complaint in ch. 
 49: 14. 
 
 CHAPTER LXIII. 
 
 The influx of the gentiles into Zion having been described 
 in the preceding verses, the destruction of her enemies is now 
 sublimely represented as a sanguinary triumph of Jehovah or 
 the Messiah, vs. 1-6. The Prophet then supposes the catas- 
 trophe already past, and takes a retrospective view of God's 
 compassions towards his people, and of their unfaithfulness 
 during the old economy, vs. 7-14. He then assumes the tone 
 of earnest supplication, such as might have been offered by 
 the believing Jews when all seemed lost in the destruction of 
 their commonwealth and temple, vs. 15-19. 
 
 1. Who {is) this coming from Edovi^ bright {cis to his) garments 
 from Bozrah, this one adorned in his apparel^ bending in the 
 abundance of his strength? 7, speaking in righteousness^ mighty 
 to save. The hypothesis that this is a detached prophecy, un- 
 connected with what goes before or follows, is now commonly 
 abandoned as a mere evasion. The dramatic form of the 
 description is recognized by modern writers, but without 
 the awkward supposition of a chorus. It is not necessary 
 even to introduce the people as a party to the dialogue. 
 
388 CHAPTER LXIII. 
 
 The questions may be naturally put into the mouth of the 
 Prophet himself. Interpreters are much divided as to the 
 Edom of this passage. That it is not merely a play upon the 
 meaning of the name (viz. red), is clear from the mention of 
 the chief town. Bozrah. Most interpreters, even of the modern 
 German school, suppose Edom to be here, as in ch. 34, the rep- 
 resentative of Israel's most inveterate enemies. The connec- 
 tion with what goes before is, that the restored Jews might 
 apprehend the enmity of certain neighbouring nations, who 
 bad rejoiced in their calamity ; and that the prophecy before 
 us was intended to allay this apprehension. Speaking in 
 righleousnrss is understood by most of the modern writers in 
 the sense of speaking about it or concerning it, in which case 
 righteousness must have the sense of deliverance, or at least 
 be regarded as its cause. It is much more natural, however, 
 to explain the phrase as meaning, I that speak in truth, I who 
 promise and am able to perform. The terms of th's descrip- 
 tion are applied in Rev. 19 : 13 to the victorious Word of 
 God. 
 
 2. Wh7/ {is there) redness to thy raiment, and {whi/ are) thy 
 garments like {those of) one treading in a tvine-press ? The 
 adjective is here used substantively, just as we speak of a deep 
 red in English. Or the word here employed may be explained 
 as the infinitive, to be red. The allusion is of course to the 
 natural red wine of the east, that of some vineyards on Mount 
 Lebanon being almost black. It is a slight but effective stroke 
 in this fine picture, that the first verse seems to speak of the 
 stranger as still at a distance, whereas in the second he has 
 come so near as to be addressed directly, 
 
 3. 77/1" press I have trodden by myself, and of the nations there 
 was not a man with me ; and I will tread them in my anger and 
 trample them in my fury, and their juice shall spirt upon my gar- 
 
CHAPTER LXIIL 389 
 
 mrnts, and all my vesture I have stained. The word here used 
 for press is different from that in the foregoing verse, and oc- 
 curs elsewhere only in Hagg-. 2 ; 16. According to its seem- 
 ing derivation, it denotes the place where grapes are crushed 
 or broken, as the other does the place where they are pressed 
 or trodden. The comparison suggested in the question (v. 2) 
 is here carried out in detail. Being asked why he looks like 
 the treader of a wine-press, he replies that he has been tread- 
 ing one, and that alone, which some understand to mean with- 
 out the aid of labourers or servants. The meaning of the 
 figure is then expressed in literal tei-ms. ' Of the nations 
 there was not a man with me.' This expression and the other- 
 wise inexplicable alternation of the tenses make it probable 
 that two distinct treadings are here mentioned, one in which 
 he might have expected aid from the nations, and another in 
 which the nations should themselves be trodden down as a 
 punishment of this neglect. Or the futures may denote, 
 merely a relative futurity, i. e. in reference to the act first 
 mentioned. The more general opinion is, however, that but 
 one act of treading is here mentioned, and that the nations 
 are themselves represented as the grapes. The words u-ith vie 
 are added to convey the idea that all the nations were on the 
 adverse side, none on that of the conqueror. The sense will 
 then be not that they refused to join in trampling others, but 
 simply that they were among the trampled. As if he had 
 said, I trod the press alone, and all the nations, without excep- 
 tion, were trodden in it. By all the nations we are of course 
 to understand all but God's people. The treading of the 
 wine-press alone is an expression often applied in sermons and 
 in religious books and conversation to our Saviour's sufferings. 
 AYhile the impossibility of such a sense in the original passage 
 cannot be too strongly stated, there is no need of d.>nying that 
 the figure may be happily accommodated in the way suggested ; 
 as many expressions of the Old Testament may be applied to 
 
890 CHAPTER LXIII. 
 
 different objects with good effect, provided we are careful to 
 avoid confounding such accommodations with the strict and 
 primary import of the passage. 
 
 4. For the. day of vengeance (is) in my hearty and the year of 
 my redeemed is come. For the sense of day and year in this con- 
 nection, see above, on ch. 61 : 2. In my hcart.^ i. e. my mind or 
 purpose. It is not necessary to explain the participle in a fu- 
 ture sense {to be redeemed^ since their redemption was as firmly 
 settled in the divine purpose as the day of vengeance. 
 
 5. And I looTc^ and there is none helping ; and I stand aghast.^ 
 and there is none sustaining ; and my own arm saves for me., and 
 my fury it sustains me. These expressions have already been 
 explained in ch. 59 : 16. Fury here takes the place of right- 
 eousness not as a synonyme but as an equivalent. God's 
 wrath is but the executioner and agent of his justice. Upon 
 either he might therefore be described as exclusively re- 
 lying. The present form is used in the translation, on account 
 of the uncertainty in which the use of the tenses is involved, 
 and which may arise in part from an intentional confusion of 
 the past and future in the mind of one who had begun a great 
 work, and was yet to finish it. 
 
 6. And I tread the nations in my anger., and I make them drunk 
 in my wrath, and I bring down to the earth their juice. The use 
 of the word tread leads to the resumption of the figure of a 
 wine-press, which is employed besides this passage in Lam. 
 1: 15. Joel 3:13. Rev. 14 : 19, 20. In order to connect the 
 common reading with the context, we have only to assume a 
 mixture of metaphors, such as we continually meet with in 
 Isaiah, or a sudden change of figure, which is not only common 
 but characteristic of this prophet. 
 
CHAPTER LXIII. 391 
 
 7. The mercies of Jehovah I tcill cause to be remembered, the 
 praises of Jehovah according to all that Jehovah hath done for us, 
 and the great goodness to the house of Israel lohich he hath done for 
 them, according to his compassions and according to the multitude 
 of his mercies. The sudden change of tone in this verse has 
 led to many suppositions as to its connection with what 
 goes before and follows. On the general principle assumed 
 throughout our exposition as to the design and subject of these 
 prophecies, the passage must be understood as relating to the 
 favours experienced and the sins committed by the chosen peo- 
 ple throughout the period of the old dispensation. There is no 
 need of assuming any speaker but the Prophet himself. The 
 plural form mercies may be intended to denote abundance. / 
 ivill cause to be remembered, may have reference to men ; in which 
 case the phrase is equivalent to celebrate, record, or praise. 
 But as these acknowledgments are merely preparatory to a 
 prayer that God would renew his ancient favours to them, it is 
 better to understand it as meaning, I will cause Xxod himself to 
 remember, or remind him, in which application the verb is often 
 used, e. g. in the titles of Ps. 38 and 70. 
 
 8. And he said, Only they are 7ny people, (my) children shall 
 not lie (or deceive); and he became a saviour for them. To the gen- 
 eral acknowledgment of God's goodness to his people, there is 
 now added a specification of his favours, beginning with the 
 great distinguishing favour by which they became what they 
 were. This verse is commonly explained as an expression of 
 unfounded confidence and hope on God's part, surely they are 
 my people, children that will not lie. This must then be account- 
 ed for as anthropopathy ; but although the occurrence of this 
 figure in the Scriptures is indisputable, it is comparatively rare, 
 and not to be assumed without necessity. Besides, the expla- 
 nation just referred to rests almost entirely on the sense at- 
 tached to T|Si as a mere particle of asseveration. Now in every 
 
392 CHAPTER LXIII. 
 
 other case where Isaiah uses it, the restrictive sense of only is 
 not admissible merely, but necessary to the full force of the 
 sentence. It is surely not the true mode of interpretation, to 
 assume a doubtful definition for the sake of obtaining an unsat- 
 isfactory and offensive sense. Another advantage of the strict 
 translation is, that it makes the Prophet go back to the begin- 
 ning of their course, and instead of setting out from the hopes 
 which God expressed after the choice of Israel, records tLe 
 choice itself. Thus understood, the first clause is a solemn 
 declaration of his having chosen Israel, to the exclusion of all 
 other nations. Only they (and no others) are my peojyle. The 
 second clause may possibly mean, {their) sons shall not deal 
 falsely^ i. e. degenerate from their fathers' faith. In either 
 case, the future is the future of comman(^ as in the decalogue, 
 not tliat of mere prediction. The English Version, so he was 
 their saviour^ is a needless departure from the simplicity of the 
 original, and aggravates the misinterpretation of the first clause, 
 by suggesting that he was their saviour because he believed 
 they would be faithful. The verse in Hebrew simply states 
 two facts, without intimating any causal relation between them. 
 He chose them and he saved them. 
 
 9. In all their enmity he ivas not an enemy ^ and the angel of his 
 face (or presence) saved them, in his love and in his sparing mercy 
 he redeemed them, and he took them up and carried them all the 
 days of old. The first clause is famous as the subject of discord- 
 ant and even contradictory interpretations. These have been 
 multiplied by the existence of a doubt as to the text. The 
 Masora notes this as one of fifteen places in which (sib) not is 
 written by mistake for (ib) to him or it. Another instance of 
 the same alleged error in the text of Isaiah occurs in eh. 9 : 2 (3.) 
 The English Version readers it, in all their affticlion he was af- 
 flicted. This explanation, with the text on which it is founded, 
 and which is exhibited by a number of manuscripts and edi- 
 
CHAPTER LXIII. 393 
 
 tions, is favoured, not only by the strong and affecting sense 
 which it yields, but by the analogy of Judges 10:16. 1 1 : 7. in 
 one of which places the same phrase is used to denote human 
 suffering, and in the other God is represented as sympathizing 
 with it. The objections to it are, that it gratuitously renders 
 necessary another anthropopathic explanation ; that the natu- 
 ral collocation of the words, if this were the meaning, would be 
 different ; that the negative is expressed by all the ancient ver- 
 sions ; and that the critical presumption is in favour of the tex- 
 tual reading, as the more ancient, and it ought not to be now 
 abandoned, if a coherent sense can be put upon it. as it can in 
 this case.' A much more natural construction is, ' in all their 
 affliction he did not afflict (them) ;' which, however, is scarcely 
 reconcilable with history. This difficulty is avoided by a mod- 
 ification of the same construction, i?i all their ajjiictlons he tvas 
 not an adversary^ i e. although he afflicted them, he did not 
 hate them. This agrees well with what immediately follows, but 
 is still liable to the objection that it takes the same word in two 
 entirely different senses, which can only be admissible in case 
 of necessity. An interpretation which gives the words essen- 
 tially the same sense, yet so far modfied as to explain the dif- 
 ference of form, is that which takes the words as correlative 
 derivatives from one sense of the same root, but distinguished 
 from each other as an abstract and a concrete, enemy and en- 
 mity. A real difficulty in the way of this interpretation is the 
 want of any usage to sustain the latter definition, which, how- 
 ever, is so easily deducible from the primary meaning, and so 
 clearly indicated by the parallel expression, that it may per- 
 haps be properly assumed in a case where the only choice is one 
 of difficulties. Thus understood, the clause simply throws the 
 blame of all their conflicts with Jehovah on themselves : in all 
 their enmity (to him) he %oas not an enemy (to them). The proof 
 of this assertion is that he saved them, not from Egypt merely, 
 but from all their early troubles, with particular reference per- 
 
 17* 
 
394 CHAPTER LXIII. 
 
 haps to the period of the Judges, in the history of which this 
 verb very frequently occurs. (See Judges 2: 16, 18. 3: 15. 
 6:14. etc.) This salvation is ascribed, however, not directly 
 to Jehovah, but to the angel of his face or presence^ whom Jeho- 
 vah promised to send with Israel (Ex. 23 : 20-23), and whom 
 he did send, and who is identified with the presence of Jehovah, 
 and with Jehovah himself The combination of these passages 
 determines the sense oi the angel of Ids presence, as denoting the 
 angel whose presence was the presence of Jehovah, or in whom 
 Jehovah was personally present, and pi-ecludes the explanation 
 given by many writers, who suppose it to mean merely an angel 
 who habitually stands in the presence of Jehovah ( I Kings 
 22 : 19), just as human courtiers or ofl&cers of state are said to 
 see the king's face (Jer. 52 : 25). The old Christian doctrine 
 is that the Angel of God's presence, who is mentioned in the 
 passages already cited, and from time to time in other books of 
 the Old Testament (Gen. 28 : 13. 31 : 1 1. 48 : 16. Ex. 3 : 2. 
 Josh. 5 : 14. Judges 13 : 6. Hos. 12 : 5. Zeeh. 3 : 1. Mai. 3 : 1. 
 Ps. 34 ; 8), was that Divine being who is represented in the 
 New as the brightness of the Father's glory and the express im- 
 age of his person (Heb. 1 : 3), the image of God (2 Cor. 4 : 4. 
 Col. 1:15), in whose face the glory of God shines (2 Cor. 4 : 6), 
 and in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily 
 (Col. 2 : 9). For the true sense of what follows, as to taking 
 up and carrying them, see above, on ch. 46 : 3. The verb re- 
 deem is not only one of frequent occurrence in these prophecies, 
 (ch. 43 : 1. 44 : 22, 23. 48 : 20. 49 : 7. etc.), but is expressly ap- 
 plied elsewhere to the redemption of Israel from Egypt (Ex. 
 6 : 5. Ps. 74 : 2. 77 : 16), and is therefore applicable to all other 
 analogous deliverances. 
 
 10. And they rebelled and grieved his holy spirit (or spirit of 
 holiness), and he icas turned for them into an enemy, he himself 
 fought against them. The pronoun at the beginning is em- 
 
CHAPTER LXIII. 395 
 
 phatic : they on their part, as opposed to God's forbearance and 
 long-suffering. There seems to be an allusion in this clause to 
 the injunction given to the people at the exodus, in reference to 
 the Angel who was to conduct them : Beware of him and obey 
 his voice, provoke him not, for he will not pardon your ti-ans- 
 gressions, for my name is in him (Ex 23 : 21). That the Spirit 
 of this verse, like the Angel of the ninth, is represented as 
 divine, is evident not only from a comparison of Ps 78 : 17, 40, 
 where the same thing is said of God himself, but also from the 
 fact that those interpreters who will not recognize a personal 
 spirit in this passage, unanimously understand the spirit either 
 as denoting an attribute of God or God himself This passage 
 is in some sort historical, and shows the progress of the aliena- 
 tion between God and Israel. Having shown in the preceding 
 verse that it began upon the part of Israel, and was long resisted 
 and deferred by Jehovah, he now shows how at length his 
 patience was exhausted, and he really became what he was not 
 before. The disputes among interpreters wl^ther this verse 
 has reference to the conduct of the people in the wilderness, or 
 under the Judges, or before the Babylonish exile, or before the 
 final destruction of Jerusalem, are only useful as a demonstra- 
 tion that the passage is a general description, which was often 
 verified. From this verse Paul has borrowed a remarkable 
 expression in Eph. 4 : 30. (Compare Matt. 12; 31. Acts 7:51. 
 Heb. 10 : 29.) 
 
 1 1 . And he remenioered the days of old, Moses {and) his people. 
 Where is he that brought them up from the sea, the shepherd of his 
 Jiockl Where is he that put icithin him his Hohj Spirit. Some 
 make Jehovah the subject of the first verb, and suppose him to 
 be here described as relenting. But as the following can be 
 naturally understood only as the language of the people, espe- 
 cially when compared with Jer. 2 ; 6, most writers are agreed 
 in referring this clause to the people also. The Targum gives 
 
396 CHAPTER L XIII. 
 
 a singular turn to the sentence by supplying lest they smj before 
 the second clause, which then becomes the language of the 
 enemies of Israel, exulting in the failure of Jehovah's promises. 
 This explanation may appear to derive some support from, the 
 analogy of Deut. 32 : 17, which no doubt suggested it; but a 
 fatal objection is that the essential idea is one not expressed but 
 arbitrarily supplied. Another singular interpretation is the 
 one contained in the Dutch Bible, which makes God the subject 
 of the first verb but includes it in the language of the people, 
 complaining that he dealt with them no longer as he once did : 
 Once he remembered the days of old, etc., but now where is he, etc. 
 But here again that on which the whole depends must be sup- 
 plied without authority. The latest writers are agreed that the 
 first clause describes the repentance of the people, and that the 
 second gives their very words, contrasting their actual condition 
 with their former privileges and enjoyments. The English 
 Bible makes Moses and his people correlatives, as objects of the 
 verb remembered : He remembered the ancient days, viz. those 
 of Moses and his people. The simplest construction of the 
 next clause is, where is he that brought them up from the sea, 
 (that brought up) the shepherd of his flock? The him in the last 
 clause refers to people. The clause implies, if it does not ex- 
 press directly, the idea of a personal spirit, as in the preceding 
 verse. 
 
