Notes on the Old and New Testaments

7 Thus saith the Lord, the j Kings shall see and arise, princes Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy j also shall worship, because of the One, to him 8whom man despis- | Lord that is faiv.hful, and the £th,r to him whom the "nation ab- Holy One of Israel, and he shall nmong all nations. We may learn hence, (1) that God will raise up the tribes of Jacob; that is, that large numbers of the Jews shall yet be " preserved," or recovered to himself; (2) that the gospel shall certainly be extended to the ends of the earth; (3) that it is an honour to be made instrumental in extending the true religion. So great is this honour, that it is mentioned as the lighest which could be conferred even on the Redeemer in this world. And if he deemed it an honour, shall we not also regard it as a privilege to engage in the work of Christian Missions, and to endeavour to save the world from ruin'? There is no higher glory for man than to tread in the footsteps of the Son of God; and he who, by self-denial and charity, and personal toil and prayer, does most for the conversion of this whole world to God is most like the Redeemer, and will have the most elevated seat in the glories of the heavenly world.

7. Thus saith the Lord. This verse contains a promise of the future honour that should await the Redeemer, and of the success which should crown his work. The sense is, that Jehovah had promised to him who was despised and rejected, that kings and princes should yet rise up and honour him. IT The Redeemer of Israel. See Note ch. xliii. 1. 11 To him whom man despiseth. On the construction of the Hebrew here, gee Gesenius, Vitringa, and Hengstenberg. The phrase ttJBa'iTOb i0 tJie despised of soul, means evidently one win is despised, rejected, contemned by men. The word soul here (^32) means the same as man; i. e. every man. 1: was a characteristic of him lhat he was despised and rejected by *ii; and the prophet, in this verse, has given a summary of all that he has said respecting him in ch. liii. IT To him whom the nation ahhorreih. The word " nation " here refers doubtless to the Jewish people, as in ch. i. 4, x. G. The word rendered " abhorreth " means for ' an abomination' (^JriTsb, Piel Part. from 35?PI), and the idea is, that he waa regarded as an abomination by the people. The same idea is more fully expressed in ch. liii. 3,4, that the Messiah would be rejected and treated with abhorrence by the nation as such — a statement which the slightest acquaintance with the New Testament will lead any one to see has been literally fulfilled. No being ever excited more abhorrence, no man was ever regarded with so much abomination by any people as Jesus of Nazareth was, and still is, by the Jewish people. He was condemned by the Sanhedrim; publicly rejected by the nation; and at the instigation and by the desire of the assembled people at Jerusalem, he was executed as a malefactor in the most shameful and ignominious manner then known. See Luke xxiii. 18-23. To this day, his name excites the utmost contempt among Jews, and they turn from him and his claims, with the deepest abhorrence. The common name by which he is designated in the Jewish writings is Tolvi, the crucified; and nothing excites more deep abhorrence and contempt than the doctrine that they, and all others, can be saved only by the merits of the crucified. The Chaldee renders all this in the plural, " to those who are contemned among the people, to lho3e who have migrated to other kingdoms, to those who serve other lords." ^ To a servant of rulers. This probably means that the Messiah voluntarily submitted himself to human power, and yielded obedience to human rulers. The idea, if interpreted by the facts as recorded

8 Thus saith the Lord, In an j acceptable1 time have I heard | thee, and in a day of salvation nave I helped thee: and I will

in the New Testament, is, that though he was the ruler of all worlds, yet he voluntarily became subject to human laws, and yielded submission and obedience to human rulers. For this purpose he conformed to the existing institutions of his country at the time when he lived; he paid the customary tax or tribute that was laid for the support of religion (Matt. xvii. 27); he submitted to a fial before the Sanhedrim, and before Pilate, though both were conducted in a manner that violated all the principles of justice; and he submitted to the unjust decree which condemned him to die. He was, therefore, all his life, subject to rulers. He was not only exemplary and strict in obeying the laws of the land; but he became in a more strict sense their servant, as he was deprived of his liberty, comfort, and life at their caprice. He refrained himself from exerting his divine power, and voluntarily became subject to the will of others. IT Kings shall see and arise. That is, kings shall see this, and shall rise up with demonstrations of respect and reverence. They shall see the fulfilment of the divine promises by which he is destined to be the light of the nations, and they shall render him honour as their teacher and Redeemer. To rise up, or to prostrate themselves, are both marks of respect and veneration. IT Princes also shall worship. The word here used, Viiin'iJ^, from "T^, means to bow down, to incline one's self. It then means to prostrate one's self before any one in order to do him honour or reverence. This was the customary mode of showing respect or reverence in the East. It consisted generally in falling upon the knees, and then touching the forehead to the ground, and is often alluded to in the Bible. See Gen. xlii. G, xviii. 2, xix. 1. Neh. viii. 6. This hop.our was paid not only to kings and preserve thee, and give thee fof a covenant of the people, to 2es« tablish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages:

