The 
 NewCentury 
 
 Bible 
 
 Isaiah 
 Vol- 11 
 
'* JAN 3 1.910 * 
 
 Divisioa 
 Section 
 
THE NEW-CENTURY BIBLE 
 
 *GENESIS, by the Rev. Prof. W. H. Bennett, Litt.D., D.D. 
 ^EXODUS, by the Rev. Prof. W. H. Bennett, Litt.D., D.D. 
 LEVITICUS AND NUMBERS, by the Rev. Prof. A. R. S. Kennedy, M.A., D.D. 
 -DEUTERONOMY AND JOSHUA, by the Rev. Prof. H. Wheeler Rouinson, 
 
 M.A. 
 ^JUDGES AND RUTH, by the Rev. G. W. Thatcher, M.A., B.D. 
 I AND II SAMUEL, by the Rev. Prof. A. R. S. KENNEcy, M.A., D.D. 
 I AND II KINGS, by the Rev. Prof. Skinner, D.D. 
 
 I AND II CHRONICLES, by the Rev. W. Harvev-Jellie, M.A., B.D, 
 EZRA, NEHEMIAH, AND ESTHER, by the Rev. Prof. T. Witton Davies, 
 B.A., Ph.D. 
 *JOB, by Prof. A. S. Peake, M.A.,D.D. 
 
 ^PSALMS (Vol. I) I to LXXII, by the Rev. Prof. Davison, M.A., D.D. 
 *PSALMS (Vol. II) LXXIII TO END, by the Rev. Prof. T. Witton Davies, 
 
 B A., Ph.D. 
 *PROVERBS, ECCLESIASTES, and SONG OF SOLOMON, by the 
 
 Rev. Prof. G. Currie Martin, M.A., B.D. 
 *ISAIAH I-XXXIX, by the Rev. OWEN C. Whitehouse, M.A., D.D. 
 ^ISAIAH XL-LXVI, by the Rev. OwEN C. Whitehouse, M.A , D.D. 
 JEREMIAH AND LAMENTATIONS, by Prof. A. S. Peake, M.A., D.D. 
 *EZEKIEL, by the Rev. Prof. W. F. Lofthouse, M.A. 
 DANIEL, by the Rev. Prof. R. H. Charles, D.D. 
 *MINOR PROPHETS: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, by the 
 
 Rev. R. F. HORTON, M.A., D.D. 
 ^MINOR PROPHETS: Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, 
 Malachi, by the Rev. Canon Driver, Litt.D.,D.D. 
 
 *i. MATTHEW, by the Rev. Prof. W. F. Slater, M.A. 
 
 *2. MARK, by the late Principal SalmOND, D.D. 
 
 »3. LUKE, by Principal W, F. Adeney, M.A., D.D. 
 
 *4. JOHN, by the Rev. J. A. McClymont, D.D. 
 
 "t^. ACTS, by the Rev. Prof. J. Vernon Bartlet, M.A., D.D, ! 
 
 *6. ROMANS, by the Rev. Prof. A. E. Garvie, M.A., D.D. I 
 
 *;. I and II CORINTHIANS, by Prof. J. Massie, M.A., D.D. j 
 
 ^8. EPHESIANS, COLOSSIANS, PHILEMON, PHILIPPIANS, by the ' 
 Rev. Prof. G. CURRIB MARTIN, M.A., B.D. I 
 
 ■ Q I AND II THESSALONIANS, GALATIANS, by Principal W. F. Adenev, j 
 
 M.A., D.D. 
 *io. THE PASTORAL EPISTLES, by the Rev. R. F. HoRTON, M.A., D.D. 
 *ii. HEBREWS, by Prof. A. S. PeAke, M.A., D.D. I 
 
 '12. THE GENERAL EPISTLES, by the Rev. Prof. W. H. Bennett, Litt.D, 
 
 D.D. 
 •13. REVELATION, by the Rev. Prof. C. Anderson Scott, M.A., B.D. 
 
 [Those marked* are already publishecL'] 
 
THE NEW-CENTURY BIBLE 
 
 VOL. 11 
 
 ISAIAH 
 
 XL— LXVI 
 
 DEUTERO-ISAIAH : XL-LV 
 TRITO-ISAIAH : LVI-LXVI 
 
OXFORD 
 HORACE HART, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITV 
 
General Editor : 
 Principal Walter F. Adeney, M.A., D.D. 
 
 jleftiftp 
 
 XL— LXVI 
 
 DEUTERO-ISAIAH : XL-LV 
 TRITO-ISAIAH : LVI-LXVI 
 
 INTRODUCTIONS 
 
 REVISED VERSION WITH NOTES 
 
 INDEX AND MAP 
 
 EBITED IJY THE REV. 
 
 OWEN C. WHITEHOUSE, M.A., D.D. 
 
 VOL. II 
 
 NEW*-'YORK: HENRY P^ROWDE 
 
 OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, AMERICAN BRANCH 
 
 EDINBURGH : T. C. & E. C. JACK 
 
The Revised Version is printed by permission of the 
 Universities of Oxford and Cambridge 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 DEUTERO-ISAIAH (CHAPTERS XL-LV) 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introduction to Deutero-Isaiah i 
 
 Text of the -Revised Version with Annotations . 47 
 
 TRITO-ISAIAH (LVI-LXVI) 
 
 Introduction to Trito-Isaiah 225 
 
 Text of the Revised Version with Annotations . 241 
 
 Appendix I. Chronological Tables .... 340 
 Appendix II. Inscription on the Clay Cylinder of Cj^rus, 
 
 King of Persia (538-529 B.C.) 342 
 
 Additions and Corrections 344 
 
 Index 345 
 
 MAP 
 Syria, Assj'ria, Babylonia, &c. .... at front. 
 
VOL. II 
 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET 
 
 ISAIAH (Chapters XL-LV) 
 
 OR DEUTERO-ISAIAH 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
ABBREVIATIONS 
 
 O.T. Old Testament. NT. New Testament. 
 
 A.V. Authorized Version. R.V. Revised Version. 
 
 LXX. Septuagint. A. or Al. Alexandrine codex. B . Vatican cod. 
 
 COT. Schrader's Cuneiform Inscriptions and the Old Testament, 
 translated from the second edition of the German Keil- 
 inschriften und das alte Testament^ KAT.^ 
 
 KAT? The third edition in German of the above by Winckler 
 and Zimmern, but an entirely new work on a totally different 
 plan. 
 
 KIB. Die Keilinschrijtliche Bibliothek, edited by Dr. Schrader, 
 vols, i-vi consisting of transcribed and translated Assyrian 
 and Babylonian documents. 
 
 ZA TW. Zeitschrift fiir die Alttestamentliche Wissenschq/i. 
 
 SBOT. Saaed Books of the Old Testament, ed. Paul Haupt. 
 
 PRE? Realencyclopadie fiir Protestantische Theologie und Kirche 
 (third edition). 
 
 DB. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. 
 
 DCG. Hastings* Diet, of Christ and the Gospels. 
 
 Enc. BibL Encyclopaedia Biblica. 
 
 J. Yahwistic writer in the Hexateuch. 
 
 E. Elohistic writer in the Hexateuch. 
 
 P. Priestercodex or Postexilian document of the Pentateuch. 
 
 [S. . . . ]. Servant passages in the Deutero- Isaiah. Other 
 bracketed passages are later insertions either by an editor 
 or gloss-writer introduced into the Hebrew text. 
 
 KJ. Giesebrecht, Der Knecht Jahves des Deiiterojesaia. 
 
 RS2. Robertson Smith's Religion of the Semites, 2nd ed. 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH 
 
 (CHAPTERS XL-LV) 
 CALLED THE DEUTERO-ISAIAH 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 § I. Prologue. Historic Antecedents of the 
 Exile. 
 
 Between the close of Isaiah's life at the beginning of 
 the seventh century and the exile of the Jewish population 
 in Babylonia there intervene nearly the whole of that 
 century and the beginning of the sixth— about a hundred 
 years. This interval may be characterized in a single 
 sentence. It meant for the Jewish people the final 
 destruction of their kingdom and, in part, of their 
 national hopes ; and it also meant the purification of their 
 religious ideas and cultus. This last was the permanent 
 result which the overwhelming tides of foreign invasion, 
 Scythian, Egyptian, and Babylonian, left behind them. 
 
 Isaiah of Jerusalem, as we have already noted, uttered 
 a great warning united to a great hope. He warned the 
 nation that destructive judgments would overtake them 
 for their sins against Yahweh — the sins of idolatry, necro- 
 mancy, blind adherence to ceremonial, and national pride 
 as well as sins of social injustice and drunkenness. Yet 
 he also held out the hope that a remnant of the people 
 would repent, that these would abide with God in their 
 midst in Jerusalem, and that the city would be preserved 
 from destruction. Finally, that a Messiah of Davidic 
 lineage would arise and destroy the Assyrian power and 
 establish the reign of righteousness and peace in 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 To these anticipations the Jewish people clung in the dark 
 days that awaited them near the close of the Jewish 
 monarchy ; but the warnings were not equally heeded. 
 B 2 
 
4 ISAIAH 
 
 Isaiah's prophecy that Assj'ria's power would be over- 
 thrown and that a Messiah would bring about this result 
 was not destined to be fulfilled. The reforms of 
 Hezekiah's reign were of such transient character and 
 influence that soon scarcely a trace remained- A period 
 of religious reaction set in, and it is to be noted that this 
 religious decline synchronizes with Judah's political 
 subjection to Assyria during Manasseh's long reign (687- 
 41) and the brief reign of his son and successor Amon 
 (641-39). Of this relation to Assyria we have decisive 
 evidence in the two lists of tributary kings which closely 
 resemble one another belonging respectively to the reigns 
 of Esar-haddon and Asurbanipal, in which the name of 
 Manasseh of Judah occurs. See Schrader, COT., ii, p. 40 
 foil., and cf. i Chron. xxxiii. I1-13. That this vassalage 
 to Assyria gravely prejudiced the popular estimate of 
 Yahweh's power and prestige can admit of no doubt. 
 From the earliest days Yahweh had been Israel's war- 
 God, and in the thoughts of the great mass of the 
 Hebrews this tradition still survived. In the star-worship 
 of Manasseh (2 Kings xxi. 3) we can trace Babylonian 
 influence. On the other hand, the revival of Yahweh's 
 worship and the drastic reforms instituted by Josiah 
 synchronize with the decline of Assryian power, which 
 very rapidly set in after the death of Asurbanipal in 
 626 B. C. 
 
 The last quarter of the seventh century and the open- 
 ing of the sixth are filled with the prophetic activity of 
 the most remarkable of Israelite prophets — Jeremiah. It 
 was Jeremiah who was destined to announce the final 
 break of prophecy with nationalism. Isaiah, as we have 
 already seen, was not entirely emancipated from the old 
 traditions of Hebrew nationalism. His contemporary, 
 Micah, was in this respect more advanced (cf. Mic. iii. 
 12). According to Isaiah Judah was still the object of 
 Yahweh's fatherly solicitude. His personal power and 
 presence continued to reside there. Though Judah was 
 
INTRODUCTION 5 
 
 to suffer terrible chastisements— and it almost seems from 
 Isa. vi. 1 1 foil, that this involved complete destruction — 
 yet, as we learn from other passages, this was not to be. A 
 purified remnant would survive all the fiery ordeals, and 
 Yahweh would not suffer Jerusalem, His abode, to be 
 captured by the foreign invader. This conception was 
 expressed in the significant name Iinmanuely a. watch- 
 word of comforting potency in the dark days of the latter 
 half of the eighth century. 
 
 But now even this last vestige of national hope was to 
 be extinguished. The reformation in the age of Josiah, 
 out of which the Deuteronomic legislation emerged, had 
 not wrought the cure for national apostasy that had been 
 expected. The deep wounds of the nation were even 
 now but lightly healed (Jer. vi. 14, viii. 11). Avarice and 
 falsity beset all ranks of society, even prophet and priest. 
 It was a delusion to talk of peace or national well-being, 
 for there was none. Jeremiah saw that the moral condi- 
 tion of Israel, social and religious, was beyond remedy. 
 After Josiah had come the ill-fated Jehoahaz (or Shallum) 
 and, after a brief and troubled reign, his elder brother 
 Jehoiakim, the nominee of Pharaoh Necho. Judah had 
 now sunk lower than ever, and had become the shuttle- 
 cock of the rival powers, Babylonia (which had succeeded 
 to the inheritance of Assyrian supremacy) and Egypt. 
 Once more, as in the days of Manasseh, the prestige and 
 power of Yahweh sank in popular esteem. The mass of 
 the people had never appropriated the teachings of Amos 
 and Isaiah, which lifted Yahweh above the confines of 
 nationalism and made Him the universal Lord whose 
 nature and purpose were righteousness and whose world- 
 wide rule was based on justice. The true prophets of 
 Yahweh interpreted the disasters of the past as Yahweh's 
 chastisements for idolatry and social wrong-doing. But 
 the popular mind took quite another view. There were, 
 in fact, two classes of opinion. Those who were worship- 
 pers of Yahweh clung to the belief which Isaiah's 
 
6 ISAIAH 
 
 teaching appeared to sustain, that Yahweh would never 
 permit Jerusalem to be captured or its temple destroyed. 
 This view was held by the court and priestly party 
 sustained by the false prophets. Of these Hananiah and 
 PaShur were typical leaders. Even after the capture of 
 Jerusalem in 597 B.C. they held that the evils from which 
 Judah sufifered were only transient, and that the temple, 
 which had been left intact, would recover within two 
 years the vessels which had been carried away by Nebu- 
 chadrezzar to Babylon. Within that short interval his 
 dominion would be overthrown (Jer. xxviii. 2-4). 
 
 In contrast with these we have another and a very 
 considerable section of the population who were open 
 idolators, and their numbers must have enormously in- 
 creased when the Jerusalem temple was destroyed and 
 Yahweh, Israel's national deity, seemed impotent. The 
 idolators would then boldly assert that the religion of 
 Yahweh was played out. The evils from which the nation 
 suffered they believed to be due to Josiah's reformation, 
 which had offended the deities whose ancient cults he had 
 abolished. A vivid chapter in Jeremiah (xliv) clearly exhibits 
 to us these opposed theories of causation. It serves to 
 illustrate the conditions against which Jeremiah waged 
 constant warfare. On the one hand we have the doctrine 
 of the true Yahweh prophets represented by Jeremiah, who 
 declared that the disasters which had overtaken Jeru- 
 salem and had destroyed its temple took place because 
 Israel had provoked Yahweh to anger by burning incense 
 in the worship of other gods (xliv. 3). On the other 
 hand we have the opposed theory of the exiled Jewish 
 population in Egypt, inspired chiefly by the women, that 
 the suppression of the worship of Ashtoreth was the 
 cause of all their misfortunes (Jer. xliv. 17-19). Now the 
 worship of Ashtoreth was the most widely diffused of all 
 the cults of the Semitic world at that time. Not only was 
 she worshipped in Phoenician cities, but under the name 
 of IStar her seductive demoralizing cult prevailed in the 
 
INTRODUCTION 7 
 
 cities of Assyria and Babylonia, especially in the former 
 (in the two cities Nineveh and Arbela\). She was wor- 
 shipped in a variety of aspects, as giver of increase 
 (somewhat resembling Venus) and goddess of love, as 
 war-goddess, and as the deity to whom, like the madonna, 
 beautiful hymns of penitence were addressed. Her cult 
 was far more widely spread over the Semitic world than 
 that of Yahweh, and was probably more ancient. To the 
 ordinary Jewish inhabitant the arguments addressed by 
 Rabshakeh to the beleaguered inhabitants of Jerusalem 
 (2 Kings xviii. 22) must have recurred in varied forms a 
 century later. And they came with tenfold force after 
 the successive disasters of 597 and 586 B.C. But after 
 586 B.C. the destruction of Yahweh's temple must have 
 meant to most unsophisticated minds the downfall of 
 Yahweh, Israel's God. They were altogether unequal to 
 the intellectual effort of a reinterpretation of Yahweh's 
 nature and purpose. The vast extension of His domain 
 and the moral elevation of His personality and ends, 
 which the teaching of Amos first emphasized and which 
 Isaiah had preached, were beyond their ken. All that 
 they were able to apprehend was that the role of Yahweh, 
 the national war-God of Samuel and Elisha, was at an 
 end. It seemed to close in the last tragic scene with the 
 blackened ruins of Yahweh's temple as its background. 
 
 We can now grasp the dimensions of Jeremiah's her- 
 culean task. He had to confront two parties. First, the 
 court party and priesthood supported by the false prophets 
 who clung to the last vestige of nationalism and believed 
 that Yahweh would preserve His sanctuary and would 
 save Jerusalem ; and second, the increasing band of 
 idolators who believed that the power of Yahweh was 
 waning. The warfare against the first, though bitter and 
 implacable, was not of long duration. Jeremiah had to 
 bear for some years the opprobrium of anti-patriotism. 
 
 See Aburbanlpars insc. {Rassam ■ cy]. "^ passt'm. 
 
8 ISAIAH 
 
 He boldly and passionately proclaimed that the national 
 polity was to be overthrown. Since Jehoiakim had 
 abandoned the traditions of reform inaugurated by 
 Josiah, the future was hopeless. ' The harvest was past, 
 the summer ended, yet the people were not saved.' The 
 stern logic of facts finally proved in 586 B.C. that 
 Jeremiah was right and the court party wrong. 
 
 But in the case of idolatry with its worship of 'other 
 gods' Jeremiah had to cope with a more persistent and 
 insidious foe. Ezekiel chap, viii presents a lurid picture 
 of the vitality and prevalence of idolatrous practices and 
 mystic rites in Jerusalem during the exile. And we shall 
 later have occasion to note the renewed strength of 
 idolatry among the exiled Jews. 
 
 The teaching of Jeremiah presupposes the final destruc- 
 tion of the national and local ties on which Yahweh's 
 religion had hitherto rested. The Babylonian invasions 
 of 597 and 587 B.C. shattered the national basis of 
 Hebrew religion. Henceforth it was not to be local, 
 external, and national, but it was to be spiritual, internal, 
 and personal. Instead of the religion of a social and 
 traditional organization there was to be the religion of 
 personality and character. There was to be a new 
 covenant with Israel. The terms of this new covenant 
 should be carefully studied in Jer. xxxi. 27-34, which 
 Giesebrecht and Cornill rightly regard as the genuine 
 utterance of the prophet. The New Covenant implies 
 that Israel shall henceforth be ruled, not by a system of 
 external ordinances, but by a law written in the heart, an 
 internal operative principle filling every one with the 
 knowledge of (i.e. loyalty to) Yahweh. Accordingly 
 Jeremiah carried the development of prophetic teaching 
 one step further, which was the logical result of the 
 downfall of the Jewish state and its national sanctuary. 
 Stress was now laid on personality re-created by divine 
 grace. Lastly, the prophet did not leave his countrymen 
 without hope of a restoration from exile. It is indeed 
 
INTRODUCTION 9 
 
 doubtful whether any prophet whose utterances were 
 mere denunciations of evil and threatenings of disaster 
 would produce a permanent impression. That Jeremiah 
 foreshadowed a restoration is clear from the episode 
 related in chap, xxxii, which records his redemption of 
 some land which his family had possessed in his native 
 village of Anathoth. This event took place in the midst 
 of the siege of Jerusalem, and the occasion makes the act 
 still more significant as an expression of the prophet's 
 faith in the return of Israel from captivity. With this we 
 may compare another passage of like tenor, viz. Jer. xxxi. 
 15-17 (cf. verses 6-9), which is hkewise the genuine utter- 
 ance of the prophet. 
 
 The profound influence which the message and life of 
 Jeremiah exerted on his countrymen, more especially on 
 the exiled communities and their spiritual leader, will be 
 noted in the pages which immediately follow. Great as 
 this influence was, it seems hardly probable that it would 
 have availed to arrest the gradual disintegration of the 
 Jewish nationality, like that of their Ephraimite kinsmen, 
 and with it the disappearance of the religion of Yahweh at 
 this momentous crisis, if it were not for the co-operation 
 of other potent personal influences and the emergence of 
 a powerful historic factor which providentially intervened 
 to avert such a dire disaster. These we shall now 
 consider. 
 
 § 2. The Exile Period, Ezekiel. — the Author of 
 THE * Servant-poems ' and the Deutero-Isaiah. 
 It is difficult to form an even approximate estimate 
 of the number of Jews who were deported from their 
 Palestinian homes to Babylonia during the interval 
 597-86 B. c. The subject has been carefully discussed 
 by Meyer ^ on the basis of the notices in 2 Kings xxv. 
 4 foil., II foil., 22 ; Jer. xxxix. 4 foil., 7, 9 foil., lii. 28 foil., 
 
 EntsiehuHg des JttdeJitnms, pp. 108-14. 
 
10 ISAIAH 
 
 and we should be justified in assuming that over 100,000 
 men, women, and children were transported to Babylonian 
 settlements during the eleven years referred to. Un- 
 fortunately for Palestine, this exiled multitude consisted of 
 the most prosperous and energetic of the population, and 
 included the artisans as well as cultivators of the soil 
 (cf. 2 Kings xxiv. 16). And this was not by any means 
 the entire loss in manhood which the country sustained. 
 There must have been also a considerable migration to 
 Egypt (2 Kings xxv. 26; Jer. xliii, xliv), as the recent 
 discoveries in Assouan (Syene) clearly piove. 
 
 The forlorn condition of Judah, deprived of all but the 
 weakest and poorest of the population, and possessing no 
 leaders capable of restoring prosperity to the state, can be 
 readily imagined. The land became in consequence an 
 easy prey to the ambitious designs of the Egyptian king 
 Pharaoh Hophra (Apries) and of his successor Amasis 
 until a victorious campaign against the latter by Nebu- 
 chadrezzar (568 B. C.) put an end to danger from this 
 quarter. Meanwhile fresh troubles arose within Palestine 
 itself. The Edomites, who had already taken part in the 
 destruction of Jerusalem (Ezek. xxv. 12, xxxv. 7, 10; 
 Ps. cxxxvii. 7), forced their way into Judah from the South- 
 East, at this time of depopulation and weakness, and 
 established themselves in the region of Hebron. 
 
 Jerusalem still remained the centre of the depopulated 
 region. Among the ruins left by the invader modest 
 buildings were once more reared. Jer. xli. 5 gives a 
 glimpse of the surviving religious life. There we learn 
 that after the departure of the Babylonians offerings wer:i 
 brought from Samaria, Shechem, and Shiloh to the spot 
 where the old temple of Solomon, now in ruins, stood. 
 From Lam. i. 4 we might infer that there were stil- 
 priests in Jerusalem, and we may assume that the altar o. 
 Yahweh in the temple enclosure was re-erected. But the 
 darker obverse side of the religious life of Judah is 
 presented in Ezek. xxxiii. 25, and the indications contained 
 
 \ ' 
 
INTRODUCTION ii 
 
 in Jeremiah's oracles confirm the impression of a wide- 
 spread idolatry. 
 
 We now turn to the life of the exiles in Babylonia. 
 Among the spots where they settled v/as Tel Abib, near 
 the river Kebar, which is identified as one of the numer- 
 ous canals of the Euphrates (Ezek. i. 3, viii. i). In Ezra 
 viii. 15-17 mention is also made of the places Casiphia 
 and Ahava. It is impossible to assert definitely whether the 
 exiles were scattered over the country or lived in compact 
 settlements. We may infer from Ezek. xiii. 9 and Ezra 
 viii. 17 that they maintained their ancient clan or family 
 descent carefully preserved in registers. Accordingly it 
 was the heads of these families (fathers' houses) who were 
 the leaders of the individual communities (Ezek. viii. 
 I foil. ; Ezra viii. i). These exiles, as we learn from 
 Jer. xxvii foil, and Ezek. xii. 21 — xiii. 23, had been 
 deluded by the hopes with which false prophets and 
 soothsayers had flattered them to look for liberation from 
 evils and the return to their native land in the near future 
 when the yoke of Nebuchadrezzar should be broken. 
 With strange self-gratulation they regarded themselves as 
 the true Israel, and looked down with self-complacency 
 on those who had remained behind in the home-land. 
 To a certain extent this superiority was well founded. 
 We have already observed that the best manhood of 
 Judah had been deported to Babylonia, and there can be 
 no doubt that the general condition of these exiled 
 communities was superior to that of their kinsmen in 
 Palestine. The protection of the Babylonian monarch 
 and the settled order and government of Babylonia 
 brought them distinct and far-reaching advantages which 
 reacted on the subsequent development of Judaism. The 
 Babylonians treated their war-captives morehumanely than 
 the Romans in subsequent days did. The latter sold them 
 as slaves, but the Babylonian conquerors not infrequently 
 settled them as free men within their own borders ' ; 
 
 ' See Me3'er, Eut^teliimg des Judeaiupits, p. 113, footnote. 
 
12 ISAIAH 
 
 and, even if they were reduced to the status of slaves, their 
 position was far more tolerablethan it would have been under 
 the Roman Empire in Italy\ The tone of respect with 
 which Ezekiel speaks of Nebuchadrezzar was well justified. 
 Babylonia was a land of industrious peace which, unlike 
 Assyria, flourished by agriculture and commerce rather 
 than by spoliation and war. Jeremiah had excellent 
 reasons for his wholesome counsel to the exiled population : 
 * Build houses and dwell in them, plant gardens and eat 
 their fruit, and seek the welfare of the land'^ whither 
 I have exiled you ' (Jer. xxix. 5). 
 
 The Jews who devoted themselves to agriculture or 
 commerce in Babylonia lived in a much larger world than 
 their Palestinian brethren. The latter probably gave up 
 their exiled compatriots for lost in much the same way as 
 the descendants of the deported Gileadites and Naphtalites 
 as well as the Ephraimites of Samaria (in 721 B.C.) who 
 became absorbed into the population of the surrounding 
 districts in Assyria and Media (2 Kings xvii. 6, cf. xv. 29). 
 Doubtless the process was slow, but it was sure, and, in the 
 circumstances, inevitable. It is in fact pretty certain that 
 this fate did overtake a considerable number of the Jews 
 who settled down in the Euphrates lands, lived pros- 
 perously, resigned themselves with contentment to their 
 lot, and placed themselves under the tulelage of the gods 
 of the land whose temples adorned the chief cities of 
 Babylonia of which these were respectively the lords and 
 patrons. All this would be expected of a foreign race 
 planted on foreign soil, inasmuch as the social life of any 
 Semitic land was closely bound up with its religious cultus 
 
 ^ ' The slave had a great amount of freedom, and was in no 
 respect worse off than a child or even a wife. He could 
 acquire property, marry a free woman, engage in trade, and 
 act as principal in contract with a free man' (Johns, Baby- 
 ioHian and Assyrian Laws, &c., p. 168). See also art. * Servant 
 (Slave) ' in Hastings' DB., pp. 463, 467. 
 
 2 So read with LXX (followed by Giesebrecht, Duhm, and 
 Cornill). 
 
INTRODUCTION 13 
 
 and sacra. Of this we have a vivid illustration on 
 Palestinian soil in the case of the deported Babylonians 
 whom the King of Assyria had placed in Samaria, who at 
 once became worshippers of Yahweh (2 Kings xvii. 24 foil.). 
 It was in truth a very critical period in the history of 
 the Jews and their religion. The capture of Jerusalem 
 in 586 B.C. and the destruction of its temple must 
 have come upon the exiles of 597 B.C. as a terrible 
 shock, which aroused many a patriot Jew from the vain 
 delusive dreams of a speedy overthrow of Nebuchadrezzar 
 and of the restoration of the temple treasures. The 
 imminent danger now to the Palestiniati Jew was that he 
 would surrender his belief in the power of Yahweh and 
 lapse back into the Canaanite cults to which the Hebrews 
 in former centuries had been so prone (( f. 2 Kings xxiii. 
 4-20). As we have already seen, this proved to be the actual 
 result. The danger to a Hebrew in 2l foreign country, which 
 was also the land of his conquerors, was that he would 
 worship the conqueror's gods, the patrons and lords of the 
 foreign soil, who had, in accordance with current Semitic 
 ideas, shown that they were mightier than Yahweh the 
 God of the Jew. How serious this danger was both in 
 the days of Ezekiel and later in the time of the Deutero- 
 Isaiah is shown by many indications. The prophecies of /^ 
 Ezekiel sometimes appear to partake of the character of 
 an apologia pro fide sua. He is at the greatest pains to 
 maintain the honour and glory of Yahweh in the midst of 
 a gainsaying generation. All the resources of his eloquence 
 and his highly-wrought style, which loved to express itself 
 in rich elaborate diction and in the complex, cumulative 
 effects of a luxuriant imagination, were devoted to his 
 single great theme — the majestic and overwhelming might 
 and glory of Yahweh, the God of Israel. In attestation 
 of this he sets forth the terrible chastisements which God 
 would inflict on all the unfaithfulness and idolatry of Israel 
 and the vindication of His might in Israel's restoration.^ 
 
 ^ Compare Lofthouse in his introduction to Ezekiel in this 
 
14 ISAIAH 
 
 This restoration is portrayed in an elaborated scheme 
 which occupies the last nine chapters of the book. 
 
 Ezekiel is the first among the trio of great personalities 
 who belong to the exile period and rescued the religion 
 of Yahweh from dire peril of utter extinction in this — 
 perhaps the greatest— crisis of Hebrew history. We must, 
 therefore, consider for a few moments this powerful creative 
 genius, so many-sided in his gifts, at once prophet, priest, 
 and far-sighted statesman. 
 
 In the days of Ezekiel the externalities of the past 
 national life and religion of Israel had been buried in 
 ashes and ruins. In exchange for these Jeremiah had 
 led the people to the more permanent internal foundations 
 of a spiritual renewal. But can a religion permanently 
 subsist in this world of space and time without some 
 external concrete embodiment ? To the Jewish exile in 
 Babylonia, unable to break away from the local traditions 
 of religious life, the ritual of sacrifice so integral to worship 
 was impossible in an alien land (cf. Isa. xhii. 23 foil, and 
 note). Ezekiel, with the imaginative and at the same time 
 practical genius of a statesman, took up once more the 
 broken threads of Israel's religious traditions and wove 
 the strands anew into statelier and more attractive forms 
 of ritual and of national polity, adapted to the new con- 
 ditions of life and thought. He was the pioneer in the 
 reconstruction of national life on the basis of a reorganized 
 ecclesiastical system. This reconstruction occupies the 
 closing nine chapters in the collection of his prophecies. 
 They differ entirely from the Deuteronomic system of 
 legislation. There, it is true, we have a theocracy, but the 
 nation and national institutions maintain their due place 
 in the scheme. But in Ezekiel's constructive effort the 
 ecclesiastical dominates throughout. In his earlier oracles 
 Ezekiel (xxxiv. 33 foil.) speaks of one shepherd, Yahweh's 
 
 series, pp. 17-19, and especially the suggestive remarks of 
 Peake in his Problem of Suffering in the O. T., pp. 30-2. 
 
INTRODUCTION 15 
 
 servant David, who is to rule over united Israel. But in 
 chaps, xl-xlviii (572 B.C.) the role of the prince is a very 
 shadowy one and recedes into a secondary position. The 
 foreground is filled by the temple and fts precincts and 
 the functions of the officiating Zadokite priesthood. The 
 prince, it is true, has a central domain, but his function is 
 largely ecclesiastical. The theocracy is not a national 
 kingdom in the old sense. God is to rule over a church- 
 state. His universal power and glory are not to be mani- 
 fested in a Jewish monarch's kingdom and throne, but in 
 His own august restored temple which is to be the centre 
 of the restored commonwealth. On this the gaze of the 
 exiles was fixed by the eloquent idealist. In chap, xliii 
 we have a description of the solemn entry of the God of 
 Israel through the eastern gate of the temple, which is 
 filled with His glory. In chap, xlvii there is a beautiful 
 portrayal of the fertilizing and healing stream which 
 issues out of the sanctuary and flows through the land, 
 deepening as it flows. This concluding section of Ezekiel's 
 prophecies, descriptive of the temple and its ritual, the 
 centre of the restored Jewish people, concludes with an 
 inspiring phrase which is the new name bestowed upon 
 the Holy City Jerusalem— F<7/?w^/^ is there} 
 
 This is not the place to refer in detail to Ezek. xxxvii, 
 which prophesies in the symbolic vision of the dry bones 
 revived (verses 1-14) respecting Israel's moral renewal 
 and restoration ; and also, in the symbol of the two sticks 
 united, respecting the unification of Judah and Ephraim. 
 We have, lastly, in chaps, xxxviii and xxxix a portrayal of 
 the final victory of Yahweh achieved on behalf of Israel 
 over Gog and all the forces of heathendom.^ Such were 
 the ideals and hopes with which Ezekiel strengthened and 
 
 * Perhaps suggested to this literary prophet by Isaiah's 
 watchword Immanuel. 
 
 ' Some recent critics have doubted the genuineness of these 
 chapters, but on what do not appear to the present writer valid 
 grounds. 
 
i6 ISAIAH 
 
 inspired his exiled fellow countrymen in the early days of 
 their foreign life, and strove to arrest the disintegrating 
 forces to which they were exposed amid the imposing 
 civilization and cultus of Babylonia. 
 
 Ezekiel, with his powerful and attractive personality 
 and the singular fascination of his prophetic style, passed 
 away probably before the close of Nebuchadrezzar's reign. 
 No sign of deliverance from captivity, which became 
 more galling as the successive years elapsed ^, greeted 
 the eager expectations of the exiled community, who fed 
 their declining hopes on the oracles of departed prophets. 
 It is not in the least surprising that as time went on faith 
 began to wane. Hopes drooped and languished, and the 
 exiled Jews in larger numbers yielded themselves to the 
 seductions of Babylonian cults. The logic of facts seemed 
 to demonstrate that Marduk and Nebo were more power- 
 ful than Yahweh. How serious this menace to the Jew's 
 allegiance to Yahweh became in the latter part of the 
 exile period is clearly revealed in numerous passages of 
 the Deutero-Isaiah, who is constantly at the pains of 
 emphasizing the undisputed and sole pre-eminence of 
 Yahweh and the utter impotence of foreign deities, on 
 whose images (with their image-makers) he pours the 
 bitterest scorn. Let the reader take note of the passages 
 xl. 12-17, 21-31 ; xli. 4, 5 ; xliii. 9-13 ; alsoxl. 19, 20 ; xli. 
 6, 7, 28, 29 ; xliv. 8-22, 24-6; xlvi. i-io. 
 
 Now the writings of the Deutero-Isaiah were composed 
 near the close of the exile-period, when the ascendant star 
 of the Persian conqueror Cyrus attracted the attention of 
 this prophet whose oracles are our subject of study. 
 There can be no doubt that the advent of Cyrus came at 
 the crucial point of the struggle between the Yahweh 
 religion of the Hebrew prophets and the polytheism of 
 
 ' We can clearly infer this from the contrasted attitude of 
 the prophets Jeremiah (xxix. 5-7, xxviii. 14, xxxviii. 3, 17) 
 and Ezekiel (xxvi. 7-1 1, xxix, 18-20) towards Babylonia and 
 its ruler and that of the Deutero-Isaiah (xlvii. 6 foil.). 
 
INTRODUCTION 17 
 
 Babylonia and Canaan. In the centuries subsequent to 
 the reign of Cyrus Persia was destined to wield a great, 
 mysterious, and by us hitherto inadequately explored 
 influence over Hebrew religion, especially in the ultimate 
 realms of evil and evil powers, of angels and eschatology. 
 But these subjects lie beyond our province. It is sufficient 
 to say that the prophecies of restoration, which had been 
 first uttered by Jeremiah and afterwards developed by 
 Ezekiel, were now definitely linked by the Deutero-Isaiah 
 with the personality of the Persian conqueror whom he 
 designates as the anointed servant of Yahweh. Yahweh, 
 the supreme Lord of the World, had destined Cyrus to 
 work out His own divine purpose of restoration for His 
 cherished and beloved people Israel. 
 
 We cast our gaze back over the critical period of a quarter 
 of a century that intervened between the close of Ezekiel's 
 ministry and the prophecies of the Deutero-Isaiah. What 
 happened in this interval ? Nothing happened to better 
 Israel's external lot and bring hope to the exile. In the 
 earlier days the glowing pictures of a revived and re- 
 united people, ruled over by a prince of David's line 
 (Ezek. xxxvii), had directed the earnest faith and ex- 
 pectation of the Jews to the dawn of a happier day of 
 freedom which they believed would soon approach. But, 
 as the years passed by, there was no sign of approaching 
 light. Even the growing power of Media afforded no 
 consolation to the captive. The years 565 to 550 B.C. 
 must have been a period of midnight darkness to the Jew. 
 The power of Babylonia still remained unbroken, and the 
 pious Jewish exile would often ask 
 
 < Hath God forgotten to be gracious ? 
 Will Yahweh cast off for ever, 
 And be favourable no more ? ' 
 
 At this crisis of Israel's despair there arose a seer who 
 spoke in the midnight darkness words, some of which 
 have been preserved to us by an ardent disciple, the 
 
i8 ISAIAH 
 
 Deutero-Isaiah, who incorporated his utterances among 
 his own. We only possess these utterances in the four so- 
 called * Servant-poems,' viz. Isa. xhi. 1-4, xlix. 1-6, 1. 4-9, 
 lii. 13— liii. 12. 
 
 The last of these, which is the longest, is also the most 
 notable and impressive, and it has exercised the pro- 
 foundest influence over Jewish as well as Christian thought. 
 
 All critics are agreed as to the distinctive character of 
 these poems, but respecting (a) the meaning which is to 
 be attached to the term ' Servant of Yahvveh,' which is the 
 subject with which these poems deal, and (d) the author- 
 ship and date of the poems, the widest difference of 
 opinion prevails. The literature on the subject is so 
 extensive that it is impossible to deal with all the varieties 
 of opinion and all the debated points. Some of these will 
 be found discussed in the commentary. We confine our- 
 selves to the main issues and to the results which the 
 present writer regards as most probable. 
 
 (a) We begin with the question : What is meant by the 
 term * Servant of Yahweh ' ? Let it be clearly understood 
 that the traditional Christian opinion that the servant 
 here is simply the prophetic portrayal of Jesus Christ, 
 who died for the world's sins, is an untenable view, as 
 untenable as the identification of the * young woman' 
 (called 'virgin' on the basis of LXX) in Isa. vii. 14 with 
 the mother of Jesus. The special mode of interpretation 
 of the O. T. out of which such interpretations arose will 
 be found by the reader explained in the introductory 
 remarks to chap. liii. Modern scholars are agreed in 
 holding that the mediaeval Jewish interpreters were on 
 the right path in maintaining that the suffering servant in 
 these passages is a^personification of the suffering Jewish 
 community.* What is this suffering community ? Was it 
 the entire Jewish race, or was it the pious exiles only, still 
 faithful to Yahweh, who maintained themselves in seclusion 
 from the idolatrous worship, magical practices and social 
 institutions of the Babylonians as well as from the society 
 
INTRODUCTION 19 
 
 of the degenerate fellow exiles around them, and thereby 
 incurred the persecution and hatred which has been the 
 bitter lot of Jewish populations in Europe even now ? In 
 the following pages and in the commentary we shall 
 endeavour to show that this latter is the true interpretation 
 of the expression * Servant of Yahweh.' 
 
 When we turn to the oracles of the Deutero-Isaiah we 
 find in them the same expression ' Servant of Yahweh * 
 (or, when Yahweh is the speaker, * My servant ') con- 
 stantly recurring. According to the view upheld in these 
 pages, this expression was borrowed by the author from 
 his revered predecessor, the author of the four Servant- 
 poems. On the other hand, critics, like Budde, Giese- 
 brecht, Marti, Cornill and others, hold in opposition to 
 Duhm that both in Deutero-Isaiah and in the Servant- 
 poems this personification has the same meaning. It 
 merely designates the race Israel, and on this ground, as 
 well as on that of the close parallels in language, it is 
 argued that the author of the Servant-poems was the 
 Deutero-Isaiah himself. 
 
 Duhm, on the other hand, holds the opposite view in 
 an extreme and, in our opinion, untenable form. He is 
 right, however, in maintaining that a contrast is clearly 
 marked between the conception of the ' Servant ' in these 
 four poems and that which meets us in the Deutero- 
 Isaianic passages. In the Deutero-Isaiah the ' Servant ' 
 represents the entire Jewish race called * Israel.' He 
 is represented as a prisoner plundered, despised and 
 a worm (xlii. 18-24), and also by no means as an ideal 
 personage, for he is blind, deaf, and full of sin, though 
 chosen by God's gracious purpose, protected by His might, 
 and destined for a glorious future. But in the Servant- 
 poems the Servant is a more exalted personality, though 
 a victim of dire persecution. He is pure and innocent, 
 is Yahweh's disciple, chosen by Him to minister to the 
 heathen world and to carry the light of divine truth to 
 all nations. His sufferings and death are an atonement 
 c 2 
 
20 ISAIAH 
 
 for the guilt of Gentile nations as well as for that of his 
 own race (xlix. 6, liii). 
 
 {b) We now come to consider the question of the 
 authorship and date of the Servant-poems. Duhm 
 correctly observes that the Servant-poems may, at any 
 rate in most cases, be detached from the contiguous 
 matter without serious detriment to the continuity of 
 thought. This clearly indicates that they were insertions. 
 On the other hand, it can be shown that the context in 
 some cases is affected by their presence. Take the case 
 of the first Servant-poem (xlii. 1-4) : verses 6 foil, are 
 obviously connected in thought with the majestic passage 
 that precedes. And the same may be said of the verses 
 that immediately follow another Servant-poem, viz. xlix. 
 1-6. Likewise lii. 10, which precedes the final Servant- 
 poem, certainly seems to prepare the mind of the reader 
 for the final Servant-poem, lii. 13— liii. 12, which should 
 probably be regarded as a final judgment-scene in which 
 the Gentiles are summoned to bear witness to the moral 
 purity and exaltation of the Suffering Servant. On these 
 points the reader will consult the following commentary. 
 Now all these links of connexion are important, as they 
 are fatal to Duhm's theory (which we hold to be untenable 
 on other grounds), that the Servant-passages were com- 
 posed in post-exilian times, written, in fact, after the Book 
 of Job, since the leprosy with which the martyred servant 
 is afflicted may be regarded as a borrowed trait. On 
 the other hand, the ideal of the priestly tribe of Levi 
 contained in Mai. ii. 5-7 is held by Duhm to have been 
 moulded by the reminiscence of the character of the 
 Suffering Servant in Isa. liii. There is no cogency what- 
 ever in these arguments. The traits of the Book of Job 
 may with quite as good, if not better, reason be regarded 
 as the reflexion of Isa. liii rather than vice versa. Both 
 deal with the problem of suffering, but the point of view 
 is different. As for Mai. ii. 5-7, the connexion is far too 
 slight to base any argument upon it. Moreover, if we 
 
INTRODUCTION 21 
 
 transfer the growth of the conception of the Suffering 
 Martyr-servant into the post-exiHan period 536-450 B. c. 
 we are coming within the time out of which arose the 
 writings of Haggai,Zech. i-viii, Malachi and lastly the Trito- 
 Isaiah, a period when ecclesiastical ideas begin to assume 
 importance and the spirit of legalism and of Jewish 
 particularism were growing. Of all these tendencies the 
 Servant-poems exhibit not the faintest trace. In fact 
 their spirit is the exact negation of them. The post- 
 exilian period was uncongenial soil for the growth of the 
 Servant-poems. 
 
 Accordingly we are led back to an earlier time to which 
 the internal relations subsisting between the Servant- 
 poems and the Deutero-Isaiah decisively point. The 
 writer lived and wrote between 565 and 550 B.C., i.e. 
 before the ascendant star of Cyrus aroused the dying 
 hopes of Israel. It was the midnight darkness of the 
 Jewish race. The minds of the still faithful and pious 
 community were harassed by the problems of the national 
 misfortunes in the past and their own present sufferings. 
 Where was the fulfilment of the Divine promise that in 
 Abraham and his seed all families of the earth would 
 regard themselves as blessed % his name being taken as 
 the type and symbol of one whom God has greatly 
 prospered? Why was Israel, God's chosen people, so 
 severely chastised ? Surely the sins of the people had 
 received adequate retribution. Was Israel exceptionally 
 
 ' Gen. xii. 3 can only be interpreted in the light of the 
 parallels xxii. 18, xxvi. 4, where the Hithpael or reflexive 
 form is used. The expression ' shall bless themselves in thee 
 (or thy posterity) ' means any one of any race shall call himself 
 happy 'as Abraham,' w^hom God hath so greatly blessed; of. 
 Gen. xlviii. 20, where Jacob says to his grandsons : ' In thee 
 shall Israel bless, saying, " God make thee as Ephraim and as 
 Manasseh."' For the obverse example of 'cursing' cf, Jer. 
 xxix. 22 (so Dillmann, Holzinger, and Gunkel). The traditional 
 interpretation based on LXX, Vulg., &c., must be rejected. 
 See Bennett's Genesis (in this series) on this passage. 
 
22 ISAIAH 
 
 guilty above all other races of mankind that the strokes of 
 adversity and humiliation should fall upon him so heavily? 
 Why should Yahweh allow His own devoted and faithful 
 followers to languish in ignominy and persecution without 
 hope of better days ? Would the better days ever come ? 
 Or had Israel no place or function in the future of the 
 world? It was the task of the writer to attempt an 
 answer to the troubled heart of Israel. 
 
 It was the problem of suffering once more definitely 
 presented for solution. Israel's calamities had already 
 been interpreted by the earlier prophets from Amos to 
 Jeremiah as Yahweh's chastisements inflicted for Israel's 
 past disloyalty. But a new solution was needed. It was 
 this ever-recurring mystery of pain that the prophet seeks 
 once more to solve to the harassed faith and the perplexed 
 conscience of the still faithful exiled community, torn with 
 doubts and fears as to the future of themselves and their 
 religion. The solution is attempted from a wholly different 
 standpoint, and to our modern thought, unfamiliar as it 
 is with the ritual and underlying conceptions of sacrifice, 
 it seems that the writer pursues a strange path — the 
 mysterious path of QtO-ti^ment. For the first time perhaps 
 in the world's history an altruistic ideal of life is set forth 
 of the highest and purest type as a solution of the great 
 enigma of pain. We are well accustomed to the solution 
 of suffering as discipline. But discipline may be desti- 
 tute of any high moral value. It may be for my own 
 personal advancement rather than for my neighbour's 
 good. The thought of this Hebrew poet took a loftier 
 flight. It was the sublime conception that Israel was 
 exiled in Babylonia that he might, as God's servant, carry 
 the light of God's saving truth to all the nations of the 
 world that was destined to serve as the anodyne to the 
 pious exiles' sorrow and perplexity. The main theme of 
 the poet's message is to be found in xlix, 6. Here we see 
 that the restoration of exiled Israel, first prophesied by 
 Jeremiah and set fortli with characteristic elaboration and 
 
INTRODUCTION 23 
 
 artistic detail by Ezekiel (xl-xlviii), still remained the 
 cherished hope of this poet. But its fulfilment seemed 
 a long way off, how long no man could conjecture, for no 
 sign of dawn was visible. But Israel's restoration was 
 not the main function of Yahweh's Servant. It was in 
 truth secondary. A higher task awaited him : 
 
 'To establish Jacob's tribes, 
 To restore the scattered^ of Israel, 
 Is task too slight for My Servant. 
 Yea, I will make thee a light to the Gentiles, 
 That My salvation may extend to earth's bound.' 
 
 The writer had evidently drunk deep from the wells of 
 Jeremiah rather than from those of Ezekiel. Such chapters 
 as Ezek. xxxviii, xxxix were wholly alien to his modes of 
 thought. He had pondered deeply over the great oracle 
 of the New Covenant (Jer. xxxi. 31), and it was the 
 spiritually purified and inwardly renovated community — 
 now probably represented by a small remnant of the 
 exiles — who endeavoured to keep faith and hope alive, 
 and suffered scorn and persecution, that was destined to 
 execute this, the highest mandate that any people can 
 perform, the service of mankind. 
 
 The passage just quoted clearly shows that the poet 
 drew a distinction between Israel in the widest sense 
 (including all the Jews of Palestine as well as the Dia- 
 spora) and the pious and faithful band of the followers of 
 true prophecy living in Babylonia. This distinction 
 meets us again in the last poem of the series, viz. in liii. 8, 
 where the Servant stands opposed to his own generation, 
 i. e. the contemporary Jews, the ' people ' to whom the 
 latter part of the verse refers as failing to realize that the 
 sufferings of the Servant were an atonement for their 
 own sins.^ 
 
 ^ So we should read on the basis of the LXX. 
 2 It is not possible to deal at length with the controversy 
 respecting both these passages and Giesebrecht's expedients 
 
24 ISAIAH 
 
 The poet regards this society of Yahweh's true believers 
 as the nucleus of a redeemed people. These are the true, 
 genuine Israel, though they be now but a remnant and 
 a ininority. Probably the early oracles of Isaiah of 
 Jerusalem, delivered nearly two centuries before, were 
 recalled by him, together with the significant and pro- 
 phetic name, Shear-yashubh, bestowed upon Isaiah's son. 
 The writer quite naturally passes from the nucleus of the 
 future redeemed Israel to the larger Israel which it was 
 to restore and rally round itself and which it in a true 
 sense represented. The ancient Orient was not bound 
 by the severe logical restrictions of consistency which are 
 the recognized necessity of our modern Western thought. 
 Hence it is not in the least surprising that an Oriental 
 poet should in the exuberance of his faith call the Servant 
 of Yahweh * Israel, in whom God is to receive glory.' 
 r^'Tlie character and work of the Servant are gradually 
 \unfolded in each successive poem. His gentle modesty, 
 his tender regard for others, and his unfaltering pursuit of 
 righteousness are recorded (xlii. 3) in the first poem. In 
 the second we learn something of his world-wide prophetic 
 mission. In the thh'd we hear for the first time of the 
 bitter scorn and contumely through which God's Servant 
 is comj)elled to pass and the steadfast faith wherewith he 
 patiently endures it all, confident that God is near him 
 and will vindicate him in His own good time against his 
 adversaries (1. 6-9).* 
 
 in support of his theory which identifies the Servant of these 
 passages with empiric Israel. The reader is referred to the 
 commentary on xlix. 6, where Giesebrecht succeeds by elimina- 
 tion of a clause in verse 5 and the excision (suggested in this 
 instance by Duhm") of another clause in verse 6, in securing 
 a text more favourable to his theory. 
 
 ^ From the expression 'my vindicator (justifier) is near' 
 (verse 8) we have no right to infer, as Giesebrecht does (K. J., 
 p. 47), that the deliverance was to be immediate. The passage 
 is the vivid expression of confidence that Yahweh is near to 
 His Servant in these times of distress, and will one day trium- 
 phantly vindicate His Servant's claims and woith. 
 
INTRODUCTION 25 
 
 The vindication of the Suffering Servant is described in 
 the fourth or fi7ial poem, which is considerably longer 
 and unsurpassed in its pathos and power. Unfortunately 
 it has been marred in its transmission by evident signs of 
 textual corruption in the closing verses. Its character is 
 best described by calling it a final judgment-scene. 
 The Gentiles for whose salvation the Servant has been 
 destined, and for whom he has laboured and suffered, are 
 now summoned by Yahweh to bear their testimony before 
 His august tribunal. Yahweh is the first speaker. The 
 triumph of the Servant is consummated at last, and 
 Yahweh Himself declares that the final exaltation is 
 commensurate with the depth of the previous anguish and 
 humiliation. And yet the final glory is spiritual only. 
 It would be an error to press the concluding words of 
 this poem as a prophecy of material greatness. The 
 language is that of Oriental metaphor. We move in 
 a great spiritual world, and the earthly dimensions shrink 
 and vanish. The poet who sings in the midnight dark- 
 ness gazes into the infinite realms of the midnight sky. 
 And thus we see no longer Jerusalem and its walls, so 
 prominent in the thoughts and utterances of the Deutero- 
 Isaiah. Even the temple has vanished. For all that is 
 local and national has passed away, purged out by the 
 fires of sorrov/. The writer belongs to the spiritual 
 lineage of Jeremiah and not of Ezekiel. We dwell no 
 more within the confines of Israel's world, but in the larger 
 realm of humanity and God. This is made clear by the 
 verses that follow (chap. liii). 
 
 After the address of Yahweh, Gentiles are summoned to 
 bear their testimony. They declare that what they have 
 heard is almost beyond credence. We now learn for the 
 first time that the Servant has suffered a martyr's death 
 which was an atonement for the sins of the Gentiles as 
 well as of Israel. In the concluding verses, which exhibit 
 too evident signs of textual defect, Yahweh once more 
 speaks (verses 11, 12) and confirms what has been 
 
26 ISAIAH 
 
 uttered by the Gentile spokesman. The martyr-people 
 shall be perpetuated in their posterity. They shall attain 
 to high dignity and privilege among the great and strong. 
 We here reach the furthest development as well as 
 highest point of Hebrew prophecy as it extends from 
 Amos through Isaiah to Jeremiah and the poet of these 
 four remarkable fragments. It is probable that the last 
 died in the land of exile. He may indeed have been 
 conscious of his own approaching death when he wrote the 
 lines (liii. 8, 9) : — 
 
 ' By oppression and judgment he was carried oft, 
 
 And among his generation who would reflect 
 
 That he was cut off from the land of the living, 
 
 On account of the transgression of his people was he smitten 
 
 to death. 
 And one appointed with the wicked his grave 
 And with evildoers^ his sepulchre.' 
 
 We may reasonably suppose (with Duhm) that the 
 pathetic figure of Jeremiah persecuted and imprisoned 
 (Jer. xxxviii) was also present to the mind of the poet ^. 
 
 The relation of those Servant-poems to their context 
 clearly reveal the profound impression produced by their 
 author upon at least one younger contemporary, the 
 
 ^ So we should probably read the amended text : see com- 
 mentary. 
 
 2 The writer has not sought to make this Introduction a fulh'- 
 stocked museum of hypotheses both possible and impossible. 
 No reference is made to Sellin's view (concurred in by 
 Winckler) that the Suffering Servant is to be identified with 
 Zerubbabel, a theory which he subsequently abandoned in 
 favour of another which identified him with the exiled king 
 Jehoiachin ; both equally improbable. The reader is referred 
 to Cheyne's article on the Book of Isaiah in Enc. Bibl., who 
 emphatically (col. 2205) denies that the Deutero- Isaiah was 
 the author of the Servant Songs. On the other hand, the 
 present writer altogether disagrees with his opinion that the 
 inserter and editor cannot be identified with the Deutero- 
 Isaiah, and that to this later editor xlii. 5-7, xlix. 7-9** are to be 
 ascribed. See tlie notes on these passages. 
 
INTRODUCTION 27 
 
 Deutero-Isaiah. That this latter was one of the elder 
 poet's reverent disciples is fairly evident. The phrases 
 and ideas which the elder poet employed recur in the 
 oracles of the younger— notably the phrase * Servant of 
 Yahweh' (or in the utterances of YahVeh 'My servant'). 
 This expression, however, as we have already observed, 
 is consistently used in a wider and less ethical sense by 
 the Deutero-Isaiah so as to include the whole of Israel 
 with all their vices as well as their virtues. It would 
 obviously be contrary to all correct ritual traditions for 
 one so defective as a blind and deaf servant to be offered 
 up as an atonement (Deut. xv. 21 ; Lev. xxii. 22-4 ; cf. xxi. 
 16-21 ; Mai. i. 7, 8). Respecting the defects of the 
 Servant in the Deutero-Isaiah, cf. Isa. xlii. 18, 19 ; xliii. 
 25 ; xliv. 22. Here we observe the wide interval that 
 separates the earlier from the later prophet. That a 
 reverent disciple, who often pondered over the words of his 
 great master, should repeat his phraseology with certain 
 variations, such as ' my justification (vindication) is nigh,* 
 li. 5 (cf. 1. 8), is the natural if not inevitable consequence 
 of the close personal relation of master and disciple.^ 
 
 On the other hand, when we live and move in the 
 atmosphere of the younger prophet's thought, it will 
 be found that we have descended to a lower level, though 
 we are still in the high uplands. The restoration of the 
 exiles and the rebuilding of the Jerusalem walls and 
 temple, to which no reference is made by the earlier poet, 
 
 ^ With xlix. 6 comp. xlii. 6, 7. A list of the phrases may 
 be found in Giesebrecht's A"./., pp. 128-31 ; xlix. 7 as a parallel 
 to xlv. 14 should, however, be excluded, since xlix. 7 is 
 Deutero-Isaianic and is foreign to the ideas of the earlier poet ; 
 liii. 12 a should certainly not be pressed into any comparison 
 with xlv. ir. There is not the faintest suggestion that the 
 strong are to serve or be subject to the Suffering Servant. 
 Duhm rightly observes : — 'The meaning is that God's Sen^ant 
 will stand on an equal footing with the mighty ones of the 
 earth, although himself no mighty one nor king of royal 
 blood.' This is manifest in the closing lines of verse 12. 
 
28 ISAIAH 
 
 became a vivid and dominating conception in the later, 
 when the advance of Cyrus was threatening Babylon and 
 the deliverance of the exiles came nearer to realization 
 (xl. 2-4, 9; xlvi. 13; li. 3, 17; Hi. I, 2, 7-9, and in 
 reference to rebuilding, xliv. 26, 28; xlv. 13; xlix. 16; 
 liv. II, 12). It is quite true that the universal ideal of 
 Israel as God's Servant, destined to bring the light of 
 His saving truth to the Gentiles, was a cherished convic- 
 tion which the disciple had learned from his master 
 (cf. xlii. 6 with xlii. 4 and xlix. 6), but with the earlier 
 poet it was the dominating conception in all his poems, 
 while in the later it has become secondary. The thought 
 of the later poet chiefly revolves round the ideas of 
 Yahweh's universal and invincible sovereignty and power 
 and His unabated love for His people Israel —qualities 
 which will find their triumphant manifestation in the 
 return of the exiles and in the restoration of Jerusalem 
 and its temple. On these themes all the resources 
 of his majestic diction are expended. We note, how- 
 ever, the decline of the high ethical spirit of altruism so 
 characteristic of the earlier poet. We hear of Israel's 
 sufferings, but no longer of Israel or an elect portion 
 thereof as bearing the burden of the world's guilt. 
 Mankind falls into the background. The Gentiles are 
 accessories in the drama, whose duty is to minister to 
 Israel's glory. They also render homage to Yahweh, but 
 it is rather the Yahweh of Israel than of mankind. Cyrus 
 is to conquer Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sabaea and make their 
 captive inhabitants slaves to the Jews. The wealth of 
 Egypt and the gain of Ethiopia are to swell the triumph 
 of Israel's restored power and dignity (xlv. 14). Gentiles 
 are to perform the menial task of carrying the Hebrew 
 exiles back to their own land. Foreign kings and queens 
 are to bow down to Israel and lick the dust. The previous 
 relation of Israel to Gentile races, viz. of vassal to superior 
 lords, is now to be reversed (xlix. 22, 23 ; cf. li. 22, 23). 
 Another point of contrast between the earlier and the 
 
INTRODUCTION ^^ 
 
 later poet is the evident influence of Ezekiel over the 
 latter 1. In Ezek. xliv. 6-lo the introduction of an 
 uncircumcised foreigner into the sanctuary of the future 
 commonwealth of Israel is strictly prohibited. The 
 influence of these ideas respecting holiness and unclean- 
 ness is evident in Isa. lii. i, when it is said respecting 
 Jerusalem the holy city, ' There shall no more come unto 
 thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.' Cf. lii. ii. 
 Even the faint trace of Messianic expectation connected 
 with the line of David (probably Zerubbabel) visible in 
 Iv, 3, 4 seems to have been derived from Ezek. xxxiv. 
 23-3IJ rather than from Jer. xxiii. 5, 6. Cf. also Isa. liv. 
 1 1 f. and note. 
 
 Thus the contents of the Deutero-Isaiah exhibit a 
 remarkable blending of the highest spiritual and ethical 
 ideas, which had been derived from the teaching of 
 Jeremiah as well as from the elder contemporary, the poet 
 of the four Servant-passages, combined with other 
 conceptions belonging to the lower plane of nationalism. 
 The latter were evidently stimulated by the advent of 
 Cyrus. That event awakened in the later poet those 
 glowing anticipations whereby he sought to rouse the 
 declining religious life and hopes of his fellow countrymen. 
 
 § 3. Chaps, xl-xlviii and xlix-lv. Place of 
 Writing and Style of the Deutero-Isaiah. 
 It will not be necessary to restate here the grounds for 
 the almost universally accepted belief of Old Testament 
 scholars that chaps, xl-lxvi originated from quite another 
 source or rather sources than Isaiah of Jerusalem. The 
 authors of those chapters evidently lived in wholly different 
 historic environments from that which surrounded the 
 prophet who uttered his oracles in the days of Ahaz and 
 Hezekiah. Ever since the time of Rosenmiiller 2, the 
 
 ^ Duhm's assertion (Commentary, 2nd ed., p. 380) that the 
 Deutero-Isaiah was wholly unacquainted with Ezekiel is there- 
 fore unwarranted. 
 
 ^ The criticism which separated the last twenty-seven 
 
30 ISAIAH 
 
 author of the Scholia in Veins I'esiamentum, nearly 
 a century ago, an ever-increasing band of scholars have 
 perceived that no satisfactory interpretation of chaps, xl- 
 Iv is possible unless we assume that Jerusalem was in 
 ruins, its temple destroyed, and a considerable portion of 
 the Judaean population had been deported into exile in 
 Babylonia. On the foundation of these presuppositions 
 all the allusions of these chapters become clear and 
 intelligible. Seventy years ago Gesenius placed the 
 accumulated evidence of style and contents in masterly 
 and convincing array in his commentary on Isaiah. 
 Further investigations have not in any degree diminished 
 the cogency of his arguments, though the analysis of the 
 last twenty-seven chapters has been carried much further 
 and with varying results. Since the death of Gesenius 
 all the wonderful results of cuneiform discovery hitherto 
 attained have shed a wonderful light on the history and 
 civilization as well as the religion of the new Babylonian 
 empire. We are now in possession of the records of 
 Nabonidus and Cyrus, who reigned at the very time when 
 Isa. xl-lv were com.posed. But these important results of 
 archaeology have only served to illumine and confirm 
 what the more advanced critics of the earlier half of the 
 nineteenth century had already put forth as the result of 
 their investigations. During the last twenty years, it is 
 true, we have attained still further results, mainly through 
 the researches of Cheyne in England and of Duhm in 
 Germany. It is now generally recognized that chaps. Ivi- 
 Ixvi form a group which stands quite separate and belongs 
 to a later, post-exilian period (Trito-Isaiah). This last 
 group of chapters is therefore treated separately. 
 
 But respecting chaps, xl-lv there have been considerable 
 
 chapters and assigned them to a later authorship of course 
 goes back to a still earlier date, viz. the latter part of the 
 eighteenth century, when Koppe added his own contribution 
 to the German translation of Lowth's commentary. Koppe 
 was soon after followed by Eichhorn, the teacher of Ewald. 
 
INTRODUCTION 31 
 
 differences of opinion. Tlie main point of divergence has 
 been the question of the unity of authorship of both the 
 groups of chaps, xl-xlviii and xlix-lv. With reference to 
 xl-xlviii, which herald the advent of Cyrus, critical opinion 
 has been fairly uniform in assigning them to a writer ^ 
 who lived in Babylonia and indited these prophecies at 
 some date between 555 and 538 B.C. (i. e. from the time 
 when Cyrus began his conquering career to his capture of 
 Babylon), most probably between 545 (capture of Sardis) 
 and 538. On the other hand, some critics have hesitated 
 to assign chaps, xlix to Iv to the same author as that of 
 the preceding section. Among these Kosters, who held 
 that there was virtually no return of the exiles to Jerusalem 
 in 536 B.C., referred xlix. 12-26, li. 1-16, and lii. 17 — lii. 
 13, liv foil., to a distinct writer from the author of chaps, 
 xl-xlviii. The former lived not in Babylonia but in 
 Palestine. Kosters based his view on grounds of style, 
 such as the use of the expression * holy city ' in lii. i. But 
 the apparent specialities of phraseology on which Kosters 
 relies are certainly outweighed by the resemblances to 
 the Deutero-Isaianic diction of xl-xlviii. Moreover, as 
 Cheyne points out {E?tcycL Bibl.,^ lsB.\3.h' (Book) col. 2204), 
 the tone of optimistic idealism displayed in these passages 
 would hardly be possible for a resident in Jerusalem in 
 the days of Haggai and Zechariah. 
 
 Accordingly we have well-assured grounds for holding 
 that xl-lv were almost entirely composed by one hand. 
 In what place were they written.^ Duhm appears to 
 suggest Phoenicia, but the grounds seem exceedingly weak. 
 Nor has Ewald's view, that they were composed in Egypt, 
 much to commend it.' On the other hand, the evidences 
 
 ^ When v/e speak here of unity of authorship, it must be 
 understood that v^e except the • Servant passages ' as well as 
 occasional interpolations. 
 
 2 Ewald {Propheten-, III, pp. 12, 30) holds that Isa. xiii. 
 2 — xiv. 23 as well as xxi. i-io were composed in Babylonia, 
 but that xl-lxvi (excepting Ivi. 9 — Ivii, which Ewald assigns to 
 
:^2 ISAIAH 
 
 which point to Babylonia as the place of authorship for 
 chaps, xl-lv are exceedingly strong and may be enumer- 
 ated as follows : — 
 
 1. The victorious progress of Cyrus would be noted in 
 Babylonia owing to its geographical position and water- 
 ways far more quickly than in Canaan, and still more 
 would this argument apply if Egypt comes into com- 
 parison. 
 
 2. The scenery in xli. i8 (where we should probably 
 translate 'water-channels' rather than 'water-springs' in ac- 
 cordance with the Babylonian use of the same expression^) 
 and xliv. 4 is characteristic of Babylonia and its irrigation, 
 while the specific reference to trees in xli. 19 reminds us 
 of the parks consisting of varied trees in which Babylonian 
 and Assyrian monarchs delighted, and which were in 
 many cases brought from the lands which they had con- 
 quered.^ Cf. li. 3. 
 
 3. Kittel in 1898 called attention ^ to the remarkable 
 parallels in phraseology between the language of Isa. xliv. 
 27 — xlv. 1-3 and that of the Cyrus-cylinder (see Com- 
 mentary, ad loc), which appears to indicate that the 
 Hebrew writer was familiar with the court-style current 
 in Babylonia. This only a residence in the country would 
 have enabled him to know. 
 
 4. The references to ritual in xliii. 23, 24, where 
 ' frankincense ' and ' sweet cane ' are mentioned, are 
 derived from the elaborate worship of Babylonia. See 
 Commentary on the passage. 
 
 5. The references to magic and astrology in xlvii. 9, 
 
 the time of Manasseh), were composed in Egypt, on the 
 ground of xli. 9, xliii. 3, xlv. 13 foil., xlvi. 11. It is enough to 
 say that these passages furnish a very insufficient support for 
 his theory. 
 
 * See the note by the present writer in Schrader, COT., ii, 
 pp. 311-13- 
 
 ^ See art. ' Garden ' in Encycl. Bibl. 
 
 ■' ZATIV., 1898, Heft 1, p. 189 foil. 
 
INTRODUCTION 33 
 
 12, 13 are as vivid and definite as those of Ezek. xiii. 17- 
 23. Both evidently indicate that the writers were in 
 close contact as eyewitnesses with the practice of Baby- 
 Ionian magic. The researches of King, Tallquist, and 
 Zimmern into the cuneiform documents have given us 
 a clearer insight into the incantation rituals of Babylonian 
 sorcery. 
 
 6. We have no mention of Canaanite deities, not even 
 of Baal and Ashtoreth, but only of the two chief deities 
 of Babylonia, viz. Bel{a.n epithet of Mardnk or Merodach^, 
 the god of light and tutelary deity of Babylon) and Nebo 
 (xlvi. i). Both names are significant. For there are 
 certain parallels between the Hebrew Yahweh and the 
 Babylonian Marduk, while Nebo (Babylonian Nabii) was 
 a god who was widely worshipped in Babylonia. His 
 name enters into the names of the first two and last 
 (viz. Nabonidus = Nabunaiid) Babylonian monarchsof the 
 New Empire. The god Nabd was the bearerof the tablets of 
 destiny, yet he did not know, as Yahweh did, of the advent 
 of the victorious Cyrus (xH. 22, 23, 25, 26, xliii. 9, xliv. 
 25 foil., xlvi. 9-1 1). 
 
 7. Contact with Babylonian mythological ideas is 
 strongly suggested by the lyric passage Isa. li. 9, 10. 
 Rahab, the monster whom Yahweh is said to have * hewn 
 in pieces,' bears a close analogy to the dragon-goddess of 
 the deep, Tidinat of the Babylonian Creation Epic. The 
 conflict waged against her and the god Kingu (with other 
 allies) by the god of light, Marduk, is described at length 
 in the fourth tablet of the Creation-Series, lines 85-145. 
 After the slaughter of Tiamat by Marduk, we read in 
 lines 137 foil, that 
 
 ' He hewed her to pieces like a fish, a flat one (?^, in two halves 
 Out of her one half he made and covered the heaven.' 
 
 ^ Zimmern, in KATJ\ pp. 356, 374, 395 foil. 
 
 2 The reader is referred to the article ' Cosmogony ' in 
 Hastings' DB., vol. i, pp. 504-6. On p. 505 a concise 
 summary of the Babylonian Creation Story will be found, and 
 
34 ISAIAH 
 
 It is of course true that we have possible traces of the 
 existence of this myth among the Hebrews in pre-exilian 
 days. It may well have existed in Canaan in very early 
 times, i. e. before 1400 b. c, when the Babylonian language 
 and civilization were widespread along the Palestinian 
 littoral, and thus came to influence the early Hebrew in- 
 habitants. All -this is suggested by the Tell-el-Amarna 
 tablets (about 1400 B. c), as well as by the close parallels 
 between the opening chapters in Gen. i-ix and the legends 
 contained in the cuneiform records. At the same time 
 there is no passage where the reference to the conflict of 
 Marduk and Tiamat is so clear and vivid as in Isa. li. 9, 
 10 (Pss. Ixxxvii. 4 and Ixxxix. 10, 11 are evident echoes 
 from this passage in the Deutero- Isaiah). This fact is 
 significant, and can hardly be explained except by the 
 close contact of the writer with Babylonia, the source 
 whence the legend sprang. 
 
 8. The influence of the Babylonian language on that 
 of the Deutero-Isaiah is indicated by the expression 'take 
 hold of the hand' (xli. 13, xlv. i) and the rare Hebrew 
 word for ' bowl ' in li. 17, 22 which is apparently a borrowed 
 Babylonian word {kabu'tu). In later days this loan-word 
 appeared to Hebrew readers so strange that copyists 
 inserted the ordinary Hebrew word for drinking-bowl or 
 cup {kos) as an explanatory gloss. 
 
 These eight grounds for concluding that the Deutero- 
 Isaiah composed his oracles in Babylonia might be supple- 
 mented by others of a negative character, viz. the absence 
 of any allusion to Canaanite cults, towns, or populations 
 (e. g. Philistines, Ammon, Moab). Some of these grounds, 
 taken individually, might be considered not to carry much 
 weight, but taken together they have great cumulative 
 force. 
 
 We now come to the consideration of the characteristic 
 
 passages in the pre-exilian O. T. which contain references to 
 the dragon of the Chaos-depth are cited. 
 
INTRODUCTION 35 
 
 style of the Deutero- Isaiah. This we can only indicate 
 so far as it appears in the English version. The many 
 specialities of Hebrew terms and phraseology cannot be 
 exhibited in a work such as this. They are fully set forth 
 in Cheyne's magnwn opus, the ' Introduction to Isaiah,' 
 pp. 250-70, and in briefer and more condensed form in 
 Dillmann-Kittel's Commentary, p. 349 foil. It is, however, 
 easily possible to set forth before the English reader 
 many features of style characteristic of the Deutero- Isaiah 
 which appear in an English rendering. Among these may 
 be cited — (l) The tendency to reduplicate the phrase, e. g. 
 ' Comfort ye, Comfort ye ' (xl. i) ; M, even I ' (xliii. 1 1, 25, 
 xlviii. 15, li. 12) ; 'Awake, Awake' (li. 9, 17, lii. l); * Depart 
 ye' (lii. il). (2) The introduction of divine utterances 
 by a series of descriptive clauses setting forth God's 
 attributes commencing with ' Thus saith Yahweh ' (xlii. 
 
 5, xliii. I, 14, 16-19, xliv. 6, 24, xlv. 18). (3) Certain 
 recurring formulae, e.g. 'Fear not, for' (xli. 10, 13 foil., 
 xlii. I, 5, xlv. 2, liv. 4) ; 'I, the first and last ' (xli. 4, xliv. 
 
 6, xlviii. 2) ; * I, Yahweh and none else ' (xlv. 5 foil., 18, 22, 
 xlvi. 9). (4) The combination of the divine name with 
 the following epithets :— ' Creator ' (xliii. i) ; ' Stretcher out 
 of the heavens' (xl. 22) ; ' Fashioner of Israel ' (xliii. i) ; 
 ' Redeemer' (xliii. 14, xliv. 24^, xlviii. ija, xlix. 7, liv. 8). 
 (5) Other expressions such as ' Lift up thy eyes above ' 
 (xl. 26, xlix. 18, li. 6— also in Ix. 4). ' Things to come ' = 
 the future {othiyyoth), xli. 23, xliv. 7, xlv. 11. (6) Lastly, 
 we note the tendency to accumulate descriptive clauses, 
 xl. 22-3, xliv. 24-6, xlvi. 3 ; in reference to Israel, xli. 
 8, 9, xlvi. 3, xlviii. I, xlix. 7 ; in reference to Cyrus, xlv. i ^ 
 
 ' For a fuller list of contrasts between the special diction 
 of Isaiah and Deutero-Isaiah the reader is also referred to 
 Prof. Driver's useful handbook Isaiah, His Life and Tiities, 
 and ed. (1904), pub. Francis Griffiths. This writer, however, 
 does not draw the distinction between Deutero-Isaiah and 
 Trito-Isaiah established by recent criticism (Duhm, Cheyne, 
 Marti), and fully recognized in this volume. Some of the 
 
 D 2 
 
36 ISAIAH 
 
 In general it may be said that the diction of the Deutero- 
 Isaiah is rich and full, and though the style may be 
 considered as distinctly rhetorical in form, it possesses 
 great dignity and impressiveness. 
 
 § 4. Theological Conceptions of the 
 Deutero-Isaiah. 
 
 (a) On God. Respecting the character and sovereignty 
 of God the Deutero- Isaiah's conceptions were framed on 
 those of the eighth-century prophets Amos, Hosea, and 
 Isaiah, but are expressed in language of fuller compass. 
 Like Amos he portrays Yahweh as the creator of the 
 material universe (cf. Amos v. 8 ; ix. 6^) in numerous 
 passages of great sublimity (xl. 22, 26; xlv. 12, 18). All 
 other objects in the universe, even individuals and nations, 
 shrink into utter insignificance compared to Him (xl. 
 15-17, 22). Both His power and His mind are infinite 
 (xl. 28), and this power He will bestow on the weak 
 (verse 29). All else is transitory while He abides eternal 
 and His word is as eternal as Himself (verses 7, 8) and is 
 ever potent (Iv. 10, 11). His power over nature is 
 constantly emphasized so that He can effect whatever 
 transformations He will (xl. 4, xli. 18, 19, xlii. 15, xliv. 27, 
 28, li. 10). He is also Lord of all time as well as of 
 space, the First and the Last (xl'i. 4, xliv. 6, xlviii. 2). 
 
 characteristic phraseology of the Deutero-Isaiah is also found 
 in the Trito- Isaiah. It should be noted, however, that not 
 one of these special characteristics of Detitero-Isaianic style which 
 are noted above is to be found in the four Servant-poems. 
 
 ^ These verses, resembling others which assert Yahweh's 
 cosmic supremacy and also His lordship over human destiny 
 (of foreign nations as well as Israel, ix. 7), are rejected by 
 Wellhausen, Nowack, and recently Harper, chiefly because 
 they appear to break the sequence of thought. The grounds 
 hardly appear adequate for the excision of this passage from 
 the genuine utterances of Amos, though the style may partially 
 resemble that of the Deutero-Isaiah. and some features remind 
 us of the Book of Job. 
 
INTRODUCTION 37 
 
 Hence all events as they occur, such as the victorious 
 career of Cyrus, are known to Yahweh, the omniscient 
 Lord of Time, before any other knew it (xli. 26, xlii. 9). 
 Cyrus was predestined for his victorious career by 
 Yahweh long before Cyrus knew what was to await him 
 (xlv. 6, 7). Thus while Yahweh communicates the 
 knowledge of future events to His own messengers, He 
 makes the soothsayers mad and frustrates their tokens 
 (xliv. 25, 26). 
 
 Both righteousness and holiness are predicated by the 
 Deutero- Isaiah of Yahweh. With regard to holiness the 
 conception is essentially ethical and does not differ from 
 the use of the term in the eighth century prophet (see 
 especially chap, vi, and note on the word) from whom 
 the Deutero-Isaiah borrowed the term, ' Holy One of 
 Israel'. But as G. A. Smith (art. Isaiah in Hastings' 
 BD.^ i, p. 496) clearly shows, the conception of righteous- 
 ness and righteous {sedakah, Scdek, saddtk) as applied to 
 Yahweh had undergone a change in the Deutero-Isaiah 
 corresponding to the change of conditions. In the eighth 
 century righteousness implied the purity and justice 
 of God's nature which demanded corresponding qualities 
 in the conduct of His people in an age of terrible moral 
 and religious declension. The Deutero-Isaiah, living 
 among his exiled fellow countrymen in Babylonia, was 
 confronted by different conditions. Prof. Smith truly says 
 that the moral problem of the sixth century (550-38 B. c.) 
 was concerning ' God's poiver and ivill to fulfil His word 
 and redeem Israel' Righteousness includes, therefore, the 
 idea involved in the Hebrew emelh, viz. faithfulness, con- 
 sistency with His promises. Cf. xli. 2, 26, xlv. 13 and note. 
 That this was the prevailing conception in the mind of the 
 Deutero-Isaiah does not exclude the fact that the word 
 is also used in other senses (see xlv. S, and note). On 
 this large subject of the use of the term Righteousness 
 (i.e. the Heb. s-d-k and its derivations) in the Deutero- 
 Isaiah, see Skinners full note in his commentary on 
 
38 ISAIAH 
 
 Isaiah (xl-lxvi) in the ' Cambridge Bible for Scliools and 
 Colleges ' (Appendix, Note ii, p. 238 foil.). 
 
 With reference to the monotheistic conceptions of 
 Yahwehy it may be said that the Deutero-Isaiah closely 
 approximates an absolute monotheism, but does not 
 actually reach it. Absolute monotheism was obtained 
 more slowly than most readers of the O. T. imagine. 
 It is true that an unrivalled and indeed utterly incom- 
 parable pre-eminence is assigned to Yahweh in His 
 sovereignty and omnipotence both in time and space. 
 It is also true that the gods of polytheism are spoken of 
 as utter nothingness and vanity and utterly impotent 
 (xlvi. 7, cf. xliv. 9 foil.). But this does not prove that the 
 deities of foreign nations were regarded as non-existent. 
 Chap. xli. 21-3 show that this can hardly have been the 
 case (see the notes on these verses). In the subsequent 
 evolution of Jewish religion we find the gods of heathen- 
 dom transformed into demons. 
 
 (b) Israel. The relation of Yahweh to Israel, called 
 by the Deutero-Isaiah His Se?'vant, brings out in 
 strongest relief the ethical character of God. Though 
 the stern discipline of sufifering and exile, through which 
 the nation has passed, might seem to suggest that Israel, 
 the bride of Yahweh, — a conception familiar to a Semite 
 and employed with remarkable power by Hosea — had 
 been abandoned by Yahweh, yet this is the absolute 
 reverse of the truth. Yahweh is Israel's Redeemer 
 (xliii I, 14, xliv. 22, 24, xlviii. 17, xlix. 7, liv. 8). Israel is 
 Yahweh's own (xliii. i). In the midst of the nation's 
 deepest tribulation Yahweh will ever be near His people 
 to save them from destruction (xliii. i, 2). Jerusalem, 
 Israel's depopulated city, can no more be forgotten by 
 Yahweh than a child by his own mother (xlix. 14, 15). 
 Israel shall be gently led as a flock by its shepherd, the 
 weak and faint gathered in Yahweh's arm and carried in 
 His bosom (xl. 11). Forgiveness is the natural expression 
 of such lo\'e, and it is granted freely, though in the past 
 
INTRODUCTION 39 
 
 Yahvveh has been ' wearied ' with Israel's iniquity : ' I am 
 He that blotteth out thy transgressions for my own sake,' 
 i. e. the ground of forgiveness is to be found in Yahweh's 
 love to Israel. 
 
 Respecting Israel's great function as Servant of Yahweh 
 to bring the knowledge of His truth to other races we 
 have already spoken. In the writer of the ' Servant- 
 poems ' this conception is fundamental, but in the Deutero- 
 Isaiah it is not so prominent. Cf, above § 2, pp. 18-26. 
 
 (c) Eschatology. It cannot be said that the horizons of 
 the Deutero- Isaiah's anticipation lie far removed from 
 the present. The consummation of all his yearnings and 
 hopes lay in the immediate future. All Israel's sorrows 
 were soon to cease. The hardships of the past were at 
 an end, and all the sins of the older time were more than 
 atoned for (xl. 2). The bow was in the cloud, and the 
 ' waters of Noah ' should flood the world no more (liv. 9). 
 Messianic ideas revive which since the days of Ezekiel 
 had slumbered. The ideal of Yahweh's Suffering Servant 
 had for a time taken their place, but in what we might 
 perhaps regard as the Deutero-Isaiah's closing utterance 
 (chap. Iv) he recurs to the old Isaianic conception of the 
 ideal Davidic ruler of Jesse's almost worn-out stock 
 (xi. 1-9). Zerubbabel of the ancient Davidic line was 
 evidently in his mind as the ' prince and commander of 
 peoples,' the leader of the restored commonwealth. Thus 
 the future anticipations of the Deutero-Isaiah naturally 
 lead us to the Messianic utterance of Haggai (ii. 22). 
 
 § 5. Epilogue. Deutero-Isaianic Echoes in later 
 Hebrew Literature — The Leaven of the 
 'Servant- POEMS.' Christ and Christianity 
 
 their ULTIMATE FULFILMENT. 
 
 The universalism of the Deutero-Isaiah reverberates in 
 subsequent literature. We shall frequently have occasion 
 to refer, in commenting upon the Trite- Isaiah, to the 
 
40 ISAIAH 
 
 manifest influence of the Deutero-Isaiah upon its diction 
 and ideas, especially in chapters Ix-lxii. The great 
 conceptions respecting Yahweh which find expression in 
 Isa. xl frequently recur in the Psalms. The note of 
 universalism so powerfully struck by the Deutero-Isaiah 
 re-echoes in the religious songs of Judaism. Cf. Ps. ii. 1 1 
 (lo Heb.); xxi. 27, 28 (28-29 Heb.); xlvii. i, 7-9 (2, 8- 
 10 Heb.) ; Ixvi. 1-8; Ixvii. 7 (S Heb.), Ixxxii. i, 8 ; Ixxxvi. 
 9, 10; cii. 15-28 (16-29 Heb.). The last is a conspicuous 
 example of Deutero-Isaianic universalism. Similarly 
 with reference to [phrase as well as idea, Ps. cvii. 35 
 (cf. Isa. xli. 18). 
 
 But our interest is chiefly directed to the high ethical 
 ideals expressed in the Servant-poems. How far did the 
 Jewish nation in the future respond to the high calling of 
 the race expressed in Isa. xlix. 6, * I will appoint thee as 
 a light to the Gentiles ' ? The verdict of history has been 
 that the influence of this great conception of Israel as 
 God's missionary race was only partial and fluctuating. 
 It had to contend with that spirit of particularism which 
 seems to be inherent in nationality. Certainly no modern 
 European race dare cast a stone. The great ideas expressed 
 in the Servant-poems had to wage a constant warfare 
 against that spirit of national exclusiveness which sought 
 to keep God's mercies within its own narrow race-walls 
 (cf. Luke iv. 25-9; Acts xxii. 21, 22), and imposed the 
 severe restraints of legalism upon the foreigner who 
 might seek admission to the privileges of the Covenant 
 Race. 
 
 Nevertheless the power of these great ideas first 
 definitely expressed in the Servant-poems ^ could not be 
 suppressed. We frequently meet with them in the 
 Psalms in which the conception of God's universal good- 
 ness is frequently expressed. Ps. cxlv. 9 : ' Yahweh is good 
 
 ' Onl}' very superficial exegesis could make a claim of 
 priority for Gen. xii. 3 'J) ; see footnote above on p. 21. 
 
INTRODUCTION 41 
 
 to all and His lender mercies are over all His works.* 
 Ps.xxxvi. 7 (Heb. 8): 'How precious is Thy loving-kindness 
 O God : and as for mankind, under the shadow of Thy 
 wings they take refuge.' Moreover, the heathen are 
 constantly called upon to praise God— Ps. ix. 12, xviii. 50, 
 xlviii. II, Ivii. 10, xcvi, cv. i, cviii. 4. The universal 
 conceptions also find expression in the Book of Job — a 
 work which is evidently influenced by the Servant- 
 passages, and deals with the problem of suffering from 
 another standpoint. Neither Job himself nor his friends 
 are Jews. Another remarkable example of the influence 
 of the Servant-poems and their central thought (Isa. 
 xlix. 6) is the Book of Jonah ^ a work which belongs to 
 the close of the Persian or beginning of the Greek 
 period. It is a protest against Jewish exclusiveness both 
 eloquent and significant because it seems to stand 
 solitary. God's care for all His creatures extends beyond 
 even the confines of humanity; it includes also the 
 animals within its scope ^ (Jonah iv. lo-ii). 
 
 When we come to the Maccabaean period (after 168 B.C.) 
 the struggle with Antiochus Epiphanes gave immense 
 impetus to the national spirit and the reaction against 
 Hellenism. The Hasidhii or pious devotees, out of whom 
 Pharisaism emerged, were the living embodiment of this 
 tendency to safeguard the observance of the Torah and 
 resist foreign encroachment. All these influences 
 militated against the liberal tendencies fostered by Hebrew 
 prophecy and the missionary function of the Jewish race 
 as God's messenger to mankind inculcated in the ' Servant 
 poems.* Nevertheless these nobler ideals did not perish. 
 In the * vision of animals ' contained in the Book of Enoch 
 we have very definite allusion to the conversion of the 
 heathen in the end of the world ^. Similarly in Enoch 
 
 ^ The autlior owes the reference to this significant and 
 beautiful trait to Prof. Peake. 
 
 ^ Note especially chap. xc. 33-6 : ' And all that had been 
 
42 . . ISAIAH 
 
 X. 21 foil., 'And all the chiidren of men shall become 
 righteous, and all nations shall offer me adoration and 
 praise, and all will worship me. And all the earth will be 
 cleansed from every corruption and sin and from all 
 punishment and torment, and I will never again send them 
 upon it from generation to generation for ever.' So also 
 cv. I, ' And in those days, saith the Lord, they shall call 
 and testify to the children of the earth concerning their 
 wisdom : show it unto them, for ye are their guides.' 
 In the ' Similitudes ' of the Book of Enoch the universalist 
 conception is expressed even more strongly. The ' Son of 
 Man' becomes the light and hope of the nations, 
 especially of those who are in affliction. All who dwell in 
 the world are to fall down before Him (xlviii. 4, 5 '). 
 
 When we ask ourselves the question how far Judaism 
 undertook an active propaganda of its faith among the 
 Gentiles, we shall find but few traces of such propaganda 
 in the early post-exilian period. No doubt active efforts 
 
 destroyed and dispersed and all the beasts of the field and all 
 the birds of heaven assembled in that house, and the Lord 
 of the sheep rejoiced with great joy because they v^ere all 
 good and had returned to His house. And I saw till they 
 laid down that sword which had been given to the sheep, and 
 they brought it back into His house, and it was sealed before the 
 presence of the Lord ; and all the sheep were invited into that 
 house, but it held them not . . . And I saw that that house was 
 large and broad and very full.' Cf. also Tobit xiii. 11, xiv. 6, 7. 
 ^ ' He will be a staff to the righteous on which they will 
 support themselves and not fall ; and he will be the light of the 
 Gentiles and the hope of those who are troubled of heart. 
 All who dwell on earth will fall down and bow the knee 
 before him and will bless, laud, and celebrate in song the Lord 
 of Spirits' (comp. Ixii. 6, 7, 9, Ixiii). Bousset in his Religion 
 des fudeuttuns, 2nd ed., p. 96, furnishes other illustrative 
 citations from the Slavonic Book of Enoch and Book of 
 Jubilees. The present writer desires to express here his 
 considerable obligations to this important work of r Prof. 
 BousseL as well as to Scliurer's instructive chapter on the 
 * Prosel>'tes ' in his Gcschichte des jiidisclien Volkes ini Zeitalter 
 Jrsn Christi, 3rd ed., vol. iii, pp. 102-35. 
 
INTRODUCTION 43 
 
 were made immediately after the return from exile to win 
 over to the truejudaism of the pious exiles those Palestinian 
 Jews, considerable in number, who had lapsed into heathen- 
 ism. During the early post-exilian centuries we find that 
 the word ger (or toshdb), which originally signified the 
 foreign resident in the land of the Jew, came to be 
 employed in the narrower sense of proselyte or converted 
 Gentile. In fact the Priestly legislation devotes special 
 attention to this ger^ and repeatedly emphasizes the fact 
 that the ger has the same ceremonial duties as the Jew. 
 Here we have certainly an indication that the bond that 
 constituted the religious community was ?-eligioii and not 
 mere nationality. But it is easily possible to attach undue 
 importance to this fact. For it cannot be denied that the 
 underlying motive was not any strong desire to win over 
 the aliens, but a tendency which was, after all, exclusive. 
 The Jews after the exile found a large number of strangers 
 dwelling in Palestine, and they were anxious to convert 
 them and so keep the land and community in which they 
 dwelt pure from all foreign contamination in cultus. 
 
 It is rather to the Diaspora we must look, as Moriz 
 Friedlander in his recent stimulating work has shown ^ 
 for the liberalizing and quickening influences of the 
 Jewish race, and for the real response to the message of 
 the exile poet. Bousset thinks that the enormous increase 
 of the Jewish Diaspora in the second century B. c. can only 
 be accounted for by the assumption that those Jewish 
 communities received considerable accretions from with- 
 out. There can be no doubt that the Hellenic-Roman 
 world was specially accessible to Jewish influence, and 
 especially to Jewish monotheism. Owing to the decay of 
 polytheism and to the teachings of Greek philosophy, the 
 age was ripe for the advent of Judaism. In the presence 
 of the shifting and contradictory speculations of Greek 
 
 ' Die religioscH Bavegitngen imui/uilb des Jiidenfunts, p. 239 
 roll. 
 
44 ISAIAH 
 
 philosophy and its fluctuating societies, the Jews had 
 their steadfast, firmly-welded communities — their fixed 
 religious system and their abiding faith. And there are 
 many testimonies to show that the Hellenic Jew ardently 
 sought, to extend his faith among the Gentile population 
 that surrounded him, until he awakened the misgiving and 
 even hatred of those whom he sought to convert ^. The 
 Jewish Sibylli7ie poef, writing in the second century B. c, 
 not long after the destruction of Corinth by Mummius, 
 makes that event the occasion to call the Hellenic world 
 to repentance by reason of the great overthrow and 
 Divine judgment that has come upon it through the 
 Romans. The Jewish poet hopes for a time in which 
 there will reign a universal peace and there will be a 
 common law for mankind upon earth (iii. 744-61 ; cf. 616 
 foil., 806 foil.). But it is Philo who is the most eminent 
 example of liberal Judaism throwing its doors open wide 
 to the Gentile seeker after God. Greek philosophy 
 moulded his symbolic interpretations of the Hebrew 
 Scriptures. To him the Jewish Torah was a book for the 
 world and not simply for the Jew : * For it attracts and 
 converts all men, barbarians and Hellenes, the inhabitants 
 of the mainland and of the islands, nations in the East 
 and in the West ; Europe, Asia, the whole inhabited 
 world from one end to the other ' ( Vif. Mosis^ ii, § 20 
 (chap, iv) : cf. the entire section § 17 foil.). 
 
 In the time of Christ the success of the Jewish pro- 
 paganda is attested by the conversion of King Izates of 
 Adiabene (in Assyria), his mother Helena and his entire 
 household (Josephus, Antiq. xx, chap. 2). It is attested by 
 St. Paul's missionary journeys, in which he found side 
 by side with the Jews Gentile co-religionists." Indeed it 
 
 ' Juvenal, Sat. xiv. 96 foil. ; Seneca quoted in Augustine, 
 Dc Civ. Dei., vi. 11. 
 
 ^ Called ffffiofiivoi or cpoPovfjici'oi tw $(6v or irpoaiiXvToi, Acts 
 xiii. 16, 26, 43, 50, xvi. 14, xxii. 4, xviii. 7 : cf. Rev. xi. 18. 
 Bousset also quotes the interesting technical expression 
 
INTRODUCTION 45 
 
 seems fairly clear that the first successes of Christianity 
 were won in these very circles of Gentile proselytes to 
 Judaism. It is even attested by Christ's own denunciations, 
 which show that the Palestinian Pharisees were also 
 ardent in their endeavours to convert the Gentile : ' Woe 
 unto you Scribes and Pharisees, dissemblers, for ye com- 
 pass sea and land to make one proselyte . . .' (Matt, xxiii. 
 15). Judaism, as we know, spoke with two contrasted 
 voices during the first century of the Christian era. Hillel 
 was the genial propagandist of his faith among the 
 Gentiles. One of his chief utterances is cited in Pirke 
 Abhoth, i. 12, ' Love all creatures and lead them to the 
 law.' And there are many traditions of his gentleness 
 and charity to foreigners and of the like disposition on 
 the part of his followers. A beautiful saying is reported 
 of Simon son of Paul's teacher Gamaliel : * If a Gentile 
 comes to enter into the covenant, extend to him the hand 
 that he may come under the pinions of the Shechina.' 
 But the other voice, hard and bitter, was that of Shamniai 
 and his school, characterized by severity and exclusiveness 
 towards the Greeks and checking all tendencies towards 
 a liberal propaganda. The terrible conflict with Rome in 
 70 A.D., and still later in the uprising of Bar Cochba in 
 135 A. D., stifled the missionary zeal of Judaism. The 
 school of Shammai prevailed. Christianity, which, mainly 
 owing to the efforts of St. Paul, had cast off the restrictions 
 of Jewish nationalism, viz. circumcision, the laws re- 
 specting unclean meats and even the Sabbath, had by 
 this time become not a mere sect of Judaism but a universal 
 religion. It now occupied to the Gentiles the place of 
 Judaism, and carried with it the knowledge of the O. T. 
 Scriptures and their ideas, divested of ceremonialism, to 
 all the races of the world. The fulfilment of the great 
 
 metuens on a number of Latin inscriptions. This writer holds 
 that hitherto the importance of this mission of Judaism to the 
 Gentile world has not been estimated highly enough. 
 
46 ISAIAH 
 
 ideal of the Suffering Servant expressed in Isa. xlix. 6and 
 liii finally passed from Judaism to Christ and Christianity.* 
 
 * The reader of German is directed to the interesting and 
 suggestive characterization of Jesus, and especially of St. Paul, 
 from a liberal Jewish standpoint, in the concluding chapters 
 iv and v in the above-mentioned work Die religiosen Bewe- 
 gnngen, &c., by M. Friedlander. Also on the Jewish Sibylline 
 oracles see pp. 289-95. 
 
THE DEUTERO-ISAIAH 
 
 ISAIAH XL— LV 
 
 REVISED VERSION WITH ANNOTATIONS 
 
ISAIAH 
 
 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH 
 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. 40 
 
 I. THE DEUTERO-ISAIAH. 
 
 Chaps, xl-lv, or Deutero-Isaiah, is a collection of oracles, 
 intended to be a message of comfort and awakening hope to 
 the Jewish exiles in Babylonia, composed 542-538 b.c. (see 
 Introduction). 
 
 (i) CHAPTERS XL-XLVIII: THE ADVENT OF CYRUS. 
 
 A. Chaps, xl-xli describe the advent of the new and happier 
 time. Yahweh is portrayed in majestic language as standing 
 alone and incomparable, far above and beyond human estimate 
 and conception, supreme in wisdom and might, the hope and 
 strength of all the weak who trust in Him. He will display His 
 might by raising up Israel's deliverer (Cyrus; through whom the 
 people's foes shall be destroyed, and Israel's restoration shall be 
 effected. 
 
 (a) Chap. xl. i-ii. God commands that a message of comfort 
 and pardon shall be given to His people (verses i, 2). Heraldic 
 voices are raised to prepare the path for God's advent through the 
 desert (3-6). Another voice declares that while everything 
 human perishes, God's word is eternal (7, 8). An exhortation is 
 addressed to inhabitants of Zion to bring this good news to the 
 towns of Judah, bidding them not to fear, since God is at hand 
 armed with might to render a true recompense and to lead His 
 flock like a faithful shepherd. 
 
 1. comfort ye : repetition of phrase, as we have already pointed 
 out (Introd. p. 35), is a characteristic of this writer. Who are 
 addressed? The LXX (or the Hebrew copy which they em- 
 ployed) suppose that it is the priests \ a conjecture which may be 
 safely rejected. The Targum holds that the prophets are here 
 addressed. This view is more probable. The interesting parallel 
 Isa. lii. 7-9 leads to the conclusion that the words are addressed 
 
 ^ Marked in Q (cod. Marchalianus, sixth century) with the hexa- 
 plaric obelus. 
 
50 ISAIAH 40. 2 
 
 3 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that 
 her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; 
 that she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all 
 her sins. 
 
 to all who are capable of receiving the Divine message (Dillm.- 
 Kittel). 
 
 The word 'saith,' corresponding to the Heb. imperf., 
 emphasizes the present time as that in which the utterance is 
 made. Cf. the use of the partic. 'crying,' verse 3. 
 
 2. Instead of 'my people ' we have Jerusalem. From this it 
 is not to be inferred tliat Jerusalem was already built. Jerusalem 
 merely stands here, as in xlviii. 2, xlix. 14 f., li. 16, lii. i foil., 7 foil., 
 to represent the Jewish community. The hope of the glorious 
 future is concentrated in Jerusalem, the old home of the race. 
 Words of comfort are to be addressed to Jerusalem, now in ruins. 
 Both the city and the people it represents can have no conception 
 of the bright dawn which is coming. R. V. (marg.) ' to the heart ' 
 indicates the actual Hebrew words here rendered by 'comfortably'. 
 We have the same use of words in the original in Gen. xxxiv. 3, 
 1. 21 ; Judg. xix. 3. The message of comfort is that the time of 
 hardship or period of forced bond-service is completed. The word 
 in Hebrew, sdbd, properly means military service, but in later 
 Hebrew, as in Job vli, i, it means hard bond-service or the work 
 of a hired servant (cf, x. 17, xiv. 14. — In Num. iv. 3, 23, &c. (P; 
 it means the service of the Levites in the sanctuary). It is quite 
 evident that we must take the word here in its later meaning of 
 'bond-service,' since 'warfare' or military service has no historical 
 relevance to the condition of the Jewish people in the days of the 
 exile. ^ 
 
 Translate 'that her iniquity is paid for,* i.e. atoned for or made 
 good. The Heb. verb is difficult to translate, and expresses the 
 graciousness of the Divine act of cancelling or atoning for the 
 guilt. In Lev. i. 4, vii. 18, xix. 7, &c., it is used of God's gracious 
 acceptance of sacrificial ofierings. Indeed, God's tendercompassions 
 are such that He considers the chastisements which the Jewish 
 race has already endured to be twice as great as those which 
 were due. We gain nothing by supposing that the last clause of 
 this verse is based on Jer. xvi. 18, 'and I recompense unto them 
 [first of all] double of their guilt,' for this only tends to obscure 
 
 ^ Owing to the feminine gender of the word sdln'r here, which is 
 most unusual, Marti alters the text and would render, 'she has com- 
 pleted her time of service ' ; but the modification is unnecessary. 
 The word is also feminine in Dan. viii. 12. 
 
ISAIAH 40. 3,4 51 
 
 The voice of one that crieth, Prepare ye in the wilder- 3 
 ness the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a 
 high way for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and 4 
 
 the force of the present passage. Moreover, critics deny that Jere- 
 miah was the author of the verse cited (so Giesebrechtand Cornill). 
 Duhm and Marti formerly affirmed the dependence of this Isaiah 
 passage on that of Jeremiah ; but now the former critic, both in 
 his later edition of the Isaiah commentary and in that which he 
 has written on Jeremiah, has withdrawn his earlier view. 
 
 3-4. The opening words are most idiomatically rendered ' Hark ! 
 there is a cry : *' Prepare ye Yahweh's way in the wilderness." ' 
 This is the real signification of the word for 'voice' in the original 
 ikol).^ The words 'in the wilderness,' it will be noted, are 
 connected with the words ' prepare ye Yahweh's way.' This is 
 clearly indicated by the Hebrew accentuation which is followed 
 by Dillm., Kittel, and Duhm. On the other hand, LXX, Matt. iii. 3 
 (and parall.) as well as Vulg., connect the words in the way that 
 has become familiar to us, 'The voice of one crying in the wilder- 
 ness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord. . .' This is the rendering of 
 A. V. On the other hand, R. V. have followed what is undoubtedly 
 the correct tradition of our Hebrew Massoretic text, which the 
 following parallel clause, 'make level in the desert a highway for 
 our God,' demonstrates with clearness. In this clause the word 
 ' desert ' in the Hebrew original is 'Ardbd/t. This, however, does 
 not mean the well-known Palestinian 'Arabah, which included the 
 southern part of the great depression of the Jordan valley includ- 
 ing Jericho. This would imply that the great Divine procession 
 is to come by the way of Se'ir, which is geographically most 
 improbable. 'Arabah is here used in its purely generic sense, and 
 denotes the desert between Babylonia and Palestine, through 
 which God is to lead His people, as He did formerly from Egypt 
 (so Gesenius, Hitzig, Ewald,Knobel,and nearly all recent exegetes) : 
 cf. xlix. II, Iii. 8, 12 and also Ixii. 10 foil. 
 
 Who is the personage who utters the cry ? Evidently not 
 Yahweh, or we should not have the expression 'a highway for our 
 God.'' On the other hand, it can hardly have been a human being, 
 since the whole character of the highway here described implies 
 a task beyond human powers. There appears to be a suggestion 
 that celestial powers are to construct this colossal roadway for 
 Yahweh's triumphal progress whereby mountains and hills are to 
 sink, and the bases of the valleys to rise to form a level path. Is 
 
 ^ The same word occurs in Gen. iv. lo, which accordingly ought to 
 he translated, ' Hark I thy brother's blood cries ... * see Gesenius- 
 Kaulzsch, Hcb. Grain.'^'', § 146. 1, rem. 1. 
 
 E 2 
 
52 ISAIAH 40. 5 
 
 every mountain and hill shall be made low : and the 
 
 crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places 
 
 5 plain : [and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and 
 
 the voice that summons them to this task one of themselves, 
 similar to the Seraphs who cry to one another in Isaiah's conse- 
 cration-vision (vi. 3) ? The entire conception is based on 
 this image of a monarch's royal progress for which fitting prepara- 
 tions are made (cf. Mark xi. 8). Cf. the language in reference to 
 Cyrus (xlv. 2).^ 
 
 4. The physical features involved in the levelling process arc 
 here described in their large outlines. Probably we should render 
 the latter part of the verse ' the steep ^ shall become a plain and 
 the mountain-ridges an open valle}'.' Both this and the preceding 
 verse might perhaps have been conceived by the enthusiastic poet as 
 awaiting a literal fulfilment, like the vast physical changes 
 portrayed in Isa. ii. 2. It is by no means easy in dealing 
 with O. T. prophecy to be quite certain where the purely 
 figurative employment of terms enters. In this particular case 
 the purely metaphorical use of the language seems to be required 
 by the geographical conditions, since no considerable hills — 
 certainly no mountain-chains — intervene along the desert journey 
 between Babylonia and the borders of Palestine. Accordingly 
 we have here vivid imagery employed to describe the vast 
 difficulties which are to be overcome by supernatural agencies, 
 whereby the way is to be prepared for Yahweh's glorious advent 
 and Israel's deliverance. 
 
 xl. 5-8. Metric considerations combined with those of internal 
 connexion in thought have led Duhm to a complete reconstruction 
 of the order of verses 5-1 1. The opening lines of the original 
 Hebrew, verses 1-4, are long lines in the familiar Kinah or 
 elegiac measure, each consisting of a longer and shorter portion 
 like the metre already described in our commentary on Isaiah 
 chap, xiii (vol. i, p. 183). The following verses in our text, 5-8, 
 
 ^ Gunkel, Forschttngen ztir Religion tnid Literatur des A. T. u. 
 N. T., Heft I, p. 49, note 5, as well as Gressmann, Der Ursprungder 
 IsraeL-yUd. Eschatologie, p. 223, thinks this conception borrowed 
 from the solemn street-procession of the god Marduk from Babylon 
 to Borsippa, in which the images of the deities were borne by the 
 priests. We have similar parallels in Egypt; Krman, Die agypt. 
 Religion, p. 43. But these analogies, though suggestive, are hardly 
 convincing. 
 