 12. Leaditiff them by the right hand of Moses [and) his glorious 
 arm., cleaving the waters from before them., to make for him an ever- 
 lasting name? The sentence and the interrogation are con- 
 tinued from the foregoing verse. The participle with the article 
 there defines or designates the subject as the one bringing up ; 
 the participle here without the article simply continues the 
 description. The right hand may be mentioned in allusion to 
 the wielding of the rod by Moses, and the glorious arm may be 
 either his or that of God himself, which last sense is expressed 
 
CHAPTER LXIIL 397 
 
 in the English version by a change of preposition [by the right 
 hand of Moses with his glorious arm). The same ambiguity 
 exists in the last clause, where the everlasting name may be the 
 honour put upon Moses or the glory which redounded to Jeho- 
 vah himself, as in oh. 55 : 13. 
 
 13. Making them walk in the depths, like the horse in the desert 
 they shall not stumble. The description of the exodus is still 
 continued, and its perfect security illustrated by comparisons. 
 The desert seems to be referred to as a vast plain free from 
 inequalities. The last verb would seem most naturally to 
 refer to the horse ; but its plural foim forbids this construc- 
 tion, while its future form creates a difficulty in referring 
 it to Israel. The true solution is afforded by the writer's 
 frequent habit of assuming his position in the midst of the 
 events which he describes, and speaking of them as he would 
 have spoken if he had been really so situated. The compari- 
 son in the first clause brings up to his view the people actually 
 passing through the wilderness ; and in his confident assurance 
 of their safe and easy progress he exclaims, 'they will not 
 stumble !' The same explanation is admissible in many cases 
 where it is customary to confound the tenses, or regard their 
 use as perfectly capricious. 
 
 14. As the herd into the valley lo ill go down, the Spirit of Jeho- 
 vah will make him rest. So didst thou lead thy people, to make 
 for thyself a name of glory. This version is not only more ex- 
 act than the common one, but removes the ambiguity in the 
 construction, by precluding the reference of him, in make him 
 rest, to the preceding noun, which is natural enough in the Eng- 
 lish Version, though forbidden in Hebrew by the difference of 
 gender. The him really refers to Israel or the people. A similar 
 agency is elsewhere ascribed to the Spirit of God. (Ps 143 : 
 10. Hagg. 2 : 5. Neh. 9 : 20.) The use of the futures in this 
 
398 CHAPTER LXIII. 
 
 clause is precisely the same as in the foregoing verse. In 
 the last clause the Prophet ceases to regard the scene as actu- 
 ally present and resumes the tone of historical retrospection, 
 at the same time summing up the whole in one comprehensive 
 proposition, thus didst thou lead thy people. With the last words 
 of the verse compare ch. 60 : 21. 61 : 3. 
 
 15. Look {doion) from heaven and see from thy dwelling-'place 
 of holiness and beauty ! Where is thy zeal and thy might (or 
 mighty deeds) ? The sounding of thy bowels and thy mercies to- 
 wards me have ioithdrmv?i themselves. The foregoing description 
 of God's ancient favours is now made the ground of an impor- 
 tunate appeal for new ones. The unusual word for dwelling- 
 place is borrowed from the prayer of Solomon (1 Kings 8 : 
 13 ) For a similar description of heaven, see above, ch. 57 : 
 15. God is here represented as withdrawn into heaven and no 
 longer active upon earth. For the meaning of his zeal., see 
 above, on ch. 59 : 17. Bowels and mercies. Although we are 
 obliged to render one of these nouns by a literal and the other 
 by a figurative term, both of them properly denote the viscera, 
 on the figurative use of which to signify strong feeling, see above, 
 on ch. 16:11. The last verb in the verse denotes a violent 
 suppression or restraint of strong emotion (Gen. 43 : 30. 45 : 
 1), and is sometimes applied directly to God himself (See 
 above, ch. 42 : 14, and below, ch. 64 : 11 ) The last clause 
 may be variously divided without a material change of mean- 
 ing. The English Version makes the last verb a distinct in- 
 terrogation, are they restrained? Tho objection to this is that 
 the second question is not natural, and that it arbitrarily as- 
 sumes an interrogative construction without anything to indi- 
 cate it, as the ivhere cannot be repeated. The best construction 
 is that which makes the last clause a simple affirmation, or 
 at most an impassioned exclamation. 
 
CHAPTER LXIII. 399 
 
 16, For thou (art) our father ; for Abraham hath not knoiim us, 
 and Israel will not recognize us; thou Jehovah [art) our father, our 
 redeemer of old {ov from everlasting) is thy name. The common 
 version needlessly obscures the sense and violates the usage of 
 the language by rendering the first '^3 doubtless, and the second 
 though. Why do we ask thee to look down from heaven and to 
 hear our prayer ? Because thou art our father. This does not 
 merely mean our natural creator, but our founder, our national 
 progenitor, as in Deut. 32 : 6. Here, however, it appears to be 
 employed in an emphatic and exclusive sense, as if he had 
 said, ' thou and thou alone art our father ;' for he immediately 
 adds, as if to explain and justify this strange assertion, 'for 
 Abraham has not known us, and Israel will not recognize or 
 acknowledge us.' The assimilation of these tenses, as if both 
 past or future, is entirely arbitrary ; and their explanation as 
 both present is a gratuitous evasion. As in many other cases, 
 past and future are here joined to make the proposition univer- 
 sal. Dropping the peculiar parallel construction, the sense is 
 that neither Abraham nor Israel have known or will know any 
 thing about us, have recognized or will hereafter recognize us 
 as their children. The church or chosen people, although once, 
 for temporary reasons, co-extensive and coincident with a single 
 race, is not essentially a national organization, but a spiritual 
 body. Its father is not Abraham or Israel, but Jehovah, who 
 is and always has been its Redeemer, who has borne that name 
 from everlasting. According to the explanation which has now 
 been given, this verse explicitly asserts what is implied and in- 
 directly taught throughout these prophecies, in reference to the 
 true design and mission of the Church, and its relation to Je- 
 hovah, to the world, and to the single race with which of old it 
 seemed to be identified. This confirmation of our previous 
 conclusions is the more satisfactory, because no use has hitherto 
 been made of it, by anticipation, in determining the sense of 
 many more obscure expressions, to which it may now be con- 
 
400 CHAPTER LXIII. 
 
 sidered as affording a decisive key. It only remains to add, 
 as a preventive of misapprehension, that the strong terms of 
 this verse are of course to be comparatively understood, not as 
 implying that the church will ever have occasion to repudiate 
 its historical relation to the patriarchs, or cease to include 
 among its members many of their natural descendants, but 
 simply as denying all continued or perpetual pre eminence to 
 Israel as a race, and exalting the common relation of believers 
 to their great Head as paramount to all connection with par- 
 ticular progenitors — the very doctrine so repeatedly and em- 
 phatically taught in the New Testament. 
 
 1 7. Whj/ wilt thou make us wander ^ oh Jehovah, from thy ways ; 
 {why) wilt thou harden our heart from thy fear ? Return, for the 
 sake of thy servants, the tribes of thy inheritance. The earnestness 
 of the prayer is evinced by an increasing boldness of expostula- 
 tion. The particle in from thy fear is commonly supposed to 
 have a privative or negative meaning, so as not to fear thee ; 
 but there is rather an allusion to the wandering just before 
 mentioned, as if he had said, ' and why wilt thou make us to 
 wander, by hardening our heart, from thy fear?' This last 
 expression, as in many other cases, includes all the duties and 
 affections of true piety. For the sense of God's returning to 
 his people, see above, on eh. 52 : 8. The tribes of thine inheritance 
 is an equivalent expression to thy people, which originated in 
 the fact that Israel, like other ancient oriental races, was divided 
 into tribes. 
 
 18. For a little thy holy people possessed, our enemies trod dotvn 
 thy sanctuary. The sense of this verse is extremely dubious. 
 The modern writers are agreed in making holy p-vple the subject 
 of the verb, and supplying the object from the other clause, thy 
 satictuary. According to the usual construction of the sentence, 
 it assigns as a reason for Jehovah's interference, the short time 
 
CHAPTER LXIII. 401 
 
 during which the chosen people had possessed the land of 
 promise. It is agreed that the verse describes a subjection to 
 enemies. The question is whether this subjection is itself de- 
 scribed as temporary, or the peaceable possession which pre- 
 ceded it. In no case can an argument be drawn from it to 
 prove that this whole passage has respect to the Jews in their 
 present dispersion : first, because the sufi"erings of the church in 
 after ages are frequently presented under figures drawn from 
 the peculiar institutions of the old economy ; and secondly, be- 
 cause the early history of Israel is as much the early history of 
 the Christian church as of the Jewish nation, so that we have 
 as much right as the Jews to lament the profanation of the 
 Holy Land, and more cause to pray for its recovery by Christen. 
 dom, than they for its restoration to themselves. 
 
 19. TVe are of old, thou hast not ruled over them, thy name has 
 not been called upon them. Oh that thou, wouldst rend the heavens' 
 {and) come doum, (that) from before thee the mountains might quake 
 (or foio doum). Most of the modern writers have adopted a 
 construction of the first clause suggested by the paraphrastic 
 versions of the Septuagint and Vulgate. This supposes the 
 description of the people's alienation from God to be continued : 
 We have long been those (or like those) over whom thou didst 
 not rule, and who were not called by thy name ; that is to say, 
 thou hast long regarded and treated us as aliens rather than 
 thy chosen people. But the sense which it puts upon the 
 clause is very far from being obvious, or one which a Hebrew 
 writer would be likely to express in this way. Another old and 
 well-known construction of the clause is founded on the Chaldee 
 Paraphrase, which understands this not as a description of their 
 misery but as an assertion of their claim to relief, in the form of 
 a comparison between themselves and their oppressors. This is 
 the sense given in the English version : TVe are thine, thou never 
 bearest rule over them. To this form of the interpretation it 
 
402 CHAPTER LXIII. 
 
 lias been objected, not •vvithout reason, that it puts upon the 
 verb we are or have been a sense not justified by usage, or in 
 other words, that it arbitrarily supplies the essential idea upon 
 which the whole turns, namely, thine or thy people. But this 
 objection may be easily removed by reading we are of old. The 
 point of comparison is then their relative antiquity, the enemy 
 being represented as a new race lately come into possession of the 
 rights belonging to the old. There is then no need of supply- 
 ing thine.^ the relation of the people to Jehovah being not particu- 
 larly hinted here, although suggested by the whole connection. 
 With this modification the construction of the English Bible 
 seems entitled to the preference, Thou didst not rule over them. 
 This has no reference, of course, to God's providential govern- 
 ment, but only to the peculiar theocratical relation which he 
 bears to his own people. The same idea is expressed by the 
 following words, as to the sense of which see above, on ch. 48 : 1. 
 The inconvenience of strongly marked divisions in a book like 
 this, is exemplified by the disputes among interpreters, whether 
 the remaining words of this verse as it stands in the masoretic 
 text should or should not be separated from it and connected 
 with the following chapter. The truth is that there ought to 
 be no pause at all in this place, the transition from complaint 
 to the expression of an ardent wish being not only intentional 
 but highly effective. It is true that this clause ought not to be 
 separated from what follows ; but it does not follow that it 
 ought to be severed from what goes before. Our own exposition 
 will proceed upon the principle heretofore applied, that this is 
 a continuous composition, that the usual divisions are mere 
 matters of convenience, or inconvenience as the case may be, 
 and that more harm is likely to result from too much than from 
 too little separation of the parts. The passionate apostrophe 
 in this clause, far from being injured or obscured, is rendered 
 more expressive by its close connection with the previous com- 
 plaints and lamentations. The idea now suggested is, that 
 
CHAPTER LXIV. 403 
 
 weary of complaint, the people or the prophet speaking for them 
 suddenly appeals to God directly with an ardent wish that he 
 would deal with them as in days of old. The remaining words 
 are a poetical description of Jehovah's interposition or the mani- 
 festation of his presence, under figures drawn perhaps from the 
 account of his epiphany on Sinai. 
 
 CHAPTER LXIV. 
 
 This chapter, like the one before it, from which it is in fact 
 inseparable, has respect to the critical or turning point between 
 the old and new dispensations, and presents it just as it might 
 naturally have appeared to the believing Jews, i. e. the first 
 Christian converts, at that juncture. The strongest confidence 
 is expressed in the divine power, founded upon former experi- 
 ence, vs. 1-3. The two great facts of Israel's rejection as a 
 nation, and the continued existence of the church, are brought 
 together in v. 4. The unworthiness of Israel is acknowledged 
 still more fully, vs. 5, 6. The sovereign authority of God is 
 humbly recognized, v. 7. His favour is earnestly implored, v. 8. 
 The external prerogatives of Israel are lost. v. 9. But will God 
 for that cause cast ofi" the true Israel, his own church or people 1 
 V. 10. 
 
 1. (2) As fire kindles brush, fire boils ivater — to make known thy 
 name to thine enemies, from before thee nations shall tremble. The 
 last clause coheres directly with the preceding verse, while the 
 first is a parenthetical comparison ; for which cause some of 
 the latest writers throw the last words of ch. 63 into this sen- 
 tence. Either of two constructions may be here adopted — as a 
 
404 CHAPTER LXIII. 
 
 fire of brushwood burns, or, as fire kindles brusb — the last of 
 which is preferred by most interpreters, as simpler in itself, 
 and because fire is the subject of the Vc-rb in the next clause 
 also. The point of comparison in both these clauses is the 
 rapidity and ease with which the effect is produced. The 
 literal effect is described in the next words, to make known thy 
 name, i. e. to manifest thy being and thine attributes to thine 
 enemies. In both parts of the sentence the construction passes 
 as it were insensibly from the infinitive to the future, a tran- 
 sition not unfrequent in Hebrew syntax. 
 
 2. (3) III thy doing fearful things [which) we exfect not, (oh that) 
 thou tcouldst descend^ (that) the mountains from before thee might 
 flow down. There are two very different constructions of this 
 verse. The English Version makes it a direct historical state- 
 ment of a past event : When thou didst terrible things which 
 we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed 
 down at thy presence. This seems to be the simplest possible 
 construction ; but it is attended by a serious grammatical difii- 
 culty, viz. the necessity of referring the future to past time, 
 without anything in the connection to facilitate or justify the 
 version. On the other hand, this word appears to be decisive 
 of the future bearing of the whole verse, and in favour of the 
 syntax which supposes the influence of the optative particle to 
 be still continued through this verse, as well as that before it : 
 (Oh that) in doing terrible things, such as we expect not, thou 
 wouldst come down, etc. 
 
 3. (4) And from eternity they have not heard., they have not per- 
 ceived by the ear, the eye hath not seen, a God besid,' thee (who) loill 
 do for (one) waiting for him. This verse assigns a reason why 
 such fearful things should be expected from Jehovah, namely, 
 because he alone had proved himself able to perform them. 
 The verbs are indefinite, and mean that men in general have 
 
CHAPTER LX IV. 405 
 
 not heard, or, as we should say, that no one has heard, or in a 
 passive fonu, it has not been heard. Do may be either taken 
 absolutely, or as goveruiog them^ i. e. the fearful things men- 
 tioned in V. 2. Waiting for God implies faith, hope, and 
 patient acquiescence. (See above, on eh. 40:31.) The con- 
 struction here given is the one now commonly adopted, and is 
 also given in the margin of the English Bible, while the text 
 of that version makes God a vocative, and ascribes to him not 
 only the doing but the knowledge of the fearful things in ques- 
 tion. This construction agrees better with Paul's quotation 
 (1 Cor. 2 : 9) of the words as descriptive of the gospel as a 
 mystery or something hidden till revealed by the Spirit. 
 (Compare Rom. 16 : 26, and Matt. 13 : 17.) But in this, as in 
 many other cases, the apostle, by deliberately varying the form 
 of the expression, shows that it was not his purpose to inter- 
 pret the original passage, but simply to make use of its terms 
 in expressing his own thoughts on a kindred subject. 
 
 4. (5) Thou hast met with onerejoicing and executing righteousness; 
 in thy ivays shall they remember thee ; behold^ thou hast been wroth^ 
 and we have sinned ; in them is perptiuty^ and lee shall be saved. 
 There is perhaps no sentence in Isaiah, or indeed in the Old 
 Testament, which has more divided and perplexed interpreters, 
 or on which the ingenuity and learning of the modern writers 
 have thrown less light. To enumerate the various interpreta- 
 tions, would be endless and of no avail. Nothing more will 
 here be attempted than to give the reader some idea of the 
 various senses which have been attached to the particular ex- 
 pressions, as a means of showing that we have at best but a 
 choice of diflSculties, and of procuring for our own exposition 
 a more favourable hearing than it might be thought entitled to 
 in other circumstances. The first verb has been variously 
 taken in the sense of meeting as an enemy and meeting as a 
 friend, making a covenant, removing out of life, interceding. 
 