princes as superior, 2 Sam. ix. 8, but also to equals, Gen. xxiii. 7, xxxvii. 7 9, 10. It was the customary form of religious homage, as it is still in the East, and denoted sometimes religious worship, Gen. xxii. 5. 1 Sam. i. 3; but not necessarily, or always. See Note Matt. ii. 11, comp. Matt. viii. 2, xiv. 33, xv. 25, xviii. 26. Mark v. 6. Here it does not mean that they would render to him religious homage, but that they would show him honour, or respect. T Because of the Lord thai is faithful. It is because Jehovah is faithful in the fulfilment of his promises, and will certainly bring this to pass. The fact that he shall be thus honoured shall be traced entirely to the faithfulness of a covenantkeeping God. IT And he shall choose thee. Select thee to accomplish this, and to be thus a light to the heathen world. It is needless to say that this has been fulfilled. Kings and princes have bowed before the Redeemer; and the time will yet come when in far greater numbers they shall adore him. It is as needless to say, that these expressions can be applied to no other one than the Messiah. It was not true of Isaiah that he was the light of the heathen, or for salvation to the ends of the earth; nor was it true of him that kings arose and honoured him, or that princes prostrated themselves before him, and did him reverence. Of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus alone, was all this true; and the assurance is thus given, that though he was rejected by his own nation, yet the time will come when the kings and princes of all the world shall do him homage.

8. Thus saith the Lord. Still an address to the Messiah, and designed to give the assurance that he should extend the true religion, and repair the evils of sin on the earth. The Messiah is represented as having asked for the divine favour to attend his efforts, and

9 That thou mayest say to the

his is the answer, and the assurance that hi3 petition had not been offered in vain, f In an acceptable time. Heb. • In a time of delight or will' i. e. a time when Jehovah was willing, or pleased to hear him. The word "pSl ratzon, means properly delight, satisfaction, acceptance, Prov. xiv. 35. lsa. lvi. 7; will, or pleasure, Ps. xl. 9. Esth. viii. 1. Dan. viii. 4-11; then also good-will, favour, grace, Prov. xvi. 15, xix. 12. The LXX render this Kainu> 6ckt&, in an acceptable time. So Jerome, Gesenius, and Hengstenberg render it, « in a time of grace or mercy.' The main idea is plain, that Jehovah was well pleased to hear him when he called upon him, and would answer his prayers. In a time of favour; in a time that shall be adjudged to be the best fitted to the purposes of salvation, Jehovah will be pleased to exalt the Messiah to glory, and to make him the means of salvation to all mankind. IT Have I heard thee. Have I heard thy petitions, and the desires of thy heart. The giving of the world to the Messiah is represented as iu answer to his prayer in Ps. ii. 8:

Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance,

And the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

IT And in a day of salvation. In a time when I am disposed to grant salvation; when the period for imparting salvation shall have arrived. 1T Have I helped thee. Have I imparted the assistance which is needful to accomplish the great purpose of salvation to the world. This passage is quoted by Paul in 2 Cor. vi. 2, and is by him applied to the times of the Messiah. It means that the time would come, fixed by the purpose of God, which would be a period in which he would be disposed, i. e. well pleased, to extend salvation to the world through the Messiah; and that n that time he would afford all the requisite aid and help by his grace, for iht extension of the true religion among.he nations. IF / will preserve thee. That is, the cause of the Redeemer prisoners, xGo forth; to them that would be dear to the heart of God, and he would preserve that cause from being destroyed on the earth. f And give thee for a covenant of the people. The 'people' (S3) refers doubtless primarily to the Jews — the better portion of the Israelitish people — the true Israel. Rom. ii. 28, 29. To them he was first sent, and his own personal work was with them. See Notes on ver. 6. On the meaning of the phrase " for a covenant," see Notes ch. xlii. 6. IT To establish the earth. Marg. as in the Heb. ' to raise up.' The language is derived from restoring the ruins of a land that has been overrun by an enemy, when the cities have beet* demolished, and the country laid waste. It is to be taken here in a spiritual sense, as meaning that the work of the Messiah would be like that which would be accomplished if a land lying waste should be restored to its former prosperity. In regard to the spiritual interests of the people, he would accomplish what would be accomplished if there should be such a restoration; that is, he would recover the true Israel from the ravages of sin, and would establish the church on a firm foundation. IT To cause to inherit the desolate heritages. The image here is taken from the condition of the land of Israel during the Babylonish captivity. It was in ruins. The cities were all desolate. Such, spiritually, would be the condition of Che nation when the Messiah should come; and his work would be like restoring the exiles to their own land, and causing them to re-enter on their former possessions. The one would be an appropriate emblem of the other; and the work of the Messiah would be like rebuilding dilapidated towns; restoring fertility to desolate fields; replanting vineyards and olive gardens; and diffusing smiling peace and plenty over a land that had been subjected ta the ravages oi fire and sword, and tha*. had long been a scene of mournful de» olation.