 " This seems to be the actual meaning of the Hebrew {'dkobh, 
 comp. the Arabic 'akabat, meaning a mountain-path). 
 
ISAIAH 40. 5 53 
 
 all flesh shall see it together : for the mouth of the Lord 
 
 are not in the same measure. The Kinah measure of the opertih'g 
 four verses is not resumed till we come to verses 9-1 1. These 
 considerations have led Duhm (who is followed by Cheyne and 
 Marti) to the conclusion that the original order of the verses 
 1-4, immediatel3^ followed by verses 9-1 1, has been disturbed bj' 
 the insertion of the foreign element, verses 6-8, placed imme- 
 diately after verse 4, because it opens with the same word * voice ' 
 ( = *Hark!') as the four-lined stanza, verses 3-4. After this 
 insertion had been made, verse 5, consisting of three shorter lines 
 (with the expression strange to the Deutero-Isaiah in the conclud- 
 ing line : ' For the mouth of Yahweh hath uttered it '), was added 
 by a later editor in order to furnish a suitable transition from 
 verse 4 to verse 6 with its announcement that all flesh is grass. 
 Hence the allusion to * all flesh ' in the second line of verse 5. 
 
 A careful examination of the contents will probably convince 
 the attentive as well as unprejudiced student that these views of 
 Duhm, based in the first instance on considerations of metre, rest 
 on a strong basis. Let him read consecutively verses 1-4 and 
 9-1 1 and he finds himself in one continuous and harmonious 
 current of confident expectation of God's great achievements on 
 behalf of the people who are the objects of His tender care. But 
 how strangely and discordantly does the minor key of verses 6-8 
 break into this harmon}' ! But what is the actual place and 
 connexion of verses 6-8? There is no sufficient reason to deny 
 their Deutero-Isaianic origin, though their sombre colouring is out 
 of harmony with verses 1-4 and 9-1 1. Duhm (whom Cheyne in 
 SBOT. follows) inserts verses 6-8 between verses 11 and 12, 
 and this arrangement might be accepted in default of a better. 
 Yet even here the minor key hardly accords with the calm 
 exaltation of the hues that follow. We should prefer to insert 
 them between verses 17 and 18. 
 
 5. The passive shall be revealed is not so probable a rendering 
 as the reflexive 'shall reveal itself.' Flesh here, as in so many 
 other passages, means the mortal race : Gen. vi. 12 ; Jer. xxv. 31 ; 
 Zech. ii. 17. All flesh refers to all humanity and not Israel 
 exclusivel3r. The object after see is not expressed in Hebrew, 
 but in our version is rendered by ' it,' i. e. the glory of Yahweh. 
 The LXX seem to have had either another text before them or to 
 have taken objection to the omission of any object to the verb 
 'see.' They supply as the object 'the salvation of God,' and 
 the Hebrew equivalent of these words is actually added by 
 Lowth, Ewald and Oort in the Hebrew text Tcf. also Luke iii. 6). 
 But there are objections to the insertion as it overloads the 
 verse, which consists of three short lines. Not improbably, as 
 
54 ISAIAH 40. 6,7 
 
 6 hath spoken it]. The voice of one saying, Cry. And one 
 said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the 
 
 7 goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field : [the grass 
 withereth, the flower fadeth ; because the breath of the 
 
 Rosenmiiller suggests, the similar passage, lii. to, may have 
 influenced the translation of the LXX. 
 
 6-8. Hitman transience and decay contrasted with the Divine 
 permanence. These verses are in the ordinarj' distich form quite 
 distinct from the Kinah measure of the first four verses and of 
 verses 9- 11 : — 
 
 ' " Hark ! " one cries, ''proclaim ! " — and I said : What shall I 
 
 proclaim ? 
 " All flesh is grass — and all its charm ^ like the wild flower : 
 Dried up is the grass, withered the flower — for Yahweh's blast 
 
 blows on it ; 
 Yea, the people is grass. 
 D»:ied up is the grass, withered the flower — but the word of 
 
 our God abideth for ever."' 
 
 6. It will be observed that in place of ' one said,' which is the 
 reading of the Hebrew Massoretic text (which involves obscurit}' 
 as to the subject referred to), we have followed the translation 
 indicated in R. V. (marg.) based on a different pronunciation of 
 the same Hebrew words and adopted by the ancient versions 
 LXX and Vulg. 
 
 *f. The 'blast of Yahweh ' probably alludes to the hot east wind 
 that scorches up vegetation. The grass and flower do not refer 
 to the might and glory of Assyria and Babylonia only. All 
 flesh evidently, as in verse 5, includes Israel as well as foreign 
 peoples. Here the former is intended quite as much as the latter. 
 There is no sufficient reason for rejecting the clause *Yea, the 
 people is grass' as a gloss, as Gesenius, Hitzig, Oort, and other 
 writers have done. The Hebrew word rendered ' Yea ' occurs in 
 xlv. 15, and the expression 'people' as a general designation 
 of the earth's human inhabitants meets us in chap. xlii. 5. It is, 
 however, quite possible that the expression ' the people ' here 
 refers more particularly to Israel, since it is the ordinary designation 
 for God's covenant-race (Isa. i. 3 ; Hos. i. 9, ii. 1, iv. 6 and 
 passim). 
 
 ^ We should probably so render the Heb. hasdo oi our text. The 
 LXX render by 5o£«, * splendour,' which presupposes either hodho or 
 h^daro (rather than k'hhodO). 
 
ISAIAH 40. 8-10 55 
 
 Lord bloweth upon it : surely the people is grass]. The 8 
 grass withereth, the flower fadeth : but the word of our 
 God shall stand for ever. 
 
 O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up into 9 
 the high mountain ; O thou that tellest good tidings to 
 Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength ; lift it up, be 
 not afraid ; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold, your 
 God ! Behold, the Lord God will come as a mighty one, 10 
 
 On the other hand, we have stronger grounds for rejecting verse 
 7 entire, since it is omitted in the LXX, and the repetition of 
 phrase in verse 8 suggests strongly the supposition that v^-e have 
 here a dupHcation due to the carelessness of a scribe. 
 
 9. The Elegiac measure of verses 1-4 once more recurs, and the 
 same spirit is breathed of joyful confidence. The rendering given 
 above (R.V.) differs from that of A.V., which is 'O Zion that 
 bringest good tidings' (placed in the margin of R. V.). The 
 literal rendering of the Hebrew is 'Glad messenger of Zion,' and 
 this is interpreted as an instance of what is called appositional 
 genitive \ i. e. it means ' Glad messenger, Zion,' or, in other words, 
 'O Zion that bringest good tidings' (A. V.\ This view has very 
 large support. Not only from the Greek translators LXX, Aq., 
 Theod., Sym., but also from Vitringa, Clericus, Ewald, Dehtzsch, 
 and others. On the other hand, it is also possible to treat the 
 feminine construct form in the original as a collective sing. So 
 that the rendering should be, ' O messengers of good tidings in 
 Zion.' ^ This explanation is adopted by Duhm and Marti, and is 
 supported by the parallel passages, lii. 7 foil, and also xli. 27. 
 
 10. come as a mighty one is the idiomatic^ rendering of our 
 Hebrew text. But the ancient versions LXX, Pesh., Targ., and 
 Vulg. pronounced the Hebrew characters with different vowels, 
 and probably we ought to follow them and render * come with 
 strength ' (so Gesen. and Ewald. followed by Duhm and Marti). 
 
 ^ Of course the word stands in the original Hebrew as a feminine 
 construction ; we have a similar use in Isa. i. S, daughter of Zion (see 
 our note ad loc). It is called sometimes an explicative or epexe- 
 geiic genitive, Gesenius-Kautzsch '^"j § 12S, 2, k. 
 
 ^ The idiom of this use of the feminine singular is explained 
 and illustrated in Gesenius-Kautzsch's Hebrew Gram, ^"j § 122 s. 
 
 ^ On this idiom, called Beth essentiae, see Gesen. -Kautzsch''"', Heb. 
 Gr. § 119, 3 i. 
 
56 ISAIAH 40. 11-13 
 
 and his arm shall rule for him : behold, his reward is with 
 him, and his recompence before him. He shall feed his 
 flock like a shepherd, he shall gather the lambs in his arm, 
 and carry them in his bosom, ajid shall gently lead those 
 that give suck. 
 
 Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his 
 hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and compre- 
 hended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed 
 the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance ? Who 
 hath directed the spirit of the Lord, or being his counsellor 
 
 His arm shall rule for Mm means that Yahweh shall 
 conquer His foes by His overwhelming power. As a successful 
 warrior He obtains the reward of His efforts. 
 
 11 touches on the more gentle traits of Yahweh's character. 
 He is not only the victorious warrior who breaks down all 
 opposition, but, like a good shepherd, shows tender care for His 
 sheep. Cf. Jer. xxxi. 10; Ezek. xxxiv. 11-16. The Heb. 
 verb translated ' gently lead ' is specially used of leading a flock 
 to the watering. Cf. Exod. xv. 13 ; Ps. xxiii. a. 
 
 (6) Verses 12-31 describe in language of great sublimity the 
 incomparable greatness of Yahv^eh. 
 
 Verses 12-16 portray the unsurpassed power and wisdom of 
 Yahweh, and the utter inadequacy of all offerings, in three short 
 strophes of five lines each. The subject, however, is not the same 
 as that of verses 6-8. These latter, as we have said, are conceived 
 in the minor key. But the note of sadness is entirely absent here. 
 Accordingly it is impossible to see here a continuation of the 
 theme of the interposed fragment verses 6-8. 
 
 12. The interrog. who in this and the following verses means : 
 What human being? and anticipates a negative answer. This 
 rhetorical and negative use of the interrogative is frequent in 
 Hebrew. Cf. Num. xxiii. 10 : 'Who has counted the dust of Jacob?' 
 also Isa. li. 19 ; Job ix. 12, &c. 
 
 For and comprehended, &c., we might render with more 
 accuracy, '■ and hath measured out in the tierce-measure the dust 
 of the earth.' The tierce-measure (Cheyne) means probably a 
 third of an Ephah, which would amount to about 2f gallons. 
 
 13. The Hebrew word here, riiah, rendered spirit, means the 
 mind of God, correctly rendered in the LXX version by nous. On 
 the other hand, the mind of a man is represented in Hebrew by 
 the word lebh (which is usually translated 'heart'). The last 
 
ISAIAH 40. 14-17 5,7 
 
 hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and who 14 
 instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgement, 
 [and taught him knowledge], and shewed to him the way 
 of understanding ? Behold, the nations are as a drop of a 15 
 bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: 
 behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. And 16 
 Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof 
 sufficient for a burnt offering. All the nations are as I'j 
 nothing before him ; they are counted to him less than 
 
 clause of the verse is best rendered 'and hath been his counsellor 
 that informs him,' or ' as his counsellor informs him.' 
 
 14. It is a distinguishing characteristic of the Deutero-Isaiah 
 that he works out his ideas in rich variety of phrase. At the 
 same time this verse is overloaded by the colourless clause ' and 
 taught him knowledge,' which adds a line in excess of the five 
 which constitute the stanza. It is omitted in the version of the 
 LXX, and should be cancelled out of the text as a gloss. 
 
 15. 'Behold, the coast-lands he lifts up like fine motes.' 
 Probably we have here a reference to the earthquakes to which 
 the shores and islands of Asia Minor are specially liable (Ps. xxix. 
 6, cxiv. 4, 6). 
 
 16. Yahweh is so great that not all the wood or all the beasts 
 on Lebanon are sufficient to furnish a sacrificial offering that is 
 worthy of Him. 
 
 xl. 17-20 continue the same line of thought, viz. of Yahweh's 
 greatness. He is so exalted that no image can be formed of Him. 
 Some critics ''Oort, Duhm, Cheyne, and Marti) consider that chap, 
 xli. 6, 7 find their proper place in this section — probably between 
 verses 19 and 20. There is much to recommend this view, since 
 in chap, xli they are unrelated to the context in which they 
 stand. 
 
 17. 'Less than nothing' is supported by Vitringa, Clericus, 
 Umbreit, and other scholars, but this rendering is too strong an 
 oxymoron to be probable, though in point of language this 
 comparative sense of the Hebrew preposition which precedes the 
 substantive ' nothing ' is quite admissible. It is better to follow 
 the ordinary signification of the Heb. preposition and render ' of 
 nothing,' i. e. formed of nothing, having no basis or substance. 
 We might follow Cheyne here and translate the clause : — 'They 
 are reckoned by Him as vacancy and chaos.' The word Tohi'i or 
 ' chaos ' recalls the cosmogony of Genesis, chap. i. This same 
 
58 ISAIAH 40. 18, 19 
 
 1 8 nothing, and vanity. To whom then will ye liken God? 
 iQ or what likeness will ye compare unto him ? The graven 
 
 word occurs there in verse 2, rendered ' waste ' in R. V. (in A. V. 
 ' without form '). In the LXX version of the present passage the 
 word is untranslated.'^ But metre requires its presence. 
 
 This verse is not intended to describe God's entire indifference 
 to the nations of the world owing to their utter insignificance, 
 since this would be altogether opposed to the general conception 
 of Yahweh's moral relationship to the races of the world to whom 
 He has destined Israel to be servant and messenger (xlix. 6) ; but 
 it is intended to portray by a strong image the utter nothingness of 
 men and of nations in comparison with the immeasurable greatness 
 of Yahweh. A certain contrast with xlix, 6 nevertheless exists. 
 
 18. The Heb. copula here is rightly rendered in A.V. and R.V. 
 by 'then.' The word 'compare' corresponds to a word in the 
 original which means to ' set over against ' as counterpart or 
 resemblance. The same verb is used in Ps. xl. 6 (A. V. 5) 
 and Ixxxix. 7 (A. V. 6). It is here that Hebrew monotheism 
 finds in the O. T. its culminating expression. It is significant 
 that in this verse the word for God is neither Yahweh, the special 
 national designation of the God of the Hebrews, nor the current 
 plural form Elohhn (which may also be employed to denote 
 foreign deities'), but the universal Semitic form (used in Assyrian- 
 Babylonian) as well as Canaanite-Hebrew El. This form occurs 
 here without any addendum ^, and is found twelve times in chaps, 
 xl-xlviii expressing the universal God of humanity who stands 
 alone and supreme, inexpressible in the concrete limited forms of 
 the sense-world (so Dillmann). 
 
 19. In order to exhibit the absurd futilit3' of representing God 
 by images, the prophet enters into the trivial details of image 
 manufacture. 
 
 * There can, however, be hardly any question of the genuineness of 
 the Hebrew word toh-A in this passage, as it seems to have been 
 a favourite expression of the Deutero-Isaiah, cf. in this chapter 
 verse 23, also xli. 29, xliv. 9, xlv. 18, 19, xlix. 9. 
 
 ' It is frequently found with the defin. art. prefixed or compounded 
 with another form as El 'elyon ('God Most High,' Gen. xiv. iS-20) 
 or El Shaddai. We also find this general Semitic name for God in 
 the Senjirli inscriptions as an appellative name alongside of the god 
 Hadad, Reshef, Shamash (the Sun) and others. The Aramaic 
 proper name Sassariel = Sarsariel = ' El is King of Kings,' points to 
 the fact that El designates a supreme deity. See Baer.tsch, 
 Alforientalischer u. Israelitischer Monotheismus, p. 39 foil., and also 
 Jeremias in Chantepie de la Saussaye^, i, p. 360. 
 
ISAIAH 10. 20 59 
 
 image, a workman melted /V, and the goldsmith spreadeth 
 it over with gold, and casteth for it silver chains. He 20 
 that is too impoverished for such an oblation chooseth a 
 tree that will not rot ; he seeketh unto him a cunning 
 workman to set up a graven image, that shall not be 
 
 A workman casts the image and a smith plates it with gold and 
 chains of silver he forges (?). 
 
 The last clause is difficult in point of construction. In the LXX 
 we find in place of it the rendering of what must have been a 
 totally different text : ' He hath fashioned it as a likeness.' It is 
 quite possible that the text at this point became obliterated 
 through the loss of the two verses, which may be recovered in 
 xli. 6, 7 and obviously fit into this connexion.^ 
 
 'One aids the other, and to his comrade says: *• Set-to "' [///. '"be 
 strong"], and the workman encourages the forger — he who 
 beats smooth with the hammer him who strikes the anvil, 
 saying of the soldering " 'tis good" — and fixes it with nails 
 that it shift not.' 
 
 20. But there are many who are too poor to afford the expense 
 of a metal-plated image. These have recourse to wood, and a 
 workman to set up the image. Translate : — 
 
 ' He that is too poor - (to erect) a dedication-offering chooses r.n- 
 
 ^ The first to suggest the transposition of these verses into this 
 their true place appears to have been Lagarde, who perceived the true 
 relevance of xli. 7 ; Oort places them after verse 20, but in this verse 
 the writer proceeds to speak of a "ivooden image, whereas xli. 7 
 obviously deals with a metal-plated image. Its due place is evidently 
 before verse 20, and follows naturally on verse 19. 
 
 "^ It must be confessed that the word so rendered in the original is 
 extremely doubtful. The LXX in their text appear to have had 
 nothing to correspond either to it or to the word * dedication-offering ' 
 {t^rii7nah) which follows. They translate : ' A workman chooses 
 undecaying timber, and will cleverly seek how he shall place his 
 image and that it shall not totter.' On the other hand, it is possible 
 that Duhm is right in supposing that the omitted words in the LXX 
 correspond to the words ' he hath fashioned it as a likeness ' [o/xo/o;//a 
 (= rw^nn) Karean^vaffiv avT6v\ which stand in the LXX at the 
 
 close of the immediately preceding verse 19 and occupy the place of 
 the clause * chains of silver he forges,' for which there is nothing 
 equivalent in their version. Duhm endeavours to reconstruct the 
 Hebrew text, which is rendered ' He that is too poor to erect a dedi- 
 
6o ISAIAH 40. 2 1, 2 2 
 
 2x moved. Have ye not known ? have ye not heard? hath 
 it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not 
 
 22 understood from the foundations of the eartli? // is he 
 that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants 
 thereof are as grasshoppers ; that stretcheth out the heavens 
 as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in : 
 
 decaying timber, seeks out for himself a skilled workman — to 
 
 erect a carved image that does not totter.* 
 
 The same theme is handled in greater detail in chap. xHv. 9-20. 
 
 Verses 21-26 resume the thread of the same topic as verses 
 
 12-16 above, and portray God's supreme place and power over 
 
 the world and its inhabitants. 
 
 21. For Have ye not known, &c., substitute the present tenses 
 which correspond to the Hebrew imperf. 'know j'e not— hear 
 ye not ... No further emendation in the translation of the R. V. 
 is necessary. It is quite true that our Hebrew text, which is 
 here sustained by the ancient versions LXX, Pesh., and Vulg., 
 requires us to render with R, V. marg. ' Have ye not understood 
 the foundation of the earth ' (i. e. its creation by Yahweh), but 
 this rendering, though modern scholars (Gesenius, Hitzig, and 
 Delitzsch) have supported it, is hardly probable, since (a) it spoils 
 the parallelism of the verse : ' from the beginning . . . from the 
 foundation of the earth ' ; (b) the omission of the Hebrew pre- 
 position ' = 'from') is shown to be exceedingly likely when we 
 observe the close collocation of the same consonants in the 
 original text. 
 
 22. The character of the supreme God is described in a series 
 of participles, a mode of expression to which the Dcutero-Isaiah 
 is partial (also in Job). 
 
 ' 'Tis He who sits enthroned (partic.) above the circle of the 
 
 earth — while its inhabitants are as locusts (or grasshoppers) 
 
 who stretches out like fine gauze the heavens — and has 
 
 extended them as a tent to dwell in.' 
 
 This conception of the world as a circle or disc appears to be 
 
 late (cf. Job xxii. 14 ; Prov. viii. 27, in which we have the 
 
 conceptions of the two discs corresponding to one another as 
 
 counterparts, the circle of the earth and that of the vaulted sky\ 
 
 cation offering,' and translates his emended text, * He who carves an 
 image chooses undecaying timber'; but it is useless to weary the 
 reader with the unending discussions about this doubtful passage, 
 which have gone on ever since the days of Mirhaelis and even reach 
 hack to the time of Jerome. 
 
ISAIAH 40. 23-26 6i 
 
 that bringeth princes to nothing ; lie maketh the judges 23 
 of the earth as vanity. Yea, they have not been planted ; 24 
 yea, they have not been sown ; yea, their stock hath not 
 taken root in the earth : moreover he blovveth upon them, 
 and they wither, and the whirlwind taketh them away as 
 stubble. To whom then will ye liken me, that I should 25 
 be equal to him} saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes 26 
 on high, and see who hath created these, that bringeth out 
 their host by number : he calleth them all by name ; by 
 
 See art. 'Cosmogony' in Hastings' D.B., p. 503, right-hand col., 
 where it will be seen from the appended diagram how «aturall3' 
 to the ancient Semite such a conception arose. To God, enthroned 
 far above the earth, the crowds of human inhabitants seemed to 
 move on the earth's surface like swarms of locusts (or grass- 
 hoppers}. The simile was no unfamiliar one to the Hebrew ; 
 cf. Num. xiii. 33. The locust or grasshopper was used to 
 express the conception of insignificance and feebleness. 
 
 23. ' Who makes potentates into nought.' The downfall of 
 such rulers as Astyages king of Media and Croesus king of Lydia 
 before the irresistible power of God's chosen instrument, the 
 Persian Cyrus king of the province ofAnshan (or Anzan), were 
 events that were vividly present to the mind of the writer of these 
 words. They were catastrophes of his recent experience. They 
 furnish a subtle and subsidiary confirmation of the theory that as- 
 signs the composition of these chapters to some date between 550 
 and 538 B. c. 
 
 24. The R. V. (marg.) brings out more clearly the idiomatic 
 significance : — ' Scarce are they planted, scarce are they sown . . . 
 when He bloweth on them, and they dry up, and a whirlwind 
 carrieth them off like stubble.' 
 
 25. The word for Holy One here in Hebrew is the adjectivfe 
 kddosh without a definite article. As an adjective it occurs in 
 Isa. vi in the cry of the Seraphim, and also in the favourite expres- 
 sion ' H0I3' one of Israel.' But here it seems to have hardened 
 into a kind of proper name somewhat like Hebrew El or Greek 
 6eu$ without the article. We have a similar use of ^adosh in 
 Job vi. 10 ; Hab. iii. 3. 
 
 26. Look to the stars on high and ask who made them. Then 
 the utter futility of images and image-worship becomes evident. 
 
 The Hebrew word bard for God's creative activity', which is 
 employed here (' hath created ') and elsewhere in Deutero-Isaiah, 
 begins about this time to be employed as a current term in 
 
62 ISAIAH 40. 27 
 
 the greatness of his might, and for that he is strong in 
 power, not one is lacking. 
 27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My 
 
 Hebrew literature.^ It is used in the post-exiliati creation-story 
 of Gen. chap, i i^Priestercodex^, and also in the late non-Isaianic 
 conclusion of Isa. chap. iv. 5, 6. In the pre-exilian or Yahwistic 
 creation-account in Gen. ii. 46 foil. God's formative activity in the 
 creation of the world is expressed by other words. 
 
 The conception of the stars as a heavenly martial retinue — an 
 army which in some mysterious way fought in Yahweh's (i. e. 
 Israel's) wars — was familiar to the Hebrews in the old pre-exilian 
 days. Hence Yahweh was called God of Hosts {Sebdoth). Cf, 
 Judges V. 4, 20 and see note in vol. i on Isa. i. 10 (p. 92). These 
 stars are marshalled and led forth at their rising ^ according to 
 number.' As though each member stood upon a muster-roll, each 
 one is summoned by name. 
 
 The construction of the closing part of this verse is obscure. 
 If we follow the versions (including LXX) we shall render : 
 ' Owing to great power and strong might {lit. might of strength) 
 not one falls behind.' This involves a slightly different punctua- 
 tion from that of our Hebrew text (omes, ' might,' being read in 
 place o( ammis, ' mighty,' in our text). Yahweh's mighty power 
 controls each member of the host so that none fails to be in his 
 place and perform his part. We prefer this to the rendering of 
 Duhm, which is based on an insignificant change in the Hebrew 
 text : ' To * (Jit. '' from ") Him who is great in power and mighty 
 in strength none is missing,' as though they were revolting from 
 His authority, 
 
 27-31 are the poet's reassuring answer to a possible objection. 
 
 ' We find it also in Deut. iv. 32. It should be noted that it 
 occurs also in Amos iv. 13, which Nowack, as might be expected, 
 regards as a later addition to the oracles of the prophet. It is, how- 
 ever, very doubtful whether we are justified in refusing to ascribe to 
 the prophet these and other passages expressing cosmic conceptions, 
 e. g. viii. 8 and ix. 5, 6. These universal cosmic conceptions re- 
 specting Yahweh certainly prevailed in the time of Amos : cf. the 
 earlier Yahwistic creation account in Gen. ii. 4 b foil. We have 
 also parallels in the monotheistic tendencies of Babylonian and 
 Egyptian religion : cf. Jeremias, Monotheistische Strdmungen imier" 
 halb der Babyl. Religion, and Baentsch, Monotheismus. 
 
 ^ Or we might render 'owing to him who is great, &:c.,' i. e. owing 
 to the influence He exerts or the awe felt for Him, which is a more 
 satisfactory translation of Duhni's slightly amended text {rabli, adj. 
 'great,* in place of n'bh, * grcatnets ';. 
 
ISAIAH 40. 2S-31 63 
 
 way is hid from the Lord, and my judgement is passed 
 away from my God? Hast thou not known? hast thou not 28 
 heard ? the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the 
 ends of the earthy fainteth not, neither is weary ; there is 
 no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to 29 
 the faint ; and to him that hath no might he increaseth 
 strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and 30 
 the young men shall utterly fa 11: but they that wait upon the 31 
 
 If God be so vast, the Maker of the great vault of stars, and I am 
 one of the crowd of human grasshoppers beneath Him, how can 
 m}' individual existence be observed or cared for by Him ? The 
 thought is analogous to that of Ps. viii. 3, 4, but the answer here 
 breathes a deeper note of Divine tenderness. 
 
 27. My -way is hid, i. e. My course of life and all its interests 
 pass unnoticed by Yahweh. The latter clause should be translated, 
 * My right passes by unheeded by my God.' Yahweh is conceived 
 as an august potentate who judges causes. Israel comes as a 
 poverty-stricken suitor, but is too insignificant for notice. Israel's 
 sorrows, his bhghted national hopes, his exile and oppression, 
 render such a mood of doubt and despair only too natural. 
 
 28. The prophet expostulates with these doubts. This entire 
 series of oracles in the Deutero-Isaiah is intended to rouse the 
 Jews from their mood of despair to one of faith in Yahweh and 
 confidence in His sustaining love and saving might. The ex- 
 postulation assumes the interrogative form as in verse 21 above. 
 
 Translate, with R. V. marg., ' Yahweh is an everlasting God — 
 Creator of the ends of the earth.' The last clause is idiomatically 
 translated, ' His understanding is unsearchable.' He is not too 
 weary to attend to your need. His all-penetrating intelligence 
 takes cognizance of your case. The following verses show that 
 this is the real drift of the prophet's words in this verse. 
 
 29. This verse begins with a participial form to which the 
 writer is evidently partial. This changes at the end of the verse to 
 the finite verb. ' Giving to the weary strength and to the powerless 
 increases might' would be a literal rendering. See Davidson's 
 Syntax, § 100 (e) and rem. 4. The subject is Yahweh, who not 
 onlj' possesses boundless strength Himself, but endows the weak 
 with it. This theme is unfolded in the following verses. 
 
 30. The Hebrew imperfects in this verse should be treated as 
 concessive. Render : — 
 
 ' Though (even) youths are weary and faint, and (even) young 
 men actually stumble, 
 
64 ISAIAH 41. 1 
 
 Lord shall renew their strength ; they shall mount up 
 with wings as eagles ; they shall run, and not be weary ; 
 they shall walk, and not faint. 
 41 Keep silence before me, O islands ; and let the peoples 
 
 31. Yel those who hope in Yahweh shall acquire fresh 
 strength— they shall put forth fresh pinions HUe eagles.' 
 
 The rendering of A. V. and R. V. mount up with wing's 
 (properly * wing-feathers,' 'pinions,') involves the construction of 
 the instrumental accusative in the Hebrew (viz. 'wings,' which has 
 no preposition before it in the original) after the verb ' mount.' 
 This is not so probable as the interpretation which regards the 
 verb as a causative in Hebrew (i.e. Hif'il) and 'wings' as the 
 accusative governed by it. We may then either render (a) * They 
 will lift up the pinions as eagles,' i. e. in flight, the interpretation of 
 theTarg.,Gesenius, Hitzig, and Delitzsch ; or (b) ' cause new pinions 
 to grow (or put forth new pinions) like the eagle.' This is the 
 translation of the LXX (nrepocpv-qffovai) and Vulg., and has been 
 followed by Lowth, Eichhorn, Ewald, Duhm, and most recent 
 commentators. The simple or kal form oi the Hebrew verb 
 frequently bears the meaning ' grow,' chap. Iv. 13 ; Gen. xl. 10, 
 xli. 22 ; Deut. xxix. 22, &c. Consequently the causative would 
 have the meaning here assigned to it. 
 
 Chapter XLI 
 
 is a continuation of the theme of the preceding chapter. It is an 
 argument to show Yahweh's supremacy and the vanity of other 
 gods. His providential care for His people is signalized by his 
 summons to the conqueror Cyrus, who is to be Israel's deliverer. 
 
 Verses 1-5 describe the summons of the nations to a controversy 
 between them and Yahweh whether it is they or He who has 
 called Cyrus forth on his career of conquest. 
 
 1. Keep silence before me is scarcely correct. The original is 
 properly ' Be silent unto me,' which is a pregnant form of 
 expression, and means * Turn yourselves in silence to me,' or ' Be 
 silent and listen tome' (Duhm). For 'islands' we should substi- 
 tute the more generic term ' coastlands ' (in which islands are 
 included). The LXX had a slightly different text before them, 
 and in place of ' keep silence ' rendered their variant ' be ye 
 renewed ' [?]. Lowth and Oort follow them, but it is hard to extract 
 a satisfactory meaning. Apparently the thought is that the coast- 
 lands arc to renew their strength for another meeting with 
 
ISAIAH 41. 2 65 
 
 renew their strength : let them come near ; then let them 
 speak : let us come near together to judgement. Who 2 
 hath raised up one from the east, whom he calleth in 
 righteousness to his foot ? he giveth nations before him, 
 and maketh him rule over kings ; he giveth them as the 
 
 Yahweh after that to which xl. 15 refers. But this is a far-fetched 
 conception, though it seems to harmonize with the following 
 parallel clause, ' let the peoples renew their strength.' But this 
 expression ' renew their strength ' looks as though taken over by 
 a copyist into this verse from the preceding (the closing verse of 
 the previous chapter). T/iere the expression is appropriate as 
 applied to the pious Jews of the exile, who were weary and 
 depressed and needed a word of comfort ; here the same expres- 
 sion when applied to foreign peoples is not so easily intelligible. 
 Various emendations have been proposed. Duhm suggests 
 another reading in the second edition of his commentary, ' And ye 
 peoples wait before me,' which is in accord with the parallelism of 
 the following line : ' Let them approach, then speak ; let us come 
 near together to judgment.' The word judg-ment here is used 
 in the same sense that it bears in other passages, viz. a suit or 
 process at law before a tribunal : Judges iv. 5 ; Mai. iii. 5. 
 
 2. Though Cyrus is not mentioned here by name as in xliv. 
 28 and chap, xlv, it is obvious that he is the man whom God 
 ' has awakened (or roused up) from the east.' The translation of 
 the following clause should be amended as in R. V. (marg.) : 
 ' whom right encounters in his steps.' The word ' right ' here, 
 when used in connexion with war, means in reality victory, whereby 
 a man secures his right ; cf. the remarks in the Introduction, p. 37. 
 The verse refers to the victory which attended the onward career 
 of Cyrus. His conquests may indeed have already begun. For we 
 know that between the years 553 and 550 he conquered Astyages 
 (Ishtuvegu or Ishtumegu), king of Media, and in the years that 
 followed extended his conquests to Lydia. It is, therefore, almost 
 certain that some time subsequent to the year 550 marks the date 
 when this prophecy of comfort (chaps, xl, xli) was composed in 
 which it is announced in general terms that God had stirred up in 
 the east (in Media) a victorious warrior. The Targum fails in 
 historic insight when it identifies this personage with Abraham. 
 This view of the passage, however, was adopted by the mediaeval 
 Jewish expositors Rashi, Kimhi, and others. Cyril and Jerome 
 fail even worse in Identifying him with Jesus Christ. The subject 
 is discussed at length and with sound results by Rosenmaller in 
 his Scholia. 
 
66 ISAIAH 41. 3,4 
 
 3 dust to his sword, as the driven stubble to his bow. He 
 pursueth them, and passeth on safely ; even by a way that 
 
 4 he had not gone with his feet. Who hath wrought and 
 
 The question should be continued in the lines that follow : — 
 
 * surrenders nations to him [///. before him] — brings 
 monarchs low^ ; 
 whose sword makes them ^ asdust — his bowlike driven chaff ?' 
 
 The * driven chaff ' means the chaff driven by the wind in the 
 process of winnowing the corn, a metaphor derived from agricultural 
 operations frequently occurring in the O. T. Cf. Jar. xiii. 24 ; 
 Ps. Ixxxiii. 13 (14 Heb.), and Primer of Hebrew Antiquities, p. pafoll. 
 There is no reason whatever for making the interrogative cease 
 with the clause ' brings monarchs low.' It is continued in the 
 following line, which is a relative sentence descriptive of Cyrus. 
 
 3. The description still continues. ' He pursues them, passes 
 on in security.' The words ' in security ' are the rendering of 
 the Hebrew word shdlom, 'well-being,' ' security,' ' peace,' which 
 stands here as an adverbial accusat. (Gesenius-Kautzsch, Heb. 
 Grant.'-^, § 118. 5 ; Ewald, AusfUhrliches Lehrbuch, § 204 b). The 
 clause that follows may be rendered either ' by a track which he 
 doth not enter (usually) with his feet ' (i. e. the conqueror in 
 his march ignores the usual beaten tracks), or ' a path with his feet 
 he doth not tread,' i.e. so rapidly does he pass on his way that 
 he scarcely seems to touch the ground with his feet, but seems to 
 fly over it. Cf. Dan. viii. 5. Either rendering is possible. 
 Assyrian conquerors took a pride in describing their marches 
 through mountains or difficult country. In Sennacherib's prism- 
 inscription, col. i, 66 foil., he describes how he rode on horseback 
 through lofty mountain regions and ' climbed on foot a steep place 
 like a wild ox ' ; and in col. iv. 70 foil, he describes an expedition 
 against a city Kana which is compared to the ' nest of an eagle, 
 the king of birds,' on the summit of a steep mountain ; in line 
 77 foil, he states that he * descended from his palanquin in spots 
 which were too steep and mounted the lofty peaks on foot like a 
 gazelle.' 
 
 4. The preceding interrogation is resumed in the final question : 
 ' Who hath wrought it and done it ' ? i. e. has summoned forth this 
 
 ^ Reading the Hebrew text as yMd with Hitzig instead of the 
 Massoretic punctuation. 
 
 ^ Reading tittnem in place of yitten in our text which hardly 
 gives a satisfactory sense. The same verbal form {tittnem) ' makes 
 them ' must be understood in the second clause of the line with 
 kashtd, * his bow.' 
 
ISAIAH 41.5 67 
 
 done it, calling the generations from the beginning ? I the 
 Lord, the first, and with the last, I am he. The isles saw, 5 
 and feared ; the ends of the earth trembled : they drew 
 
 conqueror to his great world- subduing career. The answer 
 immediately follows : — ' He who summons the generations from 
 the beginning, I, Yahweh, the first and with the last, I am the 
 same ^' The rendering supplied above by the R. V. should be 
 abandoned for that which is here given, since it fails to distinguish 
 aright between question and answer. We have here the reiter- 
 ation of the eternity of Yahweh contained in xl. 28. Much the 
 same conception in somewhat similar form occurs in xliii. 10. The 
 idea of Divine permanence which underlies the momentous 
 interpretation of the name contained in the significant passage 
 Exod. iii. 14 (E) was probably known to the writer of these 
 chapters. 
 
 5. This verse is regarded by Duhm, Cheyne, and Marti as a 
 later insertion. Duhm considers that it was intended to link 
 verses 6 and 7 to verses 1-4. But as a matter of fact this verse 
 forms no such link. The following verses come in most unnatural 
 sequence. On the other hand, Marti's assertion that there is no 
 connexion between verse 5 and the preceding verses is untrue. 
 The * coastlands ' or islands of verse i reappear in this closing 
 verse after the address of Yahweh. They have witnessed with 
 awe the wonderful career of the conqueror whom Yahweh has 
 summoned from the east. They are told in verse i to come to the 
 judgment-seat. In verse 5 the command is executed. Lastly, 
 the metric form is the same, viz. two long hnes each consisting of 
 two members. In the second line the second member has 
 probably been lost and is conjecturally restored by Duhm : — 
 
 ' The coast-lands have seen (it) and feared — the ends of the 
 earth trembled. 
 
 They drew near and came— [together to contend in judgment].' 
 
 The latter portion of the second line seems to have been partially 
 if not wholly preserved in the Hebrew copies used by the LXX ^. 
 
 * So the Heb. pronoun (=*he') should be idiomatically rendered; 
 see Ewald, Syntax of the Heb. Lang. (T. & T. Clark), § 314 b. The 
 pronoun 'expresses the Divine consciousness of Himself (Davidson, 
 Heb. Syntax, § 106 d, rem. 2), as the permanent underlying person- 
 ality. Comp. xliii. 10, 13; xlvi. 4, xlviii. 12; Ps. cii. 27 (28 Heb.). 
 
 2 a^a Kpivojv, the latter word standing at the beginning of verse 6. 
 The LXX evidently read the Hebrew word for foreign nations instead 
 of the word for ' coastlands ' (or * isles ') in our text. This was not 
 improbably the original reading, and is an echo of the * peoples ' of 
 verse i. A significant parallel occurs in Isa. Ix. 9 (comp. Jer. iii. 17). 
 
 F 2 
 
68 ISAIAH 41. 6-8 
 
 6 near, and came. They helped every one his neighbour ; 
 
 and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage. 
 1 So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that 
 
 smootheth with the hammer him that smiteth the anvil, 
 
 saying of the soldering, It is good : and he fastened it 
 
 with nails, that it should not be moved. 
 8 But thou, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen. 
 
 When the text is thus completely restored as Duhm ingeniously 
 proposes, verse 5 becomes an exact counterpart to verse 1 and 
 comes appropriately after the address of Yahweh respecting Cyrus. 
 The defective text at the close seems to indicate a serious gap in 
 the manuscript. 
 
 6-7. This gap is evidently filled up by two misplaced verses 
 which have been restored to their true position after xl. 19, where 
 they have been already treated in the commentary. How they 
 came to be separated from their actual context we need not pause 
 to inquire. Hebrew documents were written on very rough and 
 rude materials, whether skins or papyrus, detached portions of 
 which might easily go astray. We have already had occasion to 
 notice (see vol. i) how the conclusion of the beautiful poem, 
 Isa. ix. 8 (7 Heb.) foil., is to be found at the end of chap. v. 
 Similarly, Ps. xix consists of two quite distinct poems pieced 
 together, and Ps. x has a great gap in its alphabetic arrangement 
 of verses which is filled up from another source by a later hand. 
 These are but a few examples out of many which warn the reader 
 not to expect modern literary conditions or continuity in ancient 
 Hebrew documents that have passed through many historic 
 vicissitudes and repeated redactional treatment. Very arbitrary 
 reasons— such as the occurrence of a chance phrase— sometimes 
 determined the succession of the various fragments which the 
 Hebrew editor arranged together. Here the determining cause 
 appears to have been the ' dread ' of which verse 5 speaks, and the 
 help which one extends to the other, and the exhortation ' Be of 
 good courage ' (' set-to '). But these are very superficial and 
 arbitrary points of contact. Cf. remarks on xlii. 10-13 below. 
 
 Verses 8-20, which certainly fall into distinct parts, viz. {a) 
 verses 8-10, {h) verses 11-16, and (c) verses 17-20, may be regarded 
 as forming collectively a message of comfort and encouragement 
 to Israel. Verses 11-16 form a special group which will be 
 separately considered. 
 
 8. But thou stands in opposition to the foreign peoples to whom 
 reference is made in verses i and 5. Accordingly there seems to 
 be a link of connexion with 1-5, though, as already indicated, 
 
ISAIAH 41. 9 69 
 
 the seed of Abraham my friend ; thou whom I have taken 9 
 hold of from the ends of the earth, and called thee from 
 the corners thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my 
 
 there appears to be a gap in the original filled up by the intruded 
 verses 6 and 7. Israel is here for the first time in the Deutero- 
 Isaianic section called YahweK's servant. The term is also 
 applied to Israel, in the sense in which it is employed here, in 
 Jer. XXX. ID (om. by LXX. Both it and xlvi. 27 are recognized 
 by critics as written by a later hand). Probably its distinctive 
 application to Israel (Jacob) was due to Ezekiel (xxviii. 25, 
 xxxvii. 25). The mention of Abraham here (cf. li. 2) is character- 
 istic of the exile and subsequent periods of Jewish history which 
 became reminiscent of the national past and treasured the names 
 of the patriarchs (see note on Isa. xxix. 22 in vol. i). This 
 epithet bestowed on Abraham as Yahweh's ' lover ' or ' friend ' is 
 re-echoed in later literature (2 Chron. xx. 7 ; James ii. 23), and in 
 the Koran, iv. 124, where Muhammad exalts the faith of Abraham, 
 the Hanif, whom * God took as friend ' {Haiti). From this 
 passage in the Koran, as well as the general tradition, Abraham 
 obtains in Islam at the present day the title * friend of God ' 
 (Halil' Ullahi) or * the friend ' (al Halilu). The references in the 
 Deutero-Isaiah to the patriarchs (cf. li. 2), as well as those 
 contained in Ezekiel (xiv. 14, &c.), render it probable that the 
 earlier pre-exilian narratives contained in the Yahwistic and 
 Elohist documents (JE) were read and pondered by the more 
 thoughtful minds in Israel. 
 
 The balance of clauses would require a parallel clause to follow 
 ' Seed of Abraham my friend ' corresponding to the parallel 
 clauses respecting ' Israel . . . Jacob.' In all probability the parallel 
 clause respecting Abraham has been lost. 
 
 9. The call of Abraham from Haran (cf. Gen. xii. 1-5) is 
 evidently the reference of the words ends of the earth. We 
 might compare the same poetic expression in Isa. v. 26, * end of 
 the earth 1.' Even in the days of the exile the geographical 
 horizon of an inhabitant of Babylonia or Palestine would be a very 
 limited one, and relative distances were not nicely discriminated. 
 Gesenius and Hitzig, and recently Orelli, supposed that the 
 reference of the phrase was to Egypt, but nearly all the best 
 recent authorities (Cheyne, Duhm, Marti, &c.) sustain the opinion 
 of Rosenmuller, Ewald,and Delitzsch that the call of Abraham from 
 Haran is the event to which allusion is here made. We have 
 a similar reference to ancient Hebrew origins in Deut. xxvi. 5. 
 
 * Similarly 'distant parts of the earth,' in Isa. viii. y. 
 
70 ISAIAH 41. lo 
 
 lo servant, I have chosen thee and not cast thee away ; fear 
 thou not, for I am with thee ; be not dismayed, for I am 
 thy God : I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, 
 I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. 
 
 The word rendered corners here is certainly obscure. In 
 Hebrew it is the plural of dstl, and must not be confused with a 
 word of exactly the same form meaning ' nobles ' used in Exod. 
 xxiv. II. Here the word seems to mean 'extremities^,' i.e. 
 distant portions. 
 
 10. Owing to God's definite choice of Israel there is no room 
 for fear. The old Immaiiuel message delivered nearly two centuries 
 ago (Isa. vii, viii) is now re-echoed — I am with thee. The 
 rendering ' be not dismayed ' is based on the usually accepted 
 explanation of the reflexive (Hithpael) form in the original ' look 
 on one another' (in amazed wonder or dread) ^ The same form 
 occurs again in verse 23 (in the ist pers. plur.) in the sense 
 which it bears here, ' be amazed ' or dumbfounded (LXX sustain 
 this rendering). 
 
 The Perfects in the original express the absolute certainty of 
 what Yahweh declares, ' I strengthen thee, yea, help thee,' 
 The R. V. expresses the declaration in future tenses. On this use of 
 the Perfect in Hebrew the student of the original text is referred 
 to Gesenius-Kautzsch's Grammar^^, § 106, 3. Delitzsch renders 
 by ' I have fixed my choice on thee,' and appeals to xliv. 14, and 
 Ps. Ixxx. 16, 18 {E. V. 15, 17), but in all these passages the 
 meaning c*" ie Hebrew verb is ' to cause to grow up strong' (in 
 ref. to a tree). Cheyne, who followed Delitzsch formerly, now 
 gives the rendering 'I strengthen thee ' (S50r.). Instead of 
 with the rig'ht hand of my rig-hteousness the original is more 
 idiomatically rendered : ' with my victorious right hand.' On the 
 use of sedek (properly '■ right ') in the sense of ' victory,' see note on 
 verse 2 above. 
 
 ^ The root means to bind or connect [in Arab. wst]. Parallel to 
 the Hebrew word we have in Syriac (Aramaic) yasUo, meaning 'joint' 
 or *arm.' We have a similar word assH in Heb., Ezek. xiii. 18, 
 Jer. xxxviii. 12. Thus Symmachus renders it by dyKwvfs. On the other 
 hand, the LXX l« tu/v OKomwv avTTJs, * from its outposts ' or ' watch- 
 towers,' suggests the existence of another and perhaps better reading : 
 n'C^?3n ; comp. Isa. xxi. 8 ; 2 Chr. xx. 24. Though the form be rare, 
 the sense is more appropriate and intelligible. 
 
 ^ LXX * do not stray ' suggests an altogether different reading, 
 rnn ha. 
 
ISAIAH 41. ir-14 71 
 
 Behold^ all they that are incensed against thee shall be n 
 ashamed and confounded : they that strive with thee shall 
 be as nothing, and shall perish. Thou shalt seek them, 12 
 and shalt not find them, even them that contend with 
 thee : they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and 
 as a thing of nought. For I the Lord thy God will hold 13 
 thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not ; I will help 
 thee. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel ; 14 
 
 11-16. We now come to a poem in three stanzas of four long 
 lines each, each hne being in the well-known Kinah or elegiac 
 measure explained in the introductory notes to Isaiah, chap, xiii, 
 in vol. i, pp. 182-3. Marti is disposed to separate these three 
 stanzas (comprised in verses ii-i6) from the rest of the chapter 
 as a later poem. The concluding stanza (verses 25, 26) certainly 
 forms a close parallel to Mic. iv. 13. But this resemblance ought 
 not to mislead us. Mic. iv. 11-14, which Marti cites as a parallel, 
 presupposes the siege of Zion by many nations who are her bitter 
 and unrelenting foes. But here there is no specific reference to 
 Zion, and those who are enraged against Yahweh's servant Israel, 
 to which verse 11 refers, may well be identified with those who 
 are described in xlvii. 6 as showing Israel no mercy and laying 
 upon God's people a heavy yoke, viz. the Babylonians. Accord- 
 ingly, though tiie metric form of this section separates it from 
 the passages which precede and follow, it may be regarded as 
 belonging to the close of the exile period. 
 
 11, 12. Israel's foes shall disappear and perish. This con- 
 ception is expressed in a variety of phraseology which is a literary 
 characteristic of the Deutero- Isaiah. 
 
 13. The destruction of Israel's foes is due to the fact that 
 behind Israel stands Yahweh. This verse expresses the same 
 thought as verse 10 expressed in other words : ' I, Yahweh, take 
 hold of thy right hand who say unto thee, ''fear not."' This 
 phrase ' take hold of the hand,' equivalent to ' sustain,' ' help,' 
 meets us repeatedly in the Deutero-Isaiah (xlii. 6, xlv. i, li. 18), 
 and may have been due to the Babylonian environment. For the 
 Assyrians and Babylonians used precisely the same expression 
 * take hold of the hand ' {kdta sabdtu) in the sense of ' sustain,' 
 'helpi.' 
 
 14. The worm that crawls upon the ground, exposed to the 
 
 ^ See Zimmern, Baby I onische Btcsspsalmen, p. 25, where numerous 
 citations are given, as well as in Delitzsch's Assyr. Handwdrterbuch 
 sub voce sabdtii. 
 
72 ISAIAH 41. 15 
 
 I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer is the 
 15 Holy One of Israel. Behold, I will make thee a new 
 
 crushing foot of every traveller, is the symbol in the Hebrew 
 speech of abject humihation. Cf. Ps. xxii. 7. 
 
 ye men of Israel forms a very ineffective parallelism to worm 
 Jacob. Ewald made a very brilliant emendation, v^rhich probably 
 restores to us the true text, ' worm (or grub) of Israel.' This is 
 followed by Oort, Gratz, and Duhm ^. This reading is supported 
 by the fact that these two words, almost synonymous in Hebrew 
 for 'worm' and 'grub,' are employed in conjunction in Isa. xiv. 
 
 II and Job xxv. 6. 
 
 I will help thee is expressed in the original with the 
 emphasis of assured certainty by means of a. prophetic perfect. See 
 Davidson's Heb. Syntax, § 41 a and rem. i. 
 
 The word redeemer here is in Hebrew goel, a word of very 
 special signification. It means in the first place, one who pur- 
 chases back or redeems a person or thing. This term is specially 
 applied to an avenger of blood, because upon him devolved the 
 duty of slaying the murderer of his nearest kinsman, i. e. of 
 vindicating the blood of the clan which has been unjustly shed at 
 the price of the blood of the murderer who shed it. See Enc. 
 Bibl., art. *Goel,' and Robertson Smith, RS"^., pp. 272, 420. As this 
 duty of redemption or purchasing back (or in the case of murder, 
 vindicating the right of the clan) belongs to the nearest kinsman 
 (cf. Ruth iii. 13; 2 Sam. xiv. 11 ; i Kings xvi. 11), the nearest 
 kinsman was called by this name Goel. This word Goel is 
 a favourite designation of Yahweh in His capacity of Redeemer of 
 His people Israel in the literature of the Deutero-Isaiah (xhii. 14, 
 xliv. 6, 24, xlvii. 4, xlviii. 17, xlix. 7, 26, liv. 5, 8), and it 
 occurs several times in the Trito-Isaiah as well. 
 
 15. God's help to weak insignificant Israel effects a marvellous 
 
 * The Vulg. rendering mortui is based on the same text as our 
 Hebrew version, but with a different punctuation {meth^ in place of 
 ni^the). The LXX certainly seem to indicate an attempt to avoid 
 the use of terms considered to be derogatory to the national dignity 
 (another clear indication of divergence of mental standpoint of post- 
 exilian Judaism from that of the exilian Deutero-Isaiah: cf. the Targ. 
 of Jon. on Isa. liii). They render M^ (poPov, laKdjfi, oKi-^oarbs lapaijK, 
 'fear not, Jacob, puny Israel.' 'OAtYoaro? seems to indicate the 
 reading lo^p (Ps. cv. 12; Isa. xvi. 14), or it may be an attempt to 
 
 reduce the severity of the original Hebrew epithet. The Hebrew 
 rimmah, ' worm ' (grub), properly means a rotting mass breeding 
 worms or maggots. 
 
ISAIAH 41. i6 73 
 
 sharp threshing instrument having teeth : thou shalt thresh 
 the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the 
 hills as chaff. Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall i6 
 carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them : 
 and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, thou shalt glory in the 
 
 result. The nation is now compared to a sharp threshing-sledge 
 or morag. This was an agricultural instrument, like the Italian 
 trtl/ulum\ consisting of a plank filled with sharp pointed stones, 
 fixed into holes in the bottom. It was drawn by the oxen over the 
 corn (cf. Isa. xxviii. 27 and note), the driver sitting on the sledge to 
 increase the weight. In modern Egypt we have the noreg (which 
 is apparently a variation of the same word), which fulfils the same 
 function. See the figure in Wilkinson's Manneis and Customs of 
 the Ancient Egyptians, vol. i, p. 408 (cf. vol. ii, p. 420 foil.). 
 
 The Hebrew word rendered sharp (Jidrus) is sometimes 
 employed as a substantive in the sense of ' threshing-sledge ' 
 (cf. xxviii. 27). This has led Duhm and Marti to regard it as 
 a gloss inserted by a scribe, since it lengthens the line unduly. 
 Considerations of text and a comoarison with the LXX make it 
 probable that this word hdrns originated from dittography^ and 
 ought to be eliminated from the text. Render, therefore : ' See, 
 I make thee into a new threshing-sledge — full of points.' The 
 metaphor is a bold one. The threshing-sledge with its sharp 
 points is not simply for the humble service of threshing corn, but 
 it is to thresh the mountains. Mountains and hills are to be ground 
 down and dispersed like flying chaff". 
 
 16. The metaphor is continued: 'Thou shalt winnow {lit. 
 scatter) them^ and a wind shall carry them away.' This was the 
 next stage in the agricultural operations. After the threshing of 
 the corn, by the threshing-sledge driven over it, came the winnow- 
 ing process. ' The bruised corn-ears were thrown up on wooden 
 shovels when a moderate wind was blowing. The wind carried 
 
 * Hebrew Antiquities (Rel. Tract Soc), p. 92. See also ibid. 
 figures of modern threshing-sledges. Probably the plostellum 
 Poenicum presented a closer resemblance to the Hebrew mSrag 
 than the Roman trtbulum. See art. ' Agriculture' in Eitc. Bibl. 
 
 - The LXX probably read in their corrupted copy (perhaps a con- 
 flate reading) — iiJirr T2:t nbjy IDii^V, which indicates that their text 
 had already become confused by dittography. The ynn of our 
 Hebrew text obviously arose from the first \LnrT. In the earlier form 
 of Hebrew characters i? and 'c3 are by no means dissimilar. 
 
74 ISAIAH 41. 17-19 
 
 r 7 Holy One of Israel. The poor and needy seek water and 
 there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst; I the 
 Lord will answer them, I the God of Israel will not 
 
 18 forsake them. I will open rivers on the bare heights, and 
 fountains in the midst of the valleys : I will make the 
 wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of 
 
 19 water. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia 
 tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree ; I will set in the 
 
 away the chaff from the threshing-floor while the heavier grains 
 remained behind ' {Hebrew Antiquities, p. 92). This metaphor of 
 the bruising and the scattering describes Yahweh's treatment of 
 the enemies of Israel. We have a similar use of this agricultural 
 metaphor in Jer. xv. 7. 
 
 In verses 17-20 we return once more to the long-lined distichs 
 in verses 8-10. They are a message of comfort to the afflicted 
 Israel in exile. It takes the form of a Divine promise expressed 
 under the metaphor of a transformed desert. It is not necessary 
 to suppose that the writer is thinking of the returning exiles 
 as they cross the desert, as Kimhi (followed by Ewald, Hitzig, 
 and recently Marti) supposed, though such a view is certainly 
 possible (cf xl. 3 foil.). 
 
 \*7. For seek the more exact and picturesque rendering would 
 be 'are seeking'; also for faileth for thirst substitute the 
 rendering ' is parched with thirst.' 
 
 18. The words springs of water in the last clause of this verse 
 are a doubtful rendering of the Hebrew. We should translate more 
 accurately ' water-courses,' rivi aquaru/n, which is obviously the 
 meaning of the LXX, vSpaywyoi, which here places us on the right 
 track. The Hebrew word is mosd, which means ' water-channel' 
 or 'water-course ' (the Assyrian niiisii). It is the same word that 
 occurs in the description of the water-channel or tunnel in the 
 Siloam inscription, and also in 2 Chron. xxxii. 20 (where the 
 correct rendering is 'the upper water-channel of the Gihon'). 
 The facts were stated by the present writer in 1888 in Schrader's 
 COT., ii. pp. 311-313 (cf. Expositor, Dec. 1886, p. 479, foil, 
 and Stanley Cook's'art. ' Conduits,' in Enc. Bibl. col. 883). Echoes 
 of this passage occur in Ps. cvii. 33 foil, and in Isa. xxxv. 7 (with 
 variations). In Babylonia, where a vast system of irrigation was 
 carried out, canals and water-courses abounded. 
 
 19. The names of the trees here mentioned, some of which 
 meet us again in Ix. 13, are by no means definitely identified. 
 Several of the names are to be found in other .Semitic languages, 
 
ISAIAH 41. 20-22 75 
 
 desert the fir tree, the pine, and the box tree together : 
 that they may see, and know, and consider, and understand 20 
 together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and 
 the Holy One of Israel hath created it. 
 
 Produce your cause, saith the Lord ; bring forth your 21 
 strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob. Let them bring 22 
 them forth, and declare unto us what shall happen : declare 
 
 notably in the ancient Assyrian. The word bcrosh, which is 
 rendered ' fir-tree,' occurs in Assyrian in the form btirasn, which 
 is interpreted by Fried. DeHtzsch to mean the ' sweet-pine.' 
 Others regard it as the *cypress* ; cf. xiv. 8 (note) and Schrader, 
 COT., ii. p. 78. On the other hand, the tree that follows, 
 which the R.V. calls 'pine,' should be more probably named 
 ' plane-tree,' with the marg. (R.V.) and Cheyne. [We may note 
 that Jerome renders by * elm,' which is less suitable, since it does 
 not belong to the trees special to Mount Lebanon; see Ix. 13.] It 
 is by no means clear whether the last-mentioned tree in this verse 
 was the ' box-tree ' or ' cypress ' (with R.V. marg.). 
 
 20. The end of these gracious transformations worked by Divine 
 power in Israel's desolate surroundings is that His people may 
 realize that He is the source of all good. 
 
 Verses 21-29. Wenowturnfrom Israel, whom God in theirdistress 
 consoles with words of comfort and hope, to the deities of foreign 
 nations. The passage portrays Yahweh as uttering a challenge 
 to the powerless deities of foreign races (in the main those of 
 Babylonia). They are wholly unable to foretell the events that 
 are to come. It is Yahweh who has summoned from the north- 
 east the invincible conqueror who is to trample the world's rulers 
 in the dust. 
 
 21. Yahweh challenges the foreign deities to come to the bar 
 of judgment. ' Bring forward your suit, advance your proofs.' 
 By an inconsiderable change of the word for ' proofs ' {^asmnotli) 
 into the word for 'gods,' idols' {^asabbim) Gratz, Cheyne, and 
 Marti appear to consider that something is gained in sense. But 
 this is quite an unnecessary alteration, and spoils both parallelism 
 and sense. The challenge to the bar of judgment would then 
 not be addressed to the deities (who could hardly be requested 
 to bring their own images !), but to the foreign peoples. Moreover 
 the LXX lend no support to the proposed change. Cf. also verse 23. 
 
 22. The * proofs ' in this case consist not in the manifestation 
 of power in foreign conquest, but in the capacity of understanding 
 past events and foretelling the future. This was, in reality, the 
 
^6 ISAIAH 41. 33 
 
 ye the former things, what they be, that we may consider 
 
 them, and know the latter end of them ; or shew us things 
 
 23 for to come. Declare the things that are to come hereafter, 
 
 prophet's function, which was essentially one of interpretation 
 and prediction. The prophet's utterance was the 'word of 
 Yahweh that came to him ' ; thus prediction in Israel was a mani- 
 festation of Yahweh's power. Now the god of prophecy among 
 the Babylonians was Nabii (or Nebo), the tutelary deity of 
 Borsippa, whose name signifies ' utterance ' and is connected 
 with the verbal root of the Hebrew word nabhi'*, ^ prophet.' One 
 of his epithets was ' bearer of the tablet of destiny ' of the gods. 
 The influence of this deity in Babylonia is shown by the fact that 
 several of the kings of the New Babylonian empire contain the name 
 of Nebo, viz. Nabopolassar, Nebuchadrezzar, Nabunaid (Nabonidus). 
 The reign of the last king of Babylonia, Nabunaid (Nabonidus), 
 seems to show how little that king or his subjects had any clear 
 prevision of the menace to their security which the onward career 
 of Cyrus portended. Nabonidus appears to have been too much 
 absorbed in the work of restoring the old temples of the gods 
 in Ur, Larsa and Sippar^ to pay due heed to the progress 
 in arms of Cyrus, his Persian contemporary, or to take the pre- 
 cautions of a thorough system of national defence. While this 
 attitude of insouciance characterized the mind of Babylonia during 
 the reign of Nabonidus (555-539 b.c), the prophets of Yahweh, 
 represented by the Deutero-Isaiah, clearly discerned the signs of 
 the times and the advent of the future conqueror not only of 
 Media but also of Babylonia, Cyrus. 
 
 Probably, with Duhm, we should invert the order of the last 
 two clauses : ' Or let us hear the events that are to come, that we 
 may perceive their issue.' This makes the entire verse harmonize 
 in order and parallelism. 
 
 23. The more literal rendering is ' Declare (announce) the 
 things that are coming in the future.' The latter part of the verse 
 should be rendered 'Yea, do things fair or ill that we may look 
 at one another in amaze z.r\^fear.' We here adopt the punctuation 
 of the Kethib in the original Hebrew suggested by Oort, viz. nird in 
 place of that of the Kere, nir'eh. Oort's proposal is deemed 
 incompatible with the high dignity and position of Yahweh in 
 the Deutero-Isaiah. But this argument ignores the subtle irony 
 of the passage. 
 
 ^ See the large and small inscriptions of Ur and the great cylinder- 
 inscription from Abu Habba, as well as the cylinder-inscription (v. Rawl. 
 63) transcribed and translated In Schrader, KIB., vol. iii, second half, 
 pp. So-i ig. Comp. Hominel, Cesch. Bahylonieiis u.A<ssyriens,\i. jy^. 
 
ISAIAH 41. 23 77 
 
 that we may know that ye are gods : yea, do good, or do 
 evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together. 
 
 The interesting question, moreover, arises whether the mono- 
 theism of the Deutero-Isaiah had proceeded so far as to involve 
 a belief in the absolute non-existence of foreign deities. In other 
 words, are we to regard this passage as purely rhetorical. Here 
 the clear evidence afforded by a study of ancient Hebrew demon- 
 ology leads us to a negative reply. The progress of the ancient 
 Hebrews from Henoiheism to pure Monotheism was in reality far 
 slower than some theologians and critics appear to imagine. 
 Henotheism expresses the condition of the ordinary Hebrew mind 
 represented by David in pre-exilian Israel ^. It consisted in the 
 recognition, as well as worship, of one God by the Hebrew, viz. 
 Yahweh, as the national God of Israel and Israel's land, but it 
 was accompanied by a belief that the gods of other nations and 
 their lands existed (e. g. Chemosh, of Moab, and in Moab). 
 Monotheism, on the other hand, consists in the recognition, as 
 well as worship, of one universal and all-powerful God of the 
 entire universe accompanied by a disbelief in the existence of any 
 other deity. Now Amos, as we have already seen (vol. i. 
 Introduction, p. 51), had expounded the great truth of the 
 universality of Yahweh's rule which was implicit in Israel's old 
 religion, and this belief the Deutero-Isaiah sets forth in the 
 sublime language of the preceding chapter (xl. 15-26) two 
 centuries after the prophetic career of Amos. Yet though a great 
 step had been taken in the direction of Monotheism, the stage 
 hitherto reached was in reality an incomplete Monotheism. 
 Yahweh was the absolute ruler of all the world, and the gods of 
 other nations were mere ' nothings ' or ' vanity,' but they were 
 not regarded as non-existent '^. They now assumed the degraded 
 rank of demons. Even the Assyrians had conceptions somewhat 
 
 * e. g. in I Sam. xxvi. 19; cf. also Judges xi. 23, 24; Ruth i. 16. 
 Henotheism is unfortunately not uniformly defined as above ; see 
 Chantepie de la Saussaye, Lehrbuch der Religionsgeschichte, 2nd 
 ed,, vol. i, p. 16 foil. 
 
 * On this subject cf. Gressmann, Der Ursprung der Israel.- 
 jiid. Eschatologie, p. 309. On p. 310, however, the writer yields 
 to an exaggerated tendency to see Babylonian mythic survivals in 
 the O. T. The first person plur. both in xH. 22 foil, and xliii. 8 foil, 
 is not to be regarded as a ' stylistic survival ' of Babylonian poly- 
 theistic phraseology such as Marduk and his party of great gods 
 might address to their opponents (see creation-epic). Gen. i. 26 
 (Met lis make') should rather be compared with Isa. vi. 8 ('for us') 
 and Job xxxviii. 6, 7. Cf. also Gen. xi. 7. 
 
78 ISAIAH 41. 24, 25 
 
 24 Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought : an 
 abomination is he that chooseth you. 
 
 25 I have raised up one from the north, and he is come ; 
 from the rising of the sun one that calleth upon my name : 
 
 analogous Thus Sargon in his Triumphal Insc. (line 122) de- 
 scribes Merodach-Baladan, the foe whom he defeated, as being 
 under the influence of an evil demon {galht limnu) who was no 
 other than the tutelary deity whom Merodach-Baladan invoked. 
 By the same process of reasoning the Hebrews, while recognizing 
 the absolute supremacy of Yahweh, called the deities of foreign 
 peoples ' demons ' {shedim) in the exilian period and later, as 
 Deut. xxxii. 17 and Ps. cvi. 37 clearly testify. This condition of 
 a not quite complete Monotheism survived for centuries. For in 
 much later Judaism we find the old Philistine deity of Ekron, 
 Baalzebub, has become the chief among demons, in fact identified 
 with Satan (Matt. xii. 26, 27 ; cf. x. 25) ; and Resheph, the 
 flame-deity of the ancient Canaanites, has been transformed 
 into the demon Reshpa. Many other examples might be given ^ 
 We are, therefore, justified in concluding that the language here 
 used is itot mere rhetoric. 
 
 24. The R.V. correctly regards the Hebrew word ephcC in the 
 second clause as a scribal error for ephes^ * nought.' But the LXX 
 apparently read the same word ain in both first and second 
 clauses, which they mistranslated as an interrogative. 
 
 Verses 25-29. The argument clinched. It is made to converge on 
 Yahweh's definite mandate to Cyrus. 
 
 25. The fact that Persia, the land from which Cyrus came, lay 
 to the north-east of Babylonia is expressed in two clauses, one 
 of which gives the direction as north and the other as east. 
 
 calleth upon my name is the ordinary Hebrew phrase for * in- 
 voke ' ; cf. Gen. iv. 26. There is no necessary contradiction between 
 the Hebrew text * he shall call upon my name ' and the statement in 
 xlv. 4, '■ I have called thee by thy name . . . though thou hast not 
 known me,' applied to Cyrus. For it is certainly probable that 
 Cyrus subsequently became favourably disposed to the Jewish 
 
 ^ See Hastings' DB.^ art. 'Demon,' p. 591 right-hand column and 
 footnote. Though St. Paul declared * that no idol is anything in the 
 world' (i Cor. viii. 4), he nevertheless warned his Gentile converts 
 against the table of demons : ' The things which the Gentiles sacri- 
 fice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I would not that 
 ye should have communion with demons. Ye cannot drink the cup 
 of the Lord and the cup of demons' (i Cor. x. 20). 
 
ISAIAH 41. 26,27 79 
 
 and he shall come upon rulers as upon mortar, and as the 
 potter treadeth clay. Who hath declared it from the 26 
 beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that we 
 may say. He is righteous? yea, there is none that declareth, 
 yea, there is none that sheweth, yea, there is none that 
 heareth your words, /first zvill say unto Zion, Behold, 27 
 
 exiles (Ezra i), and would also sympathize with their worship. 
 Apart from the question of the historicity of Ezra, chap, i, which 
 critics like Kosters (see Enc. Bibl. art. ' Cyrus ') deny, we know 
 from the testimony of the cylinder-inscription of Cyi'us that he was 
 sympathetic and tolerant towards the cults of tlie Babylonians, 
 restored the gods to their sanctuaries, rebuilt the latter, and 
 regarded himself as called by the Babylonian god of light, Marduk, 
 to be the deliverer of oppressed nationalities. Now, as Duhm points 
 out, there is far more affinity between Yahweh and the Persian 
 Ahura-mazda than between the latter and Marduk (Merodach) or 
 Nebo ; and it might, therefore, be reasonably argued that the 
 Persian Cyrus would come to know Yahweh as a deity to be 
 invoked. 
 
 On the other hand, the difficulty presented by our Hebrew text 
 would be avoided if with Oort we were to read * I will call him 
 by his name.' The change is not very great in the Hebrew text, 
 and it (i) restores the parallelism with the preceding clause, and 
 (2) exactly accords with the phrase ' and I called thee by thy 
 name ' in xlv. 4. In the following part of the verse it is generally 
 agreed that parallelism and construction require the change of the 
 text from ydbo to ydbus. The whole line then will read ' that he 
 may trample down rulers like clay, and, as a potter, tread down 
 the mire.' The LXX sustain our Heb. text, but with different 
 punctuation, and hardly intelligible meaning. The word for 
 rulers is a Babylonian loan-word {sdgdn, ' ruler/ is in reality the 
 Babylonian ^aknu). The same word is employed in Ezek. xxiii 
 and Jer. li. In all probability it is the Babylonian rulers whom 
 the writer intends here as the objects of the conquest \ 
 
 26. For he is rig"lxteous render ' it is right.' The word saddik 
 here preserves the meaning which belongs to this root s d k \n 
 Arabic, viz. that of rightness or truth in the sense of faithfulness 
 to the pledged word and power to effect it. See Introduction on 
 Theology of Isaiah, p. 37. If the gods of the Babylonian had any 
 truth to proclaim, there was no seer or prophet in Babylonia to 
 proclaim it, and they were powerless to give it effect. 
 
 27. The text is evidently in disorder. Following the sugges- 
 
 * In chap. xxii. 15 the form is soken; see note on the passage. 
 
8o ISAIAH 41. 28-42. i 
 
 behold them ; and I will give to Jerusalem one that 
 
 28 bringeth good tidings. And when I look, there is no 
 man; even among them there is no counsellor, that, when 
 
 29 I ask of them, can answer a word. Behold, all of them, 
 their works are vanity a7id nought : their molten images 
 are wind and confusion. 
 
 42 [S. — Behold my servant, whom I uphold ; my chosen, in 
 
 tions of Cheyne, Kittel, and Marti, we had better reconstruct the 
 opening of the verse and render thus : ' I have proclaimed it first 
 unto Zion, and give to Jerusalem a messenger-of-good-tidings.' 
 The proclamation is of course that of deliverance by Cyrus. 
 
 28. Again a difficult verse. The LXX indicate a different 
 text. Though our own Hebrew text is certainly doubtful, our 
 only resource is to abide by it and render : ' And, if I look, there 
 is no one ; and among these there is none to give counsel, that, if 
 I ask them, they may return answer.' The pronoun * these ' here 
 refers to the gods who give their replies through diviners or 
 prophets. 
 
 29. The result of the challenge is to show the utter impotence 
 and hollowness of the deities of Babylonia. ' Lo, all of them are 
 nought — nothingness their deeds, wind and emptiness their molten 
 images.* 
 
 B. Chap. xlii. i — xliv. 23 constitute a separate section of the 
 prophecies of the Deutero-Isaiah which specially describe the 
 high destiny and noble future of the Servant of Yahweh, viz. 
 Israel or (in xlii. 1-4) an elect portion thereof. 
 
 Chapter XLII. 
 / Verses 1-4 constitute the first of the four special Servant -Sonjgs. j 
 f On this subject the reader is referred to the Introduction. ''^ 
 
 We are here introduced to the person and office of Yahweh's 
 servant, which are portrayed in general terms. His exalted 
 mission as God's messenger to foreign peoples is announced. 
 The poem is brief, consisting of three stanzas of four lines each. 
 
 1. uphold, i. e. sustain, hold firm. This servant, in whom 
 Yahweh's ' soul takes pleasure,' is described in the character 
 of a prophet. ' I have put my spirit upon him.' The same word 
 is used here for ' hold firm ' or fast as in xli. 10 (' uphold thee ') 
 but in the latter passage it is intended to express the idea of 
 Divine support amid weakness and surrounding peril ; here, on the 
 other hand, the parallelism shov/s that it is meant to express 
 Divine affection. 
 
 We now for the first time become acquainted with the noble 
 
ISAIAH 42. 2-5 8i 
 
 whom my soul delighteth : I have put my spirit upon him ; 
 he shall bring forth judgement to the Gentiles. He shall 2 
 not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the 
 street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smok- 3 
 ing flax shall he not quench : he shall bring forth judge- 
 ment in truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till 4 
 he have set judgement in the earth ; and the isles shall 
 wait for his law.] Thus saith God the Lord, he that 5 
 
 destiny of Israel's elect as God's personified servant. The suffering 
 servant is to make known God's true religion to foreign peoples 
 (cf. xlix. 6). The word ' judgment ' here in the singular 
 'mishpdt) is employed to express the entirety of 'judgments' 
 or customs (usages) of Yahweh's religion. Similarly the singular 
 'law' (Heb. torah) means the sum total of laws {toroth). Marti 
 compares the Arabic din used in the Koran to mean 'custom,' 
 ' religion,' hence ' true faith.' Now for the first time the high 
 ideal is set forth for the Jewish race to be God's missionaries 
 to make known His true religion to the peoples of the world. 
 Subsequent history shows how far the Jews fulfilled the ideal 
 in all its breadth as it is announced here and in xlix. 6. On this 
 subject see above, the Introduction, § 5, and the remarks of the pre- 
 sent writer in the art. ' Hebrew Religion,' in the new edition of the 
 Encyd. Britt. and also ' Messiah ' in Hastings' Diet, of Christ and the 
 Gospels (which should be supplemented by Introd., p. 40 f. above). 
 
 The LXX insert ' Jacob ' and ' Israel ' at the beginning of 
 the opening parallel clauses of this verse (cf. Matt. xii. 18 foil.), 
 but these names are evidently added by a gloss-writer. 
 
 2-3. The chastened, gentle, undemonstrative character of the . 
 messenger is here graphically portrayed under the metaphors : 
 ' A cracked reed he doth not break to pieces, the flax with its 
 dying flame (lit. becoming extinguished) he doth not quench.' 
 It is the function of Yahweh's servant to sustain and restore the 
 weak and broken, whether foreigner or Jew. 
 
 3-4. The same phrase occurs at the close of verse 3 as at 
 the close of verse i. We might accordingly render, * He shall 
 faithfully proclaim the true religion.' Here the word tomk, 
 rendered ' law,' means properly instruction in the true religion 
 given by Yahweh's servant. 
 
 4. Translate the first clause : ' He shall not be exhausted (burn 
 dimly) nor broken,' i. e. He shall unweariedly and with unbroken 
 fortitude proclaim Yahweh's true religion to foreign nations until 
 his task is accomplished. 
 
 Verses 5-9 appear to belong to a different metrical scheme from 
 
 G 
 
g2 ISAIAH 42. 6 
 
 created the heavens, and stretched them forth ; he that 
 
 spread abroad the earth and that which cometh out of it; 
 
 he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit 
 
 6 to them that walk therein : I the Lord have called thee 
 
 that of verses 8, 9, and 14 foil., as Cheyne and more recently Dchm 
 (in the second edition of his commentary) have recognized. This 
 saves the latter from the assumption of lost lines or g^ps (see 
 his first edition). The theme is very similar to that of verses 1-4 
 
 5. It is characteristic of the Deutero-Isaiah to superimpose 
 upon one another descriptive clauses of Yahweh when He speaks 
 (cf. xlii. I, 14, 15, 16 foil., xliv. 2, 6, 24, 26, xlv. 7, xlix. 7). 
 On the word for god (el), employed here for the one true 
 universal God of the Hebrews, see note on xl. 18, According to 
 the LXX it occurs also in verses 6 and 8 in connexion with 
 Yahweh ; but it is quite possible that in both these latter cases 
 they have been inserted by a scribe in order to make them 
 harmonize with verse 5. 
 
 The word for * create ' here is the same as that in the post- 
 exilian document (Creation-story) Gen. i. i. It was during the 
 exile and afterwards that this Hebrew verb bard came to be specially 
 used of the Divine creative activity. The word used for ' spread 
 abroad ' is from the root r-k-, meaning to extend by beating or 
 hammering (e. g. a plate of metal). Jhe word for * firmament ' in 
 Hebrew in Gen. i is derived from this same root. One can readily 
 conceive of the broad solid plains of the earth being regarded as 
 a beaten-out or extended surface ; but we cannot say the same 
 thing of 'that which cometh out of it' (its productions).' Duhm 
 and Marti are probably right in supposing that some verb has 
 dropped out which governed this latter object. 
 
 6. It is quite uncertain whether we should regard the original 
 as signifying ' keep (or preserve) thee ' or * form (fashion) thee.' 
 This will depend on the verb from which the original word is 
 derived (viz. ndsar, ' keep,' * preserve,' or ydsar, ' form,' * fashion '). 
 Duhm, Cheyne, and Marti follow the latter view : ' I form thee.' 
 On the other hand, Rosenmtiller, Delitzsch, and Dillmann-Kittel 
 the former : * I keep thee,' which is apparently sustained by the 
 LXX. The latter interpretation (form or fashion thee) is supported 
 by a comparison with xliv. 21, xlix. 5. 
 
 By the expression * in righteousness ' we should understand 
 ' in my righteous purpose.' There has been considerable difference 
 of opinion as to the meaning of the. Hebrew phrase b^rith 'dm, 
 rendered *■ a covenant of the people.' Ewald in his great work 
 on Hebrew Grammar {Ausfiihrliches Lehrbuch^, § 287 g, translated 
 in the latter or syntactical part in Hebrew Syntax^ T. & T. Clark) 
 
ISAIAH 42. 6 ^ 
 
 in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep 
 thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a 
 
 regards this combination of construct substantive with following 
 substantive as parallel to the similar combination ' wondrous 
 counsellor ' in ix. 6 (see the translation given in the notes). We 
 should therefore amend the rendering of R. V. given above and 
 translate : ' and will appoint thee a covenant-people.' To this 
 view of Ewald the objection has been brought that it does not 
 harmonize with the phrase in the following parallel clause, ' light 
 of the Gentiles.' Accordingly it is supposed that ' covenant of 
 a people ' is the true rendering. The word for ' people ' here 
 ('am) is held to mean the whole human race ; in other words, it 
 exactly corresponds to the word ' gentiles ' {goyim) in the parallel 
 clause. Duhm ^ cites good analogies for this application of the 
 
 ^ Duhm's explanation of the composite expression ¥rtth, 'am in 
 S^^ first edition of his commentary was not clear. He appeared to 
 hesitate between Ewald's explanation, which makes the word for 
 'people' an appositional genitive (cf. 'daughter of Jerusalem,' 
 chap. i. 8 and note), and the view which makes it a subjective genit. 
 While he rightly prefers the former view, he refused to adjust the 
 relation of this passage to the ' Servant-passage ' which precedes on 
 any other footing than that of contrast. So also in xlix. 7 foil., in 
 reference to verses 1-6. Both in xlix. 7 foil, and in the present 
 passage it is not God's servant but Israel, now a scattered race, that 
 is addressed, according to Duhm's view. In the opinion of the 
 present writer this presses the contrast between the ' Servant- 
 passages ' and the rest of the Deutero-Isaiah too far. The concep- 
 tions in both, though far from identical, are analogous. 
 
 The modifications in Duhm's second edition (1902) can hardly be 
 regarded as an improvement, {a) He follows Schian and Cheyne 
 in regarding verses 5-7 as belonging to a distinct author whom he 
 cr'jectures to have been the same person as the editor who inserted 
 '.^B * Servant-passages ' and added those lines of his own as well as 
 1. 10, II. His style is, however, different from that of the Servant- 
 passages that he inserts, and imitates that of the Deutero-Isaiah 
 [certainly a very remarkable imitation]. (6) The metrical arrange- 
 ment of these verses is altered, and it no longer has gaps, (c) After 
 the same laboured explanation of the phrase h^rith 'dm, with the 
 fortunate omission of the gratuitous attack on Dillmann, Duhm ends 
 by getting rid of the phrase altogether by the sovereign remedy of 
 emendation. He would be disposed to read 'blessing of peoples' 
 {birkath 'ammzm), but ends by preferring ' redemption of the people ' 
 {p^dAth 'dm), ' people ' being 'God's people,' used here, as verse 5 
 indicates, in the sense of ' humanity.' Cf. Jer. i. 4-9. Chap. 
 
 G 2 
 
84 ISAIAH 42. 7, 8 
 
 7 light of the Gentiles ; to open the blind eyes, to bring out 
 the prisoners from the dungeon, and them that sit in 
 
 8 darkness out of the prison house. I am the Lord ; that 
 
 term ' covenant ' to the people Israel, It is as easy to make 
 a man or a race ' a covenant ' as to make him a * blessing,' * a peace,' 
 ' a salvation ' (cf. Gen. xii. 2). The individual or race may be 
 considered to incorporate the conception named. This is certainly 
 a fair argument. On the other hand, it is extremely doubtful 
 whether the word ^am in the singular could ever be employed in 
 O. T. language for the entire human race. The proper word to 
 express this would be dddm. The word 'am is the proper term 
 to use for the Hebrew race. Moreover, the argument from 
 parallelism may be pressed too far. Accordingly we see no 
 sufficient reason for abandoning the natural explanation of the 
 combination b^rWi *dm proposed by Ewald, which is rendered 
 above ' covenant-people.' 
 
 The question arises what the term covenant in this composite 
 phrase means. The answer to this question is found in the locus 
 classicus Jer. xxxi. 30-3. The covenant which is in the mind of 
 the writer, both here and in the similar passage, Isa. xlix. 8, is the 
 new covenant of a renewed spirit which Divine grace is to put 
 into the heart of God's people Israel. This spiritually-renewed 
 race is therefore aptly called a ' covenant-people ' destined to 
 become a light to the Gentiles. The use of the term in xlix. 8 
 stands in close connexion with the Servant-passage xlix. i-6 (cf. 
 verse 6 with xlii. i, 3), 
 
 7. The great function of this covenant-race in the world is now 
 more clearly defined : ' opening blind eyes, bringing forth from 
 the prison the captive.' We have a similar construction here to 
 that in xlix. 9, in which we have like metaphors ^ Cf. Ixi. i, 3 foil. 
 
 8. The ultimate guarantee for the validity of Yahweh's call to 
 
 xlix. 8 b is held to be a gloss derived from the present passa\a -s. 
 It may here be noted that in this last passage LXX rendeh 'Y 
 SiadrjKTju kOvwv i^ammtm or perhaps gdyini^i, while in xlii. 6 we have 
 ctj 5. yivov^. 
 
 Respecting the numerous indications of Deutero-Isaianic style as 
 well as underlying ideas of verses 5-7, see Giesebrecht's careful 
 investigation, Der Knecht Jahves des Deuterojesaia, pp. 171-3, 
 and, regarding the dependence of these verses on the preceding 
 (1-4), see ibid. p. 142 foil. 
 
 ^ The reference here is to the same construction of the original 
 Hebrew, in both cases, of a constructive infinitive with the preposition 
 *to' prefixed. This we have rendered by present participles. Cf. 
 Davidson^ Heb. Syntax, § 93. 
 
ISAIAH 42. 9-II 85 
 
 is my name : and my glory will I not give to another, 
 neither my praise unto graven images. Behold, the 9 
 former things are come to pass, and new things do I 
 declare : before they spring forth I tell you of them. 
 
 Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise from 10 
 the end of the earth ; ye that go down to the sea, and all 
 that is therein, the isles, and the inhabitants thereof. Let 1 1 
 the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the 
 
 His covenant-people to proclaim the true religion to the world 
 consists in the supreme and inalienable majesty of Yahweh Him- 
 self. That majesty cannot be possessed by mere carved images. 
 
 9. This supreme majesty of Yahweh reveals itself in the certain 
 knowledge of coming events which He communicates to His 
 prophets. Former things have taken place as His prophets 
 foretold. Now he once more announces a fresh event before 
 even the germs of that event reveal their existence. What this 
 future event is to be may be gathered from the preceding verses. 
 It is to be the redemption of Israel and the other races of the 
 world from affliction and misery by God's own servant. 
 
 Verses 10-13 is a ' new song' which the editor attaches at the 
 close of verse 9, owing to the mention there of the * new things ^' 
 This poetic passage consisted originally of four stanzas of four 
 lines each, one of which is apparently defective. It is an ascription 
 of glory to Yahweh, whose march as a warrior-hero through the 
 desert is here celebrated. 
 
 10. Echoes of this opening verse are to be found in later 
 Psalm-literature, e.g. Pss. xxxiii. 3, xcvi. i, xcviii. i, cxlix. i. 
 The proposed emendation of Lowth in the Hebrew text yiram 
 instead oi yorde has much to commend it, since it (i) strengthens 
 the parallelism and gives added power to the passage, {ji) -is 
 supported by the closely parallel passages (probably echoes of 
 this), viz. Ps. xcvi. 11, xcviii. 7. This probable emendation is 
 supported by Oort, Duhm, Cheyne, Marti, and other recent critics. 
 Therefore render : * Let the sea roar and its fulness, the coast- 
 lands and their inhabitants.' 
 
 11. 'Let the wilderness and its towns give utterance' (lift up 
 their voice) is the rendering of our Hebrew text. But the LXX 
 had another text {ydsusu instead oi ytssu\ 'Let the wilderness, 
 &c. . . . rejoice ' (so Cheyne, Gratz, and Klostermann). 
 
 ^ On this principle of arrangement through key-words, see vol. i, 
 p. iS (on chap. i). Cf. the remarks on xH. 6-7 above, p. 68. 
 
86 ISAIAH 42. 12-14 
 
 villages that Kedar doth inhabit; let the inhabitants of 
 Sela sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. 
 
 1 2 Let them give glory unto the Lord, and declare his praise 
 
 13 in the islands. The Lord shall go forth as a mighty 
 man ; he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war : he 
 shall cry, yea, he shall shout aloud ; he shall do mightily 
 
 14 against his enemies. I have long time holden my peace; 
 
 The villages here are properly the fixed settlements of nomadic 
 tribes as opposed to the movable encampments. The former 
 were surrounded with stones in order to obtain security from 
 attack. Kedar was an Arabian tribe of the Syrian desert not easy 
 to locate, see vol. i, p. 248 foil., note on xxi. 16 foil. 
 
 For sinjf a more accurate rendering would be ' utter a ringing 
 cry,' which is not only more descriptive but accords better with 
 the parallel 'shout.' The Heb. word Sela' may either be taken 
 as the proper name of the chief town of Nabataean Edom or as 
 merely generic ' rock,' ' cliff,' ' crag.' The latter is the inter- 
 pretation of the Peshitto, RosenmuUer, Gesenius, Ewald, and, 
 among recent expositors, Marti. The former is the interpretation 
 of R. V.^ If we are to be guided by parallelism our choice would 
 incline to the latter signification. Cliff-like rocks are to be found 
 in the Hauran as well as in Edom. 
 
 13. Yahweh prepares Himself like a warrior for martial deeds. 
 * Like a combatant He shall awaken zeal — he shall shout, yea, 
 raise a battle-cry ; against his enemies shall show Himself a doughty 
 warrior ^.' The under-current of thought seems to be that Yahweh 
 will assume the character of war-god against Israel's foes, the 
 Babylonians, with Cyrus as His earthly instrument. 
 
 Verses 14-17 continue the strain of thought suggested at the close 
 ot the preceding 'new song.' Yahweh speaks. His attitude of 
 
 ^ Also supported by Vulg. and by Vitringa, Lowth, Hitzig, 
 Delitzsch, Cheyne, and Duhm. 
 
 ^ The LXX render the last clause, 'shall shout against His 
 enemies with strength.'' The last two words of this rendering are 
 obtained by dividing the last word of the Hebrew text so as to make 
 it eth g^bhArah, i.e. ri'j^rnN. The final n may be due to dittography 
 
 through the presence of this character in the opening of the following 
 verse ; or it is possible that the first word of that verse was read as a 
 Kal. Such a modal use of the preposition eth in Hebrew is not in 
 accordance with usage. 
 
ISAIAH 42. 15-17 87 
 
 I have been still, and refrained myself : now will I cry out 
 like a travailing woman ; I will gasp and pant together. 
 I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all 15 
 their herbs ; and I will make the rivers islands, and will 
 dry up the pools. And I will bring the blind by a way 16 
 [that they know not] ; in paths that they know not will I 
 lead them : I will make darkness light before them, and 
 crooked places straight. These things will I do, and I 
 will not forsake them. They shall be turned back, they 17 
 
 self-imposed passivity shall no longer be maintained. The metrical 
 form is that which the Deutero-Isaiah so commonly adopts, the 
 long-lined distichs, which we have already seen in verses 8 and 9. 
 
 14. * I have kept silence from old time, keeping still, restraining 
 myself. Like one that gives birth will I moan, pant, and gasp 
 together.' How long is the retrospect in the poet's mind when 
 he speaks of * old time ' ? The term '61am, which here expresses 
 in Hebrew * old time,' may indeed denote an unlimited vista. In 
 the present case we can extend the retrospect to the beginning 
 of the seventh century, but not earlier. This interval of 150 years, 
 since Isaiah's faith was rewarded by the preservation of Jerusalem 
 from capture by Sennacherib, might well come under this category 
 of ' old time.' 
 
 15. Z will make the rivers islands (or coast-lands) is hardly 
 intelligible, since the Heb. iyyim (islands, coast-lands), like its 
 English equivalents, presupposes the existence of an open sea; 
 but this is obviousl}' quite out of place. Accordingly Oort's 
 suggestion to read styyah or styyoih, ' dry land,' has much to com- 
 mend it, though the LXX have translated from the same Hebrew 
 text as our own (' islands '). 
 
 16. The phrase they know not, occurring in both the opening 
 clauses, is an obstacle to the proper metric length of the first. 
 Accordingly Duhm, Marti, and Cheyne omit it in the first place 
 where it occurs : — * And I will guide the blind in the way, in 
 paths they have not known will I direct them.' 
 
 For crooked places straigrht substitute ' uneven places a level 
 plain.' The word ntishor means not 'straight ' but a level surface. 
 Translate : * These are the things which I shall do.' The sentence 
 really contains a relative clause. 
 
 17. We suddenly pass to a scornful reference to the idolaters. 
 The connexion with the preceding verses is not clear. Duhm 
 places in our hands the right key to the explanation. It is the 
 expression of the angry impatience at the prolonged subjection of 
 
88 ISAIAH 42. 18-20 
 
 shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, 
 that say unto molten images, Ye are our gods. 
 
 18 Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see. 
 
 19 Who is blind, but my servant ? or deaf, as my messenger 
 that I send ? who is blind as he that is at peace with me^ 
 
 20 and blind as the Lord's servant ? Thou seest many 
 things, but thou observest not ; his ears are open, but he 
 
 the Hebrew race to the idolatrous Babylonians which is the 
 under-current of the preceding verses 14 foil. Now that deliverance 
 is to come at last from Yahweh, the idol-worshipping rulers of 
 the Jews shall be brought to feel bitter shame at the impotence of 
 their tutelary gods^ 
 
 Verses 18-25 contain an exhortation and lament combined over 
 deaf and blind Israel, forsaken and oppressed, whom God has 
 punished for his sin, and who have been blind to the fact. It is 
 easy to see here the link which connects this passage addressed 
 to blind and deaf Israel with the preceding. It is the reference 
 to the * blind ' in verse 16. 
 
 19. ' He that is at peace with me ' (R. V.), ' made perfect ' 
 (R. V. marg.), are unsatisfactory renderings, the former being 
 unwarranted and the latter scarcely intelligible. The only feasible 
 interpretation of the Heb. original trfishulldtn is 'rewarded,' 
 'paid' (as a servant). But even this introduces a very forced 
 conception. The only reasonable course appears to be to read 
 the Hebrew characters as moshldm, 'devoted one,' i.e. devoted 
 to God's service. Compare the kindred Arabic word muslim ^ or 
 devoted (follower of Muhammad : cf. Islam, which literally means 
 ' devotion '). This appears to the present writer a better solution 
 of the difficulty than any attempted reconstruction of the text on 
 the basis of what certainly appears to have been the very corrupted 
 version of the Hebrew on which the LXX based their rendering. 
 It will not, therefore, be necessary to follow the proposals of Duhm 
 in this direction (in the second edition of his commentary). 
 
 20. Instead of his ears are open translate : * hast the ears 
 
 ^ Reifmann's ingenious emendation {yilb^shU {or yebdshu), 'shall 
 be clothed with shame ' is in reality quite unnecessary. The LXX 
 presuppose here our Hebrew text. 
 
 ^ In reality the active partic. of the iv form corresponding to the 
 Heb. Hifil or causative. On the other hand the Heb. moshldm is 
 the passive or Hof'al. The root of the verb is sh-l-m {s-l-m), ' to be 
 whole ' or complete. Thus the Hif'fl means to give oneself wholly, 
 devote oneself, obey. 
 
ISAIAH 42. 21-23 89 
 
 heareth not. It pleased the Lord, for his righteousness' 21 
 sake, to magnify the law, and make it honourable. But 22 
 this is a people robbed and spoiled ; they are all of them 
 snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses : they 
 are for a prey, and none delivereth ; for a spoil, and none 
 saith. Restore. Who is there among you that will give 23 
 ear to this ? that will hearken and hear for the time to 
 
 open, yet hearest not,' reading in this last clause the and pers. sing, 
 (instead of the 3rd of our Hebrew text), in accordance with the 
 indications of the LXX. We seem here to have a reflexion of 
 Isa, vi. 9 foil. Israel has heard the instructions and warnings of the 
 prophets, but has failed to apprehend them. 
 
 21. The idiom of the loosely-appended imperfects ' is correctly 
 rendered above as a clause expressive of purpose dependent on 
 the principal sentence: * Yahweh resolved' ('it pleased the 
 Lord '). The ' law ' here is not to be identified with the legislation 
 of the Book of Deuteronomy promulgated in the reign of Josiah 
 (621 B. c), since this restricted use of the original Hebrew word 
 /omh belongs to post-exilian times. "While iorah may include 
 the instruction or replies given by the priests, its prevailing 
 significance is the instruction or ' word of Yahweh ' delivered by 
 the prophets. We might here identify it with the true religion 
 embodied in the term misJipdt in verses i, 3 and 4 of the ' Servant- 
 passage ' with which this chapter opens. See note on chap. i. 10. 
 
 22 portrays the tragic contrast between the message of the 
 Servant of Yahweh to His people and the abject condition and 
 want of receptivity which the people displays. 
 
 We prefer to adopt the slight emendation of the verbal form 
 proposed by Lowth^, which seems to underlie the rendering of the 
 R. V. For are for it is more idiomatic to translate ' have become.' 
 
 23. It is better to translate throughout by present instead of 
 future tenses: 'gives ear to this, . . . hearkens.' The question 
 here is the usual rhetorical form of the O. T. which anticipates 
 a negative answer. Cf. Job xl. 8, 9, 24, xli. 1-7 (xl. 24-31, Heb.). 
 The writer portrays the pi-esent dull unintelligent condition of his 
 countrymen, who are incapable of understanding the significance 
 of recent history and of God's dealings with His people. 
 
 ^ Gesenius-Kautzsch '^*', § 120. i b; Ewald, § 285 c. 
 ^ viz. hiipahA (Hofal, perf. plur.), 'they are (or have been"*, 
 snared.' 
 
90 ISAIAH 42. 24, 25 
 
 24 come? Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the 
 robbers ? [did not the Lord ? he against whom we have 
 sinned, and in whose ways they would not walk, neither 
 
 25 were they obedient unto his law]. Therefore he poured 
 upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of 
 battle ; and it set him on fire round about, yet he knew 
 not ; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart. 
 
 24. The question here obviously requires the answer : * Yahweh, 
 who had inflicted on the Jews the chastisement ofthe Babylonian 
 conquest and spoliation on account of their past sins.' Babylonia 
 had been to the Jew of the sixth century what Assyria had been 
 to Israel as well as Judah in the eighth, ' the rod of Divine wrath ' 
 
 (X. 5). 
 
 The sentence that follows in the form of a question gives 
 the answer to the preceding query : ^ Was it not Yahweh against 
 whom we have sinned, and in whose ways they did not choose to 
 go, and to whose law they refused to hearken ? ' Now there are 
 several reasons for regarding this as a later gloss which a scribe 
 added with the object of making the meaning quite clear — 
 (i) one of the forms employed {3h rendered as a relative in 
 the first clause) as well as two of the constructions are foreign to 
 the Deutero-Isaiah ; (2) it interrupts the sequence between 
 the opening of verse 24 and verse 25. ' Therefore ' is quite 
 unnecessary in the following verse. 
 
 25. Render simply as an immediate sequence to the question 
 which opens verse 24. The whole passage thus becomes quite 
 natural. 
 
 24. 'Who gave Jacob to the plunderer — and Israel to the 
 robbers . . . 
 
 25. And poured upon him his indignant wrath — and the 
 might of war. 
 
 And it wrapped him in flames around without his perceiving 
 it — and it burned him without his laying it to heart ? ' 
 
 The reading and rendering * plunderer ' (Poel partic. m^sho- 
 seh^) is that of our Hebrew text {K^thib) as opposed to the 
 
 ^ Reading here the construct in Heb. instead of the absol. form 
 (so also LXX and some MSS.). If we adhere to the text as it stands 
 we should have to render : ' poured out indignation as His wrath ' 
 (very awkward). 
 
 ^ As a Poel participial form it is quite anomalous, and looks like 
 a blending of forms belonging to two distinct verbal forms, m^shasseh 
 
ISAIAH 43. I 91 
 
 But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O 42 
 Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel : Fear not, for 
 I have redeemed thee ; I have called thee by thy name, 
 
 traditional reading in the Synagogue {K're) 'plunder,' R. V. 
 'spoil' {m^shissah). The latter or K^re reading is sustained by 
 the LXX, while the former gives a harmonious parallelism and has 
 the support of recent critics, Cheyne, Duhm, and Marti. 
 
 Chapter XLIII. 
 
 Verses 1-7 are a continuation of the poem of the preceding 
 chapter, but a wondrous change in Israel's condition is disclosed. 
 In the final verses of the preceding chapter a vivid description 
 is given of the sharp discipline of humiliation and suffering to 
 which Israel, Yahweh's blind and deaf servant, has been 
 subjected. Now the poet sings of deliverance. Let not Israel 
 fear. Amid the waters that threaten to overwhelm, and the 
 fire that burns, Yahweh is close at hand to deliver. And Israel's 
 scattered race shall not be lost, but gathered together. 
 
 1. But now correctly expresses the contrast. This phrase in the 
 original is often employed at the beginning of a new strophe. 
 The verbs ' create ' and ' form ' (fashion) are those which are 
 employed in the first (Gen, i, Priestercodex and post-exilian) and 
 second (Gen. ii. 46 foil., Yahwistic and pre-exilian) cosmogony 
 respectively. ' Create ' (bard), however, which is employed in the 
 first creation-story, is simply used to express God's work in 
 constructing the universe. The assumption that it signifies to 
 create out of nothing is wholly gratuitous, and has been the 
 unfortunate cause of many difficulties, and is obviously an im- 
 possible meaning here. The word for ' create ' no more expresses 
 this than the word for 'form.' The latter verb is really the term 
 used to describe the work of a potter in Hebrew^. Both these 
 characteristic verbs of Gen. i and ii recur frequently throughout 
 this and the following chapter, viz. xlii. 7, 15, 21, xliv. 2, 
 21, 24, &c. 
 
 I have redeemed . . . called. The perfect tenses are em- 
 ployed here in the original to express the certainty of the future 
 event, which is for the moment treated as though already realized. 
 
 and m^shSses. We have, however, a parallel anomaly with the 
 same verbal form in Isa. x. 13. Cf. Gesenius-Kautzsch^®, § 75, 
 rem. g (z). 
 
 ^ The word for ' form ' in Hebrew is ydsar, which means to fashion, 
 to mould. A 'potter' \s yoser {lit. moulder — partic. of the verb), 
 the very term that occurs in this verse.- 
 
92 ISAIAH 43. 2-4 
 
 2 thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I 
 will be with thee ; and through the rivers, they shall not 
 overflow thee : when thou walkest through the fire, thou 
 shalt not be burned ; neither shall the flame kindle upon 
 
 3 thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of 
 Israel, thy saviour; I have given Egypt as thy ransom, 
 
 4 Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Since thou hast been 
 
 Cf. xli. lo, 14. The LXX had in their text, ' I have called thee by 
 thy name,' whereas in our own the personal object of the verb is 
 omitted. The expression here denotes the confidential and 
 intimate relation between Yahweh and Israel, and also the fact 
 that Israel as His servant is set apart for a special service ; cf. 
 Exod, xxxi. 2 foil. ; Isa. xlv. 3, 4. ' Thou art mine ' clearly sets 
 forth this very unique relationship, * God has many servants, but 
 the foreign nations are for Him unnamed ' (Duhm). 
 
 2. Pire and waters are material metaphors intended to convey 
 the idea of human calamity and suffering, as in Ps. Ixvi. 12 
 (Rosenmuller). Translate : ' when thou passest through fire thou 
 shalt not be branded.' The verb in Hebrew rendered ^burn* is 
 more correctly interpreted ' brand ' (Prov. vi. 28, R. V. ' scorched,' 
 where the same Hebrew form is used). A derivative of the same 
 verb occurs in Exod. xxi. 25 (properly ' brand for brand '). On 
 the other hand, the last clause should be translated 'and flame 
 shall not burn tliee.' 
 
 3. The ground of Israel's safety is here stated. ' I, Yahweh, 
 am thy God.' 
 
 Selja here is not to be confused with Sheba (or the Sabaeans 
 in Southern Arabia). Both are mentioned together as distinct in 
 Ps. Ixxii. 10 ^ and Gen. x. 7. Seba, as distinguished from Sheba, 
 is connected in Gen. x. 7 with Gush or Ethiopia. According to 
 Dillmann's careful note on that passage Seba was a branch of the 
 Ethiopian race which was probably situated on the African side 
 of the Red Sea. But the subject is certainly obscure. The LXX 
 read here in their Hebrew text, instead of Saba (as in Ps. Ixxii. 10), 
 Soene, i. e. Syene or Assuan ^, unless we are to regard So6ne as 
 their identification of the Hebrew Seba. Cf. Drivers Genesis, ad he. 
 
 ^ Sheba was evidently well known to the Greek translator, as it 
 was to the ancient Assyrians in the days of Tiglath-Pileser III (see 
 Schrader, COT., \, p. 131 foil.), and Sargon. Hence he renders in 
 LXX by 'Arabians.' But it seems to have been otherwise with Seba, 
 which is reproduced as Saba. 
 
 ^ In Heb. nsiD, cf. Ezek. xxix. 10. 
 
ISAIAH 43. 5-8 93 
 
 precious in my sight, and honourable, and I have loved 
 thee ; therefore will I give men for thee, and peoples for 
 thy life. Fear not ; for I am v^ith thee : I will bring thy 5 
 seed from the east, and gather thee from the west ; I will 6 
 say to the north, Give up ; and to the southj Keep not 
 back; bring my sons from far, and my daughters from 
 the end of the earth ; every one that is called by my 7 
 name, and whom I have created for my glory ; I have 
 formed him ; yea, I have made him. Bring forth the 8 
 
 What is meant by the expression ' I give Egypt as thy ransom ' ? 
 Obviously Yahweh's universal sovereignty is presupposed. Egypt, 
 Ethiopia, and Seba are at His disposal as payment for Israel's 
 emancipation. To whom is such payment to be made ? At this 
 time Israel w^as subject to Babylonia. But now Babylonia was no 
 longer as powerful as it was in the days of Nebuchadrezzar. The 
 conquest of Egypt in the degenerate age of the last king of Baby- 
 lonia, Nabonidus, would not have been conceivable by the 
 Deutero-Isaiah. The prophet is evidently thinking of Cyrus, 
 Yahweh's anointed, who was to emancipate the exiled Jews and 
 was to receive the territories on the Nile as an equivalent. The 
 actual conquest of Egypt was accomplished by his successor, 
 Cambyses, in 525 b. c, after the battle of Pelusium. 
 
 4. men (or mankind) forms a natural analogue to peoples in 
 the parallel clause that follows. There is no need to alter the 
 Hebrew text for ' men ' into the similar word for * land' or ' soil ' 
 with Duhm, Cheyne, and Oort. The LXX version supports the 
 Hebrew text before us *. The outcome of God's special love for 
 Israel is exhibited in the verses that follow. 
 
