ers, and profane persons; to despisers of us prophetic word; to those who honour part in the righteome and AFTER XLIX. Mesriah to the Gentiles. se of g to this ju. to Jews and Genti 1 be not ga-A in the eyes hall be m ht thi rais h clause of the v no fruit of my labour amo. with nothing but contempt, and asage from them; yet God sees my fide. diligence in my work, and he will give judgment for me, and amply reward me in due time. Verses 5, 6. And now, saith the Lord-These are the words of the Father, addressing his Son, now become incarnate for the redemption of mankind; that formed me from the womb-This refers to the is successors, and human nature of Christ formed in the womb of the x. 9; Ezek. xxxiv. 23; Virgin by the Holy Ghost; to bring Jacob again to of Isaac is given to his pos-him-To convert the wicked and apostate Israelites. so here the name of Israel may Though Israel be not gathered-Be not brought to ven to Christ, not only because he God by my ministry: or, according to the reading om his loins, but also, because he was of the margin, that Israel may be gathered to him, and the great Israel, who, in a more emi- and I may be glorious, &c. The word on, be the ent manner, prevailed with God, as that name sig-gathered, implies that the Israelites were scattered milies; of whom Jacob, who was first called Israel, from God, and divided among themselves, as they head, is sometimes given to his body, the church, as world, having, as is said chap. liii. 6, turned every 1 Cor. xii. 12, so it is not strange if, on the contrary, one to his own way, and therefore they needed to be was but a the name of Israel, which properly belongs to the church, be given to Christ, the head of it. The words, however, may be rendered, Thou art my servant, unto, in, or for Israel, that is, to bring them back unto me, from whom they have revolted; or Israel is he in whom I will be glorified by thee. Verse 4. Then I said-By way of objection; I have laboured in vain-Lord, thou sayest thou wilt be glorified by my ministry; but I find it otherwise. I have spent my strength for naught-Without any considerable fruit of my word and works. "The words," says Vitringa, " contain the complaint of the Son of God, concerning the small fruit of his mission to the Jews, and the small hope of establishing and successfully propagating his kingdom among them; like that which is attributed to the same great Teacher and his apostles, chap. liii. 1. But at the same time he supports himself with the hope, that he should obtain a glorious and abundant fruit of his divine mission in the world; for that his judgment, or right, was with God, and the reward of his work laid up with him; who would take good care, according to his wisdom and justice, that the proper were, in a high degree, when Christ came into the gathered. It seems to be a metaphor taken from 3 thy the mo 'ch he be be with that chap. liii. 3, for men, both Jews and Gen- finished; and preserve thee-Unto that eternal king tiles, among whom he lived, did despise him from dom and glory which is prepared for thee. And member, abhorred both his person and his doctrine; Mediator and Surety of that covenant which is made their hearts; and the nation, of which he was a give thee for a covenant of the people-To be d and he was so far from being a temporal monarch between me and all my people, that is, all penitent servant of rulers, professing subjection, and paying To establish the earth-To settle the church upon that he came in the form of a servant, and was a and believing persons, whether Jews or Gentiles. tribute unto Cesar, and being treated by the rulers, firm foundations, and compose the great differences both of the Jews and Romans, like a servant, being despitefully used and crucified, which was then a kind of punishment inflicted only on slaves or servants. Kings shall see-Though for a time thou shalt be despised, yet after a while thou shalt be advanced to such glory, that kings shall look upon thee with reverence: and arisc-From their seats to worship thee. Because the Lord that is faithfulBecause God shall make good his promises to thee. And he shall choose thee-And although thou shalt be rejected by thine own people, yet God will manifest to the world that thou, and thou only, art the person whom he hath chosen to be the Redeemer of mankind. The words imply the wonderful progress of the gospel from small beginnings; and show that the Author of it, from being the contempt || of the great men of the world, should come to be the object of their adoration. Verse 8. Thus saith the Lord-God the Father unto Christ; In an acceptable time-Hebrew, ny p3, in the season of acceptance, as Bishop Lowth renders it, or, in a time of good-will, according to others: in that time when God shall, in a special manner, manifest his good-will to the sons of men; in the day of his grace and man's salvation, that is, in the time of the gospel, which was, and is, the time of God's peculiar good-will toward men, Luke ii. 14. In the days of thy flesh, when thou shalt in the world between God and man, Jews and Gentiles, Eph. ii. 13-16; as also to establish truth and righteousness upon earth, and subdue those lusts and passions which are the great disturbers of human society: to do which things was the great design of God in sending his Son into the world. To cause to inherit desolate heritages—That desolate places may be repaired and possessed: or to bring the heathen, who are in a desolate and forlorn condition, to be Christ's inheritance, according to Psalm ii. 8. Verses 9-11. That thou mayest say-Namely, with power and effect, as when God said, Let there be light; to the prisoners-To the Gentiles, who are fast bound by the cords of their sins, and taken captive by the devil at his will. Go forth-Come forth to the light, receive divine illumination. They shall feed, &c.