are in darkness, "Show yourselves: they shall feed in the oners, Go forth. This language occurs also in ch. xlii. 7. For an explanation of it, see the Notes on that place. IT To those that are in darkness. Synonymous with being prisoners, as prisoners are usually confined in dark cells. 1T Show yourselves. Heb. Reveal, or manifest yourselves; that is, as those who come out of a dark cell come into light, so do you, who have been confined in the darkness of sin, come forth into the light of the sun of righteousness, and be manifest as the redeemed. IF They shall feed in the ways. In the remainder of this verse, and in the following verses, the Messiah is represented under the image of a shepherd, who leads forth his flock to green fields, and who takes care that they shall be guarded from the heat of the sun, and shall not hunger nor thirst. The phrase " they shall feed in the ways," means, probably, that in the way in which they were going they should find abundant food. They should not be compelled to turn aside for pasturage, or to go and seek for it in distant places. It is equivalent to the language which so often occurs, that God would provide for the wants of his people, even when passing through a desert, and that he would open before them unexpected sources of supply, f And their pastures shall be in all high places. This means, that on the hills and mountains, that are naturally barren and unproductive, they should find an abundance of food. To see the force of this, we are to remember that in many parts of the East the hills and mountains arc utterly destitute of vegetation. This is the case with the mountainous regions of Horeb and Sinai, and even with the mountains about Jerusalem, and with the hills and mountains in Arabia De- Berta. The idea here is, that in i he wnvs* or paths that were commonly travelled, and where all verdure would be consumed or trodden down by the caravans, and on the hills that were usually barren and desolate, they would

ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.

10 They shall not hunger*" nol

find abundance. God would supply them as if he should make the green grass spring up in the hard-trodden way, and on the barren and rocky hills vegetation should start up suddenly in abundance, and all their wants should be supplied. This is an image which we have frequently had in Isaiah, and perhaps the meaning may be, that to his people the Redeemer would open unexpected sources of comfort and joy; that in places and times in which they would scarcely look for a supply of their spiritual wants, he would suddenly meet and satisfy them is if green grass for flocks and herds should suddenly start up in the down -trodden way, oi luxuriant vegetation burst forth on the sides and the tops of barren, rocky, and desolate hills. Harmer, however, supposes that this whole description refers rather to the custom which prevailed in the East of making feasts or entertainments by the sides of fountains or rivers. " To fountains or rivers," Dr. Chandler tell3 us in his Travels, " the Turks and the Greeks frequently repair for refreshment; especially the latter in their festivals, when whole families are seen sitting on the grass, and enjoying their early or evening repast, beneath the treas, by the side of a rill." Travels in Asia Minor, p. 21. Comp. 1 Kinga i. 9. Thus Harmer supposes that the purpose of the prophet is, to contrast the state of the Jews when they were shut up in prison in Babylon, secluded from fresh air, and even the light itself, or in unwholesome dungeons, with their state when walking at liberty, enjoying the verdure, and the enlivening air of the country; passing from the tears, the groans, and the apprehensions of such a dismal confinement, to the music, th* songs, and the exquisite repasts o. Eastern parties of pleasure. Sec Maimer's Observations, Vol. ii. pp. 18-25, Ed. Lond. 1808. The interpretation, however, above suggested seems to me most natural and beautiful.

thirst; neither shall the heat nor Bun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead 'them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.

All their wants shall be abundantly provided for, as a shepherd will provide for his flock. In the book of Revelation, this entire passage is applied (ch. vii. 16, 17) to the happiness of the re~ deemed in heaven, and the use which is made of it there is not foreign to the Bense in Isaiah. It means that the Messiah as a shepherd shall abundantly satisfy all the wants of his people; and it may with as much propriety be applied to the joys of heaven, as to the happiness which they will experience on earth. Their longing desires for holiness and salvation; their hungering and thirsting after righteousness (Matt. v. 6\, shall be abundantly satisfied. ^ Neither shall the heat nor sun smite tJr°m. In Rev. vii. 1G, this is," neither Bhali the sun light on them, nor any heat;" that is, the burning heat of the sun shall not oppress them — an image of refreshment, protection, and joy, as when the traveller in burning sands finds the grateful shade of a rock or of a grove. See Notes on ch. iv. 6, xiv. 3, xxv. 4, xxxii. 2. The word here rendered " heat " (-"|mj shdrabh), denotes properly heat, burning; and then the heated vapour which in burning desert! produces the phenomenon of the mirage. See it explained in the Notes on ch. xxxv. 7. It is equivalent here to intense heat; and means that they snail not be exposed to any suffering like that of the intense heat of the burning sun reflected from sandy wastes. V For he that hath?ncicy on them. That God Bnd Saviour who shall have redeemed them shall be their shepherd and their guide, and they shall have nothing to fear. IT Even by the springs of water. In Rev. vii. 17, "and shall lead them an to living fountains of waters." See Kctes ch xxxv. 6. The whole figure

12 Behold, these shall come from far; and lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.

in this verse is taken from the character of a faithful shepherd who conducts his flock to places where they may feed in plenty; who guards them from the intense heat of a burning sun on sandy plains; and who leads them beside cooling and refreshing streams. It is a most beautiful image of the tender care of the Great Shepherd of his people in a world like this — a world in its main features, in regard to real comforts, not unaptly compared to barren hills, and pathless burning sands.