 Verses 5-7 describe the reassembling of the scattered Hebrews 
 (the Dispersion), cf. xlix. 12. 
 
 7. The clauses at the end of the verse * I have formed him ; yea, 
 I have made him,' should be connected with the relative clause that 
 precedes, thus : ' whom I have created for my glory, have formed, 
 yea, have made.' 
 
 Verses 8-13. Here we have another judgment-scene before 
 Yahweh. The heathen nations are assembled, and Yahweh 
 demands that His people Israel, which is blind and deaf, yet has 
 seen and heard, should be brought forward as a witness. For 
 Israel at least knows, blind and deaf though he be, that there is no 
 
 ^ In the LXX apxoj'Tas, stands as the rendering of the Hebrew word 
 for * peoples,' just as in xxxlv. 1, xli. i» 
 
94 ISAIAH 43. 9 
 
 blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears. 
 9 Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the 
 peoples be assembled : who among them can declare 
 this, and shew us former things? let them bring their 
 witnesses, that they may be justified : or let them hear, 
 
 other God but Yahweh, and that beside Him there is none that 
 can save. 
 
 8. Perhaps the more idiomatic rendering (following the true 
 reading, which is here an absol. infin. and not an imperative ^) 
 should be ' Let them bring forth the blind people that has eyes . . . 
 Though the people be blind and deaf, it has eyes to see and ears 
 to hear the plain fact and testify to it among the assembled 
 nations, viz. that Yahweh is God alone.' 
 
 9. R. V. here is not in accordance with our Hebrew text, 
 which can hardly be taken as an imperative, but as an indicative 
 (as the LXX interpret). By a slight change in the vowel-points 
 of the second verb^ (translated 'assembled') we obtain a con- 
 sistent meaning. Translate : * All the nations have been gathered 
 together and the peoples have been assembled.' These assembled 
 nations through their representatives (the divinely inspired sooth- 
 sayers, as we may assume) are to be put to the test. What have 
 they to declare? 
 
 This is a favourite conception of the prophet. Cf, above xli. 
 I foil,, 21 foil. Translate : 'Who among them will announce this 
 or make known to us former^ things.' The word ' this' refers to 
 the reassuring message of the preceding verses that God in His 
 unceasing love will gather the scattered Israel together and 
 restore His people, and that there is no other power that can 
 save. The nations are challenged to produce their witnesses. In 
 the closing hues of this verse it would be best to adopt Duhm's 
 suggested punctuation of the text (yasdiku) and render : ' Let 
 them produce their witnesses so as to justify them, and say : it is 
 truth.' The foreign nations are to support the statements which 
 their witnesses make on their behalf. 
 
 * HSs^ instead of hdst. 
 
 ' Proposed by Oort, and supported by Duhm and Marti. 
 
 ^ * Declare (or make known) former things ' is a favourite expres- 
 sion of the Deutero-Isaiah : cf. xli. 22, xlii. 9. The meaning is fairly 
 clear. Prophecy from the days of Ezekiel onwards had begun to be 
 more retrospective. The ' former things ' refer to the manifestation 
 of Divine power in Israel's past history. There is no reason to 
 modify the text as Cheyne and Marti suggest, and render : * and as 
 the first one declare it unto us.* 
 
ISAIAH 43. 10-14 95 
 
 and say, It is truth. Ye are my witnesses, saith the 10 
 Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen : that ye 
 may know and believe me, and understand that I am 
 he ; before me there was no God formed^ neither shall 
 there be after me. I, even I, am the Lord ; and beside 11 
 me there is no saviour. I have declared, and I have 12 
 saved, and I have shewed, and there was no strange god 
 among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the 
 Lord, and I am God. Yea, since the day was I am he ; 1 3 
 and there is none that can deliver out of my hand : I will 
 work, and who shall let it ? 
 
 Thus saith the Lord, your redeemer, the Holy One of 14 
 
 10. The nations meet the challenge with silence. Yahweh 
 therefore turns to His own people, blind and deaf though they be, 
 and addresses them with the words * ye are my witnesses.' 
 Yahweh is declared to be, both in the past, present, and future, 
 exclusive Divine potentate, solitary in His sway. 
 
 It is possible that we may see here with Gunkel {Schopfuttg 
 u. Chaos, p. 137) a polemic against Babylonian mythology, which 
 represented that Marduk (whose unique position in the Babylonian 
 pantheon was a later development) obtained rule by command of 
 ' the gods, his fathers ' and created the world by the help of others. 
 The considerations already adduced in the notes on xli. 21-23 
 would lead us to regard this view of Gunkel as by no means impro- 
 bable. Cf. Creation-epic (Delitzsch), i. lines 9 foil., ii. lines 129 foil. 
 
 12. ' There was no strange (or foreign) god among you,' i. e. 
 potent and effective. In the original there is no word ' god,' but 
 only 'strange (one).' 
 
 13. Instead of since the day was ^ translate : ' from hence- 
 forth ' (similarly R. V. margin). 
 
 wlio shall let it : i. e. arrest it, is a correct interpretation of 
 the Hebrew original, which strictly means * turn it back ' ; see 
 note in vol. i on Isa. ix. 12. The LXX give the strict and literal 
 rendering. 
 
 Verses 14-21. God's mighty works in the past, when Israel was 
 
 ' The LXX render : ' ever since the beginning ' (similarly other 
 verses), literally, * ever since a day was,' a rendering approved by 
 Rosenmuller^ Gesenius, and Hitzig> but more than doubtful, as a 
 translation of the Hebrew. 
 
96 ISAIAH 43. 14 
 
 Israel : For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and I will 
 bring down all of them as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, 
 
 led forth from Egypt, are not to be compared with the impending 
 overthrow of Babylon and Israel's return, verses 14 foil. For 
 Israel's sake God will overthrow the Babylonian empire (Chal- 
 dees) and set up a way through the wilderness. 
 
 In verse 14 the perfect form of the Hebrew verb rendered ' I have 
 sent ' should be taken as Ewald, Orelli, and others have correctly 
 understood it, viz. as a prophetic perfect. Accordingly translate : 
 ^ I will send to Babylon and bring down . . .' We are not to 
 suppose with Hitzig that a battle had already been lost by the 
 Chaldaeans. In our opinion the difficulties of this verse have 
 been somewhat exaggerated, and there is no necessity, as 
 Duhm imagines, for rejecting almost the whole of our tradi- 
 tional Hebrew text which the LXX support nearly in its integrity. 
 The R. V. adheres to the Massoretic punctuation and rightly 
 renders the Hebrew bdnhtm by * fugitives ' (so also LXX), 
 whereas the A. V. have < nobles ' {lit, ' bars '), which involves the 
 reading of the text as b^rihUn (from b^riah) *. There is no other 
 example of this special metaphorical use of the word, though 
 parallels can easily be found (e. g. ' tent-peg ' for leader of the state, 
 Zech. X. 4 ; 'shield,' Ps. xlvii. lo {A.V. 9), usually a designation 
 of God, Gen. xv. i ; Ps. iii. 4 {A.V. 3), xviii. 3, 31 {A.V. 2, 30), cxliv. 
 2, 7, n ; 'foundation,' Ps. xi. 3}. Accordingly there is no sufficient 
 reason for departing from the text and interpretation upon which 
 the LXX mainly based their rendering. Dillmann's translation, 
 'and I will drive them all as fugitives down the stream,' though 
 ridiculed in Duhm's characteristic manner, is open to no serious 
 objection. The conception of the passage is that Babylon will be 
 overwhelmed with panic on hearing of the advancing foe, and will 
 take to flight on their vessels that plied on the Euphrates stream, 
 much in the same way as Merodach-Baladan after his defeat by 
 Sennacherib. Cf. cylind. insc, col. iii, lines 55-7, quoted in 
 Schrader, COT., vol. ii, p. 36. Respecting the navy possessed by 
 the Babylonians see Herod, i. 194 ; Strabo, xvi. i, g foil. ; and 
 xxxiii. 21, 23 (see vol. i). 
 
 As might be expected, the emendators are busy with their 
 proposed remedies. Of these the most ingenious is that of Ewald, 
 who would amend the text of the whole passage, which he trans- 
 lates : 'I send to Babylon and plunge in moans their lyres and 
 
 ^ Vulg. Ibn Ezra ; Clericus and Lowth would render : * I break 
 down all the bars (i.e. of the gates). The barriers are broken down 
 before the advancing enemy.' But this does not harmonize with the 
 next clause. 
 
ISAIAH 43. 15-18 
 
 97 
 
 in the ships of their rejoicing. I am the Lord, your i; 
 Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King. Thus saith 1 6 
 the Lord, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in 
 the mighty waters ; which bringeth forth the chariot and 17 
 horse, the army and the power : they lie down together, 
 they shall not rise ; they are extinct, they are quenched 
 as flax : Remember ye not the former things, neither 18 
 
 the exultation of the Chaldaeans in sighs.' This certainly makes 
 good parallelism, but the word which is rendered * moans' is a 
 clever invention by Ewald himself based on the verbal form found 
 in Zech. i. 14. 
 
 It is undoubtedly the last clause which constitutes the difficulty. 
 While our A. V. takes it as relative, ' and the Chaldaeans whose 
 cry is in the ships,' the R. V. given above (so also the late Franz 
 Delitzsch) presents a more natural interpretation. The ships of 
 their rejoicing is a Hebraism for ' the ships in which they 
 exult.' 
 
 15 characterizes the Divine author of this mighty overthrow. 
 It is indeed possible that this verse should be united closely with 
 the preceding so as to form one sentence. Verse 15 then forms 
 an effective appositional clause to the subject of the verbs, ' I will 
 send to Babylon and bring down . . . ' (in verse 14). We should 
 then omit the word ' am,' which does not stand in the Hebrew 
 text\ and render, 'I, Yahweh, your Holy One...* Duhm. 
 while admitting the reasonableness of this construction, considers 
 that the distance from the verb in the preceding verse is a serious 
 objection. On the other hand, prolonged sentences, with apposi- 
 tional clauses characterizing the greatness of Yahweh, are not 
 infrequent in the Deutero- Isaiah (xl. 22 foil., xlii. 5 foil., &c.). 
 
 16 is based on the reminiscence of the great deliverance from 
 Egypt that constituted Israel a nation. The link between this 
 verse and verse 14 (which refers to the future) is the phrase in 
 verse 15, ' the Creator of Israel.' 
 
 1*7. The language of this verse suggests the possibility that the 
 author was familiar with the J and E portions of Exod. xiv, xv. 
 R. V. marg. correctly interprets ' flax ' by ' a wick.' 
 
 18. But these mighty acts of deliverance whereby Yahweh 
 created Israel as a nation are not to be compared with the 
 
 ^ In a Hebrew clause which is predicative the copula is omitted. 
 Accordingly an alternative rendering is possible, either ' I am the 
 Lord, your Holy One, &c.,' as given above, or ' I, the Lord, your 
 Holy One, &c.,* as suggested above in the note. 
 
98 ISAIAH 43. 19-21 
 
 19 consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new 
 thing ; now shall it spring forth ; shall ye not know it ? I 
 will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the 
 
 20 desert. The beasts of the field shall honour me, the 
 jackals and the ostriches : because I give waters in the 
 wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my 
 
 21 people, my chosen : the people which I formed for my- 
 
 wonders that are to be accomplished not only in the overthrow 
 of Babylon but in Israel's restoration. 
 
 19. The creation of waters in the desert, where dry land was, 
 is regarded as more marvellous than the creation of dry land 
 where waters were. Translate : * Behold ! I am doing (or ' am 
 about to do ') a new thing. Now it is sprouting (i. e. coming to 
 be realized), do ye not perceive it ? Indeed, I will make a way 
 in the wilderness ' : cf. xlii. 16, also xl. 4, xli. 18. 
 
 20. Even wild animals, jackals and ostriches, are to pay their 
 homage to Yahweh. This conception, so strange to modern man, 
 reflects the spirit of a primitive age when man stood nearer to the 
 animal world, and sympathy between man and animals was a real 
 feeling and not an artificial sentiment. On this feeling in primitive 
 tribes, see Robertson Smith, RS.'^ pp. 296-300. It is also reflected 
 in Isa. xi. 6-9. Cf. Num. xxii. 22, 33 (J) ; Isa. xxxiv. 13-17, 
 and the Arabic story of Queen Bilkis (in Brunnow's Chrestomathy). 
 
 The latter part of this verse, ' For I give waters in the wilder- 
 ness, &c.,' as well as verse 21, are regarded by Duhm, Cheyne, 
 and Marti as a later addendum on what appear to the present 
 writer insufficient reasons. Duhm refers to the repetitions of 
 the ideas and phraseology of verse 19 in the latter part of verse 
 20, but himself acknowledges that such repetitions in Deutero- 
 Isaiah are not infrequent, and appears to hesitate on the subject of 
 the genuineness, but concludes by saying : ' Nevertheless the 
 opinion that Deutero- Isaiah did not write beyond the earlier part 
 of verse 20 appears to me more probable.' The only ground for 
 rejecting the genuineness of the passage and referring it to a later 
 date is the use of the relative zu (employed in * the people which 
 I formed '), which occurs in the interpolated passage xlii. 24 
 (see note). Marti calls attention to the 3rd person used here, 
 whereas in verses 18 and 19 God's people is directly addressed 
 in the 2nd person. But in prophetic address uniformity in style 
 is not to be expected or desiderated. Is the solitary trait of 
 language, the relative zil, a sufficient reason for rejecting the 
 genuineness of the passage ? The R. V. rightly regards the last 
 clause as relative. Translate : 'The people which I fashioned for 
 
ISAIAH 43. 22,23 99 
 
 self, that they might set forth my praise. Yet thou hast 23 
 not called upon me, O Jacob ; but thou hast been weary 
 of me, O Israel. Thou hast not brought me the small 23 
 cattle of thy burnt offerings ; neither hast thou honoured 
 me with thy sacrifices. I have not made thee to serve 
 
 myself, which is to recount my praise,' the verse being appositional 
 to the clause which precedes in verse 20 (cf. verse 15). 
 
 Verses 22 — xliv. 5 are an impassioned pleading by Yahweh with 
 Israel over his indifference and neglect. The appeal ends with 
 a promise of spiritual quickening. 
 
 22. The R. V. fails to express the emphasis of the personal 
 pronoun which is made prominent in the original. Render : 
 * Yet not upon me hast thou called, O Jacob, nor about me hast 
 thou wearied thyself, O Israel.' So Cheyne (with Duhm and 
 Marti). In the latter clause the Hebrew text has become hope- 
 lessly confused owing to the mistake of a single character ' and 
 the omission of the negative which both the LXX and considera- 
 tions of metre require us to replace at the beginning of the 
 second clause. The Hebrew word for ' wearied (or troubled) 
 thyself is characteristic of the exilian and post-exilian period : 
 cf. Job ix. 29 ; Prov. xxiii. 4. 
 
 23 develops the idea still further in terms of ceremonial 
 worship. For small cattle substitute the more specific rendering 
 ' lamb.' In the parallel clauses we have the contrast between the 
 'burnt-offerings' and the ' slaughtered- offerings' or bloody sacri- 
 fices. The translation of A. V. and R. V., * sacrifices,' is too vague, 
 and does not express this contrast in the two forms of animal 
 sacrifices. Instead of sacrifices read ' slaughtered offerings.' 
 
 Since Babylonia, the land of exile, being a foreign land, was 
 regarded in the religious conceptions that prevailed at that time 
 as unclean, because God's presence and power were not manifested 
 there, but in Palestine, the old seat of Divine worship 2, no offerings 
 were possible to the exiled Jews (cf. Hos. ix. 4 foil. ; Ps. H. 18 foil ; 
 Deut. xii. 13 foil.). Consequently the older critics, as Hengstenberg, 
 employed this verse as an argument for the pre-exilian, i. e. 
 Isaianic, authorship of these later chapters of the Book of Isaiah. 
 But the conclusion of this as well as the following verse shows 
 
 ^ bi misread as kt. The difference in the square Hebrew charac- 
 ter is very slight. The result is an unnecessary repetition of bt after 
 the verb. 
 
 ^ In the later times of the Jewish monarchy, i. e. since the 
 promulgation of the Deuteronomic code 621 B. c, Jerusalem only 
 was the recognized seat of God's worship. 
 
 H 2 
 
TOO ISAIAH 43. 24 
 
 24 \Yith offerings, nor wearied thee with frankincense. Thou 
 hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast 
 
 that such literalism is out of place here. It is the attitude of 
 mind which outer ceremonial ought to express that the prophet 
 desiderates, and it is the absence of it which he rebukes : ' The 
 sacrifices of God are a broken spirit' (Ps. li. 17). But this 
 'sacrifice of a broken and contrite heart' Israel at this time did 
 not offer. It was wholly impossible for Isaiah himself, who 
 declared that God had no pleasure in burnt ofiferings of rams and 
 the fat of fed beasts, or in the blood of bullocks or lambs, and that 
 incense was an abomination to Him (i. 1 1-14), to lay stress upon the 
 punctilious fulfilment of these and similar ri'tual obligations. Still 
 more was this impossible for a true disciple of the school of 
 Jeremiah, the prophet of the New Covenant (Jer. xxxi. 31-4, 
 of. vii. 21-23), such as we have already seen the Deutero-Isaiah, 
 together with the author of the ' Servant-songs,' to have been 
 (xlii, 6 ; see also notes). 
 
 The concluding words of this verse clearly show that during 
 the exile no burdens of ritual fulfilment were expected. * I have 
 not made thee to serve (me) with meal ofiferings, nor put thee to 
 trouble with frankincense.' The very ritual terms here employed 
 belong to a later period than that of pre-exilian cultus. It is true 
 that tlie word {mmhah), which our R. V. renders ' offerings,' was 
 employed in pre-exilian times, but its use in earlier days was 
 general and not specific. Gen. iv. 4, 5 (J) applies the term 
 equally to the slaughtered offering of Abel and the vegetable 
 offering of Cain. The word properly means gift or tribute, and is 
 occasionally used in the latter sense (Judges iii. 15 ; 2 Sam. viii. 
 2, 6 ; I Kings v. i ; 2 Kings xvii. 4 ; Ps. Ixxii. 10). But as a 
 ritual term in pre-exilian times its application fluctuates [?]. Thus 
 in Judges xiii. 19 (according to Budde from the J source), Amos 
 v. 25, and Isa. xix. 21 (see note in vol. i) it means a vegetable 
 (i. e. meal) offering as opposed to a bloody offering. On the 
 other hand, in post-exilian times, and especially in P (Lev. ii. i, 
 4-6, vi. 7 foil,, &c.), it exclusively refers as a ritual term to the 
 ;«<?a/-offering, as it unquestionably does here. The word for 
 frankincense {l^bhonahy belongs (with the exception of Jer, vi. 20) 
 to the exilian and post-exilian period (e. g, Exod, xxx, 34). 
 
 24. There is an alliterative play of expression in the Hebrew 
 
 * Arabic lubdn, Greek \tl3avajT6s. From Ezek. xxvii. 22; Isa. Ix. 
 6 (cf. Jer. vi. 20) we learn that this frankincense was exported from 
 Arabia. This is confirmed by Pliny, who tells us that it was exported 
 from Sabota, capital of Hadramaut, to Gaza ; cf. nebrc7v Antiquities, 
 p. 107 foil., and Sachau, T/wee Aramaic Papyri German), i, line 25. 
 
ISAIAH 43. 25 loi 
 
 thou filled me with the fat of thy sacritices : but thou 
 hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied 
 me with thine iniquities. I, even I, am he that blotteth 25 
 
 word for boug-ht and for sweet-cane (or calamus), which can 
 hardly be reproduced in English unless we were to adopt such 
 a rendering as ' In my honour hast thou not for money catered for 
 sv/eet-ca«^ ' in order to express the assonance. Here again the 
 ritual expression points to a later period. In the pre-exilian 
 prophets, e.g. Isaiah, 'incense' [k^toreth) means simply the 
 smoke of the burnt fat in sacrifices (Isa. i. 13, on which compare 
 note in vol. i), whereas contact with Babylonia, where elaborate 
 rituals were practised and the incense offered to the gods was 
 compounded of the varied ingredients of cedar-wood, cypress- 
 wood, meal, and sweet cane^ {kanu : cf. the Heb. kdneh), 
 furnished the exiled Jews with new models for their worship. 
 Hence the elaborate prescriptions for the compounding of incense 
 in Exod. xxx. 34 foil. (P) ; cf. 2 Chron. ii. 4 (3 Heb.), xiii. 11. There 
 can be little doubt that post-exilian Judaism ultimately derived these 
 more highly-developed traditions of worship from Babylonia, just 
 as they borrowed their ecclesiastical calendar, beginning with 
 Nisan, as well as the names of its months^, from the same source. 
 An excellent instance of the Babylonian use of fragrant spices as 
 ingredients of their sacrifices is furnished by the Flood-legend, 
 forming the eleventh tablet of the Gilgauesh-epic, lines 158 foil. : 
 
 ' Twice seven sacrificial vessels I erected ; 
 Under them scattered calamus (sweet cane), cedar-wood, 
 
 and myrrh. 
 The gods smelt the scent. 
 The gods smelt the fragrance. 
 The gods gathered like flies over the sacrifices.' 
 
 (See Jensen in KiB. vi, erste Halfte, p. 240.) 
 
 For filled read with R. V. marg. ' satiated.' 
 
 Owing to the very conditions of their exile in a foreign land 
 Yahweh has imposed on His people no burden of sacrificial 
 homage. On the contrary, the burden (as though of bondage) 
 and trouble have been imposed on Yahweh by the sins of His 
 faithless and erring children, 
 
 25. The personal pronoun is by a characteristic trait of the 
 Deutero-Isaiah twice repeated, and thus rendered specially em- 
 phatic. Despite Israel's sins, it is I, Yahweh, against whom he 
 
 ^ See Zimmern in KAT?, p. 600. 
 
 ^ See A. Jeremias, Das Alte Testament im Lichte des alter 
 Orients (2nd ed.), p. 531 ; Schrader, COT. ii, p. 68 foil. 
 
102 ISAIAH 43. 26, 27 
 
 out thy transgressions for mine own sake ; and I will not 
 
 26 remember thy sins. Put me in remembrance ; let us 
 plead together : set thou forth thy cause, that thou mayest 
 
 27 be justified. Thy first father sinned, and thine interpre- 
 
 has transgressed, who, unsolicited, spontaneously forgive. In 
 this expression of God's free forgiveness the Deutero-Isaiah, as 
 Duhm points out, goes beyond Isaiah, Jeremiah, and even the 
 tender-hearted Hosea. With reference to Isaiah, chap. i. 18 
 should probably be construed as indicated in the note on that 
 passage and in accordance with the verses that follow as well as 
 the general drift of the chapter. In Jeremiah forgiveness is con- 
 ditioned by the renewal and quickening of the soul which is the 
 subject of it, though even this is the gift of Divine grace, Jer. 
 xxxi. 32-34 (esp. verse 34) ; xxxii. 39-41. In xxxi. 17-20 
 Yahweh relents when He hears Ephraim 'bemo^ining himself,' 
 and with this we may compare Hos. xi. 7-1 1 and xiv, where God's 
 compassions are kindled at the spectacle of Ephraim's backsliding 
 and impending doom, and a final earnest appeal is made to Israel 
 to return to Yahweh (xiv. i ; Heb. verse 2). But here in the Deutero- 
 Isaiah the subjective ground of repentance in the individual or in 
 the nation is passed over. God's ground of forgiveness lies in 
 Himself ('for my own sake'). But on this expression 'for my 
 own sake ' too much stress should not be laid, as the original 
 Hebrew word seems to overload the metre, and Duhm therefore 
 rejects it \ holding that it has been introduced here through the 
 influence of xlviii. 9, 11. It must be acknowledged, however, 
 that it harmonizes with verse 26 foil. 
 
 26 enforces the conception that God's forgiveness is based on 
 his own initiative and on no claim of merit that Israel can bring 
 forward. A challenge is addressed to Israel in terms resembling 
 i. 18 : ' Call to my remembrance, let us urge together our pleas 
 against one another ; reckon up (your pleas) to show that you are 
 in the right.' 
 
 2*7. 'My first ancestor' {lit. 'father') does not mean Adam; 
 xli. 8 might lead us to identify him with Abraham, the ' friend ' of 
 God, and this seems to be confirmed by li. 2. This view is 
 supported by the Jewish commentator Rashi as well as by 
 Delitzsch, Nagelsbach, and Diestel. But throughout these oracles 
 it is predominantly Jacob or Israel who is regarded as the national 
 ancestor ; see xlviii. 1-4 and cf. Hos. xii. 4. It is Jacob who 
 
 ^ LXX (N A Q r) omit the word, B (Vatican) retains it. There are 
 therefore adequate grounds, critical as well as metric, for dropping 
 the word from our text. 
 
ISAIAH 43. 28 103 
 
 ters have transgressed against me. Therefore I will 28 
 profane the princes of the sanctuary, and I will make 
 
 appears in patriarchal story as the crafty supplanter. The LXX, 
 influenced probably by the plural form in the parallel clause 
 'thine interpreters,' render here 'your first fathers,' and are 
 followed by Gesenius and Hengstenberg. But this plural meaning 
 is never expressed by a singular noun in this case of the Hebrew 
 word for 'father.' The plural form would certainly have been 
 employed (as so frequently in Deuteronomy). 
 
 The interpreters or 'intermediaries' are here the prophets, 
 who are the interpreters of God's will to men. The reference is 
 to the false prophets such as Isaiah denounced (xxix. 9, 10) 
 and whom Micaiah confronted (i Kings xxii. 11 foil., 22 foil.) in 
 the ninth century (853 b. c), and in more recent times Jeremiah 
 (xxiii. 11-18, xxvi. 8-15, xxvii. 9-18, xxviii. 10-17, &c.). No 
 doubt priests are also included. 
 
 28. We might with good reason follow Oort and other critics, 
 and, by changing the punctuation of the Hebrew copula with 
 both verbs*, translate them as past tenses (so R.V. marg.). We 
 should then render : ' So I desecrated the holy princes and gave 
 up Jacob to a curse (or ban) and Israel to scorning.' Here the 
 first clause might be explained by reference to the closing tragic 
 scenes of the Hebrew monarchy in 587-6 b. c, when the priests 
 and other officials were carried off into captivity to Babylon by 
 Nebuzaradan and doubtless subjected to terrible humiliations and 
 killed (2 Kings xxv. 18-22). This may perhaps be the true text 
 and explanation, but two considerations make us suspicious. 
 Duhm is undoubtedly right in regarding the first distich as 
 mutilated. We miss the parallel clause. Moreover, when we 
 turn to the LXX we can clearly see that they had a somewhat 
 diflferent text. This Houbigant, Klostermann, and Cheyne would 
 reconstruct mainly in accordance with the Greek rendering. We 
 should then read (with a gap for the lost parallel clause) : 
 
 'And thy princes desecrated my sanctuary ... 
 So I delivered Jacob to the ban — and Israel to scorning.' 
 
 The first line, which is imperfect through the loss of the parallel 
 clause, continues the recital of Israel's sins against Yahweh (begun 
 in the preceding verse) which have brought about Divine chastise- 
 ment. The desecration of the sanctuary by the princes will refer 
 to the idolatrous practices described in 2 Kings xxi. 3-5, 7 ; 
 Ezek. viii. 3-17. When summoned to the bar of Divine judg- 
 ment God's people have no merits to plead in their justification. 
 
 ^ i. e. so as to make them both * Waw consecutive.' 
 
I04 ISAIAH 44. 1-3 
 
 44 Jacob a curse, and Israel a reviling. Yet now hear, O 
 Jacob my servant ; and Israel, whom I have chosen : 
 
 2 thus saith the Lord that made thee, and formed thee 
 from the womb, who will help thee : Fear not, O Jacob 
 my servant; and thou, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. 
 
 3 For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and 
 streams upon the dry ground : I will pour my spirit upon 
 
 God's forgiveness and mercy are based on His own gracious 
 initiative. 
 
 Chapter XLIV. 
 Verses 1-5. After the recital of Israel's sins and the Divine 
 chastisement that followed comes the gracious Divine promise of 
 revival. We hardly see Yahweh any longer in the forbidding 
 role of legal adversary urging his pleas (cf. xliii. 26). In place of 
 the dark past there unfolds the bright future in which God's spirit 
 descends in showers upon the parched tendrils in the thirsty soil. 
 The contrast reminds us of the transition between the close of 
 chap, xlii and the opening of chap. xUii. Hebrew prophecy is full 
 of these striking contrasts. 
 
 1. Yet now. The Hebrew word rendered 'now ' possesses 
 in combination with the imperative a hortatory force. Cf. Gen. 
 xxxi, 13 ; Isa. xxx, 8 ; Mic. v. i [iv. 14 Heb.]. The opening of 
 this chapter (verses i, 2) is very analogous to that of xliii. 
 
 2. The name Jeshurun for Israel is apparently borrowed from 
 here in Deut. xxxii. 15, xxxiii. 26, parallel in formation to the 
 tribal word Zebulun. It is not found in any other passage. It is 
 evidently based in its form upon the Hebrew adjective jdshdr 
 (pronounced jva5/zar), meaning 'brave,' 'upright.' In all pro- 
 bability we must combine this designation of Israel with the 
 immediately preceding depreciatory reference to this patriarch as 
 the crafty supplanter (Jacob) in xliii. 27 (cf. Hos. xii. 4). See 
 Bacher in ZATW., 1885, p. 161, whose view is supported by 
 Duhm. Formerly the * supplanter,' he is now the noble and 
 upright (Jeshurun). 
 
 3. The parallelism indicates that we should render with R. V. 
 (marg.), * I will pour water on the thirsty land.'' Here again 
 we note contrast. In xliii. 28 we read that Yahweh had delivered 
 Jacob up to a curse (ban). Now a land that is cursed is devoid of 
 rain (2 Sam. i. 21). The rivulets of water, that God's forgiving 
 mercy pours forth, betokens here the removal of the ban. 
 
 The word which is here rendered oflfspring", like the word 
 *seed' in the preceding parallel clause, is primarily applied to 
 vegetation. Thus in Isa. xxxiv. i, xlii. 5 ; Job xxxi. 8 it is used 
 
ISAIAH 44. 4, 5 105 
 
 thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring : and they 4 
 shall spring up among the grass, as willows by the water- 
 courses. One shall say, I am the Lord's; and another shall 5 
 call himself hy the name of Jacob ; and another shall sub- 
 generally of the products of the earth. It is doubtful whether the 
 word belongs to pre-exilian literature (Isa. xxii. 24 is the only 
 possible exception). 
 
 4. The watercourses are the artificially constructed canals for 
 irrigation {rivi aquarum) characteristic of Babylonia. The willow 
 is the species known as Popuhis Euphratica. Translate : ' They 
 shall sprout (R.V. spring up) as between waters grass ^ ' ; a vivid 
 picture of the grass meads intersected by watercourses (so Lowth, 
 Ewald, Cheyne, Houbigant, Duhm, and Marti). 
 
 5. Here comes the full fruition of the Divine blessing. Israel 
 is to realize his Divine vocation as ' Yahweh's servant,' the 
 ' Covenant race ' (xlii. 6). He is to be a light to the Gentiles 
 (^cf, xhx. 6). We are to understand by one and another {lit. '■ this ' 
 in Hebrew ^) foreigners who are attracted by the revived and 
 quickened Israel and become proselytes to Israel's faith. A slight 
 change in the punctuation of the Hebrew text is necessary, 
 whereby two of the verbs are pronounced as reflexive and passive 
 rather than active. Accordingly render : ' One says I am 
 Yahweh's— and another names himself with the name of Jacob and 
 another inscribes his hand (with) " Yahweh's own'' — and is 
 honoured by the title '' Israel." ' Marti sees here an allusion to 
 the custom whereby the slave inscribed his skin with the name of 
 his master. More probably we have here an old rite of self- dedi- 
 cation. See W. R. Smith, Kinship and Marriage, p. 213 foil. In 
 Lev. xix. 28 such ^cuttings in the flesh' are forbidden, which 
 shows how widely the custom prevailed. This, moreover, indicates 
 that in the post-exilian period of legislative reconstruction this 
 custom was regarded with disfavour, but during the exile period 
 the Deutero- Isaiah had no such feeling. 
 
 The Hebrew verb, which we have rendered above in its passive 
 form 'is honoured by the title,' means ' to bestow an honourable 
 surname or title' upon a person ^ The Arabic substantive 
 
 ^ LXX wcct x6p70% ova. ixeffov vdaros points the way to the right 
 text. Evidently the word for ' water ' has dropped out of the Hebrew 
 and should be restored. For pa read p3. 
 
 ^ A similar idiomatic use of ' this ' is found in chap. vi. 3 (where 
 ' this' . . . 'this' stands in the original for 'one*. . . 'another'}. 
 
 ^ i. e. the Piel, kinnah (the active form). 
 
io6 ISAIAH 44. 6, 7 
 
 scribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname 
 himself by the name of Israel. 
 
 6 Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel, and his 
 redeemer the Lord of hosts : I am the first, and I am 
 
 7 the last ; and beside me there is no God. And who, as 
 I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for 
 
 derived from the same Semitic root is kunya ^, which usually 
 signifies the honourable surname which a man assumes when he 
 calls himself father of some specially named son, e. g. Abu Omar. 
 Here the verb is used of honouring by surname of any kind. 
 
 Verses 6-23. The greatness of Yahweh, Israel's Redeemer, is 
 beyond challenge or comparison. Future events are known to 
 Him alone. So Israel may rest secure. In connexion with this 
 assertion of God's supremacy beside whom no gods exist, there 
 follows in an entirely different measure a satire on idols and idol- 
 makers (verses 9-20). It is not necessary, however, to assume 
 that this is a later insertion with Duhm and Marti. The former 
 compares the attack on image-worship in the Book of Daniel 
 (e. g. iv. 34 LXX) and Baruch vi. (Ep. of Jeremy) 3-73, and 
 similar productions of a later time, cold and laboured. On the 
 other hand, the mode in which this digression is introduced 
 presents a certain analogy to the similar passage on the manu- 
 facture of idols, xl. 18, 19, xli. 6, 7, xl. 20, which is introduced in 
 like manner after a sublime ascription of praise to Yahweh and 
 the assertion of His incomparable greatness. But in that case the 
 metrical form remains the same ', in the passage before us there is 
 clearly marked difference. Certainly its style is more prosaic and 
 laboured than that of the genuine writings of the Deutero-Isaiah 2. 
 
 6. Some of the epithets that describe the supreme exaltation of 
 Yahweh in chap, xli recur here. He is king of Israel as in 
 xli. 21, as well as Israel's Redeemer (xli. 14). The old epithet 
 ' Yahweh (God) of Hosts,' applied to Him in pre-exilian prophecy, 
 (i. 9) recurs here. Above all He stands alone in His cosmic 
 pre-eminence. In fact His pre-eminence in time is even more 
 impressive, as Duhm remarks, than His pre-eminence in space. 
 The significant expression ' the first and the last ' passed into 
 apocalyptic, and, in the final utterance of the Book of Revelation, 
 is assumed by Jesus as one of His own Divine titles (Rev. xxii. 13). 
 
 *J. The traditional Hebrew text has evidently fallen into con- 
 
 ^ On this see also Skinner's useful note, who cites from Seetzen, 
 Reisen, ii. p. 327. 
 
 * See the further discussion of this critical problem in the notes on 
 xlvi. 3 and 6 below. 
 
ISAIAH 44. 8, 9 107 
 
 me, since I appointed the ancient people ? and the things 
 that are coming, and that shall come to pass, let them 
 declare. Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have I not 8 
 declared unto thee of old, and shewed it? and ye are 
 my witnesses. Is there a God beside me ? yea, there is 
 no Rock ; I know not any. They that fashion a graven 9 
 
 fusion, and reconstruction is necessar}'. The LXX again point 
 us to the right patli. Oort, Duhm, Cheyne, Kittel, and Marti 
 conduct us to the following restoration of the original : ' And who 
 is like me ? Let him take his stand so as to cry aloud, proclaim it 
 and set it in order for me. Who hath made known from old time 
 future things ? And those things that shall come to pass let them 
 announce to us\' 
 
 8. In the Hebrew word of our text rendered toe afraid it is 
 best to desert the strange and doubtful form presented to us in 
 our copies of the original (whatever justification the Arabic may 
 seem to afford us), and to read the normal Hebrew form suggested 
 by Ewald {tirt7 instead of tirhu). For unto thee read ' unto you ' 
 (plural) with LXX. Probably the interrogative clause ' Is there 
 a God beside me?' ought to be linked to the preceding sentence. 
 It would be better therefore to translate : ' Ye are my witnesses 
 whether there is a God beside me.' The poet anticipates the 
 answer b}' saying, ' Yea, there is no rock, I know of none.' On 
 the word '■ rock ' as epithet of Yahweh see xvii. 10 and note. 
 
 Verses 9-20. The last clause of the preceding verse suggests a 
 comparison with heathen deities, for it is probably more than a mere 
 coincidence that the Assyrians and Babylonians called their 
 deities by the epithet ' mountain ' (iaciii), as proper names testify, 
 e.g. Bel-Sadua, Marduk-Sadua ( = 'Bel is my mountain,' 'Merodach 
 is my mountain '), analogous to the Hebrew proper names Suriel, 
 
 ^ The LXX only help us at the beginning of the verse : t/s ucnrep 
 (jdij; aTTjTQ} KaXfffaTQj KOI eroifiaoaTOJ fxoi' After this their Hebrew 
 copy is evidently based upon a partially similar textual tradition 
 to our own, dcp ov e'jroirjaa dvBpwirov cis rov aluva Kat to. (-nfpxofifva 
 irpo Tov kXdeiv dvayydXaTaxrav vpuv. Apparently they read in their 
 
 Heb. text : UD^ 'n>r n;«bn g-v^} nvn'^i nbij^ nyi d-i« 'pvro— 'since I 
 made man even for evermore, and future things, before they come to 
 pass, let them proclaim to you.' For the benefit of the Hebrew 
 student, we subjoin the reconstructed Hebrew text corresponding 
 to the translation given above : 'p >> l^^^^:") nTr"! N-ji^'i Tlb»'_*2iQ5 'T2^ 
 
 i:*? ^n^3> n2«hn I'aJwT nvni< obi^^o r'DttJn. 
 
 T •- T T v-,- . T •• - • 1 • 
 
io8 ISAIAH 44. lo, ii 
 
 image are all of them vanity ; and their delectable things 
 shall not profit : and their own witnesses see not, nor 
 
 10 know; that they may be ashamed. Who hath fashioned 
 a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for 
 
 1 1 nothing ? Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed ; and 
 
 Suri Shaddai (= ' God is my rock'). The presence of these satires 
 against idolatry in chaps, xl, xH, as well as in the present chapter 
 (cf. xlvi. i), points to the conclusion that to the exiled Jews, amid 
 the destruction of their national kingdom and prestige and the 
 adverse conditions of foreign life, the august worship of the 
 Babylonian deities, Marduk (Merodach) or Bel, god of light, and 
 Nebo, god of prophecy, was dangerously seductive. To many 
 among them the prestige of Yahweh seemed to have sunk beyond 
 recovery after the destruction of His temple and the deportation 
 of His people, and they would be only too prone to worship the 
 victorious gods of their conquerors. After the significant and 
 necessary reminder to his exiled countrymen that Yahweh was 
 the only ' rock ' — not Nebo nor Merodach — the prophet lashes 
 idolatry with satire in which there is a subtle mixture of ridicule 
 and argument. Probably this was the psychological moment 
 when such satire would be most effective, for the ascendant star 
 of Cyrus, ' Yahweh's anointed,' was at that time a definite prognos- 
 tic that Babylonia's day was soon to set and that the prestige 
 and power of her gods would vanish (xlvi. i foil,). 
 
 9. For their delectable thing's read ' their favourites,' viz. the 
 gods whom the idol-makers love to fashion. These shall ' avail 
 not,' i. e. have no power. The following sentence, ' Their 
 witnesses see not nor perceive so that they come to shame,' is 
 very obscure. The witnesses might be understood to mean the 
 worshippers of the gods, but a comparison with the shorter 
 version in the LXX strongly suggests a corrupted text and its 
 extension by dittography. We suspect that the Hebrew word for 
 'worshippers' (^dbhdim) stood in place of the word for 'witnesses' 
 
 10. R.V. in the translation given above regards this question 
 as a rhetorical expression of surprise that any one should be so 
 senseless as to fashion a useless and impotent image. But the 
 Hebrew interrogative mi, ^who,' means also 'whoever.' We 
 might therefore render (with Duhm and Marti) : ' Whoever 
 fashions a god, hath cast a profitless image.' (Gesenius-Kautzsch, 
 Heb. Gram. 2^, § 143 d). The LXX apparently support this 
 interpretation. 
 
 11. The fellows or companions of which this verse speaks are 
 understood by Kittel to mean the adherents of the deity, and 
 
ISAIAH 44. 12 109 
 
 the workmen, they are of men : let them all be gathered to- 
 gether, let them stand up ; they shall fear, they shall be 
 ashamed together. The smith maketh an axe, and 12 
 worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, 
 and worketh it with his strong arm : yea, he is hungry, 
 and his strength faileth; he drinketh no water, and is 
 
 Hos. iv. 17 is cited in support of this conception. But this 
 reference hardly amounts to a real parallel. Lowth and Gesenius 
 followed the Jewish commentator Rashi in assuming that the 
 comrades of the idol-maker are meant to whom the previous verse 
 directly refers. This conception harmonizes with the earlier 
 reference to idol-makers in xli. 6, 7, where the 'companion'^ 
 means the fellow in the craft. In the following clause we learn 
 that these workmen are mere men. 
 
 Duhm most ingeniously extracts quite another and plausible 
 interpretation by altering the vowel-points of two substantives. 
 Accordingly he renders, ' see all his spells turn to shame and the 
 enchantments are of man.' This refers to the all-prevalent magic 
 practices for which Babylonia was famous and to which we have 
 a graphic reference in xlvii. 9, 12, 13 as well as in Ezek. xiii. 
 18, 19 (in reference to sorceresses). Cheyne somewhat modifies 
 Duhm's interpretation by making a slight change in the punctua- 
 tion, and renders in SBOT. 'all his charmers will be put to shame 
 and his enchanters will be confounded' — the last three words 
 being based on an alteration of the text which restores the 
 parallelism. The LXX, however, at this point support the tradi- 
 tional Hebrew text. 
 
 It is hardly safe to accept Duhm's reading or that of Cheyne, 
 since this allusion to sorcery interrupts the course of the denuncia- 
 tion which is throughout verses 9, 10, 12-17 directed against the 
 idol-manufacturer and idol-worship, not against the practice of 
 magic. It is intrinsically far more probable that verse 11 maintains 
 this sequence of thought. 
 
 12. The earlier portion of this verse is in textual confusion, and 
 the LXX rendering clearly shows this, which runs thus : ' For 
 the smith has sharpened the iron, with an axe hath wrought it and 
 with a boring instrument bored it.' It is evident that this translation 
 arises from a duplication of the last word (rendered _' together') 
 of the previous verse of the original Hebrew, which is rendered 
 in this verse by the LXX ' has sharpened.' Two courses are 
 open to us : either to follow the clue afforded to us by the LXX 
 
 In R. V. (and A.V.), 'neighbour' . . . ' broth( 
 
no ISAIAH 44. 13 
 
 13 faint. The carpenter stretcheth out a line; he marketh 
 it out with a pencil ; he shapeth it with planes, and he 
 marketh it out with the compasses, and shapeth it after 
 
 and remove the word rendered ' together ' in the previous verse 
 1 1 and punctuate it as an imperfect form and translate as a present 
 ('sharpens'). The verse will then run as follows: 'The iron- 
 worker ["smith"] sharpens a cutting-tooP and works in the 
 (glowing) coals and with hammers fashions it.' Or, we might 
 with Duhm omit the word for 'cutting-tool' ['axe,' R. V.] as a 
 gloss to the word ' iron,' and, by a slight change in the following 
 word, rendered in R. V. by ' and worketh ' (so as to make it a 
 Hebrew imperfect), translate the opening part of the verse thus : 
 ' The smith worketh in the (glowing) coals.' On the whole the 
 former interpretation, based on the LXX, is to be preferred. The 
 pers. pron. 'it' refers to the graven image {pesel) of verse 9. 
 
 13. The idol-image consists of two portions : metal and wood. 
 In the previous verse (cf. xl. 19, xli. 6, 7) we have read how the 
 metal part was forged in the furnace and cut by the sharpened 
 cutting-tool and beaten with hammers. The present verse describes 
 the preparation of the wooden portion of the idol. It was this 
 woodwork, fashioned, as xl, 20 informs us, of undecaying timber, 
 that formed the inner portion or core of the idol-image. See 
 G. F. Moore, art. 'Idol' in Enc. Bibl,, vol. ii, col. 2151 foil., who 
 infers from Exod. xxxii. 20 (which describes the procedure of 
 Moses in the destruction of the golden calf) that the bull-images 
 of the Northern Kingdom had a wooden core. Plates of gold 
 were then hammered and soldered on it by the goldsmith (xli. 7). 
 That the Ep/iod was a plated image of analogous nature (though 
 much rougher, probably, in workmanship) is fairly clear from 
 Judges viii. 24-27. That its core was of wood, and therefore the 
 weight of the Ephod-image was not excessive, may be readily 
 inferred from the fact that it was constantly carried about by the 
 priest-soothsayer who accompanied the king or his general to the 
 field of battle (i and 2 Sam. passim). 
 
 The 'worker in wood' (R.V. 'carpenter') here stands con- 
 trasted with the 'worker in iron' (R.V. ' smith') in the preceding 
 verse. The successive steps in his work are precisely set forth : 
 he first 'stretches the line' (or cord), then he 'marks its outline 
 with red ochre ' (R. V. marg.). Here, again, the person, pron. 
 'it' refers of course to the 'graven image.' Its final destination 
 is a ' house,' but whether this means a spacious temple, a private 
 
 ' The Hebrew fna'sdd here means a cutting-tool for metals, but 
 in Jer. x. 3 it is a cutting-tool for wood, and hence rendered 'axe.' 
 
ISAIAH 44. i4-r6 III 
 
 the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man, to 
 dwell in the house. He heweth him down cedars, and 14 
 taketh the holm tree and the oak, and strengtheneth for 
 himself one among the trees of the forest : he planteth a 
 fir tree, and the rain doth nourish it. Then shall it be 15 
 for a man to burn ; and he taketh thereof, and warmeth 
 himself ; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread : yea, he 
 maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven 
 image, and falleth down thereto. He burneth part thereof 16 
 
 dwelling, or a chapel sanctuary, we do not know. Duhm suggests 
 that the writer may have been thinking of one of the small tent- 
 sanctuaries woven by the women (2 Kings xxiii. 7). 
 
 14. We suddenly pass from the work of the idol-maker to the 
 very beginning of things — the tree growing in the forest which 
 supplies the wood for the image. The curious and abrupt 
 commencement of this verse in the Hebrew text suggests that 
 several words, or perhaps even whole lines, have dropped out. 
 The sentence may have actually begun : ' [The woodman has gone 
 forth] to cut down for himself cedars.' The Hebrew text actually 
 begins with a preposition prefixed to an infinitive, and critics are 
 usually content with changing this into a 3rd sing., masc. form. 
 Hence the R. V. ' He heweth him down cedars.' 
 
 For and strengtiieneth for himself . . . substitute the render- 
 ing 'and caused it to grow strong for himself among the forest 
 trees.' The verse describes the particular care that is bestowed 
 on the culture of the tree, whether cedar or pine, from the wood of 
 which the image is to be made. 
 
 We have here a genuine Babylonian trait. Both the Assyrian 
 and Babylonian monarchs were lovers of tree-cultivation, and 
 stocked their parks with the finest trees, which they did not 
 scruple to bring from the lands which they had conquered. See 
 art. ' Garden ' in Enc. Bibl. The word oren of the Massoretic 
 text, rendered 'fir,' is the Assyrian erinuj meaning 'pine' or 
 ' larch-fir.' The LXX here have a much shorter text. 
 
 Verses 15 foil. The writer with remorseless satire unveils the 
 absurdity. Part of the tree becomes domestic fuel and another 
 part becomes the material of the image. 
 
 15. In the words for ' kindle ' and ' fall down ' we have in the 
 original forms that are Aramaic rather than Hebrew. 
 
 16. The LXX are once more a warning to us that the tra- 
 ditional Massoretic text before us is not the original one. Their 
 
112 ISAIAH 44. 17,18 
 
 in the fire ; with part thereof he eateth flesh ; he roasteth 
 roast, and is satisfied : yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, 
 
 1 7 Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire : and the residue 
 thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth 
 down unto it and worshippeth, and prayeth unto it, and 
 
 iS saith, DeHver me ; for thou art my god. They know not, 
 neither do they consider : for he hath shut their eyes, that 
 they cannot see ; and their hearts, that they cannot under- 
 
 version runs : ' The half of it he has consumed in fire, and, having 
 consumed it, they have baked loaves on them, and, having roasted 
 flesh upon it, one has eaten and been filled.' There are two 
 features in our traditional Hebrew text which are evidently 
 suspicious, (i) After reading of the two halves of the wood in 
 this verse we read of a still remaining portion in the following 
 verse ! (2) The order of roasting flesh, and eating it, which is 
 correctly preserved in the LXX, is strangely inverted in the 
 Hebrew text before us. Duhm's attempted restoration (similarly 
 Oort, Klostermann, Kittel), based on verse 19, is only partial and 
 speculative, and all that one can plead in its justification is that 
 it removes these difficulties with which our Hebrew text is 
 encumbered, and is somewhat nearer to the original. This is 
 his rendering : 
 
 'The half of it he has burnt in fire. 
 Over its coals he roasts flesh, eats roast, and is satiated.' 
 
 17. The remaining half is here called the residue (as the 
 original text evidently intended). The Hebrew tenses should be 
 strictly followed. Accordingly for maketh substitute ' hath 
 made.' The following present tenses are correct, as they corre- 
 spond to the Hebrew imperfects of the original. It would, however, 
 be more idiomatic to continue the rendering : [He falleth down 
 unto it] ' to worship and pray unto it and say . . .' ^ 
 
 18. Instead of shut R, V. marg. correctly renders * daubed ' ; 
 for ' smear ' ' daub ' is the actual meaning of the original. There 
 may be a reminiscence here of the words of Isaiah two centuries 
 before, contained in his consecration vision (vi. 10). There, however, 
 a different word is used for smearing the eyes (see note ad loc. 
 in vol. i). 
 
 ^ The act of prostration involves a mental state of desire, or 
 expectancy, and so this example comes under Davidson, Heb. Sytitax, 
 § 65 (b). Note his example Job xvi. 20, 21. 
 
ISAIAH 44. 19, 20 113 
 
 stand. And none calleth to mind, neither is there 
 knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part 
 of it in the fire ; yea, also I have baked bread upon the 
 coals thereof ; I have roasted flesh and eaten it : and 
 shall I make the residue thereof an abomination ? shall 
 I fall down to the stock of a tree ? He feedeth on ashes : 
 a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot 
 deliver his soul, nor say. Is there not a lie in my right 
 hand ? 
 
 ia. calietli to sniud : more literally, * r^calleth.' The same 
 expression in the original Hebrew occurs in i Kings viii. 47 ; 
 Deut. iv. 39, and also in Isa. xlvi. 8. It is probably more em- 
 phatic and purposive than the ordinary Hebrew expression ' lay 
 to heart' ('pay heed to,' 'think of), which occurs in sHghtly 
 varying forms in i Sam. ix. 20, xxi. 13 ; 2 Sam. xiii. 33, and 
 Isa. Ivii. I, II. 
 
 For part read * half,' as before in verse 16. This verse, however, 
 is free from the confusions that there encumber the traditional 
 Hebrew text. Here again the Hebrew tenses are more accur- 
 ately represented by rendering : ' I have baked bread upon its 
 coals, am roasting flesh to eat it.' The present tenses here cori^e- 
 spond (as in verse 17 above) to the imperfect in Hebrew. The 
 word abomination (cf. Gen. xliii. 32, and xlvi. 34 — J) is used in 
 pre-exilian Hebrew for anything unclean the use of which involves 
 violation of religious taboos or restrictions (so also of food in 
 Deut. xiv. 3). After the Deuteronomic legislation (621 b.c.) it 
 is a term constantly applied to idol-images or idol-worship (Ezek. 
 xvi. 2 ; I Kings xiv. 24 ; 2 Kings xvi. 3, xxi. 2, xxiii. 13 ; Ezra 
 ix. 1). 
 
 20 begins with a casus pendens, a not infrequent construction 
 in Hebrew to secure emphasis (Davidson's //fir^w Syntax, § 106). 
 We should therefore render : ' As for one who feeds on ashes, 
 a heart that is perverted has turned him aside so that he fails to 
 deliver himself, nor thinks " Is there not a lie in my right hand ? " ' 
 This concluding utterance has the character of a niashdl or pro- 
 verbial saying. The word ashes is emploj^ed to describe anything 
 that is vain or worthless. Thus Job, in response to Zophar and 
 his other friends, says : ' Your memorable words are ash-sayings,' 
 i. e. worthless (Job xiii. 12). The religion of an idolater is an 
 empty support for a soul's life. It fails to save. The idol which 
 he handles is a delusion and fraud. It is to be noted that the 
 word soTil (jiefesh) means frequently 'life,' and is often employed 
 
 I 
 
ti4 ISAIAH 44. 21-23 
 
 3 1 Remember these things, O Jacob ; and Israel, for thou 
 art my servant : I have formed thee ; thou art my 
 
 2 3 servant : O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me. I 
 have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, 
 and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have 
 
 23 redeemed thee. Sing, O ye heavens, for the Lord hath 
 done it ; shout, ye lower parts of the earth ; break forth 
 into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree 
 
 to express the English *self ' in Hebrew, and yet more frequently 
 in Arabic. Cf. Hos. ix. 4 ; Isa. xlvi. 2, and Job ix. 21. Another 
 idiom to be observed is the use of the verb say in Hebrew {amat) 
 in the sense of 'think.' The full form of expression is 'say in 
 one's heart.' Of this use we have examples in Gen. xliv. 28 ; 
 I Sam. XX. 4 ; 2 Sam. xxi. 16 ; Exod. ii. 14, and of the fuller 
 form of expression Gen. xvii. 17 ; Ps. x. 6, ir, xiv. i, &c. 
 
 Verses 21 and 22 resume the thread of thought contained in 
 verses 6-8 ; Jacob is exhorted not to forget Yahweh, Israel's 
 deliverer. 
 
 21. The construction of the last clause of this verse has been 
 a matter of dispute. The punctuation of our Hebrew text 
 involves the rendering given above, but though such a gram- 
 matical laxity as a personal object to a passive seems to be 
 supported by sporadic examples in later Hebrew (Gesen.-Kautzsch, 
 § 117, 4, rem. 3), it is safer to follow the LXX and other ancient 
 versions and take the form as active and render ' thou wilt not 
 forget me ' (cf. R.V. marg,, and so Rashi, Lowth, and Hitzig). 
 
 The expression these thing's means God's unrivalled supremacy 
 and perfect knowledge of the future to which verses 6-8 refer. 
 
 22. The appeal is coiitinued. There is no obstacle to Israel's 
 conversion. Israel's sins are completely forgiven. The con- 
 ception of Divine pardon presented above in xliii. 25 here recurs. 
 
 23 is a jubilant close to this passage in the style of a psahn of 
 a metrical form distinct from the preceding, and consisting of 
 a single strophe of six short lines. 
 
 The lower parts or depths of the earth here stand contrasted 
 with the heavens of the previous line. Both together make up 
 the universe as known to the Jew in the days of the exile. The 
 ' lower parts ' will naturally include Sheol or Hades (comp. Ps. 
 Ixiii. 9 [10 Heb.], cxxxix. 15). Duhm hesitates to assert that Sheol 
 is included, apparently influenced by such a passage as Ps. Ixxxviii. 
 II, 12 (i2, 13 Heb.). But it is obvious that the Deulv-^ro-Isaiah in 
 this lyrical passage is making no exception. Even Hades unites 
 in the jubilant strain. 
 
ISAIAH 44. 24, 25 IIS 
 
 therein : for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and will 
 glorify himself in Israel. 
 
 Thus saith the Lord, thy redeemer, and he that formed 24 
 thee from the womb : I am the Lord, that maketh all 
 things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that 
 spreadeth abroad the earth; who is with me? that 25 
 
 Chaps, xliv. 24 — xlviii. 22. Cyrus, the anointed ruler and 
 agent of Yahweh in effecting the overthrow of Babylon and 
 the deliverance of Israel. 
 
 CHAPTERS XLIV, 24— XLV. 25. 
 
 We have here a fresh poem, whose connexion, hov^^ever, with 
 the passage which precedes is fairly clear. We there read that 
 it was God's great purpose to redeem Israel, and here it is 
 announced that He has designated Cyrus as His anointed ruler to 
 carry out this Divine purpose (xliv. 24 — xlv. 7). On the ground 
 of God's absolute sovereignty over man this procedure is justified 
 against all gainsayers (xlv, 8-13). We have now an ideal sketch 
 of the vast results which shall accrue to Israel both economic and 
 spiritual. Heathendom shall bring its wealth to Israel and 
 idolatry shall be renounced. Confession shall be made that God 
 dwells in Israel and there is none other (verses 14-17). Finally, 
 the lesson of Yahweh's universal and absolute sovereignty is once 
 more enforced as well as the folly of idolatry. Only in Yahweh 
 dwell righteousness and strength. To him every knee shall bow 
 (verses 18-25). 
 
 Verses xliv. 24— xlv. 7 is a poem in itself, arranged in five 
 strophes each of five long verses, while each long verse is made 
 up of two short lines, thus : — 
 
 24, 25. ' Thus saith Yahweh thy redeemer — and thy fashioner 
 
 from the womb : 
 I am Yahweh who made all — stretched out the heavens. 
 I alone that founded the earth — who was with me ? 
 Bringing the omens of liars to nought — make the soothsayers 
 
 fools. 
 Make wise men turn backward — turn their knowledge to folly.' 
 
 Here we have once more the familiar elegiac (or kinah) measure 
 ,cf. xli. ii-i6\ The reading of the R, V., ' who is (or was) with 
 me,' is sustained by LXX and Vulg., as well as by numerous 
 Heb, MSS., and is undoubtedly to be preferred to the Massoretic 
 reading and punctuation translated in A. V. ' by myself.' 
 
 I 2 
 
ii6 ISAIAH 44. 26-28 
 
 frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners 
 mad ; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their 
 
 26 knowledge foolish : that confirmeth the word of his 
 servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers ; 
 that saith of Jerusalem, She shall be inhabited ; and of 
 the cities of Judah, They shall be built, and I will raise 
 
 27 up the waste places thereof: that saith to the deep. Be 
 
 28 dry, and I will dry up thy rivers : that saith of Cyrus, 
 He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure : 
 
 The soothsaying of the Babylonians, whether by omen or 
 dream, was of a most elaborate character. Examples may be 
 found in art. ' Soothsaying ' in Hastings' DB. , vol. iv, p. 599, 
 and in Jastrow's Religion of Babylonia and Assyyia, chaps, xix, 
 XX. Those omens ('signs' or 'portents'), on which the Baby- 
 lonian diviners reUed, are to be frustrated by the non-occurrence 
 of the event in the way that the diviners prognosticated. 
 
 28. The second strophe of five lines begins with this verse. It 
 is probable that we ought to follow the LXX and recent critics in 
 reading ' servants ' (plur.) instead of ' servant.* The plural corre- 
 sponds to the ' messengers ' in the following parallel clause, by 
 whom Yahweh's prophets are meant. 
 
 27. The older commentators (Vitringa, Lowth, and Delitzsch) 
 considered that this drying up of the deep or of the 'streams' 
 was a prophecy of the diversion of the Euphrates by Cyrus prior 
 to the capture of Babylon, whereby his army was enabled to 
 enter the city. But this story, recorded in Herod, i, 191, is now 
 regarded with considerable suspicion, since we have no intimation 
 of this in the clay cylinder of Cyrus nor in the Cyrus-Nabonidus 
 Chronicle (Schrader, KIB., vol. iii, second part, pp. 122 foil., 
 130). The reference in this passage is evidently to the wonders 
 wrought by God in the deliverance of Israel on the banks of the 
 Red Sea ; cf. xliii, 16 ; li. 10. 
 
 28. The actual name of God's anointed, Cyrus, is wholly 
 unprecedented in a prophecy of coming events belonging to 
 a future age beyond the environment of the present. The only 
 resource open to those who advocate the traditional view of the 
 integrity of the Book of Isaiah would be to regard the words * to 
 Cyrus' both in this and the following verse (xlv. i) as a marginal 
 gloss : cf. vii. 17. But even this would not be admissible to 
 those critics, now increasing in number, who adhere to an 
 accentual - metric theory of prophetic composition. That the 
 passage here is metric can admit of no reasonable doubt, and 
 
ISAIAH 45. I 117 
 
 even saying of Jerusalem, She shall be built ; and to the 
 temple, Thy foundation shall be laid. 
 
 Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose 45 
 
 the elimination of the words ' to Cyrus ' will seriously disturb 
 the metrical arrangement. We can only conclude that we have 
 iiere the language of a contemporary of Cyrus who watched his 
 career with absorbing intei'est. The occurrence of this name 
 in an oracle more than 150 years before he lived would be wholly 
 unintelligible and purposeless ^ 
 
 Omit the words He is and render ' My shepherd ' ! The term 
 ' shepherd ' is constantly employed in the O.T. as a descriptive 
 designationof a king. Comp. 2 Sam. v. 2, vii. 7 ; Jer. iii. 15; Mic. 
 v. 3 foil. ; Nah. iii. 18, and is frequent in Assyrian (ri'u. also rPuf, 
 ' rule,' Sennach. Tay/. Cyl. vi. 65). See Schrader, COT., ii, 
 p. 153. But another attractive suggestion, first proposed by 
 Kuenen, that we should slightly alter the pronunciation of the 
 Hebrew characters so that we have another word, ' my friend,' 
 is worthy of consideration and not improbable. The expression 
 ' friend of the king' was a special title of dignity in the Hebrew 
 court of the regal period, 2 Sam. xv. 37, xvi. 16 (2 Sam. xiii. 3, 
 xvi. 17 ; I Chron. xxvii. 33) ; i Kings iv. 5 ^. 
 
 The concluding portion of this verse, ' even saying of Jerusa- 
 lem,' &c., is in reality a repetition of the latter part of verse 26, 
 and is therefore regarded by Duhm, Cheyne, Marti, and Kittel as 
 a later addendum unskilfully appended. 
 
 Chapter XLV. 
 
 1. The prophetic oracle now gives Yahweh's direct address 
 to Cyrus His anointed. For subdue or ' tread down ' other 
 readings are substituted by some critics: Marti 'to terrif}''/ 
 Wellhausen {SaddHC. u. Plmnsder, p. 133^ ' to overthrow ' (lit. to 
 
 * The form of the name in Hebrew (punctuated Koresh, but 
 probably to be pronounced KHrush) approximates with fair close- 
 ness to the original nominative Kurush in the Persian, The form 
 Cyrus is the Greek form of the name as reproduced in Latin. 
 
 ^ It is argued in Gesenius, LexP, sub voce, nr"}, that the expression 
 even existed in the Canaanite towns in 1400 B.C. on the basis of 
 the expression ruhi ^arri, in the Tell-el-Amarna letters (Schrader, 
 KfB., V, letter iSi, line 11), which is rendered 'friend of the king.' 
 But here we should expect the form ri/ii, rather than rii/ii. Accord- 
 ing to Winckler the latter form represents Heb. ro'eh, 'shepherd.' 
 But it is not clear how this meaning is to be adapted to the context 
 unless we give it the general signification ' officer.' 
 
ii8 ISAIAH 45. 2 
 
 right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him, 
 and I will loose the loins of kings ; to open the doors 
 a before him, and the gates shall not be shut ; I will go 
 before thee, and make the rugged places plain : I will 
 break in pieces the doors of brass, and cut in sunder the 
 
 bring down). The rendering of the LXX throws doubt on the 
 accuracy of our text, though the general sense is preserved. 
 
 And I will loose (or ungird) the loins of kings con- 
 tinues, by a change of construction, the expression of purpose by 
 the infinitive in the previous clause. This change of construction 
 is not infrequent in Hebrew. The ungirt loins express inactivity 
 and hence powerlessness. The 'girding of the loins' was the 
 natural preliminary to activity (i Kings xviii. 46). This seems to 
 give us an extra short line, and because it fits in badly with the 
 following line through its final word for ' unloose,' Duhm removes 
 it. But the LXX appear to have read it in the form in which 
 it stands in their text, though it is freely translated. 
 
 After the word for Ziord (i. e. Yahweh) at the beginning of this 
 verse the LXX read in their text 'the God,' and this should probably 
 be retained. Its presence in order to express the contrast with 
 the false deities of Babylonia has a special significance. Accord- 
 ing to the C3'linder of Cyrus these Babylonian deities also claimed 
 to be the patrons and helpers of Cyrus ^ 
 
 2. The actual words of Yahweh's address to Cyrus are now 
 given. For rugfged places (lit. places swollen high), an unusual 
 expression, the LXX apparently read the closely resembling 
 word in the original for ' mountains.' Gratz, Cheyne, and Duhm 
 adopt this reading, which is certainly more probable. The 
 conception of levelling mountains to a plain for a monarch's 
 triumphal progress has already met us in xl. 4. 
 
 The 'gates of bronze ' (doors of brass), which Yahweh's might 
 is to shatter to pieces before the triumphal progress of His 
 anointed servant Cyrus, are usually compared by commentators 
 with the hundred ' gates of bronze ' in Babylon to which 
 
 ^e. g. clay-cylinder of Cyrus, lines 11 foil., (Marduk) 'looked 
 upon him, and was concerned about the righteous king whom he 
 bore in his heart, whose hand he grasped, about Cyrus King of 
 Ansan, whose name he proclaimed.' Line 15 : * His march to his (i. e. 
 Marduk's) city Babylon he commanded, caused him to take the 
 way to Tintir ( = Babylon) ; like a friend and helper, he marched by 
 his side.' Bel and Nebo {Nabil) are also patrons of Cyrus, * whose 
 rule Bel and Nebo love' (line 22). 
 
ISAIAH 45. 3,4 119 
 
 bars of iron : and I will give thee the treasures of dark- 3 
 ness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest 
 know that I am the Lord, which call thee by thy name, 
 even the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant's sake, 4 
 and Israel my chosen, I have called thee by thy name : 
 I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me. 
 
 Herodotus (i. 179) refers. A more satisfactory and concrete 
 comparison is to the bronze gates of Balawat, of which some 
 plates have been preserved in the British Museum, upon which 
 are figured representations of besieged cities, bowmen, and batter- 
 ing-rams. See the illustration in Jeremias, Das Alte Test, im Lichte 
 des alien Orients^ and ed. (1906), p. 574. 
 
 Verses 3-5 form the fourth strophe of five lines or verses of the 
 character described above at the beginning of the poem (xliv. 24). 
 The concealed treasures, or 'treasures kept in darkness,' which 
 Cyrus acquired in his victorious campaigns must have been 
 enormous. It is probable that the Deutero-Isaiah had heard 
 something of the conquest by the Persian king of Croesus king 
 of Lydia (Herod, i. 84), and of the vast wealth which he 
 possessed. But Lydia stood at some distance from the Jewish 
 prophet's normal range of vision. He was thinking of the 
 immediate future in Babylonia (' and I will give thee '). The 
 reference is evidently to the treasures of Babylon^. The con- 
 cluding line of this third verse appears to have outrun its true 
 metric length. Accordingly Duhm (followed by Marti) omits 
 the words in Hebrew * that thou mayest know ' and renders what 
 follows : ' For I, Yahweh, am He that called thee by thy name . . .' 
 The LXX sustain our Hebrew text, i.e. include the words 
 tliat Duhm omits. As a matter of fact the Cyrus-cylinder shows 
 that Cyrus, from motives of policy, accommodated himself to the 
 polytheism of Babylonia and regarded himself as the favourite of 
 the Babylonian deities. 
 
 4, Cyrus is not chosen for his own sake, but for the sake 
 of Israel, since Yahweh is the God of Israel and Cyrus is the 
 human instrument selected for the accomplishment of Yahweh's 
 gracious purposes which have Israel as their object. On the 
 Hebrew verb translated ' surnamed thee ' (i. e. with a title of 
 honour) see note on xliv. 5 above. 
 
 The remarkable parallels which subsist between the phrase- 
 ology of xliv. 28 — xlv. 4 and the language of the clay-cylinder of 
 Cyrus (Schrader, KIB. iii. 2*eHalfte, p. 120 foil.) have formed the 
 
 ' Cf. Jer. 1. 37, li. 13, and Xenoph. Cyrop. v. 2, 8. 
 
I20 ISAIAH 45. 5 
 
 5 I am the Lord, and there is none else ; beside me there 
 is no God : I will gird thee, though thou hast not known 
 
 subject of an interesting essay by Kittel in ZATIV., 1898 
 (Heft i), p. 149 foil. In the clay-cylinder Marduk (Merodach, 
 god of light) assumes the same relation to Cyrus that Yahvveh 
 adopts in xliv. 28— xlv. 4. In this document we read (line 12) 
 that Marduk 'has concerned himself with the righteous king 
 whom he bore in his heart, w/iose hand he held, viz. Cyrus king of 
 AnSan, whose name he proclaimed; for kingship over the whole 
 world was his name declared.' This striking resemblance in 
 style between the language of the cuneiform document and that 
 of the Deutero-Isaiah has led Kittel to the conclusion that the 
 Deutero-Isaiah was acquainted with the court-style which pre- 
 vailed in Babylon and adopted it, since it was the form of 
 expression with which Cyrus would be familiar, and would 
 therefore be likely to predispose him in favour of the Jews. For 
 the attitude of Cyrus to the Jews and their religion corresponded 
 with his general state-policy of clemency and tolerance towards 
 subjugated races. He endeavoured to win the favour of the 
 Babylonians by restoring their temples, just as he gave facilities to 
 the Jews for the restoration of their own shrine in Jerusalem \ 
 The gods and priests of Babj^lonia received large offerings. 
 Cyrus and his son Cambyses took part in religious processions, and 
 styled themselves the servants of Marduk and Nebo. 
 
 5. There is no corresponding parallel to the clause ' I gird thee, 
 though thou knowest me not.' It evidently forms one half 
 of a line of which the other half is lost '-. According to Duhm's 
 
 * See Cyrus-cylinder, line 33 foil. (Schrader, KIB., iii. 2 *® Halfte, 
 p. 126) : ' The gods of Sumer and Akkad, which Nabunaid 
 {Nabonidus), to the indignation of the lord of gods (Marduk), had 
 carried off to Suanna (i. e. Babylon), I, at the command of Marduk, 
 the great god, caused to take their abode again in peace, in their 
 place as they desired' {us^Ub subat tu-itb libbi). 
 
 ^ Duhm makes the last half-line, the first of the entire verse, run 
 thus: 
 
 ['The loins of kings I ungird] — thee I gird, who knewest 
 me not.' 
 
 This Is hardly a satisfactory translation of the latter clause. For 
 Duhm's reconstruction makes thee emphatic. But in the original 
 there is no special emphasis on 'thee.' Nor do the preceding and 
 following lines lead us to expect an antithetic parallelism. We 
 would therefore suggest : ' I gird thee though thou knowest me 
 not — [take hold of thy hand].' Repetition of phrase (cf. verse i) 
 
ISAIAH 45. 6, 7 I2T 
 
 me : that they may know from the rising of the sun, and 6 
 from the west, that there is none beside me : I am the 
 Lord, and there is none else. I form the hght, and 7 
 
 arrangement, which is exceedingly probable, it is the first line of 
 the fifth strophe which ends with verse 7. 
 
 6. they here includes Israelites and foreign nations. The 
 phrase is really impersonal, and is equivalent to saying — ' that one 
 may know.' See Gesen.-Kautzsch, Heb. Gram. ^^, § 144, 36. 
 
 from the West,' Ht. ' from its (i.e. the sun's) setting.' So 
 the Hebrew should be punctuated. 
 
 7. Older commentators supposed that this verse, which declares 
 that Yahweh is the universal Creator who formed darkness as well 
 as light, is specially directed against Persian dualism, which made 
 the opposition between Ormuzd, the god of light (in the cuneiform 
 Aurmazd = Ahura Mazda), and Ahriman (Angromainyu), the god 
 of darkness and evil, a fundamental factor in the religious conception 
 of the universe. This was the opinion held by Vitringa, Lowth, 
 Umbreit, Delitzsch, and Orelli. But very strong reasons weigh 
 against such a view, (i) It is a priori most improbable that the 
 writer of this chapter, whose attitude towards the Persian Cyrus 
 was evidently, on political and national grounds, that of a devoted 
 and enthusiastic supporter, would have made a provocative 
 attack on the conqueror's religion. His polemic is directed 
 against Babylonian polytheisvn (cf. xlvi. i), which was also strongly 
 tinged with dualism, since Babylonian cosmogony is based on the 
 myth of a conflict between Marduk, god of light and leader of the 
 celestial deities, with Tiamat, the dragon-goddess of the dark 
 ocean chaotic depth and leader of the powers of evil. (2) It is 
 extremely doubtful whether the Deutero-Isaiah had any knowledge 
 of the religious attitude of Cyrus as a Persian. Nor are we at 
 the present day better informed. It is quite otherwise with 
 Darius son of Hystaspes, who was a pronounced adherent of 
 Ormuzd, to whose influence he expressly ascribes his conquests '. 
 
 is quite in the Deutero-Isaianic manner, and would account for the 
 omission of the clause. In his second edition Duhm is apparently 
 conscious that, as forming the latter part of the defective line, the 
 portion which has survived in the Hebrew is metrically too long. 
 Accordingly he omits the words ' who knewest me not,' though they 
 appear to be the only part of the line which the LXX (Al.) read in 
 their evidently mutilated copy. The words prefixed in B, Ir'tVxvo'a 
 <Tf, are apparently a paraphi;ase. 
 
 ^ See Lehmann, in Chantepie de la Saussaye's Lehrbuch der 
 Religionsgeschichte'^ (1897), vol. ii, p. 156. 
 
122 ISAIAH 45. 8 
 
 create darkness ; I make peace, and create evil ; I am 
 the Lord, that doeth all these things. 
 8 Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies 
 pour down righteousness : let the earth open, that they 
 may bring forth salvation, and let her cause righteousness 
 to spring up together; I the Lord have created it. 
 
 The contrasts peace and evil are more accurately expressed by 
 the contrasted terms * happiness ' (well-being) and 'misfortune.' 
 The progress of the Jewish mind towards a complete Monotheism 
 is nowhere in the O. T. more eloquently or fully set forth than 
 in the Deutero-Isaiah. Though in post-exilian Judaism Satan 
 (under the influence of the Persian correlate Angromainyu or 
 Ahriman) became elevated into the prince of the hostile evil 
 world (' prince of this world ') which was in antagonism to 
 Yahweh, yet the full supremacy of the latter was never impaired, 
 and the Jewish conception of the Universe remained, as it is 
 portrayed in this chapter, essentially monotheistic. 
 
 8 is a lyric insertion or intermezzo of a similar character to 
 xlii. TO, II and xliv. 23, and of just the same metrical form as 
 the latter [cf. Ps. Ixxxv. 11 (12 Heb,)] : 
 ' Drip, ye heavens, from above ; 
 
 Let clouds with good order flow. 
 
 May earth open . . . [? her bosom] 
 
 That there may spring forth well-being . . . [? and peace], 
 
 And she (i. e. the earth) may cause righteousness to blossom 
 forth together. 
 
 I, Yahweh, have created it' [Hhee ' LXX]. 
 Here the term *good order' corresponds to the word sedek in the 
 original, which R. V. renders by righteousness. But the word 
 sedek is not quite the same thing as sedakah translated *■ righteous- 
 ness' below. The former means the wholesome rules and 
 customs of life which Yahweh's Spirit and word, according to 
 xi. I foil., xxxii. 15 foil., create among His faithful servants^ (so 
 Duhm). We may express it by the general term ' good order.' 
 On the other hand, the word sedakah or * righteousness ' is more 
 specific, and connotes the justice (or righteousness) which prevails 
 as a quality in human personalit3^ The -word yesha^, which R. V. 
 renders by salvation, more properly connotes here security or 
 well-being. Cf. Job v. 4, it ; Ps. cxxxii. 16. 
 
 ^ This is evidently the meaning of the word in this connexion, 
 though its occurrence in this passage, which sets forth the high 
 destiny and calling of Cyrus, might tempt us to regard it as signifying 
 the victory of Cyrus's just cause (as in xH. 2). 
 
ISAIAH 45. 9-12 123 
 
 Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker ! a potsherd 9 
 among the potsherds of the earth ! Shall the clay say to 
 him that fashioneth it, What makest thou ? or thy work, 
 He hath no hands? Woe unto him that saith unto a 10 
 father, What begettest thou ? or to a woman, With what 
 travailest thou ? Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of 1 1 
 Israel, and his Maker : Ask me of the things that are to 
 come ; concerning my sons, and concerning the wor): of 
 my hands, command ye me. I have made the earth, and 12 
 
 The third and fourth lines of this brief song are metrically 
 defective. It would not be difficult to conjecture the missing 
 words (as Duhm and Cheyne) to be in the third line ' her bosom ' 
 (object) and in the fourth 'and peace' (subject). 
 
 Verses 9-13 are a section evidently intended to meet the Jewish 
 objector who perhaps even now clung to the flickering hope of 
 the Messianic descendant (sprout) from David's stock. Chap. Iv, 3 
 shows that the exiles still spoke, though in uncertain tones, of the 
 'sure mercies of David,' and we know that these hopes revived, 
 though only for a brief respite, in the days of Haggai, and became 
 fixed on the person of Zerubbabel (ii. 4, 20-3). To such exiles 
 and others who strongly objected to a foreign Messiah as the 
 chosen instrument of Yahweh for the restoration of His people 
 the prophet addresses the needed admonition of the sovereign 
 power of Yahweh, the Creator with whom man, the created object, 
 argues in vain : ' Woe to him that wrangles with his fashioner, 
 a potsherd among earthen potsherds ! Saith the clay to his 
 fashioner (or potter), "What art thou doing? " ' 
 
 10. There is no sufficient ground for rejecting this verse with 
 Duhm and Marti. It sustains the same line of argument, though 
 the metapvhor is changed. It continues the rebuke of man's 
 arrogant presumption in disputing the obvious facts of Divine 
 providence and destiny. This involves the same grotesque inver- 
 sion of man's relation to the Universe and its Sovereign that 
 Isaiah of Jerusalem characterized in x. 15 under the metaphor of 
 an axe boasting against the man who wields it. 
 
 11. The metaphor of verse 9 is here implied in the expression 
 Maker (R.V.) or ' Fashioner/ applied to Yahweh in His relation 
 to Israel. 
 
 The expression 'Ask me the future' ('of the things that are 
 to come,' R.V.) implies that the future is entirely in the hands of 
 Yahweh, man's Creator. 
 
 Verses 12-13. This universal Lord and Creator of man and his 
 
124 ISAIAH 45. 13 
 
 created man upon it : I, even my hands, have stretched 
 out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded. 
 I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will make 
 straight all his ways : he shall build my city, and he shall 
 let my exiles go free, not for price nor reward, saith the 
 Lord of hosts. 
 
 destinies has raised up Cyrus and prepared the way for his 
 triumphal progress. He is appointed by Yahweh to build His 
 city Jerusalem and set the exiled captive free. Render, * 'Tis my 
 own hands have stretched out, (Sec' 
 
 13. raised him up (properly, * roused him up ') in righteous- 
 ness is not a clear expression in its English form. The original 
 word is once more the difficult Hebrew term sedek, which in its 
 proper sense means the right or due privilege which belongs 
 to a man. Here, as in xlii. 6, it is Yahweh's due right or 
 privilege which He exercises in summoning Cyrus to his high 
 task. Kautzsch, in an instructive note in his art. * Religion of 
 Israel' (Hastings* DB., extra vol., p. 633, footnote), remarks that 
 these terms sedek and seddkah are often employed in reference to 
 Yahweh to describe ' that aspect of Yahweh's activity which has 
 for its object the salvation of His people ' (note e.g. the combina- 
 tion of righteousness and salvation in the epithets of Yahweh in 
 verse 21 below). See also above, Introduction, § 4, p. 37. 
 
 Cyrus is in distinct terms commissioned to rebuild Yahweh's 
 city Jerusalem. Was this commission ever carried out during the 
 reign of Cyrus ? This is extremely doubtful. It is, as we know, 
 expressly asserted in Ezra i that Cyrus in the first year of his 
 reign issued an edict for the rebuilding of the temple and restored 
 the vessels of the Jerusalem temple which Nebuchadrezzar had 
 carried off to Babylon, and we also know that according to 
 Isa. xliv. 28 (genuineness doubtful) this was a part of the divinely- 
 appointed task of Cyrus. Nothing, however, is said in Ezra i 
 respecting the rebuilding of the city. Its walls remained in a ruinous 
 condition and its gateways burnt with fire for nearly a century after 
 this time (Neh. i. 3). Nearly all scholars are agreed (including 
 Meyer') that the historical credibility of Ezra i (especially of 
 verses 7 foil.), composed by the Chronicler in the third century 
 B. c, is extremely precarious. That a restoration, however, of 
 the Babylonian exiles to Jerusalem in the early days of the reign 
 of Cyrus did take place is certain, and that Cyrus gave directions 
 for the rebuilding of the temple must, in the light of his general 
 
 ' Entstehnng des Judenthums, p. 72 foil. : cf. Wellhausen, 
 Israel, u. Jiid, Gesch?^ p. 155 footnote. 
 
ISAIAH 45. 14 125 
 
 Thus saith the Lord, The labour of Egypt, and the 14 
 merchandise of Ethiopia, and the Sabeans, men of stature, 
 shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine ; they 
 shall go after thee ; in chains they shall come over : and 
 they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplica- 
 
 religious policy (see note on verse 4 above and footnote), be 
 regarded as inherently probable. But the actual building of the 
 temple, as we learn from the oracles of Haggai and Zechariah, 
 was only begun in their day. In the second year of Darius, the 
 sixth month and the first day of the month, i. e. somewhere in 
 September 519 b. c. (nearly twenty years after the accession ot 
 Cyrus to the Babylonian kingdom), as we are told in the oracles 
 of Haggai, ' God's house was lying waste ' (,i. 9) ; and it was not 
 till the twenty-fourth day of the same month (i. 14, 15) that 
 Zerubbabel and Joshua began the work of rebuilding. 
 
 The Dutch scholar Kosters propounded a theory that there 
 was in reality no restoration of the exiles at all until the time of 
 Nehemiah in 445 b. c, but this extreme view has been refuted by 
 Wellhausen, and still more completely by Edward Meyer in his 
 work published in 1896, Die Entstchung des Judenthitms. On this 
 subject see below, the Introduction to the Trito-Jsaiah (chaps. Ivi- 
 Ixvi). Comp. also G. A. Smith, Book of the Twelve Prophets^ 
 ii. p. 203 f. 
 
 Verses 14-17. The promises concerning the future of restored 
 Israel now take an even higher flight. It is Israel who is 
 addressed (verse 14). The captives deported by Cyrus from 
 Egypt, Ethiopia, and Saba shall become Israel's possession and 
 acknowledge the presence and power of Yahweh. 
 
 14. Duhm labours to prove that it is necessary to change the 
 personal pronoun from thee (i. e. if feminine, Zion ; if masculine, 
 Israel) to ' htm ' (i.e. Cyinis, the conqueror of Egypt), and from 
 thine to ' his ' in the opening clauses. Cyrus is to conquer 
 these African regions and make their captive inhabitants slaves to 
 the Jews. But this presupposition clearly underlies the passage 
 and does not need to be made explicit. We may therefore leave 
 the Hebrew text unchanged. But for the sake of metre we should 
 follow the LXX (as Duhm proposes) and read ' Lord of Hosts ' in 
 the opening clause of the verse. The word * labour ' is the literal 
 rendering of the Hebrew original, but does not express its actual 
 meaning here. The Hebrew word means here the product of 
 labour, viz. 'produce' or ' wealth ^' Render therefore: 'The 
 
 * Comp. the same use of the Heb. word in chap. Iv. 2 ; Jer. iii. 24, 
 
126 ISAIAH 45. 15, 16 
 
 tion unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee ; and there 
 
 15 is none else, there is no God. Verily thou art a God 
 
 16 that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour. They 
 shall be ashamed^, yea, confounded, all of them : they 
 
 wealth of Egypt and the gains of Ethiopia . . . shall pass before 
 thee.' On the Sabaeans or inhabitants of Saba, cf. xliii. 3 and 
 the explanatory note. 
 
 15. Is the supplicatory appeal of the African captives continued 
 in this verse? According to Dillniann and Kittel it is not. The 
 present verse is the wondering exclamation of the prophet at this 
 consummation so great and unforeseen. Yahweh is a God who 
 shrouds Himself in mystery (Prov. xxv. 2 ; Deut. xxix. 29[28 Heb.]). 
 But Ewald, Hitzig, Duhm, Cheyne, and Marti regard this verse as 
 a continuation of the utterance of the heathen. For it is rather 
 the foreigner, who was unfamiliar with the past history of the 
 Hebrew race and its relation to Yahweh, who would be overawed 
 by the mystery of Yahweh's nature and working. A cult which 
 had no graven image or even a stone symbol of deity, which had 
 survived the disasters of foreign invasion and exile, while other 
 national cults had perished as well as the communities who 
 practised them, could not fail to impress a foreign observer, especi- 
 ally if he had suffered the calamities of conquest and deportation. 
 
 We may therefore regard verses 15-17 as a continuation of the 
 address to Israel, as well as to Israel's God, b^^ the captives from 
 Egypt and Ethiopia. 
 
 ' O God of Israel, the Saviour ' in the original makes the latter 
 part of the long verse metrically overweighted by an extra word. 
 Accordingly Duhm would omit the Hebrew words * of Israel.' So 
 that we should read the concluding part of the line ' a saving God ^.' 
 
 16. In this immediately following verse, on the other hand, the 
 shorter conclusion of the line is evidently mutilated and the only 
 word that survives is the word for ' all.' Accordingly Duhm and 
 Cheyne would read : ' all [his foes].' This reconstruction of the 
 full line is strongly supported by the consideration that in our 
 
 XX. 5; Ezek. xxiii. 29; Ps. cix. 11; Job xxxix. 11. On the use of 
 the Heb. verb rendered * pass before ' (with the preposition 'al), 
 cf. I Kings ix. 8 ; 2 Kings iv. 9. 
 
 * In the first edition of his commentary Duhm points out what 
 appears to be a possible dittography between the Hebrew word for 
 * saving ' and the immediately following word in the Hebrew, which 
 begins the next verse, 'are ashamed.' Nevertheless, he is guided by 
 a right instinct in preferring to cancel the word ' Israel ' out of the 
 text. In losing the word * saving ' we lose the point. 
 
ISAIAH 45. 17, 18 127 
 
 shall go into confusion together that are makers of idols. 
 But Israel shall be saved by the Lord with an everlasting 1 7 
 salvation : ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world 
 without end. 
 
 For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens ; he 18 
 is God; that formed the earth and made it; he estab- 
 lished it, he created it not a waste, he formed it to be 
 
 present text they and them are altogether vague. Accordingly 
 the first long line in verse 16 will read thus : 
 ' There have come to shame, yea suffered disgrace— all His foes.' 
 and this accords with the line that follows : 
 
 'Together have they come to disgrace — the makers of idols.' 
 The ' foes ' here are the deities who are the patrons of other 
 nations. The makers of their images are brought to confusion. 
 The Jewish race has survived all disasters through Yahweh's 
 mysterious power, which the prophet here portrays as an impressive 
 spectacle to the captive foreigner. 
 
 17 develops this conception. While the foreign races and 
 their cults have gone to destruction, Israel under the protection 
 of Yahweh stands triumphant for ever. 
 
 Verses 18-25. We now come to three strophes of seven long 
 lines each. They stand in natural sequence of thought to the im- 
 mediately preceding confession of the foreign captives. Yahweh, 
 the universal Ruler of the World which He has created for order 
 and not for confusion, now summons the races of the worlu and 
 declares to them that He is not a God who dwells in darkness, 
 but reveals Himself in truth and uprightness. To all peoples who 
 have escaped the catastrophes of the past Yahweh declares all 
 idolatry to be folly. Yahweh is the only God to whom man can 
 appeal. All shall find salvation who turn to Him and bow the 
 knee. The chapter concludes with this characteristic and noble 
 expression of the universalism of the Deutero-Isaiah. 
 
 18. Tor links the following verses to what immediately pre- 
 cedes. The fourth line in this verse, beginning 'I am Yahweh 
 (the Lord) and there is none else,' is defective, the short con- 
 clusion of the long line having dropped out. 
 
 The word rendered waste {iohu), but more appropriately 
 translated chaos, reminds us of Gen. i. i, 2 (cf. note on Isa. xl. 17). 
 There is no contrast between the conception of chaos in the 
 cosmogony of Gen. i and the conception of the present. Both 
 there and here chaos is the dark and formless condition which 
 preceded the summoning forth of light at God's command which 
 
128 ISAIAH 45. 19 
 
 19 inhabited : I am the Lord ; and there is none else. I 
 have not spoken in secret, in a place of the land of 
 darkness ; I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me 
 in vain : I the Lord speak righteousness, I declare things 
 
 heralded the creative activities described in order in the subsequent 
 verses of Gen. i ^ God dwells in light and order, and not in 
 darkness and chaos. 
 
 19. The word place should probably be omitted, as it obstructs 
 both metre and sense ^. Read simply, ' in the land of darkness.' 
 There seems here to be a reference to the dark mysteries of 
 heathendom, to the caves where oracles were delivered and the 
 necromancer spoke with the voices of the dead (i Sam. xxviii. 
 6 foil.). These rites of the soothsayer and necromancer had been 
 definitely forbidden in the Deuteronomic legislation, but every 
 votary of a foreign religion sought their aid 
 
 * horrendaeque procul secreta Sibyllae, 
 Antrum immane, petit.' 
 
 But the prophetic word of Yahvveb, the word of eternal 
 universal truth and righteousness, was uttered in the broad, clear 
 daylight, and scorned the mysterious double meanings and 
 subterfuges {ambages) of the Delphic and other oracles. Egyptian 
 religion, like the Babylonian, was steeped in magic (see Hastings' 
 DB., vol. iii, art. 'Magic,' p. 207 foil. ; vol. iv, art. 'Soothsayer,' 
 p. 600). Respecting Babylonian magic, cf. xlvii. 10-13. 
 
 It is significant that the word in the original that expresses ' in 
 vain' is the same word that is used above for 'chaos' ('waste,' 
 R. v.), to which the light and order of God's reign of truth and 
 righteousness stand opposed. In Babylonian reHgion the gods of 
 
 * The harmony which subsists between this verse and Gen. 1. i, 2 
 becomes much more clear when we follow the rendering of Gen. i. 
 1-3, adopted first by Rashi and Ibn-'Ezra, and recognized by an 
 almost unanimous consensus of scholars (including Ewald, Dillmann, 
 Schrader, and Gunkel) as the most probable. This regards the 
 Hebrew word for 'beginning' as standing in the construct relation 
 to the noun sentence which follows. Verse 2 consists of circum- 
 stantial clauses (i.e. is parenthetic), and the apodosis begins with 
 verse 3 (see Bennett's Genesis, ad loc), i. e. * In the beginning, when 
 God created the heavens and the earth — now the earth was chaos 
 and emptiness, and darkness was over the ocean-depth . . . then 
 God said : ' Let there be light.' 
 
 ^ Not improbably we have here a conflate reading of the two 
 variants, ' in the place of darkness ' and ' in the land of darkness.' 
 
ISAIAH 45. 20-22 129 
 
 that are right. Assemble yourselves and come ; draw 20 
 near together, ye that are escaped of the nations : they 
 have no knowledge that carry the wood of their graven 
 image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. Declare 21 
 ye, and bring it forth; yea, let them take counsel to- 
 gether : who hath shewed this from ancient time ? who 
 hath declared it of old ? have not I the Lord ? and there 
 is no God else beside me; a just God and a saviour; 
 there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye 22 
 saved, all the ends of the earth : for I am God, and there 
 
 light, SamaS, the sun-god, and Marduk, the god of light \ are the 
 deities of justice and truth, as the Babylonian psalms clearly 
 show. In Egyptian religion we find the same ethical ideas 
 similarly connected (i. e. with Osiris and Ra). 
 
 20. Here again, as in xh, i and xliii. 9, foreign nations are 
 summoned before Yahweh. But this time it is not for judgment. 
 The catastrophes are over, and it is only those who have escaped 
 them who are invited to God's presence. It is presumed, more- 
 over, that the disciplinary chastisements of the past have opened 
 their eyes to the truth. The folly of idolatry is once more 
 asserted. The wooden idols carried to the field of battle (cf. 
 2 Sam. v. 21) or in processions have been powerless to save. 
 
 21. Nor have the catastrophes been predicted by their gods, 
 who have been powerless to avert them. Both in the first long 
 line of this verse and in the closing one of the preceding the 
 opening portion of the line seems to have been unduly shortened 
 in the original. The argument here is the same as in xli. 21-23, 
 26, an appeal, namely, to Yahweh's prescience and predeter- 
 mination of future events. The phraseology at the opening of this 
 verse closely resembles that of xli. 21, and it is probable that we 
 should supply the Hebrew word rendered there ' proofs ' (lit. 
 strong grounds) in the metrically defective opening line here : — 
 
 'Proclaim and advance [your proofs] — take counsel together.' 
 
 22. Respecting the conception of righteousness here ascribed 
 to Yahweh in connexion with salvation, see note on verse 13 
 above and Introduction, p. 37. 
 
 ^ See, for example, the citation of the hymn to Merodach (Marduk), 
 in Jeremias, Das A. T. im Lichte des alien Orients,^ p. 124 (cf. 
 Jastrow, Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, p. 437 foil.) : 
 ' Place truth in my mouth 
 Let good thoughts be in my heart.' 
 K 
 
I30 ISAIAH 45. 23-25 
 
 23 is none else. By myself have I sworn, the word is gone 
 forth from my mouth in righteousness, and shall not 
 return, that unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue 
 
 24 shall swear. Only in the Lord, shall one say unto me, 
 is righteousness and strength : even to him shall men 
 come, and all they that were incensed against him shall 
 
 25 be ashamed. In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be 
 justified, and shall glory. 
 
 23. Yahweh's word goes forth and does not return (i. e. cease 
 to operate, become ineffective). On this conception of God's 
 word, as though it were a physical force, and on this idiomatic use 
 of the word 'return' in Hebrew, see note on Isa. ix. 12 ; cf. also 
 Iv. II. Similarly the salutation of peace of Christ's emissary shall 
 return, i. e. cease to operate if there be no ' son of peace ' in the 
 household to receive it, Matt. x. 13 (Luke x. 6). 
 
 Compare Paul's employment of the language of this verse in 
 Rom. xiv. IX ; Phil. ii. 10, 11. The rendering of R. V. marg. 
 should be substituted for that in the text, ' Righteousness has gone 
 forth from my mouth, a word that shall not return.' word here 
 stands in apposition to righteousness. God's righteous word 
 shall never cease to have power. 
 
 24. There is evident need for textual change in this difficult 
 verse. The rendering then will be : * Only in Yahweh have I — 
 one will say — justice and might,' i. e. only through Yahweh's 
 power can a man survive all crises and be assured of his right. — 
 The remainder of the verse is somewhat precarious as to text and 
 meaning. Duhm's reconstruction is ingenious, and in translation 
 runs thus : — * Together shall they perish and come to shame — 
 who are incensed with Him^.' But the LXX in the main support 
 our Hebrew text, and we have no need for such drastic change as 
 Duhm proposes. The only modification needed is the addition of 
 a plural ending to the Hebrew verb ' shall come.' We may then 
 translate (nearly as R. 'V.) ' unto Him shall come and shall feel 
 shame — all that were incensed against Him,' Even the foreign 
 foe who cherished hostility to the God of Israel shall come to Him 
 in penitent shame ; a beautiful conception in full accord with the 
 general teaching of the Deutero-Isaiah. 
 
 25 continues the utterance of the preceding verse ('one will 
 say'). In and through Yahweh alone Israel attains his rights 
 
 ^ xli. II furnishes a close parallel and a strong support to Duhm's 
 proposed emendations. 
 
ISAIAH 46. I T^I 
 
 Bel boweth down^ Nebo stoopeth ; their idols are upon 46 
 the beasts, and upon the catde : the things that ye carried 
 
 and unique privilege. It is not needful to add to the thought of 
 the writer, for it does not here belong to his message, that Israel's 
 glory is enhanced by the destruction of his foes, as Duhm's 
 emendation of the text in the previous verse would imply. 
 
 Chaps. XLVI-XLVIII. 
 
 Babylon's Fate and its consequences for Israel. 
 
 Chapter XLVI. 
 
 From Cyrus and the great part he played as Yahweh's anointed 
 servant in the fulfilment of the Divine purpose to restore Israel 
 the prophet now turns to Babylon and its deities. It is easy to 
 see the natural sequence of the ideas in this chapter upon those 
 of the preceding one. There are several allusions in this chapter 
 to utterances in chap, xlv, e.g. we shall see in verses i, 3 foil, 
 and 7 that the conception of xlv. 20 is resumed. 
 
 1, 2 are a short poem of exultation over the downfall of Babylon's 
 deities. It appears to be constituted of two strophes of three 
 short lines each. 
 
 Bel (in the Babylonian or Assyrian language Behi) is another 
 name for Marduk or Merodach,god of light, who was worshipped 
 under the name Bel in the capital of which he was the chief god 
 or patron-deity. It is to be noted that Bel is the Babylonian 
 form of the well-known Canaanite Baal which, like El (' god '), is 
 appellative, i. e. is not in reality a proper-name, but is a covering 
 epithet which describes any deity as the lord or owner of a particular 
 spot. In this case the O. T, writer shows his close connexion and 
 acquaintance with Babylonia by giving the deity the Babylonian 
 form of the name Bel. 
 
 Nebo, in the Babylonian form Nabu, was the patron-deity of 
 Borsippa. As the city of Babylon, of which Merodach (Marduk) 
 was the patron-deity, was superior in importance to Borsippa, 
 Nebo, the patron of the latter, is made subordinate or son to the 
 former. Nebo is represented as the patron of the art of writing. 
 It is he who inscribes the tablets of destiny, and one of his titles is 
 that of ' bearer of the tablets of destiny of the gods ^' In the 
 
 ^ See Zimmern in KAT.^, pp. 399 foil. In place of Nebo the LXX 
 have Dagon. Though Dagon (in cuneiform Dagan) was not in- 
 frequently worshipped in Assyria, and was known in early Babylonian 
 history (see Jastrow, Ret. of Bahyl. and Assyria, pp. 208 foil., cf. 
 p. 51), he is hardly known in the new Babylonian empire. Probably 
 the name in the LXX arose out of the corruption of the name Nebo 
 into Nego (as in the name Abed-nego in Daniel). 
 
 K 2 
 
132 ISAIAH 46. 2, 3 
 
 about are made a load, a burden to the weary beast. 
 
 2 They stoop, they bow down together ; they could not 
 deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity. 
 
 3 Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the 
 
 New Babylonian empire his name and influence become specially 
 prominent as the names of the monarchs Nabo-polassar, Nebu- 
 chadrezzar, and Nabonidus (Nabu-naid) clearly testify. 
 
 The sentence which immediately follows the mention of these 
 Babylonian deities is uncertain as to text and rendering. We 
 should probably translate : — ' Their images have fallen to the lot 
 of the animal and the beast. Your carried things are borne-as-a- 
 load, a burden to the weary one.' The 'carried things' here 
 mean the images of the national deities carried off" on beasts. We 
 might possibly regard them as deported by the conqueror (Cyrus) 
 in order to place them as a trophy in the shrine of his own patron- 
 god (?), as we read in the Stone of Mesha, line 12. Similarly 
 the Philistines carried off the ark of Yahweh and placed it in the 
 shrine of Dagon (i Sam. v. i, 2). This was the consummation 
 of a nation's humiliation. They were thus deprived of the protection 
 of their deities. Or we may with far more probability, since Cyrus 
 was known to be tolerant and even friendly to the religious cultus 
 of the conquered populations, assume that the images were carried 
 off by the Babylonians themselves. Similarly in Sennacherib's 
 Prism-inscription, col. iii, 55, we read that Merodach-Baladan on 
 the approach of Sennacherib carried off the patron-deities of his 
 land in flight and placed them with their shrines on a ship. But 
 it was the fate of these images to be overtaken and captured. 
 ' They were unable to rescue the load ; they themselves have gone 
 into captivity.' The weary overladen beasts were an easy prey 
 to the captor. The nunien of the god (jtefesh in the original) 
 was unable to save the image-load from capture and itself went 
 into captivity. 
 
 Verses 3-1 1 must, says Duhm, be regarded as a unity. On the 
 other hand, he would separate verses 6-8 (which recur to the 
 familiar theme, the irrationality of idol-worship) as a foreign 
 insertion belonging to another writer, probably the same as the 
 author of xliv. 9-20. The grounds for this view are by no means 
 cogent. We have already indicated in the notes introductory to 
 xliv. 6-23 that verses 9-20 stand contrasted with what precedes 
 and follows. They do not possess the same metric form, and also 
 bear a somewhat distinct character from the compositions 
 recognized as genuine belonging to the Deutero-Isaiah. They may, 
 however, have come from a contemporary source, since the stand- 
 point of the Deutero-Isaiah towards idolatry was identical in 
 
ISAIAH 46. 4-6 133 
 
 remnant of the house of Israel, which have been borne 
 l)y 7ne from the belly, which have been carried from the 
 womb : and even to old age I am he, and even to hoar 4 
 hairs will I carry you : I have made, and I will bear ; 
 yea, I will carry, and will deliver. To whom will ye liken 5 
 me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may 
 be like ? Such as lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh 6 
 
 character. On the other hand, it should be noted that the transition 
 in xl. 18 to verse 19 is very similar to that of xlvi. 5 to verses 
 6 foil. But no one denies that xl. 19, xli. 6, 7, xl. 20 are genuine. 
 
 3. To whom do the parallel expressions house of Jacob and 
 remnant of the house of Israel refer 1 It is quite reasonable to 
 suppose that the Northern Israelites of the Ephraimite kingdom, 
 both those who were deported by Sargon as well as those who 
 still resided in Palestine, are referred to. That they were not 
 forgotten by Hebrew prophets in the sixth century is clearly 
 shown by the beautiful poem of Jer. xxxi. 15-20 (recognized as 
 genuine by Giesebrecht, Duhm, and Cornill) and Ezek. xxxvii. 
 15-28 (the two sticks united). It is, however, certain that Judah 
 is also included, since ' Israel' (as well as ' Jacob ') is constantly 
 used in the Deutero-Isaiah as a designation of the Jewish race 
 (xl. 27, xli. 8, 14, xliii. i, xliv. i, &c.). Similarly Yahweh is 
 called ' Holy One of Israel ' as the national deity of the entire 
 Hebrew race. 
 
 The words by me added to the R. V. are undoubtedly implied 
 in the meaning of the text, which does not express them. Tvoxa. 
 the belly (or womb) = from birth. From the earliest days Israel 
 has been carried by Yahweh as a child is carried by a parent. 
 We find this conception of tender parental relationship in Exod. 
 xix. 4 ; Deut. i. 31 ; Hos. xi. 3 ; Jer. xxxi. 20, as well as in the 
 Deutero-Isa. xl. 11. Here a subtle contrast seems to be intended. 
 The word borne in this verse applied to Israel is the same verb 
 in the original as the expression 'made a load' applied in verse i 
 to the images. The impotent idols of foreign nations are carried 
 on beasts by their devotees whom they are powerless to save. 
 Israel's mighty saving God carries His sons in His arms. 
 
 4. The old age and the * grey hairs ' of Israel do not refer 
 to the present but to the distant future. Cf. Ps. Ixxi. 18, 
 
 I am he might be more idiomatically rendered * I am the 
 same ' (so Duhm), in accordance with Ewald, Synfox of the Heb. 
 Lang. (T. & T. Clark), § 314 b. Cf. xli. 4, xliii. 10, 13. 
 