406 CHAPTER LXIV. 
 
 and accepting intercession. It has been construed as a simple 
 affirmation, botli in the past and present form ; as a conditional 
 expression and as the expression of a wish. The next verb 
 has been also treated both as a direct and as a relative expres- 
 sion, they will remember thee, and those who remember thee. 
 Thy icayx has been explained to mean the ways of God's com- 
 mandments and of his providential dispensations. In them has 
 been referred to ways, to sins, to sufferings, to the older race of 
 Israelites. oblS has been treated as a noun and as an adverb ; 
 as meaning perpetuity, eternity, a long time, and forever. The 
 last verb has been construed interrogatively (shall or could we 
 be saved ?), optatively (may we be saved), and indicatively, 
 present, past, and future (we have been, are, or shall be saved). 
 Of the various combinations of these elements on record, the 
 most important in relation to the first clause are the following: 
 Thou hast taken away those who rejoiced to do righteousness 
 and remembered thee in thy ways. Thou didst accept the in- 
 tercession of those who rejoiced etc. Thou didst encounter or 
 resist as if they had been enemies those who rejoiced etc. 
 Thou meetest as a friend him rejoicing etc. If thou meet 
 with or light upon one rejoicing etc. they will remember thee 
 in thy ways. Oh that thou mightest meet with one rejoic- 
 ing etc. Of the second clause, the following constructions may 
 be noted : In them (i. e. our sins) we have been always, and 
 yet we shall be saved. We have sinned against them (i. e thy 
 ways) always, and yet have been delivered. In them (i. e. thy 
 ways of mercy) there is continuance, and we are saved. Thou 
 wast angry after we had sinned against them (i. e. our fathers), 
 and yet we are safe. We have sinned in them (thy ways) of 
 old, and can we be saved? In them (our miseries) there is 
 long continuance ; oh may we be saved ! In them (the ways 
 of duty) let us ever go, and we shall be saved. Had we been 
 always in them (thy ways), we should have been saved. The 
 general meaning of the sentence may be thus expressed in 
 
CHAPTER LXIV. 407 
 
 paraphrase : ' Although thou hast cast off Israel as a nation, 
 thou hast nevertheless met or favourably answered every one 
 rejoicing to do righteousness, and in thy ways or future dis- 
 pensations such shall still remember and acknowledge thee ; 
 thou hast been angry, and with cause, for we have sinned ; but 
 in them, thy purposed dispensations, there is perpetuity, and 
 we shall be saved.' The abrogation of the old economy, 
 though fatal to the national pre-eminence of Israel, was so far 
 from destroying the true church or the hopes of true believers, 
 that it revealed the way of life more clearly than ever, and 
 substituted for an insufficient, temporary system, a complete 
 and everlasting one. In this construction of the sentence, the 
 verbs and nouns are taken in their usual sense, and the pro- 
 noun refers to its natural antecedent. 
 
 5. (6) And we were like the unclean^ all of us, and like a filthy gar- 
 ment all our rightfous?iesscs (virtues or good works), and we faded 
 like the (fading) leaf all of us, and our iniquities like the wind 
 will take us up (or carry lis aimy). Having shown what they 
 are or hope to be through the mercy of God and the righteous- 
 ness of Christ, they state more fully what they are in them- 
 selves, and what they must expect to be if left to themselves. 
 This twofold reference to their past experience and their future 
 destiny accounts for the transition from the preterite to the fu- 
 ture, without arbitrarily confounding them together. Some 
 understand the comparison with withered leaves as a part of 
 the description of their sin, while others apply it to their pun- 
 ishment. The first hypothesis is favoured by the difference of 
 the tenses, which has been already noticed ; the last by the 
 parallelism of the clauses. It is probable, however, that here 
 as in ch. 1 : 4, the two things ran together in the writer's mind, 
 and that no refined distinction as to this point was intended, 
 (With the figures of the last clause compare ch. 57: 13. Ps. 
 1 : 4. Job 27 : 21 .) Some apply the last expression to the actual 
 
408 CHAPTER LXIV. 
 
 deportation of the Jews to Babylon. It is remarkable, how- 
 ever, that in this, as in other cases heretofore considered, there 
 is no expression which admits of this application exclusively, 
 and none which admit of it at all but for their generality and 
 vagueness. 
 
 6 (7.) And there is no one calling on thy name, rousing himself to 
 lay hold on thee ; for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast 
 melted us because of (or by means of) our iniquities. Although 
 there is evident allusion to the past implied in the very form 
 of the expression, the description reaches to the present also, 
 and describes not only what the speakers were, but what they 
 are when considered in themselves, as well as the effects of their 
 own weakness and corruption, which they have already experi- 
 enced. Calling on the name of God is here used in its proper 
 sense of praying to him and invoking his assistance and pro- 
 tection ; which idea is expressed still more strongly by the next 
 phrase, rousing himself (which implies a just view of the evil 
 and a strenuous exertion to correct it) to lay hold upon thee, a 
 strong figure for attachment to a person and reliance on him. 
 In the hand may either mean by means of, in the midst of, or 
 because of; or we may suppose that the phrase strictly means, 
 thou dost melt us into the hand of our iniquities, i. e. subject 
 us to them, make us unable to resist them, and passively sub- 
 missive to their power. 
 
 7 (8.) A7id now, Jehovah, our father (art) thou, we the clay and 
 thou our potter, and the work of thy hands [are) we all. Instead 
 of relying upon any supposed merits of their own, they appeal 
 to their very dependence upon God, as a reason why he should 
 have mercy on them. The Prophet here resumes the thought 
 of oh. 63 : 16, where, as here, the paternity ascribed to God is 
 not that of natural creation in the case of individuals, but the 
 creation of the church or chosen people, and of Israel as a 
 
CHAPTER LX IV. 409 
 
 spiritual and ideal person. The figure of the potter and the 
 claj, implying absolute authority and power, is used twice be- 
 fore (ch. 29 : 6. 45 : 9), and is one of the connecting links be 
 tween these later prophecies and the undisputed portion of 
 Isaiah. There is more dignity in the original expression than 
 in the English phrase our potter^ as the Hebrew word properly 
 denotes one forming or imparting shape to anything, though 
 specially applied in usage to a workman in clay, when that 
 material is mentioned. The same plea, derived from the rela- 
 tion of the creature to the mal^pr, is used in Ps. 138 : 8, forsake- 
 not the loork of thy hands. (Compare Ps. 76 : 1. 79 : 1.) In 
 either case there is a tacit appeal to the covenant and promise 
 in Gen. 17:7. Lev. 26 ; 42-4.5. Deut. 7 : 6. 26 : 17, 18. 
 
 8 (9.) Be not angry.^ oh Jehovah., to extremity^ and do not to eter- 
 nity remember guilt ; lo^ look., ivc pray th:e^ thy people {are) we all. 
 This is the application of the argument presented in the fore- 
 going verse, the actual prayer founded on the fact'^there stated. 
 The common version {very sore) fails to reproduce the form of 
 the original expression, as consisting of a preposition and a noun. 
 
 9 (10.) Thy holy cities are a desert., Zion is a desert., Jervsalem a 
 waste. By holy cities, some understand the towns of Judah ; 
 others Jerusalem alone, considered as consisting of two towns, 
 the upper and the lower, here called Zion and Jerusalem, 
 though each of these names sometimes comprehends the 
 whole, and the latter is dual in its very form. If the 
 writer had intended to employ the terms in the former sense, 
 he would hardly have confined his specifications in the other 
 clause to Zion and Jerusalem. In any case, these must be 
 regarded as the chief if not the only subjects of his proposi- 
 tion On the whole, the true sense of the verse, expressed or 
 implied, appears to be that Zion has long been a desolation and 
 Jerusalem a waste. 
 
 VOL. II. — 18 
 
410 CHAPTER LXIV. 
 
 10. Our house of holi7iess and beauly^ {in) which our fathers 
 praised thee, has been burned up with fire, and oM our delights (or 
 desirable places) have become a desolation. The elliptical use of 
 the relative in reference to place is the same as in Gen. 39 : 20. 
 Burned up, literally, become a burning of fire, as in ch. 9 : 6. 
 The reference in this verse is of course to the destruction of 
 the temple, but to which destruction is disputed. Some 
 refer it to the Babylonian conquest, when the temple, as 
 we are expressly told, was burnt (Jer. 52: 13); some to its 
 profanation by Autiochus Epiphanes, at which time, how- 
 ever, it was not consumed by fire ; many later writers, with 
 the Jews themselves, to its destruction by the Romans, since 
 which the city and the land have lain desolate. To the first 
 and last of these events the words are equally appropriate. 
 Either hypothesis being once assumed, the particular expres- 
 sions admit of being easily adapted to it. With our own 
 hypothesis the passage may be reconciled in several difi"erent 
 ways. There is nothing, however, in the terms themselves, or 
 in the analogy of prophetic language, to forbid our understand- 
 ing this as a description of the desolations of the church itself, 
 expressed by figures borrowed from the old economy and from 
 the ancient history of Israel. If literally understood, the de- 
 struction of the temple and the holy city may be here 
 lamented as a loss not merely to the Jewish nation, but to 
 the church of God to which they rightfully belong and by 
 which they ought yet to be recovered, a sense of which obligation 
 blended with some superstitious errors gave occasion to the 
 fanatical attempt of the crusades. (See above, on ch. G3 : 18.) 
 
 12. Wilt thou for these (things) restrain thyself, oh Jehovah, 
 wilt thou keep silence and affiict us to extremity 1 This is simply 
 another application of the argument by way of an importunate 
 appeal to the divine compassions. Self-restraint and silence, as 
 applied to God, are common figures for inaction and apparent 
 
CHAPTER LXV. 411 
 
 indifference to the interests and especially the sufferings of his 
 people. (See above, on oh. 42 : 14 and 63 : 15.) The question 
 is not whether God will remain silent in spite of what his peo- 
 ple suffered, but whether the loss of their external advantages 
 will induce him to forsake them. The question as in many 
 other cases implies a negation of the strongest kind. The de- 
 struction of the old theocracy was God's own act and was de- 
 signed to bring the church under a new and far more glorious 
 dispensation. How the loss of a national organization and pre- 
 eminence was -to be made good is fully stated in the following 
 chapter. 
 
 CHAPTER LXV. 
 
 The great enigma of Israel's simultaneous loss and gain is 
 solved by a prediction of the calling of the gentiles, v. 1. This 
 is connected with the obstinate unfaithfulness of the chosen 
 people, V. 2. They are represented under the two main aspects 
 of their character at different periods, as gross idolaters and as 
 Pharisaical bigots, vs. 3-5. Their casting off was not occa- 
 sioned by the sins of one generation but of rdany, vs. 6, 7. But 
 even in this rejected race there was a chosen remnant, in whom 
 the promises shall be fulfilled, vs. 8-10. He then reverts to 
 the idolatrous Jews and threatens them with condign punish- 
 ment, vs. 11, 12. Thejate of the unbelieving carnal Israel is 
 compared with that of the true spiritual Israel, vs. 13-16. The 
 gospel economy is described as a new creation, v. 17. Its bless- 
 ings are described under glowing figures borrowed from the old 
 dispensation, vs. 18, 19. Premature death shall be no longer 
 known, v. 20. Possession and enjoyment shall no longer be 
 precarious, vs. 21-23. Their very desires shall be anticipated, 
 
412 CHAPTER LXV. 
 
 V. 24. All animosities and noxious influences sliall cease for- 
 ever, V. 25. 
 
 1. I have been inquired of by those that asked not ; I have been 
 found by those that sought me not ; I have said, Behold me, behold 
 me to a nation (that) was not called by my name. There is an 
 apparent inconsistency between the first two members of the 
 sentence in the English Version, arising from the use of the 
 same verb [sough') to express two very different Hebrew verbs. 
 Tlie exact sense seems to be, I allowed myself to be consulted, 
 I afforded access to myself for the purpose of consultation. 
 This is not a mere conjectural deduction from the form of the 
 Hebrew verb or from general analogy, but a simple statement 
 of the actual usage of this very word, as when Jehovah says 
 again and again of the ungodly exiles that he will not be in- 
 quired of or consulted by them (Ez. 14:3. 20 : 3), i. e. with 
 effect or to any useful purpose. Jn this connection it is tanta- 
 mount to saying that he will not hear them, answer them, or re- 
 veal himself to them ; all which or equivalent expressions have 
 been used by different writers in the translation of the verse be- 
 fore us. There is nothing therefore incorrect in substance, 
 though the form be singular, in the Septuagint version of this 
 verb, retained in the New Testament| £,«<?« *"*/? lysv^dijA I 
 became manifest, i. e. revealed myself The object of the Verb 
 ashed, if exact uniformity be deemed essential, may be readily 
 supplied from the parallel expression sought me. Behold me, or 
 as it is sometimes rendered in the English Bible, here I am, is 
 the usual idiomatic Hebrew answer to a call by name, and when 
 ascribed to God contains an assurance of his presence rendered 
 more emphatic by the repetition. (See above, ch. 52 : 6. 58 : 9.) 
 It is therefore equivalent to being inquired of and being found. 
 This last expression has occurred before inch. 55 : 6, and as 
 here in combination with the verb to seek. A people not called 
 by my 7iame, i. e. not recognized or known as my people. (See 
 
CHAPTER LXV. 413 
 
 above, ch. 48 : 2.) All interpreters agree that this is a direct 
 continuation of the foregoing context, and most of them regard 
 it as the answer of Jehovah to the expostulations and petitions 
 there presented by his people. The modern Germans and the 
 Jews apply both this verb and the next to Israel. The obvious 
 objection is that Israel even in its worst estate could never be 
 described as a nation which had not been called by the name of 
 Jehovah. It is a standing characteristic of the Jews in the 
 Old Testament, that they were called by the name of Jehovah ; 
 but if they may also be described in terms directly opposite, 
 •whenever ihe interpreter prefers it, then may anything mean 
 anything. In all their alienations, exiles, and dispersions, the 
 children of Israel have still retained that title as their highest 
 glory and the badge of all their tribe. An obvious and natural 
 application may be made to the gentiles generally, whose voca- 
 tion is repeatedly predicted in this book, and might be here 
 used with powerful effect in pi'oof that the rejection of the Jews 
 •was the result of their own obstinate perverseness, not of God's 
 unfaithfulness or want of power. This is precisely Paul's in- 
 terpretation of the passage in Rom. 10 : 20, 21, where he does 
 not, as in many other cases, merely borrow the expressions of 
 the Prophet, but formally interprets them, applying this verse 
 to the gentiles and then adding, ' but to Israel (or of Israel) he 
 saith' what follows in the next verse. The same intention to 
 expound the Prophet's language is clear from the apostle's men- 
 tion of Isaiah's boldness in thus shocking the most cherished 
 prepossessions of the Jews. 
 
 2. I have sjnead (or stretched) out my hands all the day (or 
 every day) to a rebellious peopl", those going the way not good, after 
 their own thoughts (or designs). The gesture mentioned in the 
 first clause is variously explained as a gesture of simple calling, 
 of instruction, of invitation, of persuasion. All agree that it 
 implies God's gracious offer of himself and of his favour to the 
 
414 CHAPTER LXV. 
 
 people. Whether all the day or every day be the correct trans- 
 lation, the idea meant to be conveyed is evidently that of fre- 
 quent repetition, or rather of unremitting constancy. The re- 
 bellious people is admitted upon all hands to be Israel. The 
 last clause is an amplification and explanatory paraphrase of 
 the first. Going arid way are common figures for the course 
 of life. A way not good is a litotes or meiosis for a bad or 
 for the worst way. (See Ps. 36 : 4. Ezek. 36 : 31.) Thoughts, 
 not opinions merely, but devices and inventions of wickedness. 
 (See above, on ch. 55 : 7.) With this description compare that 
 of Moses, Deut. 32 : 5, 6. 
 
 3. The people angering me to my face coniiuually, sacrificing in 
 the gardens, and censing on the bricks. We have now a more de- 
 tailed description of the iDay not good., and the devices mentioned 
 in the foregoing verse. The construction is continued, the peo- 
 ple provoking me etc. being in direct apposition with the rebel- 
 lious people going etc. To my face, not secretly or timidly (Job 
 31 : 27), but openly and in defiance of me (ch. 3 : 9. Job 1 : 11), 
 which is probably the meaning of before me in the first command- 
 ment (Ex. 20 : 3). Animal offerings and fumigations are com- 
 bined to represent all kinds of sacrifice. As to the idolatrous 
 use of groves and gardens, see above, on ch. 57 : 5. The He- 
 brew word garden denotes any enclosed and carefully cultivated 
 ground, whether chiefly occupied by trees or not. Of the last 
 words, on the bricks., there are four interpretations. The first is 
 that of many older writers, who suppose an allusion to the pro- 
 hibition in Exod. 20 : 24, 25. But bricks are not there men- 
 tioned, and can liardly come under the description of '' hewn 
 stone," besides the doubt which overhangs the application of 
 that law, and especially the cases in which it was meant to op- 
 erate. A second explanation supposes bricks to mean roofing- 
 tiles (Mark 2 : 4. Luke 5 : 19), and the phrase to be descriptive 
 of idolatry as practised on the roofs of houses (2 Kings 23 : 12. 
 
CHAPTER L XV. 415 
 
 Jer. 19 : 13. 32 : 29. Zepli. 1:5.) A third supposes an allu- 
 sion to some practice now unknown, but possibly connected 
 with the curiously inscribed bricks found in modern times 
 near the site of ancient Babylon. Much the simplest and 
 most natural supposition is, that the phrase means nothing more 
 than altars, or at most altars slightly and hastily constructed. 
 Of such altars bricks may be named as the materials, or tiles as 
 the superficial covering. 
 