-They shall have abundant provision in all places, yea, even in those which commonly are unfruitful, as are both common roads and high grounds. They shall not hunger, &c.-They shall be supplied with all good and necessary things, and preserved from all evil occurrences and annoyances, as the Israelites were in the wilderness, by the manna and other provision afforded them, and the pillar of the cloud and fire, a token of the divine presence and protection. For he that hath mercy on them shall lead them-God, who hath magnified his mercy to them, will conduct them with safety and comfort. And I will make all mountains a way-I will remove all hinderances, and prepare the way for them, by levelling high grounds, and raising the low. 17 Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee. "Heb. from having compassion.- b Rom. xi. 29.- Exod. xiii. 9; Cant. viii. 6.d Verse 19. and expressed in such pathetic terms, that nothing can exceed it in beauty and force; nothing can convey a stronger idea of the maternal, the more than maternal regard, which God hath for his people." Verses 12, 13. Behold, these shall come from far | Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee-My people shall be gathered from the most remote The turn in this clause is more expressive than a parts of the earth. He speaks here, and in many volume. As if he had said, Earthly parents someother places, of the conversion of the Gentiles, with times are so unnatural and monstrous; but do not allusion to that work of gathering and bringing entertain such unworthy thoughts of me. Behold, back the Jews from all parts where they were dis- || I have graven thee upon the palms, &c.—Mine eye persed, into their own land. And these from the and heart are constantly upon thee. "This is cerland of Sinim-Either of the Sinites, as they are tainly an allusion," says Bishop Lowth, "to some called, Gen. x. 17, who dwelt about the wilderness; practice, common among the Jews at that time, of or of Sin, a famous city of Egypt, which may be put making marks on their hands or arms by punctures for all Egypt, and that for all southern parts. And on the skin, rendered indelible by fire or staining, so he here mentions the several quarters of the with some sort of sign, or representation of the city world where the generality of the Jews were dis- || or temple, to show their affection and zeal for it. It persed; the north, which is everywhere named as is well known that the pilgrims at the holy sepulchre the chief place of their banishment and dispersion, get themselves marked in this manner with what are as Jer. xvi. 15; and xxxi. 8, and elsewhere; the called the ensigns of Jerusalem. Maundrell, p. 75; west, the western countries and islands; and the where he tells us how it is performed: and this art south. Sing, O heavens, &c.—See note on chap. is practised by travelling Jews all over the world at xliv. 23. For the Lord hath comforted his people this day." See also Vitringa and Michaelis's notes. -God hath now sent the long-desired consolation Or the allusion may be merely to the common pracof Israel. tice of men, who use to put signs upon their hands Verse 14. But Zion said, &c.-This is an objec- or fingers, of such things as they especially wish to tion against all these glorious predictions and promi- remember. Thy walls are continually before me ses. How can these things be true when the condition-The ruins and desolations of my church are alof God's church is now so sad and desperate? Most commentators understand by Zion here, the Jewish Church, and suppose that the complaint which she is here represented as uttering, refers either to her Verse 17. Thy children-Or, as some, with equal desolate state when in Babylon, or to the time of propriety, render 7, thy builders; which renderher long dispersion and desolation in the days of the ing is favoured by the next clause, where the deMessiah. But Vitringa is of opinion that the Chris-stroyers are opposed to them, but the following verse tian Church is rather intended, and that the time referred to is that of her cruel persecution under the Romans. Be it which it may, God here declares that he will show her mercy, and destroy her mighty oppressors, verses 24-26. Verses 15, 16. Can a woman forget her sucking child-God is often represented as bearing a fatherly affection toward his people, but here the comparison is raised higher, and he speaks of himself as having a tenderness for them, similar to that which a mother hath toward the fruit of her womb. "The image is common and frequent; yet it is wrought up with so much grace, embellished with so much elegance, ways in my thoughts, nor shall I forget or neglect to repair them, and grant her deliverance from her enemies, and protection at the proper time. favours the former interpretation: the sense, however, is the same, for the church's children are her builders; shall make haste-To repair thy ruins and desolations, and build thee up. Thy destroyers, fc., shall go forth of thee-Shall be separated and driven from thee, and so shall neither hinder nor annoy thee. But this rendering, shall go forth of thee, says Bishop Lowth, "is very flat, after their zeal had been expressed by their being her builders: and as the opposition is kept up in one part of the sentence, one has reason to expect it in the other." He, therefore, renders in, shall proceed, spring, or issue, from thee; namely, as thy The calling of the A. M. 3298. B. C. 706. 