 5. Tlie language is parallel to xl. 18, 25. 
 
 6. We are reminded of the transition in xl, 18 to the verses 
 
134 ISAIAH 46. 7 
 
 silver in the balance, they hire a goldsmith, and he 
 maketh it a god; they fall down, yea, they worship. 
 7 They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and 
 set him in his place, and he standeth; from his place 
 shall he not remove : yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can 
 he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble. 
 
 that follow, which also constitute a digression to a satire on the 
 work of an idol-maker. The Deutero-Isaianic authorship of this 
 digression, which is closely parallel to the present one, is not 
 contested. This should give us pause in asserting that the 
 sections xliv. 9-20, and especially verses 6-8 in the present 
 chapter, are foreign insertions. The present writer is constrained 
 to admit that a fairly strong argument for such an assertion may 
 be built upon xliv. 9-20. Yet even in this case it is easy to 
 be led astray by theories of interpolation based upon modern 
 and artificial arguments as to (a) uniformity of style, (b) logical 
 connexion \ 
 
 6. The ye of the preceding verse is here defined : * Those that 
 pour forth gold out of the purse . . .' The latter portion of the 
 verse should be rendered : ' they hire a metal-caster that he may 
 make it [i. e. the precious metal, whether silver or gold] into 
 a god. They worship, yea, bow down.' 
 
 7. * They lift him on the shoulder, carrying him — and set him 
 down on his seat. 
 
 So that he stands without moving from his place — . . . 
 Yea, one shrieks to him yet he answers not — rescues one not 
 from one's trouble.' 
 
 ^ On this subject we would recall the attention of the student to 
 the seasonable warning of Dr. Driver, LOT.^, pp. 306 foil. : * It may 
 be questioned whether recent criticism has not shown a tendency to 
 limit unduly the spiritual capabilities and imaginative power of the 
 pre-exilic prophets ; and whether, the prophets being poeis, guided 
 often, as is clear, by impulse and feeling, rather than by strict logic, 
 imperfect connexion with the context (except in extreme cases, or 
 when supported by linguistic, or other independent indications) forms 
 a sufficient ground for judging a passage to be a later insertion. 
 It is also not improbable that the discourses of the prophets have 
 been transmitted to us in a condensed form, in which mediating 
 links may have been omitted.' It may be added that these remarks 
 may be applied also to exilian and post-exilian literature, and they 
 receive strong confirmation from a recent able critic, Gressmann, in 
 his stimulating work, Urspriing der israelitisch-judischen Eschato- 
 logie. See § 22, Die Echtheit der Zuktinftshoffuungeii, pp. 239 foil. 
 
ISAIAH 46. 8-II 135 
 
 Remember this, and shew yourselves men : bring it 8 
 again to mind, O ye transgressors. Remember the 9 
 former things of old : for I am God, and there is none 
 else ; / am God, and there is none like me ; declaring 10 
 the end from the beginning, and from ancient times 
 things that are not yet done ; saying, My counsel shall 
 stand, and I will do all my pleasure : calling a ravenous 1 1 
 bird from the east, the man of my counsel from a far 
 
 Here Duhm is right in surmising that the latter portion of the 
 second long line in this verse with its recurring parallelism has been 
 lost. When we compare the metric form of verses 6-8 with that 
 of verses 3-5 and verses 9 foil, it will be seen that there is hardly a 
 break in rhythmic continuity. Accordingly we have a complete 
 parallel to xl. 19, xli. 6, 7, xl. 20, and the theory that verses 6-8 
 are a foreign interpolation breaks down, especially when due note 
 is taken of the fact that in the last line of verse 7 there is implied 
 the contrast of the motionless and impotent idol-image that cannot 
 save with Yahweh as the God of saving might. See xlv. 21 
 (cf. verse 20), xlvi. 4 (cf. verse 2), where this contrast is made 
 explicit. 
 
 8. The rendering by the LXX is a warning that the text is 
 by no means certain. The Hebrew reflexive {Hithpael) form, 
 rendered by the R. V. shew yourselves men (or in R. V, marg. 
 * stand fast '), evidently did not stand in the Hebrew text used by 
 the Greek translators, but some other reflexive form such as ' be 
 ashamed ' or ' afflict yourselves ' (fast). The latter appears to 
 come nearest to the Greek verb, which literally means * groan ' or 
 ' lament.' Accordingly it would be best to modify the text 
 at the opening of the verse and render : 'Remember this and 
 afflict yourselves . . .' This verse forms quite a natural link 
 of transition to the verse that follows. 
 
 9. The ' former things of olden time ' are the great events of 
 Israel's early history such as the deliverance from Egypt, cf. xliii. 
 16. The prophecies of Ezekiel clearly prove that during the exile 
 period the Jews became more attentive students of their past 
 (Ezek. xiv. 14, xvi. 3, xx. 4-13 : cf. also Isa. li. 2). 
 
 10. things that are not yet done, i. e. things that have not 
 yet taken place. 
 
 nxy counsel, or purpose, stands in parallelism to my 
 pleasure, and are diff'erent terms to express the same thing. 
 
 11. The ravenous hird (bird of prey), or, in the parallel 
 clause, the man of my coimsel (i. e. the man whom God has 
 
136 ISAIAH 46. 12—47. i 
 
 country ; yea, I have spoken, I will also bring it to pass ; 
 
 12 I have purposed, I will also do it. Hearken unto me, ye 
 
 13 stouthearted, that are far from righteousness : I bring 
 near my righteousness, it shall not be far off, and my 
 salvation shall not tarry ; and I will place salvation in 
 Zion for Israel my glory. 
 
 47 Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of 
 
 chosen to carry out His great purpose), is Cyrus. He is com- 
 pared to the bird of prey that swoops down irresistibly on its 
 object (cf. the description in xli. 3). 
 
 12. stouthearted (cf. Ps. Ixxvi. 5 [6 Heb.]) is the rendering of 
 our Hebrew text, but that text is not well adapted to the general 
 sense of the passage. The LXX evidently point us to the true 
 text and rendering : * ye who have lost heart,' i. e. are despondent. 
 These are far from ' righteousness,' i. e. in the present context 
 Yahwelt's vindication of Israel's nght. The Hebrew word is 
 seddkah. See regarding the use of this term the note on xlv. 13. 
 In the following verse it is employed in the Deutero-Isaiah's 
 characteristic manner in connexion with the salvation which 
 Yahweh is to secure for Israel. 
 
 It is probable that those who were ' far ' from this ' righteous- 
 ness' were the Jews in Babylonia who were lapsing into 
 Babylonian idolatry since they had lost belief in Yahweh's 
 might. 
 
 Chapter XLVII 
 is a taunt-song in the familiar kinah measure on Babylon's down- 
 falP. It consists of five strophes of seven long lines each. 
 Babylon is reduced to the lowest depth of humiliation, and is 
 compared to the captive slave-girl brought down to the lowest 
 drudgery, though once she lived in proud luxury. This tragic 
 figure of the arrogant, tyrannical sorceress queen is maintained 
 throughout the entire poem. There is a certain analogy between 
 this poem and Ezek. xxvi and xxxii, as well as Isa. xiv. 4 foil. 
 1. ' Descend and sit in the dust — virgin daughter of Babel. 
 Sit on the earth, throneless — daughter of the Chaldaeans.' 
 'Daughter of Babel,' 'daughter of the Chaldaeans' remind us of 
 the phraseology of Isaiah of Jerusalem. The genitive is what 
 is called an appositional genitive, the city or nation being personi- 
 fied (cf. Isa. i. 8 and note). Conquered and desolated Babylon 
 occupies the same forlorn position as conquered and desolated 
 
 ^ On the elegiac {kinah) measure in Isaiah, see Budde in ZATW., 
 1891, pp. 224 foil., and on the present chapter, p. 237. 
 
ISAIAH 47. 2, 3 137 
 
 Babylon ; sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter 
 of the Chaldeans : for thou shalt no more be called 
 tender and delicate. Take the millstones, and grind 2 
 meal : remove thy veil, strip off the train, uncover the 
 leg, pass through the rivers. Thy nakedness shall be 3 
 uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen : I will take 
 
 Jerusalem in the oracle of the earlier pre-exilian prophet at 
 the close of the eighth century (Isa. iii. 26). It is possible that 
 this image of the earlier seer was present to the mind of the 
 later. As in the model furnished by the earlier poet of the well- 
 dressed lady of fashion that tripped along the Jerusalem streets 
 now degraded to a captive taken in war, so here the contrasts are 
 deeply marked between the delicate and voluptuous imperial lady 
 seated on her throne and the captive seated on the ground, 
 
 2-3. Like a common menial slave of all work {shifltah) she is 
 peremptorily ordered to take mill-stones and grind the meal. 
 Respecting the position of the menial slave-girl see Hebrew 
 Antiquities (Rel. Tract Soc), p. 40, and cf. Exod. xi. 5, i Sam. 
 XXV. 41. A figure of the handmill will be found on p. 70. In 
 these abject conditions she is commanded to strip off tlie veil 
 (worn by any lady of distinction, cf. iii. 19, Song of Songs iv. i) 
 as well as her train. We have already had occasion to note the 
 paraphernalia of a luxurious woman's attire (Isa. iii. 18-23 ; cf. 
 Hehreiv Antiquities, pp. 49 foil.). These would be obviously im- 
 possible in the stern world of a captive. A long dusty journey in 
 the melancholy train of war-captives lay before her. Rivers had 
 to be crossed. Her outer garment must be drawn up, her bare 
 legs exposed to the sun and the vulgar gaze of the soldiery. 
 
 3-4. The close of this verse and the opening of the following 
 is doubtful as to the text. The preceding words I will take 
 veng-eauce may be regarded as textually sound, since they 
 evidently stood in the copies used by the LXX. The R. V. will 
 accept no man is obscure, and hardly bears the sense imposed 
 upon it, viz. * None shall oppose me.' The LXX appear to have 
 combined two readings, the word for ' man ' and the word for 
 ' saith.' The former should probably be rejected in favour of 
 the latter. By making the slight change in the vowel-points 
 of the Hebrew verb rendered * accept ' in R. V. (suggested by 
 the Jewish commentators Saadiah, Ibn 'Ezra, and our own Lowth) 
 the following translation of verses 3-4 may be adopted (with 
 Duhm) :— 
 
 (3) ' I will take vengeance, will not suffer intercession— (4) saith 
 our Redeemer, 
 Yahweh of Hosts is His name — Holy one of Israel.' 
 
138 ISAIAH 47. 4-6 
 
 4 vengeance, and will accept no man. Our redeemer, the 
 
 5 Lord of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel. Sit 
 thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the 
 Chaldeans : for thou shalt no more be called The lady 
 
 6 of kingdoms. I was wroth with my people, I profaned 
 mine inheritance, and gave them into thine hand : thou 
 didst shew them no mercy ; upon the aged hast thou 
 
 Yahweh is inexorable in inflicting the full measure of just penalty 
 on Babylon. Every expression here is full of significance. The 
 Babylonians worshipped star-gods. Istar represented the planet 
 VenuSj^Nebo (Nabu) the planet Mercury, Nergal Saturn, Ninib 
 Mars, Samas the Sun (Marduk also the early Sun), Sin the Moon. 
 But Yahweh is here specially designated as lord of the starry 
 hosts. Moreover, as the Holy One of Israel He was the guar- 
 dian of Israel's interests and would not suffer His people to be 
 destroyed, 
 
 5 foil, states the grounds on which the severe penalty on 
 Babylon was exacted. Yahweh has been wrath with Israel, 
 His inheritance, and in disciplinary chastisement has delivered 
 him over to Babylon. But Babylon has used her opportunity 
 not in mercy but in harshness. Proud Babylon, mistress of 
 nations, shall therefore suffer humiliation. We have here a close 
 analogy to the language of Isaiah of Jerusalem (x. 5-14) against 
 Assyria, ' the rod of Yahweh's indignation.' 
 
 6. The expression I profaned mine inheritance seems to be an 
 echo of Jer. xii. 7. The term ' inheritance ' here simply means 
 ' landed possession,' viz. the land in Palestine occupied by 
 Yahweh's people Israel and owned as well as ruled by Him as its 
 Lord. This land has been defiled because it has been captured 
 by the Babylonian foreigner and its sanctuary destroyed (Ezek. 
 ix. 7 ; Ps. Ixxiv. 7 : cf. Isa. Hi. i). 
 
 The reproach against Babylon for the harsh treatment meted 
 out to the Jewish captives (' Thou didst make thy yoke weigh 
 heavily ') is not reflected in the tone of the earlier prophets, 
 Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Jeremiah anticipated a time of prosperity 
 in the exile home, and in his letter to the captives exhorts thern to 
 ' build houses and dwell therein, plant gardens and eat their fruit ' : 
 ' Seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to go into 
 exile, and pray unto Yahweh for it, for in the peace thereof shall 
 ye have peace ' (xxix. 5-7). This appears to have been also the 
 attitude of the prophet Ezekiel, whose tendency is decisively 
 pro-Babylonian (Ezek. xxvi. 7 foil., xxix. 18, 19). The political 
 sympathies of both prophets, which were at the same time 
 
ISAIAH 47. 7, 8 139 
 
 very heavily laid thy yoke. And thou saidst, I shall be 7 
 a lady for ever : so that thou didst not lay these things 
 to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end 
 thereof. 
 
 Now therefore hear this, thou that art given to pleasures, 8 
 that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, 
 and there is none else beside me; I shall not sit as a 
 
 anti-Egyptian and directed against the court-party and the false 
 prophets, would lead them to acquiesce in Babylonian rule and 
 even in the deportation of the inhabitants into exile. But more 
 than forty years had now elapsed. Evidently a change in the 
 attitude of the Babylonian conquerors to the Jews had super- 
 vened, and exile among foreigners was felt to be a galling yoke. 
 
 7. R. V. correctly follows LXX in connecting the word for 
 ever with 'mistress' ('lady') which immediately precedes it: 
 ' I shall be mistress for ever.' On the other hand, the Jewish 
 punctuators carry the Hebrew word ^ad (' for ever ') into the 
 next clause. 
 
 8. ' Now hear this, thou luxurious — that sittest at ease, 
 
 Who thinketh to herself— 'Tis I, and nought else ! 
 
 I shall not sit as a widow — nor know childlessness.' 
 The earlier part of this verse, ' that sittest at ease . . . and nought 
 else,' recurs in Zeph. ii. 15. Zephaniah composed his oracles 
 nearly 100 years earlier than the Deutero-Isaiah, near the begin- 
 ning of Josiah's reign ; and at that time Assyria was tottering to 
 its fall. In ii. 13, 14 the downfall of Nineveh is evidently predicted. 
 Verse 15, however, is rightly regarded by Nowack and Marti as an 
 interpolation, and the phraseology of our verse has evidently been 
 inserted there. The expression There is none else, or ' There is 
 none except me,' is one that can only be employed by Yahweh 
 the supreme God (Isa, xlv. 6, xlvi. 9). The phrase recurs below 
 (verse 10). Here the proud Babylon arrogates it to herself as the 
 eternal mistress of kingdoms. This trait in language shows that 
 the passage is integral to the Deutero-Isaiah. This was perceived 
 long ago by Jahn and Eichhorn. Schwally in ZATW. (1890), 
 vol. x, pp. 195 foil., is quite wrong in maintaining the contrary 
 position that it originated with Zephaniah. Schwallj'', as well 
 as many recent critics, is well aware that the collection of 
 Zephaniah's oracles is full of later insertions. 
 
 The ' childlessness ' refers to the depopulation caused by the 
 sword, flight of inhabitants, or their captivity. The ' widowhood ' 
 is a metaphor descriptive of the forlorn position of the city 
 forsaken by her allies, peoples, and their kings. 
 
I40 ISAIAH 47. 9-12 
 
 9 widow, neither shall I know the loss of children : but 
 these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one 
 day, the loss of children, and widowhood : in their full 
 measure shall they come upon thee, despite of the 
 multitude of thy sorceries, and the great abundance of 
 
 10 thine enchantments. For thou hast trusted in thy wicked- 
 ness ; thou hast said, None seeth me ; thy wisdom and 
 thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee : and thou hast 
 said in thine heart, I am, and there is none else beside 
 
 11 me. Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt 
 not know the dawning thereof: and mischief shall fall 
 upon thee ; thou shalt not be able to put it away : and 
 desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou 
 
 12 knowest not. Stand now with thine enchantments, and 
 with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast 
 laboured from thy youth ; if so be thou shalt be able to 
 
 9 declares the hollowness of the boast. Both these evils, 
 widowhood and childlessness, shall overtake the doomed city. 
 Babylonia was the land of magic — of spell that brought disaster on 
 an enemy — of counterspell that averted ill (see Hastings' DB.^ 
 vol. iii, art. ^ Magic/ pp. 208-10). None of these shall avail 
 Bab3'lon in this hour of her calamity, * though thy magic arts be 
 many, though thy spells be very potent.' 
 
 10. 'Yet thou didst trust in thine evil — didst think : none sees 
 me,' i. e. thought that there was no God who took thought of her 
 evil deeds; cf. Ps. x. 11. These evil deeds, in the view of the 
 writer, mainly consisted in the oppression of the Jewish exiles ; 
 but we are not informed in what that oppression consisted (verse 6). 
 The wisdom and the kno'wledg'e refer to the system of magical 
 incantations, which were of an elaborate character, as well as to 
 the 'soothsaying.' 
 
 11. The rendering the dawning- thereof has no definite mean- 
 ing. R. V. marg. is almost certainly right : < how to charm it 
 away.' The whole line may be translated thus : 
 
 ' Yet evil shall come upon thee that thou knowest not how to 
 avert by incantation.' 
 
 12. This verse is severely ironical, like Elijah's scoffing injunction 
 in I Kings xviii. 27 : ' Abide by thy spells and thy many incanta- 
 tions whereby thou weariest thyself from thy youth up. Perhaps 
 
ISAIAH 47. 13 141 
 
 profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. Thou art wearied 13 
 in the multitude of thy counsels : let now the astrologers, 
 the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and 
 save thee from the things that shall come upon thee. 
 
 thou art able to win advantage, perhaps thou wilt scare away 
 (thy foes).' 
 
 13. Irony mingles with a tone of pathetic remonstrance : ' Thou 
 art weary with thy many counsellors ^. May they stand (by you) 
 and save you, who divide the heavens, the gazers at the stars, 
 making known month by month whence they come upon you.' 
 By ' they * in the last clause is meant the events which are prog- 
 nosticated. 
 
 The allusion in this verse is to the elaborate system of astro- 
 logy practised by the Babylonian soothsayers. On this subject 
 consult the art. ' Soothsaying ' in Hastings' DB. The omen- 
 tablets mark the distinctions in the celestial conjunctions with 
 a wearisome excess of detail. We take the following example, 
 cited from Jastrow's Religion of Babylonia and Assyria (see chaps, 
 xix and xx) : — 
 
 ' Sun and moon are seen apart (i. e. at different times) ; 
 The king of the country will manifest wisdom.' 
 * On the 14th day sun and moon are seen together ; 
 There will be loyalty in the land, 
 The gods of Babylonia are favourably inclined, 
 The soldiery will be in accord with the king's desire, 
 The cattle of Babylonia will pasture in safety.' 
 ' On the 15th day the sun and moon are seen together ; 
 A powerful enemy raises his weapons against the land, 
 The enemy will shatter the great gate of the city.' 
 The expression * whence they come upon you ' marks the anti- 
 thesis between Babylonian belief reflected in its practice of 
 soothsaying, which ascribed the course of events to conjunctions 
 of sun, moon, and planets, and the monotheistic belief of the 
 Jews, which ascribed all events, good or bad, to Yahweh : ' 'Tis 
 I, Yahweh, and none else, that fashion hght and create darkness, 
 making happiness and creating ill ' (xlv. 6, 7). 
 
 ^ Adopting here a slight change of text, instead of the non-forrn of 
 our Hebrew Massoretic version. We have thereby a natural subject 
 for the following verbs, ' stand ' and ' save,' as well as a parallel to 
 the dividers of heaven and the star-gazers. These were the coun- 
 sellors of the Babylonian in the hour of his uncertainty, like the 
 necromancer in the days of Isaiah of Jerusalem (Isa. viii. 19). 
 
142 ISAIAH 47. 14—48. i 
 
 14 Behold, they shall be as stubble ; the fire shall burn 
 them ; they shall not deUver themselves from the power 
 of the flame : it shall not be a coal to warm at, nor a fire 
 
 15 to sit before. Thus shall the things be unto thee where- 
 in thou hast laboured : they that have trafficked with 
 thee from thy youth shall wander every one to his quarter ; 
 there shall be none to save thee. 
 
 48 Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, [which are called by 
 
 14. All these ' counsellors ' shall show their falsity. In the 
 hour of Bab3'lon's captivity they shall not save her or themselves. 
 Render : ' They shall be as stubble whom the fire hath burnt.' 
 
 15. Duhm would here make the slight textual alteration from 
 the Hebrew word for ' thy merchants ' or ' traffickers ' (R. V. ' they 
 that have trafficked, &c. ') into the word for ' thy magicians,^ based 
 on the same original Semitic root as the word assumed in the 
 Hebrew text in verse 11, in the rendering 'avert by incantation' 
 (R. V. 'charm away'). This will bring the verse into exact harmony 
 with verses 11 and 13 above. This view is supported in the main 
 by Houbigant and Ewald. If we adhere, on the other hand, to the 
 reading of our Hebrew text, ' merchants,' we should understand 
 the term as referring to the magicians and soothsayers who 
 trafficked in their arts with the deluded Babylonians. 
 
 Chapter XLVIII 
 
 presents problems of some complexity which have occasioned 
 much discussion among recent critics. Duhm, Cheyne, and 
 Marti regard it as the combination of a genuine Deutero-Isaianic 
 element with another of a far different character. The former is 
 an exhortation to Israel to believe the new tidings respecting 
 Cyrus and Babylon's overthrow, expressed in the language of the 
 Deutero-Isaiah already familiar to us. In earlier times prophe- 
 cies have been delivered, and they have been fulfilled. Now 
 a new prophecy hitherto unheard is proclaimed in vindication of 
 God's name and honour. Israel is summoned to hear it, and is 
 once more reminded by Yahweh that He is the World's Creator 
 who stands at the beginning and at the end of Time, and that 
 Cyrus is the beloved organ of His will respecting Babylon. This 
 is followed by a brief lyrical poem (verses 20 and 21), which is an 
 appeal to Israel to quit Babylon and to proclaim to the world 
 Yahweh's redemption of His servant Jacob and the wonderful 
 providence which has attended Israel's desert-wandering. 
 
 Such is the Deutero-Isaianic element in this chapter presented 
 
ISAIAH 48. 2 
 
 143 
 
 the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters 
 of Judah ; which swear by the name of the Lord, and 
 make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor 
 in righteousness. For they call themselves of the holy 2 
 city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; the 
 
 in summary. The reader can either see it in the translation of 
 Duhm's commentary (German) expressed in italics, or in Cheyne's 
 SBOT. in pink colouring. In the R. V. rendering above it is 
 unbracketed. But to this there is attached in a series of paren- 
 theses (which are bracketed above) passages of bitter remonstrance 
 severely contrasted in tone with the former. The latter, as 
 Marti says, assumes the form of an interlinear commentary. The 
 style reminds us in its tone of censure rather of Ezekiel or Trito- 
 Isaiah than of Deutero-Isaiah. It would be well for the reader 
 to study the text of this chapter through with the appended 
 comments before a final judgment is passed on this ingenious 
 analysis with which the conservative critic Kittel concurs. It is 
 held by Duhm and other critics that the appended passages of 
 severe censure were added by the editor of the Deutero-Isaianic 
 oracles — the same who inserted the Servant-passages, and also 
 appended the collection of oracles chaps. Ivi-lxvi called the Trito- 
 Isaiah. On this subject see below, p. 238. 
 
 1. waters of Judah is very strange and hardly intelligible. 
 Nearly all MSS. of the LXX simply have ' from Judah,' and it is 
 quite possible that this is the right rendering of the corresponding 
 Hebrew {niihiidah). Seeker would read ' from the bowels of 
 Judah,' which involves a very slight addition to our text. The 
 same word occurs in verse 19, and is found in Gen. xv. 4 ; 2 Sam. 
 vii. 12, xvi. II, &c. But the expression is not characteristic of 
 the Deutero-Isaiah 'Make mention of the God of Israel', i.e. 
 'commemorate'^ (in the sense of 'praise'). This expression 
 occurs again in Ixiii. 7 (Trito-Isaiah), and seems to acquire a litur- 
 gical meaning. 
 
 2. The holy city is an expression which occurs in the Deutero- 
 Isaiah Hi. I. But there it is the ideal city of the future, where 
 the uncircumcised and unclean no longer dwell. The term 
 became a favourite one in post-exilian times ; Neh. xi. i ; Dan. 
 ix. 24 ; Matt. iv. 5, and in Islam it is still el kuds. Here the 
 phrase seems retrospective, and presupposes an organized religious 
 community dwelling within Jerusalem, and individuals who are 
 
 ^ In Heb. hizktr (the Hif'il of the root z-k-r, "^ remember '). 
 Similarly the substantive, zeker, means 'praise,' in Ps. vi, 6, cii. 13 
 (cf. Hos. xii. 6; Exod. iii. 15, where it=^name'). 
 
144 ISAIAH 48. 3-6 
 
 3 Lord of hosts is his name]. I have declared the former 
 things from of old ; yea, they went forth out of my mouth, 
 and I shewed them : suddenly I did them, and they 
 
 4 came to pass. [Because I knew that thou art obstinate, 
 
 5 and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass] ; there- 
 fore I have declared it to thee from of old; before it 
 came to pass I shewed it thee : lest thou shouldest say, 
 Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and 
 
 6 my molten image, hath commanded them. Thou hast 
 heard it ; behold all this ; and ye, will ye not declare it ? 
 
 proud of calling themselves its members. XiORD (God) of Hosts 
 is Kis name is an expression reminiscent of Amos iv. 13, v. 8, 
 ix, 5 foil. 
 
 The word for prefixed to this verse links it not to the preceding 
 clause but to the opening phrase (verse i), ' hear ye this.' 
 
 3. We once more note the famiUar language of the Deutero- 
 Isaiah — xlii. 9, xliv. 8, xlv. 23, xlvii. 11. Old prophecies have 
 received their fulfilment ; cf. xlii. 14. 
 
 4. The language of censure is attached as a reason for the 
 above : ' because I knew that thou art hard ' (obstinate). For 
 sinew substitute ' clasp ' or ' band.' The language is once more 
 unusually reminiscent of other portions of the O. T., e.g. Ezek. 
 iii. 7 foil. ; cf. Deut. ix. 27 ; Exod. xxxii. 9 ; cf. Deut. ix. 6, 13. 
 The ground which is here alleged for God's past prophecies and 
 their fulfilment must strike the ordinary reader as forced and 
 abrupt. The tone of rebuke is different from the admonitory style 
 of xlii. 18— xliii. 2, where the transition is natural; cf. also xl. 
 27-31. 
 
 5. The earlier part of this verse is evidently Deutero-Isaianic, 
 and repeats the conception of verse 3. For therefore substi- 
 tute 'and.' 
 
 The latter part of this verse Duhm, Cheyne, and other critics 
 regard as a later insertion. But this is by no means certain, nor 
 is it really at all obvious, as Duhm asserts, that the gloss-writer 
 recurs to the old Deuteronomic conception of Israel's past history 
 that it was nothing but a continuous lapse into idolatry. On the 
 contrary, we are here reminded of the vivid consciousness in the 
 mind of the Deutero-Isaiah of an ever-present and recurring 
 danger among the exiled Jews, whose lapse into idolatry — viz. 
 Babylonian idol -worship — evidently underlies such passages as 
 xl. 19, 20, xli. 6, 7, which Duhm recognizes as genuine. 
 
ISAIAH 48. 7, 8 145 
 
 I have shewed thee new things from this time, even 
 hidden things, which thou hast not known. They are 7 
 created now, and not from of old; and before this day thou 
 heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I 
 knew them. Yea, thou heardest not ; yea, thou knewest 8 
 not ; yea, from of old thine ear was not opened : [for I 
 knew that thou didst deal very treacherously, and wast 
 
 6. ■behold all this, i.e. the fulfilment of past predictions. 
 will ye not declare it. The pronoun is emphatic ; i. e. Will ye 
 not openly confess with your own lips, that God's word has been 
 fulfilled ? There is no reason for altering the text, as Duhm and 
 Cheyne propose, and rendering, * And thou, wilt thou not bear 
 witness to it ? ' though the emendation maintains a consistency of 
 number as well as person. At the same time, it should be noted 
 that the LXX render, * Ye have heard all things, yet ye have not 
 discerned,' evidently based on a different text which may well be 
 the true one. 
 
 *7 continues the theme of the preceding verse. The advent of 
 the deliverer Cyrus is an announcement hitherto unheard ^ The 
 whole of this verse, as well as verse 5, may with good reason be 
 ascribed to the Deutero-Isaiah. There is just as little reason for 
 ascribing the clause ' lest they should say, &c.' to another later 
 writer, as the latter part of verse 5, to which it bears resemblance 
 in form. But it is evident in this case that only the first part of 
 the long line has been preserved. Its genuineness is sustained 
 by its close harmony with the line that follows in verse 8. 
 
 8 harps on the same string as verses 6 and 7. The R. V. 
 thine ear was not opened is hardly possible in accordance 
 with Hebrew usage. It is safest to follow the LXX here and 
 slightly emend the text. Accordingly read, * Neither hast thou 
 heard [it] nor known— nor have I formerly opened thine ear.' 
 
 The remainder of the verse is evidently the language of the 
 later gloss-writer. Its language, as Duhm shows, reminds us of 
 the Tri to- Isaiah. For the expression wast called cf. Isa. Iviii. 12, 
 Ixi. 3, Ixii. 2, and Ezek. x. 13 in the original. The conception of 
 ancient Israel, wicked from the birth (* from the womb '), is familiar 
 to the student of Ezekiel (xvi. 22 foil.). This latter clause puts 
 
 ^ Klostermann and Cheyne suspect the curious form liphne yom, 
 and plausibly suggest in its place l^phdnim, 'formerly.' But LXX 
 evidently read in their text the form which stands in our Bible, and 
 translate, ' in former days^ Though the form be curious, parallels 
 are not wanting. 
 
146 ISAIAH 48. 9, 10 
 
 9 called a transgressor from the womb. For my name's 
 sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I 
 
 10 refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. Behold, I have 
 refined thee, but not as silver ; I have chosen thee in the 
 
 a completely new colour of more sombre hue on the beginning of 
 the verse. Duhm remarks that if the first half of the verse is 
 read in connexion with what follows in actual sequence in the 
 Deutero-Isaiah (viz. verse 11) there is a ring of happy pathos 
 about it : * Never have I hitherto announced to you tidings, in 
 order to enhance my own glory ('for my name's sake').' The 
 new tidings is evidently an inspiring fact to the prophet who 
 proclaims it. But the clauses which follow cast a deep shadow. 
 The announcement has been withheld because Israel has been 
 a faithless rebel. 
 
 9. The same strain by the gloss-writer is continued. The 
 general sense only can be gathered from this textually corrupt 
 verse. The LXX render : ' For my name's sake I will display 
 to you my wrath, and my glory will I bring upon (?) you that 
 I may not destroy you utterly.' This shows that there is some 
 uncertainty as to the reading of the opening clauses. If we 
 adhere to our Hebrew text, adopting only Oort's emendation of 
 the verb rendered refrain, we might translate thus : ' For my 
 name's sake will I postpone my anger — seal up [i. e. confirm, 
 attest ^] my praise unto thee, so that I cut thee not off.' 
 
 10 evidently belongs to the same writer. A comparison with 
 the LXX leaves us in some uncertainty as to text, but it is safer 
 here, as in the preceding verse, to adhere to our Hebrew text. 
 Israel has been smelted and tested, yet not as ^ silver, but some 
 base metal or unworthy substance. Again we have the same 
 language of bitter reproach. Render : * I have tested thee in the 
 furnace of affliction.' 
 
 From the latter part of verse 8 to the close of verse 10 the 
 reader cannot fail to note the pessimistic and almost harsh note. 
 It is only God's sense of what is due to His ' name ' or honour 
 as the God of Israel that saves His rebellious people from utter 
 destruction. Duhm hardly exaggerates when he says that this 
 exhibits a conception of Yahweh's character * that flies in the 
 
 ^ On this use of the Heb. verb to 'seal,' cf. viii. 16 ; Job xxxiii. iC ; 
 Dan. ix. 24 b [of sealing (i.e. establishing, ratifying) a prophecy]. 
 
 ^ Taking the preposition in Hebrew as what is called Beth essentiae, 
 and not as Beth pretii (with Duhm). The rendering 'chosen' is 
 incorrect here. The verb in the original is used in its Aramaic sense. 
 ' Tested/ or * tried ' (R.V. marg.) is the right translation. 
 
ISAIAH 48. 11-13 147 
 
 furnace of affliction]. For mine own sake, for mine own ir 
 sake, will I do it ; [for how should my name be profaned?] 
 and my glory will I not give to another. 
 
 Hearken unto me, O Jacob, and Israel my called: I 12 
 am he; I am the first, I also am the last. Yea, mine 13 
 hand hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right 
 hand hath spread out the heavens : when I call unto 
 
 face of the entire Deutero-Isaianic theology ^' Cf. with it xl. i, 
 2, II, 28-31, xli. 8-10, xliii. 1-6, 25 — xliv. 5, xlix. 14-16, li. 2-4, 
 12-14, liv, Iv {passim). Though the sternness of Divine discipline 
 and Israel's sin that occasioned it are not ignored by the Deutero- 
 Isaiah (xlii. 18-25, xliii. 26-28), it is but a contrast which serves 
 to heighten the brightness of the silver lining to the cloud (cf. 
 xliii. 1-3, xliv. 1-5 standing in immediate succession). Here, on 
 the other hand, the sharply-contrasted, interpolated passages 
 strike no harmonious chord, but a too palpable discord. Of this 
 discord we have immediately another example. 
 
 11. Here the interjected exclamation 'for how should it be 
 profaned ! ' breaks harshly into both rhythm and sense. The 
 subject to the verb ' profaned ' is left vague. The rendering of 
 R. V. above is certainly right in supplying 'my name.' This 
 dissonant clause is added by the gloss-writer to words that are 
 evidently Deutero-Isaianic (cf. xlii. 8). ' Another ' obviously 
 means another deity (cf. the parallel xlii. 8). 
 
 Verses 12-16 are Deutero-Isaianic in conception and language. 
 Cyrus and his fulfilment of the Divine purpose in the overthrow 
 of Babylon are the evident theme. 
 
 12. We note the friendly tone towards Israel my called ; cf. 
 xli. 9, xlii. 6. Yahweh summons Israel to hear Him, as in xlvi. 3, 
 12. Emphasis is laid on God's unchanging personality throughout 
 all time (cf. xli. 4, xliii. 10, xliv. 6). 
 
 13. Also prominence is once more given to His creative power 
 (cf. xl. 22, 26, 28, xlii. 5, xliv. 24, xlv. 12, 18). The word for 
 spread (or stretch) out is an Aramaic rather than Hebrew word, 
 and is one among many indications of the wide and ever- 
 increasing prevalence of that language at this time. 
 
 ' I call to them (i. e. the heavens), and they stood together,' i. e. 
 ready-created at the word of command. The word ' stand ' in 
 Hebrew is used similarly in Ps. xxxiii. 9. 
 
 ' . . .der ganzen Theologie Detitero-Jesaias ins Gesicht schlagt„ 
 L 2 
 
148 ISAIAH 48. 14-16 
 
 14 them, they stand up together. Assemble yourselves, all 
 ye, and hear; which among them hath declared these 
 things ? The Lord hath loved him : he shall perform 
 his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the 
 
 15 Chaldeans. I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called 
 him : I have brought him, and he shall make his way 
 
 16 prosperous. Come ye near unto me, hear ye this ; from 
 the beginning I have not spoken in secret ; from the time 
 
 14. assemlile yourselves is obviously an address to the 
 Israelites. An underlying motive of this entire passage, as well 
 as of others in this section xl-xlviii relating to Cyrus, is not improb- 
 ably a desire to overcome a certain reluctance among many exiles 
 to accept the belief that Cyrus, a Persian foreigner, was Yahweh's 
 anointed servant to carry out His behest in giving deliverance 
 and restoration to Israel. Chap. Iv. 3 (' sure mercies of David ') 
 indicate that the belief in a Messiah of Davidic lineage was not 
 extinct. Stress is laid on God's creative power in vindication 
 of His Sovereign right to choose any human instrument He 
 wills for the accomplishment of His purpose. Another co-opera- 
 ting motive is to convince those who had lapsed, or were lapsing, 
 into idolatry that it was Yahweh's messenger who announced 
 this, no soothsayer of Merodach or Nebo ; 'who among them [i. e. 
 foreign deities (cf. "another" inverse 11)] hath announced these 
 things [i. e. the mission of Cyrus] ? He whom Yahweh loves shall 
 perform His pleasure on Babylon.' It must be confessed that 
 the text of the latter part of this verse is by no means certain, 
 though the general purport is quite clear. The LXX had before 
 them another, but by no means more correct or intelligible text. 
 It omits the word Yahweh (' Lord '), which disturbs the rhythm 
 and is unnecessary. Duhm partly follows the guidance of the 
 LXX and restores the first person : — '• He w^hom I love accom- 
 plishes my design (pleasure) — on Babylon and on the seed' of 
 the Chaldees.' 
 
 15. Here, again, the LXX indicate that we ought to restore the 
 first person in the last clause (so Duhm, Cheyne, and Marti). 
 
 '■ 'Tis I, I who have spoken, yea called him — brought him and 
 made his way to prosper.' 
 
 16. the beginning does not here refer to the creation of the 
 
 ^ The word for ' seed ' (so LXX) and the word * arm ' closely 
 resemble each other in Hebrew, especially when we remember that 
 it was written with consonantal signs, and the vowels were supplied 
 by the reader. 
 
ISAIAH 48. 17, 18 149 
 
 that it was, there am I : [and now the Lord God hath 
 sent me, and his spirit.] Thus saith the Lord, thy 17 
 redeemer, the Holy One of Israel : [I am the Lord thy 
 God, which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee 
 by the way that thou shouldest go. Oh that thou hadst 18 
 
 world, to which verse 13 alludes, but to the career of Cyrus in its 
 commencement. Also the pronoun 'it' must be similarly under- 
 stood. 
 
 The last clause, and now the Iiord GOD hath sent me, See, 
 commences a fresh insertion by the same gloss-writer and in the 
 same characteristic tone of pessimism (verses 17-19). 
 
 17. The opening line is probably taken from the Deutero- 
 Isaiah and woven by the gloss-writer into his own discourse. 
 ' Thus saith Yahweh, thy God— the Holy One of Israel ' — finds 
 close parallels in phraseology in xli. 14 and xliii. 14. What 
 follows, however, differs widely both in thought and expression 
 from the Deutero-Isaiah. While it is not necessary to construe 
 the expression which teacheth thee to profit as inculcating mere 
 eudaemonism or ' religion conceived from the eudaemonistic 
 side ' (Duhm) *, it is quite evident that we have descended from 
 the pure and spontaneous life of high ideals and enthusiastic con- 
 fidence in God's love and power in the future guidance of His 
 people, which breathes through the Deutero-Isaianic oracles, into 
 the atmosphere of doctrinal religion and a despairing retrospect 
 over a degenerate past and lost opportunity ending in irretrievable 
 ruin (verse 19). 
 
 18. The language is the agonized expression of a yearning no 
 longer possible of realization, the might-have-beens swept away 
 in the stream of time. This sadness of retrospect has scarcely a 
 parallel in O. T. literature except in Jer. viii. 20: 'The harvest 
 is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.' Yet there, 
 perhaps, the door of opportunity is not quite closed. Here it is 
 otherwise. The metaphor of Israel's welfare as a river reminds us 
 of the language of the Trito-Isaiah, which quite possibly is echoed 
 here (cf. Ixvi. 12). But there we have the language of a serene 
 optimism. The writer beholds a sunrise. Here the writer 
 contemplates a sun already set and a world of shattered ideals : — 
 
 * Behind the fiery wastes of time, 
 Before eternity ! ' 
 
 ^ Surely the reference to Israel's 'righteousness as sea-billows/ 
 in verse iS, clearly points to ethical ideals in the mind of the 
 
I50 ISAIAH 48. 19-21 
 
 hearkened to my commandments ! then had thy peace 
 been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the 
 
 19 sea : thy seed also had been as the sand, and the off- 
 spring of thy bowels like the grains thereof: his name 
 should not be cut off nor destroyed from before me]. 
 
 20 Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans ; 
 with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even 
 to the end of the earth : say ye, The Lord hath 
 
 2^ redeemed his servant Jacob. And they thirsted not 
 when he led them through the deserts : he caused the 
 
 19. The writer has evidently before his mind the metaphor of 
 the Yahwistic passage in the Abraham-narrative, Gen. xiii. 16 
 (cf. xxii. 17, a closer parallel), v^^hen he wrote, ' The offspring of thy 
 bowels like the grains thereof (i. e. the sand). 
 
 'And his name would not be cut off or destroyed before me' 
 closes the door to all hope, and the utter pessimism of the writer 
 receives its final touch of gloom. 
 
 20-21. We pass into the sunlight, and hear strains of melody. 
 The language of this short lyrical poem is once more that of the 
 Deutero-Isaiah : — 
 
 * Go forth from Babylon, 
 Flee from the Chaldees ; 
 With loud song proclaim it, 
 These tidings make known, 
 
 Send it forth 
 To the end of the earth : 
 Say, " Yahweh hath ransomed 
 Jacob His slave." 
 
 * Yet they have not thirsted, 
 
 'Mid wastes though He led them ; 
 
 Waters from rocks 
 
 He made to drip for them. 
 
 And cleft the rock open 
 
 And waters gushed forth.' 
 
 We are reminded of the lilt of the short song in Isa. xxiii. 16 
 with its unmistakable dance-rhythm. Here, where the pilgrim- 
 throng passes forth on its desert-journey to Jerusalem, the 
 reminiscence of the earlier time of Israel's exodus from Egypt 
 inevitably comes to the mind of the writer, viz. Exod. xvii. 6 (E) ; 
 cf. Num. XX. II. 
 
ISAIAH 48. 22 151 
 
 waters to flow out of the rock for them : he clave the 
 rock also, and the waters gushed out. [There is no peace, 22 
 saith the Lord, unto the wicked.] 
 
 22. Once more a pessimistic gloss ; though a perfectly true 
 maxim, yet wholly out of harmony with verses 20-21. It is bor- 
 rowed from Ivii. 21, where it is integral to both metre and context. 
 
 Our survey of this chapter has tended to confirm in the main 
 the ingenious hypothesis of Duhm that this chapter is interwoven 
 out of two distinct elements. Without the guidance of this 
 analysis the sharp contrasts become extremely difficult if not 
 impossible to explain, and on the assumption of single authorship 
 we are reduced to the exceedingly forced conclusion that the 
 writer interrupts the current of his high theme by severe rebukes 
 of the obstinate and unbelieving portion of the community. But 
 we have no pai^allel for such a literary phenomenon. Nor does 
 this strained hypothesis account for the diversities in language and 
 mental standpoint. 
 
 We stand on safer ground when we follow recent critics in 
 accepting Duhm's solution. But another difficult problem lies 
 behind it. What is the motive for this strange literary patchwork 
 of bright and dark colours? We have no modern literary ana- 
 logies to guide us here. We have to remember the conditions of 
 antiquity and the modes in which literary remains were repro- 
 duced and preserved and provided with modern glosses and even 
 revised to suit the present mood and need. The careful critical 
 study of O. T. literature has revealed these features. The com- 
 plex phenomena of the Deutero-Zechariah (chaps, ix-xiv) can best 
 be explained (especially in chaps, ix-xi) by the assumption of old 
 pre-exilian oracles worked over and adapted by a post-exilian 
 writer. Not improbably Ps. Ix is an old Davidic war-song 
 similarly utilized by a late psalmist. And, coming down to still 
 later times, it has been long recognized that the * Ascension of 
 Isaiah ' is a composite work of apocalyptic character in which a 
 Jewish document has been incorporated into a Christian book, 
 and utilized for the purposes of Christian edification and warning. 
 Similarly chap, xlviii contains genuine Deutero-Isaianic material 
 which may be fortunately separated without difficulty through its 
 strongly-marked tone and style. This has fallen into the hands 
 of an editor who lived in later post-exilian times, when the ideals and 
 hopes of the close of the exile, and even those of a century later, 
 awakened by the advent of Nehemiah, had long passed by and 
 had given place to the bitter disillusionments and the depressing 
 retrospect of moral backsHdings. As the redactor reads the 
 inspiring oracle of an earlier time he inserts his own sorrowful 
 reflections as warnings to his countrymen ; and in this form the 
 
152 ISAIAH 49. r 
 
 49 [S. Listen, O isles, unto me ; and hearken, ye peoples, 
 
 combined thoughts of the two minds and the two ages have come 
 down to us. Marti thinks that the editor belonged to the same 
 age that produced that strange complex apocalyptic work Isa. 
 xxiv-xxvii, which may perhaps be placed in the early Greek 
 period about 300 b. c. 
 
 (2) CHAPTERS XLIX-LV : ISRAEL'S RESTORATION 
 AND IDEAL. 
 
 This collection of chapters was probably composed soon after 
 the actual downfall of Babylon. We no longer hear echoes of the 
 march of political events — of the career of the great conqueror of 
 Western Asia and of the impending downfall of Babylon and its 
 deities, and of Cyrus as the anointed servant destined by Yahweh, 
 the Holy One of Israel, the World's Creator and supreme Lord, 
 to be Israel's deliverer from exile. These subjects no longer 
 engage our attention. The theme of the successive poems is 
 Israel's future — the restoration of Zion with new glory as the 
 centre of a great Divine righteous state. 
 
 A golden thread unites the previous collection (chaps, xl-xlviii) 
 to this and traverses them both. It is the great spiritual con- 
 ception — the ideal which is to be the guiding-star of the Jewish 
 race, viz. Israel as God's suffering servant. This ideal is unfolded 
 in the present collection, and attains its consummation in the last of 
 the Servant-songs, lii. 13 — liii. 12. 
 
 Several indications appear to hint that some of the chapters 
 in this collection were composed after the return to Palestine. 
 The frequent references to Zion, lii. i foil., 7 foil. ; cf li. 3, 16, 17, 
 liv. II, 12, and its restoration, would seem to imply that the 
 writer had just arrived in Palestine with the first band of exiles. 
 On the other hand, passages such as li. 14, lii. 11, 12, Iv. 12 speak 
 of the deliverance and departure from Babylon as something in 
 the future. While, therefore, we have advanced in time to a point 
 beyond that of the preceding collection, we cannot be said to 
 have advanced far. The present series of Deutero-Isaianic poems 
 may be said to belong to the transition stage between the residence 
 of the exiles in Babylon immediately prior to their departure and 
 the return of the first company of exiles to Palestine. 
 
 Chapter XLIX. 
 
 Verses 1-6. Metric form and style remind us of xlii. 1-4. It 
 is composed in six quatrains, each forming a verse. We have 
 here the second among the * Servant-songs.' It bears no relation 
 to chap, xlviii, which forms the conclusion of the preceding and 
 distinct collection of the Deutero-Isaianic oracles. On the other 
 
ISAIAH 49. 2 153 
 
 from far : the Lord hath called me from the womb ; 
 from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of 
 my name : and he hath made my mouth like a sharp 2 
 sword, in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me ; and 
 he hath made me a polished shaft, in his quiver hath he 
 
 hand, it is linked in one characteristic particular to the passage 
 that immediately follows, namely, in the subject which forms the 
 dominating theme of this entire collection (chaps, xlix-lv), Israel's 
 restoration and ideal. 
 
 In xlii. 1-4, the first of the series of 'Servant-songs,' it is 
 Yahweh who speaks, here it is the servant. 
 
 1. The servant addresses himself to the coast-lands as well as 
 distant peoples, since his mission has a world-wide import (cf. xlii. 
 6 and note, and also xlix. 6). The expression from the womb 
 (or '. . . mother's womb ') and its concrete parallels are used in 
 Hebrew to express ' from earliest origin.' This conception of 
 the high spiritual calling of an individual preordained by God 
 even before birth first meets us in the account given by Jeremiah 
 of the inauguration of his prophetic ministry. In Isaiah the 
 dignity and significance of his initiation is expressed by a conse- 
 cration vision (vi. i foil.). In the case of Moses by vision and 
 miracle combined (Exod. iii. i foil.). In the case of Jeremiah we 
 see the beginning of an intellectual process whereby dignity 
 and permanence are ascribed to an event by carrying it asfarback 
 as possible in earthly existence. In later post-exilian times a further 
 advance was made, and we enter the metaphysical stage when 
 institutions and persons of great religious significance were 
 endowed with premundane existence ^ 
 
 The expression made mention of my name is here used in a 
 pregnant sense, i. e. it means more than simply ' called me by my 
 name ' (cf, xliii. 2). It rather signifies ' he has declared who I am, 
 ■\vhat importance I possess, when he bestows upon me the name 
 '' Yahweh's servant " ' (Marti). 
 
 2. The Divine equipment of the Servant. Are we to regard 
 this equipment, like the 'calling,' as natal or pre-natal, and is the 
 expression in his quiver hath He kept me close (more correctly 
 *■ concealed me ') to be referred to the pre-natal condition ? We 
 might then compare Ps. cxxxix. 13. This seems a possible though 
 
 ^ See Hastings' DCG., ii. p. 174 (art. 'Messiah'); Edersheim, 
 Life and Times of the Messiah — vol. i, p. 175. Cf. also Dalman, 
 is'^orj*^ yesit, pp. 105 foil., 245 foil,, where the citations are carefully 
 
 3" rjlned and sifted. 
 
154 ISAIAH 49. 3,4 
 
 3 kept me close : and he said unto me, Thou art my 
 
 4 servant ; Israel, in whom I will be glorified. But I said, 
 I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for 
 
 over-strained interpretation. The meaning is rather that the servant's 
 equipment for his great mission has been hitherto withheld from 
 public observation, though his appointment has been long decided 
 in the Divine counsels. 
 
 We have here military metaphors, though the character of the 
 servant as depicted in chap, liii (a lamb dumb before its shearers ; 
 forsaken, wounded, despised) is the very reverse of military. The 
 month, as organ of the utterance of the servant, is compared to a 
 sharp sword. St. Paul, in his enumeration of the spiritual armoury, 
 calls the Word of God 'the Spirit's sword ' (Eph. vi. 17), and the 
 same metaphor is strengthened in Heb, iv. 12, where the Word of 
 God is declared to be ' sharper than any two-edged sword.' On 
 the other hand, in Jer. xxiii. 29 it is compared both to a fire and 
 to a hammer that batters to pieces the crag. At the close of the 
 verse the servant compares himself to Yahweh's polished shaft 
 which He keeps concealed in His quiver to be used with potent 
 effect against the enemy when the proper occasion comes. 
 
 3. Israel, standing here in the latter portion of the long line 
 (as the R. V. above renders), is not to be regarded as a vocative 
 but as a second predicate, parallel to *my servant' in the preceding 
 clause. Duhm follows Gesenius in wishing to remove it from 
 the text. It stands, however, in the LXX, and there are no 
 metric reasons which demand its removal. Marti would therefore 
 retain it.^ 
 
 Its presence stands in the way of the theory that the writer of 
 these * Servant-songs ' regarded his ideal servant as a personality 
 pure and simple. The presence of the word Israel is fatal to this 
 theory, and such evidence must not be manipulated out of 
 existence. 
 
 For the passive form will be gflorified we ought strictl}' to 
 substitute the reflexive form 'will glorify myself,' since the form 
 in the original is reflexive {Hithpa'el). 
 
 4-5. We have here a ' circumstantial clause ' in which the 
 personal pron. ' I ' stands in contrast with Yahweh, who is the 
 speaker in the preceding verse and again in verse 5 that follows. 
 Accordingly translate : — 
 
 * Now I had said : ** In vain have I laboured. 
 Fruitlessly have I exhausted my strength " ; 
 
 * It is, however, omitted in Codex xii. Parsons, and in one Heb. 
 MS. But these are, as Giesebrecht points out, insufficient reason^ 
 for removal {Knecht Jahves des Deuterojesaia, p. 31). .,er 
 
ISAIAH 49. 5 155 
 
 nought and vanity : yet surely my judgement is with the 
 Lord, and my recompence with my God. And now saith 5 
 the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his 
 
 Nevertheless my cause ^ is with Yahweh 
 And my recompense is with my God.' 
 said here, as in many other passages, signifies thought,' the 
 full form of expression in the original being ' said in my heart. ' The 
 servant reflects over his past history. It seems to have been full 
 of suffering and vain endeavour. What has been achieved ? Yet 
 he faces the future in humble reliance on Yahweh, who will reveal 
 in the future the meaning of all the sufferings of the past and 
 bestow its due recompense. The language resembles that of xl. 
 TO (cf. Jer. xxxi. 16 ; Isa. Ixii. 11) in its particular use of the word 
 rendered ' recompense ' as well as in the general sense of the 
 passage. The tone of the verse reminds us of Jeremiah (e. g. xxxi. 
 16 and xlv), and is re-echoed often in Psalm literature, xxxvii. 5, 6, 
 23, 24, Ixii. I [2 Heb.], &c. 
 
 In response to this attitude of resigned and trustful waiting 
 Yahweh is maturing His purpose: 'who formed me from the 
 womb to be His servant to restore Jacob unto Him, so that Israel 
 might be gathered to Him and might ^ be honoured in the eyes of 
 Yahweh, and my God shall have become my strength.' 
 
 This is a possible rendering of the text slightly modified from 
 the form as it is read according to the Massoretic tradition {Kere) 
 rather than in accordance with the written text {Kethib) which 
 stands before us. The latter reads 'not' in place of 'to him.' 
 In the original both readings are pronounced exactly alike, and in 
 the Heb. text there are not infrequent confusions between them. 
 Of this we have a notable example in ix. 3 (2 Heb.) ; cf. Ixiii. 9^ 
 
 ^ i.e. as Giesebrecht interprets it, the servant's claim (Rechts- 
 anspruch), of which Yahweh his patron is the defender and champion 
 (ibid. p. 30). The further question arises : Against whom is the 
 claim maintained ? The language implies a suit at law or contest. 
 The contest is evidently, as Giesebrecht shows, between the foreign 
 peoples and Yahweh's servant, the true and faithful Israel, K. J., 
 p. 32. 
 
 ^ According to the Hebrew text, we ought here to read the first 
 person. Instead, therefore, of ' and might, &c.,' read ' so that I might 
 be honoured,' whereby this clause stands in complete parallelism with 
 the following. The thought passes by a transition easy to a Semitic 
 Hebrew, from Israel to the personification, who in this entire passage 
 is speaking (cf. verse i). 
 
 ^ In ix. 3 A.V. adopts the one reading, * not increased the joy,' 
 
156 ISAIAH 49. 6 
 
 servant, to bring Jacob again to him, and that Israel be 
 gathered unto him : (for I am honourable in the eyes of 
 6 the Lord, and my God is become my strength :) yea, he 
 saith, It is too light a thing that thou shouldest be my 
 servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the 
 preserved of Israel : I will also give thee for a light tp the 
 
 Hitzig and Duhm adhere to the Kethib or written text, but assign to 
 the verb rendered ' gathered ' another meaning, which in some 
 passages certainly belongs to it, of 'carry away,' 'carry off'; 
 Hos. iv. 3 ; Isa. Ivii. i (cf. Gen. xxx. 23), or ' be destroyed ' — ' so 
 that Israel be not swept away.' Duhm goes further than this and 
 detaches the last clause of the verse from its connexion, and places 
 it at the end of verse 3, thus : — 
 (verse 3)' And He said to me: "My servant art thou 
 
 In whom I shall glorify myself." 
 And I was glorified ^ in the eyes of Yahweh, 
 
 And my God became my strength.' 
 
 This is very ingenious and attractive. But it is a violent treatment 
 of the text. Moreover, there lurks behind it (cf. above note on 
 verse 3) what we have already characterized as manipulation of 
 evidence. For it is obvious that in its old and probably original 
 context the displaced passage furnishes a clear indication that in the 
 mind of the writer of the Servant-songs the ' Servant of Yahweh ' 
 is not a separate and single personality but a vividly-expressed 
 personification of a community. This swift transition from the indi- 
 vidual to the people personified and vice versa is quite natural to a 
 Hebrew mind (Num. xx. 14, cf. verses 15 foil, and 19 and also verses 
 20 and 21, where the alternations between sing, and plur. of this 
 E section are significant). 
 
 In all probability Marti is on the right track in his restoration of 
 the text. He follows the LXX in getting rid of the negative (or 
 the preposition and its pronominal accompaniment ' to him ' read 
 in its place), which is due to dittography. With a slight change in 
 punctuation and the alteration of a single character we obtain 
 what is probably the true original version of verse 5 : — 
 
 R.V. adopts the other, ' hast increased their joy,' lit. ' joy to him ' 
 (i.e. the nation). No reference is made to this in the notes, since the 
 passage has obviously become mutilated, and Krochmal's brilliant 
 restoration is accepted by nearly all recent critics. 
 
 ' Reading the Hebrew text as a Waw consec, and thus bringing- 
 it into harmony with the perfect tense which follows. So also Oort 
 and Klostermann. 
 
ISAIAH 49. 6 157 
 
 Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end 
 
 'And now saith Yahweh, 
 
 Who formed me from the womb as His servant, 
 To bring back Jacob to Himself, 
 "And Israel will I gather"; 
 
 And I have received honour in the eyes of Yahweh, 
 And my God has become my strength.' 
 
 6. This verse continues to unfold Yahweh's purpose and thought 
 (expressed by the word ' said '), and constitutes the climax in the 
 writer's conception of Israel's great destiny as a suffering servant, 
 which becomes subsequently (lii. 13 — liii. 12) more fully developed. 
 We follow Dillmann's interpretation of the Hebrew text : — 
 'And He said :— 
 
 "Lighter task is it than being my servant 
 
 To establish the tribes of Jacob, 
 
 And restore the preserved of Israel ; 
 
 Yea, I will set you as a light to the Gentiles, 
 
 To be my salvation as far as earth's end." ' 
 
 The verse is certainly complex and unwieldy in form. Duhm 
 would relieve it of the clause ' than being my servant ' (literally, 
 'than thy being a servant to me'). And the whole verse certainly 
 flows thereby more smoothly : — 
 
 ' 'Tis task too slight to establish Jacob's tribes. 
 And to bring back the preserved of Israel ; 
 Yea, rather I make thee a light of the Gentiles, 
 That my salvation may be as far as earth's end.' 
 The general sense, whether the clause be removed or not, 
 remains the same ^. The restoration of Israel to Palestine from 
 Babylonian exile had already been foreshadowed by Jeremiah 
 (xxxi. 2-5, 20-22, xxxii. 14-15), and the future scheme of the 
 restored community and its cultus had been sketched in idealized 
 details by Ezekiel (xl-xlviii). The author of these Servant-songs 
 was not content with a mission for God's suffering servant Israel 
 circumscribed by these national limitations ; Israel was being 
 formed by past chastisement for a higher task. To be Yahweh's 
 servant meant nothing less than to be the bearer of the Divine 
 
 ^ It can hardly be said that the LXX help us much to a correct 
 sense, or text, unless it be that the word diaairopdv should lead us 
 to substitute in the Hebrew text '2C2 (' the scattered '), or, perhaps, 
 as Ottley suggests, nw for ■'T!?3 ('the preserved'). LXX render 
 ' 'Tis a great thing for thee to be called my servant ' (^jh^ii^n his , 
 which looks like a purposed emendation). 
 
158 ISAIAH 49. 7, 8 
 
 1 of the earth.] Thus saith the Lord, the redeemer of 
 Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, 
 to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers : 
 Kings shall see and arise ; princes, and they shall 
 worship ; because of the Lord that is faithful, even the 
 
 8 Holy One of Israel, who hath chosen thee. Thus saith 
 
 light to all the nations of the world ^. The writer had drunk deep 
 from the wells of Amos and Jeremiah. 
 
 Verses 7-12. The oracles of the Deutero-Isaiah are resumed, but 
 we no longer remain on the high level of the preceding poem. Dill- 
 mann remarks with truth that in the Deutero-Isaiah we do not hear 
 again of the illumination of the Gentile. At all events the thought 
 is not made explicit. The theme of the following verses is that 
 humiliated Israel is to be raised to great glory and restored from 
 the land of exile to his own country. The metre of the Deutero- 
 Isaiah is resumed. We have two long-line quatrains, each long 
 line falling into two parts : — 
 
 7. 'Thus saith Yahweh — Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, 
 To one despised of souls, to one loathed of nations— to a slave of 
 
 rulers, 
 Kings shall see (thee) and rise up — princes, and shall bow them- 
 selves down, 
 
 ^ It is Giesebrecht who here manipulates the evidence in order to 
 suit the exigencies of a theory. For the text as it stands in verses 
 5, 6 (including ' than being my servant ') is fatal to the identification 
 of the servant in the Servant-passages with empirical Israel. Even 
 Giesebrecht's elimination of the clause in verse 5, * to restore Jacob 
 to Himself,' &c., for which LXX give him no warrant, does not get 
 rid of all difficulties. In verse 6 it is quite evident to the unbiassed 
 student that the establishment of Jacob's tribes, and the restoration 
 of Israel's preserved (or probably we should read * dispersed ') race, 
 is actually regarded as an ultimate but quite subsidiary purpose of 
 the servant's commission. That commission is directed to the 
 Gentiles. Here we see the divergence between the Deutero-Isaiah, 
 who thought of little else but the restoration to Zion, and his great 
 teacher and predecessor. The 'Servant' here is the purified and 
 ennobled Jewish remnant, whose mission is to the Gentile world first, 
 and to his Jewish and Israelite (Ephraimite) countrymen last. 
 See Giesebrecht's Der Knecht Jahves, pp. 41-6, and the clear 
 and able but inconclusive note by Dr. Peake, Problem of Suffering, 
 pp. 46 following. 
 
ISAIAH 49. 9, lo 159 
 
 the Lord, In an acceptable time have I answered thee, 
 and in a day of salvation have I helped thee : and I will 
 preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, 
 to raise up the land, to make them inherit the desolate 
 heritages ; saying to them that are bound, Go forth ; to 9 
 them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall 
 feed in the ways, and on all bare heights shall be 
 their pasture. They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither 10 
 shall the heat nor sun smite them : for he that hath 
 mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of 
 
 Because of Yahweh who is faithful — the Holy One of Israel that^ 
 
 hath chosen thee.' 
 Here the rendering ' despised ' corresponds to a slight alteration 
 of the hardly intelligible form of our Hebrew text. The despised 
 and loathed people is to be honoured by kings. 
 
 8. ' Thus saith Yahweh . . . 
 
 '• In a time of favour do I answer thee and in the day of victory do 
 
 I help thee." ' 
 The first line of this second quatrain is defective. Doubtless the 
 latter part of the long line, which has been lost, contained epithets 
 of Yahweh analogous to those of the first line of the preceding 
 quatrain (verse 7), which likewise opens with the formula : * Thus 
 saith Yahweh.' 
 
 The * time of favour ' means the time when God's compassion 
 and deliverance of His people begins to dawn. 
 ' And will form and make you — a covenant-people — 
 To estabUsh the land— to cause desolated heritages to be inherited.' 
 
 Respecting the covenant-people, see xlii. 6 and notes. 
 
 9. The expression saying continues the address of Yahweh to 
 the exiles. Probably we ought to follow the LXX and restore 
 the preposition ' all ' before ' the ways,' and also the rhythmic 
 balance of the parallel clauses : 
 
 ' Upon all ways let them feed — on all bare hills be their pasture.' 
 
 10. The word rendered here heat we should translate 'glowing 
 sand,' as in xxxv. 7. The heat which overpowers the traveller in 
 
 ^ Literally, 'and he hath chosen thee/ which is equivalent to a 
 relative or attributive clause. Students of Hebrew will consult" 
 Gesenius-Kautzsch's, Hehreisi Grammar, 26th ed. § iii. 4 q. 
 
i6o ISAIAH 49. ii, 12 
 
 11 water shall he guide them. And I will make all my 
 mountains a way, and my high ways shall be exalted. 
 
 12 Lo, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the 
 north and from the west; and these from the land of 
 
 the desert not only comes from the sun but is reflected from the 
 sands. The rendering • mirage ' (based on the Arabic) does not 
 fit either passage. See note on xxxv. 7. 
 
 11. The language reminds us of xl. 4^. 
 
 12. The land of Sinim has been a fruitful source of specula- 
 lion. Interpreters who seek to locate this region appear to 
 have looked towards the east because the north has already 
 been mentioned, and also the west (expressed in the original by 
 ' sea/ i. e. the Mediterranean Sea, which lay west to a Jew). In 
 contrast to the west, the east naturally suggested itself, and the 
 LXX identified the land with Persia. Moreover, Chinese scholars 
 such as Victor von Strauss-Torney (in his Excursus contributed to 
 Delitzsch's commentary on Isaiah, 3rd German ed., pp. 688 foil.) 
 have laboured to identify the land with China. But there are 
 phonetic difficulties in identifying Sinim with China on account 
 of the initial sibilant, which ought rather to be S (ts) than 
 simply S. There is also an antecedent improbability that China 
 was within the horizon of a Jew's (or indeed any Semite's) 
 geographical knowledge at this time. There is no hint of it in the 
 tables of races (Gen. x, xi), or in the long and minute catalogue 
 in Ezek. xxvii, which probably represents the extent of the 
 geographical world with which the Deutero-Isaiah's immediate 
 predecessor was conversant. Nor have cuneiform data led us to 
 the conclusion that China came within the Babylonian field of 
 vision. 
 
 Accordingly we are led to regard favourably the identification 
 of this name with Syene^ (the modern Assouan). The emendation 
 
 ^ In verse 11, the latter part of the long line, 'and my high ways 
 shall be exalted/ forms a natural complement to the former, but 
 seems to be metrically too short. The LXX render this latter portion : 
 ' and [I will make] every high way a pasture for them.' 
 
 '■^ This is rendered all the more probable because it is twice 
 mentioned by Ezekiel (xxix. lo, xxx. 6, nop), in his prophecies 
 on Egypt. In both these passages the LXX correctly reproduce 
 the name. Accordingly the slight mutilation of our text in Isa. xlix. 
 12 must have taken place in early times (i.e. D':"iD into D''3'd). Both 
 the Targum and Vulgate were on the right track in placing the land 
 of Sinim in the south. 
 
ISAIAH 49. 13, 14 161 
 
 Sinim. Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and 13 
 break forth into singing, O mountains : for the Lord 
 hath comforted his people, and will have compassion 
 upon his afflicted. 
 
 But Zion said, Jehovah hath forsaken me, and the 14 
 
 of a single character in our text which this involves is extremely 
 slight. This identification was originally made by Michaelis and 
 adopted by Doderlein, and it has recently been revived by 
 Klostermann and Cheyne, Recent discoveries near Assouan have 
 greatly enhanced its probability. Even as early as the eighth 
 century we learn from Hos. ix. 3, 6 that refugees from the Northern 
 Kingdom found an asylum in Egypt. The number must have 
 been considerable in the time of Isaiah (xix. 19-22), and still 
 greater a century later (Jer. xlii. 14, xliv). Quite recently in 
 Assouan, where a considerable Jewish settlement must have 
 existed, a large number of papyri have been discovered, which 
 are nothing else than Jewish documents composed in Aramaic. 
 They chiefly consist of deeds relating to property and marriage 
 settlements writtpr.jn what somewhat resembles the square 
 Hebrew char^ccer. As the documents are carefully dated, and 
 contain well-known Hebrew names, like those of the exile and 
 post- exilian period, we have here a most valuable collateral 
 testimony to the truth of the proposed identification^. Syenewas 
 one of the centres of the Jewish diaspora in Egypt (cf. another 
 exilian prophecy parallel to this in xi. 11 foil.) from which the 
 exiles were to be gathered to the homeland. 
 
 13. A short lyrical passage is appended as in xlii. 10, 11, xlv. 
 8, xlviii. 20, 21. In character it most resembles xliv. 23— several 
 of whose expressions recur here, such as * sing ' (properly ' utter a 
 ringing cry '), ' be joyful - ('exult '), and ' break forth into singing.' 
 
 Verses 14-21 foreshadow the restoration of the Zion- community 
 and the increase of its population, A poem breathing a warm 
 spirit of intense sympathy with Zion and its sorrows. It is made 
 up of long-lined stanzas — each line consisting of two portions. 
 Apparently there wcie, if we follow Duhm's arrangement, 
 originally six stanzas, one of which (beginning of verse 19) has 
 lost two lines. It is really a dialogue between Zion and her 
 Divine husband, Yahweh. 
 
 14. Zion's plaint that she is forsaken. The underlying idea is 
 thoroughly Semitic. ' Sion is here, as in xl. i foil., 9 foil., the 
 
 ' The documents date from 471 to 411 B.C. The characters 
 approximate those of the middle column (Aramaic- Egyptian) in 
 the table p. 503 in Gesenius-Kautzsch's Heb. Gram."^^ 
 
i62 ISAIAH 49. 15-18 
 
 15 Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her 
 sucking child, that she should not have compassion on 
 the son of her womb ? yea, these may forget, yet will not 
 
 t6 I forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the 
 palms of my hands ; thy walls are continually before me. 
 
 1 7 Thy children make haste ; thy destroyers and they that 
 
 18 made thee waste shall go forth of thee. Lift up thine 
 eyes round about, and behold : all these gather them- 
 
 actual city of Jerusalem which is conceived of as a woman that 
 should have or bring forth children, but is childless and barren. 
 It is a characteristically Semitic conception that it is not the 
 individuals who constitute the nation, but that the nation or town 
 brings forth individuals. It is likewise an ancient idea that the 
 exiles when withdrawn from the tribe are no longer regarded, 
 properly speaking, as children of their original native country, 
 but as the offspring of a foreign woman. Zion mourns that she 
 is abandoned by Yahweh (cf. xl. 27), foij,^<^ten by her Lord' 
 (Duhm). Cf. 1. I, liv. 6, where the idea is more f-'Hy- expressed. 
 
 15. The reassuring answer of Yahweh: 'More faithful and 
 steadfast is my love than even that of a mother to her child.' The 
 meaning is quite clear, but not so the text. * Even these forget ' 
 (or, potential, * way forget ') is a change from the singular (womar ) 
 in the preceding clause to the plural. LXX render ' even 
 a woman (some MSS. "mother'') forgets these.' The word 'these* 
 in our text is emphatic. Duhm, following the hint of the LXX, 
 would read the word ' mothers ' in place of ' these,' and render 
 * Even mothers may forget.' It is doubtful, however, whether 
 any change in the Hebrew is needed. 
 
 16. A powerful metaphor, Yahweh has inscribed upon His 
 palms the image of the ruined Zion soon to be rebuilt ; but, as the 
 future proved, not until about a century had passed by (Ixii. 4-7 ; 
 cf. Neh. i. 3, ii. 3) was this expectation fulfilled. 
 
 17. The reading of the Hebrew text as * thy builders ' (rather 
 than 'thy sons') is demanded by a considerable consensus of 
 ancient testimony, viz. the versions LXX, Vulg., Targ. It is also 
 supported by Cod. Babyl. and by the Jewish interpreter Saadiah. 
 ' Thy builders ' will then stand in suitable contrast to ' thy 
 destro^'^ers and desolators ' in the clause that immediately follows. 
 It is not till verse 20 that any mention is made of Zion's new 
 offspring. Cf. Ixii. 5 and note. 
 
 18. Already the future inhabitants of Zion come streaming into 
 the citj' from all sides. The poet uses a vivid metaphor, and 
 
ISAIAH 49. 19-21 163 
 
 selves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the 
 Lord, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all as with 
 an ornament, and gird thyself with them, like a bride. 
 For, as for thy waste and thy desolate places and thy 19 
 land that hath been destroyed, surely now shalt thou be 
 too strait for the inhabitants, and they that swallowed 
 thee up shall be far away. The children of thy bereave- 20 
 ment shall yet say in thine ears. The place is too strait for 
 me : give place to me that I may dwell. Then shalt thou 2 1 
 say in thine heart. Who hath begotten me these, seeing I 
 have been bereaved of my children, and am solitary, [an 
 
 describes these new inhabitants as a bride's ornament wherewith 
 the bridal city is to be adorned. 
 
 19. Probably Duhm is right in holding that the first part 
 of this verse is the first line of a triplet stanza of which two lines 
 which immediately follow are lost : — 
 
 * For thy devastations and desolations — and the land of thy 
 demolition 
 
 The closing portion of the verse is the beginning of the next stanza 
 of three lines, which are complete : — 
 
 ' For now thou art too narrow for thy inhabitants — and thy 
 destroyers are far removed.' 
 
 The first portion of the verse seems to form part of an incomplete 
 sentence, and the latter portion does not naturally follow the first. 
 This can best be explained by assuming that one or more lines 
 between both have been lost. 
 
 20. The children (properly 'sons') of thy bereavement mean 
 the sons who were born to thee (i. e. to Zion) in the days when 
 thou wast childless, i. e. the returning exiles. 
 
 21. Zion is astonished in these latter days at the great 
 accession to the number of her inhabitants, and exclaims, ' Who 
 hath brought forth 1 for me these ? seeing that I am childless and 
 
 ^ The verb in Hebrew is masc, though the subject is obviously 
 fem. But such irregularities of concord are not very infrequent in 
 Hebrew. There is, therefore, no strong need to render ' who hath 
 begotten me ... ' with R. V. 
 
 M 2 
 
i64 ISAIAH 49. 22 
 
 exile, and wandering to and fro] ? and who hath brought 
 up these ? Behold, I was left alone ; these, where were 
 they? 
 
 Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will Hft up mine 
 hand to the nations, and set up my ensign to the peoples : 
 and they shall bring thy sons in their bosom, and thy 
 
 barren [exiled and cast away]. And these, who hath reared 
 them?' R. V. wanderingf (A. V. 'removing') to and fro is an 
 incorrect rendering. 
 
 These verses 20, 21 are best understood by reverting to the 
 custom whereby slave-girls — e.g. Hagar, Bilhah, andZilpah — are 
 employed by their mistresses when barren to raise up offspring. 
 Compare with this passage Sarah's strange remark in reference to 
 Hagar, 'Perhaps I shall be built up from her' (Gen. xvi. 2 ; cf. xxx. 
 3). Zion is the unfruitful wife. The strange woman who has borne 
 the children is the land of exile in which the Jewish exiles have 
 grown up. The words enclosed in brackets in the rendering given 
 above are absent from the LXX, and are due either to the gloss 
 of some scribe, or more probably to a dittography of the word 
 translated 'barren,' They are altogether misleading and in- 
 appropriate. For Zion could not in any sense be called exiled and 
 cast away, since the term Zion can only denote the place and the 
 inhabitants who are in the place. 
 
 'Where were they?' (or A. V. 'where have they been?') is 
 the rendering of LXX and of most interpreters ever since, includ- 
 ing the late Dr. Franz Delitzsch. Recent expositors, however, 
 prefer to render the Hebrew, ' How is it with them ? ' i. e. of what 
 character are they, are they actually my children? So Duhm, 
 Dillmann, Kittel, and others. But it is extremely doubtful whether 
 the Hebrew interrog. particle here bears this meaning, and 
 the reference to Judges viii. 18 (see Moore, ad loc.) is fallacious. 
 Accordingly we adhere to the rendering of the R. V. ' where were 
 they ? ' i. e. what was their place of residence ? Probably nearly all 
 the returning exiles had been born and bred in or near Babylonia. 
 Zion, the old and now bereaved and childless mother-city, does not 
 know these foreign-born Jews that are crowding within her 
 borders. 
 
 xlix. 22 — 1. 3 contain three short oracle-poems of comfort and 
 reassurance for Israel. The metre differs from the preceding, and 
 no longer consists of the long lines of verses 14-21, but of lines 
 of more uniform measure, like verses 1-13, which can be regarded 
 as single lines or as pairs, i. e. distichs. (Marti.) 
 
 {a) Verses 22, 23. At the signal of Yahweh the nations will 
 
ISAIAH 49. 23 165 
 
 daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. And 23 
 kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy 
 
 carry Zion's children back to her and do abject homage to her 
 greatness. Zion shall then realize the might of Yahweh, and His 
 faithful followers shall no longer be despondent : — 
 
 See ! I lift up to nations my hand, 
 
 And to peoples I hoist up my banner, 
 
 And they shall bring in thy sons in (their) bosom, 
 
 And thy daughters shall be borne on the shoulder.' 
 
 The spectacle of foreign nations at Yahweh's command carrying 
 the exiles back to their old land and city affords a strange contrast 
 to the conception of the Suffering Servant portra^^ed elsewhere, 
 more especially in the ' Servant-songs ' ; but the following verse 
 enhances the contrast. This powerful figure of the banner, which 
 is Isaianic (v. 26), is a favourite one among writers exilian and 
 post-exilian (xi. 10, 12, xiii. 2, Ixii. 10), and the conception of 
 foreign nations carrying Israel back from exile at Yahweh's 
 bidding is borrowed by the Trito-Isaiah (Ix. 4 foil., Ixvi. 12, 19, 2o\ 
 
 23. The office of omeu, rendered nvirsing' father^, which we 
 might translate by * warder,' and somewhat resembled the Greek 
 7Tai5a7a/7os, appears to have been a recognized position in princely 
 families. We know that they had definite duties in rearing and 
 training the royal sons in Ahab's court (2 Kings x. i, 5). The 
 Hebrew word is really a participle, and means one who supports 
 or props up. Perhaps the original function of the omen was to 
 support or carry the very young children. 
 
 The Hebrew word rendered here qtieens properly means 
 •princesses,' just as the corresponding masculine word (not 
 employed here) means in Hebrew ' captain ' or 'prince.' But 
 here the parallelism clearly shows that the rendering ' queens ' is 
 correct. Moreover, the corresponding word in the Babylonian 
 language means * queens ' (just as the corresponding masculine 
 sing, means ' king '). We have here another subtle indication of 
 the Babylonian influence over the writer. 
 
 The sentiment of the passage, describing the abject homage paid 
 by foreign rulers to Zion, stands in strange and dissonant contrast 
 to the high ideals of the ' Suffering Servant.' Duhm is so 
 painfully impressed with it that he would be glad if it were 
 possible to regard the first two lines of this verse as an inter- 
 polation. These foreign rulers prostrate themselves in reverent 
 homage to Zion, as though Babylon, the former mistress of nations, 
 and Zion, the conquered and demolished city, had exchanged 
 
 ^ This rendering appears to be due to the LXX, tiOtjvgi. 
 
i66 ISAIAH 19. 24 
 
 nursing mothers : they shall bow down to thee with their 
 
 faces to the earth, and hck the dust of thy feet ; and thou 
 
 shalt know that I am the Lord, and they that wait for 
 
 4 me shall not be ashamed. Shall the prey be taken from 
 
 mutually their respective roles. Cf. Mic. vii. 17 and Ps. Ixxii. 9. 
 • Licking the dust of thy feet ' (like ' kissing the feet^') was the 
 Oriental expression of a vassal's homage. We constantly meet 
 with it in the Tell-el-Amarna inscriptions, in the series ol letters 
 from Abimelech governor of Tyre to the Egyptian king (about 
 1400 B. c.) : ' To the King, my Lord, my God, my Sun. Thus 
 doth Abimelech, thy servant, prostrate himself seven times and 
 yet seven times under the feet of the King my Lord. I am dust 
 beneath the shoe of the King, my Lord ^.' 
 
 (b) Verses 24-26. Israel may rest assured that Yahweh will 
 not fail in accomplishing the deliverance of His people. 
 
 24. The ordinary formula, ' thus saith Yahweh,' followed by 
 the ascription to Him of titles such as ' Redeemer of Israel,' ' thy 
 Creator,' &c., is omitted at the beginning of this brief oracle, 
 Duhm would supply it. Not infrequently only the first part of the 
 opening line, ' Thus saith Yahweh,' appears in the text, the rest of 
 the line being omitted by the copyist. A considerable amount of 
 uncertainty, both as to text, meaning, and even genuineness, attaches 
 to this verse, (i) LXX evidently pronounced the word rendered 
 ' is taken ' as an active and not a passive form : • Shall one take 
 from the mighty man (lit. giant) spoil.' This is quite possible, but 
 not so probable as the vocalization of the Hebrew text, which fits 
 the parallel clause better. (2) The next clause in the original 
 runs thus: *or shall the captive of the just one escape?' This 
 seems to be the only possible rendering of the text as it stands. 
 Both A. V. and R. V., 'lawful captive' (plur. in R. V.), though 
 supported by Hitzig, is hardly possible. The R. V. (marg.) is on 
 the right track, 'the captives of the just.' But the word 'just' 
 
 ^ * Kissing the feet' is a phrase that constantly recurs (' kissed my 
 feet ') in the annals of the Assyrian kings to describe the homage of 
 foreign conquered potentates. Cf. Ps. ii. 12, and Schrader, COT., 
 ii. p. 155. 
 
 ^ See Winckler in Schrader, KIB., vol. v. Letters 149, 150, 151, 
 152, where each letter opens with this abject formula. As a pic- 
 torial illustration, the visitor to the British Museum should examine 
 the relief on the black obelisk of Shalmaneser II, that portrays the 
 Israelite deputation bringing tokens of homage and gifts to the Assyr- 
 ian king. The foremost figure bows himself prostrate to the dust. 
 
ISAIAH 49. 25, 26 167 
 
 the mighty, or the lawful captives be delivered ? But thus 25 
 saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be 
 taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered : 
 for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, 
 and I will save thy children. And I will feed them that 26 
 oppress thee with their own flesh ; and they shall be 
 
 seems to mar the parallelism. It hardly corresponds to ' the 
 mighty men ' of the preceding clause. Now if we turn to the 
 following verse we are supplied with the adjective that probably 
 stood in the original text in the place of the word for 'just/ viz. 
 the word rendered ' terrible one * in the R. V. (better, ' violent 
 one ' or ' tyrant '). Accordingly it would be better, to substitute 
 this word in the original. It might easily be corrupted into the 
 word for 'just.' This emendation is supported by the Peshitto 
 (i. e. Syriac version) and Vulg., and perhaps by the LXX. There- 
 fore render : ' or shall the captive of the tyrant escape ? ' (3) Marti, 
 on the other hand, adheres to the text. The ' just one ' is God, and 
 the term 'mighty one' might also be applied to Him (cf. ix. 6 
 [Heb. 5], ' Hero-God'). This verse he holds to be a gloss to the 
 following, which is Deutero-Isaianic and begins with the Deutero- 
 Isaianic formula, ' Thus saith Yahvveh ' (which Duhm would place 
 at the beginning of verse 24). But this view is highly unsatis- 
 factory. Verse 24 is a necessary predecessor to verse 25. We 
 have here an argument parallel to verses 14, 15 above. Even the 
 will of the strongest human despot can be frustrated ; his captive 
 may escape or his spoil be filched by another, but my will is never 
 frustrated (cf. xlvi. 10, 11): — 
 
 25. ' Even the captive of the mighty is taken, 
 And the spoil of the tyrant escapes ; 
 But with thy foe 'tis / am contending. 
 And thy sons 'tis / that shall save.* 
 
 Q6 brings this sequence of thought to its natural conclusion. 
 But the shrill impassioned note of a vengeful nationalism that meets 
 us here and so frequently in the Psalms is distressful to the 
 Christian consciousness, and marks the beginning of the decline 
 from the pure and serene heights of the ' Servant-songs.' 
 
 them that oppress thee here refer to the Babylonians: 
 cf. xlvii. 6 (latter part). The epithet ' mighty one of Jacob ' * 
 
 * This epithet, like ' excellency (or *' glory ") of Jacob ' in Amos vl. 
 S (probably Ephraimite in origin)^, may have been very ancient. 
 Barton, in his Semitic Origins, p. 129, compares the epithet, 
 
i68 ISAIAH 50. i 
 
 drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine : and 
 all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy saviour, and 
 thy redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. 
 60 Thus saith the Lord, Where is the bill of your 
 mother's divorcement, wherewith I have put her away ? 
 
 meets us in Ix. i6. The ' sweet wine ' (Heb. 'dsis) means here 
 new wine or must. 
 
 Chapter L. 
 
 (c) 1-3. The third oracle of comfort. Zion has not been finally 
 and irrevocably abandoned by Yahweh as though she had been 
 dismissed with a bill of divorce, and the children sold into slavery. 
 Yahweh is still the God of might who will redeem Israel. 
 
 1. The first Hne of the strophe is once more defective. ' Thus 
 saith Yahweh ' is all that stands in our text. Cf. similar defective 
 lines in xlii. 5, xlix. 8 and 22. Duhm thinks that the last portion 
 has been misplaced to the close of verse 26 owing to the influence 
 of the passage in Trito-Isaiah Ix. 16, where the phraseology of 
 xlix. 26 recurs. Accordingly he completes the line thus : 
 
 'Thus saith Yahweh . . . —[thy Redeemer, the Mighty One 
 of Jacob] ' — 
 the portion supplied (in brackets) forming a metrical superfluity 
 at the close of xlix. 26, but a metrical aid in completing the line 
 at the opening of chap. 1. 
 
 The customary law respecting divorce which prevailed in Israel 
 was settled in the Deuteronomic legislation (Deut. xxiv. i foil.). 
 It was based on the old Oriental conception of wife-purchase 
 (a price called ntohar being paid by the husband's parents, or by 
 himself to the wife's family '). This involved the absolute 
 supremacy of the husband. Thus it was only the husband who 
 gave the writ of divorce to the wife, not vice versa. On the other 
 hand, this writ gave the woman entire freedom to marry another. 
 
 The interrogative form of the sentence is often employed in 
 Hebrew as a rhetorical mode of expressing a negative. This is 
 the actual force of the interrogative here, 'Where is . . .?' 
 [Nowhere]. The idea underlying the passage is that Zion, though 
 not finally separated from Yahweh by a writ of divorce, is 
 nevertheless temporally abandoned by Yahweh during the exile 
 period when her children have departed and her temple has been 
 
 * Strong one of Riyam ' in Mordtmann's Hitnjarische Inschriften, 
 nos. 825, 826, 830, &c. 
 
 ^ See Hebrew Antiquities (Rel. Tract Soc), p. 14, and on the 
 
 * Writ of Divorce,' p. 19; cf. Ewald, Altertiimer, p. 272. 
 
ISAIAH 50. I 169 
 
 or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you ? 
 Behold, for your iniquities were ye sold, and for your 
 
 destroyed. The conception therefore bears a close analogy to 
 Hos. iii. 4. So long as Israel existed as a state, it was wedded. 
 During the exile Yahweh no longer dwells as Israel's husband in 
 Zion. According to Iii. 8, He will not return there until the 
 people have been redeemed and restored, and the temple in 
 Jerusalem rebuilt. Meanwhile He does not forget His people 
 (xlix. 14-16), but He does not dwell among the Palestinian Jews, 
 nor among the Babylonian exiles or other portions of the diaspora, 
 but in Heaven (cf. xl. 22). This was also the view of Ezekiei, 
 who held that after the capture of Jerusalem Yahweh withdrew. 
 The place to which He withdrew was the sky, which in the first 
 vision (Ezek. i. i) Ezekiei sees 'opened,' This would be in 
 accordance with Israel's most primitive conception of Yahweh as 
 a deity of the sky and of storm ^. Thus in Ezekiel's vision He is 
 portrayed as throned on Cherubim and surrounded with heavenly 
 glory. 
 
 which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you ? 
 again anticipates, like the preceding interrogative, a negative 
 answer : ' To none.' The form of the question is based on 
 ancient Oriental custom. In times of great necessity, which 
 frequently befel the peasant during the ninth and eighth centuries 
 owing to the power of the rich landowning class and the exigen- 
 cies of war, even the children might be sold into slavery to meet 
 the exactions of the harsh and rapacious creditor (2 Kings iv. i ; 
 cf. Amos ii. 6, viii. 6, and also Isa. v. 8; Mic. ii. 2)^ The writer 
 here intends to convey the meaning that this condition has no 
 actual existence. Yahweh has no creditor to whom anything is 
 owing, or whom He cannot pay. Neither has He formally and 
 finally divorced His wife (Zion), nor has He sold through dire need 
 His and her children, Accordingly there is no obstacle to 
 prevent His taking wife and children back to Himself. It is true 
 that they have been sold, i. e. delivered up into the hands of the 
 enemy (Hi. 3; cf. Judges ii. 14, iii. 8, &c.), and the mother has 
 been abandoned to desolation and ruin by foes (xlix. 21 ^, but the 
 reason for this consists in the sins and rebellions of Israel- 
 (cf. Dillmann-Kittel), 
 
 ^ Cf. vol. i of this commentary, Introduction, p. 51 footnote. 
 
 - Cf . art. * Servant, Slave,' in Hastings' DB., vol. iv, p. 463 h, and 
 vol. i of this commentary. Introduction, p. 43. 
 
 ^ The distinction between mother and children consists in the 
 association of motherhood with the place of abode (Zion). 
 
170 ISAIAH 50. 2-4 
 
 -2 transgressions was your mother put away. Wherefore, 
 when I came, was there no man? when I called, was 
 there none to answer ? Is my hand shortened at all, that 
 it cannot redeem ? or have I no power to deliver ? Be- 
 hold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers 
 a wilderness : their fish stinketh, because there is no 
 
 3 water, and dieth for thirst. I clothe the heavens with 
 blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering. 
 
 4 [S. The Lord God hath given me the tongue of them that 
 
 2. Assurance and comfort are mingled with reproach for lack 
 of faith and courage. There is no lack of power and readiness to 
 save on God's part. Through His prophet (the Deutero-Isaiah) 
 He has come and called, but there is no response. Can it be 
 that His people doubts His power to save? In this verse the 
 writer becomes reminiscent of Israel's past deliverances — more 
 especially does he single out the scenes and events accompanying 
 the Exodus. For stinketh read another Hebrew word which 
 closely resembles that which is rendered ' stinketh ' (tib^ash), viz. 
 tibash, which means ' is dried up ' (LXX). Cf. Ex. xiv. i6, 21, 22. 
 
 3. Another manifestation of Divine power, this time directed 
 against Israel's enemies. The skies are clothed with a gloom 
 that is funereal. Sackcloth as the outer expression of grief or 
 humiliation (often with dust on the head) is frequent in O. T. 
 (Dan. ix. 3 ; 2 Sam. iii. 31 ; i Kings xx. 32 ; Isa. iii. 24, xv. 3, 
 xxii. 12 ; Jer. iv. 8, vi. 26, xlix. 3, &c.% Here again we have an 
 allusion to the scenes of the Exodus, Ex. xiv. 20. 
 
 Verses 4-9 form the third of the series of ' Servant-songs.'' It 
 consists of three stanzas of four long elegiac lines each, and 
 obviously bears no relation to the verses that precede, while it is 
 no less clear that the verse which immediately follows is intended 
 to be a pendant to it and calls attention to its contents. Here 
 again, as in xlix. 1-6, the preceding * Servant-song,' the servant 
 speaks, and we should probably be right in assuming that here, 
 as there, he speaks to the * foreign nations afar' (xlix. i). 
 
 4. tixe tongue of them that are taugrht : lit. ' a tongue of 
 disciples' (so R. V, marg.) — disciples who themselves aspire to be 
 teachers (Dillmann-Kittel). The second line of this stanza is very 
 uncertain. The word rendered sustain (on the authority of Aq. 
 and Vulg.) has no parallel bearing this meaning in the O. T. The 
 same form in other passages bears a very different sense. It has 
 therefore been naturally suspected as a corruption, and this view is 
 confirmed by the LXX, which had another, not dissimilar, form in 
 
ISAIAH 50. 5, 6 171 
 
 are taught, that I should know how to sustain with words 
 him that is weary : he wakeneth morning by morning, he 
 wakeneth mine ear to hear as they that are taught. The 5 
 Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, 
 neither turned away backward. I gave my back to the 6 
 smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair : 
 
 their text, 'in its own (proper; time.' The rendering of this 
 version is : ' The Lord gives me a tongue of wisdom to know at the 
 right time when to speaic a word.' The emendations of the text 
 which have been proposed are endless, and we will not confuse 
 the reader by setting them forth in detail. 
 
 The latter part of the verse, as it appears in the LXX, is un- 
 intelligible. Our Hebrew text has evidently been obscured by 
 dittography ^. Duhm endeavours to restore the rhythm of the 
 elegiac metre {kitiah) and renders : — 
 
 ' At early morn he awakens mine ear — to hear as disciples.' 
 
 5. We here see a higher conception of the ideal servant of 
 Yahweh. He is portrayed as sinless, obedient to the Divine will. 
 Far different is the conception of the Servant Israel in the 
 Deutero-isaiah in xlii. 18-25, the portrait of no mere idealist. 
 
 6. Another characteristic trait of the Servant-passages which 
 distinguishes this portraiture from that of the Deutero-Isaiah — the 
 submissive patience of the sufferer. This feature will attain its 
 climax in the final poem of the series. 
 
 Plucked oif the hair here means plucking the hair of the 
 beard — a mode of insult practised in the ancient Orient and 
 not unknown in Europe. Compare the severe treatment by 
 Nehemiah of the Jews who married wives from Ashdod, Ammon, 
 and Moab (Neh. xiii. 25). Even ancient Italy gives examples. 
 Horace may be held to have understood and portrayed the 
 prevalent habits of the young gamins of Italy when he writes 
 i^Sat. i. 3. 133) :— 
 
 'vellunt tibi barbam 
 lascivi pueri, quos tu nisi fuste coerces, 
 urgueris turba circum te stante miserque 
 rumperis et latras.' 
 
 ^ The repetition of phrase seems even to extend to verse 5. 
 Duhm, Marti, and Cheyne are agreed in cancelling the first clause; 
 so apparently Budde (ZATW. xi (1S91), p. 23S). Verse 5 accord- 
 ingly reads : — 
 
 ' And I have not been rebellious — have not backslided.' 
 
172 ISAIAH 50. 7-9 
 
 7 I hid not my face from shame and spitting. For the 
 Lord God will help me ; therefore have I not been 
 confounded : therefore have I set my face like a flint, 
 
 8 and I know that I shall not be ashamed. He is near 
 that justifieth me ; who will contend with me ? let us 
 stand up together : who is mine adversary ? let him come 
 
 9 near to me. Behold, the Lord God will help me ; who 
 
 *7. The consciousness that Yahweh is his support enables the 
 suffering servant to endure these humiliations. It is better to 
 regard the copula in the original as adversative. Translate : 
 'Nevertheless (or 'yet,' not 'for' as R.V.) the Lord, Yahweh, 
 helps me — therefore I did not feel put to shame.' Instead of 
 feeling keenly sensitive to insult and reproach ' I set my face like 
 a flint ^ ' The expression is closely analogous to that of Ezek. iii. 
 8, 9, where the prophet is strengthened by Yahweh to maintain 
 a stern front like adamant towards his countrymen. 
 
 8. The servant's sufferings are regarded as a trial in a court of 
 justice in which God supports him. So sure does Yahweh's 
 servant feel of victory that he is emboldened to challenge his 
 opponents to a contest. Israel, Yahweh's servant, can safely 
 leave his cause in God's hands, who will vindicate his right. 
 
 ' He who vindicates my right is near, who contends with me ? 
 
 let us take our stand together. 
 Who is opponent in my suit ? — let him draw nigh unto me.' 
 
 9 continues the note of assurance in Yahweh's moral support 
 in the struggle. Here, as in verse 7, it is better to render the 
 Hebrew imperfect by present rather than future tenses. Accord- 
 ingly translate : — 
 
 * Behold the Lord Yahweh helps me, who is he that shall 
 condemn me^' 
 
 ^ The word here rendered 'flint/ halldmish, appears to be the 
 same as the Assyrian ehnehi, a precious brilliant stone, probably 
 a diamond ; one among the seven which adorn the person of a king 
 or god (see Delitzsch, Assyr. Handworterbuch) . 
 
 ^ The reader will not fail to compare the employment of this 
 passage by St. Paul in Rom. viii. 31-39. The citation in verse 33 is 
 strengthened by the apostle's appeal in the preceding verse to the 
 fact that Yahweh ' spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up 
 for us all (see Sanday-Headlam's Comm. ad loc). 
 
 Here again we note, as in verse i (in this Isaiah chapter), that the 
 interrogative is a rhetorical form of expressing a negative, viz. ' none 
 shall condemn.' 
 
ISAIAH 50. TO 173 
 
 is he that shall condemn me ? behold, they all shall wax 
 old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.] 
 
 Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth 10 
 the voice of his servant? he that walketh in darkness, and 
 hath no light, let him trust in the name of the Lord, 
 
 For wax old substitute 'perish' or 'decay* ('fall to pieces '). 
 The Deutero-Isaiah repeats this phraseology of the decaying 
 garment and the moth-eaten fabric in li. 6, 8. Cf. Hos. v. 12 ; 
 Job xiii. 28 ; Ps. xxxix. 11 [12 Heb.], cii. 26 [27 Heb,]. 
 
 10 is a natural transition from the poem cited by the Deutero- 
 Isaiah to that writer's own application of the words to his con- 
 temporaries. The first clause might be regarded as an appeal to 
 pious Jews, the latter as referring, though not directly addressed, 
 to heathen (or lapsed Jews) who have walked in the darkness 
 of polytheism. This would certainly be in accordance with the 
 high ideal and prevailing spirit of the writer of the Servant- 
 passages (cf. Introduction to this vol., p. 22 foil.). 
 
 On the other hand, Duhm, Marti, and Cheyne regard both this 
 and the following verse as a later addition. Duhm holds that they 
 both come from the editor's hand, as we have already seen to 
 have been the case in the insertions of chap, xlviii. In our 
 opinion this view has no cogency whatever when applied to 
 verse 10, but only to verse 11. In verse 10 there is an evident 
 transition. The servant no longer speaks in the first person, but 
 is spoken of in the third ; yet the reference to the preceding 
 Servant-poem is obvious. We have already an analogous case 
 in xlii. 5, 6, which stand related to the preceding ' Servant- 
 passage ' and deal with a similar theme. Like xlii. 5, 6, this 
 verse comes from the Deutero-Isaiah. Dillmann-Kittel rightly 
 assert that neither language nor contents furnish any argument 
 against this view. Moreover li. i follows 1. 10 in more natural 
 sequence. 
 
 The opening of the verse should be rendered thus : ^ Whosoever^ 
 among you feareth Yahweh — let him hearken to His servant's 
 voice.' This involves a very slight emendation of the Hebrew text, 
 which thus reads, Met him hearken' (as the LXX evidently read 
 in their original). This stands in parallelism with the following 
 clause, which also begins with a relative : — 
 
 'Whoso hath walked in darkness— and hath not a gleam of light, 
 Let him trust in Yahweh's name — and lean upon his God.' 
 
 * The Hebrew student in reference to this use of the Hebrew in- 
 terrogative will consult Davidson, Heb. Syntax, § 8, and refer to 
 Judges vii. 3; Exod. xxxii. 26. 
 
174 ISAIAH 50. u— 51. i 
 
 11 and stay upon his God. [Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, 
 that gird yourselves about with firebrands : walk ye in the 
 flame of your fire, and among the brands that ye have 
 kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand ; ye shall lie 
 down in sorrow.] 
 
 51 Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye 
 
 H. A verse of very different spirit and alien to the thought of 
 the chapter. We are reminded of the bitter tone of the editorial 
 comments to chap, xlviii. This verse evidently comes from the 
 same hand. It is a final redactional addition like xlviii. 22, and is 
 addressed by Yahweh to the apostates of a later time. 
 
 The Hebrew verbal form translated 'gird yourselves about v^^ith' 
 is obviously inappropriate, and has been rightly suspected as a 
 corruption. The slight emendation proposed by Seeker is based 
 on the rendering of the Peshitto (Syriac) version, and has been 
 adopted by Oort, Duhm, and other critics. Accordingly render : — 
 * See all of you that kindle a fire — set brands alight. 
 
 Enter the flame of your fire— and the brands ye have set 
 a-burning ! ' 
 The word here translated kindle is characteristic of later 
 Hebrew. It occurs in Trito-Isaiah (Ixiv. i), and in Jer. xvii. 4 
 (which is held by recent critics to be late — see Cornill). The 
 concluding sentence reminds us of the stern spirit of xlviii. 22 : — 
 
 ' From my hand hath this come upon you — in the place of tor- 
 ment shall ye lie ! ' (Cf. Ixvi. 24.) 
 
 Chapter LI. 
 
 Verses 1-8 are a highly poetical and inspiring poem announcing 
 the near approach of Yahweh's deliverance, and the extension of 
 His rule over the world. Once more we have the elegiac measure, 
 and the poem is distributed into five stanzas of four long lines 
 each, all of which, except the defective second stanza, begin with 
 an imperative. 
 
 1, 2. We have in the opening verses a characteristic trait of 
 exilian and later Hebrew poetrj' — reminiscences of early patriarchal 
 history \ The example of the aged Abraham and the barren 
 
 * 'Whence ye were hewn . . . whence ye were digged.' On the 
 elliptical construction of these relative clauses in the original the 
 f^tudent of Hebrew will consult Gesen.-Kautzsch, Heb. Gram.-^\ 
 § T55 k. The word for 'pit' in the original {bSr) seems metrically 
 redundant in the second or shorter portion of the line. Duhm and 
 Marti would reject it. 
 
ISAIAH 51. 2,3 175 
 
 that seek the Lord : look unto the rock whence ye were 
 hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye were digged. 
 Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that 2 
 l)are you : for when he was but one I called him, and I 
 blessed him, and made him many. For the Lord hath 3 
 comforted Zion : he hath comforted all her waste places, 
 and hath made her wilderness like Eden, and her desert 
 like the garden of the Lord ; joy and gladness shall be 
 found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. 
 
 Sarah, who became the parents of a great nation, is here adduced 
 as an encouragement to faith and hope. Cf. in N. T. Matt. iii. 9 5 
 Heb. xi. 12. Render, ' ye that pursue after the cause of right,' 
 i.e. make the victory of the right cause (-which is that of Yahweh's 
 own people) your quest. Respecting this difficult Heb. word 
 sedek, here to be rendered ' right cause ' and not ' righteousness,' 
 see above note on xlv. 13. 
 
 There is no need to assume here with Duhm mysterious 
 references to ancient myths connected with hollows at Hebron. 
 The metaphor is that of a quarry from which the building-material 
 for a house is derived. It naturally arose in the mind of a race 
 that called a family, clan, or people a • house ' (the Arabs call it a 
 'tent,' aht). Cf the language of Sarah in Gen. xvi. 2 (R. V. marg.). 
 
 Verse 2 may perhaps be based on a literary reminiscence of 
 Gen. xii. 2 (J) ^ 
 
 3. Evidently, as Duhm correctly surmises, the first line of this 
 second stanza has been lost with the imperative at its head. To 
 the exhortation of this lost line the word for must bear reference. 
 
 Tne Perfects hath comforted, &c., correspond to the same tense 
 in the original. Probably they should be regarded as perfects 
 expressing in reference to the future certainty or assurance 
 (Gesenius-Kautzsch, Heb. Gram. ■^^, § 106. 3 b ; Davidson, Heb. 
 Syntax, § 41 {a) and (6)). We should then render by a future or 
 a present tense : ' Yahweh will comfort (or cornforteth) Zion.' 
 
 Once more we have a reminiscence of early legend. The 
 references to Eden and Yahweh's garden suggest an acquaintance 
 with Gen. ii. 8 (J), That Babylonia was the original home of the 
 
 ^ LXX hover between ' loved him ' and * multiplied him,' i. e. as 
 Ott'ey points out, between the two texts "insav and 'jnaiN, of which 
 the latter is undoubtedly right, IB reads the first and ^5 A Q have a 
 conflation of both reading-s. 
 
176 ISAIAH 51. 4, 5 
 
 4 Attend unto me, O my people ; and give ear unto me, 
 O my nation : for a law shall go forth from me, and I will 
 make my judgement to rest for a light of the peoples. 
 
 5 My righteousness is near, my salvation is gone forth, and 
 mine arms shall judge the peoples; the isles shall wait for 
 
 legend may be shown from numerous indications, and this fact may 
 have stimulated the allusion here '. Cf. also Ezek. xxviii. 13. 
 
 Verses 4, 5 announce the spread of the religion of Yahweh to 
 the end of the world. This, according to the writer of the Servant- 
 songs (xlix. 6), was to be Israel's main function as Yahweh's 
 servant. The Deutero-Isaiah here reproduces the lesson. The 
 address is now specially made to the people^ not merely to 
 Yahweh's faithful followers (verse i). 
 
 4. The text of the close of this verse probably needs amending. 
 Two indications point in this direction, (i) The Hebrew verb 
 * I will make ... to rest,' which stands at the close of verse 4 in 
 our Hebrew text, is differently read in the LXX, and is placed at the 
 beginning of the following verse. (2) The latter portion of this 
 elegiac line in verse 4 is metrically too long in our Hebrew text. It 
 would therefore be safer to follow the guidance of the LXX and 
 render the closing line : — 
 
 * For instruction shall go forth from me — and my judgment 
 as a light for nations.' 
 
 5. The opening of this verse will then read : — 
 
 'In a moment'^ my vindication is nigh — my victory has gone 
 forth.' 
 