11. And I will make all my mountains a way. I will make all the mountains for a highway; or an even, level way. That is, he would remove all obstructions from their path. The image is taken from the return from Babylon to the land of Palestine, in which God so often promises to make the hills a plain, and the crooked places straight. See Notes on ch. xl. 4. ^And my highways shall be exalted. That is, the way shall be cast up (see ch. lvii. 14, lxii. 10), as when a road is made over valleys and gulfs. Notes ch. xl. 4.

12. Behold, these shall come from far. That is, one part shall come from a distant land, and another from the north and the west. This is a statement of the fulfilment of the promise made to him (vs. 6, 7), that he should

1 be for a light to the Gentiles, and that kings and princes should rise up and honour him. The words " from far,'- denote a distant land without specifying the particular direction from which they would come. The most distant nations should embrace his religion, and submit to him. Lowth and Seeker understand it of Babylon; Grotius of the East, that is, Persia, and the other countries east of Judea. But it more properly denotes any distant country: and the sense is, that converts should be made from the most distant lands. ^ And lo, these. Another portion. IT From the north. The regions north of Palestine. IT And from the west. Heb. ' from the sea;' that is, the Mediterranean. This word h commonly used to denote the west. The western countries known to the Hebrews were some of the islands of that sea, and a few of the maritime regions. The idea here in general is, that those regions would furnish many who would embrace the true religion. If it be understood as referring to the Messiah, and the accession to his kingdom among the Gentiles, it is needless to say that the prediction has been already strikingly fulfilled. Christianity Boon spread to the west of Palestine, and the countries in Europe have been thu3 far the principal seat of its influence and power. It hao since spread still farther to the west; and, from a western world unknown to Isaiah, millions have come and acknowledged the Messiah as their Redeemer. 1T And these. Another portion, carrying out the idea that they were to come from every part of the world. IF From the land of Sinim. There have been many different opinions in regard to the * land of Sinim.' The name ' Sinim,'

V^"1?"^)* occurs nowhere else in the Bible, and of course it is not easy to determine what country is meant. It is evident that it is some remote country, and it is remarkable that it is the only land specified here by name. Some, it is said, should come from far, some from the north; others from the west; and another portion from the country here specifically mentioned. Jerome understands it of the south in general — isti de terra Australi. The LXX understand it as denoting Persia — a\\oi 6i U yjti Tlcpativ. The Chaldee also interprets it as Jerome has done, of the south. The Syriac has not translated it, but retained the name Sinim. The Arabic coincides with the Septuagint, and renders it, ' from the land of Persia.' Grotius supposes that it means the region of Sinim to the south of Palestine, and Vi- Sringa also coincides with this opinion.

Bochart supposes that it means the same as Sin, or Syene, i. e. Pelusium a city of Egypt; and that it is used to denote Egypt, as Pelusium was a principal city in Egypt. In Ezek. xxx. 15, Sin or Pelusium (marg.) is mentioned as " the strength of Egypt." Gesenius eupposes that it refers to the Chinese, and that the country here referred to is Sina, or China. " This very ancient and celebrated people," says he, " was known to the Arabians and Syrians by the name Sin, Tcin, Tshini; and a Hebrew writer might well have heard of them, especially if sojourning in Babylon, the metropolis as it were of all Asia. This name appears to have been given to the Chinese by the other Asiatics; for the Chinese themselves do not employ it, and seem indeed to be destitute of any ancient domestic name, either adopting the names of the reigning dynasties, or ostentatiously assuming high-sounding titles, as ' people of the empire in the centre of the world.' " The Rev. Peter Parker, M. D., Missionary to China, remarked in an address delivered in Philadelphia, that " the Chinese have been known from time immemorial by the name Tschin. Tschin means a Chinaman." When they first received this appellation, cannot be determined, nor is the reason of its being given to them now known. As there is remarkable permanency in the names as well as in the customs of the East, it is possible that they may have had it from the commencement of their history. If so, there is no improbability in supposing that the name was known to the Jews in the time of Isaiah. Solomon had opened a considerable commerce with the East. For this he had built Palmyra, or Tadmor, and caravans passed constantly towards Palestine and Tyre, conveying the rich productions of India. The country of Tschin or Sinim may be easily supposed to have been often referred to by the foreign merchants as a land of great extent and riches, and it is not impossible that even at that early day a part o« the merchandise conveyed to the west might have come from that land. It is not necessary to suppose that the Hebrews in the time of Isaiah had anj

13 Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth 'nto singing, O mountains; for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.