 4. Sitting in the graves^ and in the holes they ioill lodge, eating 
 the Jlesh of swine, and broth of filthy things {^is in) their vessels. 
 All agree that this verse is intended to depict in revolting 
 colours the idolatrous customs of the people. Nor is there 
 much doubt as to the construction of the sentence, or the force 
 of -the particular expressions. But the obscurity which over- 
 hangs the usage referred to has originated various arch geological 
 discussions which throw no light on the drift of the passage, 
 nor even on the literal translation of the word's, but are investi- 
 gated merely for their own sake or their bearing upon other 
 objects. Such are the questions, whether these idolaters sat in 
 the graves or among them ; whether for necromantic purposes, 
 i. e. to interrogate the dead, or to perform sacrificial rites to 
 their memory, or to obtain demoniacal inspiration ; whether the 
 Hebrew word means monuments, or caves, or temples ; whether 
 these were lodged in for licentious purposes, or to obtain pro- 
 phetic dreams ; whether they are charged with simply eating 
 pork for food, or after it had been sacrificed to idols ; whether 
 swine's flesh was forbidden for medicinal reasons, or because the 
 heathen sacrificed and ate it, or on other grounds ; whether p"iS 
 means broth or bits of meat, and if the former, whether it was 
 so called on account of the bread broken in it, or for other 
 reasons, etc. The only question of grammatical construction 
 which has found a place among these topics of pedantic dis- 
 quisition is of small importance with respect to the interpreta- 
 
416 CHAPTER LXV. 
 
 .r 
 
 tion of the passage. It is the question whether vessels is to bo 
 governed by a preposition understood or explained as an ac- 
 cusative of place, or as the predicate of the proposition, broi/i of 
 abominable meats are their vessels. Even if we should successively 
 idopt and then discard every one of the opinions some of which 
 ave now been mentioned, the essential meaning of the veise 
 would still remain the same, as a highly wrought description 
 ;jf idolatrous abominations. 
 
 5. The {inen) saying ., Keep to thyself come not near to me^^for I 
 am holy to thee, thme (are) a smoke in my icrath, a fire burning all 
 tke day (or every day). The literal translation of the second 
 phrase is approach to thyself implying removal from the speaker. 
 The common English version {stand by thyself) suggests an idea 
 not contained in the original, viz. that of standing alone, whereas 
 all that is expressed by the Hebrew phrase is the act of stand- 
 ing away from the speaker, for which Lowth has found the idio- 
 matic equivalent {keep to thyself). Another unusual expression 
 is the one which may be represented by the English words, / 
 am holy thce.^ i. e. I am holy with respect to thee; and as this im- 
 plies comparison, the same sense is attained as by the old con- 
 struction. As to the question who are here described, there 
 are two main opinions : first, that the clause relates to the idola- 
 ters mentioned in the foregoing verses ; the other, that it is 
 descriptive of a wholly different class. The latter explanation 
 is substantially the true one. The great end which the Prophet 
 had in view was to describe the unbelieving Jews as abominable 
 in the sight of God. His manner of expressing this idea is 
 poetical; by means of figures drawn from various periods of their 
 history, without intending to exhibit either of these periods 
 exclusively. To a Hebrew writer, what could be more natural 
 than to express the idea of religious corruption by describing- 
 its subjects as idolaters, diviners, eaters of swine's flesh, worship- 
 pers of outward forms, and self-righteous hypocrites ? Of such 
 
CHAPTER LXV. 417 
 
 the text declares God's abhorrence. Smoke and fire may be 
 taken as natural concomitants and parallel figures, as if he had 
 said, against whom my wrath smokes and burns cent uually. 
 Or the smoke may represent the utter consumption of the ob- 
 ject, and the fire the means by which it is efi"ected, which ap- 
 pears to have been Luther's idea. 
 
 6, 7. Xo, it is written before me. I will not rest except I repay ^ 
 and I will repay into their bosom your iniquities and the iniquities 
 of your fathers together^ saith Jehovah, who burded incense on the ^'V 
 mountains cCnd on the hills blasphemed vie., and I will measure their 
 first work into their bosom. The particle at the beginning calls 
 attention both to the magnitude and certainty of the event 
 abojit to be predicted. The figure of writing has been 
 variously understood. Some think that what is said to be 
 written is the eternal law of retribution. Others understand ■ 
 by it a book of remembrance (Mai. 3 : 16), i. ©f a record of the 
 sins referred to afterwards, by which they are kept perpetu- 
 ally present to the memory of Jehovah (Daniel 7 : 10). Most 
 later writers understand by it a record, not of the crime, but 
 of its punishment, or rather of the purpose or decree to punish 
 it- (Dan. 5 : 5, 24), in reference to the written judgments of the 
 ancient courts (ch. 10: 1). This last interpretation does not 
 necessarily involve the supposition that the thing here said to be 
 written is the threatening which immediately follows, although 
 this is by no means an unnatural construction. I tvill not rest 
 or be silent, an expression used repeatedly before in reference 
 to the seeming inaction or indifference of Jehovah. (See above, 
 ch. 42 : 14. 57 : 1 1, and compare Ps. 50 : 21. Hab. 1:13.) For 
 repay into their bosom, we have in the seventh verse measure into 
 their boso7n, which affords a clue to the origin and real meaning 
 of the figure ; as we read that Boaz said to Ruth, Bring the 
 veil (or cloak) that is upon thee and hold it, and she held it, 
 and he measured six (measures of ) barley and laid it on her 
 
 18* 
 
418 CHAPTER LXV. 
 
 (Ruth 3 : 15). Hence the phrase to measure into any one's 
 bosom, i. e. into the lap or the fold of the garment covering the 
 bosom. (See above, on ch. 49 : 22.) The same figure is em- 
 ployed by Jer. 32 : 18 and in Ps. 79 : 12, and has been ex- 
 plained as implying abundance, or a greater quantity than one 
 could carry in the hand. (Compare Luke 6 : 38.) But others 
 understand the main idea to be not that of abundance, but of 
 retribution, anything being said to return into one's own bosom, 
 just as it is elsewhere said to return upon his own head 
 (Judg. 9 ; 57. Ps. 7 : 16). Both these accessory ideas are ap- 
 propriate in the case before us. The sudden change from Iheir 
 to your at the beginning of v. 7, has been commonly explained 
 as an example of the enallage personae so frequently occurring 
 in Isaiah. This supposition is undoubtedly sufficient to remove 
 all difficulty from the syntax. It is possible, however, that the 
 change is not a mere grammatical anomaly or license of con- 
 struction, but significant, and intended to distinguish between 
 three generations. I will repay into their bosom (that of your 
 descendants) your iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers. 
 If this be not a fanciful distinction, it gives colour to the 
 opinion that the previous description brings to view successively 
 the gross idolatry of early times and the pharisaical hypocrisy 
 prevailing at the time of Christ. Supposing his contemporaries 
 to be the immediate objects of address, there would then be a 
 distinct allusion to their idolatrous progenitors, the measure of 
 whose guilt they filled up (Matt. 23 : 32), and to their children, 
 upon whom it was to be conspicuously visited (Luke 23 : 28). 
 But whether this be so or not, the meaning of the text is obvi- 
 ous, as teaching that the guilt which had accumulated through 
 successive generations should be visited, though not exclusively, 
 upon the last. The whole of idolatry is here summed up in 
 burning incense on t/ie mountains^ which are elsewhere mentioned 
 as a favourite resort of those who worshipped idols (ch. 57 : 7 
 Jer. 3:6. Ez. 6 : 13. 18:6. Hos. 4 : 13), and blaspheming God 
 
CHAPTER LXV. 419 
 
 ujwn the hills, which may either be regarded as a metaphorical 
 description of idolatry itself, or strictly taken to denote the 
 oral expression of contempt for Jehovah and his worship, which 
 might naturally be expected to accompany such practices. Their 
 former work, i. e. its product or reward, as in ch. 40 : 10. (See 
 above, p. 77.) The only sense in which it can be thus described 
 is that of ancient, as distinguished ^not from the subsequent 
 transgressions of the fathers, but from those of the children 
 who came after them. According to the sense which the Apos- 
 tle puts upon the two first verses of this chapter, we may un- 
 derstand those now before us as predicting the excision of the 
 Jews from the communion of the church and from their cove- 
 nant relation to Jehovah, as a testimony of his sore displeasure 
 on account of the unfaithfulness and manifold transgressions 
 of that chosen race throughout its former history, but also on 
 account of the obstinate and spiteful unbelief with which so 
 many later generations have rejected the Mesrsiah, for whose 
 sake alone they ever had a national existence and enjoyed so 
 many national advantages. 
 
 8. Thus sai/h Jehovah, As (^when) juice is found hi the cluster 
 and one says, Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it, so ioill I do 
 for the sake of my servants, not to destray the whole. A blessing 
 is in it seems to mean something more than that it has some 
 value. The idea meant to be suggested is, that God has 
 blessed it, and that man should therefore not destroy it. The 
 image presented by the Prophet is that of a good cluster in 
 which juice is found, while others are unripe or rotten. I will 
 do is by some understood as meaning I loill act, or I will cause 
 it to be so ; but this is not the usage of the Hebrew verb, 
 which rather means precisely what the English /?<;iZ/ f/o de- 
 notes in such connections, i. e. I will do so, or will act in the 
 same manner. My servants is by some understood to mean 
 the patriarchs, the fathers, for whose sake Israel was still be- 
 
420 CHAPTER LXV. 
 
 loved (Rom. 11 : 28). It is more natural, however, to apply 
 it to the remnant according to the election of grace (Rom. 
 11:5), the true believers represented by the ripe and juicy 
 cluster in the foregoing simile. The construction of the last 
 words is the same as in ch. 48 : 9. TJie whole is a literal trans- 
 lation of the Hebrew phrase, and at once more exact and more 
 expressive than the common version, them all. 
 
 9. And I will bring forth from Jacob a seed and from Judah 
 an heir of my mountain?,.^ ami my chosen ones shall Inherit if, and 
 my servants shall dwell there. This is an amplification of the 
 promise, I will do so, in the foregoing verse. My rnountains 
 denotes the whole of Palestine, as being an uneven, hilly 
 country. See the same use of the plural in ch. 14 : 25, and 
 the analogous phrase, m.ountains of Israel, repeatedly employed 
 by Ezekiel (36 : 1, 8. 38 : 8). The corresponding singular, my 
 mountain (ch. 1 1 : 9. 57 : 13), is by many understood in the same 
 manner. The adverb at the end of the sentence properly 
 means thither, and is never perhaps put for there except in cases 
 where a change of place is previovisly mentioned or implied. 
 If so, the sense is not merely that they shall abide there, but 
 that they shall first go or return thither, which in this con- 
 nection is peculiarly appropriate. Of the promise here re- 
 corded there are three principal interpretations. The first, 
 embraced by neaidy all the modern Germans, is that the verse 
 predicts the restoration of the Jews from Babylon. The 
 second may be stated in the words of Henderson, viz. that 
 " the future happy occupation of Palestine by a regenerated 
 race of Jews is here clearly predicted.' The third is that the 
 verse foretells the perpetuation of the old theocracy or Jewisji 
 church ; not in the body of the nation, but in the remnant 
 which believed on Christ ; and which, enlarged by the acces- 
 sion of the gentiles, is identical in character and rights with 
 the church of the old dispensation, the heir to all its promises, 
 
CHAPTER LXV. 421 
 
 and this among the rest, which either has been or is to be ful- 
 filled both in a literal and figurative sense ; in the latter, be- 
 cause the Church already has what is essentially equivalent to 
 the possession of the land of Canaan under a local ceremonial 
 system ; in the former, because Palestine is yet to be recovered 
 from the ^Pajnim and the Infidel, and rightfully oocupied, if 
 not by Jews, by Christians, as the real seed of Abraham, par- 
 takers of the same faith and heirs of the same promise (Heb. 
 11:9); for the promise that he should be the heir of the world 
 was not to Abraham, or to his seed through the law, but 
 through the righteousness of faith (Rom. 4 : 13). If it should 
 please God to collect the natural descendants of the patriarch 
 in that laud and convert them in a body to the true faith, 
 there would be an additional coincidence between the propliecy 
 and the event, even in minor circumstances, such as we often 
 find in the history of Christ. But if no such national restora- 
 tion of the Jews to Palestine should ever |iappen, the exten- 
 sion of the true religion over that benighted region, which 
 both prophecy and providence encourage us to look for, Avould ■ 
 abundantly redeem the pledge which God has given to his peo- 
 ple in this and other parts of Scripture. 
 
 10. And Sharon shall be for (or bcconl'j) a home of flocks, and 
 the Valley of Achor a lair of herds Jor viy people who have sought 
 me. This is a repetition of the promise in the foregoing verse, 
 rendered more specific by the mention of one kind of pros- 
 perity, viz. that connected with the raising of cattle, and of 
 certain places where it should be specially enjoyed, viz. the 
 valley of Achor and the plain of Sharon. Two reasons have 
 been given for the mention of these places, one derived from 
 their position, the other from their quality. As the valley of 
 Achor was near Jericho and Jordan, and the plain of Sharon 
 on the Mediterranean, between Joppa and Cesarea. some sup- 
 pose that they are here combined to signify the whole breadth 
 
422 CHAPTER LXV. 
 
 of the laud, from East to West. And as Sharon was prover- 
 bial for its verdure and fertility (see above, ch. 33 : 9, 35 : 2), 
 it is inferred by some that Achor was so likewise, which they 
 think is the more probable because Hosea says that the valley 
 of Achor shall be a door of hope (Hos. 2 : 15). But this may 
 have respect to the calamity which Israel experienced there at 
 his first entrance on the land of promise (Josh. 7 : 26), so that 
 where his troubles then began his hopes shall now begin. For 
 these or other reasons Sharon and Achor are here mentioned, 
 in Isaiah's characteristic manner, as samples of the whole land^ 
 or its pastures, just as flocks and herds are used as images of 
 industry and wealth, derived from the habits of the patriarchal 
 age. That this is the correct interpretation of the flocks and 
 herds, is not disputed even by the very writers who insist upon 
 the literal construction of the promise that the seed of Jacob 
 shall possess the land, as ensuring the collection of the Jews 
 into the region which their fathers once inhabited. That to 
 seek Jehovah sometimes has specific reference to repentance and 
 conversion, on the part of those who have been alienated from 
 him, may be seen by a comparison of ch. 9 : 12 (13) and 55 : 6. 
 
 11. And {as for) you,forsakers of Jehovah^ the {men) forgetting 
 my holy mountain^ the {meii) setting for Fortune a table^ and the 
 {men) filliyig for Fate a mingled draught. This is only a de- 
 scription of the object of address ; the address itself is con- 
 tained in the nest verse. The class of persons meant are first 
 described as forsakers of Jehovah and forgetters of his holy 
 mountain. The description of the same persons in the last 
 clause is much more obscure, and has occasioned a vast amount 
 of learned disquisition and discussion. Many interpreters 
 have understood the two most important words as common 
 nouns denoting trooj) and number (the former being the sense 
 put upon the name Gad/va. Gen. 30: 11), and referred the 
 whole clause either to convivial assemblies, perhaps connected 
 
CHAPTER LXV. 423 
 
 with idolatrous worship, or to tlie troop of planets and the 
 multitude of stars, as objects of such worship. But as the 
 most essential words in this case are supplied, the later writers, 
 while they still suppose the objects worshipped to be here de- 
 scribed, explain the descriptive terms in a diiferent manner. 
 Luther retains the Hebrew names Gad and Meni^ which are 
 also given in the margin of the English Bible ; but most in- 
 terpreters explain them by equivalents. One opinion is that 
 Gad is the planet Jupiter (identical with Bel or Baal), and 
 Meni the planet Venus (identical with Ashtoreth), which are 
 called in the old Arabian mythology the Greater and Lesser 
 Fortune or Good Luck, while Saturn and Mars were known as 
 the Greater and Lesser Evil Fortune or 111 Luck. Others 
 understand the planets here intended to be Jupiter and 
 Saturn ; others still the Sun and Moon. Amidst this diver- 
 sity of theories and explanations it is satisfactory to find that 
 there is perfect unanimity upon the only point of exegetical 
 importance, namely, that the passage is descriptive of idola- 
 trous worship. This being settled, the details still doubtful 
 can be interesting only to the philologist and antiquarian. 
 The kind of offering described is supposed to be identical with 
 the Icdisternia of the Roman writers, which consisted in the 
 spreading of a feast for the consumption of the gods. Hero- 
 dotus mentions a'T^arif^a i^A/oiTj^ble of the sun) as known in 
 Egypt ; and Jeremiah twice connects this usage with the wor- 
 ship of the queen of heaven. (Jer. 7 : 18. 44 : 17.) The last 
 word in Hebrew denotes mixture^ and may either mean spiced 
 wine, or a compound of different liquors, or a mere prepara- 
 tion or infusion of one kind. (See above, on ch. 5 : 22.) As 
 to the application of the passage, there is the usual division of 
 opinion among the adherents of the different hypotheses. 
 The true sense of the passage seems to be the same as in 
 vs. 3-7, where the Prophet contemplates his description of the 
 wickedness of Israel, by circumstances drawn from different 
 
424 CHAPTER LXV. 
 
 periods of his history, such as the idolatrous period, the phar- 
 isaical period, etc. 
 