 The word here rendered 'vindication ' is the Heb. sedek =■'' xx^X,'' 
 but used frequently in the pregnant sense of victory of the nght 
 cause, as the parallelism clearly shows, where the word rendered 
 above ' salvation ' may be appropriately expressed by ' victory ' ; 
 see above note on verses i, 2 and xlv. 13. The verb translated 
 ' gone forth ' is often employed to express the rising of the sun 
 (Gen. xix. 23; Ps. xix. 6). For ' isles ' read as before (xi. 11, 
 
 ^ Schrader, COT., \, p. 26 foil.; A. Jeremias, DasA.T. im Lichte 
 des alien Orients^ pp. 18S foil. Babylonia was the land of pleasure- 
 gardens. See art. ' Garden,' in Er^c. Bibl. Instead of the passive 
 form, " shall be found,'' LXX evidently pronounced the form as active 
 \Kal), ' one shall find.' This obviates the grammatical difficulty of 
 gender. 
 
 ^ Reading s^na (of. liv. 7). So Oort and Ryssell. 
 
ISAIAH 5L 6.8 
 
 177 
 
 me, and on mine arm shall they trust. Lift up your eyes 6 
 to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath ; for the 
 heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall 
 wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall 
 die in like manner : but my salvation shall be for ever, 
 and my righteousness shall not be abolished. 
 
 Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the 7 
 people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach 
 of men, neither be ye dismayed at their revilings. For 8 
 the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm 
 
 XX. 6, xxiv. 15, xl. 15, xli. i, 5, xlii. 4, 10, 12, xlix. i), ' coast- 
 lands ».' 
 
 6. A sublime conception, reminding us of xl. 6-8, but here the 
 comparison is not between God's word and the perishable flowers 
 and grass, but between the Divine achievement of salvation and 
 the more permanent cosmic elements of sky and earth. Even the 
 latter shall perish, while God's work for humanity endures*. 
 
 7. The word here rendered men is a term (Heb. e/idsh) that 
 expresses man in his weakness and limitation. It is the word 
 translated * man ' in the first clause of Ps. viii. 4 (5 Heb.). It is best 
 represented by the word ^ mortals ' (or • mortal '). 
 
 8. We have in the opening parallel clauses a pair of Hebrew 
 synonyms for ^moth,' for which our language does not provide 
 equivalents. Both, however, are found in the Semitic languages, 
 including Assyrian, • There are many species of the Tineidae or 
 ^'clothes-moths" in the Holy Land. They are small lepidopterous 
 
 ''■ Instead of ' Mine arms shall jvidg-e the peoples ' LXX have 
 ' For my arms shall nations hope.' — Obviously the latter is a blunder 
 involving a weak repetition of phrase. 
 
 "^ Something in the way of reconstruction of text in this stanza 
 seems needful, if metre is to be preserved. The words 'from beneath' 
 at the close of the first line overweight the latter part of the line, and 
 might be rejected as a gloss (though sustained by the LXX). FoUow-- 
 ing Duhm's bold reconstruction verse 6 will run thus : — 
 * Lift up your eyes to the heavens — and look on the earth. 
 For the heavens fly in tatters like smoke — and the earth like a robe. 
 The world shall decay, and its dwellers — shall die as the gnats. 
 Yet my salvation shall abide for ever — and my justice unbroken.' 
 There is no need to alter the last word in the verse in deference to 
 the loose rendering of the LXX, ' shall not fail.' 
 
178 ISAIAH 51. 9 
 
 shall eat them like wool : but my righteousness shall be 
 for ever, and my salvation unto all generations. 
 9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord ; 
 
 insects which commit immense havoc in clothes, carpets, tapestry, 
 &c.' (Post in Hastings' DB.) Instead of 'moth' LXX renders 
 in first clause * time ' (reading 'eth for 'ash in the original). This 
 breaks the parallelism. The parallel in the second clause of our 
 R. V. * worm ' is inadequate. 
 
 Verses 9-n are an appeal to Yahweh to display His power as 
 in olden times. Verse 11, though it fits fairly into the context, is 
 distinct in metrical form and is evidently an addition by a later 
 writer borrowed from xxxv, 10, where it is not only metrically 
 consistent with the verses that precede but also harmonious in 
 sense. Chap, xxxv (like its predecessor) is evidently late and 
 abounds in reminiscences (cf. vol. i, p. 347). As we may probably 
 regard that poem as composed not much earlier than 400 b. c, we 
 have in this verse an indication possessing a certain evidential 
 value for determining approximately the date of an early redaction 
 of the Deutero- and Trito-Isaiah (xl-lxvi) ; see below, p. 238. 
 
 9. The metre is the same as that of the preceding poem, i. e. 
 elegiac. The invocation is addressed to Yahweh's arm as the 
 embodiment of His strength. As the arm in Hebrew is feminine, the 
 personal pronouns in the original are feminine also (viz. ' thou,' 
 ' it '). Put on is in the original literally ' clothe thee with.' This 
 is a frequently recurring metaphor in the O. T., qualities being 
 materialized as apparel or armour. Cf. lix. 17 ; Ephes. vi. 14 foil., 
 Col. iii. 13, 14 ; Isa, lii. i, Ixi. 3, Sec. 
 
 We have here a deeply interesting survival of the old mythology 
 of the Semitic-Hebrew race. These reminiscences (as Cheyne 
 has pointed out) may well have been revived by contact with 
 Babylonian traditions in Babylonia, since Babylonia, preserved 
 these mythologies in their fullest and most elaborated form. 
 Rahab corresponds to the Babylonian Tidmat, the dragon-goddess 
 of the dark chaotic water-depth who was smitten by Marduk, god 
 of light. Cf. vol. i, p. 316 in this commentary (note on xxx. 7). 
 The conflict is described in the fourth Creation -tablet, lines 91 foil., 
 cited at the close of this chapter. 
 
 It is noteworthy that the LXX entirely omit the clause with its 
 mythological reference to Rahab. This is not improbably due to 
 the scruples which influenced the Greek translators, and led them 
 to suppress or modify anthropomorphisms ^ A comparison with 
 
 ^ Riehm, Einleitung in das A.T., vol. ii, p. 486. A comparison 
 with Job xxvi. 12 suggests that the omission may have been due to 
 the inability of the translator to understand the original. 
 
ISAIAH 51. JO 179 
 
 awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient 
 times. Art thou not it that cut Rahab in pieces, that 
 pierced the dragon ? iVrt thou not it which dried up the 
 sea, the waters of the great deep ; that made the depths 
 
 Job xxvi. 12 indicates that the slight modification of the Hebrew 
 text, proposed here by Houbigant and favourably regarded by 
 later critics, might be accepted. We should then substitute for 
 *cut Rahab in pieces' the rendering 'shattered Rahab in pieces^.' 
 The supposition that Rahab merely signifies Egypt and expresses 
 either its might or its monarch (as in xxx. 7, but not necessarily in 
 Ps. Ixxiv. 13, Ixxxvii. 4, Ixxxix. 10 [Heb. 11]) only confuses the 
 passage, though the following verse evidently suggests that in this 
 passage, as well as in the later Psalm literature, Pharaoh and the 
 power of Egypt were represented to the imagination of the 
 Hebrew under the form of the monster of Semitic legend. For 
 Rahab Sit-stiil (Isa. xxx. 7) read Rahab the Vanquished {hammosh- 
 bath), based on the most probable reading of the Hebrew. 
 
 10. The great deep is an expression used in Gen. vii. ii, 
 Amos vii. 4 to describe this vast chaotic water-depth which the 
 Babylonians personified as the she-dragon Tiamat. This dark 
 water-depth beneath the earth was connected with the sea or 
 ocean on which the earth was conceived to rest. See the diagram 
 in Hastings' DB., article 'Cosmogony,' vol. i, p. 503, or Bennett's 
 Genesis (Century Bible) p. 66. 
 
 Old mythology here is blended with Israel's early beginnings in 
 history. The drying-up of the waters of the great ocean ('the 
 great deep') must be connected with the ancient Semitic myth of 
 the struggle between the God of light (Heb. Yahweh, Babyl. 
 Marduk) and the dragon of the dark chaotic water-depth (Heb. 
 Rahab, Babyl. Tiamat), here represented by the 'great deep.' 
 Amos vii. 4 (eighth century B.C.) takes us somewhat nearer to 
 the primitive legend where Yahweh's fire is conceived as burning 
 up the great deep. The Rahab of the previous verse must be 
 connected with the ' serpent ' who inhabits the depth of the sea 
 
 ^ On the other hand, when we turn to the Babylonian Creation- 
 poem, tablet iv, lines 135 foil. : — 
 'The Lord [Marduk] rested . . . regarding her (i.e. Tiamat's) corpse. 
 
 Parting the carcase . . . forming cunning plans. 
 
 He hewed her to pieces like a fish ... a flat (?) one, in two halves ; 
 
 From one half of it made and covered the heaven ' — 
 this description of the conflict between Marduk and Tiamat and the 
 formation of the sky out of her body leads us to consider that our 
 Hebrew te.xt has after all preserved the true tradition. 
 N 2 
 
i8o ISAIAH 51. ii-i3 
 
 11 of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over ? [And the 
 ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing 
 unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: 
 they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrovr and sighing 
 shall flee away.] 
 
 1 2 I, even I, am he that comforteth you : who art thou, 
 that thou art afraid of man that shall die, and of the son 
 
 13 of man which shall be made as grass ; and hast forgotten 
 the Lord thy Maker, that stretched forth the heavens, 
 and laid the foundations of the earth ; and fearest 
 
 to which Amos ix. 3 refers. The sea-monster, with which Yahweh 
 comes in conflict, became connected to the early imagination of the 
 Hebrews with the hostile power of Egypt in the dim past of their 
 national history, and the struggle with Rahab with the struggle 
 with Pharaoh, the great dark water-depth with the Red Sea, and 
 the destruction of the dark water-depth and its chaotic power with 
 the cleaving of a passage through the Red Sea 'for the redeemed 
 to pass over.' 
 
 Verses 12-16. The answer to Israel's appeal in the preceding 
 verses to the mighty Yahweh of the olden time is that the God of 
 love is mighty still. Why does the exile forget Him and fear the 
 oppressor? He shall be set free. 
 
 12. The duplication of the personal pron. here is characteristic 
 of the Deutero-Isaiah in 13'rical passages (cf. ' awake,' ' awake ' in 
 verses 9, 17, lii. i ; 'depart ye,' Hi. 11). The man whom Israel is 
 not to fear is man in his weakness ('mortal'), expressed in the 
 original by the same word {enosh) that is employed above in verse 7. 
 In the original * Who art thou that thou shouldst fear . . . ? ' is 
 expressed in the feminine, and this is supported by the LXX, who, 
 however, seem to have followed a different text. It is obviously 
 an error, as masc. forms immediately succeed in this verse. 
 Probably the scribe was misled by the mention of Zion in the 
 preceding verse (as well as in lii. i) into supposing that it is Zion 
 who is here addressed. 
 
 These verses evidently belong to an earlier time than the 
 downfall of Babylon, when the Jewish exiles were still in a state 
 of trembling uncertainty and were in dread of harsh treatment by 
 the Babylonians. 
 
 13. The exiles are reminded of the permanent truths of 
 Yahweh's universal rule and creative function, which they have 
 forgotten. The language has now become to us familiar (xl. 22, 
 xlii. 5, xliv. 24, xlv, 12). 
 
ISAIAH 51. 14-16 181 
 
 continually all the day because of the fury of the oppressor, 
 when he maketh ready to destroy ? and where is the fury 
 of the oppressor? The captive exile shall speedily be 14 
 loosed ; and he shall not die and go down into the pit, 
 neither shall his bread fail. For I am the Lord thy God, 15 
 which stirreth up the sea, that the waves thereof roar : 
 the Lord of hosts is his name. And I have put my words 16 
 in thy mouth, and have covered thee in the shadow of 
 mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the 
 
 For when he maketh ready to destroy, render, ^ as though he 
 had aimed [his arrow ^] to destroy.' The object of the verb 
 'aimed ' is not infrequently omitted in the Hebrew, as in Ps. xxi. 
 12 (13 Heb.). In Ps. vii. 12 (13 Heb.), and more especially in 
 Ps. xi. 2 (3 Heb.), we have the fuller form of expression. 
 
 where is the fury, Sec. ? Again a rhetorical interrogative, to 
 which the negative answer '• nowhere * is expected. 
 
 14. A difficult and obscure verse. For the captive exile sub- 
 stitute the rendering ' he that is bent (or bowed),' i. e. either in 
 his confined dungeon or in the constraint of his chains. The verse 
 seems to promise only speedy release and freedom from starva- 
 tion. The LXX appear to base their interpretation on a much 
 briefer text, quite different from our own. 
 
 Verses 15, 16 have been regarded by recent critics, Duhm, 
 Cheyne, and Marti as an insertion. Verse 15 appears almost 
 entire in Jer. xxxi. 35 h, but that cannot be regarded as a proof 
 that it is not Deutero-Isaianic, as it is notorious that there are 
 several Deutero-Isaianic insertions in the prophecies of Jeremiah* 
 and we are disposed to regard this as one of them (so also 
 Giesebrecht ad he). 
 
 15. The phrase The LORD of hosts is his name is a some- 
 what favourite formula with the Deutero-Isaiah : cf. xlvii. 4 [xlviii. 
 2], Hv. 5. In the latter part of this verse the rendering of the 
 R. V. stirreth up is correct (and not that of R. V. marg.). The 
 LXX similarly render in their translation of the Hebrew participle. 
 
 16. Here again Deutero-Isaianic phraseology meets us. 
 ' Conceal (cover) in the shadow of Yahweh's hand ' is an obvious 
 echo from the Servant-passage xlix. 2. Plant the heavens is a 
 
 ^ Or perhaps ' his bow,' as in Ps. vii. 13. 
 
 ^ e.g. Jer. xxx. lo, 11 (omitted in LXX), and its duplicate xlvi. 
 27, 28. 
 
i82 ISAIAH 51. 17 
 
 foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my 
 people. 
 17 Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk 
 
 literal rendering of the Hebrew original, but the reading can hardly 
 be defended by the arguments which Dillmann employs. Job 
 xiv. 9 is a slender ground for giving the Hebrew verb the signi- 
 fication here 'cause to grow anew.' The only safe course is to 
 follow the Peshitto (S3''riac) version and a series of expositors, 
 including Lowth, who read in place of the Hebrew verb 
 * plant ' a closely similar form ' extend,' ' stretch out,' often 
 used bj'' the Deutero-Isaiah in describing Yahweh's creative 
 activity, i.e. 'stretching out the heavens " (xl. 22, xlii. 5, xliv. 24, 
 xlv. 12). Similarly ' laying the foundation of the earth ' is another 
 characteristic expression of the Deutero-Isaiah (xlviii. 13), from 
 which it has passed into Psalm literature (Ps. xxiv. 2, Ixxviii. 69, 
 cii. 25 [26 Heb.], civ. 5). 
 
 A survey of these three verses 14-16 convinces us that they are of 
 Deutero-Isaianic authorship, but they have become mutilated. In 
 verses 15, 16 the elegiac metre cannot in the present state of the 
 text be recovered, while only the first half of a long line is pre- 
 served in the latter part of verse 14. The connexion of the clause 
 'that I may stretch out the heavens,' &c. with the words which 
 precede, and are evidently an address to the servant Israel, is ex- 
 tremely forced. The expression ' stretch out the heavens,' &c. 
 (preceded by 'I Yahweh . . .'), probably commenced a new 
 sentence. Subsequently a scribe endeavoured to restore the 
 defective text, and in doing this gave the language of the Deutero- 
 Isaiah a different turn whereby it expressed the conception of an 
 impending restoration accompanied by a new heavens and earth 
 somewhat in the sense of the Trito-Isaianic passages Ixv. 17, 
 Ixvi. 22. 
 
 li. 17 — lii. 12 is a poem which Duhm arranges in five strophes, 
 each strophe consisting of seven long lines, though there are 
 gaps in our text as well as insertions. It is addressed to Jeru- 
 salem lying prostrate in humiliation and sorrow. Her sufferings 
 are described in pathetic language, but she is told by Yahweh that 
 He has taken up her cause, that her sorrows have an end, and 
 that the cup of humiliation is to pass from her to her foes. She 
 shall arise from the dust and be clad in the splendid attire that 
 befits her coming glory. The last two strophes announce the 
 Jubilant tidings that Yahweh has taken compassion on the ruined 
 Jerusalem and will return in power to reign there. The poem 
 closes with a portra3'al of a solemn priestly procession in which 
 the vessels of the temple [carried off by Nebuchadrezzar in 
 
ISAIAH 51. i8 183 
 
 at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury ; thou hast 
 drunken the bowl of the cup of staggering, and drained 
 it. There is none to guide her among all the sons whom i' 
 
 597 B. c] are borne in state from Babylon to Jerusalem. The 
 presence of Yahweh precedes the procession as well as guards 
 the rear. Again in this poem we have the Kinah or Elegiac 
 metre. See Budde in ZATIV., vol. xi (1891), pp. 238 foil. 
 
 First Strophe (verses 17-20). The forlorn plight of Jerusalem. 
 
 17. The rendering of the reflexive form by 'Bestir thyself or 
 ' arosue thee ' is preferable to that of the R. V. awake. The 
 translation given by Duhm, ' Be of good cheer' {ermuntere dich)y 
 is too weak and colourless. 
 
 The last clause of this verse should be connected with the 
 preceding as part of the relative. Moreover, the word cup (Heb. 
 Kos), which is not found in the LXX version, should be deleted. 
 It is not metrically needed, and was evidently attached as a gloss by 
 some scribe to the unusual word rendered ' bowl.' Bowl of tlie cup 
 is an intolerably harsh combination. The word rendered ' bowl ' is 
 a Babylonian or Assyrian word \ which is found in the Black 
 Obelisk of Shalmaneser II (in the British Museum) recording the 
 objects brought by the envoys of Jehu king of Israel as tokens of 
 homage to the Assyrian king. The Hebrew word is only found 
 in this chapter, and is an interesting loan-word borrowed by the 
 Jews during their stay in the land of exile. We may accordingly 
 render : — 
 
 ' Who hast drunk from Yahweh's hand — the cup of His wrath, 
 Yea the bowl of reeling— hast drunken, hast drained.' 
 
 Human lot or destiny, whether of weal or woe, is constantly ex- 
 pre?sed under the metaphor of a cup (e. g. Ps. xvi. 5, and the 
 v/ords of Jesus, Mark xiv. 36). Probably this vivid conception of 
 a ' cup of reeling ' bestowed on Jerusalem was borrowed by the 
 Deutero-Isaiah from Jeremiah, who, like Isaiah of Jerusalem, 
 possessed a more original and vivid imagination than the Deutero- 
 Isaiah. With this passage the reader should compare Jer. xxv. 
 15 and especially 17, 18, also xlix. 12. This vivid conception of 
 Jeremiah is reflected in the prophecy of his younger contemporary 
 Ezekiel against Oholibah (Jerusalem), xxiii. 32-34. 
 
 18. Instead of being addressed in the second person, Jerusalem 
 
 ^ Schrader, COT., vol. i, p. 199. The word was evidently strange 
 to the Jews of later days. For not only have we the explanatory 
 gloss of our Hebrew text— but in the LXX we have another, to 
 
 KOV^V. 
 
r84 ISAIAH 51. 19,20 
 
 she hath brought forth ; neither is there any that taketli 
 her by the hand of all the sons that she hath brought up. 
 
 19 These two things are befallen thee; who shall bemoan 
 thee ; desolation and destruction, and the famine and the 
 
 20 sword ; how shall I comfort thee? Thy sons have fainted, 
 they lie at the top of all the streets, as an antelope in 
 a net ; they are full of the fury of the Lord, the rebuke 
 
 is spoken of in the third. In this respect the verse is entirelj'- 
 isolated, as Jerusalem is once more addressed in the second person 
 in the verses that immediately follow. But it is isolated also in 
 metre, which is no longer elegiac, since the two long lines of which 
 this verse is composed consist of two equal parts (instead of the 
 longer and shorter of the elegiac measure). Accordingly there 
 are definite grounds for regarding this verse as an insertion from 
 another source (with Duhm), though perhaps they are inadequate. 
 
 19 stands in close sequence to verse 17. The disasters that 
 befall Israel are declared to be two. But in the immediate sequel 
 we have four. These, however, may readily fall into two pairs, 
 viz. desolation and destruction on the one side, famine and sword 
 on the other. The interrog. who is the rhetorical mode of 
 expressing a negative. The answer expected is ' no one.' Jeru- 
 salem in the midst of her disasters (the invasions of the Baby- 
 lonians in 597 and 587 b. c.) is left without a comforter. 
 
 A comparison with the ancient versions (LXX, Pesh., Vulg., as 
 well as Targ.) clearly shows that our Hebrew text needs slight 
 amendment. ' Who am I that I should comfort thee ' (i. e. ' how 
 should I comfort thee' ; R. V. ' . . . shall I comfort,' &c.) is the 
 rendering of our traditional Hebrew text, whereas the old versions 
 restore the parallelism as well as the original text by changing the 
 verb from the ist pers. to the 3rd : ' who shall (or is to) comfort 
 thee.' So Lowth and most recent commentators. 
 
 20. 'As an antelope of a net' is the literal rendering of the 
 original, which is equivalent to '■ as an antelope caught in a net.' 
 The expression full of the fury is a recurrence to the conception 
 of verse 17, where Jerusalem has drunk of Yahweh's * cup of 
 reeling,' or ' cup of His fury.' Of this the sons of Jerusalem have 
 drunk their full. The phrase at the top (lit. ' head,' i. e. corner 1 
 of all the streets overweights the metre, and Duhm would there- 
 fore excise it as an addition (borrowed from Lam. ii. 19, iv. i ; so 
 also Budde). The verse would then read as follows : — 
 'Thy sons faint and lie — like an antelope in a net, 
 
 Such as are full of Yahweh's fury- the rebuke of thy God.' 
 
ISAIAH 51. 21-23 185 
 
 of thy God. Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and 21 
 drunken^ but not with wine: thus saith thy Lord the 22 
 Lord, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people, 
 Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of 
 staggering, even the bowl of the cup of my fury ; thou 
 shalt no more drink it again : and I will put it into the 23 
 hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy 
 soul. Bow down, that we may go over : and thou hast laid 
 thy back as the ground, and as the street, to them that go 
 over. 
 
 Second Strophe (verses 21-23). Yahweh's announcement that 
 affliction shall pass away frot^n Jerusalem to her foes. 
 
 21. The word therefore, which introduces a fresh paragraph 
 or section in Hebrew, is a rhetorical mode of indicating a transi- 
 tion rather than a logical sequence. 
 
 but not witii wine implies that the veil of metaphor is for 
 the moment torn aside, and we are confronted with the actuality 
 of God's wrath against the city which the wine symbolizes. The 
 poet, however, is constrained immediately to resume the veil of 
 metaphor in the ensuing verse. 
 
 22. The metre of the original Hebrew, which is supported in 
 this case by the LXX, requires the elimination of the words thy 
 Lord and the copula and. 
 
 23. The cup is taken from Jerusalem's hand and placed in that 
 of her foes. The original of the words that af^ict thee means 
 properly 'that trouble (or harass) thee.' The Hebrew verb is not 
 used elsewhere in the Deutero-Isaiah, and appears too weak to 
 express the meaning of the LXX ( = oppress). Accordingly 
 scholars (Lowth, Seeker, Ewald, Oort, and others) are in favour 
 of a very slight textual emendation (one character only changed into 
 one closely similar) whereby we substitute in our text the verb used 
 in Isa. xlix. 6 ^ ' oppress,' Moreover, the LXX show that a short 
 additional clause has been omitted from our Hebrew text. This 
 gives us the complete metrical elegiac line. The line thus restored 
 will read as follows r — 
 
 ' And I give it into the hand of thine oppressors — the hand of 
 those that humiliate thee ^.' 
 
 ^ I follow here Cheyne and Marti, rather than Duhm, as the LXX 
 support their view. The Hebrew correlate to the LXX rairftvoco is 
 Piel of n:!?, of. Ix, 14 (Heb. and LXX). The additional clause 
 
i86 ISAIAH 52. r 
 
 52 Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion ; put on thy 
 beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city : for hence- 
 forth there shall no more come into thee theuncircumcised 
 
 The concluding part of this verse describes the humiliations to 
 which the inhabitants of Jerusalem were subjected whether in 
 Palestine or in the land of exile. 
 
 Chapter LII. 
 
 lii. I, 2. Third Strophe. The last two of the seven lines appear 
 to have been lost. The desolate city is told to arise from the dust 
 and bonds of her captivity and array herself in the glorious apparel 
 of a holy city into which the unclean shall not enter. We have 
 here the obverse to the portrayal of the dethroned queen, the 
 captured and enslaved Babylon in xlvii. i foil. 
 
 1. The opening phrase is a favourite formula : cf. li. 9. Here 
 we are to regard it as a Divine call to the senses dulled by drinking 
 deep from the cup of wrath that had made those senses reel (li. 17, 
 20, 21). 
 
 A comparison with the LXX here is instructive. This version 
 reads: 'Awake, awake Zion, put on thy strength, Sion, and 
 put on thy glory (^beauty), Jerusalem, holy city.' Here we 
 note the insertion of Zion at the end of the first clause of the 
 Hebrew text employed by the LXX. On the other hand, the 
 word for gfarntents appears to have been omitted in their text. 
 This example clearly shows the student that variations crept into 
 the different Hebrew copies of these oracles. And our own 
 Hebrew (Massoretic text) is no exception. Here the elegiac 
 metre in which the original was composed furnishes a clue, and 
 the word Jerusalem should probably be removed as a gloss. We 
 should then render :— 
 
 ' Awake, awake and clothe thee — in thy strength, O Zion ; 
 Clothe thee in thy beauteous apparel — O sacred city.' 
 
 The stress here placed on cleanness, and on the uncleanness of 
 the uncircumcised foreigner, whose presence defiled the city, are 
 characteristics which do not meet us in the pre-exilian prophets, 
 but belong to the days of the exile when the Jews were brought 
 into contact with the uncircumcised Babylonians. Let the reader 
 compare with this passage Ezek. xliv. 6-10, in which the intro- 
 duction of an uncircumcised foreigner into the sanctuary of the 
 future ideal theocratic commonwealth of Israel is strictly pro- 
 hibited. The influence of that earlier prophet of the exile over 
 
 should therefore not be regarded as a mere duplicate in the LXX as 
 Ottley suggests. 
 
ISAIAH 52. 2, 3 187 
 
 and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust ; arise, sit 2 
 thee down, O Jerusalem : loose thyself from the bands of 
 thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion. 
 
 [For thus saith the Lord, Ye were sold for nought; and S 
 
 the Deutero-Isaiah can scarcel3' be doubted amid the powerful 
 contrasts which distinguish the one from the other. 
 
 2. The verbal form rendered sit thee down maj^ also be 
 construed as a substantive and rendered ' captivity,' i. e. the 
 captive people of Jerusalem, and it is so taken b}' Koppe and 
 Hitzig, but in the original the masculine gender of the subst. 
 renders this an improbable construction. The onl}'^ probable in- 
 terpretation is that which is given above. The word is evident!}' 
 imperative. ' Unloose thyself from the bands ' is the translation 
 which harmonizes best with the context in which we have a series 
 of imperatives addressed to Jerusalem. This is based on the 
 reading of the Kere (or what was read in the sj'nagogue). On 
 the other hand, the Kethib (or what is written in the Hebrew text) 
 should be translated '■ the bonds of thy neck have unloosed them- 
 selves' (similarly R. V. marg,). This is muchlessprobable (cf, LXX). 
 
 Verses 3-6 : a prosaic insertion. Reflections on Israel's past. 
 We have already noted that two lines seemed to have been lost at 
 the close of the preceding strophe. The next few verses (3-6) 
 are without metre. We have two successive sentences beginning 
 with the formula ' For thus saith Yahweh.' Moreover Zion 
 is no longer addressed by Yahweh, but in place of this 
 Israel is spoken of in the third person as ' my people.' The 
 thought is not directed to the immediate future of blessedness 
 and glory, but towards the past, upon which certain reflections 
 are made which by no means coincide with the conceptions 
 expressed elsewhere, e. g. in xliii. 27, 28, 1. i (latter pait), in 
 which the past chastisements of Israel are regarded as due to 
 Israel's transgressions. Here the oppression by Ass3Tia is held 
 to be purposeless (if the reading be correct). Here, moreover, 
 Israel's ransom is obtained without compensation. According 
 to xliii. 3 the Deutero-Isaiah regarded the conquest of Egypt 
 as the compensation to be accorded to Cyrus for the freedom 
 accorded by him to the Jewish exiles. These considerations 
 point to the conclusion that a gap in the defective copy of 
 this poem has been filled up by the reflections of a later writer. 
 
 3. Per is a link with the genuine words of the poet (Deutero- 
 Isaiah) which immediately precede. Zion is to cast off her bonds 
 because her humiliation is ^ in vain ^ (R. V. 'for nought'). 
 Neither Yahweh nor Israel derives an}' compensation for the 
 captivity into whicli the latter, Yahweh's people, has been sold. 
 
i88 ISAIAH 52. 4, 5 
 
 4 ye shall be redeemed without money. For thus saith the 
 Lord God, My people went down at the first into Egypt 
 to sojourn there : and the Assyrian oppressed them with- 
 
 5 out cause. Now therefore, what do I here, saith the Lord, 
 seeing that my people is taken away for nought? they that 
 
 The idea of xlii. 24 and other passages, that Israel's humiliation 
 was punishment inflicted for the nation's sin, is not here set forth. 
 
 4. Por is a further link with the preceding verse 3, and is 
 merely an explication of the same idea. In the earliest period 
 of Israel's history (at the first) he went down, a free people, 
 to sojourn in Egypt as a ger or foreign guest. Now a sojourning 
 guest has rights of hospitality and protection. These, however, 
 Egypt violated and Israel was oppressed. This is not explicitly 
 stated, but it is evidently implied, as the following parallel clause 
 which refers to Assyria clearly shows. Assyria oppressed Israel 
 ' for nothing,' i. e. without any compensaticn rendered to Yahweh 
 (or possibly * for no reason,' as Duhm interprets '). The expres- 
 sion seems forced, and in all probability the reading of the 
 original, on which the LXX rendering ' violently * (or ' with 
 violence ') is based, is to be preferred. Accordingly render : 
 ' and Assyria oppressed him with violence 2.' 
 
 5. 'And now,' i. e. turning from the past to the present state of 
 Israel's sufferings. To what place does here refer? Various 
 answers have been given. Hitzig decides that it means • heaven,' 
 to which, according to Ezekiel, Yahweh had withdrawn Himself 
 after the destruction of the temple. Nagelsbach and others refer 
 it to ' Jerusalem,' but this would involve a violent contrast with 
 the conception of the Deutero-Isaiah that Zion had been abandoned 
 by Yahweh (cf. 1. i and note). More probably 'here' refers to 
 Babylonia, where Israel still remains. 
 
 The last clause of this verse is difficult both as to text and meaning. 
 In our Hebrew text ' his rulers ' (R. V. ' they that rule over them') 
 can only refer to the Babylonians ; howl will thus mean a howl 
 of malicious triumph. The blasphemy may either be uttered by 
 the foreign oppressors who, like Rabshakeh (xxxvi. 7, 18, xxxvii. 
 4, 10 foil.), uttered scorn over Yahweh's power to deliver, or (less 
 probably) by the Jews themselves, who in their captivity derided 
 Yahweh, who seemed impotent to save (cf. viii. 21). When we 
 
 The interpretation of the original by Saadiah, ' in the end ' (as 
 opposed to ' in the beginning,' in the iirst clause), is followed by 
 Lowth, but has no real warrant in linguistic usage. 
 ^ Dom instead of DDNa. 
 
ISAIAH 52. 6,7 189 
 
 rule over them do howl, saith the Lord, and my name 
 continually all the day is blasphemed. Therefore my 6 
 people shall know my name : therefore they shall knoiv in 
 that day that I am he that doth speak ; behold, it is I.] 
 
 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him 7 
 that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace, that 
 bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation ; 
 
 turn to the LXX we see clear evidence of a variant text : * Because 
 my people hath been taken for nought ye marvel and howP.' 
 The recurring expression of this verse, saith the IiORD (properly 
 * utterance of Yahvveh '}, frequently occurs in Jeremiah, but is not 
 characteristic of the Deutero- Isaiah. 
 
 6. The repetition of the word therefore is evidently due to 
 a scribal blunder. The verse should read in the form in which it 
 stands in the LXX : ' Therefore my people shall know my name 
 in that day that it is I who speak. Here am I.' 
 
 Fourth Strophe (verses 7-9% Messengers announce the glad 
 tidings of YahvueWs return to Jerusalem. 
 
 7. The lyric strains of the Deutero- Isaiah are resumed. The 
 phraseology of the opening part of this verse recurs in Nah. i. 15 
 (ii. I Heb.). But there is a general concurrence of opinion 
 among critics that this verse in Nahum is not genuine (with not 
 a few others in the first two chapters). On the other hand, it is 
 easy to see that this verse in Isaiah is integral to the poem. It 
 is evidently borrowed from this chapter in the form in which it is 
 cited by the compiler of the oracles of Nahum -. Over the moun- 
 tains that lie, as we may here assume, on the eastern side of 
 Jerusalem messengers are seen to be hurrying with the glad 
 tidings of Israel's deliverance and the near approach of Yahweh's 
 reign, the kingdom of God". It is impossible not to see here, as 
 in verse i, the influence of the earlier exilian prophet Ezekiel, who 
 saw in vision ' the glory of Israel's God coming by way of the 
 
 ^ Based apparently on the original Vrrrrm "irronn. Or we might 
 render the last clause in the LXX with Duhm as imperatives: ' marvel 
 and howl.' He would restore the original )b'rn^ ^nam. 
 
 ' Consult Nowack's Commentary on the 'Minor Prophets,' adloc, 
 as well as Driver's Minor Prophets, vol. ii (Century Bible). See 
 Cornill's Introduction (Nahum). 
 
 ^ The third line of this verse is metrically too short, the first half 
 needs a supplement. Budde proposes to restore thus : who saith 
 unto Zion : ['Thy Redeemer hath come] — Thy God reigneth.' . 
 
190 ISAIAH 52. 8 
 
 8 that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth ! The voice of thy 
 watchmen ! they lift up the voice, together do they sing ; 
 for they shall see, eye to eye, when the Lord returneth to 
 
 east, and its roar was like the roar of mighty waters.' This glory 
 of Yahweh enters the house by the eastern gate ^ (Ezek. xliii. 1-5). 
 
 8. * Hark (Ut. the voice of) thy watchmen ! They have shouted 
 aloud ' (Ut. lifted up the voice). The word voice occurs twice in 
 the successive two clauses, and recent critics would eliminate one 
 of them. But such a course is not to be commended. This 
 idiomatic use of * voice ' in the first clause { =^ * Hark thy watch- 
 men !) finds a parallel in xl. 3, 6. The watchmen are posted on 
 the walls of the city gates (on the ' roof of the gateway ' : a Sam. 
 xviii. 24) in ordinary cases. In this case, however, we know that 
 Jerusalem's walls were in a state of ruin ever since the capture of 
 the city in 587-6, b. c. (verse 9 : cf. Neh. i. 3, ii. 3). The watch- 
 men would occupy the best available coigns of vantage on the 
 ruins. As they call out the glad tidings of the approach of 
 the exile band with Yahweh at its head, for which the swift 
 messengers over the mountains had already prepared them 
 (verse 7), the inhabitants within the city press forward and 
 join in one universal shout of acclamation. And now they can 
 clearly see the faces of the exiles with Yahweh leading the 
 procession. 
 
 * They see eye to eye,' i. e. the inhabitants now see the exiled 
 band, with Yahweh at its head, close at hand. The meaning of 
 this phrase ' see eye to eye ' in the original is greatly obscured by 
 our own popular use of the phrase. ' Seeing eye to eye ' means, 
 in the O.T., the same thing as beholding face to face, i. e. clearly 
 and close at hand (cf. Exod. xxxiii. 11 ; Num. xii. 8, xiv. 14, and 
 especially Jer. xxxii. 4). The imperfect tenses in the Hebrew 
 should here rather be translated by the present tense than by 
 the future, as the entire context shows that we have examples 
 of the 'dramatic imperfect,' though the events vividly described 
 actually belong to the future. Verses ii foil, clearly prove that 
 the band of exiles had not yet started from Babylon. 
 
 ^ According to Ezekiel's vision, the city and temple are new built 
 and ready to receive the Divine Visitant and Ruler, while in Deutero- 
 Isaiah these completed externalities are not presupposed. The 
 genius of the one and of the other seer here exhibit their respective 
 contrasts. That of Ezekiel revels in externalities and detail ; that of 
 the Deutero-lsaiah is more true to the tradition of Hebrew prophecy 
 represented in the great succession, Amos, Isaiah, and Jeremiah. 
 It lays stress on the internal and spiritual. 
 
ISAIAH 52.9-ii 191 
 
 Zion. Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places 9 
 of Jerusalem : for the Lord hath comforted his people, 
 he hath redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord hath made 10 
 bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations ; and all 
 the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. 
 Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no u 
 
 9. < Break forth, utter a ringing cry together— ruins of Jerusa- 
 lem.' Even the very ruins are to join the exultant acclaim. 
 Perhaps the reply of Jesus, on the occasion of His triumphal 
 entry into Jerusalem, in response to the protests of the Pharisees : 
 ' If these shall be silent, the stones will cry out ' (Luke xix. 40) 
 was based on a reminiscence of this passage where the triumphal 
 entry of Yahweh into His own ruined and desolated city is the 
 theme. The coincidence of our Lord's phrase with the proverbial 
 language of Hab. ii. 11 hardly indicates the actual source. The 
 thought of a ruined Jerusalem was not far from His mind (Mark 
 xiii. 2, 14 foil. ; Luke xiii. 35). 
 
 With the words hath cojnforted his people cf. xl. i. 
 
 Fifth Strophe (verses 10-12). Deliverance by Yahweh before all 
 the world is at hand. The exiles are to begin the solemn march 
 from Babylon to Jerusalem. 
 
 10. We have here a reminiscence of the image of Yahweh's 
 arm in li. 5, 9. The metaphor is martial. Yahweh shall perform 
 His doughty deed of deliverance in the presence of all the nations 
 of the world. Cf. Ezek. xxxviii. 23, xxxix. 21, 
 
 11. g-o out from thence. From what place? This we are left 
 to infer. Evidently not from Jerusalem, though this is the last 
 place mentioned (verse 9). This lends considerable cogency to 
 Duhm's assumption that a long line of this poem, immediately 
 preceding this verse and coming after the couple of long lines 
 of verse 10, has dropped out of our text. Probably the name 
 Babel (Babylon) occurred in this omitted line. It is to be noted 
 that instead of the usual seven lines in this strophe we have 
 only six. 
 
 No unclean thing (dead body or other impurity) is to be touched, 
 For Yahweh is the leader of the procession. The procession is 
 therefore holy. We might compare as an illustration Deut. xxiii. 
 10-14 : cf. Exod. xix. 10-15 ; i Sam. xxi. 5 foil. The centre of the 
 advancing column consisted of the priests who bore the sacred 
 vessels. It is hardly possible to avoid the conclusion that the 
 poet had in mind the restoration of the sacred vessels which had 
 been carried off by Nebuchadrezzar (597 B. c. and in 586 b. c.) to 
 which reference is made in 2 Kings xxi v. 13, xxv. 14 foil. : cf. 
 
igi ISAIAH 52. 12,13 
 
 unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, 
 
 12 ye that bear the vessels of the Lord. For ye shall not 
 go out in haste, neither shall ye go by flight : for the 
 Lord will go before you ; and the God of Israel will be 
 your rearward. 
 
 13 [S. Behold, my servant shall deal wisely, he shall be 
 
 Jer. xxvii, 18-22, xxviii. 3, 6. Duhm, however, regards this as 
 possible only and not probable. 
 
 The midst of her will of course mean from the midst of 
 Babylon. For be ye clean read 'keep yourselves pure,' or 
 'cleanse yourselves.' 
 
 12. All these precautions are to be carefully taken. There is 
 to be no haste in departure as on the night of the exodus, as 
 though in flight. The word for haste seems here to be expressly 
 chosen in the original in reference to and contrast with Deut. 
 xvi. 3, which refers to the haste in which the passover was eaten 
 on the night of the exodus which the annual celebration of the 
 festival ever recalls. Cf. Exod. xii. 39. 
 
 Chapters LII. 13— LIII. 12. 
 Fourth and last of the Servant-passages and the climax of Hebrew 
 Prophecy. The Servants Martyrdom and future Exaltation. 
 The student will have been already prepared in the Introduction 
 to this volume for the adequate appreciation of this greatest 
 passage in the Old Testament, which has exercised a deeper 
 influence over New Testament writers and their interpretation of 
 the life and work of Jesus than any other section of the Hebrew 
 scriptures. It is probably the New Testament interpretation of 
 this last ' Servant-poem ' which is chiefly answerable for the 
 conception of the Servant as an individual (Acts viii. 31-35 ; Rom. 
 iv. 25 : cf. I Pet. ii. 22-25) who vicariously suffered for his race, 
 though it is more than probable that this conception of the 
 passage by the New Testament writers conformed to that which 
 prevailed among certain Jewish circles in the time of Christ. But 
 further than this we certainly cannot go. Probably other inter- 
 pretations were then current, as in the days of Origen about 150 
 years later. For this writer, in his controversy with Celsus, 
 mentions the interesting fact that when he was discussing the 
 claims of Jesus with Jewish Rabbis and cited this very passage in 
 proof, the reply was made ' that this prophecy referred to the 
 entire Jewish people, represented as an individual, which had 
 been involved in the dispersion and afflicted*.' How far Judeo- 
 
 * Toura irenpocprjTivaOat us irepl kvos rov 6\ov \aov, Kai yevofxevov 
 kv T^ diaanopa Kal TtKrjyivros. 
 
ISAIAH 52. 13 195 
 
 submissiveness with which the Servant meets his cruel oppressors, 
 so pathetically portrayed under the figure of a lamb in the 
 presence of the slaughterer, has been already definitely fore- 
 shadowed in the same short poem (1. 5, 6), and exactly coincides 
 with the character of gentleness and loving sympathy with which 
 we find him endowed in the first poem (xlii. 2, 3). Lastly, the 
 final vindication of Yahweh's servant, for which he confidently 
 waits, and which he definitely proclaims even in the depth of his 
 desolation and seeming fruitless endeavour (xlix. 3, 4, 5), and of 
 his humiliation at the hands of oppressors (1. 7, 8), forms the 
 natural conclusion of the last and longer poem in which the revival 
 and glory of the martyred Servant is portrayed (liii. 10-12). All 
 four passages constitute an inseparable unity. 
 
 It is therefore a grievous sin against all canons of true inter- 
 pretation if judgments are passed on the concluding poem^ and 
 its portraiture which do not include the previous shorter poems in 
 their scope. The individualizing features of the description are in 
 reality not more strongly marked here than in the other Servant- 
 passages. They impress more strongly for the superficial reason 
 that we are studying a longer and more detailed poem and a full- 
 length portrait. Duhm, who is at great pains to establish the 
 antithesis between the Deutero-Isaianic Servant of Yahweh and 
 the loftier, purer, and individual portraiture of these four poems, is 
 here betrayed into drawing the contrasts too sharply. He finds the 
 individual features more strongly impressed on this final poem 
 than on the preceding ones. The interpretation of the Servant 
 here as a collective personality that represents either the actual or 
 the ideal Israel Duhm sets aside as utterly impossible. We may 
 follow Duhm so far as to say that in this personal portraiture of 
 the purified and chastened Israel we may trace the lineaments of 
 the prophet Jeremiah, whose hfe and words doubtless deeply 
 impressed the writer of these Servant-poems. See Duhm's 
 Commentary, second edition, p. 367. In dealing with the problem of 
 these Servant-passages we see this great interpreter at his weakest, 
 and his endeavours to solve the problem betray the hesitancy 
 
 ^ It is impossible within the limits at our disposal to deal with the 
 views of Schian and Kosters, who ascribe Hi. 13 — liii. 12 to an 
 authorship distinct from that of the other Servant-passages. The 
 arguments against such a view are stated in these introductory 
 remarks. The same observation applies to Bertholet's theory of liii. 
 I -I I a, which he separates from the context and ascribes to the 
 Maccabaean period, and sees in it a definite reference to a martyred 
 individual, viz. the aged Eleazar, 2 Mace. vi. 18-31. It is difficult 
 to see how the traits of leprosy, wounding, contempt, and revival are 
 reconcilable with this view. 
 
 O 2 
 
196 ISAIAH 52. 13 
 
 of the critic who has tenaciously grasped a wrong clue. He 
 candidly confesses : * We stand here before an historic problem 
 which we cannot solve, especially as we are utterly unable to 
 determine with any certainty the time when the Servant-songs 
 were composed. Though, roughly speaking, we might regard the 
 time between the Exile and Ezra as the most probable, yet there 
 is nothing to prevent us from holding that the poet was dependent 
 on Malachi rather than the reverse, or even to descend later in the 
 stream of time.' Duhm appears to regard the last verse (verse 12) 
 as implying a personal revival after death. 'After he has died for 
 God we are not to think that he was replaced by one of kindred 
 spirit, but that he was personally made alive again. It is only 
 in this way that the universal judgment can be refuted that he 
 was smitten of God.' And yet this does not carry with it a belief 
 in a universal immortality and resurrection. Duhm points by 
 way of parallel to the appearance of Elijah on the last day 
 according to Mai. iii. 23 foil. (E.V. iv. 5 foil.). 
 
 But this is an obviously forced interpretation. The path of the 
 exegete becomes far clearer, as Marti justly perceived (see 
 Commentary, firs*^.^- ."i.^'i'5')i when the 5«?i v3Tfc "1^ Te'gsrra'ea not 
 *"as''S^'inSmduaf but'as a^ collective expression. We can say of 
 a people or community that it has been ill, smitten, carried to the 
 slaughter, laid among the dead, delivered from death, and that 
 a glorious future among nations awaits it. The resurrection 
 of a people is quite possible, as Ezek. xxxvii. 1-14 clearly shows. 
 
 Unfortunately the poem itself is not textually well preserved, 
 and it must be admitted that corruptions have entered, especially 
 in the latter portion of the passage. The metre of this poem is 
 the same as that of the first and second of the series. It falls into 
 tetrastichs or stanzas of four lines each ; but the number of the 
 stanzas is far from certain. The transition from Iii. iS-^S? '^i 
 which we may assume that Yahweh is the speaker, to liii. i foil., 
 in which the Gentiles speak, is unnaturally sudden, and one readily 
 suspects the loss of an intervening stanza. Likewise there is 
 a transition, but less marked, in verse 11. 
 
 Iii. 13-15 depict the glorious future of the Servant as compared 
 with his present abject condition. Yahweh speaks concerning His 
 Servant. To whom and in what character? It must be remem- 
 bered that all that we possess of these Servant-poems are 
 fragments taken from a larger whole (how large can never be 
 determined), and have been incorporated by the Deutero-Isaiah 
 into his own work. From internal indications as well as external 
 we gather that this final poem of the series forms part of a sublime 
 judgment-scene, in which Yahweh in His capacity of judge 
 summons all the nations of the world to hear His authoritative 
 vindication of the Suffering Servant and the exaltation of the 
 
ISAiAH 52. 14 197 
 
 exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high. Like as 14 
 many were astonied at thee, (his visage was so marred 
 more than any man, and his form more than the sons of 
 
 afflicted and righteous exiled community who are destined to 
 high honour in the future ^ This entire passage the Deutero- 
 Isaiah has deprived of its introduction and has inserted it into 
 the body of his poems at this point, since his own words in verse 
 10 above — 
 
 ' Yahweh hath stripped His holy arm — before the eyes of the 
 
 nations ; 
 And all the ends of the earth shall see — the deliverance of 
 our God' — 
 
 formed a substitute for the omitted preface and heralded the 
 address of Yahweh with which this Servant-poem begins. We 
 have observed that the metrical form is quite distinct in this poem 
 from the Kinah measure of the preceding lines. 
 
 13. In place of shall deal wisely the margin reads 'shall 
 prosper.' Both meanings for the Hebrew verb ^asM are possible. 
 The first, meaning 'have insight' or ' deal wisely,* is supported 
 by such passages as xliv. 18 ; Jer. xx. 11 ; Ps. ii. 10, xiv. 2, liii. 3, 
 &c. ; while the second is sustained by Joshua i. 7, 8; i Sam. 
 xviii. 14, 15 ; Jer. x. 21 ; Prov. xvii. 8. The latter fits better into 
 the context. We thereby have an ascending climax 'shall 
 prosper,' 'be high,' 'be very exalted.' We agree wMth Giese- 
 brecht^ in regarding Budde's alteration of the verbal form into 
 ' Israel' as needless. The LXX and Vulg. sustain our text. 
 
 14. The sudden change from the designation of the servant as 
 ixiy servant to addressing him in the second person is most 
 abrupt and unusual. Most scholars have therefore followed Targ. 
 and Pesh. in reading 'at hiui'' instead of 'at thee.' Moreover, 
 the occurrence of the same Hebrew adverb so in successive 
 clauses is very awkward, and the alteration of the first into the 
 Hebrew word for ' for ' {ken altered to ki) is to be commended (so 
 Giesebrecht) -^ Also the isolated expression niishhath, 'something 
 
 ^ Note the utter contrast between the attitude of the writer to the 
 Gentile world as compared with the spirit exhibited by the eschato- 
 logical passage of Divine judgment against Gog in Ezek. xxxviii, 
 xxxix, anticipating the spirit of later Judaism. (The genuineness of 
 these chapters is doubted by Gressmann and Bousset.) Gressmann 
 rightly emphasizes the eschatological character of Isa. lii. 13 — liii. 12 
 {JJrspriing der Israel. -yud. Eschatologie, p. 327). 
 
 - Der Knecht Jalives, p. log. 
 
 * On the other hand, Duhm suggests another remedy, which 
 
198 ISAIAH 52. 15 
 
 15111611,) so shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall 
 shut their mouths at him : for that which had not been 
 told them shall they see ; and that which they had not 
 heard shall they understand. 
 
 corrupted or deformed,' is suspicious. The pronunciation of the 
 Hebrew characters as a passive partic, Hofal nioshhdth, originally 
 proposed by Geiger, is now generally accepted. 
 
 15. The opening word so (Hebrew ken) marks the apodosis to 
 the clause *■ Like as . . .' at the beginning of verse 14. The 
 rendering sprinkle is very doubtful, not because the verbal form 
 does not frequently bear this signification in Hebrew (cf. Num. 
 viii. 7, xix. 18, 19, 21 ; Lev. iv. 6, v. 9, viii. 11, &c.), but because 
 the following construction seems to forbid it \ Furthermore, it is 
 difficult to see the logical connexion between the two ideas of 
 bodily disfigurement and the sprinkling of the nations. On 
 account of these objections recourse is had to an Arabic verbal 
 root nazd 'to spring.' The causative form in our text will then 
 mean 'cause to spring,' i.e. startle : see R. V. marg. Instead of 
 this, O.T. scholars are ready with textual emendations, of which 
 the most probable is that of Moore ^ {Jottrn. of Bibl. Lit., 1890, 
 pp. 216 foil.). Verses 14 and 15 may then be rendered : — 
 
 'Just as many were dumbfounded at him, 
 For deformed was his appearance so as not to be a man, 
 And his figure so as not to be human,^ — 
 
 removes the parenthesis at the close of verse 14 and places it at the 
 close of liii. 2. There would then be no need to alter the word for 
 'so' {ken) to the word for ' for ' {ki). Accordingly we read : 
 * No form had he, nor stateliness 
 
 [That w^e should behold him], as appearance that we should 
 delight in him. 
 
 So deformed was his appearance, so as not to be a man. 
 
 And his figure so as not to be human.' 
 rhis is extremely ingenious, and rids verse 14 of a somewhat cum- 
 brous parenthesis. It also restores the stiophic arrangement. But 
 in the presence of evident gaps this last argument is doubtful. 
 
 ^ The proper Hebrew construction is ' sprinkle (water, &c.) tcpon.'' 
 
 ^ He reads : 1WT,' ' so shall many nations be stirred,' this yields 
 a good parallelism, and fairly accords with the LXX Oav/xaaovrai. 
 Other readings need not be quoted. 
 
 ^ For this use of the Hebrew preposition min to express a negative 
 the student of Hebrew is referred to Gesenius-Kautzsch, Hebr. 
 Gram.^^, § ii9y : cf. Isa. vii. 8 (last clause); xxiii. i. 
 
ISAIAH 53. I 199 
 
 Who hath believed our report ? and to whom hath the 63 
 
 So shall he startle many nations, 
 
 Before him kings shall shut their mouths; 
 
 For what hath not been recounted to them they see, 
 
 And what they have not heard they perceive,' 
 
 shut their mouths, i. e. in awe-struck wonder (Job xxix. 
 9 foil., xl. 4) at the exalted dignity of the martyred sufferer. 
 
 Chapter LIII. 
 
 1. It is quite evident that we here enter suddenly upon a new 
 scene in the solemn drama of Divine judgment. For this chapter 
 commences with the utterance of a new speaker. The theme is 
 obviously still the martyred servant with his sufferings and his 
 coming vindication and glory. But Yahweh is spoken of in the 
 third person, while the speaker regards himself as the represen- 
 tative of a society whose iniquities have been borne by the 
 suffering servant. Duhm, who summarily rejects the view that it 
 is either the prophets or the Gentiles who are here speaking, 
 propounds the theory that it is the poet himself who is the speaker. 
 But this involves us in difficulties, (i) In no other case does the 
 poet himself speak in these Servant-passages. (2) The trans- 
 gressions for which the Servant was smitten are then exclusively 
 those of the Israelite race, for 'our' cannot be referred to others 
 than the race or community to which the speaker belongs. 
 Consequently the Gentiles have no part or lot in chap. liii. The 
 servant suffered and died for Israel only. But this stands in 
 violent contrast with the whole scope and tendency of the 
 Servant-poems : xUx. i, xlii. i, 4, and especially xlix. 6, show 
 that the mission of the Servant of Yahweh was specially directed 
 to the Gentile world. The significance of these opening verses 
 (at least 1-7, probably i-io) only becomes clear and consistent 
 with the whole series of Servant-passages when we assume with 
 Budde, Giesebrecht, Marti, and other recent critics that a repre- 
 sentative of the Gentile races is spokesman. Probably if we 
 possessed the poem in its complete form some omitted lines 
 between lii. 15 (in which the startled nations and their kings are 
 spoken of) and liii. i would be found to relate the summons of 
 Yahweh to the Gentiles to bear witness to the righteousness and 
 faithfulness of the Servant. 
 
 Translate: 'Who could have believed what w^'^ ^^-^^^ iussive* 
 So Teake, who cites Giesebrecht, Beitragf^;^^^, grammatical 
 p. 159. Giesebrecht gives references to graj, j^e other hand, the 
 
 -- — — ; ; ; ] ; ;; ^ consecutive. Their 
 
 As Giesebrecht gives citations from woi,d he had no form nor 
 most of our readers, we would direct them ^^^^ dishonoured.' 
 
200 ISAIAH 53. 2 
 
 2 arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before 
 him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground : 
 he hath no form nor comeliness ; and when we see him, 
 
 for this idiomatic use of the Perfect tense, unsatisfactorily rendered 
 in R.V. * hath believed.' Report is also inadequate as a rendering. 
 R.V. (marg.) correctly interprets the Hebrew substantive by ' that 
 which we have heard.' We have already noted in previous 
 passages the negative significance of this rhetorical interrogative. 
 The answer is: 'no one.' For been revealed we might 
 substitute the reflexive form 'hath revealed itself.' This expres- 
 sion of feeling on the part of the Gentiles, who give their 
 testimony, exactly accords with the dumbfounded awe and 
 wonderment of the foreign nations and kings described in the 
 preceding verses. By ' Yahweh's arm ' is meant here and in 
 other cases the manifestation of His power in the exalted destiny 
 which is now to be confen^ed upon His Servant, which seems 
 incredible. 
 
 2. The original reads ' and he grew up before Him (i. e. 
 Yahweh) as a tender sapling.' As immediately following upon 
 the interrogative clause, this sentence is certainly very abrupt. 
 The subject we may infer to be the servant spoken of in Hi. 13-15. 
 Accordingly we are led to suspect that there is an omitted line 
 that precedes verse 2. There is no need to follow Ewald, Cheyne, 
 Oort, and Giesebrecht in reading 'before us' instead of before 
 Kim, the rendering of our Hebrew text supported by LXX. The 
 word rendered 'tender sapling' (R.V. 'tender plant') properly 
 means 'suckling,' but is often applied as a substantive to the 
 vegetable world, especially in Job (viii. 16, xiv. 7,xv. 30 : cf. Hos. 
 xiv. 7; Ezek. xvii. 22; Ps. Ixxx. 12 [A. V. 11]). Thejneaning 
 15 that the Serveint grew up in quiet obscurity like a young 
 unobtrusive, unobserved sapling ; a small exiled, undemonstrative. 
 God-fearing community watched and tended by Yahweh^ grew 
 up in the land of exile as a root (or root-sprout, cf. xi. 10) spring- 
 ing out of the parched soil. In the desert of the exile it reached 
 no imposing height or proportions. ' It had no graceful form 
 {toar) ^ or stateliness (Jiaddr) 3, that we should behold it, nor (fair) 
 
 Syntax, 6 1 1 (c), Rem. 2, pp. C2 foil. : Gesenius-Kautzsch, Heb. 
 2 H \\adfin. 
 
 tie reaas : ,^ ^.j^g more natural meaning of 'before him,' as 
 a good parallelisn,. Duhm understands it apparently as =^ with 
 Other readings need^jous of holy calling. 
 
 ^ For this use of t.,. xvi. 18. 
 the student of Heb.xiij. 40 (in reference to trees). 
 Gram.^^, § ii9y : v 
 
ISAIAH 53. 3, 4 201 
 
 there is no beauty that we should desire him. He was 3 
 despised, and rejected of men ; a man of sorrows, and 
 acquainted with grief: and as one from whom men hide 
 their face he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 
 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our 4 
 
 appearance that we should delight in it,' quite unlike the trees in 
 Paradise, which were * delightful in appearance ' (Gen. ii. 9) ^. 
 
 3. For rejected of men it would be better to read ' neglected (or 
 R. V. marg. '' forsaken") of men,' The meaning of the Hebrew 
 adject, {hddel) is, however, doubtful. The signification of the 
 Hebrew verbal root is 'cease' or * leave.' It is not improbable 
 that we ought to take the adject, in the active rather than the passive 
 sense (just as in Ezek. iii. 27) : one who abandotjs (or dispenses 
 zvith) the society of men. The despised and martyred community 
 of exiles is despised by the foreigner and regarded as a leper and 
 outcast ; accordingly it withdraws from intercourse with men and 
 is constrained to live its life in seclusion both shunned and 
 shunning their fellow men — vivid prefiguration of Israel's later 
 days ! 
 
 The Servant is further portrayed as *a suffering man, familiar 
 with disease.' Grief in R.V. (and A. V.) is not an accurate 
 rendering ; R. V. marg. is to be preferred — 'sickness.' 
 
 In the latter part of this verse we can only treat Heb. master as 
 a substantive parallel to many other like formations in Hebrew : 
 'and, like an object from which one hides the face, was he 
 despised, &c.' So Ewald, Hitzig, Dehtzsch, and most commenta- 
 tors. But the construction is complex and open to much doubt. 
 
 Verses 4-8. The pathos deepens as we learn from the Gentile's 
 lips the vicarious suffering and death of the martyred Servant. 
 Special care must be taken to mark the emphasis of the personal 
 pronoun insufficiently expressed in the version of R. V. above. 
 
 4. Render : 
 
 * Yet our diseases 'twas he who bore. 
 And our sufferings, he bore their load ; 
 While we, we thought him plague-struck, 
 Smitten of God and humiliated.' 
 
 ^ The construction of the latter part of this verse with jussive 
 and copulative Waw follows the precedent of Hebrew grammatical 
 usage; see Gesen.-Kautzsch^^ § 166. i (a). On the other hand, the 
 LXX clearly read the first verbal form with Waw consecutive. Their 
 text evidently differed : 'And we beheld him, and he had no form nor 
 beauty [reading mon"), verse 3]. But his form was dishonoured.' 
 
202 ISAIAH 53. 5-7 
 
 sorrows : yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, 
 
 5 and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, 
 he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our 
 peace was upon him ; and with his stripes we are healed. 
 
 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every 
 one to his own way ; and the Lord hath laid on him the 
 iniquity of us all. 
 
 7 He was oppressed, yet he humbled himself and opened 
 
 Here the Heb. particle achm means ' yet,' ' nevertheless,' 
 marking contrast, just as the writer of these Servant-passages 
 employs it in xlix. 4. On the other hand, the Deutero-Isaiah 
 employs it in the sense of 'Yea,' 'in truth' (xl. 7, xlv. 15). The 
 name for deity is not Yahweh but the general name for ' God,' 
 viz, Elohiin, which a polytheist Gentile might employ. A Baby- 
 lonian might hold that the physical sufferings of the Servant were 
 inflicted on him by Namtar, to whom evil demons were subject and 
 who sent them forth as his emissaries ^ 
 
 5 takes the form of what in Hebrew syntax is called a 
 circumstantial clause (see Davidson, Heb. Syntax, §§ 137 foil., 
 and especially § 138 b). The personal pronoun he is again 
 emphatic, and stands in contrast with we of the preceding clause : 
 ' For it was he who was pierced because of our transgressions, 
 maimed because of our iniquities.' 
 
 The chastisemeut of our peace is obviously a condensed 
 expression, as the following parallel clause clearly shows. It 
 means the chastisement destined to bring about our well-being. 
 The Hebrew word rendered stripes is the same as that which 
 occurs in i. 6, and is there translated by R. V. as ' bruises.' This 
 latter rendering is really closer to the true meaning, which is 
 actually 'scar' or 'weal' left by a wound or blow. Translate, 
 'and through his scars healing has come to us.' 
 
 6. For laid on him substitute the more accurate rendering of 
 R. V. margin, 'made to light upon him.' 
 
 Verses 7-9 describe the persecution, even to death, of the martyred 
 Servant, and the gentle uncomplaining spirit with which he bore 
 it all. 
 
 V. Translate : ' He was persecuted, yet it was he who suffered 
 himself to be humiliated^.' He opened not his mouth to complain 
 
 ^ See Zimmern, in KAT?, pp. 460 and 562 (cf. Jastrow, Religion 
 of Babylonia and Assyria, pp. 570 foil.). 
 
 ^ The LXX is here obscure, but may perhaps have been based as 
 
ISAIAH 53. 8 203 
 
 not his mouth j as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and 
 as a sheep that before her shearers is dumb; yea, he opened 
 not his mouth. By oppression and judgement he was 8 
 taken away ; and as for his generation, who among them 
 
 or protest against such harsh treatment ; slatig-hter or ' slaughtering* 
 is more probably the right interpretation than Duhm's ' slaughter- 
 bench ' (so also Marti) ^. At the close of the verse the repetition 
 of the phrase '■ he opened not his mouth ' is probably a gloss added 
 by a scribe who thought that the previous comparison 'as a 
 lamb . . ., as a sheep . . .' required an apodosis. Duhm (who is 
 here followed by Giesebrecht) is justified in deleting the clause, 
 as it is redundant to the quatrain which properly ends with the 
 line 'like a sheep before its shearers is dumb.' 
 
 8. From this point onwards there are evident corruptions of the 
 text, and there are many proposed emendations. The LXX had 
 a somewhat different text in the first line, which may be rendered 
 'Through oppression his right was taken away-'; i.e. by high- 
 handed oppression the martyred Servant was deprived of his 
 rights — a perfectly intelligible sentence, and in harmony with the 
 context. All the commentators, however, adhere to our Hebrew 
 text, but their interpretations differ. Thus the Hebrew preposition 
 at the head of the word for oppression and judgement may bear 
 the ordinary meaning ' from ' or ' on account of.' Accordingly the 
 Peshitto or Syriac version, which Delitzsch and Orelli follow, 
 give the first line the rendering : ' He was taken away from prison 
 and from judgment,' i. e. by death, the words being directly 
 apphed to our Lord's crucifixion (so our A. V.). But 'prison' or 
 'imprisonment' is a questionable rendering for the Hebrew word 
 ('oser). The use of the word in Ps. cvii. 39 supports the rendering 
 ' oppression ' in this passage. Moreover, as Rosenmiiller pointed 
 out nearly a century ago, we obtain a better meaning by taking 
 the Hebrew preposition in the second sense, 'on account of.' We 
 tluis obtain a translation which accords better with the context. 
 
 a free rendering on our text. Syriac and Vulgate read the verb as 
 7iiggash (not niggas), which yields another and unsuitable sense. 
 The translation we have adopted, ' suffered himself to be humiliated/ 
 regards the verbal form as a Nif'al tolerativum. So Delitzsch; 
 cf. Exod. X. 3, and Gesenius-Kautzsch {Heb. Gram."^^, § 51. 2 a). 
 
 ^ In Hebrew (ebah, rendered in LXX acpay^. 'Slaughter-bench,' 
 would probably be expressed in Hebrew by a form with prefixed 7;/, 
 i.e. niitbah or mitbeah (cf. jnizbeah). 
 
 - Apparently np"? ^t:|\i:a *^:inD. 
 
204 ISAIAH 53. 8 
 
 considered that he was cut off out of the land of the 
 Hving? for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 
 
 ' On account of (or by) oppression and judgment he was carried 
 off' (i.e. by a violent end). So Giesebrecht in the translation 
 furnished in his treatise KJ., p. 107. 
 
 The remainder of the verse is most obscure. When we turn to 
 the LXX we find variations of text which are worthy of careful 
 consideration. This version is as follows : ' His generation who 
 will describe ? For his life is taken from the earth ^ ; owing to the 
 transgressions of my people he was led (?) to death.' The Hebrew 
 word dor^ here rendered generation, has been a subject of much 
 controversy, both as regards meaning and construction. The 
 following are some of the meanings proposed for the word : — 
 'Destiny' (Hitzig), 'dwelling' (i.e. the 'grave' — so Knobel ; or 
 ' place of residence ' — so Duhm), ' length (or course) of life ' 
 (Luther, Vitringa). We need not mention others. The only 
 satisfactory and well- warranted sense is that already given in the 
 LXX, viz. 'generation.' 'His generation' would therefore mean 
 his countrymen who were living at the time, his fellow Jews. But 
 what is the construction of this word? It is preceded by a Hebrew 
 particle which may be either the sign for the accusative or the 
 preposition ' with.' Again opinions differ widely. Some would 
 give the special meaning to the particle as for (as in Ivii. 12 ; 
 Ezek. vi. 9, xvii. 21, &c.). Others, including Ewald and Orelli, 
 would regard it as a preposition meaning 'with,' 'among.' This 
 is certainly more probable. Accordingly we may render this 
 difficult sentence : ' And among his generation who would reflect 
 that he was cut off from the land of the living.' The expression 
 land of the living was a current Hebrew phrase, cf. Jer. xi. 19, 
 Ps. xxvii. 13, and other passages. The last clause requires consider- 
 able emendation. My people is strange on the lips of a Gentile. 
 A very slight emendation (the prolongation of a single final 
 character) would make it ' his people ' (i. e. the Jewish race, viz. 
 the generation who were contemporaries of the Servant of 
 Yahweh). A further emendation (based on the LXX), which has 
 been accepted by most critics, gives us the following sense in the 
 last clause of the verse : ' On account of the transgression of his 
 people was he smitten to death''.' The purport of this passage is 
 
 ^ In the original VT» p«D nM2. The Hebrew verb translated 
 ' describe ' (but more correctly * reflect,' meditate) is not con- 
 strued with the simple accusative but with the Hebrew preposition 2 = 
 ' reflect on.' The construction of the LXX is therefore hardly ad- 
 missible in point of usage. 
 
 '•^ nioS yj: (or r?:). 
 
ISAIAH 53. 9 205 
 
 And they made his grave with the wicked, and with the 9 
 rich in his death ; although he had done no violence, 
 neither was any deceit in his mouth. 
 
 to show that the Martyr-servant died for the sins of the Jews ^, 
 a large number of whom had become the devotees of the gods of the 
 land in which they hved and conformed to the customs of the 
 Babylonians. Thus the death had a world-wide atoning value. 
 The Servant died for both Jew and Gentile. The Jewish con- 
 temporaries of the suffering and faithful community of their fellow 
 countrymen who strenuously and patiently upheld their faith as 
 witnesses for truth amid dire persecution, as little realized as the 
 Gentiles that this martyrdom was an atonement for their own 
 sins. 
 
 9. Dishonour even pursued the Martyr-servant to the grave. 
 He is buried among the wicked and the wealthy. This verse is 
 also involved in textual difficulties, but not in so aggravated a form 
 as in the preceding verse. Our only path of safety is to follow as 
 far as possible the Massoretic text so far as it is sustained by the 
 LXX. Though the latter obviously misunderstood the Hebrew text, 
 their mistranslations help to establish the accuracy of our text in 
 the main. 
 
 And they made (lit. ' gave '). The verb is impersonal third 
 sing, in the original (properly 'and one gave'^). Fate ordained 
 that the pious and faithful community of exiles, who had maintained 
 their faith in Yahweh amid all the darkness and persecution of 
 their exile home, should die in Babylonia among the rich and 
 powerful. The latter may have been Babylonians, who made the 
 life of this martyr-community bitter, or fellow Jews who lived 
 prosperously and had abandoned the rehgion of their forefathers. 
 The form translated in Ms death is very questionable, though it 
 apparently has the support of the LXX even in their mistranslation. 
 Probably we ought to render • his mound,' i. e. the tumulus which 
 marked the site of the martyr's grave. This makes the parallelism 
 with the previous clause (viz. 'grave') more clear ^. 
 
 ^ There Is therefore no need whatever for Budde's drastic emen- 
 dation !ir;^irep, 'on account of our transgressions,* instead of 
 'jpv rt'E'3. Budde, however, admits the reasonableness of the slight 
 emendation te^^ which we have adopted. See his Die sogenannten 
 Ebed-yahwe-Lieder, p. 12. 
 
 ^ The LXX read in their Heb. text the first person sing. — obviously 
 a textual error. 
 
 ^ This use of the word batndh, meaning properly * height ' (cf. 
 
2o6 ISAIAH 53. lo 
 
 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him ; he hath put 
 him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering 
 for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, 
 and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 
 
 The preposition which in the original begins the following clause 
 is rendered by the LXX and Vulg. ' because ' and is followed by 
 our Authorized Version. The R. V., whose translation is given 
 above, rightly substituted although. Cf. Job xvi. 17, where the 
 same Hebrew preposition has the same force : * Though no 
 wickedness is in my hands and my prayer is pure.' The last two 
 lines of the quatrain dwell on the fact that such burial among the 
 wicked was utterly unmerited. 
 
 10. It is not quite clear whether this verse continues the 
 utterance of the Gentile spokesman. If so, it appears to exhibit 
 him in the light of a true follower of Yahweh to whom the 
 purposes of the God of the Hebrews were familiar and intelligible. 
 But the construction of the Massoretic text, and the wide divergence 
 of the text on which the LXX based their rendering, render this 
 one of the most problematic verses of the chapter. The opening 
 clause in the Hebrew can only be translated somewhat as 
 the R. V. render above, though the R. V. marg. ' made him sick ' 
 (better 'subjected him to disease') is certainly to be pre- 
 ferred. On the other hand, when we turn to the LXX we 
 have clear evidence of a slightly different text with a quite different 
 rendering. ' And the Lord (i. e. Yahweh) was pleased to purify 
 him from the plague ^' Here the word translated * purify ' is the 
 same as the Hebrew^ word in our text which is rendered bruise. 
 The LXX read that word with the sense which it bears in 
 Aramaic ^. Giesebrecht, it is true, would deal much more drastically 
 
 Ps. xviii'. 34; Deut. xxxii. 13), is, it must be confessed, quite unique 
 and so questionable. It is possible that we ought to read hHh mdthS 
 = his sepulchre (on b^th used in this connexion cf. Neh. ii. 3). Also 
 the Hebrew sing, form 'dshir, ' wealthy,' is strange, and Bottcher's 
 emendation, 'dse ra , is an ingenious escape from the difficulty, and 
 sustains the parallelism. Peake in his translation adopts it {Problem 
 of Suffering, p. 57). The verse in its first two lines would thus run ; 
 * And one made (or appointed) with the wicked his grave. 
 And with the evildoers his sepulchre.' 
 
 ^ Evidently reading >bno for the very questionable Hif il form 
 'bnn of our text. 
 
 * The Piel 'p^, in Aramaic, corresponds to the Hebrew n3l, meaning 
 'cleanse,' purify. The question arises whether we may not assume, 
 
ISAIAH 53. II 207 
 
 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be n 
 satisfied : by his knowledge shall my righteous servant 
 
 with the text, and would substitute for the above word another, 
 viz. 'justify' : ' Yahweh was pleased to justify him,' thus bringing 
 the passage into harmony with the earlier Servant-passage, 1. 8 ^, 
 But there is absolutely no warrant for this. 
 
 Now when we glance over the contents of this verse it will be 
 seen that it is the LXX rendering which places us at the right 
 point of view. In the former days of the Martyi'-servant's affliction 
 'we thought him plague-struck and smitten of God,' and so an 
 object to be shunned. But now the true view of God's purpose 
 as discipline, which is both purifying to His servant and atoning 
 for others, is clearly set forth, as well as the ultimate restoration 
 of the servant and his posterity. 
 
 ' Yet Yahweh was pleased to cleanse him from disease. 
 Though thou^ make his life a sin-offering, 
 He shall behold posterity— shall prolong life. 
 And the pleasure of Yahweh shall prosper in his hand.' 
 
 In the latter portion of this verse we have followed the traditional 
 Hebrew text and arrangement, which yield an excellent sense. 
 The LXX render as follows : ' And Yahweh is pleased to rescue 
 from the trouble of his soul ^.' Here we have a different text as 
 well as punctuation, which connects the last line with the opening 
 words of the following verse (verse 11). 
 
 11. The speech of the representative or representatives of the 
 Gentile nations ends with the preceding verse. The solemn 
 
 as Duhm does, that the Hebrew word was understood in the 
 .Aramaic sense (since the influence of Aramaic we know to have 
 prevailed very widely among the Jewish diaspora in Babylonia 
 and in Egypt), or emend the text to iniJj, its proper Hebrew form. 
 
 ^ KJ., p. 109. 
 
 ^ LXX make this second pers. plur. The second pers. sing, here 
 can only be understood as the momentary address to Yahweh by the 
 Gentile spokesman who elsewhere speaks of Yahweh in the third 
 person. Hebrew style is much more flexible than our own, which 
 conforms to a rigid artificial uniformity. Lowth would punctuate the 
 verb as a passive : 'Though his life be made a sin-offering.' Others 
 would render: 'Though his soul (i.e. he himself) should make 
 a sin-offering.' Both are possible solutions. Giesebrecht's suggested 
 emendation, D^xri for D^UJFi, 'Though his soul take on itself the 
 guilt,' is very ingenious and attractive {KJ-y p. no). 
 
 ^ Obviously an error for ' rescue his soul from trouble.' 
 
2o8 ISAIAH 53. 12 
 
 12 justify many : and he shall bear their iniquities. There- 
 fore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he 
 
 judgment-scene closes, as it opened, with the words of Yahweh. 
 This is evident from the first person which occurs in verses 11 and 
 12. Perhaps an introductory hne may have preceded verse 11, 
 beginning 'Thus saith Yahweh . . .' Here again we are beset 
 with difficulties as to text. The question which the scholar has to 
 decide is, how far he is to defer to the LXX and abandon the 
 Massoretic tradition. If we follow this course we have to assume 
 that the speech of the Gentile spokesman continues in this verse. 
 On the other hand, if we follow our traditional Hebrew text, 
 which we consider the safer course, making such modifications as 
 the LXX, sense, metre, or grammatical construction may require, 
 we may adopt the following as the translation based on a fairly 
 probable text (amid manifest and numerous signs of textual 
 corruption). It is not possible to attempt more : — 
 
 ' Through the travail of his soul shall he see light ^ in fullness ; 
 By his knowledge shall my servant bring justification to many, 
 And of their guilt shall he bear the burden.' 
 
 Here in the first line the word ' light,' which occurs in the LXX 
 version, has evidently dropped out of our Hebrew text and should 
 be restored. ' Light ' is here used in the sense of ' prosperity,' 
 * happiness.' In the second line of the above rendering we have 
 omitted the adjective * righteous,' as (i) it involves a clumsy 
 appositional construction in the original; (2) evidently arises 
 through dittography ; (3) overweights the metric length of the 
 line^ 
 
 12. Therefore (i. e. on the ground of the sufferings through 
 which he has passed and their atoning efficacy) * I will divide him 
 a portion among many.' In the Hebrew text, as it is punctuated 
 by the Massoretes, we read * the many ' (with definite article). 
 But the following clause has no definite article before ' strong.' 
 
 ^ Literally, 'shall see light, shall be satiated.' 
 
 ^ We append the LXX version in its entirety from the latter part 
 of verse 10 (already quoted) : ' And the Lord (i. e. Yahweh) is 
 pleased to rescue from the travail of his soul (verse 11), to show 
 unto him light and to fill (adopting Schleusner's conjecture -nXriaai 
 which Ottley accepts) with understanding to justify a righteous one 
 who serves many well [?].' The writer is unable to follow Giese- 
 brecht or Marti in their attempted reconstructions, partly based on 
 the above data. Little is to be gained for O. T. textual reconstruc- 
 tion by such free methods as these scholars, as well as Duhm, have 
 brought into play in the closing verses of this chapter. 
 
ISAIAH 53. 12 209 
 
 shall divide the spoil with the strong ; because he poured 
 out his soul unto death, and was numbered with the 
 
 We have therefore (with Duhm) omitted it here in the first clause 
 before ' many.' * And with strong ones he shall divide booty.' 
 The metaphor is that of warfare. The victorious warrior returns 
 with the scars of battle upon him, and his king awards him due 
 share in the spoils. The word in the original rendered ' many ' 
 {rabb'mi) may also be translated ' mighty,' and this agrees better 
 with the word ' strong ' in the next clause. The same word, 
 however, occurs later in the verse in the sense of * many,' and it 
 is hardly probable that it can have been employed in two distinct 
 senses in the same verse. 
 
 The grounds for the high honour bestowed on the martyred 
 servant are once more emphasized at the close of the poem, 
 since the dominant idea in the mind of the poet is the glory of 
 vicarious suffering. This is the earliest expression of a conception 
 (viz. the atoning value of the sufferings of pious men) which 
 attained wide development in later times, and constantly meets us 
 in the teachings of the Jewish Synagogue. We have a clear and 
 vivid example of it during the struggles of the time of Antiochus 
 Epiphanes, when sufferings were endured by pious martyrs for 
 the Jewish faith. One of the seven brothers prays that * in me 
 and my brothers the wrath of the Almighty may be appeased 
 which has justly passed upon all our race' (2 Mace. vii. 38). ' Be 
 gracious unto thy people, and let the punishment which we endure 
 for them suffice thee. Let my blood serve for purification, and as 
 equivalent for their life {avriipyxov) take my own ' (4 Mace. vi. 
 29; cf. i. II, ix. 24, xvii. 20-22, xviii. 4). Lastly, Jesus regards 
 His own death as a ' ransom equivalent for many ' (Mark x. 45) ^. 
 In still later Judaism the doctrine was carried to what appear to 
 us extravagant lengths, and was connected with the widely 
 prevailing doctrine of merit which played so great a part in Jewish 
 soteriology. In order to understand it, it must be recollected 
 that the integral solidarity of the race was a fundamental axiom of 
 thought, and our modern individualism, with its severe and im- 
 penetrable walls of personality, was entirely foreign to the Jewish 
 (which was also the Pauline) mind. The race is of one blood. 
 Hence what individual righteousness could not obtain, it could 
 supplement by the righteousness of pious forefathers and even 
 contemporaries. In the words of the tract Sanhedrin (27 b) : ' One 
 Israelite is guarantee for another.' The student will find this 
 subject treated with copious illustrations in Weber's System der 
 
 ^ See Bousset, Religion des yudentums (2nd ed.), p. 228 foil. 
 P 
 
2IO ISAIAH 53. 13—64. i 
 
 1 2 transgressors : yet he bare the sin of many, and made 
 
 intercession for the transgressors.] 
 54 Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear ; break forth 
 
 altsyuagogalen Paldstinischen Theologie (now called Jildische 
 Theologie), pp. a8o foil. 
 
 We are passing into a more debatable region when we press 
 our inquiry into the historic roots of this conception of the atoning 
 death. Gressmann, in his recent stimulating work (in German) 
 on The Origin of Israelite- Jewish Eschatology^ pp. 328 foil., follows 
 up the clues suggested twenty years ago in Robertson Smith's 
 great treatise Religion of the Semites. "We have to go back to the 
 days of hoary antiquity, when gods and men were kin, out of which 
 the primitive notions of sacrifice arose. We may find the clue in 
 the conception expressed in cultus and its accompanying myth of 
 the piacular death of the god which passed over into the ritual 
 of the atoning death of the animals ; cf. especially the mysterious 
 rite of the goat for Azazel (Lev. xvi. 21 foil.) ; see Religion of the 
 Semites'^, pp. 410 foil. That the ultimate antecedents of the ideas 
 expressed in Isa, liii undoubtedly belong to primitive antiquity 
 cannot be denied by any one who believes that the Hebrews 
 formed an integral part of the Semitic branch of the great human 
 life-tree. We gravely question, however, whether Gressmann, 
 in accentuating the elements of mystery which unquestionably 
 belong to Isa. liii and its portraiture of the Martyr-servant, has 1 
 not exaggerated the direct influence of mythology in this chapter.- 
 Certainly we cannot place it on the same level with the obvious 
 mythological traits in li. 9. We maintain that that influence was 
 indirect, yet potent in the present case. 
 
 Chapter LIV. 
 
 Jerusalem's Future Prosperity and Glory, 
 
 There is obviously no actual connexion between this chapter 
 and the preceding section lii, 13 — liii. 12. What influenced the 
 Deutero-Isaiah or the redactor in adopting this succession of 
 passages is probably to be found in the concluding verses of the 
 preceding chapter (liii. 11, 12), which portray God's final vindica- 
 tion of His Servant. This concluding note in the last of the 
 Servant-passages furnishes a superficial //«^ of connexion analogous 
 to many others in the sequence of the varied passages of O. T. 
 prophecy as we find them in our text. But the actual link of 
 connexion is with li. 17 — lii. 12. Zion is compared to a barren 
 woman during exile, cf. xlix. 20 foil. See notes on xlix. 14 foil., 
 1. I. Yet she now finds herself endowed with more children than 
 
ISAIAH 54. 2-4 211 
 
 into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail 
 with child : for more are the children of the desolate than 
 the children of the married wife, saith the Lord. Enlarge 2 
 the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the cur- 
 tains of thine habitations; spare not: lengthen thy cords, 
 and strengthen thy stakes. For thou shalt spread abroad 3 
 on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall 
 possess the nations, and make the desolate cities to be 
 inhabited. Fear not ; for thou shalt not be ashamed : 4 
 
 a married woman has in normal circumstances (cf. verse i), i. e. 
 than Zion possessed in the days that preceded the exile. Verses 
 1-6 appear to form a metrical unity — each verse containing 
 a couplet. Zion is to sing, for she is to receive a great accession 
 of population, and this will necessitate the extension of her borders 
 and the restoration of Judah's desolated towns, which shall once 
 more be inhabited. Old griefs and the days when Yahweh the 
 husband of Zion withdrew shall be now forgotten (verse 4). 
 Yahweh returns to the forsaken wife. 
 
 1. The language re-echoes xhv. 23. The word rendered sixLif 
 means the utterance of a clear ringing cry. Similarly the verb 
 rendered cry aloud is descriptive of a high-pitched voice (cf. 
 Isa. X. 30), employed in Jer. v. 8 in reference to the neighing of 
 horses. It is the natural expression of strong emotion, whether 
 of joy or fear. 
 
 2. The conceptions here are those of xlix. 18-21 (cf. especially 
 verse 19). The LXX does not contain the word here rendered 
 habitations, and it probably did not belong to the original text. 
 Duhm is justified in omitting it as a gloss, as it overweights the 
 metre. Translate : * Let them stretch out the curtains ' (or ' tent- 
 hangings ' ; cf. Exod. xxvi. i). 'Withhold not. Extend thy 
 cords, make fast thy tent-pegs.' Cf. Jer. x. 20, and Isa. xxxiii. 20. 
 
 3 contains only one and a half instead of two full lines. Duhm 
 and Marti seem justified in assuming that a half-line is omitted 
 before the opening of this verse. Spread abroad in the original 
 is more emphatic, ' break forth.' There seems here to be a re- 
 miniscence of Gen. xxviii, 14 (J). Sig-ht and left, according to 
 Semitic usage (cf. the Arabic) mean south and north respectively. 
 'And desolated cities they shall populate,' i.e. the cities left 
 deserted and in ruins by the Babylonian invasions of 597 and 
 587 B. c. under Nebuchadrezzar. 
 
 4. It is probable that the ideas of Ezek. xvi. 4-8, the beautiful 
 long-wrought parable of Israel's earlier relations to Yahweh, 
 
 P 2 
 
212 ISAIAH 54. 5-8 
 
 neither be thou confounded ; for thou shalt not be put 
 to shame : for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, 
 and the reproach of thy widowhood shalt thou remember 
 
 5 no more. For thy Maker is thine husband ; the Lord 
 of hosts is his name : and the Holy one of Israel is thy 
 redeemer ; the God of the whole earth shall he be called. 
 
 6 For the Lord hath called thee as a wife forsaken and 
 grieved in spirit, even a wife of youth, when she is cast 
 
 7 off, saith thy God. For a small moment have I forsaken 
 S thee ; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In 
 
 influenced the mind of the Deutero-Isaiah when he wrote the 
 words the shame of thy youth. They refer to the early period 
 of the affliction of Israel in Egypt, and subsequently the time of 
 her humiliation by the Assyrians. The widowhood, on the other 
 hand, refers to the period of the exile when Yahweh withdrew 
 from His people (though He did not forget them), His own 
 abode and temple in Jerusalem having been destroyed. Now 
 that Jerusalem and its temple are restored, He returns (cf. the 
 notes on xlix. 14-21 and li. ifoll.). 
 
 6. Our R. V. misses the significance and power of the last 
 clause first clearly perceived by Ewald. Render : * And a wife 
 of youth — to think that she should be rejected! saith thy God^.' 
 
 7-8. Another utterance of comfort. The exile is here spoken 
 of as but a brief interval in the great sweep of past and future 
 history. This is characteristic of the optimism of the prophet, 
 who stands in this respect contrasted with his pre-exilian pre- 
 decessors of the eighth and seventh centuries, who proclaimed 
 the wrath of Yahweh, who visited Israel with successive judg- 
 ments (Isa. ii. 12-21, V, vi. 11-13, ix. 8 foil.) as chastisements 
 for unfaithfulness and wrong. The chastisements are now past, 
 and are regarded as mere incidents (xl. i). This tone of feeling 
 is reflected in Psalm literature. God's anger is but momentary ; 
 Ps. XXX. 5 (6 Heb.). The first half of verse 8 certainly appears 
 too overweighted with words to be metrically correct. At the 
 same time it is hardly possible to delete from the Hebrew text 
 the word rega ('for a moment'), as Duhm and Marti propose, 
 since its presence is required by the word for everlastingr in the 
 
 * The particle ki followed by the imperf. should be understood 
 here somewhat in the same way as in Gen. iii. i. See the idiom 
 explained in Ewald's Ausfuhrliches Lehrbuch der Heb. Sprache 
 {^Hebrew Syntax, T. & T. Clark), 330 b and 354 c. 
 
ISAIAH 54. 9, lo 213 
 
 overflowing wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment ; 
 but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, 
 saith the Lord thy redeemer. For this is as the waters 9 
 of Noah unto me : for as I have sworn that the waters of 
 Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn 
 that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. 
 For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; ic 
 but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall 
 
 corresponding antithetic parallel clause. On the other hand, the 
 Hebrew word which corresponds to overflowing- {shesef) does 
 not occur elsewhere, and looks like a corruption of the word that 
 follows meaning ' wrath ' (kesef), and was probably only retained 
 by a copyist owing to the use of the proper word for the same 
 idea in a similar connexion in Prov. xxvii. 4 ^ Accordingly the 
 line in its original form read thus : — 
 
 * In wrath I hid my face for a moment, but with everlasting 
 loving-kindness I have compassion on thee.' 
 
 Verses 9-10. A third titterance of comfort. A new and eternal 
 covenant of peace and mercy. We have here a reminiscence 
 derived from Gen. viii. 21 fell. (J2), the covenant with Noah. 
 
 O. Several minor corrections of the Hebrew text are shown by 
 the ancient versions to be necessary. Accordingly translate as 
 follows with R. V. marg. : — 
 
 ' As in the days ^ of Noah has this come to pass unto me : 
 As I swore — that the waters of Noah should no more come 
 
 over the earth — 
 So have I sworn — that I would not be wrathful against thee 
 nor chide thee.' 
 
 10. The opening clause should be taken in a concessive sense : — 
 
 'Though the mountains withdraw — and the hills shake, 
 My loving-kindness shall not withdraw from thee, nor my 
 covenant of friendship shake.' 
 
 ^ The LXX have no word for ' overflowing ' in their text, but it 
 evidently suffered also from the dittography of the word for * wrath.* 
 Their Hebrew text corrupted the second word into the word for 
 'little,' which occurs in verse 7. They render: *In a little wrath I 
 turned away my face from thee.' 
 
 "^ So Symm., Vulg., Targ., Pes., and some old Hebrew MSS., and 
 most modern critics, including Lovvth and Delitzsch, 
 
214 ISAIAH 54. I J, 12 
 
 my covenant of peace be removed, saith the Lord that 
 hath mercy on thee. 
 
 11 O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not com- 
 forted, behold, I will set thy stones in fair colours, and 
 
 12 lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy 
 pinnacles of rubies, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all 
 
 Verses 11-17. The New Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall arise rebuilt 
 with splendour. Corresponding to the external glory of its 
 foundations and buildings shall be the inner ethical nobility of its 
 people who shall dwell in righteousness, security, and peace. 
 
 11. The word here rendered by fair colours {piikh) properly 
 means the stibmni, ' antimony,' or, more accurately stated, sulphuret 
 of antimony (called in Greek arifx/xi or aTififiis), corresponding to 
 the kohl used by the Orientals at the present day. This substance 
 was used in painting the eyes and eyebrows of fashionable women 
 (such as Jezebel in 2 Kings ix. 30) in order to give them a more 
 distinctive appearance. The stibium consisted of black metallic 
 powder, which was applied partly in a dry state and partly as 
 ointment to the eyelids and brows. It was supposed that the 
 dark rim enhanced the brilliant appearance of the eyes. See 
 Hebrew Antiquities (pub. R. T. S.), pp. 54 foil., with figures of 
 ornamented face and kohl vessels. Ewald and Dillmann held 
 that the meaning of the passage is that instead of the stones being 
 laid in ordinary mortar they were to be laid in this black stibium, 
 so that they would gleam forth like a woman's brilliant eyes. 
 This pretty conceit certainly harmonizes with the consistent 
 representation of Zion as ic^minine. On the other hand, it does 
 not harmonize with the comext, and especially with the parallel 
 clause, which would lead us to expect that the word ptikh 
 designates some precious stone. Accordingly it has been suggested 
 by Wellhausen that another word for precious stone, viz. nophekh, 
 should be read here in place of ptikh 1, meaning probably * car- 
 buncle,' Exod. xxviii. 18, xxxix. 11 ; Ezek. xxvii. 16, xxviii. 13 
 (so LXX, Vulg., Josephus). Others, as Kittel, prefer to render 
 by onyx. 
 
 12. Similarly the 'battlements' (or pinnacles, R. V.) are to be 
 set in rubies (?). The word here rendered by ' rubies ' is very 
 obscure. LXX and Vulg. interpret it as meaning jasper, S3'^mm, 
 renders by chalcedony. It must be confessed that the rendering 
 * rubies ' is tentative. Similarly we are in doubt as to the word 
 
 ^ On the other hand, Klostermann would understand ^^M here in 
 the sense of nophekh. 
 
ISAIAH 54. 13-15 215 
 
 thy border of pleasant stones. And all thy children shall 13 
 be taught of the Lord ; and great shall be the peace of 
 thy children. In righteousness shalt thou be established: 14 
 thou shalt be far from oppression, for thou shalt not fear; 
 and from terror, for it shall not come near thee. Behold, 15 
 they may gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall 
 
 for carbuncles, which the LXX interpret as * crystal,' whereas 
 Aq., Symm., and Vulg., in their uncertainty, simply render by 
 'engraved (or carved) stones.' 
 
 The reader will not fail to note that in Rev. xxi. t8-2I we have 
 a more highly elaborated portrayal of the buildings of the * holy 
 city, the new Jerusalem' suggested by the verses 11, 12. There 
 can be little doubt that the Deutero-Isaiah was influenced by the 
 ideals of the restored Jerusalem contained in Ezek. xl-xlviii. 
 
 Verses 13-14. As is the outward so is the inward. The inhabi- 
 tants are to be a righteous people taught of God. 
 
 13. It has been suggested that by a slight change in the vowel 
 pronunciation (as in xlix. 17) we should render : ' All thy builders 
 shall be taught of God,' instead of ' all thy sons, Sec' This is 
 supported by most recent critics, Gratz, Duhm, Kittel, and 
 Cheyne. On the other hand, it is not proposed to make the same 
 change in the word for ' my sons ' in the original at the close 
 of the verse. No support is given in the versions (LXX, &c.) to 
 the proposed emendation at the beginning of the verse, and it 
 is difficult to see what is gained by the alteration. The Hebrews 
 had no such antipathy to repetitions or tautology of expression 
 that we have. Nor does the following clause, which opens 
 verse 14, require the proposed change. 
 
 14. Instead of shalt thou be established the punctuation of 
 the Hebrew text would require the translation of the reflexive 
 [Hithpael) form by ' thou shalt found thyself,' the city of Jerusa- 
 lem being apostrophized (cf. the same formation in Num. xxi. 
 27 ; Prov. xxiv. 3). On the other hand, by a different vocalization 
 of the Hebrew text we obtain a passive form, which would be 
 rendered as the R.V. above gives it. 
 
 15 is certainly not free from difficulty, and some have doubted 
 whether it was written by the Deutero-Isaiah. It would be best 
 to follow Hitzig, Ewald, Duhm, and Kittel in taking the verb in 
 the opening clause not in the sense of gather tog-ether (as R. V. 
 understands it), but in that of ' stir up strife ' (with R.V. marg.). 
 Accordingly the verse should be rendered : 
 
 * Should one stir up strife, it is not from me ; — w^hosoever 
 contends with thee shall fall against thee.' 
 The meaning is fairly clear. In the olden time Yahweh stirred 
 
214 ISAIAH 54. I J, 12 
 
 my covenant of peace be removed, saith the Lord that 
 hath mercy on thee. 
 
 11 O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not com- 
 forted, behold, I will set thy stones in fair colours, and 
 
 12 lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy 
 pinnacles of rubies, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all 
 
 Verses 11-17. The New Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall arise rebuilt 
 with splendour. Corresponding to the external glory of its 
 foundations and buildings shall be the inner ethical nobihty of its 
 people who shall dwell in righteousness, security, and peace. 
 
 11. The word here rendered by fair colours {piikh) properly 
 means the stibmnt, ' antimony,' or, more accurately stated, sulphuret 
 of antimony (called in Greek arifx/xi or arifj-fxis), corresponding to 
 the kohl used by the Orientals at the present day. This substance 
 was used in painting the eyes and eyebrows of fashionable women 
 (such as Jezebel in 2 Kings ix. 30) in order to give them a more 
 distinctive appearance. The stibmm consisted of black metallic 
 powder, which was applied partly in a dry state and partly as 
 ointment to the eyelids and brows. It was supposed that the 
 dark rim enhanced the brilliant appearance of the eyes. See 
 Hebrew Antiquities (pub. R. T. S.), pp. 54 foil., with figures of 
 ornamented face and kohl vessels. Ewald and Dillmann held 
 that the meaning of the passage is that instead of the stones being 
 laid in ordinary mortar they were to be laid in this black stibium^ 
 so that they would gleam forth like a woman's brilliant eyes. 
 This pretty conceit certainly harmonizes with the consistent 
 representation of Zion as u^minine. On the other hand, it does 
 not harmonize with the comext, and especially with the parallel 
 clause, which would lead us to expect that the word pukh 
 designates some precious stone. Accordingly it has been suggested 
 by Wellhausen that another word for precious stone, viz. nophekh, 
 should be read here in place of pUkh ^, meaning probably * car- 
 buncle,' Exod. xxviii. 18, xxxix. 11 ; Ezek. xxvii. 16, xxviii, 13 
 (so LXX, Vulg., Josephus). Others, as Kittel, prefer to render 
 by onyx. 
 
 12. Similarly the 'battlements' (or pinnacles, R. V.) are to be 
 set in rubies (?). The word here rendered by ' rubies ' is very 
 obscure. LXX and Vulg. interpret it as meaning jasper, Symm. 
 renders by chalcedony. It must be confessed that the rendering 
 * rubies ' is tentative. Similarly we are in doubt as to the word 
 
 ^ On the other hand, Klostermann would understand pilkh here in 
 the sense of nophekh. 
 
ISAIAH 54. 13-15 215 
 
 thy border of pleasant stones. And all thy children shall 13 
 be taught of the Lord ; and great shall be the peace of 
 thy children. In righteousness shalt thou be established: 14 
 thou shalt be far from oppression, for thou shalt not fear; 
 and from terror, for it shall not come near thee. Behold, 15 
 they may gather together, but not by me : whosoever shall 
 
 for carbuncles, which the LXX interpret as 'crystal,' whereas 
 Aq., Symm., and Vulg., in their uncertainty, simply render by 
 'engraved (or carved) stones.' 
 
 The reader will not fail to note that in Rev. xxi. t8-2i we have 
 a more highly elaborated portrayal of the buildings of the 'holy 
 city, the new Jerusalem' suggested by the verses 11, 12. There 
 can be little doubt that the Deutero-Isaiah was influenced by the 
 ideals of the restored Jerusalem contained in Ezek. xl-xlviii. 
 
 Verses 13-14. As is the outward so is the inward. The inhabi- 
 tants are to be a righteous people taught of God. 
 
 13. It has been suggested that by a slight change in the vowel 
 pronunciation (as in xlix. 17) we should render : ' All thy builders 
 shall be taught of God,' instead of ' all thy sons, &c.' This is 
 supported by most recent critics, Gratz, Duhm, Kittel, and 
 Cheyne. On the other hand, it is not proposed to make the same 
 change in the word for ' my sons ' in the original at the close 
 of the verse. No support is given in the versions (LXX, &c.) to 
 the proposed emendation at the beginning of the verse, and it 
 is difficult to see what is gained by the alteration. The Hebrews 
 had no such antipathy to repetitions or tautology of expression 
 that we have. Nor does the following clause, which opens 
 verse 14, require the proposed change. 
 
 14. Instead of shalt thou be established the punctuation of 
 the Hebrew text would require the translation of the reflexive 
 {Hithpael) form by ' thou shalt found thyself,' the city of Jerusa- 
 lem being apostrophized (cf. the same formation in Num. xxi. 
 27 ; Prov. xxiv. 3). On the other hand, by a different vocalization 
 of the Hebrew text we obtain a passive form, which would be 
 rendered as the R.V. above gives it. 
 
 15 is certainly not free from difficulty, and some have doubted 
 whether it was written by the Deutero-Isaiah. It would be best 
 to follow Hitzig, Ewald, Duhm, and Kittel in taking the verb in 
 the opening clause not in the sense of g-ather togfether (as R. V. 
 understands it), but in that of * stir up strife ' (with R.V. marg.). 
 Accordingly the verse should be rendered : 
 
 * Should one stir up strife, it is not from me ; — v^^hosoever 
 contends with thee shall fall against thee.' 
 The meaning is fairly clear. In the olden time Yahweh stirred 
 
2i6 ISAIAH 54. r6-55. i 
 
 gather together against thee shall fall because of thee. 
 
 i6 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the fire of 
 coals, and bringeth forth a weapon for his work ; and I 
 
 17 have created the waster to destroy. No weapon that is 
 
 formed against thee shall prosper ; and every tongue that 
 
 shall rise against thee in judgement thou shalt condemn. 
 
 This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their 
 
 righteousness which is of me, saith the Lord. 
 
 65 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, 
 
 up the foes who attacked Israel, such as the Assyrians and 
 Babylonians, who inflicted the chastisements of Divine wrath 
 (Amos ii. 4-16, v, vi, viii ; Isa. ii, iii, v, vi-viii ^ ; Mic. i-iii, and 
 Jeremiah passim) for disobedience ; but now Yahweh takes the 
 side of Zion against her foes and brings about the downfall of 
 the Latter. * Shall fall against thee,' i. e. in his attack against thee. 
 
 16 appears to follow in natural sequence on verse 15 rather 
 than on verse 14. Therefore we should be disposed to regard 
 verse 15 as genuine, as well as this whose genuineness can hardly 
 be disputed. No one who contends against Zion can succeed, 
 since God has omnipotent control and creates the workman who 
 forges the weapons of war. For his work some would read 
 with R. V. (marg.) ' its work,' i. e. the work or function of the 
 weapon. On the other hand, others would refer the masculine 
 possessive suffix to the workman, and render (as Ewald does) 
 'brings forth a weapon as"^ his work,' which certainly is a prefer- 
 able as well as more natural construction. 
 
 17. The word rig'hteousness here and in verse 14 includes 
 the conception of victory and well-being which Yahweh has 
 assured to the restored Zion-community as their inheritance. 
 Cf. the remarks in the Introduction, § 4. 
 
 Chapter LV. 
 Invitation to accept God's proffered Salvation. 
 Verses 1-5 are a call to Israel to come and enjoy in the restored 
 Jerusalem the blessings of Yahweh's eternal covenant with His 
 people. 'Him' in verse 4 refers to David (Zerubbabel). 
 
 ^ The passages in Isaiah which definitely refer to Assyria as God's 
 instrument for chastising Israel are : vii. iS, 20, x. 5, 6. 
 
 ^ The Hebrew preposition would then denote the product or result 
 of activity. Others would assign it the meaning, which it sometimes 
 bears, 'according to,' i.e. according to his (i.e. the workman's) 
 function ' (as a forger of iron implements). See Gesenius-Kautzsch, 
 Heh. Gram. "^^^ % 1 19. 3 c, 3 and 4. 
 
ISAIAH 55. 2, 3 217 
 
 and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat ; yea, 
 come, buy wine and milk without money and without 
 price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is 2 
 not bread ? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? 
 hearken dih'gently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, 
 and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your 3 
 ear, and come unto me ; hear, and your soul shall Hve : 
 
 1. The thirsty ones are bidden to come and obtain for themselves 
 free of all cost the blessings which God will bestow on this new 
 theocracy at Jerusalem. These blessings, both material and spiritual, 
 are expressed in the terms of the usual forms of beverage in the 
 Orient, water, wine, and milk, all of which, as Kennedy remarks 
 in reference to milk [Enc. Bibh, s. v.), 'could hardly fail to 
 suggest a variety of figures to the biblical writers.' Probably we 
 have an echo of the present passage in John iv. 10-15, vii. 37 ; 
 Rev. xxi. 6, xxii. 17. 
 
 2 is evidently an appeal to the Jewish settler in foreign lands, 
 more especially in Babylonia, which for many generations bad 
 been the land of commerce, as the enormous number of business 
 transactions, recorded on the contract-tablets ^ dug out in vast 
 multitudes from the tells or mounds, have proved. In this land, 
 following the wise advice of Jeremiah (xxix. 4-7), the Jewish 
 exiles after the disasters to Jerusalem of 597 and 587 b. c. had 
 settled, and traded. G. Adam Smith pertinently observes that 
 *it was in Babylon that the Jews first formed those mercantile 
 habits which have become . . . their national character. . , . They 
 laboured and prospered exceedingly, gathering property and 
 settling in comfort,' and in too many instances, as we have seen 
 (see Introduction), abandoned the religion of their forefathers for 
 that of their new land and home. From this eager pursuit of 
 material and perishable prosperity the prophet seeks by his appeal 
 to win them to the blessings of God's eternal covenant with the 
 citizens of the new Jerusalem. The wealth of Babylonia will not 
 satisfy the soul's cravings. It cannot be called 'food' (R. V. 
 'bread'). * Eat ye what is wholesome that your soul may 
 luxuriate in rich food.' For labour read ' wealth ' ; cf. xlv. 14 note. 
 