14 But Zion said, *The Lord

very extensive or clear views of that country; but all that is necessary to be supposed is, that they conceived of the nation as lying far in the east, and as abounding in wealth, sufficiently so to entitle it to the pre-eminency which it now has in the enumeration of the nations that would be blessed by the Gospel. If this be the correct interpretation — and I have on a re-examination come to ini3 opinion, though a different view was given in the first edition of these Notes — then the passage furnishes an interesting prediction respecting the future conversion of the largest kingdom of the world. It may be added, that this is the only place where that country is referred to in the Bible, and there may be some plausibility in the supposition that while so many other nations, far inferior in numbers and importance, are mentioned by name, one so vast as this would not wholly be omitted by the Spirit of Inspiration glorious truths stated in the previous verses, that kings should rise up, and princes worship; that the Messiah would be for a light to the Gentiles, and that the tiue religion would be extended to each of the four quarters of the globe. The idea in this verse is, that it was an occasion on which the heavens and the earth would have cause to exult together. It is common in Isaiah thus to interpose r song of praise on the announcement of any great and glorious truth, and to call on the heavens and the earth to rejoice together. See Notes on ch xii. x!ii. 10, ll,xliv. 23.

14. But Zion said. On the word Zion, »ee Note ch. i. 8. The language here is that of complaint, and expresses the deep teeling cf the people of God amidst

hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.

15 Can a woman forget hef sucking child, 4that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet °will I not forget thee.

many calamities, afflictions, and trials. It may be applicable to the exile Jews in Babylon during their long captivity, as if God had forsaken them; or to those who were waiting for the coming of the Messiah, and who were sighing for the divine interposition under him tc restore the beauty of Zion, and to ex* tend his kingdom; or in general, to the church when wickedness triumphs in a community, and when God seems to have forsaken Zion, and to have forgotten its interests. The language here was suggested, doubtless, by a view of the desolations of Jerusalem and Judea, and of the long and painful captivity in Babylon; but it is general, and is applicable to the people of God, in all times of similiar oppression and distress. The object of the prophet is to furnish the assurance that, whatever might be the trials and the sufferings of his people, God had not forgotten them, and he neither could nor would forsake them. For this purpose, he makes use of two most striking and forcible arguments (vs. 15 1G), to show in the strongest possible manner that the interests of his people were safe.

15. Can a woman forget her sucking child. The design of this verse is apparent. It is to show that the love which God has for his people is stronger than that which is produced by the most tender ties created by any natural relation. The love of a mother for her infant child is the strongest attachment in nature. The question here implies that it was unusual for a mother to be unmindful of that tie, and to forsake the child that she should nourish and love. V That she should not have cornpassion. That she should not pity and succour it in times of sickneee and distress; thai

16 Behold, I ha?e graven 6thee! 17 Thy mildren shall make upon the palms ol my hands; thy | haste; thy destroyers 'and they

6lie should see it suffer without any attempt \o rclieye it, and turn away, and see i; die unpitied and unalleviated. 1T Yea, they may forget. They will sooner forget their child than God will forget his afflicted and suffering people. The phrase ' they may forget/ implies thnt such a thing may occur. In heathen lands, strong as is the instinct which binds a mother to her offspring, it has not been uncommon for a mother to expose her infant child, and to leave it to die. In illustration of this fact, see Notes on Rom. i. 31, pp. 46, 47.

16. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands. This is another argument in answer to the complaint of Zion in ver. 14. There have been various interpretations of this passage. Grotius supposes that it refers to a custom of placing some mark or sign on the hand, or on one of the fingers when they wished to remember any thing, and appeals to Ex. xiii. 9. Lowth supposes that it is an allusion to some practice common among the Jews at that time, of making marks on their hands or arms \y means of punctures in the skin with srtuc sign or representation of the city oi tempie, to show their zeal and affection for it. In illustration of this, he refers to the fact that the pilgrims to the Holy Sepulchre are accustomed to get themselves marked in this manner with what are called the signs of Jerusalem. Vitringa supposes that it alludes to the cr.3tom of architects in which they delireate the size, form, and proportions of an edifice on parchment, before they commence building it — such as we mean by the draft or model of the building j and that the sense here is, that Go 1, in like manner, had delineated or drawn Jerusalem on his hands long befoir it was founded, and had it constantly before his eyes. According to ihis, <he idea is, that God had laid out the p-!an of Jerusalem long before i* was •9uilt., and that it wa3 so dear t: him that made thee waste, shall go forth of thee.

that he had even engraven it on his hands. Others have supposed liiat it refers to a device on a signet, or on a ring worn on the finger or the wrist, and that the plan of Jerusalem was drawn and engraven there. To me, it seems that the view of Lowth is most accordant with probability, and isbst sustained by the Oriental customs. The essential idea is, that Zion wras dear to his heart; and that he had sketched or delineated it as an object in which ha felt a deep interest — so deep as even to delineate its outlines on the palms of hi3 hands where it would be constantly before him. IT Thy walls. The meaning is, that he constantly looked upon them; that he never forgot them. He had a constant and sacred regard for his people, and amidst all their disasters and trials, still remembered them.