 12. And I have numbered you to the sword, and all of pou to 
 the slaughter shall bow ; because I called and ye did not answer^ I 
 spake and ye did not hear^ and ye did the (thing that was) evil in 
 my eyes, and that which I desired not ye chose. The strict sense 
 of numbering or counting is not only admissible, but necessary 
 to express a portion of the writer's meaning, namely, the idea 
 that they should be cut oflF one by one, or rather one with an- 
 other, i. e. all without exception. (See ch. 27 : 12.) In the 
 use of the Hebrew verb to nuinber there is evident allusion to 
 its derivative in the preceding verse, which some of the 
 German writers try to make perceptible to Grerman readers by 
 combining cognate nouns and verbs. The same effect, if it 
 were worth the while, might be produced in English by the 
 use of destiny and destine. Bowing or stooping to the slaughter 
 is submitting to it either willingly or by compulsion. The re- 
 mainder of the verse assigns the reason of the threatened 
 punishment. The first expression bears a strong resemblance 
 to the words of Wisdom, in Prov. 1 : 24-31. As to the appli- 
 cation of the words, there is the usual confidence and contra- 
 diction ; but the most probable explanation is that which under- 
 stands the passage as predicting the excision of the Jewish na- 
 tion from the Church, not only for the crowning sin of rejecting 
 Christ, but for their aggregate offences as idolaters and hypo- 
 crites, as rebels against God and despisers of his mercy, with 
 which sins they are often charged in the Old Testament (e. g. 
 ch. 50 : 2. 65 : 2. 66 : 4. Jer. 7:13, 26), and still more point- 
 edly by Christ himself in several of his parables and other dis- 
 courses, some of which remarkably resemble that before us 
 both in sentiment and language. (See Matt. 23 : 37. 22 : 7. 
 Luke 19 : 27, and compare Acts 13 : 46.) Besides the coun- 
 tenance which this analogy affords to this exposition, it is 
 
CHAPTER LXV, 425 
 
 strongly recommended by its strict agreement with what we 
 have deterraiued, independently of this place, to be the true 
 Sense of the whole foregoing context. Interpreted by these 
 harmonious analogies, the verse, instead of threatening the de- 
 struction of the Babylonish Jews before the adveift, or of the 
 wicked Jews and Antichrist hereafter, is a distinct prediction 
 of a far more critical event than either, the judicial separation 
 of the Jewish nation and the Israel of God, which had for 
 ages seemed inseparable, not to say identical. 
 
 13, 14. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah^ Lo ! my servants 
 shall eat and ye shall hunger ; lo^ my servants shall drink and ye 
 shall thirst ; lo, my servants shall rejoice and ye shall be ashamed ; 
 lo, my servants shall shout from gladness of heart, and ye shall 
 cry from grief of heart, and from, hrokenness of spirit ye shall 
 howl. These verses merely carry out the general threatening 
 of the one preceding, in a series of poetical antitheses, where 
 hunger, thirst, disgrace, and anguish, take the place of sword 
 and slaughter, and determine these to be symbolical or em- 
 blematic terms. The same metaphors are often used to sig- 
 nify spiritual joy and horror, not only in the Pi'ophets (see 
 above, ch. 8 : 21. 33 : 16. 55 : 1. 58 : 14), but by our Saviour 
 when he speaks of his disciples as eating bread in the king- 
 dom of heaven, where many shall come from the east and 
 the west, and sit down (or recline at table) with Abraham, 
 Isaac, and Jacob (Matt. 8 : 11); and ascribes to the king in the 
 parable the solemn declaration, I say unto you^pone of those 
 men that were hidden shall taste of my supper (Luke 14 : 24). 
 Thus understood, the passage is a solemn prediction of happi- 
 ness to the believing and of misery to the unbelieving Jews. 
 The latter are directly addressed, the former designated as my 
 servants. Gladness of heart, literally goodness^ of ^eart, which 
 in our idiom would express a different idea, on account of our 
 predominant use of the first word in a moral sense. For the 
 
426 CHAPTER LXV. 
 
 Hebrew expression see Deut. 28 : 47. Judg. 19 : 6, 22. For 
 brokemiess of spirit^ compare ch. 61 : 1 and Ps. 51 : 17. To be 
 ashamed, as often elsewhere, includes disappointment and frus- 
 tration of hope. 
 
 15. And ye shall leave your name for an oath to my chosefiones, 
 and the Lord Jehovah shall slay thee, and shall call his servants 
 by another name, (literally. call_ another name to them). The 
 object of address is still the body of the Jewish nation, from 
 which the believing remnant are distinguished by the names 
 my chosen and my servants. Oath is here put for curse, as it is 
 added to it in Dan. 9 : 11, and the two are combined in Num. 
 5:21, where the oath of cursing may be regarded as the com- 
 plete expression of which oath is here an ellipsis. To leave 
 one's name for a curse, according to Old Testament usage, is 
 something more than to leave it to be cursed. The sense is 
 that the name shall be used as a formula of cursing, so that 
 men shall be able to wish nothing worse to others than a like 
 character and fate. This is clear from Jer. 29 : 22 compared 
 with Zech. 3 : 2, as well as from the converse or correlative 
 promise to the patriarchs and their children that a like use 
 should be made of their names as a formula of blessing (Gen. 
 22 : 18. 48 : 20). As in other cases where the use of names 
 is the subject of discourse, there is no need of supposing that 
 any actual practice is predicted, but merely that the character 
 and fate of those addressed will be so bad as justly to admit of 
 such an application. As the phrase your name shows that the 
 object of address is a plurality of persons bearing one name, or 
 in other words an organized community, so the singular form 
 slay thee is entirely appropriate to this collective or ideal per- 
 son. Of the last clause there are three interpretations. The 
 rabbinical expounders understand it as the converse of the 
 other clause. As your name is to be a name of cursing, so my 
 servants are to have another name, i. e. a name of blessing, or 
 
CHAPTER LXV. 421 
 
 a name by which men shall bless. Others give it a more 
 general sense, as meaning their condition shall be altogether 
 different. A third opinion is that it relates to the substitution 
 of the Christian name for that of Jew, as a distinctive designa- 
 tion of God's people. The full sense of the clause can only 
 be obtained by combining all these explanations, or at least a 
 part of each. The first is obviously implied, if not expressed. 
 The second is established by analogy and usage, and the almost 
 unanimous consent of all interpreters. The only question is 
 in reference to the last, which is of course rejected with con- 
 tempt by the neologists, and regarded as fanciful by some 
 Christian writers. These have been influenced in part by the 
 erroneous assumption that if this is not the whole sense of the 
 words, it cannot be a part of it. But this is only true in cases 
 where the two proposed are incompatible. The true state of 
 the case is this : According to the usage of the prophecies .the 
 promise of another name imports a different character and 
 state, and in this sense the promise has been fully verified. 
 But in addition to this general fulfilment, which no one calls iu 
 question, it is matter of history that the Jewish commonwealth 
 or nation is destroyed ; that the name of Jew has been for cen- 
 turies a by-word and a formula of execration, and that they 
 who have succeeded to the spiritual honours of this once 
 favoured race, although they claim historical identity there- 
 with, have never borne its name, but another, which from 
 its very nature could have no existence until Christ had 
 come, and which in the common parlance of the Christian 
 world is treated as the opposite of Jew. Now all this must 
 Ibe set aside as mere fortuitous coincidence, or it must be ac- 
 counted for precisely in the same way that we all account for 
 similar coincidences between the history of Christ and the Old 
 Testament in minor points, where all admit that the direct 
 sense of the prophecy is more extensive. As examples, may 
 be mentioned John the Baptist's preaching in a literal wilder- 
 
428 CHAPTER LXV. 
 
 ness, our Saviour's riding on a literal ass, his literally opening 
 the eyes of the blind, when it is evident to every reader of the 
 original passage that it predicts events of a far more extensive 
 and more elevated nature. While I fully believe that this 
 verse assures Grod's servants of a very diiferent fate from that 
 of the unbelieving Jews, I have no doubt that it also has re- 
 spect to the destruction of the Jewish state and the repudia- 
 tion of its name by the true church or Israel of God. 
 
 16. {By) tohich the (man) blessing himself in the land (or earth) 
 shall bless himself by the God of truth, and (by which) the (man) 
 swearing in the land (or earth) shall swear by the God of truth, 
 because forgotten are the former enmities (or troubles), and because 
 they are hidden from my eyes. Two things have divided and per- 
 plexed interpreters in this verse, as it stands connected with 
 the one before it. The first is the apparent change of subject, 
 and the writer's omission to record the new name which had 
 just been promised. The other is the very unusual construc- 
 tion of the relative. The first of these has commonly been left 
 without solution, or referred to the habitual freedom of the 
 writer. The other has been variously but very unsuccessfully 
 explained. All objections may be obviated by referring the 
 relative to an expressed antecedent, viz. name, a construction 
 given both in the Septuagint and Vulgate versions, although 
 otherwise defective and obscure. Another advantage of this 
 construction is that it removes the abrupt transition and sup- 
 plies the name, which seems on any other supposition to be 
 wanting. According to this view of the place, the sense is that 
 the people shall be called after the God of truth, so that his 
 name and theirs shall be identical, and consequently whoever 
 blesses or swears by the one blesses or swears by the other also. 
 The form in which this idea is expressed is peculiar, but intelli- 
 gible and expressive : ' His people he shall call by anotlier 
 name, which (i. e. with respect to which, or more specifically by 
 
CHAPTER LXV. 429 
 
 whicli) he that blesseth shall bless by the God of truth,' etc. 
 Most interpreters understand by blessing himself, praying for 
 God's blessing, and by swearing, the solemn invocation of his 
 presence as a witness, both being mentioned as acts of religious 
 worship and of solemn recognition. '(12S is properly an adjec- 
 tive meaning sure^ trustworthy, and therefore including the 
 ideas of reality and faithfulness, neither of which should be ex- 
 cluded, and both of which are comprehended in the English 
 phrase, the true God, or retaining more exactly the form of the 
 original, l/i" God of truth. This Hebrew word ,. is retained in 
 the Greek of the New Testament, not only as a particle of as- 
 severation, but in a still more remarkable manner as a name 
 of Christ (Kev. 1.18. 3:14), with obvious reference to the case 
 before us ; and there must be something more than blind chance 
 in the singular coincidence thus brought to light between this 
 application of the phrase and the sense which has been put upon 
 the foreguing verse, as relating to the adoption of the Christian 
 name by the church or chosen people. As applied to Christ, 
 the name has been well explained to describe him as veri/ God, 
 as a witness to the truth, as the substance or reality of the legal 
 shadows, and as the fulfiUer of the divine promises. The last 
 clause gives the reason for the application of the title, God of 
 truth, viz because in his deliverance of his people he will prove 
 himself to be the true God in both senses, truly divine and em- 
 inently faithful. This proof will be afforded by the termina- 
 tion of those evils which the sins of his own people once ren- 
 dered necessary. 
 
 17. For lo I (am) creating (or about to create) new heavens and 
 a new earth, and the former {things) shall not be remembered^ and 
 shall not come up into the mind (literally, on the heart). Of the 
 whole verse there are several distinct interpretations. One un- 
 derstands it as predicting an improvement in the a'r and soil, 
 conducive to longevity and uninterrupted health ; just as a mod- 
 
430 CHAPTER LXV. 
 
 em writer might describe the vast improvement in any European 
 country since ancient times, by saying that the heaven and the 
 earth are new. A second explanation of the verse is that which 
 makes it a prediction of the renovation of the present eartli with 
 its skies, etc. after the day of judgment. A third is that 
 which regards it as a figurative prophecy of changes in the 
 church, according to a certain systematic explication of the sev- 
 eral parts of the material universe as symbols. Better than all 
 these, because requiring less to be assumed, and more in keep- 
 ing with the usage of prophetic language, is the explanation of 
 the verse as a promise or prediction of entire change in the ex- 
 isting state of things, the precise nature of the change and of 
 the means by which it shall be brought about forming no part 
 of the revelation here. That the words ai'e not inapplicable to 
 a revolution of a moral and spiritual nature, we may learn from 
 Paul's analogous description of the change wrought in conver- 
 sion (2 Cor. 5:17. Gal. 6 : 15), and from Peter's application of 
 this very passage. " Nevertheless we, according to his promise, 
 look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth right- 
 eousness (2 Peter 3 : 13)." That the words have such a mean- 
 ing even here, is rendered probable by the last clause, the ob- 
 livion of the former state of things being much more naturally 
 connected with moral and spiritual changes than with one of a 
 material nature. 
 
 18. But rejoice and be glad unto eternity {in) that which I [am) 
 creating^ for lo 1 {am) creating Jerusalem a joy^ and her people a 
 rejoicings i. e. a subject or occasion of it. It would be highly 
 arbitrary to explain ivhat I create in this place, as different from 
 the creation in the verse preceding. It is there said that a cre- 
 ation shall take place. It is here enjoined upon God's people 
 to rejoice in it. But here the creation is declared to be the 
 making of Jerusalem a joy and Israel a rejoicing. Now the 
 whole analogy of the foregoing prophecies leads to the conclu- 
 
CHAPTER LXV. 431 
 
 sion that this means the exaltation of the church or chosen 
 people ; and the same analogy admits of that exaltation being 
 represented as a revolution in the frame of nature. On the 
 other hand, a literal prediction of new heavens and new earth 
 would scarcely have been followed by a reference merely to the 
 church ; and if Jerusalem and Zion be explained to mean the 
 literal Jerusalem and the restored Jews, the only alternative is 
 then to conclude that as soon as they return to Palestine, it 
 and the whole earth are to be renewed, or else that what re- 
 lates to Jerusalem and Israel is literal, and what relates to the 
 heavens and the earth metaphorical, although, as we have just 
 seen, the connection of the verses renders it necessary to re- 
 gard the two events as one. From all these incongruities we 
 are relieved by understanding the whole passage as a poetical 
 description of a complete and glorious change. 
 
 19. And I will rejoice m Jerusalem^ and joy in my peojyie; and 
 there shall not be heard in her again the voice of weeping and the 
 voice of crying. Considered as the language of the Prophet 
 himself, this would express his sympathetic interest in the joyous 
 changes which awaited his people. But such an application 
 would be wholly arbitrary, as Jehovah is undoubtedly the 
 speaker in the foregoing verse, where he claims creative power ; 
 and even here there is an implication of divine authority in the 
 promise that weeping shall no more be heard in her. There is 
 something very beautiful in the association of ideas here ex- 
 pressed. God shall rejoice in his people, and they shall rejoice 
 with him. They shall no longer know what grief is, because 
 he shall cease to grieve over them ; their former distresses 
 shall be forgotten by them and forever hidden from his eyes. 
 
 20. There shall be no more from there an iifant nf days, and an 
 old man toho shall not fulfil his days; for the child a hundred 
 years old shall die, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be 
 
432 CHAPTER LXV. 
 
 accursed. The strict translation tkcncc {from there) is not only 
 admissible but necessary to the sense. It does not, however, 
 mean springing or proceeding thence, but taken away thence, 
 or carried thence to burial. It thus denotes that none shall 
 die there in infancy. All the modern writers are agreed as to 
 the literal meaning of this last clause, though they differ as to 
 the relation of its parts. Some regard it as a synonymous 
 parallelism, and understand the sense to be that he who dies a 
 hundred years old will be considered as dying young, and by a 
 special curse from Grod, interrupting the ordinary course of 
 nature. Others make the parallelism antithetic, and contrast 
 the child with the sinner. Perhaps the true view of the passage 
 is, that it resumes the contrast drawn in vs. 13-15 between the 
 servants of Jehovah and the sinners there addressed. Vs. 16-19 
 may then be regarded as a parenthetical amplification. As if 
 he had said : My servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry ; 
 my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty ; my servants 
 shall rejoice, but ye shall mourn ; my servants shall be just be- 
 ginning life when ye are driven out of it ; among the former, ho 
 ■who dies a hundred years old shall die a child ; among you, he 
 who dies at the same age shall die accursed. On the whole, 
 however, the most natural meaning is the one already mentioned 
 as preferred by most modern writers. Premature death, and 
 even death in a moderate old age, shall be unknown ; he who 
 dies a hundred years old shall be considered either as dying in 
 childhood, or as cut off by a special malediction. The whole is 
 a highly poetical description of longevity, to be explained pre- 
 cisely like the promise of new heavens and a new earth in v. 17. 
 
 21, 22. And they shall build houses and inhabit [them), and 
 shall plant vineyards and cat the fruit of them, they shall not build 
 and another inhabit, tliey shall not plant and another eat; for as 
 the days of a tree [shall be) the days of my people, and the work of 
 their hands my chosen ones shall wear out (or survive.) This is a 
 
CHAPTER LXV. 433 
 
 promise of security and permanent enjoyment, clothed in ex- 
 pressions drawn from the promises and thrcatenings of the Mo- 
 saic law. By the age of a tree is generally understood the great 
 age which some species are said to attain, such as the oak, the Q,- 
 banyan, etc. The essential idea is ^^ijkjihat of permanent con- ^ 
 tinuauce, and the figures here used to express it make it still 
 more probable that in the whole foregoing context the predictions 
 are to be figuratively understood. 
 
 23. The,y shall not labour in vain, and they shall not bring forth 
 for terror ; for the seed of the blessed of Jehovah are they, and their 
 offspring with them. The sense of sudden destruction given to 
 nbna by some modern writers, is a mere conjecture from the 
 context, and no more correct than the translation curse, which 
 others derive from an Arabic analogy. The Hebrew word 
 properly denotes extreme agitatioti and ylarm. and the meaning 
 of the clause is that they shall not bring forth children merely 
 to be subjects of distressing solicitude. 
 