 3-4. Though Jerusalem was not to be without material blessings, 
 
 ^ We use here the current term. But the word ' contract ' is 
 somewhat misleading. * Deeds/ or ' Records of sale ' would be more 
 appropriate. An interesting description will be found in Rev. 
 C. H. W. Johns's Babylonian and Assyrian La7vs, Contracts, and 
 Letters, pp. 10-13. 
 
2i8 ISAIAH 55. 4,5 
 
 and I will make an everlasting covenant with yon, even 
 
 4 the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given him for 
 a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander to the 
 
 5 peoples. Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou 
 
 it is evident that the prophet's thought is directed to the ethical 
 and spiritual : ' Hear that your soul may live, and that I may 
 conclude with you an eternal covenant.' There can be no doubt 
 that his mind recurred to the great conception of Jeremiah's 
 ' Nev^^ Covenant ' ( Jer. xxxi. 27-34), to which he had already 
 referred in xHi. 6 foil., xlix. 8. Like Jeremiah, too, he thought 
 of the old Messianic expectations which associated themselves 
 with David's lineage (Jer. xxiii. 5, 6). These anticipations had 
 revived in the subsequent utterances of Ezekiel (xxxiv. 23 foil.). 
 But during the intervening years of sorrow and blighted hopes 
 they had declined and had given place to other ideals. They 
 were now destined to revive as the political expectations of 
 Israel were rekindled by the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus and 
 his edict of Restoration to Israel. About this time the eyes of 
 the Babylonian Jewish community were fixed upon a descendant 
 of the ancient Davidic line, Zerubbabel, and it is quite possible 
 — indeed, probable — that the words * I have appointed him a 
 prince and commander over peoples ' refer to Zerubbabel. In him 
 the Jewish community beheld the sure mercies connected with 
 David and his seed. About seventeen years [?] later, in the in- 
 fancy and slight beginnings of the restored community in Jeru- 
 salem, Haggai gave definite utterance to the high hopes which were 
 entertained of him in a solemn prophecy (Haggai ii. 20-23). As 
 we know from subsequent history and the curious phenomena of 
 the text of Zechariah ^, these Messianic anticipations were destined 
 to speedy extinction ; whether by the ever-increasing priestly 
 ascendancy or by the opposition of the old home population, 
 the enemies of all true progress, we have no means of deciding. 
 
 (The Davidic dynasty, represented by Zerubbabel, is to be a 
 witness among peoples to Yahweh's power, faithfulness, and 
 love to Israel. It is quite possible that the Deutero- Isaiah was 
 cognizant in some way of the prophecy in 2 Sam. vii (E, com- 
 posed in the seventh century, according to Budde). 
 
 5. A reminiscence of the old * Servant- songs ' in the Deutero- 
 Isaiah (xlix. 6, the conception of which is reinforced in the follow- 
 ing verses by the Deutero-Isaiah). The Jewish people, who 
 were addressed in the plural in verses 1-3, are now addressed as 
 
 * Cf. Zech. iv. 6-10, and on the passage vi. 9-14, with its textual 
 defects, see Driver's notes in Century Bible, * Minor Prophets,' vol. ii. 
 
ISAIAH 55. 6-8 219 
 
 knowest not, and a nation that knew not thee shall run 
 unto thee, because of the Lord thy God, and for the 
 Holy One of Israel ; for he hath glorified thee. 
 
 Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon 6 
 him while he is near : let the wicked forsake his way, and 7 
 the unrighteous man his thoughts : and let him return 
 unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him ; and 
 to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my 8 
 thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways 
 
 an individual. Yahweh's power and love, manifested in the 
 restored people and Davidic dynasty, form a powerful and attractive 
 influence. Foreign peoples of whom Israel never heard shall 
 respond to Israel's invitation and shall flock eagerly into Jeru- 
 salem. 
 
 Verses 6-13. The prophet now addresses words of earnest 
 pleading to his countrymen, some of whom had abandoned the 
 religion of their forefathers. The present is a great opportunity. 
 Even the wicked who had forsaken Yahweh will obtain forgive- 
 ness, for God's thoughts and ways are greater than theirs, and 
 His word is as sure of fulfilment as the rain or snow of their 
 beneficent influence on earth's tillage. A new world shall greet 
 the returning captives as they exultantly pursue their journey 
 from the land of exile. The transformation shall remain as an 
 eternal testimony of Yahweh's power and love. 
 
 6. The thought in the mind of the writer is that Yahweh is to 
 be sought in His old place of abode — Jerusalem (not in Babylonia; 
 cf. verse 12). 
 
 For while lie may be found, read : * when He suffers Himself 
 to be found!.' 
 
 7-8. The grounds for the omission of verse 7 as an interpola- 
 tion, because there is a better sequence of thought between verse 
 8 and verse 6, are questionable. The worldly Jewish settler in 
 Babylonia is exhorted to leave the vain objects of his interest and 
 turn to Yahweh, whose ways and purposes are utterly different. 
 
 ' Let the wicked man abandon his way, and the vain man his 
 thoughts, that he may return to Yahweh, so that He may have 
 mercy on him, and to our God, for He grants abounding forgive- 
 ness.' The following verse is based on the terms of verse 7. A 
 
 ^ The idiom is that which is called by Hebrew Grammarians Nlph'al 
 toleraiivtim, of which we have had an example in liii. 7 : cf. Ixv. i. 
 See Gesenius-Kautzsch, Heb. Gram.^^, § 51. 2 a. 
 
220 ISAIAH 55. 9.12 
 
 9 my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher 
 than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, 
 
 10 and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain 
 Cometh down and the snow from heaven, and returneth 
 not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring 
 forth and bud, and giveth seed to the sower and bread to 
 
 11 the eater; so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my 
 mouth : it shall not return unto me void, but it shall 
 accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in 
 
 12 the thing whereto I sent it. For ye shall go out with joy, 
 and be led forth with peace : the mountains and the hills 
 
 contrast is drawn between God*s ways and thoughts and those of 
 the wicked. God's greater heavenly way is revealed in His free 
 forgiveness. 
 
 10-11. Evil men's purposes and ways wither and perish, but 
 not so the Divine thoughts. These abide eternal. God's word 
 never suffers frustration. 
 
 returneth not thither . . . shall not return means ' does 
 not become impotent and ineffectual.' We have already had 
 occasion to notice- tWe special use of the Hebrew word * return ' 
 in the note on isa. ix. 13, where the Hebrew word for ' return,' 
 or 'turn back,' was explained as meaning 'cease to operate.' 
 Similarly in the words of our Lord the blessing (corresponding 
 to its opposite, the curse which is the expression of wrath) has a 
 beneficent potency. The salutation of peace or saldtn of Christ's 
 messenger comes upon the worthy household, but upon the un- 
 worthy it ceases to operate, or, in the words of our Lord, ' returns 
 to yourselves ' (Matt. x. 13 ; cf. Luke x. 6. Cf. also 2 Sam. i, 22). 
 
 It would be preferable to render throughout the imperfect tenses 
 in Hebrew as expressing an abiding and recurrent fact, i. e. by. 
 the present rather than the future. The tenses in both verses, 
 containing the natural simile and its spiritual analogue respectively, 
 correspond. The word for void (properly 'in vain') in the 
 Hebrew text of verse 11 is obviously an awkward gloss added by 
 some scribe^. It is not to be found in the LXX version and 
 impedes the sense. Render : ' For just as the rain and snow 
 
 ^ For it is quite clear that the Divine word cannot be ' void ' or * in 
 vain,' any more than the rain or snow, when it has accomplished its 
 task. It merely ' returns,' 1. e. ceases to operate, its work having 
 been done. 
 
ISAIAH 55. 13 221 
 
 shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees 
 of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn 13 
 shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall 
 come up the myrtle tree : and it shall be to the Lord for 
 a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. 
 
 descend from heaven and do not return thither except they have 
 drenched the earth, and made it bring forth and bud and have 
 furnished seed to the sower and food to the eater ; so is my word 
 that proceeds from my mouth. It does not return to me, except 
 it has done what I please and has succeeded in the mission on 
 which I sent it.' Here the * word ' is, as it were, materialized and 
 is ' sent ' from heaven like the snow. Similarly in ix. 8 (7 Heb.), 
 the contrasted word of Divine wrath falls on Israel to blast and 
 destroy. 
 
 12-13. Having asserted the general principle of Yahweh's 
 omnipotent will and the inevitable accomplishment of His gracious 
 purpose, the prophet concludes his prophecy of persuasion and 
 encouragement. We are carried back to the oracles of the 
 return with which this entire collection opened, xl. 3-5. The 
 desert itself is transformed by the appearance of the myrtle and 
 the fir (or more properly ' cypress,' cf.' xli. 19), in place of the 
 brier (Cheyne ' nettle • ) and the thorn, in accompaniment to the 
 gladness which pervades the returning caravan of exiles. These 
 transformations in nature shall be the everlasting sigfn of 
 Yahweh's new covenant with His Redeemed People. Cf. the 
 'new heaven and new earth' of chap. Ixv. 17, Ixvi. 22, which 
 convey the same idea of an * everlasting sign.' 
 
VOL. II, PART II 
 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET 
 
 ISAIAH (Chapters LVI-LXVI) 
 
 OR TRITO-ISAIAH 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH 
 
 (CHAPTERS LVI-LXVI) 
 CALLED THE TRITO-ISAIAH 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 § I. The Interval between the Restoration of 
 THE Jews under Cyrus and the Advent of 
 Nehemiah (538-445 B.C.). 
 
 Between the last utterances of the Deutero- Isaiah 
 and the time to which the eleven closing chapters of the 
 Isaianic collection belong there probably intervenes a 
 period of more than eighty year?. About this interval we 
 are in reality very imperfectly informed. The prophecies of 
 Haggai and Zechariah (chaps, i-viii) give us some insight 
 into the conditions which prevailed in Jerusalem about 
 twenty years after the capture by Cyrus of Babylon and 
 the edict of restoration. Also the prophecies of Malachi 
 afford us much needed light respecting the conditions 
 that prevailed more than fifty years later. 
 
 It is of course true that we have also the historic retro- 
 spect contained in the opening chapters of the Book of 
 Ezra. But when we deal with this book, as well as that 
 of Nehemiah, it must be remembered that they were 
 redacted in their present form nearly two centuries later 
 than the events which transpired in the days of Ezra and 
 Nehemiah, and that the accounts were compiled by the 
 same hand that composed the Books of Chronicles. When 
 we compare the opening verses of Ezra (i. 1-3) with 
 2 Chron. xxxvi. 22 foil, it would appear that Ezra was 
 compiled in order to serve as an immediate sequel to 
 the Books of Chronicles. In 1893 a Dutch critic, Kosters, 
 the successor of Kuenen at Leiden, endeavoured to 
 
226 ISAIAH 
 
 show ^ that the first four chapters of Ezra are to be 
 regarded as quite unhistorical. All that is there narrated 
 about the edict of Cyrus and the return of the exiles, the 
 foundation of the temple and the suspension of the work 
 in the reign of Cyrus, Kosters dismisses as fiction. Haggai 
 and Zechariah knew of no other foundation of the temple 
 than that which took place in their time (Hag. ii. 19). 
 Nor, according to this critic, do these prophets assume 
 that there was any return of a community of exiles from 
 Babylonia. These prophets regard the time of Israel's 
 chastisement as still enduring, and his redemption is 
 all in the future (Zech. i. 2 foil., 12, ii. 6 foil., vi. 9-15, 
 viii. 7 foil.). The foundation of the temple to which 
 Haggai refers is the only temple-building which took 
 place, viz. in 520-516 B.C. When the question is asked, 
 to whom this rebuilding of the temple was due, Kosters 
 replies that it was not carried out by ih^gdlah or returned 
 Babylonian exiles, since they are never once mentioned 
 in such a connexion in the oracles of Haggai and 
 Zechariah, but only 'this people' (Hag. i. 2, 12, ii. 14) or 
 * remnant of the people* (Hag. i. 12, 14, ii. 2; Zech. 
 viii. 6, II, 12), or ' people of the land ' (Hag. ii. 4 ; Zech. 
 vii. 5), or in Zech. ii. 16, viii. 13, 15, * Judah ' or 'the 
 house of Judah,' by which terms the inhabitants of Judah 
 who had not been deported by Nebuchadrezzar between 
 597 and 586 B. c. are obviously meant. 
 
 These views are certainly not without some weight, and 
 have exercised considerable influence in England" as 
 v/ell as on the continent. They have, however, been 
 
 Mn his work with the Dutch title Herstel van Israel. 
 Kosters was followed in 1895 by Eerdmanns, and in part by 
 Wildeboer and Cheyne (Jntrod. to Isaiah, p. xxxviii). 
 
 2 Soon after their publication Prof. Cheyne {Introd. to 
 Isatah, p. xxxviii), in his account of Kosters' views, so far 
 agrees that he describes the assertion in Ezra v. n-17 and 
 vi- I. 3-5 that Cyrus ordered the temple to be rebuilt and sent 
 back the sacred vessels as a pious invention. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 227 
 
 subjected to searching criticism by Wellhausen* and also 
 by Edward Meyer in his detailed investigation of the 
 Aramaic documents in Ezra iv-vii in his Entstehung des 
 Jude7iiw)is (pp. 8-71), in which he seeks to prove their 
 genuineness. In England the chief credit for an in- 
 dependent and thorough examination of Kosters' theory 
 belongs to Prof. G. Adam Smith. To his lucid presenta- 
 tion of the arguments against Kosters' views in his * Book 
 of the Twelve Prophets ' {Expositor's Bible), vol. ii, 
 pp. 194-219, we would refer the inquiring reader. Within 
 our much narrower limitations we can only deal in brief 
 summary with Kosters' positions. It will be found that 
 if these be admitted in their entirety we shall be con- 
 fronted by far greater difficulties than any which Kosters* 
 reconstruction is designed to remove. 
 
 I. If we dismiss the record in Ezra chap, i, cf. vi. 3 foil., 
 as wholly untrue, and therefore assume that no edict was 
 ever issued by Cyrus for the return of the Jewish exiles 
 and the restoration of this temple, we have to account 
 (i) for the invention of the story itself, (2) for the preserva- 
 tion of the oracles of the Deutero-Isaiah xl-xlviii, which 
 are taken up with the prophecy respecting Cyrus as the 
 anointed servant of Yahweh, commissioned to restore 
 Israel and rebuild the ruined city (xliv. 26, xlv. 13). We 
 have also to account for the survival of chapters xlix-lv 
 which contemplate the immediate fulfilment of their 
 anticipations. 
 
 As to (i) the underlying motive of the invention, -this is 
 assumed to be the desire to give historic vindication to 
 these oracles of the Deutero-Isaiah. Accordingly we 
 have to suppose that for about ninety years the definite 
 and confident predictions of the Deutero-Isaiah remained 
 unfulfilled, and the pious exiles were doomed still to wait 
 for the vindication of Yahweh's power. Whether the 
 higher prophetic Yahweh-religion either in Babylonia or 
 
 ^ Cf. Israel, und Jiidtscke Geschichte"^, pp. 155. 160. 
 Q 2 
 
228 ISAIAH 
 
 Palestine could have survived so terrible a shock as this 
 total falsification of its hopes, of which the news would 
 spread far and wide, remains exceedingly doubtful. Still 
 more doubtful is it whether the Deutero-Isaianic oracles 
 would have survived^. (2) That they did survive, even 
 though the hopes kindled by their immediate fulfilment 
 were destined to suflfer disillusionment in the following 
 decades, we know to have been a fact. And this points 
 irresistibly to the conclusion that Cyrus did actively 
 co-operate in the restoration of a considerable, though 
 perhaps not very large, body of Jewish exiles. That the 
 oracles enjoyed in consequence of their fulfilment con- 
 siderable prestige, like the earlier oracles of Isaiah in 
 Hezekiah's reign, is fully proved by the profound influence 
 which they exerted in a later generation — an influence 
 which the style of the oracles of the Trito-Isaiah— 
 especially of the lyrical passages Ix-lxii — will clearly 
 reveal. 
 
 Moreover, archaeology furnishes us with an indirect 
 confirmation of the truth that Cyrus fulfilled the expecta- 
 tions of Hebrew prophecy, {a) This tolerance of and 
 sympathy with native Babylonian cults is clearly shown 
 in his clay cylinder 2. Throughout Cyrus, though a 
 Persian, regards himself as the reverent servant of Marduk 
 (Merodach), the tutelary deity of Babylon. At this deity's 
 command Cyrus restores to their shrines the gods whom 
 Nabuniid had displaced (lines 33 foil.). That Cyrus 
 exhibited the same tolerance and sympathy to the cults 
 of other races, and especially to the Jews who had hailed 
 his advent to power with rejoicing, is surely exceed- 
 ingly probable, {b) The recent discovery of three Ara- 
 maic papyri at Elephantine, near Assouan, published by 
 
 ^ We know that the falsification of the Messianic expecta- 
 tions which for a short time centred round the person of Zerub- 
 babel in all probability caused the elimination of his name, and 
 the consequent textual difficulties in Zech. vi. 11 foil. See 
 Driver's note in the Century Bible Commentary. 
 
 2 See p. 34a f., and Schrader's KIB., ii, 2*« Halfte, p. tst foil. 
 
INTRODUCTION 229 
 
 Prof. Ed. Sachaii, supplies an indirect confirmation of the 
 traditional view respecting Cyrus which is here advocated. 
 The first papyrus contains a complete letter addressed by 
 Jedoniah and his fellow priests of the temple of Yahweh at 
 Yeb in the seventeenth year of Darius II (Nothus), i. e. in 
 407 B. C, to Bagohi, viceroy of Judaea. In recapitulating 
 the past history of this temple of Yahweh, recently 
 destroyed by the fanatical hatred of the Egyptian priest- 
 hood, it states that when Cambyses invaded Egypt (i.e. 
 about 526 B. C.) he found the temple-building already ex- 
 isting. The shrine may indeed have originated at a much 
 earlier period ^ The lines 13, 14 in Sachau's rendering 
 may here be cited :— 
 
 [13] . . . 'And after the days of the kings of Egypt our 
 fathers built that temple in the stronghold Yeb. And when 
 Cambyses [Kambuzi] entered Egypt [14] he found the 
 temple built ; but all the temples of the gods of Egypt they 
 destroyed, but to that temple no one did any injury.' 
 
 The exceptional favour shown by Cambyses to the 
 temple of Yahweh is most readily explained by the 
 assumption that the new Persian king was loyal to the 
 policy of his predecessor Cyrus ^ which the Deutero- 
 Isaiah in poetry and Ezra in prose have in the main 
 faithfully depicted. 
 
 II. But how are we to account for the strange silence 
 of Haggai and Zechariah respecting the foundation of 
 the temple in the days of Cyrus (circa 536 B. c.) ? Both 
 represent the foundation and building of the sanctuary as 
 having taken place during the years 520-516 B.C. No 
 
 ^ That the origin of the building was ancient seems to be 
 indicated by the vague language of the writer. The existence 
 of a diaspora even in the eighth century is suggested by 
 a variety of passages in pre-exilian prophets. Cf. the notes 
 in vol. i on Isa. xix. 19 foil., on which a useful light may 
 perhaps be thrown. 
 
 2 Since these words were written the writer has found 
 that this inference has already been drawn by J. W. Rothstein 
 in his monograph Jjiden unci Samantaner (1908), p. 13 foil. 
 
230 ISAIAH 
 
 previous foundation is referred to. CornilP is willing to 
 concede this point, and holds that the Ezra records, 
 compiled in a much later age, transferred from the reign 
 of Darius this event, to which the contemporary prophets 
 Haggai and Zechariah alluded, back to the reign of 
 Cyrus. This might seem to be a not unnatural solution 
 of the problem of the silence of these two prophets 
 respecting any earlier foundation of the temple. Prof. 
 G. Adam Smith, on the other hand, contends that such 
 silence was quite explicable from the standpoint assumed 
 by the two prophets, who emphasized that it was not by 
 human might or power but by the Divine spirit (Zech. 
 iv. 4) that the temple was to be rebuilt and the restora- 
 tion completed. * Their one ambition is to put courage 
 from God into the poor hearts before them.' This we 
 hold to be a sound argument. In this respect Haggai 
 and Zechariah stand in line with the Deutero-Isaiah. 
 Though the latter hailed the advent of Cyrus in the 
 earlier days when exiled Israel was despondent and even 
 faithless, Yahweh's blind and deaf servant (chaps, xl- 
 xlviii), we hear no more about Cyrus in chaps, xlix-lv, 
 when the anticipations already uttered were on the point 
 of realization and the consummation was at hand. The 
 mention of Cyrus and the strong supporting arm of 
 Persia by either of the later prophets would have struck 
 a discordant note. It would have belittled the majesty of 
 Yahweh. Accordingly Haggai and Zechariah make no 
 reference to the earlier attempt to rebuild the temple, 
 which Samaritan opposition rendered abortive. 
 
 It is now held by the majority of scholars that a con- 
 siderable return of Jewish exiles from Babylonia did take 
 place in the reign of Cyrus, and it probably continued in that 
 of his immediate successors ^. Both Zerubbabel and Joshua 
 
 1 Introd. to the O. T., § 21. 7 c. 
 
 ^ e. g. in that of Darius Hystaspis, as Zech. vi. ro clearly 
 indicates. 
 
INTRODUCTION 231 
 
 did not arrive unaccompanied. No temple restoration 
 can be regarded as possible to the meagre, poverty-stricken 
 population, tainted with the old semi-Canaanite traditions 
 of the high places as well as the open polytheism which 
 characterized the latter days of the old Judaean kingdom 
 after the death of Josiah, and which his reformation was 
 quite unable to extinguish. The high hopes which in- 
 spired both Haggai (ii. 4, 23) and Zechariah^ and the 
 enthusiasm with which both prophets hail Zerubbabel 
 as the coming Messiah, were doubtless short-lived ; yet 
 they were only possible when we assume that new blood 
 —that of the returned exiles who breathed the spirit of 
 the Deutero-Isaiah — had entered into the decaying Jewish 
 community and had vitalized it. Yet the task which 
 confronted the restored exiles in the realization of their 
 ideals was by no means an easy one. They had to reckon 
 with men of a far different spirit, viz. the Jews who had not 
 departed to Babylonia during the crises of 597 and the 
 following deportation in 586. From Ezek. xxxiii. 24-29 
 we learn that they were prone to idolatry, murder, and 
 dissolute practices, while viii. 5-18, in the form of 
 a trance- vision, presents us with a strange spectacle of 
 image-worship and animal portrayals in the temple 
 of Jerusalem. To the student of the oracles of Jeremiah 
 this is not in the least surprising, and when we come to 
 examine the chapters in theTrito-Isaiah,lvii. 3-10, lxv.2-5, 
 bcvi. 3, 4, the impression will be confirmed that the re- 
 formation of Josiah's reign, of which we possess the reflex 
 in the Book of Deuteronomy (see 2 Kings xxii, xxiii), was 
 but transient and superficial in its effects. And we shall 
 be still less surprised when we take up the interesting 
 work of the late Prof. Sam. Ives Curtiss, Prhnitive 
 Semitic Religion To-day, The author there describes to 
 
 ^ Note especially the language of Zechariah, ' I have returned 
 to Jerusalem in mercy. My house shall be built in it' (i. 16; 
 cf. viii. 3, 7-9). 
 
2S2 ISAIAH 
 
 us what he as well as previous explorers, such as Clemiont 
 Ganneau and others, have observed in their travels among 
 the remoter regions of Syria and Palestine. Sacred stones 
 and trees still remain objects of reverence. The local 
 /leh' or saint and the local demon play a far larger part 
 in the daily life of the Bedawi of even this twentieth 
 century in the country districts than the monotheism of 
 Christian or Mohammedan. Mohammedanism and 
 Christianity are but a thin veneer over beliefs and 
 practices of hoary antiquity which cling to the soil and 
 its people and stretch far back into an older past than 
 the Old Testament itself. Comp. Kittel, Studien zur 
 Hebrdischen Archdologie (1908), p. loi and footnote 2. 
 
 That the old and primitive traditions of Semitic life 
 and cultus persisted with extraordinary vigour in the 
 days when the chapters comprised in ' Trito- Isaiah' 
 were composed (circ. 460-445 B.C.) is obvious to the 
 attentive reader, and furnish clear indications that they 
 were written on Palestinian soil. 
 
 §2. Social and Religious Conditions prevalent 
 IN Judaea in the days of the Trito-Isaiah. 
 The opening verses of the Trito-Isaiah, Ivi. 1-8, clearly 
 reveal that they belong to an entirely new stadium of 
 Jewish history as compared with the environment of the 
 chapters in the Deutero-Isaiah which precede. In the 
 latter we are in the midst of an exiled community, and are 
 confronted by a turning-point in their history. Fresh 
 vistas disclose themselves. The Babylonian land of exile 
 is soon to be left behind, and the caravans are wending 
 their way to the homeland. But here all is changed. For 
 the present the exultant note of anticipation is not so 
 often heard. The community has long been settled in its 
 Palestinian home, and they are organized into a commu- 
 nity. Sacrifices are offered at the Temple altar as well as 
 the service of prayer (Ivi. 7). Sabbaths are strictly kept 
 (verse 6), and the prophet bids the foreigner and the 
 
INTRODUCTION 233 
 
 eunuch welcome to the religious privileges of the 
 sanctuary. 
 
 A new spirit breathes through these oracles. The 
 music is frequently in the minor key. We have passed 
 from the brighter world of noble ideals and happy 
 anticipation to the darker region of disillusionment. The 
 language of bitter and stern rebuke is often heard. We 
 are dwelling amid the hard realities of an evil world. 
 Sabbaths and fasts are celebrated, but the evils of a hollow 
 formalism and social oppression are as manifest as they 
 were in the days of Amos and Isaiah, Of this we have 
 a remarkable example in chap. Iviii, which breathes the 
 same spirit of high social ideals of duty and of stern 
 denunciation of Judah's social sins that characterized 
 the pre-exilian prophets (Amos v ; Isa. i, v). Men who 
 conformed to the orthodox traditions of fasting or ' afflict- 
 ing the soul,' and thought that they were meriting Divine 
 blessing and favour thereby, were guilty of violent strife 
 and the oppression of the poor. The language of chap, 
 lix, like that of chap. Iviii, discloses to us an entirely new 
 set of circumstances which had intervened since the 
 prophecies of the Return in chaps, xl-lv had been delivered. 
 We are now in the presence of a settled religious com- 
 munity in the Judaean homeland possessed of a sanctuary 
 with organized worship and definite traditions — but a 
 community which had become degenerate. These new 
 conditions could only have developed after a considerable 
 lapse of time. 
 
 This conclusion is fortified by a comparison with 
 the internal conditions disclosed by (a) Ezra and 
 Nehemiah and (d) the prophecies of Malachi. As these 
 facts have been already set forth by Prof. Driver in his 
 introduction to Malachi, § 2 S where the intervening history 
 from the days of Zechariah to those of Nehemiah is 
 succinctly narrated, it will not be necessary to go over the 
 
 ' Century Bible, ' Minor Prophets,' vol. ii, p. 287 foil. 
 
234 ISAIAH 
 
 same ground here. As in the case of Malachi, the internal 
 conditions of the Jewish community aroused a feeling of 
 * depression and discontent.' ' The return from Babylon 
 had not been followed by the ideal glories promised by the 
 second Isaiah ; the completion of the Temple had not, as 
 Haggai and Zechariah had promised, brought in the 
 Messianic age ; Jerusalem, instead of the population over- 
 flowing on all sides (Zech. ii. 4), was thinly inhabited 
 (Neh. vii. 4 ; xi. i) and, till 445, largely a ruin (Neh. i. 3, 
 ii. 3, 17); bad harvests (Mai. iii, 11), troubles from 
 neighbours (Ezra iv. 7-23 ; cf. Neh. iv. 2 f.), and general 
 poverty (Neh. v) increased the disheartenment. A spirit 
 of carelessness and indifference prevailed widely among 
 the people ^ ' (cf. in reference to priests and sacrifices 
 Mai. i. 6-8, 13, 14, ii. 6, 7-9). 
 
 This close approximation of conditions, and more 
 especially of the general tone of feeling, in Malachi and in 
 the Trito-Isaiah, points to a close approximation of date. 
 We are well within the era of degeneracy, 460-445 B. c. 
 A day of crisis and terrible chastisement from Yahweh is 
 apprehended : ' A day is coming, burning as an oven,' 
 Mai. iv. I (iii. 19 Heb.). Similarly the Trito-Isaiah, 
 Ixvi. 15 : 
 
 ' For behold, Yahweh will come in fire — and like the whirl- 
 wind his chariots, 
 Causing as retribution His wrath to fall in hot anger — and 
 his rebuke in fiery flames.' 
 
 Another interesting point of contact between the Trito- 
 Isaiah and the oracles of Malachi is the denunciation of 
 Edom which finds a place in both. Unfortunately, our 
 knowledge of the historical basis upon which the denun- 
 ciation rests is meagre and obscure (Mai. i. 2-5, on which 
 see Driver's notes, and Isa. Ixiii. 1-6, with the introductory 
 notes to this section below). 
 
 Moreover, the figure of a personal Messiah, which passes 
 
 ^ Driver, ibid., p. 293. 
 
INTRODUCTION 235 
 
 like a transient gleam across the last lyric utterance of 
 the Deutero-Isaiah (Iv. 3, 4) and became definitely- 
 associated by Haggai (ii. 21-23) and Zechariah (iv. 6-10, 
 vi. 12) with the person of Zerubbabel, had long vanished. 
 The conception of a personal Messiah has no place in the 
 prophecies of better things in Malachi (iii. 16-18, iv. 2, 3 
 [iii. 20, 21 Heb.]) or in the lyric strains that herald the 
 restoration of Israel (Nehemiah's advent) in the Trito- 
 Isaiah (Ix-lxii). 
 
 Lastly, Isa. Ivii. 3-10, Ixv. 2-5, and Ixvi. 3, 4 clearly show 
 that Judaean life in Palestine in the days of the Trito- 
 Isaiah was tainted by the prevalence of modes of religious 
 practice and cultus which were alien to the purer ideals 
 of Yahweh worship established in the Deuteronomic code. 
 Moreover, we are, in these later chapters of the collection, 
 confronted by definite allusions to the Samaritan schism 
 —references which become clear when we study the 
 earher chapters of Nehemiah, and place them by the side 
 of the last two chapters (Ixv and Ixvi) of the Trito-Isaiah. 
 
 § 3. The Style of the Trito-Isaiah 
 
 is chiefly marked by its evident signs of dependence on 
 the Deutero-Isaiah. This, however, applies rather to the 
 phraseology than the structural form of the sentences to 
 which attention has already been drawn on p. 35. The style 
 of the Deutero-Isaiah is distinctively marked, individual 
 and original. This cannot by any means be said of the 
 Trito-Isaiah, whose indebtedness to earlier writers is con- 
 spicuous in every chapter. The influence of the Deutero- 
 Isaiah is most evident, especially in the lyrical passages 
 Ix-lxii and other sections of similar character, as in Ixvi. 
 10 foil. These will be found noted in the commentary. 
 There are, however, other literary influences as well, which 
 have moulded the diction of the Trito-Isaiah. One of 
 these is the Deuteronofnic. The expression * keep ' (or 
 'observe'), which is so characteristic of Deuteronomy (Heb. 
 
336 ISAIAH 
 
 shamar), occurs five times in Ivi. i-8. * Do that which is 
 evil in the eyes of Yahweh ' is a phrase which occurs in 
 varied form in Ixv. I3, Ixvi. 4 (cf. lix. 15), and is specially 
 Deuteronomic (see Deut. iv. 25, ix. 18, xvii. 2, xxxi. 29), 
 and frequently recurs in those sections of the historical 
 books (especially the Book of Kings) which are subject to 
 Deuteronomic redaction ^. Also the expression ' provoke 
 to anger' by idolatrous practices, Ixv. 3, is, as Cheyne re- 
 marks, specially Deuteronomic ^ (Deut. xxxi. 29, xxxii. 16 : 
 cf. Jer. vii. 18 ; i Kings xiv. 9, 15, xvi. 2, 7, 13 foil.). Other 
 examples of Deuteronomic influence which are specialities 
 of Hebrew diction may be found by the student of 
 Hebrew in Cheyne's Introduction. Enno Littmann ^ calls 
 attention to the infinitive with fem. ending {-ah) which 
 occurs in Ivi. 6 {^ to love the name of Yahweh'; Iviii. 2 
 ' io draw 7tear unto God). Such forms are very common 
 in Deuteronomy (x. 15, xi. 33, 22, xix. 9, xxx. 6, 16, 20). 
 Equally manifest is the influence of Ezekiel both in 
 diction and idea. Here we note a certain contrast 
 between the Deutero-Isaiah and the Trito-Isaiah, though 
 by no means so marked as Duhm would have us believe 
 (compare the statement above in the Introduction to 
 Deutero-Isaiah, p. 29 and footnote). The influence of 
 Ezekiel is much more definite in the Trito-Isaiah. 
 Compare, both as to diction and idea, Isa. Iviii. 7 with 
 Ezek. xviii. 7 — * plead ' (or ' urge one's cause '), niph \xl of 
 shdphat, in Ixvi. 16 ; cf. Ezek. xxxviii. 22 ; ' abomination,' 
 Ixvi. 17, and * abominable beast ' (the same word shekes) in 
 Ezek. viii. 10 ; unclean flesh iptggnl), Isa. Ixv. 4 and Ezek. 
 iv. 14. The use of 'Son of Man' in Isa. Ivi. 2 is quite 
 in the special sense of man as a member of the human 
 race in his relation to God so common in the oracles of 
 Ezekiel. Also in reference to keeping the Sabbath in 
 
 1 See the full list of particulars as to style in Driver's 
 Deuteronomy, Introd., p. Ixxxii (49). On shdnmr s&G\h\d. (68\ 
 
 2 Introd. to the Book of Isaiah, p. 372. 
 
 3 Ueber die Abfassungsseit des Tritojesaia, p. 6. 
 
INTRODUCTION 237 
 
 Ivi. 2, 4, 6, we are reminded of the special importance 
 attached to its due celebration in Ezek. xx. 13. The 
 motive underlying Ixvi. 19 foil, seems to be taken from 
 Ezek. xxxviii foil, (see notes), and some of the race-names 
 appear to be borrowed from the same source and Ezek. 
 xxvii. Other instances might be cited ; cf. Isa. Ivii. 8 foil, 
 and notes. 
 
 There were likewise borrowings from other sources, as 
 from Jereiniah (cf. Ixv. 18, 19). These will be found by 
 the student of the Commentary. It should also be noted 
 that there are many words and phrases employed by the 
 Trito-Isaiah which are altogether foreign to the diction of 
 his great predecessor, the Deulero-Isaiah. These are to 
 be mainly found in chaps. Ivi-lix and in chaps. Ixv-lxvi, 
 and consist in special Hebrew words, for which the 
 student is referred to the full information contained in the 
 separate sections on those chapters in Cheyne's valuable 
 Introduction (the reader of German should also consult 
 Enno Littmann's monograph above cited, pp. 6, 7). 
 
 § 4. Redaction of Deutero- and Trito-Isaiah. 
 
 The chapters called the Trito-Isaiah, which do not 
 include Ixiii. 7— Ixiv. 12 (11, Heb.) ^ belong to some date 
 between 460 and 445 B. C. (advent of Nehemiah). Chaps. 
 Ix-lxii and Ixv, Ixvi may probably be assigned to a date 
 very near the close of this period, while the remaining 
 chapters of this collection probably belong to some earlier 
 date. At what time, if ever, was any separate collection 
 of the writings of the Trito-Isaiah formed ? It is hardly 
 possible to give a definite answer, and any conclusions that 
 can be formed on the subject must, under our present con- 
 ditions of knowledge, be very general and to a large 
 extent hypothetical. 
 
 1 See the introduction to that section in the commentary, in 
 which it is shov^'n that this passage must be assigned to some 
 date between 536 and 520 b. c, i. e. before the temple of 
 Zerubbabel was built. 
 
238 ISAIAH 
 
 Two collections of Deutero-Isaianic prophecies were 
 made either by the prophet who uttered them or by his 
 disciples. The first collection (chaps, xl-xlviii) was 
 formed shortly after the conquest by Cyrus of Babylon, 
 and includes only the first of the Servant-poems. The 
 second was formed not long after the first caravan of 
 exiles had arrived in Palestine (viz. chaps, xlix-lv). It 
 includes three of the Servant-poems, and among them the 
 longest and last. It may well have been made after 
 a certain reaction from the first high hopes had set in 
 and the prophet reflected deeply on the great lessons to 
 his race conveyed in the ' Servant-poems ' ; Iv. 3, 4 
 appears to contain a distinct reference to Zerubbabel. 
 During the rebuilding of the temple in the days of 
 Haggai and Zechariah these collections must have 
 enjoyed considerable popularity among a certain section 
 of the population who had returned from exile. 
 
 We have seen how deeply they influenced the Trito- 
 Isaiah. Probably when the oracles of the latter were 
 gathered into a collection in the days of Nehemiah (or 
 subsequently) the Deutero-Isaianic oracles were incor- 
 porated as well as the detached oracle Ixiii. 7 — Ixiv. 12, 
 though it is impossible to say why it is placed in the 
 position where it stands. That this early collection of 
 chaps, xl-lxvi was edited about 400 B.C. seems to be 
 indicated by the insertion of li. 11, which is evidently 
 borrowed from xxxv. 10. See note on the former passage 
 [the note on the latter in vol. i needs correction]. As we 
 have already shown, chaps, xl-lxvi existed as a separate 
 collection about 300 B.C. This may be inferred from 
 2 Chron. xxxvi. 22 foil, (see vol. i of this Commentary, 
 Introduction, p. 70). It is possible that by that time 
 this collection was redacted in the form in which we now 
 have it. Or it may even be that there was a subsequent 
 final redaction in which the strange pessimistic glosses 
 to chap, xlviii were incorporated as well as others (cf. 1. 11), 
 including the terrible closing two verses of chap. Ixvi. 
 
THE TRITO-ISAIAH 
 
 ISAIAH LVI— LXVI 
 
 REVISED VERSION WITH ANNOTATIONS 
 
ISAIAH 
 
 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH 
 
 Thus saith the Lord, Keep ye judgement, and do 50 
 righteousness : for my salvation is near to come, and my 
 
 II. THE TRITO-ISAIAH. 
 
 Chaps, lvi-lxvi, or Trito-Isaiah, composed between 460 and 
 
 445 B. c. 
 
 Chapter LVI. 1-8. 
 An assurance to Proselytes and Eunuchs. 
 
 It was prophesied in the Deutero-Isaiah that foreigners would 
 unite themselves with Israel (xliv. 5 ; cf. the earlier utterance, xlix. 
 6 . In the passage before us we clearly see the fulfilment of the 
 anticipation. Foreigners had already entered into the covenant 
 blessings of Yahweh's people (see Introd. to Deutero Isaiah, § 5, 
 p. 43; cf. Zech. ii. 11 [15 Heb.]). It is evident that those proselytes 
 who had accompanied the Jews in their return to Palestine, br 
 who had joined the Jerusalem community as foreign residents on 
 Palestinian soil, were apprehensive that the enforcement of a 
 more rigid and exclusive system would debar them from the 
 privileges which they had hitherto enjoyed. It is manifest that an 
 exclusive tendency had already revealed itself. Ezek. xliv. 6-9 
 certainly exercised a considerable determining influence over the 
 future, as certain indications in the Deutero-Isaiah clearly suggest, 
 Hi. I, II (as well as the remarkable parallels in the Code of 
 Holiness incorporated in the Priestercodex). Moreover, the 
 eunuchs who were of Israelite descent were also apprehensive. 
 These had served as courtiers in the palace of the Persian Great 
 King, and since they were rendered incapable of bearing children, 
 they were regarded as subject to a Divine curse, according to the 
 prevalent conceptions of the Semitic world which held childless- 
 ness to be an unspeakable calamity. They were as profitless as 
 barren trees to the new community, to whom increase of popu- 
 lation was vital. To both, the foreign residents and the eunuchs, 
 the Divine word of comfort comes : let them be faithful to the 
 Covenant and keep the Sabbath. The reference to the Sabbath 
 both here and in Iviii. 13 is instructive. We note the significant 
 fact that ritual holds a larger place here than in the Deutero- 
 Isaiah, in which the Sabbath is never mentioned, pzek. xx. 
 13 (cf. Neh. xiii. 15) indicates that during the exile a new tradi- 
 tion had arisen in which severer restrictions were practised on 
 
242 ISAIAH 56. a 
 
 3 righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man that 
 doeth this, and the son of man that holdeth fast by it ; 
 that keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, and keepeth 
 
 the Sabbath than in the earlier pre-exilian days^ when Sabbath 
 meant merely the weekly cessation of daily toil. At the same 
 time, as Cheyne remarks, the writer of this passage appears to be 
 more liberal than Ezra and Nehemiah (Ezra ix. 1-4 ; Neh. xiii. 
 1-3), and in this respect approximates rather i Kings viii. 41-43. 
 
 1. This chapter begins abruptly, and has obviously no con- 
 nexion with the preceding one (Deutero-Isaiah), which is filled 
 with the happy anticipations of a new era which was to break 
 upon the Babylonian exiles. 
 
 The word judgement here, or ' right,' is employed with 
 reference to the ceremonial custom which was embodied in the 
 Deuteronomic code. These legal requirements are called in the 
 Book of Deuteronomy 'judgments ' {mishpdiim), Deut. iv. 45, 
 xii. I '. Similarly, ' righteousness' begins to have rather the legal 
 than the ethical sense which belonged to the term in the older 
 prophets. It means here conformity to law in the first part of the 
 verse, in which human conduct is referred to, while in the latter 
 part of the verse, where Divine dealing is the subject considered, 
 ' righteousness ' as a characteristic of God's action possesses the 
 signification of conformity to the Divine redemptive purpose, and 
 therefore naturally stands in parallelism with 'Salvation.' This 
 conception of the word ' righteousness ' is, as we have already 
 seen, characteristic of the Deutero-Isaiah (see Introduction, p. 37). 
 
 2. We note here the characteristic use of the expression man 
 and son of man. The word ' man ' (emsh) is man in his 
 frailty and limitation — 'mortal.* 'Son of man' also designates 
 man as a member of the human race in his relation to God. It is 
 the constantly recurring term of address by God to Ezekiel. 
 Both expressions meet us in later literature. Notice especially 
 Ps. viii. 4 (5 Heb.). The pronouns tMs and it in the opening 
 clause are proleptic^ i. e. anticipate the reference to the Sabl>ath 
 and the abstinence from all evil which immediately follows. By 
 the evil the writer expresses in one comprehensive and collective 
 term all the vices which disgraced the Jewish Palestinian com- 
 munity in the later degenerate days of the Trito-Isaiah, quarrelling, 
 violence, lying, deceit, injustice, to which the writer makes ample 
 reference in the later chapters (Iviii. 4-6, lix. 3-15). 
 
 * Duhm also calls attention to the influence of Deuteronomy over 
 the Trito-Isaianic writer in the characteristic use of the word * keep ' 
 both in this and the following verses. 
 
ISAIAH 06. 3-5 243 
 
 his hand from doing any e^ il. Neither let the stranger, 3 
 that hath joined himself to the Lord, speak, saying. The 
 Lord will surely separate me from his people : neither let 
 the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. For thus saith 4 
 the Lord of the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and 
 choose the things that please me, and hold fast by my 
 covenant : Unto them will I give in mine house and 5 
 
 3. The clause that hath joined himself to the LiOBD 
 
 I Yahweh) is considered by Duhm and Marti to be a later gloss 
 imported from verse 6, where a similar expression occurs. This 
 clause appears to involve a disturbance of the verse- structure of 
 long lines of two short lines each resembling that which occurs 
 in the Deutero-Isaiah. But it is very difficult to trace this verse- 
 form after the close of verse 2. Moreover the suspected clause 
 stands in the LXX version. We see, therefore, no sufficient 
 reason for removing these words from the text. 
 
 The exile discipline had introduced the Jew to a wider world, 
 and his altitude towards foreigners became thereby more tolerant 
 and his interests more cosmopolitan. Even Ezekiel recognized 
 the necessity of giving due place and privilege to the resident aHen 
 (Ezek. xlvii. 22). Cf. Isa. xliv. 5, xlv. 14, 23, Iv. 5. 
 
 4. The Covenant here is hardly the New Covenant of Jer. xxxi. 
 31 foil, present to the mind of the Deutero-Isaiah xlii. 6 foil., 
 xlix. 8, but rather the Covenant of the Deuteronomic type, which 
 was ceremonial as well as ethical, Deut. xxix. i, 9 [xxviii. 69 and 
 xxix. 8 Heb.]. The R.V. rightly renders the Hebrew not by ' unto 
 the eunuchs ' but * 0/ (i. e. with respect to) the eunuchs,' which 
 the context shows to be the only possible interpretation. 
 
 5. A word of comfort to the eunuchs (contrasted with Deut. 
 xxiii. I [2 Heb.l). Childlessness to the eunuch meant tliat he 
 would leave no memorial in the form of posterity to perpetuate 
 his name. In the case of Absalom a pillar was erected by him 
 because he was destined to die childless, 2 Sam. xviii. 18. 
 Yahweh here declares to the eunuchs that a memorial pillar of 
 this kind shall be erected for them within the temple precincts. 
 The R. V. here correctly renders the Hebrew original yad^ by 
 •memorial.' It literally means 'hand.' The ancient versions 
 LXX, Targ., Pesh., Vulg., followed by Delitzsch, render this 
 word vaguely by 'place,' a meaning for which Ivii. 8 and Deut. 
 xxiii. 13 afford no warrant. Gesenius and De Wette render by 
 * portion.' It is archaeology which finally settles the meaning 
 Marti notes the significant fact that on Phoenician and Punic 
 monumental stones this figure of a hand is often found See the 
 
 R 2 
 
244 ISAIAH 56. 6-8 
 
 within my walls a memorial and a name better than of 
 sons and of daughters ; I will give them an everlasting 
 
 6 name, that shall not be cut off. Also the strangers, that 
 join themselves to the Lord, to minister unto him, and 
 to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, every 
 one that keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, and 
 
 7 holdeth fast by my covenant ; even them will I bring to 
 my holy mountain^ and make them joyful in my house of 
 prayer ; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be 
 accepted upon mine altar: for mine house shall be called 
 
 8 an house of prayer for all peoples. The Lord God 
 
 Carthaginian votive stones figured in Schrdder, Phoniz. Sprache, 
 Taf. xii (at the end of the work). This memorial in God's own 
 House is to be a surer guarantee of an abiding name than 
 posterity. For posterity after all may be cut ofif by the adverse 
 chances of war or pestilence, but God's House abides. 
 
 Verses 6-8. A word of comfort to the foreign proselytes. These 
 are described in a series of clauses as ' those who attach tliemselves 
 to Yahweh in serving Him and loving His name.' UTame here 
 ha3 its special Semitic connotation of personal presence and 
 power; cf. Mai. iv. 2 (iii. 20 Heb.) ; Matt. vi. 9, xviii. 20; 
 Acts iii. 16 ; Eph. i. 21, &c., since the utterance of the name 
 was held to summon forth the potency of the Divine personality 
 named. Stress is also laid on the careful maintenance by the 
 proselyte of the .Sabbath. 
 
 Verse 7 gives hint of a special importance in worship attached 
 to prayer which emerges as the direct result of the exile. The 
 exiled community were precluded by the local conditions o( 
 worship, which Deuteronomy still further restricted, from offering 
 sacrifices to Yahweh (cf. xliii. 24 and note). This form ol 
 worship, however, prophetic teaching deprecated unless accom- 
 panied by an inward renewal and righteous conduct (Amos v. 
 9-12, 21-24; Isa. i. 11-17). Stress was laid on the ethical 
 as distinguished from the ceremonial. Accordingly prophetic 
 influence combined with the suspension of sacrificial offerings 
 in Babylonia caused the exiles to devote themselves to 
 the only form of worship open to them, viz. prayer^. The 
 effect of this persisted, as we see in the present passage, after 
 the return of the exiles to Judaea. Prayer in this verse takes 
 
 * Cf. Dan. vi. 10. 
 
ISAIAH 56. 9 245 
 
 which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I 
 gather others to him, beside his own that are gathered. 
 All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, j'^a, all ye 9 
 
 precedence of the material offerings of sacrifice. And the effect 
 became still more far-reaching and affected the synagogal worship, 
 which in the future was destined to exercise so deep an influence 
 in the Jewish Diaspora, among whom sacrifices could have no 
 place. Yahweh's sanctuary henceforth became to an increasing 
 degree a 'house of prayer.' Moreover, it was to become— and 
 here we see a manifest indication of the leaven of the Servant- 
 poems (cf. xlix. 6) — a 'prayer-house for all peoples.' This last 
 conception is unfolded in verse 8. In verse 7 for accepted 
 read either ' acceptable ' or * favourably accepted.' In verse 8 
 it would be better, in place of outcasts, to read dispersed {\, e. those 
 driven forth into exile). The verb is used in the same sense in 
 Jer. xl. 12, and the expression seems to have been derived from 
 Isa. xi. 12. In addition to him, i. e. Israel already dwelling in 
 Palestine, and also in addition to his gathered Israelite exiles^ 
 (R. V. 'his gathered ones"), others are to be included. The 
 reference is evidently to the Gentile proselytes. 
 
 Chapters LVI. 9— LVII. 13. 
 
 A scathing denunciation of neglectful rulers and idolatrous people. 
 
 We pass into an entirely new section. From words of 
 reassurance and comfort to the eunuch and the proselyte we are 
 suddenly transported into a stern denunciation which evidently 
 stands in no relation to what immediately precedes. We have 
 a severe rebuke of the sluggishness and selfishness of the rulers 
 of the Jewish community in Canaan. These reck not that they 
 bring righteous men to miser}', but pursue the even tenour of 
 their greed and drunkenness (Ivi. 9 — Iviii., 2). Then follows 
 a description of idolatrous practices. In many cases the text is 
 corrupt and the meaning enigmatic (Ivii. 3-13). 
 
 In the earlier days of criticism (preceding 1890) this entire 
 passage was a baffling problem to the critics, who regarded 
 xl-lxvi as almost entirely the product of the exile. It was not 
 until a closer analysis of these chapters had definitely assigned 
 Ivi-lxvi to the post-exilian period that any clear light was shed 
 on the problem. It was not surprising that Eichhorn, Bleek, 
 Ewald, and even Kuenen^ and Dillmann. thought that we had 
 
 ' ' His gathered ones ' is not a parallel phrase (or added gloss, as 
 Konig takes it) to ' him.' Perhaps a copula has dropped out. 
 ^ Kuenen, Historisch-kritische Einleifung : Die prophetischen 
 
246 ISAIAH 56. lo 
 
 10 beasts in the forest. His watchmen are blind, they are 
 
 suddenly stepped back into pre-exilian times. It would seem as 
 though we were standing in the midst of the darkest times of 
 idolatry and syncretism in the eighth or the seventh century. 
 The large number of points of contact in language between this 
 section and Jeremiah are noted in Cheyne's careful survey in his 
 Introduction, pp. 318-320. It is not surprising that Ewald's keen 
 eye noticed this. In his Propheten dcs Alten Bundes 2, iii, p. 103, 
 he institutes a comparison between this section and Jer. v. 7-9, 
 ag, ix. 8. He draws the conclusion that the prophet of the exile 
 (to whom Ewald, like most critics of his time, assigned chap. Ixv) 
 perceived that there were manifest tendencies towards idolatry in 
 the days in which he lived, and judged that he could not do better 
 than quote the words of warning of an older prophecy of the 
 pre-exilian period. The parallels with Jeremiah led Ewald and 
 others to fix on the reign of Manasseli with its deep rehgious 
 declension as the period to which this old prophecy belonged. 
 More recent criticism has shown that it is to the Books of Ezra 
 and Nehemiah rather than to Jeremiah we must look for the 
 historic parallels as well as to the situation disclosed by such 
 passages as Mai. ii. 11, iii. 5; cf. Neh. v. 2-11, xiii. 23foll. ; 
 cf. Ezra ix. 11— x. 11. That the phraseology of Jeremiah and 
 Ezekiel sometimes recurs in the Trito-Isaiah we shall find to be 
 characteristic of this post-exilian document, which is filled with 
 literary reminiscences both from the Deutero- Isaiah and from 
 earlier writers. We may assign to the present section some date 
 subsequent to 460 b. c. It reflects the conditions that prevailed 
 immediately before the advent of Ezra and Nehemiah. 
 
 9 is an ironical invitation (apparently from Yahweh) addressed 
 to the wild beasts of the field and forest to come and devour the 
 cultivated land. They have an excellent opportunity, for the 
 watchmen are slumbering. The metrical structure of this poem 
 consists of stanzas containing each four long lines, each line con- 
 sisting of the two portions in the form of the well-known Kinah 
 or elegiac measure, with three accentual beats in the first portion 
 and two in the second : 
 
 ' All beasts of the field, come to devour — all beasts in the w6od.' 
 
 Forms with archaic terminations are employed to express 
 'beasts' and 'field,' which remind us of the same characteristic 
 
 Biicher, p. 133, holds that Ivi. 9 — Ivii. \\a are a pre-exilian passage 
 which the author of verses 1 1^-20 quotes and delivers as an address of 
 warning to his contemporaries — a view not essentially different from 
 that of previous critics. 
 
ISAIAH 56. II 247 
 
 all without knowledge; they are all dumb dogs, they 
 cannot bark ; dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber. 
 Yea, the dogs are greedy, they can never have enough ; i r 
 
 forms in other post-exilian literature, viz. P (Gen, i. 24), and 
 seem to have been an affectation of style at that period. It is 
 hardly possible to identify the ' wild beasts ' with any special 
 community (e. g. the Samaritans) or race. It may have been 
 a general designation of Israel's foes. 
 
 10. Probably we ought with Duhm to substitute the Hebrew 
 for ' my watchmen * for the obscure form which stands in the 
 original, which the LXX interpreted as an imperative (' watch 
 ye,' or 'behold'). The latter part of this line in our Hebrew 
 text is obviously defective. The expression ' know not ' (R. V. 
 without kuowledg^e) requires an infinitive verb in Hebrew to 
 supplement it. The metre is certainly improved by it, and the 
 LXX shows that a verb ' to show understanding ' ((fypovijaai) 
 should be added. We may therefore follow Duhm and Cheyne 
 in completing the line thus : 
 
 * My watchmen are all of them blind — know not h6w to give 
 heed' (hdbin. cf. verse 11). 
 
 The term 'watchmen' is so frequently employed in prophecy 
 to designate the prophets (cf. Jer. vi. 17; Ezek. iii. 17; xxxiii. 7,&c.) 
 that there is no need to include under this term the rulers of the 
 people as some commentators prefer to do. These degenerate 
 watchmen are compared to dogs that are too lazy and sleepy to 
 bark at the intruder. Whether the dogs here are thought of as 
 house-dogs or the hounds that guard the flock (Job xxx. i) is 
 not directly stated. But the latter may be definitely concluded 
 from the mention of ' shepherds ' in the following verse. The 
 ' watchmen/ i. e. the prophets, are not alert to make their warning 
 voice heard at the approach of danger to the state, as God's true 
 prophets should do (Ezek. xxxiii. 6), but are ' maiindering *, lying 
 still — living to slumber.' 
 
 11. These degenerate watch-dogs are still further described.. 
 The verse should be rendered thus : 
 
 'Yea, the ddgs are strdng in appetite — know not h6w to 
 
 become satiated. 
 Even they the shepherds — know not h6w to give heed. 
 All of them have turned to their own course— each and all to 
 his own gain.' . 
 
 ' The verbal form in the original appears to be unique, LXX 
 render ' dreaming,' Symm. ' visionaries.' The Arabic parallel form 
 means 'talk drivel,' * rave.' 
 
248 ISAIAH 56. 12— 57. i 
 
 and these are shepherds that cannot understand : they 
 have all turned to their own way, each one to his gain, 
 
 T 2 from every quarter. Come ye, say they^ I will fetch wine, 
 and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to-morrow 
 shall be as this day, a day great beyond measure. 
 
 57 The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to 
 
 The text in the last two long lines is by no means certain, as 
 a reference to the LXX will show. We have followed in the 
 second line the slight emendation proposed by Dillmann. The 
 reconstruction adopted by Duhm and followed by Cheyne is 
 purely hipothetical. The LXX read the word rendered 
 shepherds iroim) as the Hebrew for ' evil ones ' [rd'tm). Our 
 Massoretic Hebrew text was obviously right in reading the original 
 as they did, for the expression ' shepherds ' is thoroughly appro- 
 priate to the context, and here signifies the elders or rulers of the 
 people, as contrasted with the w^atch-dogs of the flock, which 
 represent the watchmen or prophets. This word for 'shepherd' 
 (ro'eh) is frequently employed in the O. T, to designate ruler 
 or king (2 Sam. v. 2, vii. 7 ; Jer. ii. 8, iii. 15, xxiii. i, 4 ; Ezek. 
 xxxiv. 2 foil., xxxvii. 24 ; Mic. v. 3; Nah. iii. 18; Ps. Ixxviii. 71 ; 
 Zech. xi. 5). The same word in Assyrian, rPu, is constantly used 
 in this sense of ruler (^and the abstract riitiu in the sense of 
 ' rule '). The first part of this long line seems to be metrically 
 too short. The third long line appears uncertain at its close when 
 we compare the LXX. The last word rendered above in R. V, 
 from every quarter, and in R. V. marg., quite correctly, 'one 
 and all ',' is somewhat strange, and there is no equivalent for it in 
 the LXX rendering. 
 
 12 is entirely omitted in the LXX (except in inferior MSS.). 
 TTiis is not, however, a sufficient reason for regarding it as 
 a later addition. The freshness and force of its phraseology and 
 its adaptation to the context are strong reasons for accepting it as 
 original. It is a vivid representation of the speech of one of the 
 careless rulers who glories in a good carouse : 
 
 ' Come, let me fetch wine — that we may drink our fill of 
 strong drink » ' 
 
 Chapter LVH. 
 
 Verses 1-3 are a continuation of the same theme viewed from 
 another aspect. It describes the ruin of the victims of misrule 
 
 ^ The same idiom occurs in Gen. xix. 4; Ezek. xxv. 9, xxxiii. 2 ; 
 Jer. 11. 31; cf. Gen. xlvii. 2. The Hebrew original means literally 
 * from his end,' a condensed expression for ' from one end to the 
 other' (cf. Exod. xxvi. 28), hence it means 'all without exception.' 
 
ISAIAH 57. 2 249 
 
 heart ; and merciful men are taken away, none consider- 
 ing that the righteous is taken away from the evil to 
 come. He entereth into peace ; they rest in their beds, 2 
 each one that walketh in his uprightness. 
 
 and gross negligence. Righteous men, the devoted followers of 
 God, perish while none pay any heed. 
 
 1-2. Emphasis belongs to the word rigfhteous, which stands 
 first in the sentence in the original in order to bring out the 
 contrast with the careless intoxicated ruler. 
 
 The 'righteous' here corresponds to the 'men of devoted 
 piety ' in the following parallel clause, who in the later days 
 of the Maccabees (168 b. c. and after) meet us under the name of 
 the Hasidint, the forerunners of the Pharisees. The rendering 
 ' merciful ' is misleading, and the alteration supplied in R. V. 
 marg. ' godly ' is certainly an improvement. The original properly 
 means 'men of piety' {hesed). Besed is frequently used in the 
 O. T. in the sense of loving-kindness. "When used in reference 
 to God it expresses somewhat the same thing as the Latin pietas, 
 viz. man's attitude of loving devotion to his God. 
 
 The last long line includes the first clause of verse 2, as the 
 shorter portion of the elegiac line thus : 
 
 ' For because ^ of the evil the righteous one has been '^arried 
 off— enters into peace.' 
 
 The word Ki in Hebrew, rendered here for, can also bear the 
 meaning * that ' {oti). The latter is the meaning assigned to it by 
 R. v., who connect the sentence with the previous line, 'while 
 none take heed (or 'observe,' R. V. 'consider') that the righteous 
 is taken away.' Either construction may be adopted. The 
 peace of course means the peace of the grave, as the following 
 words clearly imply : 
 
 'They rest upon their beds— going on their straight course.' 
 
 The number changes from the singular of the previous line to the 
 plural in this, lapsing back into the singular in the closing portion 
 (Jit. * going on his straight course '). The beds are synonyms for the 
 graves in which the righteous rest (cf. Ezek. xxxii. 25 ; Job iii, 
 13 foil.). 'The straight course' means the life of uprightness, as 
 the R. V. understands it. But it must be confessed that the 
 
 ' We have rendered the Heb. mipp^ne ' because of ' rather than 
 * from the presence of.' Cf. the usage in Gen. vi. 13 ; Exod. viii. 20 ; 
 Judges vi. 6; Ezek. xiv. 15. The R. V. renders 'from the evil (to 
 romp\' We prefer the interpretation of R. W marg. 
 
250 ISAIAH 57. 3 
 
 3 But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the 
 
 phraseology is strange and suggestive of corruption in the text, 
 and this suspicion is certainly confirmed by the LXX, who render 
 verse 2, ' His grave shall be in peace ; he has been carried off 
 from the midst,' from a much briefer text, the last clause (' going 
 on his straight course') being altogether omitted, either because 
 it was absent from the earlier Hebrew copies which they used 
 and was inserted in later ones as a gloss, or because it was not 
 understood. From the metrical point of view the latter seems 
 not improbable, and it appears to be suggested by the tameness of 
 expression in the Greek rendering. 
 
 Verses 3-13 refer to the idolatrous practices which prevailed 
 among the Jewish population in Palestine. The denunciation is 
 now directed to another class of the people than the leaders in 
 Jerusalem, without any definite indication of who they are. This, 
 however, we can easily gather from what follows as well as from 
 the references in other portions of the O. T. (2 Kings xxiii. foil., 
 Zephaniah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Ezra, and Nehemiah). They con- 
 sisted of those who had resided in the land of Canaan during the 
 period of the exile, and were by no means in sympathy with the 
 rules of conduct observed by the returning exiles, and constituted 
 a serious hindrance to Reform. Tiiey were in friendly alliance 
 with the Samaritans, and desired to perpetuate the lax usages in 
 cultus and intermarriage with Canaanite populations which the 
 Deuteronomic legislation was designed to prevent (Deut. vii. 1-4). 
 
 3-5. The new strophe is addressed in scathing terms of 
 rebuke to those who practice the heathen rites which prevailed in 
 Canaan from of old. Magic went hand in hand with idolatrous 
 ritual, and, since these practices of magic and necromancy were 
 largely carried on by women (Hastings' DB., art. 'Magic,' p. 208, 
 left-hand column ad fin.), the devotees of magical or, more 
 properly, sooflisaytng practice are called in accordance with 
 Semitic idiom sons of the sorceress'. The Hebrew word 
 rendered here ' sorceress ' properh' means the female ' Soothsaver ' 
 (see art. 'Soothsayer' in Hastings' DB., p. 601). These practices 
 had been definitely forbidden by the Deuteronomic legislation 
 (621 B. c.) more than 150 years previous to the date when these 
 words were in all probability written (Deut. xyiii. 9-15). The 
 source of these Canaanite practices was probably in the main 
 Babylonia, but that thej' came from Arabia as well seems to be 
 indicated by Jer. xlix. 7 ; cf. Obad. 8. 
 
 ^ LXX vioi dvo/xoi ^- S\ncked (lawless) ones' suggests the Heb. 
 text *ii^ "-n a?; Ottley indicates ; but the reading of our Heb. text is 
 preferable. 
 
ISAIAH 57. 4, 5 251 
 
 seed of the adulterer and the whore. Against whom do 4 
 ye sport yourselves ? against whom make ye a wide 
 mouth, and draw out the tongue ? are ye not children of 
 transgression, a seed of falsehood, ye that inflame your- 5 
 selves among the oaks, under every green tree ; that slay 
 
 3. The writer follows the conceptions of Hosea in regarding 
 the IsraeHtes who pursued such idolatrous practices as guilty 
 of faithlessness to Yahweh, who is portrayed in Hosea i-iii 
 (cf. Ezek. xvi. 3 foil.) as Israel' s husband, whom Israel deserts. 
 Hence the alternative epithets with which verse 3 closes. These, 
 however, are based on the reading of the LXX ^, which the R .V. 
 rightly prefers to that of the Massoretic Hebrew text. 
 
 4. The opening words form the shorter part of the long elegiac 
 line whose first and longer portion closed the previous verse. 
 The question 'against whom do ye disport yourselves?' in your 
 wild abandonment to the dissipations of a licentious heathenism, 
 is an indignant exclamation followed by others descriptive of the 
 scornful attitude — ' opening wide the mouth,' * extending the 
 tongue' (cf. Ps. xxii. 7 [8 Heb.], xxxv. 21)— directed against the 
 faithful follower of Yahweh that is evidently alluded to under the 
 interrog. Whom? We have here depicted just that spirit of 
 antagonism on the part of the old Jewish inhabitants towards 
 the home-coming exiles (who were pious followers of the pure 
 prophetic religion of Yahweh) that is reflected in the Book of 
 Nehemiah iv. i foil. (iii. 33 foil. Heb.), in which are described the 
 scorn and resistance of the Samaritans and their adherents 
 towards Nehemiah and his measures of reform. 
 
 5 is a reference to the unbridled sexual licence that charac- 
 terized the worship of the High Places in the dark days that 
 intervened between the time of Haggai as well as Zechariah and 
 the advent of Ezra and Nehemiah, when the state of degeneracy 
 in the reign of Manasseh appeared to revive. Duhm, followed by 
 Cheyne and Marti, rejects this verse as an insertion on insufficient 
 grounds, whether metric or otherwise. That it forms an extra 
 couplet to the usual four long-lined stanza is rather an indication 
 that we have here an additional and defective stanza, i. e. with 
 two lines lost (perhaps omitted on account of their ceremonial 
 allusions). Though the metric length seems irregular in two 
 instances, the irregularity may be paralleled in other verses of 
 this extract, e. g. Ivi. 106, Ivii. i 6 in the original. 
 
 The word here rendered in R. V. oaks should be translated 
 
 ^ i. e. n:iri instead of n:tn\ 
 
252 ISAIAH 57. 6 
 
 the children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks ? 
 
 6 Among the smooth stones of the valley is thy portion ; 
 
 they, they are thy lot : even to them hast thou poured 
 
 a drink offering, thou hast offered an oblation. Shall I 
 
 'terebinths.' The LXX confused it with the like word meaning 
 'gods,' and therefore mistranslated it by 'idols.' On the sacrifice 
 of children to the varying deities called Ba'al (a general desig- 
 nation for any deity residing in and owning a sacred spot), cf. 
 Jer. xix. 5 ; Ezek. xxiii. 39. This terrible rite was specially 
 characteristic of Moloch worship (Jer. vii. 31, xxxii. 35, &c.). 
 The chief place for such sacrifices was the valley of Hinnom 
 {Ge-Hinnom, later Ge-henna, a designation in later Judaism of 
 Hell), south of Jerusalem. 
 
 6. The translation of the R. V. above is correct. The rendering 
 ' smooth places ' (Gesenius, De Wette, Hitzig) is pointless. 
 Ibn 'Ezra, Kimhi, Lowth, Ewald, Delitzsch, and recently 
 Cheyne and Marti, concur in the rendering given above. In the 
 original there is a fine alliterative play of words between that 
 which stands for ' smooth stones ' and for ' portion ' which 
 cannot be well reproduced in our language. The 'smooth 
 stones' are the water-worn boulders of the rocky defile which 
 in the hoary antiquity of mankind, and especially of Semitic 
 heathendom, served as stone-symbols which also embodied a divine 
 numen or deity. See art. ' Pillar * in Hastings' DB. Upon 
 these primitive upright stones the blood, or in some cases the oil, 
 of the sacrificial offering was poured or smeared (cf. Gen. xxviii. 
 t8). The religious significance of the smooth stones is made 
 clear by the line which follows in this verse : 
 
 'Also to them hast thou poured forth a drink-offering — 
 brought up offering of meal.' 
 
 Here the drink-offering' of which the deity was supposed to 
 partake consisted of the blood of the slaughtered victim. Such 
 drink-offerings presented to foreign deities, represented by rough 
 upright blocks of stone, this writer, like the Psalmist who wrote 
 Ps. xvi. 4\ utterly reprobates. The ' offering of meal ' in the 
 latter part of the line is expressed in Hebrew by a term {niinhali) ~ 
 which is used in post-exilian literature (e. g. the Priestercodex) 
 
 ' Both the language and ideas of this Psalm render it highly 
 probable that the writer belonged to the same age and religious 
 community as the Trito-Isaiah ; see Bathgen's introductory remarks. 
 
 ^ See Driver's full note on this term in Mai. i. 10 {Century Bible, 
 Minor Prophets, vol. ii). 
 
ISAIAH 57. 7, 8 253 
 
 be appeased for these things? Upon a high and lofty 7 
 mountain hast thou set thy bed : thither also wentest 
 thou up to offer sacrifice. And behind the doors and 8 
 the posts hast thou set up thy memorial : for thou hast 
 discovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up ; 
 
 to designate the vegetable as opposed to the flesh or bloody 
 offerings {zehhah). This distinctive use of the term, however, is 
 not maintained in pre-exilian Hebrew, where minltah simply means 
 a sacrificial gift whether of flesh or meal (cf. Gen. iv. 3-5 — J, 
 where both the ofTering of Abel and that of Cain are called 
 minhah.) Here we see an indication of the post-exilian origin 
 of this chapter. These idolatrous rites, exclaims the writer, are 
 the portion and lot of you, the faithless Israelites of Palestine, 
 who are opposed to the true religion of Yahweh. Contrast the 
 attitude of the faithful follower of Yahweh in Ps. xvi. 5. 
 
 The last clause of the verse should be rendered ' on account ot 
 these am I to find my satisfaction ? ' But Duhm, followed by 
 Cheyne and other critics, suspect this as a later gloss. 
 
 *l. We pass from the valley to the mountain height. We 
 know that mountains were often sanctuaries, as the proper names 
 Hermon, Baal Zephon, &c., clearly show. In the days of Ahab 
 and his Syrian campaigns, Yahweh, in the opinion of Israel's 
 Northern foes, was regarded as a God of the mountains. Here 
 of course the reference is either to the idolatrous or to the 
 syncretic worship on the mountains, regarded by this writer, as 
 bj^ Hosea, in the light of unfaithfulness to Yahweh, or harlotry. 
 In accordance with this conception we may interpret the ' bed ' in 
 the first long line of this verse. 
 
 8, We have here references to ritual which are very obscure. 
 What is meant by the Hebrew word here rendered memorial? 
 The context, which is full of ritual terms and allusions, leads us 
 irresistibly to the conclusion that we have in this word a similar 
 expression. Some hold that it designates a magic symbol, the 
 figure of a protective demon or deity. We are led to this con- 
 clusion by the mention of the doors and door-posts. The 
 threshold of a sanctuary was held to bs a place of peril to 
 the worshipper, and needed safeguarding against demons (see 
 illustrations in the latter part of the note on Isa. vi. 2). We 
 might therefore understand the word for ' memorial ' to mean 
 some symbolic figure or device which was placed behind the 
 door-post, whether of house or sanctuary, as a deterrent to the 
 demon. Duhm, on the other hand, considers that some phallus- 
 image was intended, and supports this view by a reference to 
 Ezek. xvi. 17 (note especially the last clause). That both here 
 
254 ISAIAH 57. 9 
 
 thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant 
 
 with them ; thou lovedst their bed where thou sawest it. 
 
 9 And thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst 
 
 and in the passage from the symbolic chapter of Ezekiel we have 
 an allusion to the custom prevailing among the agricultural popu- 
 lation of Palestine corresponding to the Priapean herniae in 
 Europe is not improbable, and the coincidence of phraseology 
 with Ezekiel both here and elsewhere lends colour to this view. 
 But the indications of serious corruption in the text render the 
 path of interpretation far from easy. For the LXX must have 
 made their rendering of the clause which immediately follows 
 • thy memorial ' from a completely different Hebrew text, whether 
 it be mistranslated or not : • Thou didst suppose that if thou 
 withdrewest from me, thou wouldst win some advantage.' We 
 can therefore only regard Duhm's attempt to emend and translate 
 our Massoretic text as purely hypothetical : 
 
 ' For owing to it [i. e. the phallus- image] thou didst uncover 
 and go lip — madest broad thy bed.' 
 
 In the following hne 'and thou didst make for thyself [a covenant] 
 with them ' does not give any satisfactory sense. Duhm's 
 emendation harmonizes with Ezek. xvi. 32 foil., which describes 
 the strangely inverted relation between Israel and her paramours. 
 The elaborate and highly wrought parable of Ezek. xvi was 
 evidently in the mind of the writer, as a striking example will 
 presently show. Duhm therefore emends the text, and translates 
 thus : 
 
 'And thou didst buy for thyself of those — whose intercourse 
 thou didst love.' 
 
 The last line of this difficult verse is mutilated, and only the 
 shorter half of the elegiac line has been preserved in our Hebrew 
 text. But the LXX rendering points us the way to the missing 
 first portion of the line which it preserves. It is an obvious echo 
 from Ezek. xvi. 25 (last clause) : 
 
 [' And thou didst multiply thy harlotry with them] — didst 
 behold the phallus \' 
 
 9. The word rendered king" is really the Ammonite deity here 
 pronounced Melech, properly Milk or Milcom. The pronunciation 
 
 ' The word ' phallus ' or memhruni virile is here represented by 
 the euphemism * hand ' in the original, the significance of which was 
 first pointed out by Doderlein. See Enno Littmann's note in 
 his Ueber die Abfassungszeit des Tritojesaia, p. 17. The same 
 euphemism ' hand ' meets us in the Avesta. 
 
ISAIAH 57. lo ^55 
 
 increase thy perfumes, and didst send thine ambassadors 
 far off, and didst debase thyself even unto hell. Thou lo 
 wast wearied with the length of thy way ; yet saidst thou 
 
 Molech (Moloch) is really artificial, being due to the substitution of 
 the word bosheih, ' shame,' whose vowels came to be applied to the 
 consonants M-l-ch(k). The word bosheth was not infrequentlj' 
 employed in substitution for heathen deities, as Ba'al (e. g. in the 
 names Ishbosheth, &c.). From Ezra ix. i we learn that even the 
 priests and Levites of Palestine followed Ammonite cults. 
 
 Here, again, Ezek. xvi comes to our aid in the restoration of the 
 text. Ezek. xvi. 4 gives us, as Cheyne suggests, a far more probable 
 reading than the tame Hebrew word for ' wentest.' Accordingly 
 we should follow Cheyne in rendering : 
 
 ' Thou didst also anoint thyself for Melech with oil — and 
 didst lise many perfumes.' 
 
 for Melech means ' in honour of the god Melech.' The LXX 
 strangely blunder in their rendering of the word for ^perfumes,' 
 whicii they confuse with a similar word meaning ' distant.' The 
 reference of these lines is to the homage in cultus paid to the 
 god. The conception here is the same as that which runs 
 through the preceding verses as well as Ezek. xvi, based on 
 Hos. ii. 13 (15 Heb.), the foreign deities worshipped by faithless 
 Israel being treated as paramours. The last line should be 
 rendered : 
 
 *And thou sentest thine envoys afar — yea, deep down to 
 Hades/ 
 — i. e. distant pilgrimages were made to the shrines of Melech and 
 other foreign deities. Not content with this, the Palestinian 
 Jews were guilty of practising the dark acts of necromancy and 
 of making offerings to the spirits of the underworld (cf. Isa. viii. 
 19 and note thereon). Marti, in his comment on this last clause, 
 thinks that there may be a reference here to the cult of the 
 Egyptian deity of the Lower World, Osiris, which was carried 
 in Phoenicia. 
 
 10. The first line should be rendered as concessive : 
 
 'Though thou wast wearied with thy much journeying— 
 thou saidst not ''despaired of" ' ^\. e. 'tis vain). 
 The line that follows is once more enigmatic, and it is doubtful 
 whether 'thy hand' (see R. V. marg.), which is the literal 
 rendering of the original, should be translated ' thy strength ' as 
 in the R. V. rendering given above, or whether it bears the 
 obscene sense which attaches to the term in the closing line of 
 
256 ISAIAH 57. 11,12 
 
 not, There is no hope : thou didst find a quickening of 
 II thy strength; therefore thou wast not faint. And of 
 
 whom hast thou been afraid and in fear, that thou hest, 
 
 and hast not remembered me, nor laid it to thy heart? 
 
 have not I held my peace even of long time, and thou 
 li fearest me not? I will declare thy righteousness; and as 
 
 verse 8 above (so Enno Littmann in his monograph Abfas- 
 sungsseii des Trttojesaia, p. 16 footnote). 
 
 11. The questions are intended to reveal the utter worthless- 
 ness of these objects of idolatrous worship which had seduced 
 the Israelites from allegiance to their true object of reverence, 
 Yahweh. 
 
 ' And at v/hdm didst thou feel distress and fear — that thou 
 shouldst play false ? ' 
 
 In the last line of this verse the LXX suggest a better 
 vocalization of our Hebrew text than that which is favoured by 
 our Massoretic version^ (rendered in R. V. 'of long (or olden) 
 time '). Accordingly read with Duhm and Cheyne : 
 
 'Surely I remained dumb — and hid [mine eyes] 
 
 yet me thou fearedst not.' 
 
 The pathos of the passage is restored to us through the 
 emendation suggested by the LXX. While Israel pursues the 
 utterly vain and debasing objects of her worship, Yahweh, her true 
 Lord and Husband, remains silent and veils His eyes at her mis- 
 deeds. The spirit of the passage is that of Hosea (cf. chaps. i-iii\ 
 
 12-13. But at length Yahweh breaks silence. A judgment is 
 coming stern and sure. It is by no means certain whetlier we 
 should read with our traditional Hebrew text thy rlg-hteousness, 
 or follow important LXX authorities {< (according to the hands 
 of two correctors), A, and Q^ in reading * my righteousness.' 
 If we read the former, ' I will make known thy righteousness ' can 
 only be understood ironically, as Jerome and Kimhi, followed by 
 Rosenmiiller and other commentators (including Duhm), under- 
 
 ^ irapopoj = ['rs*] D'I'rg * hiding my eyes.' The object is omitted 
 in Ps. X. I. It is quite possible, as Duhm's metrical arrangement 
 suggests, that the object ' my eyes ' has been dropped out of tfie text. 
 
 ' For explanation of these terms (due to Tischendorf) see Swete's 
 Septuagint, vol. i, p. xxi, as well as xvi {ad fin.) in explanation of 
 the asterisk. 
 
ISAIAH 57. 13, 14 257 
 
 for thy works, they shall not profit thee. When thou ^3 
 criest, let them which thou hast gathered dehver thee ; 
 but the wind shall take them, a breath shall carry them 
 all away : but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess 
 the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain. And he 14 
 
 stood it. On the other hand, * my righteousness ' yields a perfectly' 
 good sense, and this reading is adopted by Peshitto, Lowth, and 
 formerly by Cheyne. The ' righteousness ' which Yahweh is about 
 to display then stands contrasted with Israel's evil works (i, e. 
 idol-images, cf. xli. 26-29), and will be manifested in the judgment 
 which will hereafter overtake them, to which verse 13 refers. 
 
 The text of this verse is, however, far from certain. The 
 Hebrew word, which is rendered somewhat clumsily by them 
 which thou hast guthered, and more conveniently by ' thy 
 collections ^ ' (i. e. of idols), is extremely doubtful. Oort suggests 
 the more ordinary term ' thy abominations ' as an emendation, 
 which Cheyne adopts. But the I.XX read quite a different word 
 in their Hebrew original, viz. 'in thy affliction ^' and on the 
 whole this improves the parallehsm. Accordingly, connecting the 
 close of verse 12 with verse 13, we should read : 
 
 < And they shall not profit thee when thou criest-in- 
 
 distress— nor^ deliver thee in thine affliction. 
 All of them shall a blast carry aloft— a breath take them ; 
 But he that seeks refuge in me shall inherit the land- 
 shall gain possession of my holy hill.' 
 
 Here they and them in the first two lines refer to the idols 
 or works of Israel's hands. In the last two lines the contrast is 
 sharply drawn between the corrupt dwellers in Palestine, the 
 'false brethren,' and the true followers of Yahweh whom the 
 former oppressed (Neh. i. 3), and almost compelled to flee from 
 the country (cf. Isa. Ixvi. 5). These latter are assured of the 
 final possession of God's holy hill Zion. This last line forms 
 a natural transition to what follows, but it is also an integral 
 portion of, and an appropriate close to, the preceding elegiac poem 
 
 ' Duhm understands this to mean the collections or gatherings of 
 the harlot's (i- e. Israel's) hire. Either view may be supported by 
 a reference to Mic. i. 7. 
 
 ■^ 6u T77 6\i\pei aov, Heb. "nnn^S. 
 
 •• The force of the negative in the preceding clause continues 
 in this. 
 
258 ISAIAH 57. 15 
 
 shall say, Cast ye up, cast ye up^ prepare the way, take up 
 the stumblingblock out of the way of my people. 
 
 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth 
 eternity, whose name is Holy : I dwell in the high and holy 
 place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, 
 to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart 
 
 of denunciation. Considerations of metre clearly point to this 
 conclusion. 
 
 Verses 14-21. The promise of Divine help to the faithful followers 
 of Yahweh who are oppressed and afflicted. 
 
 This poem is evidently in the style of the Deutero-Isaiah. Its 
 opening is an obvious echo of xl. 3; cf. xlix. 11. 
 
 14. And lie shall say. The speaker is evidently Yahweh, as 
 the immediately following expression 'my people * clearly indicates. 
 The Vulgate (followed by Lowth) would punctuate the verb 
 differently, and render 'And I will say.' But neither this change 
 nor an altered punctuation of the copula (which makes it a Waw 
 consecutive) meaning 'And I said ' is any aid to sense. Metrical 
 considerations, as well as the connexion of this poem with the 
 preceding, render it probable that we have here a redactional 
 link, perhaps based on xl. 6 (Duhm), which might well be 
 removed from the text. 
 
 On the phraseology cf. xl. 3 and note. The stumbling-block 
 consisted in the moral and other impediments to a return of the 
 pious exiles who still rem.ained in Babylonia and the restoration 
 of a spiritual theocracy in Zion. The poem which precedes this 
 clearly illustrates that the hindrances in the main consisted in an 
 impure life and cultus arising from admixture, chiefly through 
 marriage, with foreign Canaanite populations. A large part of 
 the activity of Ezra and Nehemiah was devoted to the removal 
 of these obstructions (Ezra ix, x ; Neh. xiii. 1-3, 23-31). To 
 this of course must be added the opposition of the Samaritan 
 community and their allies (cf. Neh. ii. 19 — vi. 14). 
 
 15. The LXX after the word for 'eternity' had an extended 
 text: 'holy among holy ones is His name, dwelling highest 
 among holy ones.' It is hardly probable that this represents 
 the original text, even if it were metrically conformable. It is 
 obviously an extension, reflecting the angelology of a later day, 
 and based on the shorter original text which we have before us. 
 
 For I dwell in the high and holy place substitute the 
 rendering ' I dwell in the height and as holy one.' The height 
 here is heaven, Yahweh's real and proper abode. Compare the same 
 
ISAIAH 
 
 259 
 
 of the contrite ones. For I will not contend for ever, 16 
 neither will I be always wroth : for the spirit should fail 
 
 use of the word for 'height' in chap. xl. 26; cf. xxiv. 18, 21; 
 Ps. vii. 8, xviii. 17. The same word {mdrom) is employed in 
 Jerem. xxxi. 13, Hab. ii. 9, of the mountain height of Zion. But 
 that is obviously not the meaning here (comp. Ixvi. i). The other 
 attribute 'holy' is used in the sense which it bears in Isa. vi. 3 ; 
 in fact it was Isaiah who was the first to lay stress on this term 
 {Kddosh) as the expression of Yahweh's ethical greatness, purity, 
 and inaccessibility (see note on Isa. vi. 3). The expression ' Holy 
 one of Israel' passed from the Proto-Isaiah to the Deutero-Isaiah, 
 and the same word ' holy ' reappears here. 
 
 The next clause introduces a contrast, and the copula which 
 commences it should be rendei-ed accordingly : ' Yet with the 
 crushed and humbled in spirit, to revive the spirit of the humbled, 
 and to revive the heart of the crushed.' Once more we note the 
 strains of the Deutero-Isaiah, especially the recurrence of the ideas 
 of chap. xl. The contrasted ideas of xl. 15-18, 22-23, 26, 
 on the one hand and of xl. 11, 29-31 on the other are brought 
 within the compass of this single verse — God's infinite greatness 
 meeting man's limitations, poverty, and need. The ' crushed ' 
 and ' humbled ' spirit was the prevailing attitude of mind in the 
 days of Nehemiah (cf. Neh. i. 3) among the returned Jewish exiles 
 and their sons who had come back to Zion inspired with the 
 splendid ideals and hopes to which the Deutero-Isaiah had given 
 utterance, but had suffered bitter disillusionment during the weary 
 decades that had passed by marked by reaction, the dominance of 
 old idolatrous practices, and the continued obstacles placed by 
 the old inhabitants, sustained by Samaritan intrigues, in the path 
 of spiritual progress and reform in worship. Of the spiritual 
 declension we have clear indications in Mai. i. 6-8, 13 foil., ii. 
 2 foil., 8 foil., II foil. In fact the attitude of contrition which this 
 verse commends (in the Trito-Isaiah) finds its exact obverse in 
 Mai. iii. 15 foil., where the opposite spirit, which congratulates 
 the presumptuous and worldly, is condemned. It is not with them 
 that God's spirit dwells, but rather with those whom the rich and 
 powerful oppress, 'the hireling, the widow — and the fatherless' 
 (Mai. iii. 5), as well as with the pious follower of Yahvveh who 
 v/alked before Him in mourning garb (Mai. iii. 14 ; see Driver's 
 note in Century Bible). 
 
 16 states the grounds of Divine sympathy with the afflicted and 
 humble to which the preceding verse gave expression. It is God's 
 purpose to revive, not to destroy by continued judgments of 
 wrath, as the exiles might well have imagined from the sad histor3^ 
 of the past, and especially of the last sixty years, which had ex- 
 
 S 2 
 
26o ISAIAH 57. 17, i8 
 
 17 before me, and the souls which I have made. For the 
 iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth and smote him, 
 I hid my face and was wroth : and he went on frowardly 
 
 18 in the way of his heart. I have seen his ways, and will 
 heal him : I will lead him also, and restore comforts 
 
 cited a feeling of utter despair. For should fail read ' faints 
 away' or preferably (with Cheyne) 'would faint,' 
 
 17. The grounds for the past discipline of Divine wrath are 
 here given. The social oppression which prevailed in the Hebrew 
 population of the eighth century (Isa. v. 7-9, see Introduction 
 in vol. i, pp. 42 foil.) continued in the fifth, as Zech. vii. 8 foil, 
 indicates and Mai. iii. 5 and Neh. v clearly prove. If we read 
 the text as it stands before us in the traditional Hebrew version and 
 render it as above, which is the interpretation of most commenta- 
 tors, including Kittel and Duhm, we have here an evident re- 
 ference to the rapacity of the rich and their oppression of the 
 poor, to which chap. Iviii bears abundant testimony (verses 3, 4, 
 6, 9). Unfortunately it is by no means certain that we have the 
 original text. The LXX render : ' Owing to sin I have afflicted 
 him a short time' Accordingly Cheyne adopts the Hebrew for 
 * a short time ' in the place of the word for ' his covetousness ^,' and 
 renders : ' For his guilt I was wrath for a moment.' The following 
 clause is more idiomatically translated : ' and smote him, concealing 
 (my face) in wrath.' The word rendered ' froward ' in the next 
 clause is a favourite one in Jeremiah, and means * unfaithfnl/ 
 'rebellious' (Jer. iii. 14, 22; cf. xxxi. 22, xlix. 4). 
 
 Here ' hiding the face ' from a person is the reverse of ' lifting 
 up the countenance upon' him (= showing him favour, Num. 
 vi. 26 ; cf. Prov. xvi. 15). 
 
 18. Though God has seen Israel's rebellious ways in the past, 
 yet there is to be healing rather than chastisement. The words 
 of comfort in these verses are evidently addressed to the faithful 
 and repentant portion of the Zion community, who are sliarply 
 distinguished from the wicked and unfaithful (cf. verses 20, 
 21) who persist in their evil ways. 
 
 Duhm would place the opening words of this verse in connexion 
 with the last clause of the previous one, and withdraw the ex- 
 pression ' saith the Lord ( Yahweh) ' from the latter part of verse 
 19, where there is a like ending through an error of the scribe. 
 We should then render thus : 
 
 * And he went on rebellious in the way of his heart — 18. his 
 ways have I seen, saith Yahweh.' 
 
 rn (properly * a moment ') in place of ij^S?. 
 
ISAIAH 57. 19—58. I 261 
 
 unto him and to his mourners. I create the fruit of the 19 
 lips : Peace, peace, to him that is far off and to him that 
 is near, saith the Lord ; and I will heal him. But the 20 
 wicked are like the troubled sea ; for it cannot rest, and 
 its waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, 21 
 saith my God, to the wicked. 
 
 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, 58 
 and declare unto my people their transgression, and to 
 
 This is an ingenious and not improbable rearrangement. * His 
 ways have I seen ' will then mean I have marked his evil courses. 
 The next line will then begin : 'Yet I will heal him.' The rest of 
 the verse unfolds the idea of God's healing and restorative comfort 
 to those who are faithful and penitent. 
 
 19. The personal pronoun * I ' in the original might easily have 
 been dropped out of the text, as Marti has shown. I create the 
 fruit of the lips — the fruit of the lips in this case being joyful 
 gratitude in place of the silent sorrow of the mourners (cf. Jer. 
 xxxiii. II ; Prov. xi. 31, xii. 14— we have also parallel conceptions 
 in the following chapters of the Trito-Isaiah, Ix. 206, Ixi. 3). In 
 the following clause the word ' peace ' is to be construed as the 
 object governed by ' create ' in the clause that precedes. ' Near ' 
 and ' far off' designate the Jews of Palestine and those of the 
 diaspora respectively. Probably Duhm is right in regarding the 
 last clause of this verse as added by scribal error (cf. previous verse). 
 
 20-21. A far different destiny than God's peace awaits the un- 
 repentant wicked. Their state is compared to a 'storm-driven 
 sea, ' in never-ceasing motion, and impure in its products. The 
 well-being ( ' peace ' ) of God's true and faithful servant can never 
 be the lot of the unrighteous. 
 
 Chapter LVIII. 
 
 A denunciation of social wrong- doing. Righteous conduct more 
 necessary than fasting and ceremonial. 
 
 This chapter shows the evident influence of the eighth-century 
 teaching (cf. especially Amos v and Isa. i) as to the vital demands 
 of God. The form of the opening verse shows that the writer 
 was deeply impressed by Ezek. xxxiii. 1-9, that it was the duty 
 of the prophet like a faithful watchman to w.-irn his people of 
 danger, i. e. in this case to announce clearly to the nation its 
 besetting sins (cf. Mic. iii. 8). 
 
 1. The prophet is commanded to 'call out with the throat,' i. e. 
 with loud clear voice so that the utterance sounds abroad with 
 
262 ISAIAH 58. 2, 3 
 
 2 the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily, 
 and dehght to know my ways : as a nation that did 
 righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their 
 God, they ask of me righteous ordinances, they dehght 
 
 3 to draw near unto God. Wherefore have we fasted, say 
 they, and thou seest not ? wherefore have we afflicted our 
 
 trumpet-tones. With the metaphor of the trumpet that sounds 
 the war-alarm cf. Ezek. xxxiii. 3, 5, 6. 
 
 2. R. V. rightly interprets the opening copula of the original 
 as adversative 'yet.' The opposition which is thereby implied is 
 that though the nation is sinful yet it is not irreligious so far as 
 external forms are concerned. The Jewish community, though 
 morally debased, takes an interest in ceremonial. The pronoun 
 ' me ' is emphatic : 
 
 'Yet 'tis me day by day they are seeking — and in knowing my 
 ways they take pleasure.' 
 
 way here, like the Arabic tank^ has a ritual significance, cf. 
 Amos viii. 14. The Hebrev^ verb for * know ' bears here, as 
 frequently, the meaning ' take interest in ' or ' concern oneself 
 about' some object, Gen. xxxix. 6', Prov. xxvii. 23, Job ix. 21 ; 
 and in reference to God's providential care for man, Ps. i. 6, xxxi. 
 7 (8 Heb.), xxxvii. 18, cxliv. 3 ; Jer. i. 7 ; Neh. i. 7 ; Amos iii. 2. 
 
 The past tenses did and forsook should be replaced by presents 
 ' does ' and ' forsakes.' They correspond to what might be regarded 
 as gnomic perfects in the Hebrew (Gesen.-Kautzsch, Hebreiv 
 Grammar'^'^, § 106. 2 c). Davidson, Hebrew Syntax, §40 (c), calls 
 this ' perfect of experience.' Respecting the use of the terms 
 'righteousness' and 'ordinance' (R. V. marg. 'judgment') in 
 reference to ritual see note on chap. Ivi. i. 
 
 3 introduces the complaining query of the people : ' We fast, but 
 for what purpose ? God seems not to pay any heed to our rehgious 
 observance.' ' Thou seest it not' — this was evidently the inference 
 which the Jewish community drew from the depressing conditions 
 under which they laboured. What these conditions were the 
 reader may discover for himself from Prof. Driver's Introduction 
 
 ^ Potiphar * knew ' not anything in his household, i. e. took no 
 active interest or concern in anything, since he left the supervision in 
 the hands of Joseph. Similarly we must interpret Paul's use of 
 'know' in 2 Cor. v. 21. Christ had obviously an intellectual 
 apprehension of sin. St. Paul meant that sin stood outside Christ's 
 moral sympathies. 
 
ISAIAH 58.3 26^ 
 
 soul, and thou takest no knowledge ? Behold, in the day 
 of your fast ye find your oivn pleasure, and exact all your 
 
 to Malachi {Century Bible, Minor Prophets, ii, p. 293). They 
 included bad harvests (Mai. iii. 11) as well as the general poverty 
 indicated in Neh. v. It seems to have been expected that as the 
 result of this fasting some alleviation or deliverance from troubles 
 would be granted. It is not improbable that there is implied in 
 this complaint a reference to tlie oracle delivered more than 
 seventy years previously by Zechariah (viii. 19-23), that the 
 sorrowful fasting would be changed into days of joy. And yet, 
 after so many years, the fasting still continued and there was no 
 deliverance from evil. 
 
 The institution of fasts of sorrowful remembrance in comme- 
 moration of the various tragic events in the reign of Zedekiah, 
 when Jerusalem was besieged and captured, dated from the early 
 days of the exile, as we gather from Zech. vii. 3-5, viii. 19. 
 Zechariah refers to four distinct fasts of this kind in the last- 
 mentioned passage (on which see Driver's note). From this time 
 forth fasting as well as prayer at grave crises becomes a 
 distinguishing note of Hebrew worship i^Ezra viii. 21 f., ix. 5 foil., 
 X. 6 ; Neh. i. 4 ; Joel i. 14). This stress which was laid upon 
 fasting and prayer probably arose among the Babylonian exiles 
 and diaspora. We find it also among the Aramaic-speaking Jews 
 near Syene (Assouan). The recently-discovered Aramaic papyri 
 (published by Sachau, 1907) describe the destruction by the 
 Egyptian priests of the God Hnub of the temple to Yahu (Yahweh) 
 erected by the Jewish community at Yeb. Whereupon, as the 
 document says, line 15, 'we with our wives and children wore 
 mourning apparel, fasted, and prayed to Yahu the Lord of Heaven.* 
 This document with the events it describes was probably nearly 
 coeval with the prophecies of Joel just half a century after the date 
 when the present chapters in the Trito-Isaiah were written ^ 
 
 The answer of Yahweh to the complaining appeal of the people 
 
 ^ The papyrus fixed its own date as the seventeenth year of 
 Darius Nothus (Ochus), i. e. 408-407 B. c, while the destruction of the 
 temple at Yeb took place in the fourteenth year, i.e. 411-410 B. c. 
 Now the prophet Joel iii. 19 (iv. 19 Heb.) prophesies desolation 
 against Egypt for the outrages committed against the Jews. These 
 outrages are evidently connected with the very events detailed in the 
 papyrus, and thus this recently-discovered document serves to confirm 
 the conclusion to which internal evidence leads Cornill {Einleitung^, 
 p. 203), Nowack, and others that Joel was composed at some date 
 subsequent to Nehemiah. 
 
264 ISAIAH 58. 4, 5 
 
 4 labours. Behold, ye fast for strife and contention, and 
 to smite with the fist of wickedness : ye fast not this day 
 
 5 so as to make your voice to be heard on high. Is such 
 the fast that I have chosen ? the day for a man to afflict 
 
 is that the fasting is alter all mere hollow form resting on no 
 basis of moral life : 
 
 ' On your fast-day you are finding occupation — and all your 
 workmen you are pressing on ^' 
 
 yovir own pleasure is an inadequate rendering. The Hebrew 
 word for ' pleasure ' used in the original came in later Hebrew to 
 mean 'engagement,' 'occupation,' 'business,' somewhat as the 
 Latin studimn, originally ' desire/ comes to mean 'pursuit.' The 
 passage implies that the fasting had become a mere formality. The 
 thoughts and energies of the worshippers were engaged in their 
 daily pursuits of gain instead of devotion and prayer. 
 
 4. All your fastings involve no moral renewal, but are accom- 
 panied by quarrelling. Probably we should connect the fist of 
 wickedness with the forcible compulsion to labour by which the 
 wealthier members of the Jewish community sought to coerce the 
 poorer to toil on the holy fast-day. The picture presented in this 
 as well as the previous verse seems to anticipate in some degree 
 the scenes in the temple depicted in Mark xi. 15 foil. 
 
 The words on high (properly 'in the height') contain in the 
 original the same term as in Ivii. 15, ' high (place)' or height, viz. 
 God's celestial abode ^. 
 
 5. ' Shall such be the fast that I choose— a day on which man 
 
 afflicts himself? 
 Is it to bow one's head like a rush — while one spreads out 
 
 sackcloth and ashes as a bed ? 
 Is it that you would call a fast— a day well-pleasing to 
 
 Yahweh ? ' 
 
 ' Hardly strong enough rendering of the Heb. verb {ndgas) which 
 is employed of driving slaves to their task-work. The participle is 
 used of the taskmaster (with the lash), Exod. iii. 7, v. 10, 13 foil. In 
 Job xxxix. 7 it is used of an animal driver (cf. following verse). 
 
 "^ The LXX evidently had a different text before them, for they 
 render : 'and smite with fists the humble ; wherefore do ye fast unto 
 me as to-day, that in distress your voice may be heard ? ' We may 
 conjecture that they had the text before them rrob unn Pj^JNin on^prn 
 DDbip nir^Sl l^'n^nb 'b uv^ in^irn, which is both intelligible and rhythmic. 
 Yahweh answers the people's impatient query in verse 3 by another 
 in somewhat similar form, which is continued in verse 5 quite 
 harmoniously. 
 
ISAIAH 58. 6, 7 265 
 
 his soul ? Is it to bow down his head as a rush, and to 
 spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call 
 this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord ? Is not ^ 
 this the fast that I have chosen ? to loose the bonds of 
 wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let 
 the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke ? Is 7 
 
 The verb in the original, which is rendered ' spread out as a 
 bed,' is the same as that which is employed in Ps. cxxxix. 8, 
 ' though I make my bed in Hades.' The general meaning of the 
 interrogatives (which are rhetorical in character and anticipate a 
 negative answer) is that these mere externalities^ of worship 
 accompanied by the exhibition of selfish rapacity are not well- 
 pleasing to Yahweh nor a fast of which He approves. This is a 
 remarkable forecast of one of the essential elements of Christ's 
 teaching and closely approximates His denunciations of dissembling 
 (' hypocrisy '). 
 
 6. After the negative statements involved in the preceding 
 interrogations, which show what the fast of which Yahweh 
 approves is not, there follows a. positive declaration of what that 
 fast actually should be. The latter is expressed here in the 
 negative interrogative form : ' Is not this the iast that I choose . . . ? ' 
 In the Hebrew text we have an incomplete line. Fortunately the 
 text employed by the LXX helps us to complete it: 'saith 
 Yahweh of Hosts.' 
 
 ' Is not this the fast that I choose — [saith Yahweh of 
 
 Hosts], 
 To unlo6se the wicked b6nds--to set free the bands of 
 the yoke.' 
 
 In the second portion of the last long line of this verse it would 
 be best to follow (with Duhm) the LXX in reading the second 
 pers. sing, instead of plur. ' th&tt/iou break.' This brings the verse 
 into harmony with the following, which has the second pers. sing. 
 
 The word rendered oppressed properly means ' broken.' We 
 
 ^ The forms of lament here portrayed are funereal in character. 
 The sackcloth and ashes were the ordinary features of funeral 
 obsequies; see Primer of Hebrew Antiquities (R. T. S.), p. 146. 
 It is probable that the small collection of ' Lamentations of Jeremiah ' 
 arose in connexion with these ' fasts of sorrowful remembrance ' (see 
 note on verse 3 above), and were recited on these occasions. The 
 characteristics of languag-e and contents (see Cornill's Einleititng\ 
 pp. 258 foil., in the German edition now translated) harmonize 
 with this hypothesis. 
 
266 ISAIAH 58. 8 
 
 it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou 
 bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when 
 thou seest the naked, that thou cover him ; and that thou 
 hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy 
 light break forth as the morning, and thy healing shall 
 
 note how the spirit of Christ's Gospel breathes through this and 
 the following verse, Matt. v. 7, Luke xiv. 13, &c. 
 
 7. The same conception furtlaer developed. God's acceptable fast 
 involves the accompaniment of a high ethical life such as shares 
 its advantages with others, e. g. that of ' dealing (properly ' break- 
 ing') one's bread to the hungry.' The Hebrew verbal form 
 translated that are cast out has been a source of difficulty. The 
 LXX renders it by ' roofless,' i. e. unsheltered, homeless. Hitzig 
 translates it by ' banished as rebels, ' on the assumption that it is 
 derived from a verb which means 'to rebel' {mdyacT), but this 
 interpretation is hardly possible. It is more probable that we 
 should punctuate the verb differently and regard it (with Buhl) 
 as an active (Hifil) participle (cf. Gen. xxvii. 40) of a Hebrew verb 
 (rud) which means 'to roam about in distress^.' The line may 
 accordingly be rendered : 
 
 ' Is it not breaking thy bread to the hungry — and that thou 
 bringest the wandering unfortunates home. ' 
 
 flesh here means ' kindred, ' as in many O. T. passages (Gen. 
 xxix. 17, xxxvii. 27 ; Judg. ix. 2 ; 2 Sam. v, i, &c.). 
 
 8. If your fasting is accompanied by a life characterized by 
 such acts of love and sympathy, the bright future foretold by the 
 prophets (Isa. xi, Iv ; cf. chaps. Ix, Ixi) will dawn. The phrases 
 go hefore thee, be thy rearward (close up thy procession in 
 the rear) are obvious echoes of the earlier inspiring oracles of the 
 Deutero-Isaiah. They evidently fit the connexion of the original 
 passage lii. 12 (where the situation presupposed is that of a pilgrim- 
 caravan issuing forth from Babylon for the old home-land) rather 
 than that of the present one composed in Palestine amid depres- 
 sing conditions about eighty years afterwards. Not improbably such 
 
 * Duhm is disposed to regard the Hebrew form in our text as an 
 abstract plural meaning ' homelessness,' i. e. the position of a roving 
 wanderer. The other Hebrew word which we have rendered * un- 
 fortunates ' (R. V. 'the poor") he would remove as a later gloss. 
 No warrant for this is to be found in the LXX, who translate the 
 suspected word by * poor.' Nor can Duhm safely cite Lam. iii. 19 
 and i. 7 (where the plural is by no means certain) as a valid basis 
 for his abstract plural form meaning ' homelessness.' 
 
ISAIAH 58. 9, lo 267 
 
 spring forth speedily : and thy righteousness shall go 
 before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rear- 
 ward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer ; y 
 thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou 
 take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting 
 forth of the finger, and speaking wickedly; and if thou 10 
 draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted 
 soul; then shall thy light rise in darkness, and thine 
 
 phrases as well as many others from the Deutero-Isaiah passed 
 current among the Jews of a later time and became proverbial. 
 
 The word here rendered healing" {aritchah) has a VQvy special 
 meaning, and denotes the new layer of flesh which forms over a 
 wound, in Arabic aricat (properly something which extends over). 
 It is a term not found in the Old Testament earlier than Jeremiah 
 (viii. 22, XXX. 17, xxxiii. 6). See Delitzsch's commentary on 
 this passage and Driver's explanatory note on Jer. viii. 22 at 
 the end of his Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, p. 352 ; also Rosen- 
 miiller's Scholia ad loc. [y\z. Isa. Iviii. 8). 
 