17. Thy children. The children of Zion — the true people of God. But there is here considerable variety in the interpretation. The Hebrew of the present text is Tp22 thy sons. But Jerome reads it structores tai, thy builders; as if it were V2"3- The LXX render it, " and thou shalt be speedily built ra^i) oiKoSjjiriOno-ri by those by whom thou hast been destroyed." The Chaldee renders it, " those that rebuild thy waste places shall hasten." The Syriac reads it, " thy sons," and the Arabic, " thou shalt be rebuilt by those by whom thou hast been destroyed." But there is no good authority for changing the present Hebrew text, nor is it necessary. The sense probably is, the descendants of those who dwelt in Zion, who are now in exile, shall hasten to rebuild the wastes of the desolate capital, and restore its ruins. And may it not mean that in the great work under the Mes« siah of restoring the nation to the worship of God, and of spreading the true religion, God would make use of those who dwelt in Zion; that is, of (he Jew^

18 Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these* gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all as with an ornament, and bind them on thee as a bride doth.

19 For thy waste, and thy desolate places, and the land of

as nis ambassadors'? IF They that made thee waste. Language drawn from the destruction of Jerusalem. The sense is, that they would seek no longer to retain possession, but would permit its former inhabitants to return, and engage in repairing its ruins.

18. Lift up thine eyes round about. That is, see the multitudes that shall be converted to thee; see thy ruined city rise again in its former beauty; see the Gentiles come and yield themselves to the worship of the true God; see kings and princes approach and do thee homage. IT All these gather themselves. That is, from a far country, from the North, the West, and the South, ver. 12. IF As / live, saith the Lord. The customary form of an oath when Jehovah swears. It is a solemn assurance that the event shall as certainly occur as he has an existence. See Note ch. xlv. 23. ComD. Jer. xxii. 24. Ezek. v. 11, xiv. 16, 18, 20, xvi. 48. 1T Thou shalt surely clothe thee with them. Zion is here represented, as it is often elsewhere, as a female (see Note ch. i. 8); and the accesssion of converts from abroad is represented under the figure of bridal ornaments. The accession of converts from the Gentiles should be to her what jewels are to a bride. IF And bind them on thee as a bride doth. The sentence here is manifestly incomplete. It means, as a bride binds on her ornaments. The LXX have supplied this, and render it, " as a bride her ornaments," uj Kfiopov vvpiprj. The sentiment is, that the accession of the large number of converts under the Messiah to the tnw church of God, thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away. 20 The children which thou shalt have, after "'thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thy ears, The place is too strait foi me: give place for me that I may dwell.

would be the real ornament of Zior.. and would greatly increase her beauty and loveliness.

19. For thy icaste and thy desolate places. Thy land over which ruin has been spread, and over which the exile nation mourns. IF And the land of thy destruction. That is, thy land laid in ruins. The construction is not uncommon where a noun is used to express the sense of an adjective. Thus in Ps. ii. 6, the Hebrew phraoe (margin) is correctly rendered ' my holy hill.' Here the sense is, that their entire country had been so laid waste as to be a land of desolation, tf Shall even now be too narrow. Shall be too limited to contain all who shall become converted to the true God. The contracted territory of Palestine shall be incapable of sustaining all who will acknowledge the true God, and who shall be regarded as his friends. 1F And they that swallowed thee up. The enemies that laid waste thy land, aad that absorbed, as it were, thy inhabitants, and removed them to a distant land. They shall be all gone, and the land shall smile again in prosperity and in loveliness.

20. The children which thou shall have. The increase of the population shall be so great. IF After thou hast lost the other. Heb. ' The sons of rhj widowhood.' That is, after thou ha&t lost those that have been killed in the wars, and those that have died in cap tivity in a distant land, there shall be again a great increase as if they were given to a widowed mother. And perhaps the general truth is taught here, that the persecution of /he people of God

21 Then shalt thou say in thine heart. Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a caplive, and moving to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?

',vill be attended ultimately with a vast increase; and that all the attempts to obliterate the church will only tend finally to enlarge and strengthen it. IT Shall say again in thy ears. Or shall say to thee. IT The place is too strait for me. There is not room for us all. Tne entire language here denotes a vast accession to the church of God. It is indicative of such an increase as took place when the gospel was proclaimed by the apostlera to the Gentiles, and of such an increase as shall yet more abundantly take place when the whole world Khali beccme converted to God.