 24. And it shall be (or co?ne to pass), thai they shall not yd have 
 called and I loill ansiver, yet (shall) they {be) speaking and I will 
 hear. A strong expression of God's readiness to hear and 
 answer prayer, not a mere promise that it shall be heard (like 
 that in Jer. 29 : 12. Zech. 13:9), but an assurance that it 
 shall be granted before it is heard. The nearest parallel is 
 Matt. 6 . 8, where our Lord himself says, Your Father knoweth 
 what things ye have need of. before ye ask him. (Compare 
 ch. 30 : 19. 58 :9. Ps. 145 : 18, 19.) 
 
 25. The wolf and the lamb shall feed as one, and the lion like 
 the ox shall eat straw, and the serpent dust (for) his food. They 
 shall not hurt and they shall not corrupt (or destroy) in all my holy 
 mountain, saith Jehovah. The promise of a happy change is 
 wound up in the most appropriate manner by repeating the 
 
 VOL. II. — 19 
 
434 CHAPTER LXVI. 
 
 prophecy in ch. 11: 6-9, that all hurtful influences shall for- 
 ever cease in the holy hill or church of God. Some suppose an 
 allusion to the popular belief that serpents feed on dust because 
 they creep upon the ground, and understand the prophecy to 
 be that they shall henceforth be contented with this food and 
 cease to prey on men or other animals. But this would be too 
 low a promise for the contest, since a very small part of the 
 evils which men suffer can arise from this cause. The true 
 sense seems to be that in accordance with the serpent's ancient 
 doom, he shall be rendered harmless, robbed of his favourite 
 nutriment, and made to bite the dust at the feet of his con- 
 queror. (Gen. 3:15. Rom. 16 : 20. 1 John 3 : 8. Compare 
 Isaiah 49 : 24.) The last clause resolves the figures of the first. 
 The verbs are therefore to be understood indefinitely, as in 
 ch. 11:9; or if they be referred to the animals previously 
 mentioned, it is only a symbolical or tropical expression of the 
 same idea. The form of expression is the same in either case, 
 except that what begins a verse in the eleventh chapter here 
 concludes one. 
 
 I^^.l^-itsi- 
 
 CHAPTER LXYI. 
 
 This chapter winds up the prophetic discourse with an ex- 
 press prediction of the change of dispensations, and a descrip- 
 tion of the difference between them. Jehovah will no longer 
 dwell in temples made with hands, v. 1. Every sincere and 
 humble heart shall be his residence, v. 2. The ancient sacrifi- 
 ces, though divinely instituted, will henceforth be as hateful as 
 the rites of idolatry, v. 3. They who still cling to the abro- 
 gated ritual will be fearfully but righteously requited, v. 4. 
 
CHAPTER LX VI. 435 
 
 The true Israel, cast out by these deluded sinners, shall ere 
 long be glorified, and the carnal Israel fearfully rewarded, vs. 
 5, 6. The ancient Zion may already be seen travailing with a 
 new and glorious dispensation, vs. 7-9. They who mourned 
 for her seeming desolation now rejoice in her abundance and 
 her honour, vs. 10-14. At the same time the carnal Israel 
 shall be destroyed, as apostates and idolaters, vs. 14-17. The 
 place which they once occupied shall now be filled by the elect 
 from all nations, v. 18. To gather these, a remnant of the an- 
 cient Israel shall go forth among the gentiles, v. 19. They 
 shall come from every quarter and by every method of convey- 
 ance, V. 20. They shall be admitted to the sacerdotal honours 
 of the chosen people, v. 21. This new dispensation is not to 
 be temporary, like the one before it, but shall last forever, v. 
 22. While the spiritual Israel is thus replenished from all 
 nations, the apostate Israel shall perish by a lingering decay in 
 the sight of an astonished world, vs. 23, 24. 
 
 1. Thus saith Jehovah^ Tks heavens {are) my throne, and the 
 earth my footstool ; where is (or what is) the hovse ichich yc. will 
 build for me, and where is (or ^vhat is) the place of my rest ? liter- 
 ally, the place my rest, i. e. the place which is or can be my rest 
 or permanent abode. The same term is elsewhere applied to 
 the temple, as distinguished from the tabernacle or moveable 
 sanctuary. (See 2 Sam. 7:6. 2 Chron. 6 : 41. Ps. 132 : 8.) 
 All interpreters agree that this question implies disapproba- 
 tion of the building, as at variance with the great truth pro- 
 pounded in the first clause, namely, that the frame of nature 
 is the only material temple worthy of Jehovah. This obvious 
 relation of the clauses is sufficient of itself to set aside two of 
 the old interpretations of the passage. The first is that which 
 supposes that this chapter is a counterpart to the first, and 
 that the Prophet here recurs to his original theme, the corrup- 
 tions and abuses of his own age. But besides the undisputed 
 
436 CHAPTER LXVI. 
 
 references to the future in the latter part of this very chapter, 
 it has been conclusively objected to the theory in question, 
 that in the reigns of Ahaz and Hezekiah there could be no 
 thought of building or rebuilding, nor even of repairing- or 
 adorning the temple, but rather of despoiling it. (2 Kings 
 16 : 17, 18. 18 : 15.) The same objection lies against the theory, 
 that this chapter was intended to console the pious Jews 
 who were debarred from the customary public worship during 
 the profanation of the temple by Antiochus Epiphanes. In 
 neither of these cases could there be occasion for objecting to 
 the building or rebuilding of the temple. That exposition 
 is most probably the true one which assumes the most intimate 
 connection of the chapters here, and is least dependent upon 
 forced divisions and arbitrary intervals crowded with imaginary 
 facts, e g. that in the interval between these chapters the tribes 
 of Benjamin and Judah had resolved to exclude the others 
 from all participation in the rebuilding of the temple, and that 
 the passage now before us was intended to reprove them for 
 their want of charity ; as if this end could be accomplished by 
 proclaiming the worthlessness of all material temples, which is 
 tantamount to saying, why do you refuse to let your country- 
 men assist in the rebuilding of the temple, since no temples 
 are of any value? The best refutation of this and other 
 forced interpretations is afforded by a simple statement of the 
 true sense. Having held up in every point of view the true 
 design, mission, and vocation of the church or chosen people, 
 its relation to the natural descendants of Abraham, the causes 
 which required that the latter should be stripped of their pecu- 
 liar privileges, and the vocation of the Gentiles as a part of the 
 divine plan from its origin, the Prophet now addresses the 
 apostate and unbelieving Jews at the close of the old dispen- 
 sation, who, instead of preparing for the general extension of 
 the church and the exchange of ceremonial for spiritual wor- 
 ship, were engaged in the rebuilding and costly decoration of 
 
CHAPTER LXVI. 437 
 
 the temple at Jerusalem. The pride and interest in this great 
 public work, felt not only by the Herods but by all the Jews 
 is clear from incidental statements of the Scriptuns (John 2 : 
 20. Matt. 24 : 1), as well as from the ample and direct asser- 
 tions of Josephus. That the nation should have been thus oc- 
 cupied precisely at the time when the Messiah came, is one of 
 those agreements between prophecy and history which cannot 
 be accounted for except upon the supposition of a providential 
 and designed assimilation. To the benefit of this coincidence 
 the exposition which has last been given is entitled, and by 
 means of it the probabilities, already great, may be said to be 
 converted into certainties, or if anything more be needed for 
 this purpose it will be afforded by the minuter points of sim- 
 ilarity which will be presented in the course of the interpreta- 
 tion. One advantage of this exposition is that it accounts for 
 the inference here drawn fro^n a doctrine which was known to 
 Solomon and publicly announced by him (1 "Kings 8 : 27). 
 It may be asked, then, why this truth did not forbid the 
 erection of the temple at first, as well as its gorgeous recon 
 struction in the time of Christ, The answer is, that it was 
 necessary for a temporary purpose, but when this temporary 
 purpose was accomplished it became not only useless but un- 
 lawful. Henceforth the worship was to be a spiritual worship, 
 the church universally diffused, and the material sanctuary no 
 longer an earthly residence for God but a convenient place of 
 meeting for his people. 
 
 2. And all these my own hand made^ and all these were (or 
 are), sailh Jehovah ; and to this one will I look^ to the ajjlicted and 
 contrite in spirit and tremblinff at my roord. By a.ll these it is 
 universally admitted that we are to understand the heavens 
 and the earth, of which he claims to be not only the sovereign, 
 as in the preceding verse, but the creator. The next expres- 
 sion may be differently understood. The reference in the first 
 
4'38 CHAPTER LXVI. 
 
 clause is to the time of actual creation, my hand made them and 
 they were, i. e. began to be. (See Gen. 1 : 3. Ps. 33 : 9.) Both 
 tenses of the verb are combined to express the same idea in 
 Rev. 4:11. It is important to the just interpretation of these 
 verses to observe the climax in them. First the temples made 
 by men are contrasted with the great material temple of the 
 universe ; then this is itself disparaged by Jehovah as his own 
 handiwork, and still more in comparison with a nobler temple 
 of a spiritual nature, the renewed and contrite heart (See 
 oh. 57 : 15. 2 Cor. 6 : 16.) The same condescending favour is 
 expressed for the same objects elsewhere. (Ps. 34 : 18. 138 : 6.) 
 To look to, is to have regard to, and implies both approbation 
 and affection. (See Gen. 4 : 4, 5. Ex. 2 : 25. Num.. 16 : 15. 
 Judg. 6:14. Ps. 25 : 16.) Contrite or broken in heart or spirit 
 is a scriptural description of the subjects of divine grace in its 
 humbling and subduing influences. (Ch. 61 : 1.) 
 
 3. Slaying the ox, smiting a man — sacrificing the sheep, break- 
 ing a dog^s neck — offering an oblation, blood of swine — making a 
 memorial of incense, blessing vanity — also they have chosen their 
 ways, and in their abominations has their soul delighted. This 
 translation, although scarcely English, will convey some idea 
 of the singular form of the original, and render intelligible 
 what is said as to the different constructions of the sentence. 
 The first clause consists of four similar members, in each of 
 which are coupled a form of sacrifice under the Mosaic law 
 and an offering which according to that law was inadmissible 
 and even revolting. The ox and the sheep represent the 
 animal sacrifices, the nnj'o or meal-offering and the incense 
 those of an unbloody nature. The verbs connected with these 
 Douns are likewise all selected from the technical vocabulary 
 of the law. Memorial is the technical name of a certain kind 
 of offering, especially of incense (Lev. 24 : 7) with or without 
 other vegetable substances (Num. 5 : 26), so called perhaps 
 
CHAPTERLXVI. 439 
 
 because the fames of the incense were conceived of as ascend- 
 ing into heaven and reminding God of the worshipper. The 
 same figure was then transferred to prayers and other spiritual 
 offerings. (See Acts 10 : 4.) Smiting has here, as often else- 
 where, the emphatic sense of wounding mortally or killing. 
 (Gen. 4:15. Ex. 2 : 12. Josh. 20 : 5. 1 Sam. 17 : 26.) The 
 dog has ever been regarded in the east as peculiarly unclean, 
 and in that light is coupled with the swine, not only in the 
 Bible (Matt. 7 : 6. 2 Pet. 2 : 22), but by Horace, who twice 
 names dog and swine together as the vilest animals. Siviue's 
 blood alone is without a verb to govern it. The simplest course 
 is to repeat the leading verb of the same member. "iUSt is com- 
 monly supposed to mean an idol, as it does in a few places ; 
 but it is better to retain its generic sense, as more expressive. 
 This is by some understood to be vanity, nonentity, or worth- 
 lessness, as attributes of ido^s ; by others, injustice or iniquity 
 in general. The whole phrase is commonly explained to mean 
 Messing (i. e. praising or worshipping) an idol, or saluting it by 
 kissing (1 Kings 19: 18. Job 31 : 27). The simplest syntax 
 is to supply the verb of existence, and thus produce a series 
 of short propositions : He that slays an ox smites a man, etc. 
 The ancient versions all supply a particle of likeness — he that 
 slays an ox is like one that murders a man, etc. This is 
 adopted by most of the modern writers, but of late without 
 supplying anything, the words being taken to assert not mere 
 resemblance but identity, which is the strongest form of com- 
 parison. It is certainly more expressive to say that an offerer 
 of cattle is a murderer, than to say that he is like one, though 
 the latter may be after all the real meaning. He is a mur- 
 derer, i. e. God so esteems him. The common interpretation 
 is that the passage relates not to the actual practice of the 
 abominations mentioned, but to the practice of iniquity in gen- 
 eral, which renders the most regular and costly offerings as 
 hateful to Jehovah as the most abominable rites of idolatry. 
 
440 CHAPTER LXVI. 
 
 The general doctrine of the text is that sacrifice is hateful in 
 the sight of God if offered in a wicked spirit, but with a special 
 reference to those who still adhere to the old sacrifices after 
 the great sacrifice for sin was come and had been offered once 
 for all. Thus understood this verse extends to sacrifices that 
 which the foregoing verses said of the temple, after the change 
 of dispensations. 
 
 4. I also will choose their vexations^ and their fear I will bring 
 upon them ; because I called and there was no one answering^ I 
 spake and they did not hear^ and they did evil in my eycs^ and 
 that which I delight not in they chose. The larger part of this 
 verse, from because, to the end, is repeated from oh. 65 : 12, 
 and serves not only to connect the passages as parts of an un- 
 broken composition, but also to identify the subjects of dis- 
 course in the two places. The common version of the first 
 Hebrew noun (^delusions) seems to be founded on a misconcep- 
 tion of the Vulgate (illusion es). which was probably intended to 
 suggest the idea of derision like the tunaLyfiuia of the Sep- 
 tuagint. It is in the cognate sense of petulance, caprice, that 
 it is used to denote children in ch. 3 : 4. Their fear is the evil 
 which they fear, as in Prov. 10 : 24, where the same idea is ex- 
 pressed almost in the same words. 
 
 5. Hear the word of Jehovah., ye that tremble at his toord. 
 Your brethren say., {those) hating yon and casting you out for my 
 name's sake, Jehovah will be glorified and we shall gaze upon your 
 joy — and they shall be ashamed. Trembling at (or rather to) 
 Jehovah's word seems to mean reverently waiting for it. Ye 
 that thus expect a message from Jehovah, now receive it. 
 Hear the word (or promise) of Jehovah, ye that wait for it 
 with trembling confidence : your brethren (the unconverted 
 Jews) who hate you and cast you out for my name's sake, have 
 said (in so doing), ' Jehovah will be glorious (or glorify him- 
 
CHAPTER LXVI. 441 
 
 self in your behalf no doubt), and we shall witness your salva- 
 tion' (a bitter irony like that in ch. 5 : 19) ; but tliey (who 
 thus speak) shall themselves be confounded (by beholding what 
 they now consider so incredible). Besides the clearness and 
 coherence of this exposition in itself considered, and its per- 
 fect harmony with what we have arrived at as the true sense 
 of the whole foregoing context, it is strongly recommended by 
 remarkable coincidences with the New Testament. That the 
 unbelieving Jews might still be called the brethren of the 
 converts, if it needed either proof or illustration, might derive 
 it from Paul's mode of address to them in Acts 22 : I, and of 
 reference to them in Rom. 9 : 3. The phrase those hating you 
 may be compared with John 15 : 18. 17 : 14. Matt. 10 : 22. 
 1 Thess. 2:14; casting you, out with John 16:2; for my 
 nami-i's sake with Matt. 24 : 9 ; to which may be added the 
 interesting fact that the x^rb n-r: and its derivatives are 
 used to this day by the Jews in reference to excommuni- 
 cation. Thus unde.rstood the verse is an assurance to the 
 chosen remnant in whom the true Isi'ael was to be perpetu- 
 ated, that although their unbelieving countrymen might cast 
 them out with scorn and hatred for a time, their spite 
 should soou be utterly confounded. The great truth involved 
 in the change of dispensations may be signally developed and 
 exemplified hereafter, as in the case of the restored Jews who 
 receive the doctrine of the gospel and their brethren Avho 
 persist in endeavouring to establish the old ritual ; but we 
 must not on that account abandon the fulfilment which has 
 actually taken place. 
 
 6. A voice of tumult from the city ! A voice from the temple ! 
 The voice of Jehovah, rendering requital to his enemies/ The 
 Hebrew word lixttj is never applied elsewhere to a joyful cry or 
 a cry of lamentation, but to the tumult of war, the rushing 
 sound of armies and the shock of battle, in which sense it is re- 
 
 19* 
 
442 CHAPTER LXVI. 
 
 peatedly employed by Isaiah. The enemies here mentioned 
 must of course be those who had just been described as the 
 despisers and persecutors of their brethren, and whose con- 
 fusion after being threatened generally in the verse preceding 
 is here graphically represented in detail. The description 
 therefore cannot without violence be understood of foreign or 
 external enemies. In strict adherence to the usage of the 
 words and to the requisitions of the context, both immediate 
 and remote, the verse may be applied to the giving up of Zion 
 and the temple to its enemies, as a final demonstration that the 
 old economy was at an end, and that .the sins of Israel were 
 now to be visited on that generation. The assailants of Jerusa- 
 lem and of the Jews were now no longer those of God himself, 
 but rather chosen instruments to execute his vengeance on his 
 enemies, the unbelieving Jews themselves. The tumult com- 
 pi-ehends the whole confusion of the siege and conquest, and a 
 better commentary on this brief but grand prediction cannot be 
 desired than that afi"orded by Josephus in. his narrative of what 
 may be regarded as not only the most drea'dful siege on record 
 but in some respects the most sublime and critical conjuncture 
 in all history, because coincident with the transition from the 
 abrogated system of the old economy to the acknowledged intro- 
 duction of the new, a change of infinitely more extensive influ- 
 ence on human character and destiny than many philosophical 
 historians have been willing to admit or even able to discover. 
 