 9. The opening line should express protasis and apodosis thus : 
 ' Then, when thou callest, Yahweh will answer — when thou 
 
 criest, He will say, '' Here am I." • 
 For the stretching out of the finger as an expression of contempt 
 cf. Prov. vi. 13. Gesenius has pointed out that in Arabic there 
 is a denominative verb sabaa, derived from this same word 
 that stands in the original for 'finger,' meaning to point the finger 
 in reproach against some one (see Freytag's Lexicon). Latin 
 hterature gives us parallels, Pers. ii. 33, Juven. x. 53, Martial ii. 
 28. 2, &c. Probably we are to understand that this expression 
 of scorn was directed by the rich and arrogant against the poor 
 and lowly (cf. verse 4). 
 
 10. The reading thy soul is by no means certain. Some Hebrew 
 MSS. read ' thy bread.' The translation in the LXX combines both 
 readings in the curious manner of a ' conflate reading ' of both 
 Hebrew texts : • and givest the bread from thy soul to the hungry.' 
 It seems fairly clear that the word ' soul ' in the following clause 
 has been imported by the error of a scribe into this. The true 
 reading in all probability was ' thy bread.' To render Vv^ith A. V. and 
 R. V. draw out thy soul or with R. V. marg. ' bestow . . . that 
 which thy soul desireth' are violent expedients. Accordingly 
 render : 
 
 'And (if) thou hand out thy bread to the hungry — and 
 satisfy the afflicted soul, 
 
268 ISAIAH 58. u, 13 
 
 11 obscurity be as the noonday : and the Lord shall guide 
 thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in dry places, and 
 make strong thy bones ; and thou shalt be like a watered 
 garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. 
 
 12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste 
 places : thou shalt raise up the foundations of many 
 generations; and thou shalt be called The repairer of 
 
 Then thy light shall break forth in the darkness — and thy 
 gloom as the midday.' 
 
 11. The happy results that ensue are described still further. 
 It is impossible to be quite certain that we have the original text 
 before us. The plur. form rendered dry places (A. V. ' drought "1 
 is only found in this passage, though a kindred word is translated in 
 Ps. Ixviii. 6 [7 Heb.] by R. V. 'parched land.' But the LXX depart 
 so far in their rendering that it is difficult to reconstruct a text which 
 shall take account of both our Massoretic text and the rendering 
 of the Greek translators. Commentators are content to follow the 
 former. The Hebrew text rendered above make strong" tl^y 
 bones is extremely doubtful. The LXX render 'thy bones 
 shall be made fat.' Seeker has made the ingenious suggestion, 
 which Duhm, Marti, and Cheyne have adopted, to reconstruct the 
 text on the basis of xl. 29, 31 and render, 'Thy strength will He 
 renew.' The changes involved are comparatively slight, and 
 when we consider the frequent reminiscences of the Deutero- 
 Isaiah in this series of chapters, they cannot be deemed impro- 
 bable. The verse closes with the picturesque comparison of a 
 garden intersected with water-channels that never run dry 
 ('deceive,' R.V. 'fail'). Here, as in xli. 18, spring- of water 
 should be ' water-channel ' (Cheyne ' conduit '). See the writer's 
 note with Assyrian parallels in Schrader, COT'., vol. ii, pp. 311-13. 
 
 12. 'And one [lit. the}'] shall build of thee the ruins of old 
 time.' This would mean that from the sons of the Jewish 
 community, here collectively addressed in the singular, the 
 shattered remnants of the past shall be reconstituted. But the 
 expression is certainly strange. The LXX rendered the verbal 
 form as a passive, ' age-long desolations shall be built ' ; and 
 Ewald favours this interpretation. It would probably be safer 
 to emend and read with Duhm, ' and thy people shall build the 
 ancient ruins,' or to follow Weir and Cheyne in reading 'and thy 
 sons shall build . . .' The language in this verse is again remark- 
 ably reminiscent of the Deutero-Isaiah (cf. especially xliv. 26). 
 
 repairer, literally ' vvaller-up,' the original being a participial 
 
ISAIAH 58. 13 269 
 
 the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. [If thou r 
 turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy 
 pleasure on my holy day ; and call the sabbath a delight, 
 
 form of the Hebrew denominative verb from the subst. 'wall.' 
 Tiie metaphor was suggested to tlie mind of the poet by the 
 dismantled state of the walls of Jerusalem — the ruined condition 
 in which thej' were left by the Babylonian armies in 586 b. c. 
 about 130 years previously. It was this ruined condition of the 
 city which so deeply oppressed the mind of Nehemiah (Neh. i. 
 3, ii. 2, 3)- 
 
 Verses 13-14 are a later addendum. The metrical form (a long 
 line of two equal parts with three accentual beats in each part) is 
 here the same as in the previous twelve verses, but the rhythm is 
 not so well preserved and the spirit is wholl}' different. In the 
 former the stress is laid on merciful conduct ; in these two verses 
 it is placed on Sabbath maintenance. Marti thinks it even 
 exceeds that of Neh. ix. 14 ; Exod. xvi. 23, It is true that 
 Sabbath maintenance had begun to acquire a special importance 
 during the exile period since the time of Ezekiel (xx. 12, 20, 
 xxii. 8, xxiii. 38). Yet it is to be noted that no mention of it is 
 made in the Deutero-Isaiah nor in the early post-exilian times of 
 Haggai and Zechariah (i-viii), neither of whom refer to the 
 Sabbath, nor even later the prophet Malachi. Though Isa. Ivi, 2 
 shows that, as we approach the days of Nehemiah, its due observ- 
 ance began to assume greater importance, it was not till the 
 time of that reformer that tlie hallowing of the seventh day 
 became the fixed and cardinal feature of Jewish ceremonial 
 observance. Henceforth is sharply distinguished the strict and 
 minute observance of the Sabbath in post-exilian Judaism from 
 the more genial practice of pre-exilian Hebrew religion which 
 made it festal, recreative, and a relief from toil ^. 
 
 13. Here the conception of a holy space is applied to time. 
 The Sabbath is regarded as a sanctuar}-- which the human foot, 
 pursuing its ordinary avocations, must not profane. The foot is 
 to turn back so as not to desecrate it. For the R. V. from doingf 
 
 ^ It should be observed that it is not possible to accept Jar. xvii. 
 19-27 as genuine. That it is a later insertion has been recognized 
 by critics since Kuenen. See Cornill's discussion of the passage. 
 Probably it was composed in the days of Nehemiah. As to pre- 
 exilian practice note Amos viii. 4, 5, where we observe that it was 
 a rest day from trade and other forms of work. Hos. ii. 1 1 (13 Heb.) 
 indicates its genial festive character (in both passages in connexion 
 with the New Moon). Also note 2 Kings iv. 23. 
 
270 ISAIAH 58. 14 
 
 and the holy of the Lord honourable ; and shalt honour 
 it, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own 
 14 pleasure, nor speaking thine onni words : then shalt thou 
 delight thyself in the Lord; and I will make thee to 
 ride upon the high places of the earth ; and I will feed 
 
 thy pleasure substitute the rendering * so as not * to do thy 
 business.' The Hebrew word hepJies, properly 'pleasure,' here 
 has the meaning (in later Hebrew) ' occupation,' ' business ' ; 
 of. above verse 3 and note. 
 
 The text that follows is far from clear, and this is almost 
 certainly due to its want of soundness, as a comparison with the 
 LXX reveals. LXX render 'and shalt call the Sabbath a 
 delight, holy unto thy God, shalt not set (literally ' lift ') thy foot 
 to work nor speak a word in anger from thy mouth ^. This is 
 quite intelligible, and the idiom ' lift (or set) thy foot to,' &c. 
 is found in Gen. xxix. i. 
 
 Taking our traditional Hebrew text as a basis, the strange 
 expression holy of the IiORD can hardly be explained otherwise 
 than as an epithet of the Sabbath. If we follow the guidance of 
 the LXX we should have to amend it into ' holy unto thy God,' 
 and regard the following word ' honourable ' in the Hebrew text 
 (which the LXX omit) as simply due to dittography. Duhm 
 suggests an ingenious alternative by comparatively slight emenda- 
 tions of our Hebrew text which make the parallelism complete : 
 'And callest the Sabbath a delight — and the new moon of 
 
 Yahweh an object of desire.' 
 doing* thine own ways means ' carrying on thy daily 
 pursuits.' It must be confessed that the concluding phrase 
 'speaking [thine own] words' is somewhat obscure. It might 
 be either taken to mean, as Duhm interprets it, ' gossip,' ' talk idle 
 words,' 'deceive' (as in Hos. x. 4), or, more probably and in 
 consonance with the preceding clause ('finding thy business'), 
 we should interpret the expression as meaning ' make proposals ' 
 or ' state thy bargain ' ; cf. Gen. xxiv. 33. 
 
 14. Earthly power and affluence are to be the reward of scru- 
 
 ^ Probably the Hebrew preposition meaning * from ' (min) has 
 dropped out before the infinitive form ( = ' to do '). So LXX. 
 
 ^ Evidently founded on a very different text in the original. We 
 might reconstruct it on the basis of closest approximation to the 
 Massoretic in the last two clauses : F]^p.a ?|'EO ti^} Tj^hp ntt:5?o^ iwr\ n"?] 
 
ISAIAH 59. 1,2 271 
 
 thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father : for the mouth 
 of the Lord hath spoken it.] 
 
 Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it 59 
 cannot save ; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear : 
 but your iniquities have separated between you and your 2 
 God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he 
 
 pulous maintenance of the Sabbath. The spiritual level of verses 
 1-12 is not reached in this concluding verse. In fact we descend 
 to a lower plain. The rewards set forth in verses 11 and 12 are 
 very different. Here again (verse 14) comparison with the LXX 
 suggests a different Hebrew original in the earlier part of the 
 verse. Notice the echo of Deut. xxxii. 13, xxxiii. 29. 
 
 Chapter LIX. 
 
 There are several points of contact between this chapter and 
 Iviii. 1-12. The strain of rebuke contained in the latter is con- 
 tinued here. Moreover, it deals with the same mental attitude 
 of discontent with Yahweh's dealings with His people which is 
 presupposed in the preceding chapter. * God is indifferent to 
 your depressed condition/ you say ; ' though your fasts are still 
 maintained and you are diHgent in ceremonies of worship' 
 (Iviii. 2, 3) ; God is as mighty as ever and as accessible to prayer ; 
 but it is your own unrighteous life that stands between you and 
 the fulfilment of your prayers and the dawn of better times. 
 
 1. Probably we ought to regard the opening clauses as ex- 
 pressing a comparative according to the well-known Hebrew 
 idiom : 
 
 ' Behold, Yahweh's hand is not too short to help— nor His 
 ear too duU-of-hearing [lit. heavy] to hear.' 
 
 With the latter clause cf. vi. 10. 
 
 2. The real cause of God's lack of succour is not Divine 
 impotence, but your own moral depravity that has alienated God 
 from you and has been a barrier to the blessings He would 
 confer. ' Your sins have hid His face 1/ i. e. have caused Him 
 
 ^ In the original not 'His face' but simply ' face/ as though it 
 were a personal designation of Yahweh, just as in Ixlii. 9, where it 
 stands in parallelism with ' angel ' (or messenger) (see note on the 
 passage). We seem here to have a movement— though a na^scent 
 tendency only— towards the hypostases of later Judaism {rn^mrd, 
 shechfnah, &c.). For it must be remembered that the conception of 
 the ' face of God,' viz. of Ba al, meets us in the Phoenician proper 
 
272 ISAIAH 59. r,-5 
 
 3 will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, 
 and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken 
 
 4 lies, your tongue muttereth wickedness. None sueth in 
 righteousness, and none pleadeth in truth : they trust in 
 vanity, and speak lies ; they conceive mischief, and bring 
 
 5 forth iniquity. They hatch basilisks' eggs, and weave the 
 
 to withdraw His favour from you. This is generally expressed 
 by a personal subject. In other words, God is said to hide His 
 face ; cf. viii. 17. 
 
 3. We are reminded of Isa. i. 15. For wickedness it would 
 be more accurate to read ' dishonesty.' 
 
 4. The oppression of the poor by the rich in courts of law was 
 an old vice of the pre-exllian days (cf. Introd. to vol. i, p. 43). 
 As the R.V. (marg.) indicates, the ordinary Hebrew word for 
 ' call ' here means sue at law, i. e. summon to trial as plaintiff 
 (cf. the Latin vocare in ius) ; cf. Job v. i, xiii. 22. This verse 
 should be rendered : 
 
 ' There is no one who sues with uprightness— none who 
 goes to law with honesty, 
 
 Relying on falsity and uttering deceit - conceiving bale 
 and bringing forth evil.' 
 
 Verses 5-8 are a highly-wrought elaboration in varied picturesque 
 similes of the same theme, viz. the social conditions of treacher}'', 
 oppression, and violence, which afflicted the Jewish community 
 at this time. Duhm and Cheyne regard them as a later addition. 
 Marti holds that it was borrowed from some moralizing treatise. 
 
 names. ' Face of Baal ' is the equivalent of the deity Tanit in the 
 Carthaginian votive inscriptions (see Schroder, Phdnie. Sprache, 
 pp. 260 foil., and the remarks on p. 181). It is also found in the 
 old Canaanite place-name Penuel (Peniel), meaning ' Face of God.' 
 
 On the other hand, the LXX (cod. Alex.) evidently had a somewhat 
 different text in their original — '^ on account of your sins He has with- 
 drawn His face from you so as not to have compassion ' (Dp^nitsrrai 
 nn'iD DSp v:5 Tnpri^ where apparently the o of the opening word 
 has dropped out through the same character that preceded it, viz. 
 (in the LXX copy) of cribs?). Duhm regards 'between you and 
 your God ' and ' from you that He will not hear ' as added glosses 
 that disturb both metric rhythm and parallelism of clauses. The 
 variant readings in the LXX lend some colour to this view, and 
 suggest that the glosses assumed different forms. 
 
ISAIAH 59. 6-9 §^3 
 
 spider's web : he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that 
 which is crushed breaketh out into a viper. Their webs 6 
 shall not become garments, neither shall they cover 
 themselves with their works : their works are works of 
 iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. Their 7 
 feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent 
 blood : their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity ; desolation 
 and destruction are in their paths. The way of peace 8 
 they know not ; and there is no judgement in their 
 goings : they have made them crooked paths ; whoso- 
 ever goeth therein doth not know peace. Therefore is 9 
 judgement far from us, neither doth righteousness over- 
 
 5. web in the original means properly ' gossamer- threads.' 
 This verse merely gives forcible illustrations derived from the 
 animal world of the last clause of the preceding verse, ' conceiving 
 bale and bringing forth evil.' The illustrations remind us of 
 those derived from animal life in the Book of Proverbs (of. 
 especially xxx. 18-31) or of Job (chap, xxxix). 
 
 6. The products of their activity serve no useful purpose, but 
 are mischievous in their result. 
 
 *7. The same idea is still further developed. Unprincipled 
 avarice works out its ends in violence and even bloodshed. This 
 verse is quoted with various other O. T. citations by St. Paul in 
 Rom. iii. 13-18. The preceding verses are a free citation by the 
 Apostle from Ps. xiv. 1-3. In the Cod. Alex, and margin of 
 Vatican Codex of LXX the entire Pauline body of quotations is 
 incorporated into the text of Ps. xiv. 1-3. 
 
 8. For there is no judg-ement in their g^oings it would be 
 more accurate to translate with Cheyne, 'there is no justice in 
 their tracks.' The Hebrew word peace properly means well- 
 being, security of life ; but is used here in the ethical sense of 
 the well-being that ensues from righteousness and a well-ordered 
 life of obedience to God. The word know has here the connota- 
 tion which belongs to the term in Iviii. 2, on which see the note. 
 
 The gnomic character of these verses 5-8 is evident to the 
 reader. Verse 9, which immediately follows, succeeds verse 4 
 quite as naturally as verse 8. 
 
 9. The prophet here confesses in the name of the Jewish 
 community (thus using the ist pers. plur.) their sense of evil. 
 For the vague word jxxdgement substitute 'justice ' or ' right,^ to 
 which ' righteousness' stands in synonymous parallelism in the 
 
274 ISAIAH 59. lo, ii 
 
 take us : we look for light, but behold darkness ; for 
 10 brightness^ but we walk in obscurity. We grope for the 
 wall like the blind, yea, we grope as they that have no 
 eyes : we stumble at noonday as in the twilight ; among 
 Ti them that are lusty we are as dead men. We roar all 
 like bears, and mourn sore like doves : we look for 
 judgement, but there is none ; for salvation, but it is far 
 
 next clause. As in verse 4, so here the reference is to the gross 
 injustice perpetrated in Jewish tribunals, where the oppressed 
 suitor * looks for the light ' of equity and redress for his wrongs 
 and for the * bright ra3's ' of plain and truthful dealings, but finds 
 that he is walking in the gloomy and uncertain paths of false 
 dealing, intrigue, and chicanery. 
 
 10 develops this conception of the gloomy and uncertain ways 
 to which the preceding verse alludes. The metaphor is that of 
 a blind man who feels his way. The Hebrew verb rendered 
 grope is only used in this passage, but its existence is fairly 
 certain as well as its meaning by comparison with the same 
 corresponding form in classical Arabic. According to our text we 
 have the same verb in the following parallel clause (so also LXX). 
 This is not usual in Hebrew poetic style. Consequently, the 
 suggestion of a slight emendation whereby in the latter clause 
 another verb, used in Deut. xxviii. 29, is employed, has much to 
 commend it. Cf the use of the verb (or its collateral) in the 
 vivid description of the blind Isaac in his interview with his wily 
 son Jacob, Gen. xxvii. 12, 21, 22. Accordingly with Koppe, 
 Oort, Duhm, and Marti render : — 
 
 ' We grope like the blind by the wall— and like eyeless men 
 feel our way.' 
 
 The text in the latter part of the next line is very doubtful. The 
 Hebrew word translated above them that are lusty (lit. 'stout' 
 or * fat ') has exercised the speculative ingenuity of many learned 
 commentators whose interpretations it would be a waste of time 
 to record. The word is obviously corrupt, for (i) it is found 
 nowhere else, (2) there is not a trace of it in the LXX. Our 
 only safe course here is to follow Cheyne, and render : — 
 
 * We stumble at midday as in the twilight. . . . like tlie 
 dead.' 
 
 11. The lamentations of the oppressed arc compared to the 
 moaning of bears or the cooing plaint of doves. Substitute, as 
 before, ' right ' or ' justice ' for ju^ffement with the expression 
 
ISAIAH 59. 12-14 275 
 
 off from us. For our transgressions are multiplied be- 12 
 fore thee, and our sins testify against us : for our trans- 
 gressions are with us, and as for our iniquities, we know 
 them: in transgressing and denying the Lord, and 13 
 turning away from following our God, speaking oppres- 
 sion and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart 
 words of falsehood. And judgement is turned away 14 
 backward, and righteousness standeth afar off: for truth 
 is fallen in the street, and uprightness cannot enter. 
 
 ' mourn sore (better ' moan ') like doves ' ; cf. Isa. xxxviii. 14 ; 
 Ezek. vii. 16. 
 
 12. The lament of the people voiced by the prophet (verses 
 9 foil.) now takes the definite form of a confession to God of the 
 people's sin. The expression our transgressions are with 
 tis means * they are fully present to our minds,' are consciously 
 realized by us,' as the following parallel clause renders clear : 
 * we know them ' (i. e. are conscious of them). 
 
 13. The forms of sin against God are more specially described 
 as ' rebelling against and dealing falsely with Yahweh, with- 
 drawing from following after our God, giving utterance to oppres- 
 sion and revolt.' 
 
 For uttering it would be more accurate to render 'meditating.' 
 The two words in the original ^ are alliterative : * conceiving and 
 concocting ' would fairly reproduce the assonance. 
 
 14. The qualities ^RighV (R.V. Judgement), y^Ys/w (Righteous- 
 ness), Truth and Uprightness are here personified. The word 
 for truth might also be rendered ' faithfulness,' ' honour.' 
 
 * Right is forced back— and Justice stands afar, 
 For truth stumbles in the market-place — and uprightness is 
 unable to enter.' 
 The scene of this tragedy is the tribunal of an oriental town, which 
 was usually the large open space (here called ' market-place ' for 
 lack of a better term) called in Hebrew rehob which was close to 
 the gates (Neh. viii. i, 3, 16 ; 2 Chron. xxxii. 6). Here the people 
 assembled' (Job xxix. 7), public orators delivered their harangues, 
 (Prov. i. 20), and in ordinary times children disported themselves 
 (Zech. viii. 4), and travellers spent the night (Gen. xix. 2 ; Judges 
 xix. 15). 
 
 ^ The punctuation of the Massoretic text confuses the sense. 
 The LXX version as well as verse 4 shows that the forms should be 
 punctuated as Kal absol. infin. 
 
 T 2 
 
276 ISAIAH 59. 15, 16 
 
 15 Yea, truth is lacking; and he that departeth from evil 
 maketh himself a prey : and the Lord saw it, and it 
 
 16 displeased him that there was no judgement. And he 
 saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was 
 no intercessor : therefore his own arm brought salvation 
 
 15. is lacking, properly 'is left behind.' We might render 
 *is missing,' ' is not to be found ' : — 
 
 ' And honour is not to be found — and one who avoids evil 
 exposes himself to plunder.' 
 
 Verses 16-20 are closely linked to the preceding. Yahweh views 
 with grief and astonishment the forlorn condition of the oppressed in 
 the Jewish community of Jerusalem. Accordingly He advances in 
 His own person to punish His foes and bring deliverance to His 
 faithful followers that cry for Justice \ 
 
 16. The language in the opening of the verse echoes in a 
 remarkable manner that of the Deutero-Isaiah (1. 2), whose 
 phrases were evidently current and familiar in the generations 
 that followed him. But the situation of the Trito-Isaiah was 
 strongly contrasted. The thoughts of the Deutero-Isaiah were 
 fixed on a foreign deliverer, Cyrus, who is to be God's 
 servant in effecting a deliverance from Israel's external troubles. 
 Here the evils are internal, and the deliverer who is to remedy the 
 internal disorders of the Jewish state fails to arise. Therefore 
 Yahweh Himself advances to the rescue. On the other hand, 
 there is a striking parallel between this as well as the following 
 verses and Ixiii. i-6, where Yahweh again appears as a warrior 
 and there is none to aid (Ixiii. 3) : — 
 
 ' And when He saw that there was no one — and was amazed 
 
 that there was none to interpose, 
 Then did His arm help Him — and His righteousness sustained 
 Him.' 
 Here, again, we have the conception of Divine righteousness 
 combined with the idea of Divine might that renders it victorious 
 with which we were made familiar in the study of the Deutero- 
 Isaiah (see Introduction, § 4, p. 37). 
 
 ^ The present writer cannot concur with Stade {Gesch. Isr. ii, 
 p. 81) in separating 15 b ('and when Yahweh saw it, He was displeased,' 
 &c.)-20 from the preceding, though several good authorities (Kosters, 
 Cheyne, Gressmann, and Enno Littmann) follow him. As Marti 
 clearly shows, the arbitrary process recommended severs in twain 
 what is a well-knit whole in its sequence of ideas, though unfortunately 
 in verses 18 foil, seriously defective in text. 
 
ISAIAH 59. i7;t8 277 
 
 unto him ; and his righteousness, it upheld him. And 17 
 he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet 
 of salvation upon his head ; and he put on garments of 
 vengeance for clothing, and v\-as clad with zeal as a cloke. 
 According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury 18 
 to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies ; to the 
 
 17. Following out this conception of Yahweh as a warrior-hero, 
 familiar to ancient Israel (Exod. xv. r, 3, 6, 7, &c. ; Deut. xxxii. 
 41 f. , Judges V. 4, vii. 20), and not infrequently set forth in the 
 Deutero-Isaiah (xlii. 13, xlix. 24 foil., lii. 10 , God is represented 
 as girding Himself for tlie battle, but the 'weapons are not carnal 
 but spiritual,' and directed against hostile moral influences. 
 QuaUties regarded as clothing to the personalit3^ is a familiar mode 
 of expression among O. T. writers (cf. Ixi. 3, 10), and the 
 metaphor of this verse is borrowed by St. Paul in Eph. vi. 14, 17 as 
 well as in i Thess. v. 8 (with variation). The word clothing' 
 (Heb. tilbosheth) is very questionable, (i) It is only found in 
 this passage ; (2) it spoils the metre of the verse by overweighting 
 the line ; (3) it was obviously absent from the Hebrew copies of the 
 LXX, and is omitted also in the Vulgate ; (4) it is a wholly unneces- 
 sary addendum. Accordingly, we have good reason for following 
 Lowth, Duhm, Cheyne, and Marti in rejecting it as a gloss. 
 Therefore render : — 
 
 ' And He clad himself with righteousness as a breastplate — 
 and a helmet of victory^ (salvation) was on His head. 
 
 And he clad Himself with retribution's apparel — and wrapped 
 himself in jealousy as a tunic' 
 
 18. according- . . . according-ly, both in the rendering and in 
 the original, is very awkward. The Hebrew word is found in 
 Ixiii. 7, but its repetition is very suspicious, and the same remark 
 applies to the repetition of the word 'recompense.' A glance at 
 the LXX reveals that our text has been confused, and unduly 
 extended perhaps by conflate readings. It is very difficult to 
 reconstruct the text. Cheyne's might be accepted as the best 
 provisional attempt. He translates : — 
 
 ' In proportion to [their] deserts will He render a re- 
 compense — wrath to His adversaries, disgrace to His 
 enemies.' 
 
 ^ The R. V. here has the right construction (which is also that of 
 LXX) rather than R. V. marg. 
 
278 ISAIAH 59. 19, 20 
 
 tg islands he will repay recompence. So shall they fear 
 the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from 
 the rising of the sun : for he shall come as a rushing 
 
 20 stream, which the breath of the Lord driveth. And a 
 redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn 
 
 19 is a continuation of the sentence that precedes, recording 
 the effects of Yahweh's action ; — 
 
 'So that they shall fear Yahweh's name from the West 
 (evening) — and from the sunrise His glory. 
 For it shall come like a dashing stream — which the blast of 
 
 Yahweh impels \' 
 rushing', or 'dashing,' is probably correct (so LXX). The 
 alternative rendering given in R. V. marg., 'a stream pent- 
 ?*«,' is due to the derivation of the adjectival form from another 
 verb. Some critics prefer by a slight emendation to render 'they 
 shall see Yahweh's name 2' instead of 'they shall fear, &c.,' which 
 stands in our text and is supported by the LXX. The alteration is 
 quite needless, and is no improvement to the sense. The reading of 
 our Hebrew text is moreover sustained by Ps. cii. 15 (16 Hebrew), 
 which seems to be an echo of this passage. 
 
 20. The text of this verse has come down to us in two distinct 
 traditions. The LXX render : — 
 
 * And there shall come owing to Zion the redeemer and shall 
 turn away (back) rebellion from Jacob ^.' 
 In St. Paul's quotation of the passage (Rom. xi. 26) 'from Zion ' 
 appears to indicate that the redeemer would come from Zion it- 
 self. The LXX seem to render by ' owing to ' or ' on account of 
 from a desire to reconcile the two different traditions embodied 
 in two different texts. Follow the LXX in deleting ' saith the 
 Lord' (Yahweh), which overweights the metre. 
 
 ^ Lit. ' drives into flight.' A. V. rendering (placed in R. V. marg.), 
 * When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord 
 shall lift up a standard against him,' is based on Targ., Pesh., and 
 Jewish commentaries. It disturbs the sequence of ideas, and recent 
 commentators do not support it. 
 
 ^ Duhm supports this view by Ixvi. iS, 19, Ix. 3, but none of these 
 passages contain the expression ' see the name.' To * see the glory ' 
 or outward manifestation of Yahweh's person is a quite natural and 
 ordinary expression. On the other hand, * fear ' may be quite 
 naturally linked with both objects. 
 
 ^ In Hebrew yppJ2 X?;l?3 I'^D"' ^^^ '^'I'VP N^''. St. Paul's quotation 
 'from Zion' (Rom. xi. 26) clearly shows us how the original should 
 be restored in the copy used by the LXX. 
 
ISAIAH 59. 21—60. r 279 
 
 from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. [And as 21 
 for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord : 
 my spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have 
 put 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 seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for 
 ever.] 
 
 Arise, shine ; for thy light is come, and the glory of 60 
 
 The other tradition is that of our Hebrew Massoretic text trans- 
 lated in the R. V. above. In that translation substitute ' rrturn ' for 
 'turn,' i. e. are converted. This latter tradition appears to us 
 intrinsically more probable than that on which the LXX is based 
 (followed by Duhm), which seems to be a later version originating 
 from later internal conditions of the Jewish community. 
 
 It is impossible to dissociate the person of Nehemiah from this 
 goel or ' redeemer,' just as Zerubbabel is naturally suggested by the 
 ' prince and commander ' of Iv. 4. He was in all probability the 
 inaugurator of the light of which the following chapter speaks. 
 
 21. This verse is prosaic and not metric. Moreover, its reference 
 to the covenant, as Duhm points out, seems based on the language 
 of the Priestercodex (Gen. ix. 9, xvii. 4). It has all the appearance 
 of being a later addition incorporated in an earlier collection. 
 See p. 238. 
 
 Chapters LX-LXII. 
 A l3'ric collection, probably composed on the occasion of 
 Nehemiah's advent to Jerusalem in 445 b. c, when a new and 
 happier era of progress and religious reform dawned on Israel. 
 Both style and contents clearly show that Deutero-Isaianic materia! 
 has been employed. 
 
 Chapter LX 
 is a poetic exaltation of the New Jerusalem and its heritage of 
 glory and blessing, which strongly reminds us of the Deutero- 
 Isaiah [\\\\ Hi. i foil., xlix. 14 foil.). It is to be irradiated by the light 
 of the Divine Presence, and is to be enriched with the treasures of 
 foreign peoples. Its inhabitants shall be righteous citizens, who 
 shall form a strong and victorious theocracy. Not a word is said 
 about a Messianic King. 
 
 The poem in Duhm's arrangement falls into ten strophes of four 
 long lines (each a distich) in every strophe. Verse 12 has all the 
 appearance of being a later prosaic addition. 
 
 r-3. First strophe (verses 1-3) portrays Jerusalem in the hour 
 
28o ISAIAH 60. 2, 3 
 
 2 the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, darkness 
 shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples : 
 but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall 
 
 3 be seen upon thee. And nations shall come to thy 
 
 of early sunrise. Its mountains catch the first rays, while the 
 surrounding earth and its inhabitants are enveloped in the gloom 
 of night. 
 
 1. The city is here addressed as a woman (cf. xlix. i8, H. 17, Hi. 
 I foil., liv. i), apparently l3'ing prostrate on the earth (suggested 
 by the ruined walls and buildings) in the humiliation and sorrow 
 of the preceding night of gloom (cf. li. 17)'. She is bidden to rise 
 at the visitation of the coming light of her emancipation and glory. 
 According to Duhm the perfects here ' transport us into the 
 future,' and apparently are to be regarded as prophetic perfects. 
 This we hold to be a wrong explanation. Marti rightly takes 
 them as ordinary perfects, describing what has just been con- 
 summated. This is indicated by the preceding imperatives ' rise,' 
 * shine.' ' Shine ' here means, as Rosenmiiller interprets it, sereno 
 sis animo (following Kimhi, Koppe, and Eichhorn) : — 'Greet the 
 morn which has arisen with a glad heart.' That the light of this 
 new day is associated in the mind of the writer with the advent of 
 Nehemiah, 445 b. c, is exceedingly probable. 
 
 2. The future tenses shall arise . . . shall be seen should be 
 replaced by present. Moreover, upon thee in the original is 
 emphatic, and stands contrasted with the Gentile peoples who are 
 involved in deep darkness. Accordingly render : — 
 
 'For see ! darkness covers the land — and gloom the peoples. 
 But on thee gleams Yahweh, and His glory appears upon thee.' 
 The contrast reminds us of the episodes that preceded and 
 accompanied the exodus (Exod. x. 22, 23 E). We have already 
 had occasion to note that the Deutero-Isaiah recalled the events 
 of that early time of Israel's deliverance from Egypt (Isa. xlviii. 
 21, li. 10, II, Hi. 12). 
 
 3. The light which shone on Zion attracts the Gentile nations 
 and their monarchs from their world of gloom. For rising' 
 substitute 'ray.' We have again a Deutcro-Isaianic echo in this 
 reference to Gentile potentates ; cf. xlix. 7, 23 [lii. 15]. 
 
 Strophes 2-4 (verses 4-9) portrav the advancing crowd of Jews of 
 the Diaspora and of Gentiles that bring their wealth to Jerusalem. 
 
 ^ LXX (poJTi^ov, (pcuTi^ov, 'lepovcraXrifi is based on a different text 
 in which the second imperat. {orf) is repeated. This is a Deutero- 
 Isaianic trait (see p. 35). The addition of the name Jerusalem is 
 probably a gloss, 
 
ISAIAH GO. 4, 5 28r 
 
 light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift 4 
 up thine eyes round about, and see : they all gather 
 themselves together, they come to thee : thy sons shall 
 come from far, and thy daughters shall be carried in the 
 arms. Then thou shalt see and be lightened, and thine 5 
 heart shall tremble and be enlarged ; because the abun- 
 dance of the sea shall be turned unto thee, the wealth 
 
 4. The beginning of this verse is obviously borrow^ed from xlix. 
 18, while the latter part of the verse is varied from xlix. 22. 
 Both here and in Ixvi. 12 the 'side' or 'hip' is the part of the 
 body on which the young (in this case the daughters) are carried, 
 as is usual in the Orient. The LXX render ' thy daughters shall 
 be carried on shonldcrs,^ as in xlix. 22 (to which it is possible that 
 their Hebrew text conformed). Yox the R. V. rendering arms 
 substitute that of the R. V. marg. 'side.' 
 
 The word rendered here carried is not the same as that which 
 is employed in the parallel xlix. 22, but another of finer significance, 
 which is especiall}^ used in reference to those who tend children ; 
 'nursed,' R.V. marg., fairly expresses it. 
 
 5. R. v., rightly, then thou shalt see, with LXX and other 
 ancient versions, as well as Saadiah, Kimhi, Rosenmtiller, and 
 many subsequent commentators ; and this is evidently what is 
 intended by the Massoretic Hebrew punctuation. On the other 
 hand, there are numerous Hebrew MSS. which have a slightly 
 different punctuation whereby the verbal form comes from a 
 different stem, 'Thou shalt fear,' and it has been supposed that 
 the following clause supports this meaning (so Ibn 'Ezra, Lowth, 
 Gesenius, Oort, and others). But the verbal form which im- 
 mediatelj^ follows renders this improbable. Accordingly we should 
 translate : — 
 
 'Then shalt thou see and beam^ (with joy)- and thy heart 
 shall tremble and expand.' 
 
 The expression beam or shine with joy will be found in Ps. xxxiv. 
 
 1 A. V. follows another meaning of the Hebrew root (in reality 
 a distinct root) which occurs in Isa. ii. 2, meaning ' flow ' (cf. nahar, 
 ' river '). ' piow together ' will then mean the same as the Hebrew 
 word for 'dissolve' or 'melt' (Deut. xx. S; Isa. xiii. 7, xix. i; 
 Nah. ii. 11, &c.), only it does not mean 'flow in fear,' h\xt as 
 Doderlein Interprets it, turn tremes prae lactitia, ' then wilt thou 
 tremble for joy^ in harmony with a subsequent clause. This, how- 
 ever, simply involves a tame repetition of the same conception. 
 
282 ISAIAH 60. 6, 7 
 
 6 of the nations shall come unto thee. The multitude 
 of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian 
 and Ephah ; they all shall come from Sheba : they shall 
 bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the 
 
 7 praises of the Lord. All the flocks of Kedar shall be 
 
 5 (6 Heb.), while the conception of trembling with exultation will 
 be found in Jer. xxxiii. 9, and that of expanding with joy in Ps. 
 XXV. 17, cxix. 32. The opposite idea is that of shrinking with 
 dismay. ' The wealth of the sea,' as the following clause indicates, 
 means not merely the products of islands or lands bordering on 
 the sea, but also the merchandise carried in ships. 
 
 6. A vast stream of trading Arab caravans, laden with gold and 
 fragrant incense-resins, makes its way to the holy city from the 
 Midianite region Epha (cf. Gen. xxv. 2, 4 and Bennett's note in 
 'Genesis' of the Century Bible). On Sheba see above note on 
 chap, xliii. 3. Cf. Gen. x. 7. This land in South Arabia, now 
 called Yejjten (which properly, like the Hebrew ydntin, means 
 ' South '\ was celebrated in very early times as the region from 
 which the fragrant resin called lehhonah (frankincense) was 
 obtained. Cf. Jer. vi. 20. Its chief use was in sacrificial worship 
 (Lev. ii. T, 16 ; Isa. xliii. 23) even as late as the days of Virgil 
 ('centumque Sabaeo ture calent arae'). According to Pliny the 
 chief rendezvous for the trade was Sabota in Hadramaut, from 
 which the caravans started for Gaza. LXX (Codex A and 
 Sinaitic) add the v^'ords 'and precious stones,' in accordance with 
 Ezek, xxvii. 22. This is an obvious gloss to our Hebrew text. 
 Metrical considerations dispose Duhm, Marti, and Cheyne to omit 
 the words ' they shall bring gold and frankincense.' The further 
 extension in LXX gives some colour to this view. Some later 
 scribe wished to specif}' the products of Sheba or Sabaea, which 
 were well known ^ Cf. i Kings x. 2; Ps. Ixxii. 15; Ezek. 
 xxvii. 22. 
 
 The word multitude in the original properly means abundance 
 or overflow (applied to water in Job xxii. 11, xxxviii. 34, to 
 animals, i. e. horses, in Ezek. xxvi. 10, and to human beings in 
 2 Kings ix. 17). 
 
 Even these foreign traders that flock to Jerusalem proclaim 
 Yahweh's praises, i. e. his glorious deeds ; cf. chap. Ixiii. 7, 
 
 *J. Respecting Kedar and Nebaioth see note on Isa. xxi. 16 
 
 ^ Whether the frankincense, gold (and precious stones, LXX) 
 formed an integral part of the text or not, they must be mentally 
 supplied. They seem necessary to give adequate meaning to the 
 last clause of the following verse, 'adorn my beauteous house.' 
 
ISAIAH 60. 8 283 
 
 gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall 
 minister unto thee : they shall come up with acceptance 
 on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory. 
 Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to S 
 
 (vol. i). Both belonged to North Arabia, and in Gen. xxv. 13 are 
 called sons of Ishmael. Kedar is a wealthy pastoral tribe (Jer. 
 xlix. 29) famous for its archers (Isa. xxi. 16 f.). In Gen. xxviii. 9, 
 xxxvi. 3 we read of Nebaioth as giving Esau one of his wives. 
 We might infer from this its near neighbourhood (prob. E.) fo 
 Edom, Kedar lay still farther to the East. (Driver on Gen. 
 xxv. 13.) 
 
 This verse continues the thought of the preceding, and discloses 
 the motive for these foreign arrivals. The products brought by 
 the trading caravans from Sheba, which the Hebrew text supplies, 
 as well as the flocks which come from Northern Arabia for 
 sacrifice, were to enhance the dignity and splendour of Yahweh's 
 worship. Following the LXX we should render in the last clause 
 from a purer text : 'And my beauteous^ house shall be adorned.^ 
 This involves the change of onlj' a single character. 
 
 Fourth Strophe. Verses 8-9 now portray' the return of the Jewish 
 diaspora like clouds of birds seeking their home-land as doves 
 back to the old dovecote 2. They even come from distant shores 
 transported on vessels of large tonnage to convey their stores and 
 valuables. 
 
 8. fly as a cloud is expressed by an alliterative phrase in the 
 original, which we might represent by * cleave their way as a cloud.'' 
 The metaphor is held by the Targum to express * swiftness.' It 
 paraphrases ' who come like swift clouds and pause not.' Similarly 
 Dillmann, Kittel, and Marti consider that the simile is intended to 
 express speed. Rosenmuller, however, is probably right in holding 
 that the 'cloud ' here is rather intended to express the conception 
 of vast tntmbers. He cites as a parallel Virgil, Georg. iv. 60 in 
 reference to bees — 
 
 ' obscuramque trahi vento mirabere nubent ' ; 
 
 ^ Perhaps we should follow the LXX still further and read ' my 
 house oi prayer' (^nVDn) as in Ivi. 7; on the other hand, the reading 
 of our existing Hebrew text 'I will adorn' has a close parallel in 
 verse 13 (last clause). 
 
 * In place of 'to their lattice-windows' LXX had a different text, 
 ' with their young ones.' Houbigant suggested Drrn^CX-br (a reading 
 of which Lowth approved) as the LXX original. The idea expressed 
 is that of the return of the scattered Jews from their foreign abodes 
 accompanied by their children. 
 
284 ISAIAH 60. 9 
 
 9 their windows? Surely the isles shall wait for me, and 
 the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, 
 their silver and their gold with them, for the name of the 
 Lord thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because 
 
 The poet seeks to express the conception of multitudes of home- 
 coming Jews bringing with them their little ones like a mighty 
 swarm of birds that darken the sky. Cf. verse 6 above. 
 
 9. The rendering wait for me is based on the punctuation of 
 the Massoretic text, which here accords with the LXX rendering. 
 The verb is regarded as a Pi'el form, and this finds support in such 
 Deutero-Isaianic passages as xlii. 4, 11. 5. 
 
 But there is probability in the conjecture originally put forth by 
 Luzatto that we should read the verbal form not as a Pi'el but as 
 a Nif'al. This involves no change in the characters of the text 
 but only in the pronunciation. This seems to be suggested by 
 the interesting parallel, Jer. iii. 17. We should then render 
 ' Yea, unto me the coast-lands (i. e. tlieir inhabitants) gather them- 
 selves.'' Delitzsch argues that if we adopt this modification we 
 should go further and read goytm (' foreign nations ') in place of 
 iyyim in our text (meaning ' coast-lands') ^ But this does not 
 improve the sense. Verses 8-9 (forming the fourth strophe) 
 refer to the home-coming Jews, while it is the preceding strophe 
 (verses 6-7) which refers to the foreign caravans from Arabia. 
 On the other hand, the ingenious conjecture siyyim, * ships,' 
 proposed by Duhm and adopted by Cheyne, restores to us the 
 parallelism, and prepares us for the otherwise abrupt introduction 
 of Tarshish vessels : — 
 
 'Yea, unto me ships assemble themselves — and the Tarshish 
 vessels first.' 
 
 Both Duhm and Marti assume that their silver and gold means 
 the wealth possessed by the Gentiles, which is wholly contrary 
 to the plain sense of the passage, in wliich the possessive * their ' 
 evidently refers to Zion's sons 2, whom the Tarshish ships have 
 
 ^ Cf. above xli. 5 and LXX, which read goyim for fyyim. See 
 p. Qj and footnote. 
 
 ^ Duhm's assumption that the Jews in exile were not wealthy is by 
 no means borne out by the evidence. They probably carried out 
 the instructions of Jeremiah's epistle (Jer. xxi.x), and, after the 
 conquest of Babylon by Cyrus, were in many cases very loth to leave 
 the land where they had settled and prospered. In the deportations 
 of 597 and 5S7-G it was the most energetic portion of the race that 
 
ISAIAH 60. 10, 12 285 
 
 he hath glorified thee. And strangers shall build up thy 10 
 walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee : for in 
 my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had 
 mercy on thee. Thy gates also shall be open continually; " 
 they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may 
 bring unto thee the wealth of the nations, and their 
 
 brought in great numbers to the coast of Palestine. On ships of 
 Tarshisli see note in vol. i, p. 103 (on Isa. ii. 16) ; cf. also p. 262. 
 The silver and the gold are destined for the adornment of the 
 temple to do honour 'to the name of Yahweh.' Here 'name,' as 
 elsewhere, means personal presence. 
 
 Fifth Strophe (verses 10, 11). We here pass from the Jewish 
 returning exiles to the Gentiles once more (as in the third 
 strophe). The foreigner is to serve the Jew in performing the 
 manual labour of building up the ruined walls (cf. Ixi. 4 ; Neh. 
 i. 3), a trait which once more reminds us of the Deutero-Isaiah 
 (cf. xlv. 14). Even kings of foreign peoples are to bring the 
 wealth of their lands to enrich Jerusalem. 
 
 10. The change from God's former attitude of stern disciplinary 
 wrath to one of loving compassion is another echo from the 
 Deutero-Isaiah (liv. 7, 8). Cf. also Ivii. 17, 18. 
 
 11. The g'ates to which this verse refers were at this time 
 in a state of ruin (Neh. i. 3, ii. 3), and had probably remained in 
 the condition in which the armies of Nebuchadrezzar had left 
 them in 586 b. c. (cf. 2 Kings xxv. 9). The verbal form employed 
 here continues the future tenses of the preceding verses (5-10). 
 The restoration of the walls to which verse 10 refers may 
 be assumed to have reached completion. The gates, which 
 have now been erected ^, are thrown open wide day and night to 
 receive the unceasing stream of foreign wealth. 
 
 Instead of the passive partic. which closes this verse, rendered 
 led (so LXX and other versions including Targ.), recent commenta- 
 tors (Duhm, Gratz, Cheyne, Kittel, and Marti) prefer to read the 
 active partic. ' their kings leading [them].' It is argued that this is 
 more in accordance with verses 3 and 10, which do not represent 
 the kings of foreign races as occupying this servile position. But 
 
 were carried ofE into exile (2 Kings xxiv. 14^ xxv. 12). The poverty 
 of Israel was to be found in Palestine and not in the diaspora. Cf. 
 also note on Iv. i, and Kent, Hist, of the Jewish People' , p. 38 f . 
 
 ^ The decorative details of ' carbuncles ' (LXX crystals), contained 
 in liv. 12, are not here given, though the LXX addition of 'precious 
 stones ' in verse 6 above would lead us to anticipate it. 
 
286 ISAIAH 60. 12-14 
 
 12 kings led with them. [For that nation and kingdom 
 that will not serve thee shall perish ; yea, those nations 
 
 13 shall be utterly wasted.] The glory of Lebanon shall 
 come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine, and the box tree 
 together; to beautify the place of my sanctuary, and 
 
 14 I will make the place of my feet glorious. And the sons 
 of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee ; 
 
 against this it might be argued (a) that the verses just mentioned 
 are not inconsistent with the reading of the partic. as a 
 passive. In verse 3 they may be regarded as the kings of subject 
 races brought by compulsion to swell the triumph of Israel. 
 (6) We might regard it as another Deutero-Isaianic trait in accord 
 with xlv. 14 ^ (c) Verse 12, which most critics rightly regard as 
 a prosaic addition (contained in the LXX), may have been added 
 with express reference to the passive participial form, {d) The 
 traditional reading is in accord with verses 14 foil. 
 
 12. The spirit of this prosaic addition is that of Zech. xiv. 14-19. 
 
 13. Israel shall be able to command the supply of the finest 
 varieties of timber like the Assyrian conquerors of old ; cf. xli. 19, 
 and see note on Isa. x. 19 ad fin., vol. i, p. 166. As a matter of 
 actual history we may infer from Neh. ii. 8 that timber was 
 supplied by the Persian keeper of the Royal Parks for Nehemiah's 
 use. 
 
 place of my feet is an expression borrowed from Ezek. xliii. 7, 
 where 'place of the soles of my feet' stands in parallelism with 
 'the place of my throne,' just as here it stands synonymous 
 with 'place of m}' sanctuary.' For make . . . glorious substitute 
 'do honour to.' 
 
 14. The LXX here omit an entire clause, 'and shall bow 
 themselves down at the soles of thy feet,' and it is certainly 
 quite possible that it was added as a later extension of the text. 
 It mars the strophic arrangement ; accordingly, Duhm omits it : — 
 
 * And there shall come to thee bending low — the sons of those 
 that oppressed and despised thee, 
 And shall call thee Yahweh's city— Zion of the Holy One of 
 Israel.' 
 
 ^ We might then suppose that the compulsion to serve Israel was 
 applied (in the thought of the writer) by Persia, just as Cyrus is 
 assumed to apply it in the case of Egypt and Ethiopia ; cf. xliii. 3, 
 xlv. 14. Certainly without the strong arm of Persia the reforms of 
 Nehemiah and Ezra would not have been consummated under the 
 existing collocation of conditions. 
 
ISAIAH 60. 16-17 287 
 
 and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves 
 down at the soles of thy feet ; and they shall call thee 
 The city of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of 
 Israel. Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so 15 
 that no man passed through thee, I will make thee an 
 eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. Thou 16 
 shalt also suck the milk of the nations, and shalt suck 
 the breast of kings : and thou shalt know that I the 
 Lord am thy saviour, and thy redeemer, the Mighty 
 One of Jacob. For brass I will bring gold, and for iron 17 
 I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones 
 iron : I will also make thy officers peace, and thine 
 
 Strophes 7-10 (verses 15-22) portray the future transformation 
 of Zion from its previous physical and moral desolation and 
 abandonment into external exaltation and splendour, and into 
 internal purity and moral order in which God shall be its 
 everlasting light. 
 
 15. so that no man passed throug-h thee (in the original 
 ' without one that passes by ') is not the expression used in the 
 text employed by the LXX, who read 'ozer for 'obher, ' without 
 helper'' (or 'with none to help'), a more usual phrase (cf. Ps. 
 Ixxii. 12, &c.). It is, moreover, sustained by the following verse, 
 which then points back to this : *I, Yahweh, am thy Saviour.' 
 'Without one that passes by' would mean that in former times 
 Jerusalem was comparatively deserted, and there was no traffic — 
 no caravans or travellers —that passed through the city. The 
 town and its neighbourhood were in decay. This was the 
 condition of Jerusalem with its ruined walls prior to Nehemiah's 
 advent. 
 
 16. This verse possesses little originality. The first part is 
 a modification of xlix. 23, while the latter part, 'and thou shalt 
 know, &c.,' is an almost exact copy of the latter part of xlix. 26. 
 This verse merely expresses in graphic metaphor the idea already 
 presented in verse 11, that the wealth of foreign nations shall be 
 brought in to adorn Jerusalem. 
 
 17. The more precious metals shall take the place of the 
 cheaper. Gold takes the place of the baser metal, bronze, and 
 silver of iron. We have here the current rhetorical phraseology 
 descriptive of an age of prosperity. Cf. i Kings x. 21, 27 ; Duhra 
 would excise the line ' and in place of timber bronze, and instead 
 
M 
 
 ISAIAH 60. i8, 19 
 
 18 exactors righteousness. Violence shall no more be 
 heard in thy land, desolation nor destruction within thy 
 borders ; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy 
 
 19 gates Praise. The sun shall be no more thy light by 
 
 of stones iron ' as a later addition which gives the strophe a line 
 in excess. It is contained, however, in the LXX. 
 
 The word officers is expressed in the original by an abstract 
 feminine collective ' officialdom.' ' Peace ' might be taken as a 
 pregnant phrase signifying — devoted to the well-being of the 
 Jewish community and living in friendship with them. Exactors 
 (R.V. marg. 'taskmasters') are to behave justly to those with 
 whom they have to deal. This is the interpretation underlying the 
 LXX version, and it is quite possibly the correct one. The writer 
 may in fact have been thinking of Persian officers or Jewish rulers 
 appointed by the Persian court as the officials who are to be on 
 friendly terms with the Jewish population, though this is not 
 expressly stated, since it would be somewhat out of harmony with 
 the tone of national self-exaltation expressed in verses 10-14 ^^d 
 16 above. On the whole it is more probable that Duhm, Kittel, 
 and Marti are right in making 'peace' and 'righteousness' as the 
 direct objects of the verb : — 
 
 * I will make peace as thy magistracy and righteousness as 
 thy taskmasters.' 
 
 The new era of peace and righteousness, which was now about 
 to dawn, stands contrasted with the black shadows of violence and 
 injustice which darkened the immediate past portrayed in Ivi. 10, 
 II, Ivii. I, Iviii. 4 foil., lix. 3-9. 
 
 18. These shadows of the past — violence and destruction— shall 
 pass away from the land in which the city is situated. In token 
 and attestation thereof significant names are to be given to the 
 newly-built walls of the city. Victory and Praise. Probably this 
 last trait of names bestowed on walls and gates is borrowed from 
 Babylonia, for we know that * in Babylon one of the great 
 encircling walls bore the name Imgnr-Bel, "Bel is propitious,'' 
 while the other was called Nimiiti-Bel, "Foundation of Bel'" 
 (Schrader, in COT., i, p. 174, on i Kings vii. 21, which refers to the 
 names of the two pillars of Solomon's temple, Ydchin and Boas). 
 
 Verses 19-22. These closing verses depict the moral excellence 
 of this new City of God where God shines as the everlasting light. 
 There is an immense growth in population. 
 
 19. Yahweh's eternal presence illuminates and glorifies the 
 city, and His light takes the place of sun and moon. Cf. Rev. xxi. 
 23, xxii. 5. 
 
ISAIAH 60. 20—61. I 289 
 
 day ; neither for brightness shall the moon give light 
 unto thee : but the Lord shall be unto thee an ever- 
 lasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no 20 
 more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself : 
 for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the 
 days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people also ai 
 shall be all righteous, they shall inherit the land for 
 ever ; the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, 
 that I may be glorified. The little one shall become 22 
 a thousand, and the small one a strong nation : I the 
 Lord will hasten it in its time. 
 
 The spirit of the Lord God is upon me ; because the 61 
 
 20. The same conception is repeated in varied language. As 
 Yahweh's presence is the city's constant and unchanging light 
 that is to the inhabitants both sun and moon, it may be said that 
 their sun never sets and their moon is always full and never 
 wanes. Cf. the thought of Jas. i, 17. 
 
 21 . The moral consequence of Yahweh's abiding and illuminating 
 presence is the universal spread of righteousness : ' All thy people 
 are righteous,' and the further consequence flows : the soil 
 becomes the possession of the people for ever (cf. Ps. xxxvii. 29). 
 For 'His planting' in the Kethtbh (Hebrew written consonantal 
 text) we have in the Kre (or what was read in the Synagogue) 
 and some MSS. as well as in Targ., Pesh., and Vulg. the better 
 reading 'My planting' [LXX 'guarding (noser) the plantation']. 
 
 22. For thousand Duhm and Marti substitute * a tribe.' The 
 original Hebrew eleph is interpreted as a quite distinct word from 
 the same form used as a numeral. This view, however, does not 
 commend itself to us as so probable, nor has it the support of the 
 LXX. Elep/i, meaning 'clan,' or perhaps 'tribe,' seems an inade- 
 quate equivalent to ' a powerful nation ' in the parallel clause. On 
 the other hand, 'thousand,' Hke 'myriad,' is used as a general 
 expression for a large number. 
 
 Chapters LXI and LXII 
 
 may be regarded as a connected whole, following naturally upon 
 chap. Ix, and dealing with the same theme, the advent of a glorious 
 future for the Jewish state. While the previous chapter (Ix) 
 presents innumerable points of contact with and resemblance to 
 the Deutero-Isaiah, these two following chapters are in several 
 points reminiscent of the Seivant-poems as well as of other 
 
 U 
 
290 ISAIAH 61. I 
 
 Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto 
 the meek ; he hath sent me to bind up the broken- 
 analogous passages in the Deutero-Isaiah. Thus we might compare 
 Ixi. I with xlii. i, 3 (also 1. 4, xlix. 9), Ixi. 7, 8 with Deutero- 
 Isaianic xl. 2 (also Iv. 3), Ixii. 10 foil, with the Deutero-Isaianic 
 passages xl. 3, 10, xlix. 22, xlviii. 20. On the other hand, the 
 announcement of a day of vengeance from our God, Ixi. 2, 5 stands 
 in contrast with the spirit of the ' Servant-songs.' 
 
 The speaker expressly declares himself to be a prophet charged 
 with the high mission of preaching a message of good news to the 
 afflicted and heart-broken and of deliverance to the captives, the 
 advent of a year of Divine favour and comfort for the sorrowing. 
 The century-old desolations are to be repaired (Ixi. 4). These 
 happy days of Jerusalem's glory have not yet arrived. Mean- 
 while God's messenger will not cease his exhortations until their 
 advent (Ixii. 1). A strain of exultant anticipation follows, re- 
 sounding with Deutero-Isaianic echoes (verses 6 foil., 10 foil). 
 
 Chap, ixi 1. From the introductory remarks above it will be 
 clearly seen that the view of the older expositors (Hengstenberg, 
 Delitzsch, Nagelsbach, Orelli) that it is the servant of Yahweh who 
 is here speaking (as in xlix. i foil., 1. 4 foil.) is quite untenable. 
 Some of the traits, it is true, remind us of that earlier portraiture 
 of the preceding century. The spirit of God is upon him to bring 
 comfort to the broken-hearted and lead the prisoners out of the 
 dungeon (cf. xlii. i. 3, 7, xlix. 9, 1. 4) ; yet it is quite obvious 
 that the present passage regards the speaker who is anointed by 
 ' God as an individual. There are no indications which identif3' 
 him with an Israelite community ; still less that the blessing 
 which he is about to bring upon the world is to be wrought out 
 by his own sufferings and death, and that it is to bring God's light 
 to the Gentile as well as the Jew (xlix. 6, 1. 6 foil, liii). More- 
 over, ' the day of vengeance of our God ' (verse 2) is not an ex- 
 pression that the Servant of Yahweh would use. Here it is an 
 individual who speaks, viz. the writer himself, and he simply pro- 
 claims the advent of happier days, and does not indicate by a 
 word that he is himself bringing about the nobler era which is to 
 dawn. 
 
 anointed here is of course purely metaphorical, and symbolizes 
 the endowment of the prophet with the special powers of the 
 Divine spirit to which the preceding clause refers. Respecting 
 the origin of this conception of the word anoint, see ' Messiah ' in 
 Hastings' DCG. vol. ii, p. 171. 
 
 The word here rendered meek (Heb. ' dnaw) is often used in 
 later Hebrew literature (chiefly in the Psalms) in the sense of 
 'humble,' submissive to Divine authority; but where it occurs in 
 
ISAIAH 61. 2 291 
 
 hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the 
 opening of the prison to them that are bound ; to proclaim 2 
 the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of ven- 
 
 earlier literature (as in Amos ii. 7, viii. 4; Isa. xi. 4) both context 
 and parallelism show that it means not 'meek,' 'submissive,' 
 but * suffering,' ' distressed,' ' miserable.' In other words, it has the 
 same signification as the closely similar Hebrew adjective ' dni? 
 It may indeed have been confused with this word, and some 
 textual critics would make the slight change into this adjectival 
 form. It is quite possible that this change should be made here (as 
 the LXX ' poor ' appears to indicate). 
 
 bind up the brokenliearted, as the surgeon binds up the 
 gaping wound, a metaphor occasionally used by the pre-exilian 
 Isaiah, i. 6, iii. 7. 
 
 The word liberty, in the original deror, employed by the prophets 
 of the sixth century (Jeremiah, Ezekiel) as well as by later writers, 
 is probably a loan-word from the Babylonian durdru. 
 
 The compound form in the original rendered opening^ has been 
 variously interpreted, as the R.V. and R. V. marg. indicate. 
 The Hebrew verb is properly used of the opening of the eyes 
 (Gen. xxi. 19 ; 2 Kings vi. 20 ; Isa. xlii. 7, &c.), in one case opening 
 of the ears (xlii. 20). Accordingly Dillmann is thoroughly justified 
 in rendering, 'and to the captives clear vision' (or with R.V. marg. 
 ' opening of the eyes '), the underlying conception being that con- 
 finement in the dark dungeon places the captives in the position 
 of blind men ^. 
 
 2. Tlxe day of vengreance introduces a jarring note into the 
 serene harmony of this passage, and it may be noted that in the 
 synagogue at Nazareth Jesus, in the opening of His ministry, read 
 those verses which portray tlie character of His own message, but 
 omits this jarring note (Luke iv. 18 f.). The ' day of vengeance* is 
 evidently directed against the children of the mixed marriages, 
 the heathen schismatics and Samaritans, towards whom the invec- 
 tive of the Trito-Isaiah is so constantly uttered; cf. Ivi. 9, foil., lix. 
 18 foil., Ixv, 11-15, &c. 
 
 * What is called a lengthened ov PeaVal formation, Ewald, § 157 c; 
 Gesenius-Kautzsch, Heb. Gram.^^, 84 6, rem. 36. 
 
 ^ Duhm, who severely criticizes this view, has no justification for 
 his rendering ' and casting off chains to those who are bound,' 
 unless the text be altered to pns (cf, Nif. in li. 14) or nriB in place 
 of the doubtful PeaVal form which stands there. The LXX render 
 * recovery of sight to the blind,' which partly supports our traditional 
 text. Probably the Greek translators read in their text npD D^'^.^^^. 
 
 U 2 
 
292 ISAIAH 01. 3, 4 
 
 3 geance of our God ; to comfort all that mourn ; to 
 appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto 
 them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, 
 the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness ; that 
 they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting 
 
 4 of the Lord, that he might be glorified. And they 
 shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former 
 
 3. The opening clause halts, and lacks an object to the verb. 
 It seems, moreover, to be metrically too short. There appears, 
 therefore, to be some ground for accepting the proposed addition 
 of the word for ' joy ' {sdson) after the verb * appoint ' (so Houbi- 
 gant and Lowth). Duhm, followed by Cheyne, would cancel out 
 the entire opening clause as an added gloss. Thus we should read : 
 [verse 2] *To comfort all who mourn — to give them a festal turban 
 instead of dust (ashes).' The word rendered here 'festal turban' 
 (peer) is used in Hebrew to designate the ornamented headgear 
 of a priest (Exod. xxxix. 28 ; Ezek. xliv. 18), of a bridegroom (as 
 below in verse ro), or of a distinguished lady of fashion (Isa. iii. 20). 
 Verse 10 in this chapter points to the fact that the writer was 
 thinking of a bridegroom's festal turban. There is an alliterative 
 play of words in the original between this word for ' turban ' and that 
 for Must,' which cannot easily be reproduced in English. Duhm 
 reproduces it appropriately in German by ' Putz statt Schmutz.' 
 Dust was cast upon the head or men wallowed in it as a token of 
 mourning (2 Sam. xiii, 19 ; Jer. vi. 26) : — 
 
 * The oil of joy in place of mourning — a vestment of praise 
 
 instead of an exhausted spirit. 
 And they shall be called oaks of righteousness — Yahweh's 
 plantation that He may glorify Himself — 
 
 is the more exact rendering of the concluding part of this verse. 
 The ' oil of joy,' or the oil which is expressive of gladness, is 
 a reference to the Oriental custom of anointing the person with 
 oil on festival days or weddings or other special times of rejoicing, 
 Amos vi. 6 ; Ps. xxiii. 5, xlv. 8 ; Luke vii. 46. The oaks or 
 terebinths of righteousness are expressive not so much of luxuri- 
 ance as of endurance and strength symbolized by the vivid 
 metaphor of mountains in Ps. xxxvi. 6(7 Heb.). The conception of 
 the restored and revived community as God's plantation seems to 
 have reference to the ideas of Ix. 21, which have just preceded. 
 
 4. These ideas appear to underlie this verse. The righteous 
 people who inherit the land shall build up the now century-old 
 ruins. The verse which follows this would lead us to conclude 
 
ISAIAH 61. 5-7 293 
 
 desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the 
 desolations of many generations. And strangers shall 5 
 stand and feed your flocks, and aliens shall be your 
 plowmen and your vinedressers. But ye shall be named 6 
 the priests of the Lord : men shall call you the ministers 
 of our God : ye shall eat the wealth of the nations, and 
 in their glory shall ye boast yourselves. For your shame 7 
 
 that the actual work of building would be executed by foreigners 
 pressed into the service in accordance with Ix. 10. 
 
 5. The word rendered plowmen is properly a more general 
 term, and signifies * tillers ' of the soil. Stade, in his Gesch. des 
 Volkes Israel, ii, p. 86, regards verses 5 foil, as a later insertion 
 * calculated to lower the expectations of the prophet down to the 
 level of the later carnal ambitions for Israel's supremacy in the 
 Messianic kingdom.' Apart from the development of Isaiah 
 criticism and the definite assignment of chaps. Ivi-lxvi (Trito- 
 Isaiah) to a later epoch, Stade's criticism loses all point when it 
 is recognized that this 'lower level of carnal ambitions' may be 
 found in the Deutero-Isaiah (chaps, xl-lv) itself in xHii. 3 f., xlv. 
 14 f., xlix. 22 f. 
 
 6. As contrasted with the foreigners, who discharge the menial 
 duties of manual labour, the Jews shall have priestly offices 
 assigned to them. In place of in their gflory shall ye hoast 
 yourselves, R. V. marg. renders 'to their glor}' shall ye succeed,' 
 and this latter interpretation is adopted by Duhm (' into their 
 glory shall ye pass'), who here follows the Jewish commentators 
 Saadia, Rashi, and the modern expositors Hitzig and Ewald, as 
 well as others '. But this sense appears very hazardous, and the 
 reading adopted by the R.V., which is rendered 'shall ye boast 
 yourselves^,' is preferable. 
 
 7. The LXX appear to have had a very difierent text before 
 
 ^ This is based on the assumption that the Hithpa'el ^-irpinn is 
 derived from yiy = nia as the form TOn = TD^n in Jer.ii. 1 \, meaning 
 ' exchange * (with 2 of the object for which the exchange is made) ; 
 hence to 'change ' in general sense, ' pass ' as Ps. xlvi. 3. 
 
 ^ llDNniji. On the other hand, the ingenious suggestion of 
 Cheyne, ll"=jnnn, based on Prov. xxv. 6 (cf. Isa. Ixiii. i), is worthy of 
 consideration. We might then render, ' Ye shall adorn yourselves 
 with their glory.' LXX davfiaadrjaeaOe might be held to confirm 
 this since Tinn in Lev. xix. 15 is rendered by $avixd(Tus. 
 
294 ISAIAH 61. 8, 9 
 
 ye shall have double ; and for confusion they shall 
 rejoice in their portion : therefore in their land they shall 
 possess double : everlasting joy shall be unto them. 
 
 8 For I the Lord love judgement, I hate robbery with 
 iniquity; and I will give them their recompence in 
 truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. 
 
 9 And their seed shall be known among the nations, and 
 their offspring among the peoples : all that see them 
 
 them, and there are besides many variants. These, as well as 
 internal indications, show that our Hebrew text has been 
 seriously corrupted. The general sense of the passage is fairly 
 clear. It is that inasmuch as the Jews during exile and subse- 
 quently have suffered at the hands of strangers double that 
 which was their due (cf. Jer. xvi. i8), they shall now receive 
 a double compensation in their own land. On the whole, Marti, 
 who adopts one of Klostermann's emendations, gives us the most 
 probable reconstruction of the text\ which may be rendered 
 * Because their shame was in double measure — and contumely 
 and despite (lit. spitting) were their portion.' 
 
 8 expresses the moral ground of Israel's vindication and his 
 double recompense for former ills. In order to give increased 
 weight to this utterance Yahweh is suddenly introduced as the 
 speaker. This alternation between Yahweh and the prophetic 
 speaker is not infrequent in the Trito-Isaiah. Cf. below, Ixii. 6. 
 
 The word 'cJ/a//, ' burnt offering ' (R. V. marg. following A. V.), 
 is an evident misreading of the text adopted by the Vulg. as well 
 as the Jewish expositors Kimhi, Rashi, and Ibn Ezra. The LXX 
 show that the Hebrew characters should be read 'mvlah, ' iniquity,' 
 as the R. V. correctly render the word. Cf. lix. 3. 
 
 Verses 9, ii describe the high place and moral worth of the 
 future Israelite community among the nations of the world, 
 described under the metaphor of a seed which buds forth into 
 luxuriant life. The two verses form an evident sequence inter- 
 rupted by the intrusion of verse 10, which forms a natural con- 
 clusion, not so much of this chapter as of the following. See 
 below. 
 
 9. For acknowledge substitute ' recognize.' The word for 
 offspringf, which again meets us in Ixv. 23, is a favourite expression 
 
 Ci^bn pSi rv<f>y[ nj^rp om'n '3 nnn. Here p^i is merely an 
 echo of 1. 6. With 'everlasting joy' cf. xxxv. 10 (li. 11). 
 
ISAIAH 61. lo 29s 
 
 shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the 
 Lord hath blessed. 
 
 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be 10 
 joyful in my God ; for he hath clothed me with the 
 garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe 
 
 of the Deutero-Isaiah, xlii. 5, xliv. 3. It is doubtful whether it 
 was employed before the exile period. 
 
 10. This verse, with its distinct metaphor of the bride and 
 bridegroom, evidently has a place apart from verses 9 and 11. 
 Its figurative allusion brings it into close relation with verses 
 4 and 5 in chap. Ixii. On the other hand, its rhythmic form is 
 not adapted to that of the short poem, verses 4-9, in the following 
 chapter [kinaJi metre). Accordingly we should prefer to place 
 it after Ixii. 3, or at the close of chapter Ixii, instead of the present 
 one, since the metaphor appears to be reminiscent of verses 4, 5, 
 and is closely connected with verse 3 in that chapter (see notes 
 below). 
 
 Render our Hebrew text : * As the bridegroom sets (on his 
 head) ^ the tiara.' Moreover, the Hebrew word for robe should 
 properly be rendered tunic. On the metl or tunic see Hebrew 
 Antiquiiies, p. 47. Both text and rendering are far from certain. 
 The LXX evidently read the verbal form as a masc. in the 
 second clause as well as the first (viz. ya'deh), making Yahweh 
 the subject of the verb in both, and the object (unexpressed) the 
 first pers. sing. pron. clearly indicated in the beginning of the 
 verse : — 
 
 *As a bridegroom He sets a tiara (on my head) — and as a 
 bride He arrays me with jewels^.' 
 To this text we give the preference. The speaker is obviously 
 the restored Israel or the glorified Zion of the following chapter, 
 and not the prophetic speaker of Ixi. i. The structure of the 
 whole verse is thereby made homogeneous. Duhm correctly 
 observes that in the Massoretic text the two parts of the verse 
 * do not fit specially well together.' 
 
 ^ The R. V. (marg.) ' decketh as a priest ' is based on the 
 traditional Hebrew textj which can hardly be accepted, as the use of 
 the verb is unprecedented. LXX fustify the reading of Bredenkamp 
 and Klostermann, j«cA?7z, which we have adopted. The LXX also 
 render ' tunic of joy ' {sdson, cf. verse 3, or sitnhah, in place of 
 seddkdh). Read also ^y^V', with Bredenkamp and Dillmann, and 
 render by the present * he covers me ' (not ' covered '). 
 
 ^ Reading ni* in place of the inappropriate n^bD. 
 
296 ISAIAH 61. n— 62. 3 
 
 of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with 
 a garland, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. 
 
 II For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the 
 garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring 
 forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and 
 praise to spring forth before all the nations. 
 
 62 For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for 
 
 Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness 
 
 go forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that 
 
 2 burneth. And the nations shall see thy righteousness, 
 
 and all kings thy glory : and thou shalt be called by 
 
 11. The growth of this fair and luxuriant seed of Israel, to 
 which verse g refers, is not one of external splendour only, but of 
 internal and moral growth in righteousness. We seem to hear 
 in this verse the welcome echo of Jer. xxxi. 31 foil. 
 
 Chap. Ixii is obviously connected by its first three verses 
 closely with the preceding. The prophet will not keep silence 
 till the day of Jerusalem's glory arrives. 
 
 1. It has been assumed from early times (Targ., Ibn 'Ezra, and 
 Kimhi), and by many modern expositors, such as Delitzsch and 
 Orelli, that Yahweh is here the speaker, since we read of God's 
 silence and rest in xlii. 14, Ivii. 11, Ixiv. ii, Ixv. 6. But this 
 testimony is far from decisive ; and the assumption that Yahweh 
 is the speaker introduces great confusion into the passage, since 
 he is spoken of repeatedly in the third person (verses 2, 3, 4, 5, 
 6, 8, and 9). The passage only becomes intelligible when we 
 assume that here, as in Ixi. i, the speaker is some prophet and he 
 declares that he will not cease his exhortations to his fellow 
 countrymen and his intercessions with Yahweh (cf. verses 
 6, 7 below and Luke xi. 5-10) till Zion's righteousness, i. e. 
 the victorious vindication of his right (cf, xli. 2, 26, xlv. 13 
 and notes), is made manifest. For lamp substitute ' torch.' 
 Here the conception of 'right' (rendered 'righteousness' 
 in R. V.) involves the idea of the triumphant vindication of 
 ' right ' (see Introduction to Deutero-Isaiah, p. 37). This is 
 clearly shown in the parallel clause, where the word for 'salva- 
 tion' may be more appropriately rendered ' victor3^' 
 
 2. Zion is here addressed. Her coming glory is to be made 
 visible to all the foreign nations and kings, and in consequence 
 she is to be greeted with a new name which Yahweh will bestow. 
 
ISAIAH 62. 3, 4 297 
 
 a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. 
 Thou shall also be a crown of beauty in the hand of 3 
 the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. 
 Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken ; neither shall 4 
 thy land any more be termed Desolate : but thou shalt be 
 called Hephzi-bah, and thy land Beulah : for the Lord 
 
 We have been already made familiar with this conception of 
 special names bestowed on cities, walls, or gates, Ix. 14, 18 (with 
 note). Cf. also Jer. iii. 17, xxxiii. 16 ; Ezek. xlviii. 35, and also 
 Rev. ii. 17. What this new name is to be is not definitely said. 
 From verse 3 we might infer that this brief poem (verses 1-3), if 
 continued, would have contained the name ' Yahweh's crown.' 
 
 3. The idea of this verse may have been borrowed from the 
 beautiful utterance of Isaiah respecting Samaria (xxviii. i). 
 Jerusalem, like Samaria, was a natural fortress, and the walls 
 which crowned the hill suggested the figure of a crown. The 
 tutelary deities of foreign towns were frequently represented as 
 wearing the crown upon the head consisting of city walls. Here 
 the crown is placed in Yahweh's hand. If we connect this with 
 Ixi. 10, in the form in which it is preserved in the LXX, the motive 
 appears fairly evident. The 'bridegroom ' is to be crowned by 
 Yahweh with the ' tiara of proud towers,' a prophecy of the 
 coming achievement of Yahweh's servant Nehemiah. The entire 
 conception was probably suggested in part by the Deutero- 
 Isaianic passages liv. 6, 11, 12. 
 
 Verses 4-9. The preceding short poem is broken off and 
 succeeded by another which is in the familiar long lines of the 
 kinah or elegiac measure consisting of three strophes or stanzas 
 of five lines each (or two verses each of our Hebrew text). The 
 theme is a variation on the preceding verses, but unlike them it 
 draws a contrast between the past and the present of Jerusalem. 
 Deutero-Isaianic motives appear here, as in the rest of this 
 chapter. In this poem we clearly discern the influence of liv. 
 4-8 ; cf xHx. 14-16. 
 
 4. Duhm is fully justified in removing the useless repetition of 
 the phrase any more Ibe termed added by a gloss-writer to the 
 second portion of the opening line. By this removal the elegiac 
 metre is restored :— 
 
 'Thou shalt no more be called " forsaken "—nor thy land 
 •' desolate.'' ' 
 
 The R. V. appropriately substitutes the meanings of the proper 
 names. Hephsibah, * my delight is in her,' and Bfulah^ ' married.' 
 
298 ISAIAH 62. 5-7 
 
 5 delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. For 
 as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry 
 thee : and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, 
 so shall thy God rejoice over thee. 
 
 6 I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem ; 
 they shall never hold their peace day nor night : ye that 
 
 7 are the Lord's remembrancers, take ye no rest, and give 
 him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem 
 
 The relation of Yahweh as husband to the land and its people, 
 familiar to students of the O. T. (cf. especially Hosea i-iii and 
 Ezek. xvi), underlies this passage. 
 
 5. It is quite evident that the Hebrew text and its equivalent 
 in our rendering is due to a corrupted text which destroys both 
 sense and parallehsm. Accordingly we follow Lowth and Koppe 
 in reading : — 
 
 ' For as a young man weds a virgin — so thy Builder ' 
 
 weds thee ; 
 And as bridegroom's joy over bride — so thy God rejoices 
 over thee,' 
 
 The original text may have influenced Ps. cxlvii. 2. The con- 
 ception of Yahweh as builder of Jerusalem refers to the com- 
 munity as well as the city walls; cf. Gen. xvi. 2 (Heb, and R.V. 
 marg.). The ideas of the verse are Deutero-Isaianic ; cf. 1. i, Hi. 
 8, and liv. 4 and notes. 
 
 6-7. The second strophe (verses 6-7) begins with an utterance 
 of Yahweh which ends with the words ' day nor night.' This in- 
 troduction of Yahweh as spokesman without any preliminary words 
 is characteristic of the Trito-Isaiah ; cf. above Ixi, 8. Here the 
 watchmen whom Yahweh appoints are not prophets but celestial 
 ministers who make it their duty to be ' remembrancers ' of the 
 Heavenly Monarch. This office of' remembrancer' existed in the 
 Hebrew court (cf. 2 Kings xviii. iB, 2 Chron. xxxiv. 8) and also 
 in the court of Persian kings. These watchmen or remembrancers 
 are to be persistent in reminding Yahweh of His own promises, 
 an evident allusion to the earlier utterances of the Deutero- Isaiah 
 (xhv. 26, 28, xlix. 16, cf. Zech. i. 16). For * iipoji thy walls ' a more 
 
 ^ Heading ^33 "1!?^?'; vvliich is in reality a restoration of punctuation 
 rather than text. The corruption must have entered into the Hebrew 
 text fairly early, for it underlies the text of the LXX. Cf. xlix. 17. 
 
ISAIAH 62. 8, 9 299 
 
 a praise in the earth. The Lord hath sworn by his 8 
 right hand, and by the arm of his strength, Surely I will 
 no more give thy corn to be meat for thine enemies ; 
 and strangers shall not drink thy wine, for the which 
 thou hast laboured : but they that have garnered it shall 9 
 
 correct rendering would be * of £f thy walls.' The preposition is 
 connected with tlie verbal form (participle) rendered • watchmen ' ; 
 cf. in original Hebrew i Sam. xxvi. 16 ; Prov. vi. 22 ; Job xiv. 16 
 (* watch ' over). The walls were then, as we know, in a ruinous 
 condition (Neh. i. 3, ii. 3). 
 
 It will be observed that the address is here made, in the con- 
 cluding line of verse 6, to the angelic ministers of the heavenly court 
 by the prophetic speaker (cf. Ixi. i). On these angelic members of 
 the celestial retinue see xl. 3 and note. This is of course no more 
 than the conception of Yahweh's martial retinue implied in the 
 old Hebrew designation Sehdoth (cf. Isa. i. 9 and note) ; see i Kings 
 xxii. 19 foil. Probably in the exile, and certainly in the post- 
 exilian period under Persian influence, angelology assumed a 
 highly developed form in Jewish belief. 
 
 Duhm remarks with truth that whereas in the Deutero-Isaiah 
 Yahweh is the eager and enthusiastic agent of Israel's deliverance, 
 and Israel is backward or at least indifferent, in the Trito-Isaiah 
 the converse is the case, for Yahweh's attitude towards Israel is one 
 of reserve. 
 
 8. But it cannot be described as one of indifference, for He has 
 sworn by His mighty arm to assist Israel against his foes. The 
 latter are no longer to live on the produce of the country, the corn 
 and wine, but the Jewish cultivators of the land shall enjoy the 
 produce of their toil. This verse clearly presupposes the residence 
 of the Jew not in the Babylonian land of exile, but in his Pales- 
 tinian home, which becomes the prey of the invader (cf. i. 7). Who 
 are the foes ? Hardly the Persians, for the attitude neither of the 
 prophets of Yahweh (Deutero- and Trito-Isaiah) nor of Nehemiah 
 was ever hostile to the Persian power, nor have we any evidence 
 that Persia oppressed Israel at this period. There is more proba- 
 bility in the supposition that the enemies and strangers 
 (foreigners) refer to the hostile and largely foreign Samaritan 
 population (cf. Ixvi. 5 and note ; compare the closely analogous 
 passage to this Ixv. 22). More probable still is the hypothesis 
 that the Edomites are here referred to whose invasion of Judaea 
 since 597 b. c. was a bitter memory to the Jew (see notes on Isa. 
 xxxiv, vol. i, p. 344). Mai. i. 2-5 affords a strong presumption in 
 favour of this view. 
 
 9. The same conception developed. The produce of the field 
 
30.0 ISAIAH 62. 10, II 
 
 eat it, and praise the Lord ; and they that have gathered 
 it shall drink it in the courts of my sanctuary. 
 
 10 Go through, go through the gates ; prepare ye the way 
 of the people ; cast up, cast up the high way ; gather 
 
 11 out the stones; lift up an ensign for the peoples. Behold, 
 the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the earth, 
 Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation 
 cometh ; behold, his reward is with him, and his recom- 
 
 is offered in the sanctuary and eaten in its precincts, and not in 
 the home of the worshipper, in accordance with Deut. xii. 17, 18. 
 This clearly shows that residence in the Palestinian homeland, 
 where the temple was erected, is presupposed in this chapter. 
 
 10. Go through the gates. According to Dillmann the gates 
 of Babylon are meant, and the prophetic words are addressed to 
 the exiles who were still living in Babylonia. The subsequent 
 clauses then follow in natural order. A highway is cast up for 
 the caravan of exiles who have passed out of Babylon to cross 
 over to the homeland. 
 
 On the other hand, this involves a sudden change of the inise en 
 scene from Jerusalem to Babylonia, which would be more probable 
 in the Deutero-Isaiah than under the presuppositions of this 
 chapter, where the scene is definitely laid in Jerusalem and the 
 homeland. In the preceding verse reference is definitely made 
 to the temple in Jerusalem. Accordingly most recent critics assume 
 that the gates are those of the Jerusalem temple into which the 
 returning exiles are to enter. This, however, involves us in a 
 very awkward inversion of the actual order of ideas. For the 
 casting up of the highway for the exiles should mturaUy precede 
 and not follow the entrance within the temple-gates. On these 
 grounds we regard the opinion of Dillmann as the more probable, 
 and this view is confirmed by the following considerations. 
 (a) Though verses 10 foil, are also of the same Kinah or elegiac 
 metre as verses 4-9, they are no longer arranged in five-lined 
 strophes. (6) From the singular fern, of the address to Zion we 
 pass to the masc. plur. of the address to the Jewish people. 
 (c) The writer is evidently thinking of the further bands of exiles 
 who were to reinforce their predecessors of earlier post-exilian 
 times, and who, as we learn from Ezra viii, entered Jerusalem 
 in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. This verse is most obviously 
 based on Deutero-Isaianic phrases ; cf. xl. 3, xlix. 22. No reference, 
 however, is made to the desert. This trait is omitted as in 
 Ivii. 14. 
 
ISAIAH 62. .2—63. i 301 
 
 pence before him. And they shall call them The holy 12 
 people, The redeemed of the Lord : and thou shalt be 
 called Sought out^ A city not forsaken. 
 
 Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed gar- 63 
 
 12. We have once more new names bestowed on Zion, evidently 
 suggested by the closely analogous names of Hos. ii. i (3 Heb.) ; 
 cf. i. 6, 9. Note that they are distinct from the new ones of verse 
 4 above, being the reverse of the old (cf. Hos. i. 6-9, ii. 19-22). 
 
 Chapter LXIII. 
 
 Verses 1-6 may be regarded as a dramatic poem denouncing 
 a Divine judgment of vengeance on Edom. The writer, in a highly 
 pictorial description, represents Yahweh as a warrior dripping 
 with blood as He arrives from the battle-fields of Edom, and 
 declaring that He alone, without any other to aid Him, has been 
 engaged in a day of vengeance, and has trodden down and 
 mangled his foes in slaughter, since it is the year of deliverance 
 for His people. 
 
 There are interesting points of contact between this section and 
 other portions of the Trito-Isaiah to which Cheyne in his 
 Introduction to Isaiah, p. 348, calls attention. Of these the most 
 remarkable is verse 5 with its close verbal parallel in lix. 16. 
 Moreover, '■ the day of vengeance' in verse 4 is repeated in xxxiv. 
 8. In chapter xxxiv, which is a denunciation of doom against 
 Edom, we have a striking analogy to the present chapter (see 
 vol. i, p. 341 f.). Lastly, the same expression occurs in Ixi. 2 (cf. 
 Ixii. 8 and note). 
 
 We are so imperfectly informed respecting the external relations 
 of Judah during this period to the nations that surrounded 
 Palestine, and our knowledge respecting Edom in particular is so 
 scanty, that it is impossible to make any definite assertion 
 respecting the date of this oracle. The following considerations, 
 however, may guide us to a conclusion : — (a) Isa. xxxiv is more 
 elaborate in character and style than the present brief dramatic 
 poem, and its apocalyptic features (note especially xxxiv. 3-10 
 and the reference to the ' book of Yahweh ' in verse 16) point to 
 some later date ; and it is therefore reasonable to suppose that 
 we have in verse 8, and also in verse 2 (where God's wrath is 
 directed against all nations, cf. Ixiii. 6), traits that are borrowed 
 from this dramatic poem. (Jb) It is impossible to dissociate this 
 poem from Mai. i. 2-5. In the latter Edom is described as 
 recovering from his past humiliations and re-erecting his kingdom, 
 which God threatens with destruction. This recovery of Edomite 
 power we might connect, as Enno Littmann suggests in his 
 
302 ISAIAH 63. i 
 
 ments from Bozrah ? this that is glorious in his apparel, 
 
 useful monograph^, with an aggressive movement into the Negebh, 
 which would be sure to call forth the wrath of the Jew and his 
 thirst for vengeance so powerfully reflected in this poem. Duhm, 
 it is true, holds that at this time only the Samaritan community 
 can be regarded as the real enemies of Yahweh, and that the 
 Edomites in their humiliated and chastised condition can hardly 
 be taken into account. But this is an extreme and very one-sided 
 conclusion to derive from Mai. i. 2-5, due in large measure to the 
 views which Duhm has adopted from Lagarde and which will be 
 detailed below. Littmann ingeniously suggests that the ally whom 
 Yahweh seeks against Edom (see verse 5) is a covert allusion to 
 Artaxerxes. ' Formerly Yahweh had found a helper in Cyrus, 
 but no such help was to be found in the present king of Persia.' 
 Whether the overthrow of the Edomites, to which this short poem 
 refers, is to be connected with the war of the Nabataeans with 
 Edom about 460 b. c, cannot be confidently asserted. Consequently 
 we cannot assign to this poem the date 458 with the same 
 confidence as Littmann in his monograph. It seems, however, to 
 be fairly probable that the writer of lix. 15 foil. , i. e. the Trito-Isaiah, 
 was also the writer of this oracle. 
 
 Lagarde has raised an entirely new issue by his proposed 
 emendations which Duhm and Marti have adopted. These 
 textual alterations have the effect of ehminating all reference to 
 Edom from the passage. It becomes after this literary manipula- 
 tion a denunciation of Divine vengeance against the enemies of 
 Israel in general. But against this view there are two, if not 
 more, very serious objections : — {a) The parallel passage, Isa. 
 xxxiv, dealing with Edom clearly suggests by its close analogy 
 an intimate connexion with the present poem. Cheyne's argu- 
 ment, therefore, in his Introduction has some weight that if 
 Duhm admits the manipulation of the text in this passage 
 whereby Edom is eliminated, a corresponding manipulation should 
 be effected in chap, xxxiv. This, however, Duhm does not 
 venture to attempt, {b) Both Gressmann and Littmann have 
 pointed out that we have the characteristic punning of prophecy 
 in the ^\a.y o[ oddm, 'red,' and Edom, which also meets us in the 
 patriarchal story (Gen. xxv. 30). We should also have it in 
 Bosrah, one of the towns of Edom, and baser, ' grape-gatherer,' 
 if the latter were read in place of the former. Consequently, 
 if we banish Edom from the text, these characteristic alliterations 
 vanish likewise. All who are acquainted with Hebrew literature 
 will hold that this consideration does not tend to heighten the 
 probability of the view held by Duhm and Marti respecting this 
 
 * Ueber die Abfassttngszeit des Tritojesaia, p. 35. 
 
ISAIAH 63. 2 303 
 
 marching in the greatness of his strength ? I that speak 
 in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou 2 
 red in thine apparel, and thy garments hke him that 
 
 passage, (c) The historic groundwork of such a vengeance on 
 Edom is patent to any student of O.T. literature from the Book 
 of Genesis onwards ; see the introductory notes to chap, xxxiv. 
 
 1. Here, as Cheyne remarks, we have a dramatic scene, as in 
 Ps. xxiv. 7-10. The chorus sees a mighty heroic warrior-form 
 marching from Bosrah (cf. xxxiv. 6 foil.). There is a dialogue 
 between the chorus-leader and Yahvveh ^ Duhm and Marti 
 follow Lagarde's emendation and render the opening line of the 
 verse : — 
 
 * Who is this that cometh stained red— glowing deeper red 
 in garments than a grape-gatherer ^' 
 
 The parallelism of the opening line is not certainly improved 
 by this process. Nor is the emended line true to fact or to the 
 images suggested by the rest of the poem. For it is not so much 
 the grape-gatherer who becomes stained with the grape-juice as 
 the treader of grapes. Moreover, the rest of the poem speaks 
 of the treader of grapes {dorech) and not the grape-gatherer 
 {boser). Cf. verses 3 and 6. 
 
 the word marcMngr (or more precisely 'stepping') is the 
 rendering of the Hebrew word so'ed substituted for the word 
 so eh of our Hebrew traditional text, i. e. 'bending' or ^bent' 
 (in Isa. li. 14, employed of an exile bent under the weight of 
 chains), obviously unsuitable for a victorious warrior. The 
 Vulgate gradiens sustains the proposed emendation ^ 
 
 2. Our Massoretic text evidently implies adorn as a subst. 
 = ' redness.' But it is extremely doubtful whether the word is 
 ever used in Hebrew as anything else than an adjective. Accord- 
 ingly, we prefer to render (with LXX) : — 
 
 * This is exhibited in the rendering appended below. 
 
 ^ Instead of DiiJ«?p 'from Edom/ Lagarde, Duhm, and Marti 
 readD^j^p, used in Nah. ii. 4, meaning ^stained red.' As Edom is 
 thus eliminated in one clause, it is necessary to operate on Bosrah in 
 the other. Hence the proposed change to l^^n, ' than a grape- 
 gatherer.' Bosrah (Bozrah) was the ancient capital of Edom, the 
 modern Busair'e (see Badeker, Paldstina^, p. 153). Wetzstein in 
 Delitzsch's Isaiah ^, p. 704, identifies it with Petra. 
 
 ^ It is to be noted that the LXX omit the word in question in 
 their rendering. 
 
304 ISAIAH 62. 3-5 
 
 3 treadeth in the winefat ? I have trodden the winepress 
 alone ; and of the peoples there was no man with me : 
 yea, I trod them in mine anger, and trampled them in 
 my fury ; and their lifeblood is sprinkled upon my gar- 
 
 4 ments, and I have stained all my raiment. For the day 
 of vengeance was in mine heart, and the year of my 
 
 5 redeemed is come. And I looked, and there was none 
 
 ' Wherefore is thine apparel ^ red— and thy garments as of 
 one that treads the wine-press ? ' 
 Respecting the wine-press, see note on Isa. v. 2. Winefat in 
 R. V. should be ' wine-press.' 
 
 3. The last line should be rendered : — 
 
 ' And their juice besprinkled my garments — and all my 
 raiment I sullied.' 
 
 The word for 'juice,' nesah, occurs here only. The translation 
 ' life-blood' is hardly warranted, though that is the thing symbol- 
 ized. The LXX in their rendering here diverge considerably 
 from our traditional Hebrew text, probably with the design of 
 avoiding the strong anthropomorphisms. 
 
 Verses 4-6. The overthrow of Edom is regarded as only the 
 beginning of Yahweh's day of vengeance on the nations — none 
 of whom have come to aid in Edom's overthrow. Persia is 
 included, though the name is not mentioned. Cf. xxxiv. 2. 
 
 4. The rendering ' redemption ' (so LXX) should be substituted 
 for redeemed. While the latter is possible and is adopted by 
 Duhm, the former, being an abstract, stands in closer parallelism 
 with the corresponding abstract ' vengeance ' of the preceding 
 clause^. Here we note that the conception of redemption has 
 hardened in the interval since the days of the Deutero- Isaiah, 
 when it signified the deliverance from exile. Here the reference 
 is to the victory whereby the Palestinian Jews were to achieve 
 their conquest as well as compensation for former injuries over 
 their neighbouring foes. For was (in my heart) substitute *is' 
 with R. V. margin. The prophet means that Yahweh had in His 
 mind foreordained this special time of retribution on Edom and 
 other races. Cf. the close parallel in xxxiv. 8. 
 
 5. The emphatic words in this verse are best exhibited by the 
 
 ' The preposition in I'^i^bb should be deleted as due to dittography. 
 
 "^ Abstracts in Hebrew (as 'life,' 'darkness,' &c.) are frequently 
 expressed by plural forms. See Gesenius-Kautzsch, Heb. Gram. , 
 § 124. I. 
 
ISAIAH 63. 6, 7 305; 
 
 to help ; and I wondered that there was none to uphold : 
 therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me ; and 
 my fury, it upheld me. And I trod down the peoples 6 
 in mine anger, and made them drunk in my fury, and 
 I poured out their lifeblood on the earth. 
 
 [I will make mention of the lovingkindnesses of the 7 
 
 rendering : ' But 'twas my arm that helped me and my wrath 
 that sustained me.' 
 
 6. This repetition of idea as well as phraseology in verse 3 is 
 somewhat characteristic of the Trito-Isaiah ; cf. Ix. 19, 20, Ixii. 
 4. For made them drunk substitute R. V. marg. , ' brake them 
 in pieces ^' 
 
 The dramatic character of this brief poem is best shown by its 
 reproduction in the following dialogue form : — 
 
 Chorus. <Who is this that cometh from Edom— stained 
 
 glowing red from Bozrah, 
 This one stately in his apparel — stepping in the 
 
 fulness of his might ? ' 
 Yahweh. * ' Tis I who pronounce in the cause of right — mighty 
 
 to help.' 
 Chorus. ' Wherefore is thine apparel red — and thy garments 
 
 as of one that treads the wine-press ? ' 
 Yahweh. * The wine-press have I trodden alone — and of the 
 
 nations no one was with me. 
 So I trod them in my wrath, and trampled them in 
 
 my hot anger. . .' 
 
 (The utterance of Yahweh continues to the end of 
 verse 6, which closes with the incomplete line : 
 
 * And I spilled their juice on the ground . . .') 
 
 Chapter LXIII. 7— LXIV 12 (11 Heb.). 
 
 This passage is of a very different character from the preceding. 
 It is a sustained appeal to Yahweh on the people's behalf to fulfil 
 His earlier promises of love to Israel. Cheyne (In f rod. to Isaiah, 
 p. 349) calls it ' a liturgical thanksgiving, confession of sin and 
 supplication.' It commences by commemorating God's deeds of 
 mercy and love to His people shown in His personal sympathy 
 and preserving care (verses 7-9). They rebelled, however, against 
 
 ^ The slight variant of Targ. and some MSS. om'«;, 'and I broke 
 them in pieces/ instead of ' 1 made them drunk ' (see R. V. marg.), 
 sustains the parallelism and is advocated by nearly all commentators. 
 
 X 
 
3o6 ISAIAH 63. 7 
 
 Lord, and the praises of the Lord, according to all that 
 the Lord hath bestowed on us ; and the great goodness 
 
 Him, and this conduct provoked a change in God's demeanour to His 
 people, which now became one of hostility. This change, however, 
 in God's attitude brought back to the recollection of His people the 
 great events of Israels deliverance from Egypt under Moses and 
 the crossing of the Red Sea (10-14). Commemoration of God's 
 dealings in the past passes into entreaty that He would look down 
 in compassion on Israel's present state, when the sanctuary has 
 been trodden down by their adversaries (15-19). There succeeds 
 an agonized cry that God would intervene with His mighty power 
 as He did in the past (Ixiv. 1-5). A confession of sin, unclean- 
 ness, and weakness follows as well as an acknowledgment of God's 
 supremacy and an appeal to stay His wrath in view of the abject 
 condition of His people. Jerusalem and its temple are in a state of 
 desolation (cf. Ixiii. 18 with Ixiv. 10, 11 (9, 10 Heb.)). 
 
 This section is characterized by considerable vividness and 
 power, but it is encumbered with serious problems textual and 
 critical as well as metric. With reference to metre Budde in 
 ZATJV,, vol. xi (1891), p. 241 foil., had pointed out that Ixiii. 7-12 
 (first part) revealed the familiar elegiac (Kinah) measure, though 
 omissions such as ' toward the house of Israel ' in verse 7 are 
 necessary in order to maintain the due metrical length. Some of 
 these modifications are supported by the LXX. But when Duhm, 
 who adopts Budde's view, extends this metre to the close of verse 
 16 such drastic modifications (including the addition of two half- 
 lines) are adopted that Kittel is fully justified in regarding the 
 attempt as very questionable. Marti confesses that it is impos- 
 sible to make Ixiii. 15 foil, conform to the same verse-measure as the 
 preceding verses Ixiii. 7-14. Duhm, on the basis of metre, divides 
 the entire section into two parts, viz. Ixiii. 7-16 of five strophes 
 in the elegiac measure of five long lines each and Ixiii. 17— Ixiv. 12. 
 But Ixiii. 17 — Ixiv. 12 (i i Heb.) are in a quite different measure, con- 
 sisting of the ordinary double lines, yet closely connected with the 
 preceding part and evidently contemplating the same set of unto- 
 ward circumstances. This is clearly seen when we compare the 
 retrospective glance in Ixiii. 11-14 with Ixiv. 3, 4 (2, 3 Heb.), and 
 Ixiii. 8 with Ixiv. 8 (7 Heb.) as well as Ixiii. 10 with Ixiv. 6 (5 Heb.). 
 In both parts the tone of feeling towards the past and the present 
 is the same. 
 
 It is the historic situation revealed in Ixiii. 18 and Ixiv. 10, 11 
 (9, 10 Heb.), which depict the temple of Jerusalem as in ruins and 
 burned with fire, that has occasioned the widest diversity of opinion 
 among critics. We have, fortunately, owing to the brilliant re- 
 storation of text by Marti in the beginning of Ixiii. 18, no longer 
 
ISAIAH 63. 7 307 
 
 toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on 
 
 any need to occupy ourselves with the utterly baffling phrase in 
 the original rendered, ' My holy people possessed it but a little 
 while' (R. v.), of which various other interpretations have been 
 given. See note on the passage below. 
 
 Duhm, who contends that the entire collection of oracles 
 Ivi-lxvi belongs to the years that immediately precede the advent 
 of Nehemiah, finds no difficulty in assigning the present section 
 to the same period. The foes are the Samaritans who have 
 wrought this destruction of the sanctuary. But neither in the 
 books of Ezra and Nehemiah, nor in the oracles of Malachi, nor 
 in the other sections of the Trito-Isaiah, have we the slightest 
 warrant for assuming that such an event occurred between the 
 years 460 and 445 b. c. 
 
 The destruction of the temple, to which reference is made, 
 must have taken place after or before this interval. Cheyne 
 would place it in the reign of the tyrannical Artaxerxes Ochus, 
 359-338 B. c, but Josephus, Anttq. xi. 7, § i, to which we are 
 referred, gives no support to this view. If we are to find such 
 an event in post-exilian times, it might rather be identified with 
 the destruction of the city by Ptolemy Soter, 320 b. c. ', but 
 our knowledge of this period of Jewish History is far too pre- 
 carious, and the link which connects it with Pss. Ixxiv or Ixxix 
 is as hypothetical as that which connects it with the present 
 passage. On the other hand, Sellin would assign this devastation 
 of Jerusalem and its temple to the period 515-500 b. c, i.e. after 
 the erection of the temple by Zerubbabel. But for this we have 
 absolutely no warrant. Indeed the motive for this assumption is 
 that it affords a foundation for Sellings identification of Zerubbabel 
 with the ' Servant ' of Deutero-Isaiah, whose disappearance from 
 the scene of history after the time of the prophef^Zechariah is 
 supposed to be due to this very catastrophe, which completed 
 the ruin of the Messianic hopes connected with this descendant of 
 David. 
 
 On the whole, the theory of Gressmann and Littmann - has most 
 in its favour. It assigns the composition of this passage to the 
 period 538-520 which immediately followed the return of the 
 exiles, when, in the words of Haggai, God's 'house was lying 
 waste ' (i. 4, 9), and the returned exiles were suffering from 
 
 ' Appian Syr. 50, cited by G. A. Smith, art. * Jerusalem ' in Enc, 
 Bibl., col. 2,426. 
 
 ^ See Gressmann, Ueberdie in yesaia, c. Ivi-lxvi, vorausgesetzten 
 zeitgeschichtlichen Verhaltnisse (1S98), pp. 21-23 ; Enno Littmann, 
 Ueber die Abfassungszeit des Trito-Jesaia (1S99), pp. 36-39- 
 X 2 
 
3o8 ISAIAH 63. 7 
 
 them according to his mercies, and according to the 
 
 drought and the bitter disappointment of their ardent hopes. Ixiii. 
 18, as restored by Marti's reconstruction, and Ixiv. 10, 11 (9, 10 
 Heb.) will then naturally refer to the condition of the city and 
 temple as it had remained since the destruction wrought by 
 Nebuchadrezzar in 586 b. c. Accordingly this section must be 
 separated from the rest of the Trito- Isaiah, which belongs to a 
 much later date. And this view as to the date of this section iii 
 strongly confirmed by the close similarity in the tone of the 
 retrospect in ixiii. 10, Ixiv. 4, 6 with that of Zech. vii. n-13, 
 viii. 10, 13, 14. With the 'holy and beautiful house,' Ixiv. 11 
 (10 Heb.), cf. 'the holy mountain,' Zech. viii. 3; and with the 
 'grea-t zeal of Yahweh for Zion' in Zech. viii. 2 cf. 'Thy zeal 
 and deeds of prowess,' for which the writer yearns in Ixiii. 15. 
 It is evident that the Zechariah passage (see especially Zech. viii. 
 3-17) was composed a few years later when the clouds had 
 rolled away and the temple rebuilt by Zerubbabel seemed to be 
 the harbinger of a new era. 
 
 Despite the adverse criticism of Marti in his commentary 
 (p. 400) the facts of language collected by Littjnann in his 
 monograph (p. 39) sustain the view which is here advocated. More- 
 over this conclusion gives some support to the contention that the 
 foundation of the temple in the days of Cyrus, to which Ezra iii 
 refers, did not take place in reality till the time of Darius Hystaspis, 
 to which the oracles of Haggai and Zechariah assign this event, 
 a view which has been recently advocated by Rothstein in his 
 monograph Juden nnd Samaritaner, pp. 15 f., 20. 
 
 Marti's own solution of the problem is to regard Ixiv. 10-12 
 (9-n Heb.) as well as Ixiii. 15 foil, as a later addition added to 
 the poem in the early days of the Maccabees, when the Temple 
 was at least partially burnt and the land devastated (i Mace. iv. 
 38), while the rest of the poem he would assign to the same 
 period as the Trito- Isaiah generally, i. e. the middle of the fifth 
 century before Nehemiah's advent. Such a proceeding appears 
 to us artificial and arbitrar3' ; Ixiv. 10-12 (9-11 Heb.) form a 
 natural climax to verses 6-9 (5-8 Heb.). It would even be 
 better to follow the extreme course of Grotius and Houbigant, 
 who assigned the entire section to the early days of the 
 Maccabaean persecution. 
 
 7-14. Retrospect over Yahweh^ s past dealings with His people: 
 7. The speaker is the poet as one of the people seeking relief 
 
 from the depression of the present outlook by recalUng God's 
 
 deeds of mercy in the olden time *. 
 
 * Duhm omits the clause (with Budde) ' toward the house of 
 
ISAIAH G3. 8, 9 309 
 
 multitude of his lovingkindnesses. For he said, Surely, 8 
 they are my people, children that will not deal falsely : 
 so he was their saviour. In all their affliction he was 9 
 afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them : in 
 his love and in his pity he redeemed them ; and he bare 
 
 8. Instead of for he said render * and said.' The clause is 
 simply a continuation of the preceding ' hath bestowed, &c.' 
 