21. Then shalt thou say in thine heart. Thou shalt wonder at the mul-:itudes, and shalt ask with astonishment whence they all come. This verse is designed to describe the great increase of the true people of God under the image of a mother who had been deprived of her children, who should suddenly see herself surrounded with more than had been lost, mid should ask in astonishment whence they all came. IT Who hath bego.tzn me these. The idea here is, tha*. the increase would be from other nations. They would not be the natural ircrease of Zion or Jerusalem, but they would come in from abroad — as if a family that had been bereaved should be increased by an accession from other families. IT / have lost my children. Jerusalem had been desolated by wars, and had become like a widow that was bereft of all her sons. Comp. Notes on ch. xlvii. 8, 9. H A captive, and removing to and fro. A captive In Babylon, and compelled to wander from my own land, and to live in a strange and distant country. H These, where had they been 1 The image in this entire vers* is one of great beauty.

22 Thus saith' the Lord God. Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their 3arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.

It represents a mother who had been suddenly deprived of all her children who had been made a widow, and conveyed as a captive from land to land. She had seen ruin spread all around hex dwelling, and regarded herself as alone. Suddenly she finds herself restored to her home, and surrounded with a happy family. She sees it increased beyond its former numbers, and herself blessed with more than her former prosperity. She looks with surprise on this accession, and asks with wonder whence all these have come, and where they have been. The language in this verse is beautifully expressive of the agitation ol such a state of mind, and of the effect which would be thus produced. The idea is plain. Jerusalem had been desolate. Her inhabitants had been carried captive, or had been put to death. But she should be restored, and the church of God would be increased by a vast accession from the Gentile world, so much that the narrow limits which had been formerly occupied — the territory of Palestine — would now be too small for the vast numbers that would be united to those who professed to love and worship God.

22. Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles. To lift up the hand is a sign of beckoning to, or inviting; and the idea here is, that God would call the Gentiles to partake of the blessings of the true religion, and to embrace the Messiah. See Notes ch. xi. 11. t And set up my standard to the people. Tc the people of other lands; the word here being synonymous with the word Gentiles. A standard, or an ensign wa$ erected in times of war to rally the forces of a nation around it; and the sense here. i3, that God would.'rect an ensign

23 And kings shall be thy 'nursing fathers,and their 6queens thy nursing mothers: they shall

high in the sight of all the nations, and would call them to himself, as a military leader musters his forces for battle; that is, he would call the nations to embrace the true religion. See this phrase explained in the Note on ch. xi. 12. IT They shall bring thy sons in their arms. Marg. bosom. Jerome renders it in ulnis — in. their arms. The LXX, iv k6\tta) — in the bosom. Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, dyxaXai, in their arms. If it means bosom, as Gesenius renders it, it refers to the bosom of a garment in which things are carried. But it more probably means in the arms as children are borne; and the idea is, that the distant nations would come and bear with them those who were the children of Zion, that is, those who would becoma the true friends and worshippers of God. IT And thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. Referring, doubtless, to the manner in which children were carried. In ch. lxvi. 12, the same idea is expressed by their being carried upon the sides, referring to the custom still prevalent in the East, of placing a child when it is nursed astride on the side of the mother. The following quotation will more fully explain the customs here alluded to. " It is a custom in many parts of the East, to carry their children astride upon the hip, with the arm around the body. In the kingdom of Algiers, where the slaves take the children out, the boys ride upon their shoulders; and in a religious procession, which Syrnes had an opportunity of seeing at Ava, the capital of the Burman empire, the first personages of rank that passed by were three children borne astride, on men's shoulders. It is evident, from these facta, that the Oriental children are carried sometimes the one way, sometimes the other. Nor was the custom, in reality, different in Judea, though the prophet txpresses himself in these terms: ' They all bring thy sons in their arms, and bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lickr up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: for thy daughters shall be carried upon theii shoulders;' for according to Dr. Russel, the children able to support themselvei are usually carried astride on the shoulders; but in infancy they are carried in the arms, or awkwardly on one haunch. Dandini *ell us that, on horseback, the Asiatics carry their children upon their shoulders with great dexterity. These children hold by the. ead of him who carries them, whether he be on horseback or on foot, and do not hinder him from walking or doing what he pleases.' This augments the import of the passage in Isaiah, who speaks of the Gentiles bringing children thus; so that distance is no objection to this mode of conveyance, since they may thus be brought on horseback from among the people, however remote." — Paxton. " Children of both sexes are carried on the shoulders. Thus may be seen the father carrying his son, the little fellow being astride on the shoulder, having, with his hands, hold of his father's head. Girls, however, sit on the shoulder, as if on a chair, their legs hanging in front, while they also, with their hands, lay hold oi the head. In going to, or returning from heathen festivals, thousands of parents and their children may be thus seen marching along with joy." — Roberts. The sense is, that convert j should come from every land — that the nations should flock to the standard of the Messiah. And why may it not be regarded as a legitimate interpretation of this passage, that those who come should bring their children, their song and their daughters, with them 1 That they were borne upon the arm, or upon the shoulder, is indicative of their being young children; and that is no forced interpretation of this passage which regards it as teaching that the parents whC should be converted among the Gentiles should bring their offspring to the Redeemer and present them publicly to God. 23. And kings shall be thy nurs*

ihey shall not be ashamed* that wait for me.