18 Lift up thine eyes round || ears, The place is too strait for me: A. M. 3298. about, and behold: all these gather || give place to me that I may dwell. themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the LORD, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, fas with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth. 21 Then shalt thou say in thy heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been? 22 Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. 8 i Matt. iii. 9; Rom. xi. 11, 12, &c. Chap. lx. 4; lxvi. 20. Heb. bosom. their church; shall even now be too narrow-To contain the multitude of converts that shall be made. The middle wall of partition that separated the Jews from the Gentiles shall be broken down, and the pale of the church shall be enlarged. The chil children, and reads the whole verse thus: They that destroy thee shall soon become thy builders; and they that laid thee waste shall become thine offspring: the accession of the Gentiles to the church of God being properly considered as an addition made to the number of the family and children which thou shalt have, &c.—Hebrew, show, dren of Zion. The children of thy orbity, or, barren and childless state. Those children which thou shalt have when thou art past the ordinary age and state of childbearing, as Sarah in her old age was made the mother of a most numerous posterity; to which he seems to allude: those children which shall be begotten to thee by the gospel when thou shalt be thou shalt become barren as to the conversion of natural Jews; when the generality of the Jews shall cut themselves off from God and his true church, by their apostacy from him, and by their unbelief and rejection of their Messiah; shall say again-Or rather, shall yet say, though for the present it be far otherwise, The place is too strait for Verse 18. Lift up thine eyes round about-And behold numbers flocking unto thee from all quarters. All these shall gather themselves unto thee, &c.Namely, the Gentiles. Thy church, O Zion, shall not only be restored and established, but vastly enlarged and adorned by an accession of converts from various nations; and come unto thee-To re-deprived of thine own natural children, or when ceive instruction from thee, and to be incorporated with thee into one and the same church. Thou shalt clothe thee with them, &c.—Instead of being a disgrace, or a snare and occasion of sin to thee, (as the Gentiles formerly were, when they mixed themselves with the Jews,) they shall be an honour and ornament, in respect of those excellent gifts and graces wherewith they shall enrich and adorn thyme, &c.-This is figuratively spoken, merely to sigcommunity. The addition of such numbers to the church shall complete her clothing, and make her appear comely and considerable. And bind them on thee as a bride doth-The LXX. read, Tepinoεis GUTES WE KOOμOV vvμon, Thou shalt put them on thee as a bride her attire; supplying, as Bishop Lowth thinks, a word that appears to be wanting to complete the sense. "Zion clothes herself with her children as a bride clothes herself-with what? with some other thing, certainly ;" namely, her ornaments, jewels, or rich dress. nify the great enlargement of the church by the accession of the Gentiles. See chap. liv. 1. Then shalt thou say in thy heart-Not without admiration, Who hath begotten me these--Whence, or by whom, have I this numerous issue? Seeing I have lost my children-Seeing it is not long since that I was in a manner childless? And am desolateWithout a husband, being forsaken of God, who formerly owned himself for my husband, chap. liv. 5; Jer. xxxi. 32; a captive, and removing to and fro— In an unsettled condition, and not likely to bear and bring up children for God or myself. Who hath brought up these ?-The same thing is repeated in these words to express the miraculousness of this work, and the great surprise of the Jews at it: which shows that he speaks of the conversion of the Gentiles. Verses 19-21. For thy waste and desolate places, &c. He alludes to the land of Judea lying waste during the Babylonish captivity. Thus the church of God was in a waste, desolate, and barren state, till the coming of the Messiah, the introduction of the gospel, and the conversion of the Gentiles; and the land of thy destruction-Or, thy land of de- Verses 22, 23. I will lift up my hand to the struction. He still alludes to Judea, thus character- Gentiles-I will call them to me; and set up my ized, because it was devoted, and should be exposed standard to the people-As generals do, to gather to destruction, first by the Chaldeans, and again by their forces together. And they shall bring thy the Romans, a lively emblem of the ruined state of || sons-Those who shall be thine by adoption, who The future prosperity B. C. 706. ISAIAH. B. C. 706. of the church foretold. A. M. 3298. 