 9. A striking reminiscence of Exod. xxiii. 20-23 (E), cf. xxxiii. 
 14 (J) especially when the text is divested of what appears to be 
 corruption by dittography. As the text stands before us with its 
 Massoretic punctuation and appended note we are confronted by 
 two traditions. The written text {Kethib) may be rendered (see 
 R. V. marg.) : ' In all their adversity he was no adversary.' The 
 passage was not, however, so understood in the Jewish synagogue 
 {Kre), and it is to this tradition the rendering in A. V. and R. V, 
 given above is due. The Hebrew negative 16 is here, as elsewhere 
 (cf. ix. 2 Heb. and xlix. 5, &c.), taken as a preposition with its 
 pronominal affix ( = ' to him'). This, followed by the impersonal 
 verb, means ' he was afflicted.' Commentators are divided be- 
 tween these two interpretations. Ibn 'Ezra, Luther, Ewald, 
 Hitzig, and Delitzsch adhered to the former. Targum and 
 Jerome, followed by Rashi and mainly by Gesenius, adhered to 
 the latter ^ What we hold to have been the original text with its 
 rendering is given below (footnote). It is hardly surprising that the 
 
 Israel ' on metric grounds. He also follows the LXX in omitting 
 the copula before rab, which he regards as an adjective, an epithet of 
 Yahweh, ' Yahweh great in goodness.' The LXX ('good judge') 
 punctuate aiTO i"! instead of our iiTO yy. LXX read and render 
 ' bestowed on us ' in both places in this verse (so Duhm) ; ' bestowed 
 on them ' presupposes the clause * toward the house of Israel ' con- 
 tained also in the LXX. 
 
 ^ Duhm and Cheyne follow the hint of the LXX and read "i? ( = T^) 
 in place of "i^j and render * Not a messenger or angel — 'twas His 
 Presence that saved them.' Now the LXX connected the beginning 
 of this verse with the end of the preceding S . . . ' he became to them 
 a deliverer, g, from all affliction. Not messenger nor angel, but the 
 Lord Himself saved them.' But close inspection of the Hebrew text 
 reveals the presence of dittography and corruption. Parallelism is 
 simplified by restoring the text cy^^'irr v:0 "j^bo nyrbyo. * From all 
 afflictions the angel of His Presence saved them ; in loving and 
 sparing them He redeemed them.' 
 
3IO ISAIAH 63. lo, n 
 
 lo them, and carried them all the days of old. But they re- 
 belled, and grieved his holy spirit : therefore he was 
 turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against 
 
 Ti them. Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, aitd 
 his people, sayifig^ Where is he that brought them up out 
 of the sea with the shepherds of his flock ? where is he 
 
 leaders of the Jewish synagogue, guided by a spiritual instinct, 
 were led to deviate from their text into the expression of a 
 beautiful evangelical truth near to the heart of Christianity. 
 
 10. yet they (of all people in the world), whom Yahweh in his 
 love and compassion had saved, rebelled against Him. The 
 pronoun is here emphatic, as in chap. i. 2. God's holy spirit 
 became thereby embittered and transformed into an attitude of 
 hostility. On this passage the apostolic admonition is based (Eph. 
 iv. 30). Cheyne calls attention {Introd. p. 352) to the beginnings 
 of a tendency revealed in this verse to hypostatize God's Holy 
 Spirit, parallel to that of His Presence in the preceding verse. 
 
 11. The words Moses and his people, which are found in our 
 Hebrew text, have no place in that of the LXX. This would seem 
 to imply that there was a gap in the line which our Hebrew text has 
 filled up. Cheyne notes the parallel to Deut. xxxii. 7, and would 
 regard this as a reminiscence of that passage. We might therefore 
 restore thus : — 
 
 'Then [Israel] remembered the days of old — [the years of 
 
 past ages, saying:] ' 
 
 This is, however, only ingenious conjecture. But it probably 
 
 comes nearer to the original than the traditional Hebrew text. It is 
 
 safer to continue the rendering of our Hebrew text (with a slight 
 
 modification which the LXX suggest) : — 
 
 ' Where is he that brought up from the sea the shepherd of 
 
 His fiock ; 
 Where is He who put within him His holy spirit* ? ' 
 That the shepherd of Yahweh's flock was Moses is quite obvious, 
 and there was no need for the gloss- writer to anticipate the name 
 
 * The Massoretic note which reads ' shepherds ' of His flock, in 
 order to give, presumably, some due place to Aaron, is a curious 
 refinement. Nor is it easy to see why the singular masc. pron. 
 suffix of the original of ' within him ' (lit. * in his midst,' cf. Ps. li. 10 
 [Heb. 12]) should be referred by the LXX and all who follow them 
 to the ' flock ' or people, on the basis of Num. xi. 17, which is quite 
 as good evidence for the interpretation here adopted. 
 
ISAIAH 63. 12-15 311 
 
 that put his holy spirit in the midst of them ? that caused 12 
 his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses ? that 
 divided the water before them, to make himself an ever- 
 lasting name? that led them through the depths, as an 13 
 horse in the wilderness, that they stumbled not? As the 14 
 cattle that go down into the valley, the spirit of the Lord 
 caused them to rest : so didst thou lead thy people, to 
 make thyself a glorious name. Look down from heaven, 1 5 
 
 in the clause with which he filled up the lacuna in the first line of 
 this verse. The sea here obviously refers to the Red Sea. The 
 events portrayed in Exod. xiv (J, E) were evidently before the 
 writer's mind. This interpretation appears fairly clear. Yahweh's 
 power is here described as bringing Moses, the leader of Israel's 
 host (shepherd of Yahweh's flock), out of the perils of the Red 
 Sea on the eventful night of the Exodus. There is no need to 
 resort to the story of the ark of bulrushes, and to interpret the 
 ' sea' as referring to the Nile (as in xviii. 2, xix. 5 ; cf. Nah. iii. 8) 
 with Duhm and Marti. 
 
 12-13 continue in the form of interrogation the reference to 
 the wonderful deliverance on the night of the Exodus. The Israel- 
 ite host were as secure amid the water-depths of the Red Sea as 
 a horse that makes its way over the wilderness. Instead of tliat 
 they stumbled not render more idiomatically ' without stumbling.' 
 A comparison with Exod. xiv. 22 makes it exceedingly probable, 
 when other points of coincidence with Exod. xiv are taken into 
 consideration, that the writer of this section was well acquainted 
 with the J, E narratives of the Pentateuch. 
 
 14. By valley here is meant in the original a broad open valley. 
 For caused them to rest the LXX and other ancient versions 
 render ' guided them ^.' This is based on a slightly different text 
 (or rather pronunciation), which most recent scholars (Ewald, 
 Oort, Klostermann and Duhm) accept. Kittel and Marti hesitate. 
 
 Verses 15 — Ixiv. 12 (11 Heb.) Agonized appeal to Yahweh for 
 mercy and help in the present distress, together with confession of sin. 
 
 According to Duhm verses 15, 16 form the last strophe of the 
 elegiac series. But the new note of appeal to God, as contrasted 
 with the preceding note of praise and the retrospect of Yahweh's 
 mighty deeds of deliverance (cf. verse 7), clearly begins with verse 
 15 and continues to the close of chap. Ixiv. The opening phrase 
 
 * Readin* ^isnon instead of I2n']n of our text. 
 
312 ISAIAH 63. i6, 17 
 
 and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy 
 glory : where is thy zeal and thy mighty acts ? the yearn- 
 ing of thy bowels and thy compassions are restrained 
 
 16 toward me. For thou art our father, though Abraham 
 knoweth us not, and Israel doth not acknowledge us : 
 thou, O Lord, art our father ; our redeemer from ever- 
 
 1 7 lasting is thy name. O Lord, why dost thou make us to 
 err from thy ways, and hardenest our heart from thy fear? 
 
 of Ixiii. 15 finds its echo in Ixiv. 9 (8 Heb.). The appeal, how- 
 ever, is evidently grounded on the retrospect of the preceding 
 verses. 
 
 15 accordingly appeals to old memories of the past dealings 
 of Yahweh, when the poet asks : — 
 
 'Where is thy zeal and thy prowess — the tumult of thy 
 compassions ' ? (lit. thy bowels). 
 
 The interrogative form of the appeal is the same as in verse 
 14 above, and it meets us again in another form in verses 17 and 
 18. In the last line the LXX indicate that we ought to read 
 ' thy pity that withheld itself toward us,' which is certainly more 
 probable in view of the ist person plur. in the verse which 
 immediately follows *. 
 
 16. This reference to Abraham is characteristic of exilian and 
 post-exilian prophecy ; comp. li. 2. 
 
 17. A somewhat strange note is here sounded. Moral causation 
 is carried back a step farther than usual. Affliction is explained 
 as God's disciplinary chastisement for sin. But sin is here itself 
 ascribed to God's agency, as in the case of Pharaoh's obstinate 
 refusal to comply with God's command (Exod. vii. 3). Elsewhere 
 it is occasionally ascribed to a supernatural personal agency 
 opposed to God (Gen. iii), but this is more especially true of later 
 post-exilian literature (see art. ' Satan ' in Hastings' DB.). Comp. 
 2 Sam. xxiv. r with i Chron. xxi. i. 
 
 from thy fear should give place to the more idiomatic 
 rendering ' so as not to fear thee.' For this idiomatic use of the 
 Hebrew preposition ' from ' (jin'n) the student of Hebrew is referred 
 
 * Duhm, Cheyne, and Marti would go further and read the Heb. 
 characters bw as a negative instead of a preposition. Duhm would 
 read ipa«n» ^«, i.e. Met not thy pity be restrained' (lit. restrain 
 itself), " " 
 
ISAIAH 63. 18—64. 2 313 
 
 Return for thy servants' sake, the tribes of thine inherit- 
 ance. Thy holy people possessed it but a little while: '^ 
 our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary. We 19 
 are become as they over whom thou never barest rule; as 
 they that were not called by thy name. Oh that thou 64 
 wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, 
 that the mountains might flow down at thy presence ; as 2 
 
 to Gesen.-Kautzsch, Heh. Gra%n?^ § 119. 3^', cf. Isa. v. 6, xxiii. 
 19, xlix. 15, liv. 9. 
 
 18. The first clause of this verse has been an insoluble enigma 
 to the critics, and various explanations have been attempted. The 
 chief difficulty has arisen through the opening word in the original 
 rendered above in R. V. 'a little while.' Obviously the phrase is 
 inadequate to designate the entire period that elapsed from the 
 foundation of Solomon's temple to its destruction in 586. On the 
 other hand, any historic evidence for the destruction of the temple 
 of Zerubbabel within a short time of its erection is, as we have 
 shown, altogether lacking. A very ingenious restoration of the 
 original text, which bears all the marks of an actual recovery of 
 the real words, has relieved the passage of all difficulty. Render, 
 'Why have wicked ones done despite to thy holy place ^.' This 
 not only restores the parallelism of the verse, but gives an open- 
 ing to this verse similar to that which precedes in verse 17. 
 
 19. So great have been the humiliations from which Israel has 
 suffered, that one might argue that Yahweh no longer ruled over 
 them and Israel had lost the rights and privileges of being His 
 subjects. 
 
 Chapter LXIV. 
 
 1. From the heart-breaking utterance of the preceding verse, 
 that Yahweh appeared to have long severed all connexion with 
 Israel, the transition is easy to the agonized cry that this severance 
 of long standing between Yahweh and His people might have 
 ended, and that God might have broken through the silent adaman- 
 tine vault of heaven within which He had so long withdrawn 
 Himself. 
 
 flow down or ^melt ' is the interpretation of the LXX, followed 
 by the Vulgate, but the punctuators of our Hebrew text coincide 
 
 ^ ^'"'i? 07^'") ^">?? '^''il' The use of the Pi el form of the verb, 
 which is not found in pre-exilian Hebrew, is to be regarded as an 
 Aramaism. Aramaisms of this kind increase in number as we enter 
 the post-exilian period. 
 
314 ISAIAH 64. 3 
 
 when fire kindleth the brushwood, a;/^the fire causeth the 
 waters to boil : to make thy name known to thine adver- 
 3 saries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence ! When 
 thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou 
 earnest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence. 
 
 with the Targ. and Peshitto in deriving the verb from another root 
 meaningto 'quake' (seeR. V. marg.). Accordingly render: 'Oh, 
 that thou mightest have rent the heavens, descended ; that moun- 
 tains might quake before thee\' We have here the expression 
 of a hopeless wish in reference to the immediate past and present 
 that the poet knows to be incapable of realization. The tense of the 
 original clearly shows this. It expresses more than mere impor- 
 tunity, see xlviii. 18; Num. xiv. 2, xx. 3; Jos. vii. 7. Comp. 
 Davidson, Hebrew Syntax, § 134. 
 
 2-3. The poet sighs for the old days (cf. Ixiii. 11). Oh, that a 
 miracle might have been wrought on Israel's return to Palestine 
 as in the days of the exodus. Perhaps the glowing language of the 
 exile-prophet, Deutero-Isaiah, may have aroused such an expecta- 
 tion, cf. xl. 3-5, xliii. 2, Ti, 16-20, xlv. 8, xlviii. 20, 21, xlix. 8-1 1, 
 li. 5, 6. For flowed down in verse 3 read '■ quaked ' as in verse i 
 (with R. V. marg.). The reference in this verse appears to be an 
 allusion to the scenes before Mount Sinai ; cf. Exod. xix (J, E). 
 
 4. We are here confronted by serious problems as to the 
 original text. We have to place in comparison with the tradi- 
 tional Hebrew text before us not only the version of the LXX, 
 but also the citation by St. Paul in i Cor. ii. 9 as well as by 
 Clement in Ep. Cor. xxxiv. 8, which is nearly the same ^ It is 
 
 * The path of the textual critic in this and the following verses Is 
 exceedingly uncertain and difficult. A comparison of the LXX 
 reveals a very different, and in some respects inferior, text. For 
 ' come down ' (* descend ') n"in> the LXX read ' trembling,' nnirt 
 (more correctly nn or II^^t, as Scholz suggests ; see Ottley). The 
 problem of reconstruction is far too intricate and precarious to be 
 attempted here. We subjoin the LXX rendering : ' If thou shouldst 
 open the heaven, trembling at Thee will take the mountains, and they 
 shall melt as wax melts at the presence of fire, and fire shall burn up 
 the adversaries, and the name of the Lord shall be revealed among 
 the adversaries.* The LXX evidently read "lypn, ' shall burn ' or 
 ' consume,' for the very problematic ns-nn of our Hebrew text (' causeth 
 the waters to boil *). 
 
 ■^ LXX render as follows : * From olden time we have not heard. 
 
ISAIAH 64. ^-6 315 
 
 For from of old men have not heard, nor perceived by the 4 
 ear, neither hath the eye seen a God beside thee, which 
 worketh for him that waiteth for him. Thou meetest him 5 
 that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that re- 
 member thee in thy ways : behold, thou wast wroth, and 
 we sinned : in them hcwe we been of long time, and shall 
 we be saved? For we are all become as one that is unclean, ^ 
 
 quite possible that we ought to follow the guidance of the Pauline 
 (and Clementine) citation as Duhm does : — 
 
 'Ear hath not heard nor ej'e seen 
 A God beside Thee, &c,' 
 But beyond this no modification is called for. 
 
 5. It is safest to cancel from the text the Hebrew word 5^5, 
 which is rendered him that rejoiceth, together with the copula 
 that follows, as a corruption or superadded gloss that does not 
 add to the sense. For this we hai^e full justification, as the LXX 
 altogether omit them. Accordingly read (following the LXX) : — 
 
 'Thou meetest those that do right — and call to mind Thy 
 wa3's. ' 
 The expression meetest obviously signifies ' meetest with Thy 
 Divine favour.' 
 
 The last two clauses of this verse, ' in them have we been . . . 
 saved ' ? are an attempted rendering of a hopelessly corrupt text. 
 Any suggested restoration is mere conjecture', as R. V. marg. 
 clearly indicates. 
 
 6. The confession of sin continues. So low has the people 
 fallen that sin is universally prevalent. Sin is here described as 
 
 nor have our eyes seen a God except Thee, and the deeds which Thou 
 doest [LXX actually render ' wilt do ' through misapprehension of 
 the force of Heb. imperf.] to those who wait for mercy.' The text 
 cited by St. Paul in the original may perhaps have been jj;>< ri:n«n nS 
 ^"j aino"? mu:?' r\rjr^ ^ 3^ ^» nnXT wb ;*». Here the apostle had in his 
 text an Aramaic expression in place of the Hebrew of our text, 
 ib-n2n^b. The latter is not only sustained by the LXX, but also by the 
 citation of the Ep. of Clement. 
 
 ' The LXX seem to have had a shorter text, and render ' Therefore 
 have we gone astray.' The verb here may have been, as Ewald 
 suggests, rrei, but the clause which precedes it appears to be beyond 
 even approximate recovery. 
 
3t6 ISAIAH C4. 7-11 
 
 and all our righteousnesses are as a polluted garment : 
 and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the 
 
 7 wind, take us away. And there is none that calleth upon 
 thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for 
 thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us by 
 
 8 means of our iniquities. But now, O Lord, thou art our 
 father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are 
 
 9 the work of thy hand. Be not wroth very sore, O Lord, 
 neither remember iniquity for ever : behold, look, we 
 
 10 beseech thee, we are all thy people. Thy holy cities are 
 
 become a wilderness, Zion is become a wilderness, 
 
 ii Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and our beautiful 
 
 uncleanness, one that is unclean does not mean here a foreigner 
 as in Hi. i, but is a vivid descriptive term for the prevalent 
 religious and social condition of the Palestinian Jewish inhabi- 
 tants about 525 B. c, which probably persisted with little abate- 
 ment or check till the advent of Nehemiah, though some ameliora- 
 tion may have temporarily supervened on the erection of the 
 temple by Zerubbabel, 518-515 b. c. 
 
 *7. The LXX by their rendering show us the right text. 
 Accordingly translate with the R. V. marg. (So also Cheyne and 
 Marti: * hast delivered us into the power of our iniquities' — 
 not hast consumed tis, &:c.) '. 
 
 8. The confession of sin passes over into an expression, under 
 the similitude of the potter, of complete submission to Divine 
 rule and resignation to the Divine will as in Jer. xviii. 6 ; Job 
 X. 9 (cf. Isa. xlv. 9). On the use of this metaphor by Isaiah, 
 see xxix. i6 and note in vol. 1. There is, however, a gleam of 
 hope in the use of the term father in the appeal addressed to 
 Yahweh, which is therefore grounded on high moral relations 
 subsisting between Yahweh and Israel greater than those of a 
 potter to the clay or even of a sovereign to his subjects. 
 
 9. These considerations are evidently present to the mind of 
 the writer in the words ' Be not exceeding angry, nor for ever 
 be mindful of guilt.' 
 
 10. The LXX render from a text which would lead us to 
 translate 'a curse ' in place of a desolation ^. 
 
 ^ Reading i::-3nni, not "laaiom. 
 
 ^ nSVj? in place of noo^y (Jer. xlii, 18; xHv. 8). Perhaps the 
 latter term was substituted In later texts as less harsh and ill-omened. 
 
ISAIAH G4. 12—65. i 317 
 
 house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned with fire ; 
 and all our pleasant things are laid waste. Wilt thou la 
 refrain thyself for these things, O Lord ? wilt thou hold 
 thy peace, and afflict us very sore ?] 
 
 I am inquired of by them that asked noX^for me \ I am 65 
 
 11. The pleasant thing's or 'beauteous treasures' of the 
 ancient temple of Solomon had been carried away by Nebuchad- 
 nezzar in 586 B. c. (2 Kings xxv. 8, 9, 13-17). 
 
 Chapters LXV and LXVI. 
 In these two chapters we evidently return to the years that 
 immediately preceded the advent of Nehemiah, and meet with all 
 the characteristic traits that mark the writings of the Trito-Isaiah 
 — the notes of warning and reproof and the references to 
 degeneracy in religious cultus and social life. The main theme of 
 these chapters is the punishment of the schismatics and the happiness 
 of the faithful. Verses 1-7 in chap. Ixv are a denunciation of the 
 unfaithful, whose religious practices showed them to be disloyal 
 to the pure standards of Yahweh worship inculcated by the 
 Prophets and the Deuteronomic legislation. Verses 8-12 exhibit 
 the contrasted destiny of the faithful worshippers of Yahweh and 
 of the unfaithful. Verses 13-20 continue this theme in a distinct 
 poem of different metric form. Verses 21-25 in the ordinary 
 metric form portray the happy state of Yahweh's faithful servants, 
 in natural sequence to what immediately precedes ; Ixvi. 1-4 in 
 the same metre is directed once more against the schismatics 
 who were planning the erection of a temple of their own. Verses 
 5-1 1 fall into strophes of a distinct metre, like Ixv. 13-20. They 
 are a message of comfort to the faithful Jews in their conflict with 
 the schismatics. Vengeance shall be taken on the latter, while 
 increase in numbers and a future of great prosperity await Zion. 
 In verses 12-17 we return to the same metric form as verses 1-4, 
 and continue the theme of Divine blessing for the faithful and of 
 destructive doom for the heretics and devotees of an impure 
 worship. Verses 18-22, on the other hand, make no reference to 
 the Samaritan schism, but dwell on the manifestation of Yahweh's 
 glory to the assembled nations and to distant peoples who have 
 not yet known it. These shall bring the Israel of the Diaspora 
 with them to God's holy shrine, and priestly privileges shall be 
 accorded to these Israelites also. A new era shall then dawn. 
 The concluding verses (23, 24), ending with a curse, are from 
 another and much later hand. 
 
 Ixv. 1-7. It is quite obvious that this section contemplates an 
 entirely different historic situation from that which underlies 
 
3i8 ISAIAH 65. 2 
 
 found of them that sought me not : I said, Behold me, 
 
 behold me^ unto a nation that was not called by my name. 
 
 a I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious 
 
 Ixiii. 7— Ixiv. 12. In the latter we have a temple in ruins and 
 the sense of dejection and disappointment which attends a reac- 
 tion from high hopes of a Divine intervention. Here we have a 
 sanctuary established in Zion and a society of at least some faith- 
 ful worshippers, but also the existence of a body of schismatics 
 and of irregular cultus, which had long subsisted. Accordingly 
 it is impossible to follow the older exegetes, Franz Delitzsch and 
 Dillmann, who link this to the preceding chapter by regarding 
 the former as God's answer to the entreaties contained in the 
 latter. This section is composed in double lines. 
 
 1. For I am inquired of, &c., read 'I suffered myself^ to 
 be inquired of to those who asked me not.' Similarly in the 
 following line : ' I suffered myself to be found to those who, &c.' 
 The reference is to the internal conditions of the Israelitish 
 communities in Palestine. The Jews who were in Palestine, 
 consisting mainly of the restored exiles or their descendants, who 
 were faithful to the pure worship of Yahweh, endeavoured to 
 incorporate the old Jewish inhabitants, and especially the 
 Samaritans, who were a mixed community consisting partially of 
 Babylonian settlers (2 Kings xvii. 24). These, as we shall see, 
 (see verses 3 and 4 below) were corrupted by the heathenish 
 customs which had long prevailed in the land. In the days of 
 Jeremiah (xli. 5) inhabitants of Samaria, Shiloh, and Shechem 
 came to offer sacrifices in Jerusalem. But now their attitude was 
 one of hostility, and they endeavoured to establish a rival 
 sanctuary in Samaria (cf. Ezra iv ; Neh. ii. 10, 19, iv, vi). 
 These are the people who ' call not on My name -.' 
 
 2. Yahweh has even stretched out His hands in entreaty to 
 this * rebellious and obstinate ^ ' people. The ' unwholesome way ' 
 in which they went refers to heathen cultus. The word way 
 
 ^ An example of Nif'al tolerativum, Gesen.-Kautzsch's Heb. 
 Gram.-^, § 51 c. Read with LXX and Lowth 'o^VttJ, which completes 
 the parallelism with the following line. 
 
 ^ So read, and not called "by my name, i. e. N^p or arp^ rather than 
 K^p (passive). So LXX and other versions, followed by Lowth, 
 Ewald, Delitzsch, &ic. ; cf. Ixiv. 7 (6 Heb) ; Gen. iv. 26, &c. 
 
 ^ The LXX indicate that a word, rT>D, has dropped out of our text 
 which the due rhythm of the verse requires us to insert. Cf. Rom. 
 
 X. 21. 
 
ISAIAH 65. 3-5 319 
 
 people, which vvalketh in a way that is not good, after 
 their own thoughts ; a people that provoketh me to my 3 
 face continually, sacrificing in gardens, and burning 
 incense upon bricks ; which sit among the graves, and 4 
 lodge in the secret places ; which eat swine's flesh, and 
 broth of abominable things is in their vessels ; which 5 
 
 {derech) has this special meaning of cultus. Cf. Amos viii. 14 and 
 the use of ' way ' in Acts xix. 9, 23, and the Arabic iarik. 
 
 3. This 'unwholesome way' is now particularized. The 
 sacrifices in gardens were an old feature of Semitic worship. Cf. 
 Isa. i= 20, xyii. 10 ; Hos. iv. 13, and likewise Ixvi. 17 below. The 
 reference of the incense upon bricks (or tiles) is far from certain. 
 In Zeph. i. 5, Jer. xix. 13, 2 Kings xxiii. 12 we read of the 
 custom which prevailed in the latter portion of the seventh century 
 of burning incense to the star-deities on the roofs of houses and 
 sanctuaries, a custom which may have extended back to the time 
 of Manasseh (2 Kings xxi. 3, 5"), and was evidently an importation 
 from Babylonia or Assyria. Whether the expression ' tiles ' here 
 should be taken as synonymous with ' roof in the passages cited, or 
 whether we are to think of small altars constructed of tiles, is far 
 from clear. We still await archaeological evidence. 
 
 4. ' Those who sit on graves and spend the night in places of 
 concealment ' is an evident allusion to the prevailing customs of 
 sorcery and necromancy whereby information was solicited by 
 conjuring the spirits of the dead. This was nothing more than 
 the old Canaanite and Israelite traditions (cf. i Sam. xxviii), 
 against which Hebrew prophecy protested (Isa. viii. 19 foil.) and 
 the Deuteronomic law prescribed stern prohibition and penalty 
 (Deut. xviii. 11; cf. Lev. xix. 31, xx. 6, 7), and of which the 
 ancient world generally was full (cf. Horace, Satires i. 8, and see 
 art ' Sorcery ' in Hastings' DB., vol. iv, p. 603, and 'Necromancy,' 
 ibid. p. 606). 
 
 torotlx of abominable thing's is the right reading. Our 
 Hebrew text reads another word (perak), which means 'morsels.' 
 But the Jewish schools preserved the variant (merak), which was 
 adopted in the S3'nagogue (kere) and has the support of ancient 
 versions (LXX, Vulg., Targ.). This is the reading here adopted, 
 'broth.' This broth or brew was doubtless supposed to possess 
 magical properties, like the curious decoction of a kid in its 
 mother's milk, which seems to have been an old and popular 
 remedy of Hebrew superstition forbidden in the ancient compend 
 of laws, the 'Book of the Covenant ' (Exod. xxiii. 19, E). This 
 passage should be connected with others that follow, viz. Ixvi. 3, 
 
320 ISAIAH 65. 6 
 
 say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me, for I am 
 
 holier than thou : these are a smoke in my nose, a fire 
 
 6 that burneth all the day. Behold, it is written before me : 
 
 17. 'All these passages refer to the same circle of rites in which 
 the victims chosen were such animals as were strictly taboo in 
 ordinary life [in familiar biblical parlance "unclean"] — the swine, 
 the dog, the mouse, and vermin generally. To such sacrifices, as we 
 learn from Ixvi. 17, a peculiar consecrating and purifying efficacy 
 was attached, which must be ascribed to the sacramental partici- 
 pation in the sacrosanct flesh.' See Robertson Smith, RS."^, p. 343 
 footnote ; and on mystic sacrifices generally in ancient heathen 
 rituals see p. 290 foil, (on the sacrifice of swine, see p. 290). In 
 Egypt the flesh of the pig was regarded as an abomination, but it 
 was sacrificed at the festival of Selene and Dionysos (Herod, ii. 47 
 foil.). Jensen in Zeitsch. fiir Assyriol. i, p. 306 foil, shows that 
 in Assyria and Babylonia the flesh of the wild boar ()ahu) was 
 often eaten (but on the 30th Ab. and 27th Marheshwan, it was 
 forbidden). Whether Babylonian influence operated in the case 
 we are considering, where we are dealing with Palestinian usages, 
 is doubtful. 
 
 For is in their vessels read ' are their dishes,' i. e. their dishes 
 consist in broth of abominable things. The language resembles 
 that of chap. v. 12. 
 
 5. Stand by thyself, properly Mraw near to thyself,' i.e. 
 * remain far from me, refrain from coming in contact with me,' the 
 same conception being virtually expressed in the following clause. 
 
 The rendering I am holier than thou is not possible. Render, 
 '■ I make thee holy ^,' strictly ' shall have made thee holy,' i. e. if 
 thou touch me. Those who had passed through these mystic rites 
 of consecration warn their comrades not to touch them, because 
 contact with their own consecrated persons will infect their 
 comrades with holiness and thereby surround them with a circle 
 of taboos or restrictions which will disqualify them from discharg- 
 ing the ordinary duties of life. The smoke here is the expression 
 of Divine wrath (cf. Ps. xviii. 8 (9 Heb.)). So likewise the 'fire 
 that burns alway.' 
 
 6. written before me, i. e. by some recording angel in the 
 heavenly annals (Duhm, who compares Ezek. xxix. 16). An 
 analogous conception is found in chap, xxxiv. 16, Ps. cxxxix. 16. 
 It is Israel's sins that are here recorded, not their destined penalty. 
 
 * Reading here the Pi'el (instead of the Kal of our Hebrew text, 
 which involves an unprecedented construction of the verb) as suggested 
 by Geiger and followed by recent critics. The LXX render ' I am 
 pure (or holy).' 
 
ISAIAH Cyi 
 
 321 
 
 I will not keep silence, but will recompense, yea, I will 
 recompense into their bosom, your own iniquities, and 7 
 the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the Lord, 
 which have burned incense upon the mountains, and 
 blasphemed me upon the hills : therefore will I first 
 measure their work into their bosom. 
 
 Thus saith the Lord, As the new wine is found in the s 
 cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not, for a blessing is in 
 it: so will I do for my servants' sakes, that I may not 
 
 Render, 'till I shall have recompensed,' the construction in the 
 original being the same as in Iv. 10, 11 ; 'shall not keep silence' 
 is an expression we have already met in Ixii. i, Ixiv. 11. Here it 
 means that the expression of God's displeasure at these degraded 
 practices shall not cease till the Divine retribution has been 
 wreaked on those who are guilty of them. The LXX in this 
 verse is evidently based on a shorter text in which there was no 
 duplication of the phrase 'shall have recompensed.' 
 
 *7. The guilt consists in the corrupt and debased worship. This 
 worship had been denounced by the prophets of Israel from the 
 days of Hosea (iv. 13) to those of Ezekiel (Ezek. xviii. 6). 
 
 Verses 8-12. We turn aside for a moment from the debased 
 and heathenish practices of unfaithful Israel to the more pleasing 
 sight of Yahweh's devoted followers. These are the true seed of 
 Jacob— God's elect who shall possess the land. A contrast is 
 drawn between the happy lot of these and the destruction which 
 is in store for the unfaithful ' who forget my holy hill.' Doubtless 
 the reference here in the main lies to schismatics who maintained 
 a separate religious community in Samaria, to whom special 
 allusion is frequently made in the Book of Nehemiah ; but the 
 allusion also lies here, as in verse 7, to the old practices which 
 continued to prevail in the high places. 
 
 8. Israel is compared to a bad grape-cluster, but it is not 
 wholly bad. There is still some good grape-juice remaining, and 
 for this reason Yahweh pronounces against its rejection. There 
 is good reason to believe that the expression ' Destroy it not ' 
 {al tashithu) was a phrase borrowed from a popular vintage-song 
 of Canaan. This is confirmed by the occurrence of this phrase in 
 the singular form al taihsth in the superscription to a series of 
 Psalms in our Psalter — viz. Ivii, Iviii, lix, and Ixxv, which were to 
 be sung to the air of this popular ditty; see the remarks in 
 Robertson Smith's OTJC, p. 209. 
 
322 ISAIAH 65. 9-II 
 
 9 destroy them all. And I will bring forth a seed out of 
 Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains : 
 and my chosen shall inherit it, and my servants shall 
 
 10 dwell there. And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and 
 the valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down in, for 
 
 1 1 my people that have sought me. But ye that forsake the 
 
 9. The elect portion of Jacob is to possess the mountains or 
 central plateau where Jerusalem was situated. The pronoun 
 it (feminine in the original) refers to the land of this central 
 mountainous region. 
 
 10. But they are to possess not the mountain region only, which 
 is often bare as well as rugged, but also the famous Plain of Sharon, 
 which extends along the coast region (bounded on the north by the 
 Nahr ez-Zerka near Caesarea) to the Nahr Rubin in the south 
 somewhat below Joppa. The latter river (Nahr Rubin) separates 
 it from the Philistine territory proper. The Sharon plain was 
 famed for its luxuriant fertility and pastures (i Chron. xxvii. 29 ; 
 Song of Songs ii. i, and Isa. xxxv. 2, where it is associated with 
 Carmel lying to the north of it). 'Excellent soil is found at a 
 depth of i^ or 2 feet beneath the surface of the sand, and water is 
 found everywhere without having to dig deep for it. Vines thrive 
 admirably ; sesame and wheat are cultivated in the fields ' 
 (Badeker, Palestine and Syria). * Spring works a miracle in the 
 aspect of this region. The richest grass and the brightest flowers 
 adorn the landscape. Even in the marshlands the tall and 
 graceful papyrus is, in its autumn flowering time, pleasant to 
 behold ' (Cheyne in Enc. Bibl.). 
 
 On the other hand, the identification of the Valley of 'Ach6r is 
 extremely doubtful. Conder identifies it with the Wady el-Kelt 
 (Hastings' Z>5,), which 'winds down to the Jordan through deep 
 ravines and contains water during the greater part of the year ' 
 (Badeker, ibid.). We agree with the writer in Enc. Bibl. that this 
 hardly seems to be a suitable place for ' oxen to lie down.* 
 
 Verses n, 12 present a contrast to the idyllic life of those who 
 seek Yahweh, and for whom are reserved the Sharon-pastures and 
 the spots where cattle may lie down in the Valley of 'Achor (verse 
 10). On the other hand, those who abandon Yahweh are destined 
 for slaughter. Fortunately the text of these two verses has been 
 well preserved. 
 
 11. We have here interesting references to the heathenish rites 
 of old Canaanite origin, to which the disloyal Jews of Samaria and 
 other places resorted. ' Those who set forth the table to Gad ' 
 
ISAIAH 65. 12 3^.^. 
 
 Lord, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table 
 for Fortune, and that fill up mingled wine unto Destiny ; 
 I will destine you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down 12 
 to the slaughter : because when I called, ye did not 
 answer ; when I spake, ye did not hear ; but ye did that 
 which was evil in mine eyes, and chose that wherein I 
 delighted not. 
 
 evidently worshipped an old Canaanite god of fortune * who gave 
 his name to one of the Israelite tribes and also to the Canaanite 
 towns Ba'al Gad (Josh. xi. 17, xii. 7, xiii. 5) and Migdal Gad, 
 (Josh. XV. 37). The name appears to have been really Ara- 
 maic in origin according to the evidence collected in Bathgen's 
 work''. The table was probably set forth with 'cakes' similar to 
 those which were baked for the * queen of heaven,' Jer. vii. 18, 
 xix. 13, xliv. 17. To this table we have an analogy in the ' table 
 of the Presence ' (Exod. xxv. 30 ; cf. Num. iv. 7). We have less 
 knowledge respecting the deity called ' Destiny ' in whose honour 
 mixed wine was offered. Baudissin connects this deity, called in 
 Hebrew Mem, with the Arabic Mandt, to which the Koran refers 
 (Sur. liii. 20), a goddess who was worshipped by the Pre-Islamic 
 Arabs. Noldeke is certain that the two were closely connected ^ 
 12. The rendering I will destine yon is intended to reproduce 
 the play of words in the original between the name of the deity 
 (Meni) and the verb which is here employed. Oort endeavours 
 to carry the play on the names further, and would by a slight 
 emendation of the original introduce a punning reference to the 
 deity Gad : ' ye shall be hewn in pieces * for the slaughter ' ; but 
 the LXX do not support this conjecture. 
 
 ' The LXX render 'i'Db by t^ fvxV) while n: is translated by 
 
 ^ Beitrdge zur semitiscken Religionsgeschichte, p. 77 foil., but 
 there are several examples also to be found in Punic proper names ; 
 see Lidzbarski, Handhuch der nordsemitischen Epigraphik, p. 249. 
 
 ' See the careful and complete article by Baudissin on Meni in PRE^. 
 Baudissin thinks that this cult was of Arabian origin and was carried 
 northward with the movement of the Arabs in a northerly direction 
 during the Persian period. For full information respecting the 
 Arabian deity Manat, see Wellhausen, Reste arabischen Heidentums^, 
 pp. 25-9. 
 
 * Reading wnsn in place of I3>')3n of our text. 
 
 Y 2 
 
324 ISAIAH 65. 13-15 
 
 13 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, my servants 
 shall eat, but ye shall be hungry : behold, my servants shall 
 drink, but ye shall be thirsty : behold, my servants shall 
 
 14 rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed : behold, my servants 
 shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of 
 
 15 heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit. And ye shall 
 leave your name for a curse unto my chosen, and the Lord 
 God shall slay thee ; and he shall call his servants by 
 
 Verses 13-20 are distributed by Duhm (followed by Marti) into 
 five strophes, each strophe being composed of four long lines each. 
 The theme of this poem is the same as that of the verses which 
 precede. Here the contrast is even more sharply drawn between 
 the lot of the pious and devoted followers of Yahweh and that of 
 the faithless and the schismatics. 
 
 13. shall be ashamed: a characteristic expression of Hebrew 
 prophecy and poetry, and used with a stronger ethical significance 
 than in our own language, since it often conveys not only the 
 ordinary meaning, the disappointment of one's hopes, but also that 
 of humiliation and disgrace; Ps. Ixxi. 13 ; Jer. ii. 36, vi. 15, x. 14, &c. 
 
 14 continues the series of contrasts of weal and woe dealt 
 out respectively to Yahweh's faithful followers and to recreant 
 schismatics : — 
 
 'Behold, my servants shall utter a ringing cry— for happiness 
 of heart. 
 But ye shall utter a distressful cry for grief of heart — from a 
 broken spirit shall moan aloud.' 
 
 15. my chosen here are the same as * my chosen ' in verse 9 
 above, who are to possess Yahweh's mountains. Probably we 
 should follow the LXX in reading ' you ' for thee in the next clause 
 (i. e. shall slay you). While God destines this schismatic com- 
 munity to be a curse ^ on the lips of His chosen followers, the 
 name of His chosen followers is to be one of fairer omen. The 
 spirit which breathes through portions of these concluding oracles 
 exhibits a tone of bitterness which is in striking contrast with the 
 serene beauty and radiant optimism of the Deutero- Isaiah. Cf. 
 below, Ixvi. 15, 16. 
 
 ' The LXX read rri>ai^, 'abundance/ 'satiety,' in place of T(^y^. 
 One could wish that this more genial reading of the text could yield 
 a tolerable sense. 
 
ISAIAH 65. 16-20 325 
 
 another name : so that he who blesseth himself in the 16 
 earth shall bless himself in the God of truth ; and he that 
 sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth ; 
 because the former troubles are forgotten, and because 
 they are hid from mine eyes. For, behold, I create new 1 7 
 heavens and a new earth: and the former things shall not 
 be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad 18 
 and rejoice for ever in that which I create : for, behold, I 
 create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And 19 
 I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people : and 
 the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor 
 the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence an 20 
 
 Verses 16-25. The writer in this and the following verses turns 
 his thoughts to a happier theme — the great future that awaits 
 Jerusalem and the faithful community of Yahweh's followers. A 
 new era is to dawn, and the old troubles are to be forgotten. 
 Deutero-Isaianic lines close this chapter (verse 25). The spirit 
 is the same as that of the lyric passages in chapters Ix-lxii. 
 
 16. God of truth (omen) is undoubtedly the right reading 
 of the original, adopted in A.V. and R. V. (as against R. V. 
 marg.). 
 
 17. This conception of a recreated universe (heaven and earth) 
 is a borrowed trait from the Deutero- Isaiah, though not expressed 
 in the same form (cf. Iv. 13). For the universe in ancient days 
 was held to be from the earth's surface heavenwards an indivisible 
 whole. Human society was therefore linked to all the objects 
 that surrounded it. The sharp distinction between man and 
 animals (xi. 6 foil.), man and Nature, was not drawn. Consequently 
 the moral changes in man had their counterpart in the external 
 world whether for evil (cf Joel i, ii passim) or for good (Joel iii. 
 17, 18 [iv. 17, 18 Heb.]). This conception of a new heaven and 
 a new earth became a favourite one in the apocalyptic of a later 
 age. Note that the heavens take regulative precedence. Cf. 
 Book of Enoch xlv. 5, Ixxii. i, xci. 16, and especially 2 Pet. 
 iii. 13, Rev. xxi. i. The expression come into mind seems to be 
 an echo of Jeremiah, with whom it was a favourite phrase (Jer. 
 iii. 16, vii. 31, &c.). 
 
 19. Here, as well as in the following verse, we have obvious 
 echoes of passages in Jeremiah, viz. Jer. vii. 34, xvi. 9, xxv. 10, 
 xxxiii. II. 
 
 20. We are also reminded of the genial picture in Zech. viii. 4. 
 
326 ISAIAH Q5. ai, 22 
 
 infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his 
 days : for the child shall die an hundred years old, and 
 the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. 
 21 And they shall build houses, and inhabit them ; and they 
 2 2 shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They 
 shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, 
 and another eat : for as the days of a tree shall be the 
 days of my people, and my chosen shall long enjoy the 
 
 For infant of days substitute the more accurate as well as 
 intelligible ' suckling living but a few days.* As the burdens and 
 sorrows of life pass away, men attain to considerable longevity, 
 which recalls the traditions of patriarchal longevity in P. This 
 passage was vividly present to the writer of the * Book of Jubilees ■ 
 in his description of the Messianic Kingdom, when children shall 
 devote themselves to the study of the law, chap, xxiii. 25-28. 
 
 The last clause of this verse, the sinner being an hundred 
 years old shall he accursed, hardly gives an intelligible sense in 
 its context, and certainly affords no parallelism. The difficulty has 
 arisen through the mistake of an early copyist (reflected in LXX) 
 who inserted the word ben before the word for * hundred ' through 
 the influence of the preceding clause, so that the phrase, as it stands, 
 means ' a hundred years old ' according to the familiar Hebrew 
 idiom (Gesenius-Kautzsch, Heh. Gram. § 128. 2 v). By the omis- 
 sion of ben the meaning becomes clear and the parallelism is re- 
 stored : * One who falls short^ of an hundred years shall be accursed ' 
 (shall be regarded as one who is subject to a Divine curse). The 
 age of an hundred years shall be quite normal, and one who falls 
 short of that age at death shall be regarded as one cut short by a 
 Divine curse. Length of days is associated in the O. T. with 
 righteousness and Divine favour (Ps. xci. 16 ; Prov. iii. 2, i6 ; cf. 
 Ps. xxi. 4 [5 Heb.]). 
 
 21. The underlying idea of this verse is that there shall be war 
 no more. The foreign invader shall not eat the crops and the 
 fruit. Palestine had suffered terribly through this evil in the eighth 
 century from the Assyrian invaders or others nearer home (Isa. i. 
 7), Assyria being compared to a razor that leaves the surface bare 
 (vii. 20). This was the common practice of warfare (2 Kings iii. 19). 
 
 In the seventh century the land was ravaged by the Egyptians 
 (608 B.C.), and in the early part of the sixth by the Babylonians 
 twice (597 and 587 b. c.) and by the Edomites also. 
 
 22 continues the same idea as the preceding verse. For long 
 
 ^ For this use of ^cTfci in Heb., cf. Job v. 24. 
 
ISAIAH 65. 23-25 327 
 
 work of their hands. They shall not labour in vain, nor 33 
 bring forth for calamity; for they are the seed of the 
 blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them. And 24 
 it shall come to pass that, before they call, I will answer ; 
 and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf 25 
 and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat 
 straw like the ox : and dust shall be the serpent's meat. 
 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, 
 saith the Lord. 
 
 enjoy substitute 'consume' 'or make full use of (R. V. margin, 
 'wear out'). We have a similar use of the same verb in 
 Job xxi. 13. 
 
 23. The same theme pursued. Toil shall no longer end in the 
 ruin of one's hopes, nor shall children be born into the world to 
 meet some terrible catastrophe. For calamity substitute ' terror. ' 
 
 24. God's answer shall anticipate the prayer of His faithful 
 community. From the exile onwards prayer takes a relatively 
 more important place in relation to the ritual of sacrifice. This 
 new feature received great stimulus by the conditions of exile. See 
 'Prayer' in Hastings' DB.^ iv, p. 40. 
 
 25. Once more we have a borrowing. It is not easy to per- 
 ceive any cogency in Duhm's laboured argument to show that 
 while the earlier part of this verse is borrowed from Isa. xi. 6-8, 
 on the other hand xi. 9 is borrowed from the present passage. It 
 is quite clear that verses 6-9 form an integral unity. 
 
 Equally arbitrary is the exclusion of the clause ' Yet as for the 
 serpent dust is its food,' though Duhm alleges grounds of metre. 
 For the condition of our O. T. text shows that even at an early 
 time confusion entered, and whole lines were lost ; accordingly a 
 fragment of an entire line need not surprise us. The phrase seems 
 to be a reminiscence of Gen. iii. 14 introduced by the writer in 
 reference to the schismatics, who are here personified by the 
 serpent ^ It breaks into the calm repose of the Isaianic citation 
 as rudely as Ixvi. 14 b foil. 
 
 ^ The LXX preserve the clause in question. 
 
 "^ 'Eating dust' was an ordinary expression of humiliation and 
 contempt. Winckler in Altoriental. Forschungeti, iii. p. 271, 
 compares the expression in the Tell-el-Amarna letters, KIB., vol. v, 
 122, lines 35, ■^6)aiabu7tu tikalu ipra, ' our enemies shall eat dust,' 
 which is parallel to the O. T. phrase ' lick the dust * (Ps. Ixxii. 9 ; 
 Isa. xlix. 23; Mic. vii. 17, which affords an interesting analogy to 
 the present passage). 
 
328 ISAIAH 66. I 
 
 66 Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and 
 the earth is my footstool : what manner of house will ye 
 
 Chap. LXVI, verses 1-4, are directed against the project of the 
 schismatics to erect a temple of their own as a rival to the temple 
 of Zerubbabel in Jerusalem. Marti warns us in his useful introduc- 
 tory remarks against drawing larger inferences from this passage 
 than it warrants. If we take the first two verses only, we might 
 be disposed to regard them as directed against the erection of any 
 temple on earth to One whose throne is heaven, and earth but the 
 footstool of His feet. They might appear to be an anticipation of 
 the words of Jesus, who said, * The hour cometh when neither in 
 this temple nor in Jerusalem shall ye worship the Father . . . God 
 is a spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit 
 and truth' (John iv. 21-24) ; cf. Acts vii. 48-50, xvii. 24. Indeed, 
 Gressmann has supposed that this passage (like Ixiii. 7 — Ixiv. 12) 
 should be placed in the days that preceded the erection of the 
 temple by Zerubbabel. It is argued that we have here a protest 
 against the proposal to erect a temple of which Haggai and Zechariah 
 were the enthusiastic advocates. But, as Enno Littmann shows ^, 
 we altogether misunderstand the passage when we infer from the 
 opening verse that the opposition is between Yahweh's true 
 heavenly abode and any local earthly habitation. This is clearly 
 proved by noting verses 2 and 3. The demonstratives in verse 2 
 obviously refer not to heaven, but to Zion, where God's contrite 
 and spirit-smitten followers dwell, as contrasted with the Samaritan 
 sanctuary, where revolting forms of worship prevail. The mighty 
 voice of God's retribution is to come from his Zion temple (called 
 hechal in verse 6) upon His adversaries. The mention of the 
 Levitical priests in verse 21 can only have meaning when we 
 assume that they are ministers in Yahweh's true sanctuary in 
 Zion (cf. the preceding verse 20). 
 
 1. It is not by any means certain whether we should render 
 with A. V. 'where is the house, &c,,' as the interrog. form in the 
 original should be understood in chap. 1. i ; i Sam. ix. 18 ; Job 
 xxviii. 12, 20, xxxviii. 19, 24, or whether we should follow R. V. 
 and translate ' What manner of house, &c. ' (as in the LXX). 
 Similarly 2 Kings iii. 8 ; cf. Jonah i. 8 ; 2 Sam. xv. 2. Note the 
 close similarity of the ideas here and in the following verse as 
 compared with Ivii. 15. 
 
 The Hebrew word for rest {nicnuhah) is here used in the 
 sense of * residence ' ; cf. Isa. xi. 10 ; Ps. cxxxii. 8, 14 ; i Chron. 
 xxviii. 2 ; and also Num. x. 33 ; Zech. ix. i ; Isa. xxxii. 18. Tlie 
 schismatic Samaritan leaders are addressed in this verse, and the 
 
 Ueber die Abfassungsseit des Tritojesaia (1899), P- 47 ^^*' 
 
ISAIAH 66. 2, 3 529 
 
 build unto me ? and what place shall be my rest? For all 
 these things hath mine hand made, and so all these things 
 came to be, saith the Lord : but to this man will I look, 
 even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and that 
 trembleth at my word. He that killeth an ox is as he 
 that slayeth a man ; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as he that 
 breaketh a dog's neck ; he that offereth an oblation, as he 
 that offereth swine's blood ; he that burneth frankincense, 
 as he that blesseth an idol : yea, they have chosen their 
 own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations; 
 
 house which they are seeking to build as God's residence is 
 a rival temple in Samaria. 
 
 2. These tMngs do not refer to the heavens and the earth, 
 as the latter part of the verse clearly proves, but to God's true 
 sanctuary, the temple of Zerubbabel where the contrite in spirit, 
 v/ho tremble at His word, are to be found. It is instructive to 
 compare with this passage not only Ivii. 15, but also Ezra ix. 4, x. 3. 
 
 3 describes the illegitimate forms of cultus which were 
 practised among those who were hostile to the Jerusalem 
 sanctuary. This verse is somewhat difficult, and the text, as well 
 as rendering, as the LXX show, is by no means certain. This 
 is largely due to the obscurity of the subject, as we are very 
 imperfectly informed respecting the varied types of cultus which 
 then prevailed and to which allusion is here made. Probably it 
 would be safest to follow Marti and regard the first member of 
 the successive pairs as the subject and the second as the predicate 
 in the short clauses which follow one another. The first member 
 describes a legitimate offering and the second an illegitimate. 
 The intention of the writer is to describe the syncretism in 
 worship that prevailed : * He who slaughters an ox (also) smites 
 a man,' i. e. participates in human sacrifice, of which we find 
 numerous traces among the Israelites (Jer. xix. 5, xxxii. 35 ; 
 Ezek. xvi. 21, xx. 26, 31 ; 2 Kings xvi. 3 and xxiii. 10). It was 
 specially forbidden in legislation (cf. Lev. xviii. 21). These 
 awful rites of child sacrifice, which were carried on in the vale of 
 Hinnom, were specially characteristic of Milk (Molech), the god 
 of Ammon and Moab. Though suppressed in the reformation of 
 Josiah's reign they, like many other customs of primitive Semitic 
 religion, still persisted (see Introduction toTrito-Isaiah, p. 231 foil.). 
 
 The following clause combines similarly the legitimate sacrifice 
 of a sheep with the illegitimate sacrifice of the dog : '■ One who 
 
330 ISAIAH 66. 4, 5 
 
 4 I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears 
 upon them; because when I called, none did answer; 
 when I spake, they did not hear : but they did that which 
 was evil in mine eyes, and chose that wherein I delighted 
 not. 
 
 5 Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his 
 
 offers the bloody sacrifice of a sheep (also) breaks the neck of 
 a dog.' Respecting the mystic piacular sacrifice of the dog and 
 also of swine, see Robertson Smith, RS.^, p. 291, and note above 
 on Ixv. 4. Not only the legitimate meal-offering, but with it the 
 libation of swine's blood is presented. Not only the legitimate 
 offering of incense', but the blessing of the idol image (here 
 called dwen as in Hos. iv. 15, v. 8, x. 5, literally ' falsity,' or ' evil '). 
 The last clause in this verse should be connected with the opening 
 clause of the following. Accordingly render with Duhm and 
 Cheyne, ' As these have chosen their own ways ' (i. e. modes of 
 cultus), &c. 
 
 4 will then begin, ' So will I choose,' &c. For the rendering 
 deliisions it would be better to substitute 'follies.' The word 
 in the original is the same as in iii. 4 ('babes' rendered in the 
 note ' wilfulness ' or childish caprices). What are called aboxnl- 
 natious (a frequent designation of idolatrous rites) in the 
 preceding verse are here called perverse follies. These 'follies' 
 become transformed into formidable penalties in the days of 
 Divine visitation for the evils of faithlessness and schism : ' I will 
 bring their terrors upon them.' 
 
 Verses 5-1 1. There follows in close connexion with the preced- 
 ing verses a short poem which Duhm arranges in three strophes of 
 six long lines each. That they were composed at the same time 
 and in reference to the same set of events is quite obvious. The 
 same phrase ' tremble at his word ' occurs in the opening line of 
 this poem as in verse 2 of the preceding. * Your brothers that 
 hate you ' are the schismatics whose evil practices are described 
 in verses, and the vengeance on God's enemies to which verse 6 
 makes reference is darkly hinted in verse 4 above. The present 
 
 ^ The word for * burneth ' {mazktr) is really a denominative 
 partic. based on the subst. azkdrah, which was a burnt-offering 
 consisting of meal, oil, and frankincense. This was characteristic of 
 the more elaborate and later ritual described in Lev. ii. 9, 16, v. 12, 
 vi. 9 [8 Heb.] ; Num. v. 26. Respecting the frankincense Qebhonah), 
 cf. note on Isa. xliii, 23 above. 
 
ISAIAH 66. 6, 7 331 
 
 word : Your brethren that hate you, that cast you out for 
 my name's sake, have said, Let the Lord be glorified, that 
 we may see your joy ; but they shall be ashamed. A 6 
 voice of tumult from the city, a voice from the temple, a 
 voice of the Lord that rendereth recompence to his 
 enemies. Before she travailed, she brought forth ; before 7 
 
 poem, however, is addressed to the faithful community in Jeru- 
 salem, while the preceding is addressed to (verses i, 2) or refers 
 to (verses 3, 4) the schismatics. 
 
 5. Probably the latter part of the long line has fallen out after 
 
 * your brothers who have hated you have said ' . . . The term 
 
 * brothers ' is here used, as often in Hebrew, for ' kinsmen.' The 
 words which these ' brothers ' use in driving out the faithful are 
 of course expressions of mockery. The language of this verse 
 points to evident scenes of violence enacted between the 
 ' brothers ' (who were led on by Sanballat) and the returned exiles 
 from Babylonia. What actually occurred may be conjectured 
 from Neh. iv, an instructive parallel. But an attentive perusal of 
 that chapter leads us to the conclusion that in the present Isaiah 
 passage allusion is made to an earlier episode in which the 
 returning exiles were actually expelled from the city precincts. 
 Probably the intervention of the Persian governor (pehah) obtained 
 for them admission and security. 
 
 ' But they shall be ashamed ' (i. e. disappointed of their hopes, 
 humiliated) is the poet's reassuring word to the faithful, following 
 upon the words of scorn uttered by their opponents. 
 
 6. The vividness of the original is best expressed by the 
 rendering, ' Hark ! a roar from the city, thunder^ from the temple, 
 Yahweh's thunder, awarding retribution to His foes.' The 
 words are very suggestive of a battle in the streets of Jerusalem 
 in which the party of Sanballat are driven out. The language 
 has an Isaianic ring, especially in its use of the word for 'roar' 
 (s/iaoti) ; cf. xvii, 12, xxx. 30. 
 
 Verses 7-1 1 convey words of comfort to the hard-pressed and 
 faithful followers of Yahweh. Reinforcements are coming, and the 
 population of Zion shall immediatel}'^ receive a considerable acces- 
 sion. Verse 12 clearly shows that this increase is to come 
 from without. 
 
 7. On grounds of sense and metre we should expect that the 
 
 ' In the original the word is kSl (' voice ')> as in Isa. xxx. 30 (on which 
 see note). The same word is previously used in the sense ' hark ! ' just 
 as in Gen. iv. lo ('Hark! thy brother's blood crieth . . .'). See 
 Gesenius-Kautzsch, Heb. Gram,"^^, § 146, i, rem. i. 
 
SS2 ISAIAH 66. 8-IO 
 
 8 her pain came, she was deHvered of a man child. Who 
 hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? 
 Shall a land be born in one day? shall a nation be 
 brought forth at once ? for as soon as Zion travailed, she 
 
 9 brought forth her children. Shall I bring to the birth, 
 and not cause to bring forth ? saith the Lord : shall I 
 that cause to bring forth shut if/ie womb ? saith thy God. 
 
 10 Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all ye 
 
 first unusually abbreviated line of this verse has lost a few words. 
 It begins very abruptly without any subject. Fortunately the 
 repetition of its phrases at the close of the following verse allows 
 us to restore with some probability, as follows : — 
 
 ' Before [Zion] travaileth — she hath brought forth [a son], 
 Before pangs come to her— she hath a male child born.' 
 
 The language used in describing the birth in the second line of 
 the original is unusual, probably designed to express an unpre- 
 cedented fact, the swift increase of Zion's future inhabitants in 
 the new era that is to dawn. This conception of Zion's prolific 
 increase of progeny is a borrowed Deutero-Isaianic conception ; 
 cf. xlix. i8, 2o, 21, liv. I, 2. 
 
 8. Not only the metre of the original but also concord in 
 gender renders it probable that the word for ' people ' has been 
 dropped out before the word * land ' i. Therefore translate : — 
 
 * Shall the people of a land be begotten in travail — in 
 one day ? ' 
 
 9 continues the same theme — Zion's rapid accession of popula- 
 tion ; the immigration of faithful worshippers of Yahweh, the 
 diaspora which must now have been very considerable, i. e. 
 scattered Jewish exiles in all lands within and surrounding 
 Western Asia (cf. verses 18-20). 
 
 The conclusion of this lyric poem and the opening verses of 
 that which follows (verses 10-13) are strongly Deutero-Isaianic in 
 tone ; cf. xlix. 14-16, 22, 23, li. 2, 3, liv. 5-8. 
 
 10. In place of Rejoice ye witli Jerusalem the LXX read in 
 their text ' Rejoice, O Jerusalem ' ; and there were also other slight 
 
 ^ In the original text, though the word for 'land' is fern., the 
 verb * shall-be-begotten-in-travail ' is masculine. The insertion of 
 the word for 'people,' which is masculine in Hebrew, restores the 
 harmony of construction. 
 
ISAIAH 6(5. II, 12 333 
 
 that love her : rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn 
 over her : that ye may suck and be satisfied with the 1 1 
 breasts of her consolations ; that ye may milk out, and 
 be delighted with the abundance of her glory. For thus 12 
 saith the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace to her like 
 a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing 
 stream, and ye shall suck thereof', ye shall be borne 
 
 modifications in their text ^ Duhm adopts the text of the LXX 
 in the opening clause, 
 
 11. The abundance of her gflory is a questionable rendering, 
 since we have no evidence that the Hebrew word zis which 
 occurs in this solitary passage in the O. T. had the meaning 'abun- 
 dance.' Comparison with the vulgar Arabic, as well as the 
 parallel in the earlier part of the verse, confirms the view of most 
 commentators (including Ewald, Duhm, and Marti) that it means 
 the maternal breast. We might therefore render ' delight in her 
 rich breast.' The same reflexive form of the original * delight ' 
 (delight oneself) occurs in Ivii. 4, Iviii. 14. 
 
 Verses 12-17 si^e another poem on the same theme. Here, 
 however, the thoughts of the writer are chiefly directed to the 
 caravans of Jewish immigrants laden with the wealth of foreign 
 lands. Ix. 4 foil, is a close parallel. At the close of verse 14 a 
 very different note is struck, and the writer suddenly quits his 
 inspiring theme and turns to the heretical community that had its 
 centre in Samaria whose evil practices are denounced as in 
 Ixv. 1-7, Ixvi. 1-4. 
 
 12. This new section opens with the familiar formula 'Thus 
 saith Yahweh,' which recurs so often in the Deutero- Isaiah as 
 well as in the Trito-Isaiah (xlii. 5, xliii. i, 14, xlv. i, ii,xlix. 7, 1. r, 
 Hi. 3, Ivi. i). Yahweh here assures the Jewish community of a 
 full tide of prosperity like an overflowing brook. It is derived 
 from the wealth of foreigners (xlix. 22 foil., Ix. 5). The language 
 here (as in Ix. 4) is an obvious echo of the Deutero-Isaianic xlix. 
 22. Render : 
 
 ^ The LXX render, ' Rejoice, Jerusalem, and be gathered in festal 
 assembly all who dwell in her; exult with exultation all ye that mourn 
 over her.' Apparently their Hebrew text was as follows : . . . dV^^T ^noip 
 . . . bs biiup liD'ip ?'?^''^3 (?) ''1S1?7> On the whole this appears to be 
 a more probable text. Those who are to rejoice are the inhabitants 
 of the city, and not those who lived outside the borders of Judah. 
 Of the latter as a vast incoming tide we read in verses 12 foil. 
 
334 ISAIAH Q6. 13-17 
 
 13 upon the side, and shall be dandled upon the knees. As 
 one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you ; 
 
 14 and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. And ye shall 
 see //, and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall 
 flourish like the tender grass : and the hand of the Lord 
 shall be known toward his servants, and he will have 
 
 15 indignation against his enemies. For, behold, the Lord 
 will come with fire, and his chariots shall be like the 
 whirlwind ; to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke 
 
 16 with flames of fire. For by fire will the Lord plead, and 
 by his sword, with all flesh : and the slain of the Lord 
 
 17 shall be many. They that sanctify themselves and purify 
 
 ' Their infant progeny ^ shall be carried on the hip (lit. * side ') 
 — and on knees shall they be caressed.' 
 According to Ix. 4 it is the girls only who are carried on the hip, 
 while in the Deutero-Isaianic original (xlix. 22) the boys are 
 carried in the bosom and the girls on the shoulder. The following 
 verse as well as verse 22 shows that it is the foreigner who 
 renders these kindly (yet servile) offices. And the same concep- 
 tion evidently underlies the present passage, 
 
 14. The bones are used here to designate the body generally, 
 as in Ps. li. 8 (10 Heb.). These are to sprout like young grass, 
 i. e. renew their vigour. 
 
 15. The Hebrew verb translated render {hashibh) means really 
 'award as retribution' (Deut. xxxii. 41, 43). Read with LXX 
 * shall come as fire ' (cf. the following clause). 
 
 16. will plead ^, i. e. will conduct his suit, urge his cause with 
 invincible effect ; cf. Ezek. xxxviii. 2a. 
 
 17. Once more we have a reference to the gross rites of 
 expiation practised by the heretical community in Palestine 
 whereby they ' consecrated themselves.' The expression behind 
 (or after) one in the midst evidently refers to the exercises of 
 these companies in the heathen mysteries carried on in the 
 gardens (cf. Ixv. 3), the ' one in the midst' being the leader of the 
 company. It is possible that scenes of frantic excitement took place 
 
 ^ Punctuate the Heb. DPpri from the feminine collective ni7r, and 
 see Gesenius-Kautzsch, Heb. Grani.'^^, § 122, 4c. 
 
 ' The opening clause of this verse in the LXX runs : ' For with 
 the fire of the Lord shall all the earth be consumed.' This has the 
 appearance of being a later apocalyptic variant. 
 
ISAIAH 66. 17 335 
 
 themselves to go unto the gardens, behind one in the 
 midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and 
 
 like the dervish movements at the full-moon, vi^hich are common 
 among the village fellahin in Egypt ^ On the other hand, Marti 
 would compare the mystic rites portrayed in Ezek. viii. 11, in 
 which the prophet sees in a chamber of the sanctuary seventy 
 elders with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing in their midst, 
 each with a censer in his hand. But the other parallel cited by 
 Marti in his commentary from the Apocryphal Acts of the 
 Apostles II. I, chap. 94 (Lipsius and Bonnet), is perhaps more 
 closely illustrative. It is descriptive of certain sacramental dances. 
 Probably we should find an allusion here to practices of this 
 character carried on in the gardens by moonlight accompanied by 
 piacular sacrifices '. 
 
 Robertson Smith, RS?^ p. 293, furnishes no analogy to this 
 worship of the mouse. But we have interesting parallels cited by 
 Pietschmann in his Geschichte der Phonizier, p. 228, who calls 
 attention to the name 'Akbar, meaning ' mouse,' on Phoenician 
 inscriptions ^ as well as on sculptured stones in Jerusalem. From 
 these facts we might conclude that the mouse was an animal 
 totem. It would be normally what was called an unclean animal 
 and sacrosanct. As Robertson Smith points out, the sacrifice of 
 such an animal * is generally limited to certain solemn occasions, 
 usually annual ... In several cases the worshippers partake of 
 the sacred flesh which at other times it would be impious to 
 touch ' (/?S.2, p. 294). 
 
 There is no need to substitute for abomination (skekes) the 
 word 'creeping thing' (sheres) as Duhm proposes. The former 
 is read by the LXX in their text and in the parallel passage 
 Ezek. viii. 10. 
 
 ^ Flinders Petrie, Ten Years' Digging ifi Egypt (1892), p. 171. 
 ' A professed dervish often leads the party . . . The people all stand 
 in a circle and begin repeating Al-lah with a very strong accent on 
 the latter syllable, bowing down the head and body at the former and 
 raising it at the latter. This is all done in unison. Gradually the 
 rate quickens, the accent is stronger and becomes more of an 
 explosive howl . . . The excitement is wilder and hideously wild until 
 a horrid creeping comes over you as you listen . ► . Incipient madness 
 of the intoxication of excitement seems poured out upon them all.' 
 
 ' The Kere reads nn« for inj?, the feminine for the masculine form, 
 apparently meaning a priestess rather than a goddess. 
 
 ^ Corpus Insc. Semit., I. i, Nos. 178, 236, 239, 344 and 395. Cf. 
 also the name *Akb6r in Hebrew proper names (Gen. xxxvi. 38 ; 
 2 Kings xxii. 12, 14). 
 
336 ISAIAH 66. iS, 19 
 
 the mouse ; they shall come to an end together, saith the 
 
 18 Lord. For I k?wiv their works and their thoughts : th£ 
 time Cometh, that I will gather all nations and tongues ; 
 
 19 and they shall come, and shall see my glory. And I will set 
 a sign among them, and I will send such as escape of 
 them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul and Lud, that 
 
 Confusion has evidently crept into the Hebrew text at the close 
 of this verse and the beginning of the next. A part of the con- 
 clusion of verse 17 has been foisted into the beginning of verse 
 18. Accordingly read with Duhm : — 
 
 'Their works and their devices— shall altogether have an 
 end, saith Yahweh ; 
 18. And I shall come to gather— all the nations and tongues.' 
 
 This reconstruction saves the passage from hopeless con- 
 fusion, for which, as it appears to the present writer, no other 
 satisfactory remedy has been proposed. 
 
 19. This verse is evidently based on reminiscences of chap, 
 xlix. 22 (cf. Ix. 9). The pronoun them obviously refers to the 
 foreign peoples. Yahweh will display His power before them 
 by a sign or miraculous deed, as in the Exodus from Egypt in 
 the old days. The motive underlying this presents an analogy 
 to that which underlies the prophecy of judgment against Gog in 
 Ezek. xxxviii. foil. The restoration of Israel to Jerusalem took 
 place under the aegis of the foreign Persian power. Some signal 
 manifestation of the might of Yahweh, the God of Israel, before 
 the eyes of the world, was needed. The * sign ' or manifestation 
 of Yahweh's power among the Gentiles will be destructive, and 
 such as escape will be sent by Him to proclaim the news of 
 Yahweh's glory among foreign peoples who have never heard of 
 it. In the enumeration of foreign races it would be safer to 
 follow the LXX and read Meshech in place of that draw the "bow. 
 It is easy to see how the mistake arose. The proper name was 
 mistaken for the Hebrew verb ' to draw,' and it was assumed by 
 some scribe that the word for * bow ' had been dropped out.^ 
 
 * There is no need to add to Meshech the proper name Rosh 
 (Ezek. xxxviii. i, xxxix. i) with Duhm and Marti. The enumeration 
 seems to proceed in groups of three. If, as Duhm points out, the 
 race-names are borrowed from Ezekiel, who loved elaborate enumera- 
 tions (e. g. Ezek. xxvii), we have the less reason to consider thisr: 
 modest list to be an interpolation. The influence of Ezekiel over the 
 Trito-Isaiah is an obvious trait. 
 
ISx^IAH 66. 20, 21 33*^ 
 
 draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the isles afar off, 
 that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory ; 
 and they shall declare my glory among the nations. And 20 
 they shall bring all your brethren out of all the nations 
 for an offering unto the Lord^ upon horses, and in 
 chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift 
 beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, 
 as the children of Israel bring their offering in a clean 
 vessel into the house of the Lord. And of them also ai 
 will I take for priests and for Levites, saith the Lord. 
 
 Both Meshech and Tubal are mentioned in the cuneiform 
 inscriptions (Schrader, COT., i, pp. 64-7), and occur together in 
 Gen. X. 2. They were races dweUing east of Cappadocia and 
 north-east of Cilicia. Javan was the Semitic name for the Greek 
 (properly the Ionian) race scattered oyer the coastlands (R. V. 
 * isles') as well as islands of Asia Minor and the Mediterranean 
 {COT., i, p. 65 f.). Tarshish is the town Tartessus in Spain 
 (near the mouth of the Guadalquivir), well known to Herodotus 
 (i. 163), who was a contemporary of the Trito-Isaiah and Nehemiah 
 (see vol. i, p. 103). It is agreed among all critics that Pfil here 
 is a scribal error for Piit. Pitt appears to have been a Libyan 
 people. So LXX in Jeremiah and Ezekiel. See Driver's Genesis, 
 note on x. 6. Probably we should regard IiAd here as a North 
 African race and region rather than identify it with the Lydians of 
 Asia Minor conquered by Cyrus. 
 
 20. Overawed by the news of Yahweh's overwhelming mani- 
 festation of power, these peoples hasten to convey the scattered 
 representatives of the Hebrew race dwelling among them to Zion 
 as the offering of their homage to His might. The feminine form 
 in Hebrew rendered above 'swift beasts' is rightly interpreted in 
 R. V. margin 'dromedaries' (following Ibn 'Ezra and Kimhi). 
 
 21. And of them also obviously refers to the Israelites of the 
 Dispersion, who were to be conveyed by Gentiles to the homeland. 
 About this recent commentators (including Kittel, Duhm, and 
 Marti) are agreed, though in former times a large number of 
 authorities— including Gesenius, Ewald, Delitzsch, Orelli, and 
 Baudissin— held that it was the converted Gentiles from whom 
 priests were to be chosen. But the whole context and spirit of 
 the Trito-Isaiah are against the supposition of such a splendid 
 xssertion of universalism. It has been a matter of dispute whether 
 we ought to read * for priests and for Levites ' with LXX and old 
 versions and numerous Hebrew MSS. (see Curtiss, Levitical 
 
338 ISAIAH 60. 22-24 
 
 22 For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I w^ill 
 make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall 
 
 23 your seed and your name remain. [And it shall come to 
 pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one 
 sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before 
 
 24 me, saith the Lord. And they shall go forth, and look 
 upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed 
 against me : for their worm shall not die, neither shall 
 
 Priests, p. 205 foil.). At the time when the Trito-Isaiah wrote, 
 the Deuteronomic system still held sway in which no distinction was 
 drawn between the Priests and Levites. After the reforms 
 introduced by Nehemiah, when the system developed in the 
 Priestercodex came to be enforced, this distinction was maintained. 
 The insertion of ' and ' into various texts of this passage (on which 
 the versions were based) then arose. Render with Kittel, Duhm, 
 and others < for Levite-priests \' 
 
 22. A promise of permanence to Israel's race and power at the 
 dawn of this new era worthily concludes the oracles of the Trito- 
 Isaiah. 
 
 23-24 are an appended conclusion by a later hand beginning 
 with the familiar recurring formula And it shall come to pass. 
 We recognize the same spirit that added the glosses to chap, xlviii — 
 the same touch of pessimistic gloom that belongs to an age of 
 decadence. In this case the phraseology clearly betrays the 
 later origin — e.g. the use of shabbdtJi in the sense of 'week,' 
 which only belongs to later Hebrew (as Num. xxviii. 10; Lev. xxiii. 
 15, XXV. 8) as well as Aramaic (reflected in Mark xvi. 2, 9). Also 
 the word demon, meaning ' abomination ' or ' horror ' (abhorring" 
 R. V.) is quite late, being found in Dan. xii. 2. Evidently the 
 ecclesiastical system of the Priestercodex had been long established, 
 * As often as the month is at its new moon and the week returns 
 at its sabbath.' The dreadful spectacle of the carcases of the 
 wicked amid the worms and fires of the valley of Hinnom % on 
 which the righteous fix their gaze, belongs to a much later stadium 
 
 ^ Delete the preposition which precedes the word ' I>evites ' in our 
 Hebrew text (i.e. read W'h D^^TOb). 
 
 '^ Ge-Hinnom, south and west of Jerusalem, was in the eighth and 
 seventh centuries associated with the dark rites of Molech worship with 
 its human sacrifices (2 Kings xiii. 10). See vol. i, p. 193. In later 
 days this name assumed the form Ge-Henna, a term used to designate 
 the place of torment for the wicked. 
 
ISAIAH 66. 24 339 
 
 their fire be quenched ; and they shall be an abhorring 
 unto all flesh.] 
 
 of Jewish thought than that of the Trito- Isaiah. It was the age when 
 Ge-Henna as a place of torment for the wicked was a part of its 
 eschatology, in which ' this accursed valley is for those who are 
 accursed for ever ' (Enoch xxvii. a), Cf. Judith xvi. 17, Jesus Sir. 
 vii. 17. 
 
 We have travelled a long way and descended far below the 
 levels of the Deutero-Isaiah and the towering solitary peaks of the 
 Servant-Poems. We have to travel further still before we reach 
 the yet loftier height of Golgotha. Let the reader mark the 
 contrast between the language employed towards the 'brothers,' 
 the Samaritan schismatics, and Luke xxiii. 34 ; cf. Matt, xxiii. 37, 
 and also Matt. viii. 11, 12. For in Jesus, the Son of Man, we find 
 the true fulfilment of the ideal of the ' Servant of Yahweh.' 
 
 Z 2 
 
340 
 
 APPENDIX I 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 
 
 Date 
 
 Egypt 
 
 The Jews 
 
 Babylonia 
 
 Persia 
 
 556 
 
 . - 
 
 
 Accession of 
 
 
 B, C. 
 
 
 
 Nabonidus. 
 
 -Cyrus. 
 
 550 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 Conquest of 
 Media and 
 subsequently 
 of Lydia. 
 
 545 
 
 
 The Deiiterolaaiah. 
 
 
 
 538 
 
 
 Isa. xl-lv. 
 
 Conquest of Babylon by Cyrus, 
 Downfall of the Neo-Baby- 
 Ionian and establishment of 
 the Persian Eiipire. 
 
 537-6 
 
 
 Restoration of Jew- 
 ish Exiles by 
 Cyrus. 
 
 . 
 
 529 
 
 
 
 Death of Cyrus and accession 
 of Cambyses. 
 
 527-5 
 
 Conquest 
 of Egypt 
 by Cam- 
 
 
 
 
 byses. 
 
 Isa.lxiii.7— Ixiv. 12. 
 
 
 523 
 
 
 
 Suicide of Cambyses. 
 
 521 
 
 
 
 Pseudo-Smerdis — Darius I, 
 son of Hystaspes, begins his 
 reign. 
 
 520 
 
 
 Temple - rebuilding 
 commenced under 
 Zerubbabel and 
 Joshua. Prophetic 
 activity of Haggai 
 and Zechariah, 
 
 
 516 
 
 
 Temple completed. 
 
 
 500 
 
 
 
 Ionian revolt against Darius. 
 
 490 
 
 
 
 Defeat of the Persians at 
 
 
 
 
 Marathon. 
 
 
APPENDIX I 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE (continued) 
 
 341 
 
 Egypt 
 
 The Jews 
 
 Aramaic papyri discovered at 
 Elephantine (Yeb) and Syene 
 belonging to Jewish settlers * 
 
 (471-407 B.C.). 
 
 Malachi and Ezra. 
 
 The Trito-Isaiah. 
 
 Isa. Ivi-Ixvi. 
 
 Arrival oiNehemiah 
 at Jerusalem. 
 
 Walls rebuilt. Re- 
 organization of 
 cultus. 
 
 Priesiercodex. 
 
 Joel prophesies. 
 
 Persia 
 
 Death of Darius I and acces- 
 sion of Xerxes I (Kshayar- 
 sha). 
 
 Defeat of the Persians at 
 Thermopylae and Salami's 
 [Herodotus and Aeschylus]. 
 
 Assassination of Xerxes. Ac- 
 cession of Artaxerxes I, 
 Longimanus (Artakshathra). 
 
 [Socrates, Sophocles, Aristo- 
 phanes.'] 
 
 Death of Artaxerxes L Ac- 
 cession of Xerxes II {Sog- 
 dianus). 
 
 Accession of Darius II 
 (Nothns). 
 
 Death of Darius II and ac- 
 cession of Artaxerxes II 
 {Mnemon). 
 
 [Euripides, Plato, Xenophon]. 
 
 Defeat of Cyrus the Younger 
 at the Battle of Cuna.xa. 
 Xenophon leads back the 
 10,000 Greeks. 
 
 ^ Edited by Sachau (Elephantine) and by Cowley and Sayce (Syene). 
 
342 
 
 APPENDIX II 
 
 INSCRIPTION ON THE CLAY CYLINDER OF CYRUS, 
 KING OF PERSIA (538-529 b. c.) 
 
 Basedow the Transcription and Rendering of Prof. Eberhard 
 ScHRADBR {KIB., vol. Hi, Part 2, p. 120 foil.), with some 
 
 suggested CORRECTIONS BY ReV. C. H. W. JoHNS, M.A. 
 
 [Lines 9-35. The earlier and subsequent portions of the 
 inscription are seriously mutilated.] 
 
 9. At this insolence (? tazimti) the lord of gods was very 
 wrath . . . destroyed their wall (?). The gods which dwelt there 
 forsook their dwellings (10.) in anger because he (Nabonidus) had 
 carried them to §uanna (Babylon). Marduk (Merodach) . . . 
 and the people (11.) of Sumer and Akkad who resembled corpses (?) 
 he allowed to go . . . permitted the return of the entirety of all 
 lands ; . . . 12. was concerned about the righteous king whom he 
 bore in his heart, whose hand he held, about Cyrus king of 
 An§an, whose name he proclaimed, for kingship ; over the entirety 
 of the world was his name declared. 
 
 13. The land Kutu, the whole of the Manda troops, he (Marduk) 
 subjected to his (Cyrus's) authority ; the dark-headed ones (or 
 Babylonians) he (Marduk) delivered into his (Cyrus's) hands. 
 
 14. With justice and rectitude he cared for them (?). Marduk, 
 the Lord, the protector {tarn) of his people, looked with 
 joy upon his (Cyrus's) beneficent deeds and upright heart. 
 
 15. He commanded his (Cyrus's) march to his own (Marduk's) 
 city Babylon, caused him to take the road to Tintir (Babylon). 
 Like a friend and helper he marched by his side. 16. Whose far- 
 extended hosts, whose number like the waters of a river, cannot 
 be estimated ; who marched with weapons girded at his side. 
 17. Without battle or encounter he (Marduk) caused him to enter 
 Suanna, his town Babylon he with trouble spared. Nabonidus, 
 who had no reverence for him (Marduk) he (Marduk) delivered up 
 to his (Cyrus's) hand. 18. The inhabitants of Tintir (Babylon) alto- 
 gether, all Sumer and Akkad, the great ones and the viceroys 
 abased themselves before him, kissed his feet, rejoiced in his 
 kingship. Their countenance shone. 
 
 19. The Lord [i. e. Marduk], who in assurance that he brings 
 the dead to life, maintains all amid trouble and sorrow, approached 
 him graciously. His name thundered forth : 20. I, Cyrus, king 
 
APPENDIX II 343 
 
 of hosts, great king, mighty king, king of Tintir, king of 
 Sumer and Akkad, king of the four regions ; ai. son of 
 Cambyses, the great king, the king of Anian, grajidson of Cyrus, 
 the great king, king of AnSan, great-grandson of Sispis (Tei'spes), 
 the great king, the king of AnSan ; 22. the eternal seed {zirti) 
 of royalty whose kingdom Bel and Nebo love, whose rule they 
 longed for to their hearts' joy— I made my entry into Babylon 
 in peace. 23. I adopted with joy and pleasure the royal palace as 
 m}' lordly residence. Marduk the great lord . . . inhabitants (?) 
 of Babylon. . . On this day. . . (24.) my far-extended armies spread 
 themselves forth in Babylon in peace. I caused all the [in- 
 habitants of Sumer and] Akkad to have no adversary. 25. Amid 
 Babylon and all its towns I was ... in friendship . . . with the 
 inhabitants of Tintir. . . 26. Their wrongs I set right, put an 
 end to their grievance (sarbu). In order to execute this ...(?) 
 Marduk, the great Lord, gave instructions. 27. Unto me, Cyrus, 
 the king who reveres him, and Cambyses my son, the issue of 
 my body . . . unto my entire army (28.) he graciously drew 
 nigh, in friendship before it he beneficently . . . The whole of the 
 kings who dwell in (royal) chambers. 29. Who from the world 
 in its entirety from the upper sea to the lower sea [such as dwell 
 inland ?], the kings of the land Amurri (Phoenicia and Palestine), 
 the inhabitants of . . . all of them (30.) brought their rich tribute 
 and in Suanna (Babylon) kissed my feet. From . . . the towns 
 of Asur and Istar ... 31. Agadi, Agnunnak Zamban, Me- 
 Turnu, Durili to the district of Kutu, towns on the Tigris 
 whose abode from old time lay in ruin (padu), (32.) the gods who 
 dwelt in them I brought back to their place, caused them to 
 inhabit a permanent abode. All their inhabitants I assembled, 
 re-erected their dwellings. 33. Moreover the gods of Sumer and 
 Akkad whom Nabunaid (Nabonidus), to the indignation of the 
 lord of gods, had brought into Suanna (Babylon)^, at the com- 
 mand of Marduk the great lord (34.) I caused to dwell in their 
 abode in security, a dwelling acceptable to their heart. May all 
 the gods whom I have brought into their towns (35.) daily offer 
 intercessions before Bel and Nebo during the length of my days, 
 may they proclaim the utterance of my favour, and unto Marduk, 
 my lord, may they declare how Cyrus the king who reveres 
 thee and Cambyses his son . . . 
 
 * This line 33 clearly explains the allusion to the policy of 
 Nabonidus in the defective lines 9, 10 above. 
 
ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS 
 
 Vol. I. pp. 27, 316. 'Rahab sit still' is the conventional 
 rendering of the conventional Massoretic text, which Hensler 
 reads ' Rahab the vanquished ' {Rahab hamnioshbdth). This is 
 accepted by Gunkel, Budde, and Cheyne, and is probably correct. 
 
 p. 138, last line, for ' allied kings ' read ' Assyrian king.' 
 
 p. 246, Isa. xxi. II. The ancient Greeks varied between three 
 and five watches. See VoUbrecht on Xenophon's Anabasis 
 (Introd.) who speaks of three, and Eurip., Rhesus. 543 which 
 alludes to a /i/th watch. 
 
 p. 265. Isa. xxiii. 15 foil. The Phoenicians of Tyre were 
 apparently celebrated for their music and singing. Comp. the 
 a.pxaiofji.e\i(r})(nSa}vocl)pvvixvpaTa of Aristophanes {Wasps 220) and 
 Ezek. xxvi. 13. 
 
 p. 347, line 4 from below. Isa. li. 11 is a late insertion, and is 
 derived from Isa. xxxv. 10, where metre as well as sense show it 
 to have been original. 
 
 Vol. II, p. 243 foil. The hand figured on Carthaginian votive 
 stones is capable of explanation as having a magical origin. It 
 served as a prophylactic to the depredator or the evil eye. 
 According to Westermarck (art. on ' Magic Origin of Moorish 
 Designs ' in Journal of the Anthropological Institute, xxxiv 
 (1904), p. 211 foil.). 'If a Moor suspects some one of looking 
 at him with an evil eye ... he stretches out the five fingers 
 of the right hand towards the eyes of the other and says : 
 hamsa 'ala 'ainak "five in your eye" ! The hand is supposed to 
 have the power of throwing back on the other the evil influence.' 
 A missionary from Morocco has confirmed to the present writer 
 what Westermarck has alleged. Inside or on the door of the shop 
 or house, often inside the threshold, may constantly be seen the 
 blackened figure of a hand as a prophylactic. Dr. Haddon states 
 that this magic tradition is to be found throughout the Mediter- 
 ranean littoral. It seems to be based on the conception of a 
 power or numen residing in the hand, indicated in the phrase 
 n' bvh \i3i in Gen. xxxi. 29, ' it is in the power of my hand' ; cf. 
 Prov.' iii. 27 ; Mic. ii. i ; Deut. xxviii. 32. See Brockelmann in 
 ZATW., 1906. p. 29 foil. 
 
 Respecting l» in the sense of ' memorial,' ' monument,' see 
 Gottheil, ibid. p. 277 f. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Aben 'Ezra : see Ibn 'Ezra. 
 
 Abraham, 21, 69, 312. 
 
 Abu Habba, 76. 
 
 Ahab, 253. 
 
 Ahava, 11. 
 
 Ahaz, 29. 
 
 Ahriman (Angromainyu), 121, 
 122. 
 
 Ahura-mazda (Aurmazd), 121. 
 
 Amasis, 10. 
 
 Amon, 4. 
 
 Amos, 77, 180. 
 
 Angelology, 299. 
 
 Animals, 98 ; taboo with sacro- 
 sanct flesh, 319 f. 
 
 Anoint, 290. 
 
 Anshan (Anzan), 61. 
 
 Antelope, 184. 
 
 Antimony (Stibium), Sulphuret 
 of, 214. 
 
 Aramaic papyri, 161, 228f., 263. 
 
 Aristophanes, 344. 
 
 Arms, metaphorical use of, 277. 
 
 Artaxerxes Ochus, 307. 
 
 Ariichak, 267 (R.V, 'healing'). 
 
 Assouan {see Syene). 
 
 Assyria, 3, 4, 187, 188, 216. 
 
 Astyages, 61, 65. 
 
 A§urbanipal, 4, 7. 
 
 Baalzebub, 78. 
 
 Babylon, Babylonia, passim. 
 
 Bacher, 104. 
 
 Baentsch, 58, 62. 
 
 bard, * create,' 82. 
 
 Bar Cochba, 45. 
 
 Barton, 167. 
 
 Bathgen, 252 n. 
 
 Baudissin, 337. 
 
 Bel (Marduk), 33, 108 : see Mar- 
 
 duk. 
 Bennett, 21, 128, 179, 282. 
 Berosh, 75. 
 Bertholet, 195. 
 Beth essentiae, 55, 146. 
 Be'Ulah, 297 f. 
 Black obelisk (Shalmaneser II\ 
 
 183. 
 Book of the Covenant, 319. 
 Borsippa, 52, 131. 
 Bosheth, name for deity, 255. 
 Bousset, 42, 197 n., 209. 
 Bowl {kos), 34. 
 Bozrah, 302 f.. 
 Budde, 136, 171, 183, 184, 189, 
 
 199, 205, 306, 308 n. 
 
 Calamus, see Sweet-cane, 
 Cambyses, 229, 340, 343. 
 Carbuncles, 215, 285 n. 
 Casiphia, 11. 
 Casus pendens, 113. 
 Chantepie de la Saussaye, 77, 
 
 121. 
 Chemosh, 77. 
 Cheyne, passim. 
 China, 160 (identified with 
 
 Sinim) : see Syene. 
 Clericus, 55. 
 Clothing, metaphorical use of, 
 
 277. 
 Contract-tablets, 217. 
 Cook, Stanley, 74. 
 Cornill, 12, 19, 189, 230, 269 n. 
 Cosmogony, 57 f., 60 f., 179. 
 Covenant-people, 83. 
 Creation story (Babylonian), 
 
 33»i78f. 
 
346 
 
 ISAIAH (40-66) 
 
 Croesus, 6i, 119. 
 
 Curtiss, S. Ives, 231 f., 337. 
 
 Cyrus, 16, 17, ai, 28, 30, 31, 
 
 3a, 49, 52, 6r, 65, 78 f., 108, 
 
 115 f., 14a, 148 f., 15a, 187, 
 
 194, 276, 342 f. 
 Cyrus-cylinder (clay cylinder), 
 
 33, 118, 119 f., 328, 343 f. 
 Cyrus-NabonidusChronicle, 1 16. 
 
 Dagon, 131. 
 
 Dalman, 153. 
 
 Daniel, Book of, io6. 
 
 Darius Hystaspis, 121, 330, 
 
 340. 
 Darius II (Nothus), 229, 341. 
 David, 15. 
 Deeds, 217. 
 Delitzsch, Franz, 55, 60, 64, 
 
 69, 82, loa, 164, 201, 203, 
 
 213, 252, 267, 290, 309. 
 Delitzsch, Fried., 17a. 
 Demon, 78. 
 Deuteronomy, Deuteronomic, 
 
 5, 89, 99, 235 f., 343. 
 Deutero-Zechariah, 151. 
 De Wette, 252. 
 Diaspora, 43, 280. 
 Dillmann, ar, 96, 157, 164, 300. 
 Divorce, writ of, 168. 
 Doderlein, 254 n., aSx n. 
 Door-posts, 253. 
 Dor, 204. 
 
 Drink-offering, 252. 
 Driver, 35, 134, 189, 218, 228, 
 
 233 f., 252 n., 259, a62, 263, 
 
 267, 337. 
 Dromedaries, 337. 
 Dualism (Persian), 121. 
 Duhm, passim. 
 Dust-eating, as a phrase, 327. 
 
 Edersheim, 153. 
 Edom, 234, 301-5. 
 Eerdmanns, 226 n. 
 Egypt, I, ID, a8, 52, 93, 97, 
 150, 160 f., i79f., 187, 340 f. , 
 
 Eichhorn, 30, 64, 280. 
 
 El, 58, 82. 
 
 Eleazar, 195. 
 
 Elephantine, 228 f. (Yeb^. 
 
 Elohim, 58, 202. 
 
 Enoch (Book of), 41 f., 325. 
 
 Enosh : see 'Man.' 
 
 Ephah, 282. 
 
 Ephod, no, 
 
 Ephraim, loa. 
 
 Erman, 52. 
 
 Esarhaddon, 4. 
 
 Eschatology (in Deutero- 
 
 Isaiah), 39. 
 Ethiopia, 28, 92, 93, 125 f. 
 Ewald, 31 n, 51, 55, 64, 66, 69, 
 
 83, 86, 96, 126, 128, 185, 201, 
 
 215, 216, 246, 252, 309, 311, 
 
 315 n., 337. 
 Ezekiel, 12, 13-17, 25, 69, 138, 
 
 160, 169, 183, 190, 231, 236 f., 
 
 254 f., 321. 
 Ezra, 242, 246, 258, 300. 
 
 Face of Baal, 272. 
 False prophets, 139. 
 Fasts, 263, 265 n. 
 Flint, 172. 
 
 Forgiveness, 38, 102. 
 Fortune : see Gad. 
 Frankincense, 32, lor, 282. 
 Friedlander, M,, 43, 46. 
 
 Gad, 323. 
 
 Ganneau, Clermont, 232. 
 Gardens in Babylonia, 176. 
 Ge-Hinn6m (Ge-Henna), 252, 
 
 338. 
 Genitive, epexegetic, 55. 
 Gentiles, 194, 199. 
 Ger, 43. 
 Gesenms, 30, 51, 60, 64, 95, 
 
 103, 253, 281, 337. 
 Giesebrecht, 12, 24, 27, 84, 154, 
 
 155, 158, 181, 193, 197, 199, 
 
 203 f., ao6f. 
 Gilgamesh epic, loi. 
 
INDEX 
 
 347 
 
 Glory of Yahweh, 278 n. 
 
 Gnomic Perfect, 262. 
 
 God (ideas of) in Deutero- 
 
 Isaiah, 36 f. 
 Goel, 72, 279. 
 Gog, 197 n. 
 
 Gratz, 72, 85, 215, 285. 
 Gressmann, 52, 77, 134, 197 n., 
 
 210, 276 n., 307. 
 Gunkel, 21, 52, 95, 128. 
 
 Haddon, 344. 
 Hades {Sheof), 114. 
 Haggai, 21, 125, 225, 229 f. 
 Hand = memorial, 243 f. ; 
 = phallus (?), 254 ; in magic, 
 
 344- 
 Hasidint^ 41, 249 {Hesed). 
 Hengstenberg, 99, 103, 290. 
 Henotheism, 77. 
 Hephes, in sense of 'occupation,' 
 
 270. 
 Hephsibah, 297 f. 
 Herodotus, 119. 
 Hezekiah, 4. 
 Hillei 45. 
 Hitzig, 51, 60, 64, 95, 114, 126, 
 
 156, 204, 215, 252, 309. 
 Hofmann, 193 n. 
 Holy (Holiness), 61 ; 'holy 
 
 city,' 143, 259. 
 Holzinger, 21. 
 Hommel, 76. 
 Horace, 171, 
 Hosea, 102, 321. 
 Hosts, 62, 144, 299 {Sebdoth). 
 Houbigant, 103, 105. 
 Hypostasis, 271. 
 
 Ibn 'Ezra, 96, 128, 137, 193, 
 252, 281, 294, 296, 309. 
 
 Idols, idolatry, 106, no, 144. 
 
 Immanuel, 5, 15. 
 
 Immortality, 196. 
 
 Inauguration to prophetic call- 
 ing, 153- 
 
 Irrigation, 32, 
 
 Isaiah (of Jerusalem), 3 f., 102, 
 
 141, 216. 
 Ishtar (Utar), 6, 7, 138. 
 Israel, God's relation to, 38 f. 
 Izates, 44. 
 
 Jacob, 102. 
 
 Jastrow, 116, 141, 20a n. 
 
 Javan, 337. 
 
 Jehoahaz (Shallum), 5. 
 
 Jehoiachin, 26. 
 
 Jehoiakim, 8. 
 
 Jensen, 101, 320. 
 
 Jeremiah, 5-9, 26, 51, 102, 138, 
 
 161, 218, 237, 284, 325. 
 Jeremias, 58, 62, loi, 119, 176. 
 Jerome, 60, 65. 
 Jerusalem, New, 279 f. 
 Jeshurun, 104. 
 Jezebel, 214. 
 Job, 20, 41. 
 Johns, 12, 217, 344. 
 Jonah, 41. 
 Josephus, 44. 
 Joshua, 125. 
 Josiah, 5, 329. 
 Jubilees, Book of, 326. 
 Judgment, 242. 
 
 Kanu : see Sweet-cane. 
 Kautzsch, 124. 
 Kebar, 11. 
 Kedar, 86, 283. 
 Kennedy, 217. 
 Kert, 187, 289, 309. 
 kethibh, 187, 289, 309. 
 Ketoreth, loi. 
 Kimhi, 65, 193, 280, 296. 
 Kinah (elegiac) metre, 53, 54, 71, 
 ' 115, 136, 171, 183, 295, 297. 
 Kingu, 33. 
 Kittel, 32, 51, 80, 108, 112, 
 
 117, 143, 164, 215, 311, 337. 
 Klostermann, 85, 103, 112, 145, 
 
 156, 214 n., 285, 311. 
 Knobel, 51, 204. 
 ' Know,' in Hebrew, 262, 
 
348 
 
 ISAIAH (40-66) 
 
 Kohl, 214. 
 
 Koppe, 30, 280. 
 
 Kosters, 31, 125, 195, 225 n., 
 
 27611. 
 Kuenen, 225, 245. 
 
 Lagarde, 59 n., 302, 303. 
 Lamentations (of Jeremiah), 
 
 265 n. 
 Larsa, 76. 
 Lebh ('heart') properly mind 
 
 of man, 56. 
 Lebhonah : see Frankincense. 
 Lehmann, 121. 
 Levi, 20 ; Levites, 337 f. 
 Lidzbarski, 323. 
 Littmann, Enno, 236 f., 254, 
 
 256, 276 n, 302, 307 f. 
 Lofthouse, 13. 
 Lowth, 30, 53, 64, 86, 114, 
 
 137, 184, 185, 207, 213, 252, 
 
 277, 281. 
 Lud, 337. 
 Luther, 204, 309. . 
 
 Magic, 109, 140, 250 ; magic 
 
 broth, 319. 
 Malachi, 21, 225. 
 Man (in his limitation) =^;?os/?, 
 
 180, 242. 
 Manasseh, 4, 319. 
 Marduk (Merodach), 16, 33, 
 
 52, 95, 131, 148, 179) 228. 
 Marti, passim. 
 Me'il, ' tunic,' 295. 
 Memorial, 253. 
 Mem' (Manat), 323. 
 Mesha, stone of, 132. 
 Meshech, 336 f. 
 Messiah, Messianic expectation, 
 
 218 ; absence in Trito-Isaiah, 
 
 235, 279, 291. 
 Meyer, ir, 124, 125, 227. 
 Micaiah, 103. 
 Michaelis, 60. 
 Milk, 217. 
 Minhah, 100, 252 f. 
 
 Mishpdt, 81, 89. 
 
 Moab, 77, 329. 
 
 Mohar, 168, 
 
 Moloch (Molech)^ 252, 255. 
 
 Monotheism, 77. . 
 
 Moon-god (5m), 138. 
 
 Moore, 164. 
 
 Morag, 73. - 
 
 Mordtmann, 168. 
 
 Mosd, 74 : see Water-channel. 
 
 Moses, 153, 306, 310 f. 
 
 Moth, 177 f. 
 
 Mouse, 320, 335. 
 
 Muhammad, 69. 
 
 Nabonidus (Nabunaid), 33, 76. 
 
 Nabopolassar, 132. 
 
 Nagelsbach, 102, 290. 
 
 Nahum, 189. 
 
 Name, 244. 
 
 Namtar, 202, 
 
 Nebaioth, 282, 283. 
 
 Nebo, 16, 76, 108, 131, 138, 148. 
 
 Nebuchadrezzar- (Nebuchad- 
 nezzar"), II, 16, 76, 19T, 211, 
 285, 308. 
 
 Nebuzaradan, 103. 
 
 Nehemiah, 125, 171, 246, 258, 
 259> 269, 279, 300, 308, 316, 
 338. 
 
 Nergal, 138. 
 
 New Covenant, 8, 83, 218. 
 
 Nineveh, 139. 
 
 Niph'al tolerativum, 203 n., 
 219 n., 318 n. 
 
 Nowack, 189. 
 
 ' Nursing father' : see Omen. 
 
 Oak (terebinth), 251 f. 
 
 Oholibah, 183. 
 
 Oil of jo}', 292. 
 
 dmen, ' nursing father,' 165. 
 
 Oort, 53, 72, 85, 94, 103, 112, 
 
 156, 174, 185, 281, 311. 
 Orelli, 96, 290, 296, 337. 
 Orcu {en'nu Assyr.)/ fir,"pine,' 
 
INDEX 
 
 349 
 
 Osiris, 355. 
 
 Ottley, 157, 175, 186, 208. 
 
 Paul, St., 45, 172. 
 
 Peake, 14, 41, 199, 206. 
 
 Pe'al'al form, 291 n. 
 
 Peniel (Penuel), 272. 
 
 Persia, 17, 286 n., 299, 
 
 Pesel, no. 
 
 Petrie, Flinders, 335 n. 
 
 Phallus, 254. 
 
 Pharaoh, 312. 
 
 Pharaoh Apries (Hophra' ;, 10. 
 
 Pharaoh Necho, 5. 
 
 Philo, 44. 
 
 Pillar, 252.: 
 
 Plucking the hair, 171. 
 Post, 178. - 
 Prayer, 244 f., 327. 
 Premundane existence, 153. 
 Proselytes, 42, 241 f. 
 Ptolemy Soter, 307. 
 Ptikh, 214. 
 Pul, 337. 
 Put, 337- 
 
 Rahab, 178 f. 
 
 Rashi, 65, 109, 128, 293. 
 
 Red Sea, 180. 
 
 Reshpa, 78. 
 
 ResuiTection of race, 196. 
 
 Revelation, Book of, 106. 
 
 Riehm, 178. 
 
 Righteousness, 37, 79 {sedek, 
 
 sedakah), 122, 124, 136. 175 f., 
 
 216, 342, 249, 257. 
 Rosenmiiller, 29 f,, 65. 69. 82. 
 
 95, 193, 203, 267. 
 Rothstein, 229 n., 308 
 Riiah (Spirit), 56, 
 
 Saadiah, 137, 162, 281, 293. 
 Saba, 50 (Sabeans), 125. 
 Sabbath, 232, 241 f., 244, 269 ; 
 
 -week, 338. 
 Sachau, 100, 229. 
 Sackcloth, 170. 
 
 Sagan, 79. 
 
 Samaritans, 250 f.,; .258 f. .; 
 
 Samaria, 297 ; schism, 317 f. 
 Sanballat, 331. 
 Sargon, 93. 
 Schian, 195 n. 
 Schrader, passtnt. 
 Schiirer, 42. 
 Schwally, 139, 
 Seba, 92. 
 
 Sebdoth ; 5^^ 'Hosts.'. . . 
 Seeker, 143, 185, 268. 
 Seetzen, 106. ... 
 Sellin, 26. . . 
 
 Sennacherib, 66, 87,. 132. 
 Servant of Yahweh, 18-29. 
 Servant-poems, iQ-j2% 36, 8of,, 
 
 152 f., 170 f., 192-210, 238:. - 
 Shallum : see Jehoahaz.- ... 
 
 Shammai, 45^ 
 
 Sharon, plain of, 322.. 
 Sheba, 92, 283. 
 Sheol : see Hades. 
 Shepherd = King, 117, 248. 
 Sibyl, Jewish, 44. 
 Siloam-inscription,.74. .. . 
 Simon ben Gamaliel, 45. 
 Sippar, 76. 
 Skinner, 37 f., 106. 
 Slave, Slavery, 12 (slave- girl, 
 
 137)7 169. 
 Smith, G. Adam, 37, 125, 217, 
 
 227, 230, 307 n. 
 Smith, Robertson, 105, 210, 
 
 320, 321, 330, 335. 
 Soothsaying, 116, 128, 141, 250. 
 Stade, 276 n,, 293. 
 Star-worship, 319. 
 Stier, 193 n. 
 Stone-symbol, 252. 
 Strauss-Torney, 160. 
 Style of Deutero-Isaiah, 35 f. ; 
 
 of Trito-Isaiah, 235 f. 
 Sun {Shamash), 138. 
 Sweet-cane (calamus), loi. 
 Swine, 320. 
 Syene, 92, 160 f. 
 
S50 
 
 ISAIAH (40-66) 
 
 Tallquist, 33. 
 
 Tanit, 272. 
 
 Tarshish, 337. 
 
 Tell Abib, II. 
 
 Tell-el-Amarna tablets, 34, 
 
 1x7, 166. 
 Temple of Sjlomon, 3x3 ; of 
 
 Zerubbabel, 316. 
 Temple-vessels, 182 f. 
 Terebinth confused in Heb. 
 
 with * God,' 252. 
 Tiamat, 33, 178, 179. 
 Tierce-measure, 56. 
 Tiglath-Pileser III, 92. 
 Tt'net'dae, 177. 
 Tohti, 57 (., 127. 
 Torah, 81, 89. 
 Toshdb, 43. 
 Tree -cultivation, iii. 
 Trito-Isaiah, 30, 143, 149, 223 ; 
 
 and thereafter, passim. 
 Tubal, 337. 
 
 Umbreit, 57. 
 
 Unclean, Uncleanness, of land, 
 
 99. 
 
 Universalism, 39 f 
 Ur, 76. 
 
 Vicarious sufiering, 209. 
 Vitringa, 55, 57, 86, 204. 
 
 Walls, named, 288. 
 
 Water-channel, 32,74, 105, 268. 
 
 Way, as ritual term, 262. 
 
 Weber, 209 f. 
 
 Weir, a68. 
 
 Wellhausen, 117 f., 124, 125, 
 
 214. 
 Westermarck, 344. 
 Wetzstein, 303. 
 Wife-purchase, 168. 
 Wildeboer, 226 n. 
 Willow, 105. 
 Winckler, 26, 166, 327. 
 
 Xenophon, 119, 341, 344. 
 
 Yahweh as judge (ShOphet), 
 
 196. 
 Yeb, 229. 
 
 Zebhahy 253. 
 
 Zechariah, 125, 225, 226, 229 f. 
 
 Zephaniah, 139. 
 
 Zerubbabel, 26, 29, 125, 218, 
 
 238, 279 ; temple of, 313. 
 Zimmern, 33, 101, 202 n. 
 
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