 7. Before she travailed she brought forth, before her pai?i carne 
 she was delivered of a male. All interpreters agree that the 
 mother here described is Zion, that the figure is essentially the 
 same as in ch. 49 : 21, and that in both cases an increase of 
 numbers is represented as a birth, while in that before us the 
 additional idea of suddenness is expressed by the figure of an 
 unexpected birth. The difference between the cases is that in 
 the other a plurality of children is described, while in this the 
 
CHAPTER LX VI. 443 
 
 whole increase is represented in the aggregate as a single birth. 
 As to the specification of the sex, some regard it as a mere 
 illustration of the oriental predilection for male children, not 
 intended to have any special emphasis, while others make it 
 significant of strength as well as numbers in the increase of the 
 people. As to the application of the passage there is nothing 
 in the terms employed which can determine it, but it must fol- 
 low the sense put upon the foregoing context or the general 
 hypothesis of the interpreter. The parturition is a figure for 
 the whole eventful crisis of the change of dispensations, and 
 the consequent change in the condition of the church. This 
 indestructible ideal person, when she might have seemed to be 
 reduced to nothing by the defection of the natural Israel, is 
 vastly and suddenly augmented by the introduction of the 
 gentiles, a succession of events which is here most appropriately 
 represented as the birth of a male child without the pains of 
 childbirth, 
 
 8. Who hath heard such a thmg 1 ivho hath seefi such things ? 
 Shall a land be brought forth in one dai/, or shall a nation be born 
 at oncel For Zio?i hath travailed^ she hath also brought forth her 
 children. This verse, in the form of pointed interrogation, 
 represents the event previously mentioned as without example. 
 The terms of the sentence are exceedingly appropriate both to 
 the return from Babylon and the future restoration of the Jews, 
 but admit at the same time of a wider application to the change 
 of dispensations as the birth of the church of the New Testa- 
 ment. The reference is merely to the short time required for 
 the birth, as if he had said, she has (already) travailed, she has 
 also brought forth. 
 
 9. Shall I bring to the birth and not cause to bring forth ? saith 
 Jehovah. Or am I the one causing to bring forth, and shall I shut 
 up ? saith thy God. The sense now put ujpon the figure by the 
 
444 CHAPTER LXVI. 
 
 general consent of interpreters, is that he who begins the work 
 may be expected to accomplish it, to be both its author and its 
 finisher. The reason why it is expressed in this form is not 
 any peculiar adaptation or expressiveness in these unusual 
 metaphors, but simply that the increase of the church had been 
 already represented as a birth, and the additional ideas of the 
 ■writer are expressed without a change of figure. The precise 
 connection of the verse with that before it seems to be that it 
 extenuates the wonder which had been described, by represent- 
 ing it as something which was to be expected in the case sup- 
 posed. That is to say, if God had undertaken to supply the 
 place of what his church had lost by new accessions, the extent 
 and suddenness of the efiioct could not be matters of surprise. 
 On the contrary, it would have been indeed surprising, if he 
 who began the change had stopped it short, and interfered for 
 the prevention of his own designs. With the metaphor of this 
 verse and the one preceding, compare ch. 26 : 18. 
 
 10. Rejoice ye ivith Jerusalem and exult in her, all that love her; 
 be glad ivith her ivith gladness, all those mourning for her. This 
 is an indirect prediction of the joyful change awaiting Zion, 
 clothed in the form of a command or invitation to her friends 
 to rejoice with her. Different interpreters, according to their 
 various exegetical hypotheses, explain this as a prophecy of 
 Israel's ancient restoration from the Babylonish exile, or of 
 their future restoration from the present exile and di.spersion, 
 or of the glorious enlargement of the church after the excision 
 of the unbelieving Jews and the throes of that great crisis in 
 which old things passed away and the new heavens and the new 
 sarth came into existence ; which last I believe to be the true 
 sense, for reasons which have been already fully stated. 
 
 11. That ye may suclc and be satisfied from the breast of her 
 consolations, that ye may milk out and enjoy yourselves from the 
 
CHAPTER LXVI. 445 
 
 fulness (or the full breast) of her glory. Those who have sympa- 
 thized with Zion in her joys and sorrows shall partake of her 
 abundance and her glory. The figure of a mother is continued, 
 but beautifully varied. Suck and be satisfied.^ milk out and enjoy 
 yourselves.^ may be regarded as examples of hendiadys, meaning 
 suck to satiety and milk out with delight ; but no such change in 
 the form of the translation is required or admissible. Glory in- 
 cludes wealth or abundance, but much more, viz. all visible su- 
 periority or excellence. 
 
 12. For thus saith Jehovah, Behold I am extending to her peace 
 like a river, and like an overflowing stream the glory of nations — 
 and ye shall suck — on the side shall ye be borne, and on the knees 
 shall ye be dandled. By a beautiful figure the Prophet repre- 
 sents a river suddenly or gradually widening its channel or its 
 flow until it reaches to a certain spot, its actual submersion be- 
 ing not expressed, though it may be implied. Peace is here to 
 be taken in its frequent sense of welfare or prosperity. (See 
 above, on ch. 48 : 18.) The words and ye shall suck are added 
 to announce a resumption of the figure of the foregoing verse. 
 The objects of address in this verse are the sons of Zion, to be 
 gathered from all nations. 
 
 13. As a man whom his mother comforteth, so tvill I comfort you, 
 and in Jerusalem shall ye be comfortixl. The image is essen- 
 tially the same with that in ch. 49: 15, but with a striking 
 variation. The English Version, which, in multitudes of cases, 
 inserts man where the original expression is indefinite, translat- 
 ing nvdti;. for example, always no ma?i, here reverses the pro- 
 cess and dilutes a ma?i to one. The same liberty is taken by 
 many other versions old and new, occasioned no doubt by a feel- 
 ing of the incongruity of making a full-grown man the subject 
 of maternal consolations. The difficulty might, if it were neces- 
 sary, be avoided by explaining the word to mean a maa-child. 
 
446 CHAPTER LXV I. 
 
 as it does in Gen. 4:1. 1 Sam. 1:11, and in many other cases. 
 But the truth is that the solecism, which has been so carefully 
 expunged by these translators, is an exquisite trait of patri- 
 archal manners, in their primitive simplicity. Compare Gen. 
 24:67. Judges 17:2. 1 Kings 2:19, 20, and the affecting 
 scenes between Thetis and Achilles in the Iliad. In Jerusahm 
 suggests the only means by which these blessings are to be se- 
 cured, viz. a union of affection and of interest with the Israel 
 of God, to whom alone they are promised. 
 
 14. And ye shall see, aiid your heart shall leap {with joy), and 
 your bones like grass shall sprout, and the hand of Jehovah shall 
 be known to his servants, and he shall be indignant at his enemies. 
 The object of address still continues to be those who had loved 
 Zion, and had mourned for her, and whom God had promised to 
 comfort in Jerusalem. They are here assured that they shall 
 see for themselves the fulfilment of these promises. The hand 
 of God is known when his power is recognized as the cause of 
 any given effect. This clause is important as affording a tran- 
 sition from the promise to the threatening, in accordance with 
 the Prophet's constant practice of presenting the salvation of 
 God's people as coincident and simultaneous with the destruc- 
 tion of his enemies. 
 
 15. For la, Jehovah in fire will come, and like the whirlwind his 
 chariots, to appease in fury his anger, and his rebuke in flames of 
 fire. This is an amplification of the brief phrase at the end of 
 V. 14. In fire, that is enveloped and surrounded by it, as on 
 Sinai. (See above, ch. 29 : 6. 30 : 27, 30, and compare Ps. 
 50:3.) The second clause is repeated in Jer. 4 : 13. The 
 points of comparison are swiftness and violence. The allusion 
 is to the two-wheeled chariots of ancient warfare. Some sup- 
 pose angels to be meant, on the authority of Ps. 68 : 17. (Com- 
 pare Ps. 18:10. 2 Kings 2:11. 6:17. Hab. 3 : 8.) The Eng- 
 
CHAPTER LXVI. 447 
 
 lisli Version supplies toith before his chariots^ but this is foibid- 
 den by the order of the words in Hebrew, and unnecessary, as 
 the chariots may be construed either with shall come or with the 
 substantive verb are or shall be. God's rebuke is often coupled 
 with his wrath as its effect or practical manifestation. (See 
 above, ch. 17 : 13. 51 : 20. 54 : 9.) The whole verse represents 
 Jehovah, considered in relation to his enemies, as a consuming 
 fire. (Deut. 4 : 24. Heb. 12 : 29. Comp. 2 Thess. 1 : 8.) 
 
 16. For by fire is Jehovah striving and by his sword icith all 
 flesh, and multiplied (or many) arc the slain of Jehovah. Fire 
 and sword are mentioned as customary means of destruction, 
 especially in war. The reflexive form has in the first clause its 
 usual sense of reciprocal judgment, litigation, or contention in 
 .general. (See above, ch. 43 : 2G.) A sure clue to the primary 
 application of the verse before us is afforded by our Saviour's 
 words in Matt. 24 : 22, where in speaking of the speedy de- 
 struction of Jerusalem he says that excepting the elect no flesh 
 should be saved, i. e. no portion of the Jewish race but those 
 who were ordained to everlasting life through faith in him. 
 This application of Isaiah's prophecy agrees exactly with the 
 view already taken of the whole preceding context as relating 
 to that great decisive crisis in the history of the church and of 
 the world, the dissolution of the old economy and the inaugu- 
 ration of the new. According to this view of the passage what 
 is her6 said of fire, sword, and slaughter, was fulfilled not only 
 as a figurative prophecy of general destruction, but in its strict- 
 est sense in the terrific carnage which attended the extinction 
 of the Jewish state, and of which, more emphatically than of 
 any other event outwardly resembling it, it might be said that 
 many were the slain of Jehovah. 
 
 17. The (men) hallowing themselves a?id .the (men) cleansing 
 themselves to (or towards) the gardens after one in the midst, eaters 
 
448 CHAPTER LXVI. 
 
 of sicme's flesh and vermin and movse, together shall cease (or r.07ne 
 to an e?id), sailh Jehovah. This verse is closely connected with 
 the one before it, and explains who are meant by the slam of 
 Jehovah. It is almost universally agreed that these are here 
 described as gross idolaters. But even among those who so 
 understand it. there is no small difference of opinion in relation 
 to particular expressions. The class of persons meant is ob- 
 viously the same as that described in ch. 65 : 3, 5, the gardens 
 and the swine's flesh being common to both. The reflexive par- 
 ticiples in the first clause are technical terms for ceremonial 
 purification under the law of Moses, here transferred to heathen 
 rites. The words aftrr one are those which constitute the prin- 
 cipal difficulty of the sentence. This some have undertaken to 
 remove by emendations of the text, so as to mean far back, 
 one by one, or one after the other. Some, without a change 
 of text, explain the numeral o/t", as agreeing either with 
 grove, or with pool, or with tree, or with priest or priestess. 
 This last may be given as the current explanation, in which 
 an allusion is supposed to an idolatrous procession led by 
 a hierophant. Others apply one to the idol, so called in 
 contempt, one being then equivalent to the Latin quidam, 
 nescio quern. Others treat 'inx as the proper name of a Syrian 
 idol, called by Sanchoniathon ".tdMSo; and by Pliny and 
 Macrobius Adad^ the last writer adding expressly that the 
 name means one. Henderson calls attention to a striking coin- 
 cidence between the use of this word here and the constant ap- 
 plication of the cognate one in Arabic by the Mohammedans to 
 God as being One, in express contradiction to the doctrine of 
 the Trinity. Besides the difiiculty which attends the absolute 
 vise of the numeral without a noun, there is another of the same 
 kind arising from the like use of midst without anything to limit 
 or determine it, as meaning the interior or court of an oriental 
 house, or the midst of the gi'ove or garden, where the idol was 
 commonly erected, or the midst of the crowd or procession of 
 
CHAPTER LXVI. 449 
 
 worshippers. As to the eating of swine's flesh, see above, on 
 ch. 65 : 4. yp_'Vi may either have its generic sense of ahoinina- 
 tiou or abominable food, or the more specific sense of flesh of- 
 fered to idols, or of the smaller unclean animals, whether quad- 
 rupeds, insects, or reptiles, to which it is specially applied in 
 the Law. In favour of the more specific meaning is the colloca- 
 tion of the word between swine's flesh and the mouse, or, as the 
 modern writers understand the word, the jerboa or oriental 
 field-mouse, which is said to be eaten by the Arabs. The ac- 
 tual use of any kind of mouse in the ancient heathen rites has 
 never been established, the modern allegations of the fact being 
 founded on the place before us. As to the application of the pas- 
 sage, it is not to be expected that the advocates of any exegetical 
 hypothesis will here abandon it if able by any means to reconcile 
 it with the Prophet's language. I see no cause to change my 
 previous conclusion that ^his prophecy relates to the excision 
 of the Jews and the vocation of the gentiles, or in other words 
 the change of dispensations The apparent diificulty which 
 arises from the description of such gross idolatry as all admit 
 to have had no existence among the Jews after their return 
 from exile, is removed by the consideration that the Jews were 
 cast off not for the sins of a single generation, but of the race 
 throughout its ancient history, and that idolatry was not only 
 one of these, but that which most abounded in the days of 
 the Prophet ; so that when he looks forward to the great ca- 
 tastrophe and paints its causes, he naturally dips his pencil 
 in the colours which were nearest and most vivid to his own 
 perceptions, without meaning to exclude from his description 
 other sins as great or greater in themselves, which afterwards 
 supplanted these revolting practices as the besetting national 
 transgressions of apostate Israel. A writer in the early days 
 of Wilbevforce and Clarkson, in denouncing God's wrath upon 
 England, would most naturally place the oppression of the negro 
 in the foreground of his picture, even if he had been gifted to 
 
450 CHAPTER LXVI. 
 
 foresee that this great evil in the course of time would be com- 
 pletely banished from the sight of men by new forms of iniquity 
 successively usurping its conspicuous position, such as excess- 
 ive luxury, dishonest speculation, and ambitious encroachment 
 on the rightful possessions of inferior powers in the east. If it 
 were really God's purpose to destroy that mighty kingdom for 
 its national offences, he would not lose sight of ancient half- 
 forgotten crimes, because they have long since given place to 
 others more or less atrocious. So in reference to Israel, al- 
 though the generation upon whom the final blow fell were 
 hypocrites, not idolaters, the misdeeds of, their fathers entered 
 into the account, and they were cast off not merely as the mur- 
 derers of the Lord of Life, but as apostates who insulted Jeho- 
 vah to his face by bowing down to stocks and stones in groves 
 and gardens, and by eating swine's flesh, the abomination, and 
 the mouse. And as a!l this was included in the grounds of 
 their righteous condemnation, it might well be rendered promi- 
 nent in some of the predictions of that great catastrophe. An- 
 other possible interpretation of the passage, in direct applica- 
 tion to the unbelieving Jews who were contemporary with our 
 Saviour, is obtained by supposing an allusion to v. 3, where 
 those who still clung to the abrogated ritual are put upon a 
 level with the grossest idolaters, and may here be absolutely so 
 described, just as the rulers and people of Jerusalem in ch. 
 1 : 9 are addressed directly as rulers of Sodom and people of 
 Gomorrah, on account of the comparison immediately preced- 
 ing. This view of the passage is undoubtedly favoured by the 
 mention of swine's flesh in both places, which would naturally 
 make the one suggestive of the other. Neither of these exe- 
 getical hypotheses requires the assumption of imaginary facts, 
 such as the practice of idolatry by the Jews in exile, or their 
 return to it hereafter. 
 
 1 8. And I — their works and their thoughts — it is come — to gather 
 
CHAPTER LXVI. 451 
 
 all the nations and the iongtoes — and they shall come and see my 
 glory. This is an exact transcript of the Hebrew sentence, 
 the grammatical construction of which has much perplexed 
 interpreters. In this obscurity and doubt as to the syntax, there 
 is something attractive in the theory which supplies nothing, 
 but regards the first clause as a series of broken and irregular 
 ejaculations, in which the expression of the thought is inter- 
 rupted by the writer's feelings. Common to all these explana- 
 tions is the general assumption that the words and thoughts of 
 the persons in question are in some way represented as the 
 cause or ,the occasion of the gathering mentioned in the other 
 clause. The use of the word tongues as an equivalent to nationSy 
 has reference to national distinctions springing from diversity 
 of language, and is founded on Gen. 10:5, 20, 31, by the influ- 
 ence of which passage and the one before us it became a phrase 
 of frequent use in Daniel, \^hose predictions tui'n so much upon 
 the calling of the gentiles. (Dan. 3 : 4, 7. 4 : 1. 5 : 19). To 
 sec the glory of Jehovah is a phrase repeatedly used elsewhere to 
 denote the special manifestation of his presence and his power 
 (ch. 40 : 5. 59 : 19. GO : 2), and is applied by Ezekiel to the 
 display of his punitive justice in the sight of all mankind 
 (Ezek. 39 : 21). As we have seen that the crimes described in 
 the foregoing verses are not those of the heathen, but of the 
 apostate Jews, whose deeds and thoughts must therefore be 
 intended in the first clause, the explanation most in harmony 
 with this immediate context, as well as with the whole di'ift of 
 the prophecy thus far, is that which makes the verse before us 
 a distinct prediction of the calling of the gentiles, both to wit- 
 ness the infliction of God's vengeance on the Jews, and to sup- 
 ply their places in his church or chosen people. It is perhaps 
 to the language of this prophecy that Christ himself alludes in 
 Matt. 24 : 31. (Compare also John 5 : 25.) 
 