23 1And kings shall be thy nursing || tives of the mighty shall be taken away, A. M. 3298. fathers, and their 10 queens thy nurs- and the prey of the terrible shall be ing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with delivered: for I will contend with him that contheir face toward the earth, and lick up the tendeth with thee, and I will save thy children. dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am 26 And I will feed them that oppress thee the LORD: for "they shall not be ashamed that with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken wait for me. with their own blood, as with 13 sweet wine: and all flesh 'shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. 24 T Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or "the lawful captive delivered? 25 But thus saith the LORD, Even the 12 cap q 1 Psa. lxxii. 11; Verse 7; Chap. lii. 15; Ix. 16.- Heb. • Matt. xii. 39; Luke xi. 21, 22.- 11 Heb. the captivity of the nourishes.10 Heb. princesses.m Psa. Ixxii. 9; Mic. vii. 17. || just. 12 Heb. captivity.-P Chap. ix. 20. Rev. xiv. 20; " Psa. xxxiv. 22; Rom. v. 5; ix. 33; x. 11. Psa. ix. 16; Chap. lx. 16. xvi. 6. 13 Or, new wine. shall own God for their Father, and Jerusalem for being taken in war, they were justly detained in their mother; in their arms—With great care and captivity till they should be ransomed or exchanged. tenderness, as nurses carry young infants: the sense So here was a double, or rather, treble impediment is, Even the heathen shall contribute to the increase to their deliverance; the great power of the enemy, and preservation of those children which shall be which kept them in bondage, and the justice of begotten to thee. And thy daughters shall be car- || God, and the usage of nations, which pleaded against ried, &c.-As sick or infirm persons used to be car- them. And yet their deliverance, however improried. And kings shall be thy nursing fathers—|| bable, was effected by the mercy and power of God. Kings and queens shall have a sincere affection and But this passage, as appears from the context, has a tender regard unto thee and thy children. Which || further reference: it respects the deliverance of was in some sort fulfilled by Cyrus, Ahasuerus, God's church and people from their spiritual as well and some few others of the Persian kings or queens; as temporal enemies. "God had promised very but much more truly and fully by those many kings great and excellent things to his church; but to a and emperors of the Gentile world who, after the person seriously considering the state thereof, and time of Christ, did both themselves embrace the true || comparing it with the power of his enemies, and religion, and also provide for the reception and es- || particularly its chief enemy, Satan, who held the tablishment of it in their dominions. They shall nations in the darkness of ignorance and superstibow down to thee, &c.-They shall highly reverence||tion, a doubt would naturally arise, whether it could and honour thee, and shall most humbly and readily possibly be that this prey, so long possessed by submit themselves unto thee. This was not verified Satan, could be rescued from him, so that he might in any of the Persian kings, but only in those kings be driven from his strong fort, and the rulers of the or emperors who were converted to the Christian world, held in subjection by him, might be deliverfaith and church. And lick up the dust of thy feet- ed from their servitude. Isaiah resolves this doubt These expressions are borrowed from the manners of the church, and teaches that it should certainly of the eastern people in their prostrations and ado- come to pass that Satan, this mighty one, should be rations, who bowed so low as to touch and kiss the driven from his fort, his captives delivered, (verse ground. For they shall not be ashamed that wait || 25,) and the adversaries of the church perish by for me--Their expectations shall not be disappoint- their mutual slaughter of each other." Thus Vied, but abundantly satisfied. tringa, who observes that verse 26, I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh, &c., is to be "understood metaphorically, and refers to the intestine wars, by which princes and people, armed to their mutual destruction, plunge their destroying swords in each other's bowels, and, as it were, feed upon each other's flesh and blood." See chap. ix. 20; Zech. xi. 9; Rev. xvi.6. They shall be drunken with their own blood as with new wine-I will make thine enemies destroy one another, and that greedily, and with delight. This prophecy was remarkably fulfilled in the time of the Roman emperor, Dioclesian, to which it is thought by some particularly to refer. Verses 24-26. Shall the prey be taken from the mighty-Here an objection is started against the forementioned promises, probably, 1st, Against the promise of the release of the Jews from their captivity in Babylon, suggesting that it was a thing not to be expected: for, verse 24, they were a prey in the hands of the mighty, of such as were then the greatest potentates of the earth; and, therefore, it was not likely they should be rescued by force; yet that was not all, they were lawful captives. By the law of God, having offended, they were justly delivered into captivity. And by the law of nations, 248 3 |