 19. And I will place in them (or among them) a sign, and I will 
 
452 CHAPTER LXVI. 
 
 send of them survivors (or escaped ones) to the 7iatio7is, Tarshish, 
 Pul, and Lud, draivcrs of the bow, Tubal and Javan, the distant 
 isles, which have not heard my fame and have 7iot seen my glory, 
 and they shall declare my glory among the nations. Most modern 
 writers agree in determining the sense of the first phrase from 
 that which it evidently has in Ex. 10 : 1, 2, where God is twice 
 said to have placed his signs among the Egyptians, with evident 
 allusion to the plagues as miraculous evidences of his power. 
 Explained by this analogy, the clause before us would appear to 
 mean, I will work a miracle among them or before them. The 
 escaped, as in ch. 4 : 3, are the survivors of the judgments pre- 
 viously mentioned. These are sent to the nations, of whom some 
 are then particularly mentioned. For the sense of Turshish, 
 see above, on ch. 60 : 9. Its use here may be regarded as de- 
 cisive of the question whether it denotes the sea, since Tarshish 
 is added to the general term nations precisely as the other 
 names are added afterwards. The incongruity of this transla- 
 tion of the word is exhibited without disguise in the Vulgate, 
 ad gcntes, in mare, in Africam, etc., so that the the sea stands 
 first in a catalogue of nations. Pul is identified by Bochart 
 with an island in the Nile on the frontier of Ethiopia and 
 Egypt. Others regard it as an orthographical variation or 
 an error of the text for Put or Fhut, which is elsewhere joined 
 with Lud (Jer. 46 : 9. Ezek. 27 : 10) and repeatedly written in 
 the Septuagint <I>ov8 (Gen. 10 : 6. 1 Chron. 1 : 8), the same 
 form which that version here employs. All agree that the 
 name belongs to Africa, like that which follows, Lud, the Ludim 
 of Gen. 10:13 and Jer. 46 : 9, elsewhere represented as warriors 
 (Ezek 27 : 10. 30 : 5). Javan is the Hebrew name for Greece 
 (Gen. 10 : 2. Dan. 8 : 21. Zech. 9 : 13), perhaps identical with 
 Ion or Ionia. The same name essentially exists in Sanscrit. 
 The nations specified are obviously given as a sample. This is 
 rendered still more certain by the addition of the general ex- 
 pression, the remote coasts or islaiids; for the sense of which see 
 
CHAPTEIl LXVI. 463 
 
 above, on ch. 41 : 1. The suggestion is not without plausibility 
 that some of the obscure names here used were selected for the 
 express purpose of conveying the idea of remote and unknown 
 regions. The restriction of the promise to the very places 
 mentioned would be like the proceeding of a critic who should 
 argue hereafter from the mention of Greenland, India, Africa, 
 and Ceylon, in Heber's Missionary Hymn, that the zeal of 
 English Protestants extended only to those portions of the 
 heathen world. As this interpretation of the hymn would be 
 forbidden, not only by the general analogy of figurative language 
 and of lyric composition, but by the express use of such uni- 
 versal phrases as " from pole to pole" in the very same connec- 
 tion, so in this case it is plain that the essential meaning of the 
 whole enumeration is that expressed in the following clause : 
 ivho have not heard my fame and have not seen my glory. As to 
 the meaning of tlie whole ve^'se, or the nature of the event which 
 it predicts, interpreters differ in exact accordance with their 
 several hypotheses. The only way in which these seeming con- 
 tradictions can be reconciled is by assuming what is in itself 
 most natural and perfectly agreeable to usage, namely, that 
 V. 19 does not describe the progress of (.vents be3"ond the time re- 
 ferred to in V. 18, but explains in what way the assemblage there 
 described is to be brought about. I will gather all nations. 
 By what means ? I will send those who escape my judgments 
 to invite them. Both verses being then collateral and equally 
 dependent on v. 17, the pronoun thni refers to the persons 
 there described, viz. the apostate Jews, whose excision is the 
 subject of this prophecy. The whole may then be paraphrased 
 as follows: Such being their character, I will cast them off and 
 gather the nations to take their place ; for which end I will 
 send forth the survivors of the nation, the elect for whose sake 
 these days shall be shortened when all besides them perish, to 
 declare my glory in the regions where my name has never yet 
 been heard. Thus understood, the passage is exactly descrip- 
 
454 CHAPTER LX VI. 
 
 tivo of the preaching of the gospel at the beginning of the new 
 dispensation. All the first preachers were escaped Jews, 
 plucked as brands frola the burning, saved from that perverse 
 generation (Acts 2 : 40). The 5/^« will then denote the whole 
 miraculous display of divine power, in bringing the old dis- 
 pensation to a close and introducing the new, including the 
 destruction of the unbelieving Jews on the one hand, and on 
 the other all those signs and wonders and divers miracles and 
 gifts of the Holy Ghost (Heb. 2 : 4), which Paul calls the signs 
 of an apostle (2 Cor. 12 : 12), and which Christ himself had 
 promised should follow them that believed (Mark 16 : 17). All 
 these were signs placed among them, i. e. among the Jews, to 
 the greater condemnation of the unbelievers, and to the salva- 
 tion of such as should be saved. That there will not be here- 
 after an analogous display of divine power in the further execu- 
 tion of this promise, cannot be proved, and need not be affirmed ; 
 but if there never should be, it will still have had a glorious 
 fulfilment in a series of events compared with which the restora- 
 tion of the Jewish people to the land of Canaan is of little 
 moment. 
 
 20. And they shall bring all your brethren from all nations 
 an oblation to Jehovah, with horses, and toith chariot, and with 
 litters, a?id icilh mules, and tcith dromedary's, on my holy moun- 
 tain Jerusalem, saith Jehovah, as the children of Israel bring the 
 oblation in a clean vessel to the house of Jehovah. The verb at 
 the beginning may be construed either with the messengers of 
 V. 19, or indefinitely as denoting 'men shall bring your breth- 
 ren,' equivalent in Hebrew usage to 'your brethren shall be 
 brought.' Although this last construction is in perfect agree- 
 ment with analogy, the other is not only unobjectionable but 
 entitled to the preference as much more graphic and expres- 
 sive. The survivors sent forth to the nations are then described 
 as bringing back the converts to the true religion as an offer- 
 
CHAPTER LXVI. 455 
 
 ing to Jehovali. Their return for this purpose is described as 
 easy, swift, and even splendid, all the choicest methods of con- 
 veyance used in ancient times being here combined to express 
 that idea. As to the sense of the particular expressions there 
 is no longer any dispute or doubt. The ininhah was the stated 
 vegetable offering of the Mosaic ritual. It was commonly 
 composed of flour with oil and incense ; hut the name, in its 
 widest sense, may be considered as including fruits and grain 
 in a crude as well as a prepared state. This oblation seems to 
 be selected here as free from the concomitant ideas of cruelty 
 and grossness which were inseparable from bloody sacrifices. 
 The only general exegetical question in relation to this verse is 
 whether T/OJ^/" brethrefi means the scattered Jews or the converted 
 gentiles. Here again, all depends upon a foregone conclusion. 
 How inextricably tliis one case is implicated in the general 
 question as to the subject and design of the prophecy, appears 
 from the fact that those who apply this expression to the Jews 
 content themselves with citing all the other places in Isaiah 
 where precisely the same doubt exists as in the case before us. 
 In favour of the other explanation may be cited Paul's descrip- 
 tion of the gentiles as an oblation which he as an officiating 
 priest oflered up to God. (Rom. 15: 16.) Although it might 
 be doubted whether Paul there formally explains or even 
 quotes this prophecy, bis obvious allusion to its images and 
 terms shows at least that he considered them as bearing such 
 an application, and in the absence of any other gives it un- 
 doubtedly a clear advantage. Another suggestion not un- 
 worthy of attention, is that there may here be special reference 
 to the early converts from the heathen world considered as the 
 first fruUs of the spiritual harvest ; which agrees well with the 
 wide use of the technical term minhah. as already stated, and 
 with the frequent application of the figure of first fruits to the 
 same subject in the books of the New Testament. 
 
456 CHAPTER LXVI. 
 
 21. And also of them zvill I take for Priests for Levites saith 
 Jehovah. Many manuscripts supply and before the second for. 
 The peculiar form of the common text may be intended to 
 identify the two classes, as in point of fact the Priests were all 
 without exception Levites. It seems at least to be implied 
 that the distinction is in this case of no consequence, both 
 names being given lest either should appear to be excluded. 
 The only question here is to what the pronoun them refers 
 The Jews of course refuse to understand it of the gentiles, 
 except as meaning for the Priests and Levites., for their service, 
 as hewers of wood and drawers, of water ! Of those who 
 adopt the natural construction wliich refers of them to gentile 
 converts, some understand this as a promise that they shall all 
 be admitted to the spiritual priesthood common to believers. 
 But others, on the ground that the expressions, / -will take and 
 of them^ both imply selection and discrimination, refer it to 
 the Christian ministry, to wliich the gentiles have as free 
 access as Jews There can be no doubt that this office might 
 be so described in a strongly figurative context, where the func- 
 tions of the ministry were represented in the same connection 
 as sacerdotal functions. But the only offering here mentioned 
 is the offering of the gentile converts as an oblation to Jeho- 
 vah, and the priesthood meant seems to be merely the ministry 
 of those by whom their conversion is effected. The most 
 natural interpretation seems to be as follows. The mass 
 of the Jewish people was to be cast off from all connection 
 with the church ; but the elect who should escape were to be 
 sent among the nations and to bring them for an offering to 
 Jehovah, as the Priests and Levites offered the oblation at 
 Jerusalem. But this agency was not to be confined to the Jews 
 who were first entrusted with it ; not only of them, but also of 
 the gentiles themselves, priests and Levites should be chosen 
 to offer this oblation, i. e. to complete the vocation of the gen- 
 tiles. Should the context be supposed to require a still more 
 
CHAPTER LXVI. 457 
 
 general meaning, it may be that the sacerdotal mediation of the 
 ancient Israel between Jehovah and the other nations, which 
 was symbolized by the Levitical and Aaronic priesthood, was to 
 cease with the necessity that brought it into being, and to leave 
 the divine presence as accessible to one race as another. 
 
 22. For as the mw heavens and the new earthy which I am 
 making (or about to make), are standing (or about to stand) be- 
 fore me, saith Jehovah, so shall stand your name and your seed. 
 To the reference of the preceding verse to the gentiles it is 
 urged as one objection, that the verse before us does not give a 
 reason for the promise so explained ; for how could it be said 
 that God would put them on a level with the Jews because the 
 name and succession of the latter were to be perpetual? But 
 this objection rests upon the false assumption, running through 
 the whole interpretation of tli^s book, that the promise is ad- 
 dressed to Israel as a nation ; whereas it is addressed to Israel 
 as a church, from which the natural descendants of Jacob for 
 the most part have been cut off, and the object of this verse is 
 to assure the church that notwithstanding this excision it 
 should still continue to exist, not only as a church, but as the 
 church, the identical body which was clothed in the forms of 
 the old dispensation, and which still survives when they are 
 worn out and rejected. The grand error incident to a change 
 of dispensations was the very one which has perverted and ob- 
 scured the meaning of these prophecies, the error of confound- 
 ing the two Israels whom Paul so carefully distinguishes, and 
 of supposing that the promises given to the church when ex- 
 ternally identified with one race are continued to that race 
 even after its excision from the church- It was to counter- 
 act this very error that the verse before us was recorded, in 
 which God's people, comprehending a remnant of the natural 
 Israel and a vast accession from the gentiles, are assured that 
 God regards them as h^a o.wa chosen peo.ple, not a new one, but 
 
 VOL. II. — 20 
 
458 CHAPTER LXVI. 
 
 the same that was of old, and that the very object of the great 
 revolution, here and elsewhere represented as a new creation, was 
 to secure their perpetuity and constant recognition as his people. 
 Since then he creates a new heaven and a new earth for this very 
 purpose, that purpose cannot be defeated while these heavens 
 and that earth endure. The Jews themselves understand this 
 as a promise that their national pre-eminence shall be perpetual. 
 
 23. And it shall he (or come to pass) that from new-moon to 
 new-moon (or on every new moon), and from sabbath to sabbath (or 
 on every sabbath)^ shall come all fiesh to bow themselves (or tvor- 
 ship) before me, saith Jehovah. The form of expression in the 
 first clause is so idiomatic and peculiar that it docs not admit 
 of an exact translation. A slavish copy of the original would 
 be, 'from tire suificiency of new moon in its new moon and 
 from the sufficiency of sabbath in its sabbath.' For the usage 
 of the Hebrew phrase, see above, on ch. 28 : 19. It sometimes 
 stands where we should say as often as (1 Sam. 18 : 30. 1 Kings 
 14 : 28). Although the form is so peculiar, there is no doubt 
 as to the essential meaning, viz. from new moon to new moon, 
 or at every new moon. At these stated periods of public wor- 
 ship under the old economy (those of most frequent recurrence 
 being specified) all flesh shall came up to worship before me. 
 There is no more need of excluding Jerusalem from one verse 
 than the other, since the Prophet, in accordance with his con- 
 stant practice, speaks of the emancipated church in language 
 borrowed from her state of bondage ; and that this form of 
 expression is a natural one, may be inferred from the facility 
 with which it is perpetuated in the common parlance of the 
 church and of religion, the Jerusalem or Zion of our prayers 
 and hymns being perfectly identical with that of the prophecy 
 before us. Thus understood, the verse is a prediction of the 
 general diffusion of the true religion with its stated observ- 
 ances and solemn forms. 
 
CHAPTER LXVI 459 
 
 24. And they shall go forth and gaze upon the carcases of the 
 men who revolted (or apostatized) from ?ne, for their worm shall 
 7iot die and their fire shall not be que/iched, and they shall be an 
 horror to all flesh. The first verb may be construed indefi- 
 nitely, ' they, i. e. men,' without defining them ; but in so vivid 
 a description, it is certainly more natural to give the verbs a 
 definite subject, and especially the one that had been previously 
 introduced, viz. the worshippers assembled from all nations to 
 do homage at Jerusalem. The grand theme of these prophe- 
 cies, as we have seen, is the relation of God's people to himself 
 and to the world, and in the latter stages of its history, to that 
 race with which it was once outwardly identical. The great 
 catastrophe with which the vision closes is the change of dis- 
 pensations, comprehending the final abolition of the ceremo- 
 nial law and its concomitants, the introduction of a spiritual 
 worship and the consequent difi'usion of the church, its vast 
 enlargement by the introduction of all gentile converts to com- 
 plete equality of privilege and honour with the believing Jews, 
 and the excision of the unbelieving Jews from all connection 
 with the church or chosen people, which they once imagined to 
 have no existence independent of themselves. The contrast 
 between these two bodies, the rejected Jews and their believ- 
 ing brethren forming one great mass with the believing gen- 
 tiles, is continued to the end, and presented for the last time 
 in these two concluding verses, where the whole is condensed 
 into a single vivid spectacle, of which the central figure is 
 Jerusalem, and its walls the dividing line between the two con- 
 trasted objects. Within is the true Israel, without the false. 
 Within, a great congregation, even " all flesh," come from the 
 east and the west, and the north and the south, while the 
 natural children of the kingdom are cast out. (Matt. 8 : 12.) 
 The end of the former is left to be imagined or inferred from 
 other prophecies, but that of the latter is described, or sug- 
 gested in a way more terrible than all description. In the 
 
460 CHAPTER LXVI. 
 
 valley of the son of Hinnom, under the very brow of Zion 
 and Moriah, where the children were once sacrificed to Moloch, 
 and where purifying fires were afterwards kept ever burning, 
 the apostate Israel is finally exhibited, no longer living but 
 committed to the flames of Tophet. To render our conceptions 
 more intense, the worm is added to the flame, and both are 
 represented as undying. That the contrast hitherto maintained 
 may not be forgotten even in this closing scene, the men 
 within the walls are seen by the light of those funereal fires 
 coming forth and gazing at the ghastly scene, not with de- 
 light as some interpreters pretend, but, as the text expressly 
 Bays, with horror. In its primary meaning, this is a prophecy 
 of ruin to the unbelieving Jews, apostate Israel. But as the 
 safety of the chosen remnant was to be partaken by all other 
 true believers, so the ruin of the unbelieving Jew is to be shared 
 by every other unbeliever. Thus the verse becomes descriptive 
 of the final doom of the ungodly, without any deviation from its 
 proper sense, or any supposition of a mere allusion or accom- 
 modation in the use of the same figures by our Lord himself 
 in reference to future torments. All that is requisite to recon- 
 cile and even to identify the two descriptions is the considera- 
 tion that the state of ruin here described is final and continu- 
 ous, however it may be divided, in the case of individuals, 
 between the present life and that which is to come. Hell is 
 of both worlds, so that in the same essential sense although in 
 diff"erent degrees, it may be said both of him who is still 
 living but accursed, and of him who perished centuries ago, 
 that his worm dieth not and his fire is not quenched. 
 
 THE END. 
 

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