9 tii& captivity of tlie justing fathers. Marg. nourishers. That is, they would patronize the church of God; they would protect it by their raws, and foster it by their influence, Ind become the personal advocates of »he cause of Zion. The idea is properly that of guarding, educating, and providing for children; and the sense is, that kings and princes would evince the same tender care for the interests of the people of God which a parent or a nurse does for a child. It is needless to say that this has been already to a considerable extent fulfilled, and that many princes and monarchs have been the patrons of the church, though doubtless it is destined to a more ample fulfilment still in the brighter days of this world's history when the gospel shall spread every where. It is remarkable that in the Sandwich and South Sea Islands, the Christian religion has been uniformly, almost, taken under the protection of the kings and chiefs since its first introduction there, and has been carried forward and* extended under their direct authority. If They shall boio down to thee with their face toward the earth. A posture indicating the profoundest reverence. This is the common posture of showing great respect in the East. If And lick up the dust of thy feet. An act denoting the utmost possible respect and veneration for the church and people of God. IF For they shall not be ashamed that wait for me. They who worship me shall not be ashamed of the act requiring the deepest self-abasement to show their reverence for me. Even those of most elevated rank shall be willing to humble themselves with the profoundest expressions of adoration.

24. Shall the prey he taken from the mighty. This seems to be the language of Zion. It is not exactly the language of incredulity; it is the language of amazement and wonder. God had made great promises. He had promised a restoration of the captive Jews to their own land, and of their complete

24 Shall the prey be taken from the mighty,"' or 9the lawfu. captive delivered?

deliverance from the power of the Chaldeans. He had still further promised that the blessings of the true religion should be extended to the Gentiles, ana that kings and queens should come and show the profoundest adoration for God and for his cause. With amazement and wonder at the greatness of these promises, with a full view of the difficulties to be surmounted, Zion asks here how it can be accomplished. It would involve the work of taking the prey from a mighty conqueror, and delivering the captive from the hand of the strong and the terrible, a work which had not been usually done. "if Or the lawful captive be delivered. Margin, " the captivity of the just." Lowth reads this, " shall the prey seized by the terrible be rescued i" So Noyes. Lowth says of the present Hebrew text, that the reading is a " palpable mistake f and that instead of P"^? the just, the meaning should be)r"1^ the terrible. Jerome so read it, and renders it, a robusto — the prey taken by the strong. So the Syriac reads it. The LXX render it; " if any one is taken captive unjustly (aJu-wj) shall he be saved V But there is no authority from the MSS. for changing the present reading of the Hebrew text; and it is not necessary. The word "just," here may, either refer to the fact that the just were taken captive, and to the difficulty of rescuing them; or perhaps, as Rosenmiiller suggests, it may be taken in the sense of severe, or rigid, standing opposed to benignity or mercy, and thus may be synonymous with severity and harshness; and the meaning may be that it was difficult to rescue a captive from the hands of those who had no clemency or benignity, such as was Babylon. Grotius understands it of those who were taken captive in a just war, or by the rights of war. But the connection rather demands that we should interpret it of those who wer« made captive by those who were indisposed to clemency, and who were se«

25 But thus saith the Lord, Even the 'captives of the mighty shall je taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall.be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will «ave thy children.

vere and rigid in their treatment of their prisoners. The idea is, that it was difficult or almost impossible to rescue captives from such hands, and that therefore it was a matter of wonder and amazement that that could be accomplished which God here promises.

25. But thus saith the Lord. The meaning of this verse is, that however difficult or impracticable this might seem to be, yet it should be done. The captives taken by the terrible and the mighty should be rescued, and should be restored to their own land. IT Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away. Marg. as in Hcb. " the captivity of the mighty." That which could not have been rescued by any ordinary means. The language here refers undoubtedly to Babylon, and to the captivity of the Jews there. IT The prey of the terrible. Of a nation formidable, cruel, and not inclined to compassion; in the previous verse described as " just," i. e. indisposed to mercy. tf For I will contend with him. I will punish the nation that has inflicted these wrongs on thee, and will thus rescue thee from bondage.

26. And I will feed them that oppress thee with their oion f.esh. The language here used is that which appropriately describes the distresses resulting from discord and internal strifes. Similar language occurs in ch. ix. 20. See- Note on that verse. Their rage shall be excited against each other; and there shall be anarchy, internal discord, and the desire of mutual revenge. They shall destroy themselves by mutual conflicts, until they are gorged with slaughter, and drunk with blood. *S And theyshall be drunken with their own blood. A similar expression occurs in

26 And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with ytheir own blood, as with 3sweet wi.~e: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the Mightj One of Jacob.

Rev. xvi. G: " For they have shed the blood of the prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink." This expression describes a state of internal strife, where blood would be profusely shed, and where it would be, as it were, the drink of those who were contending with each other. Grotius supposes that it refers to the conflicts between the Persians and the Medes, and those of the Medes and Persians with the Babylonians. Vitringa supposes it received its fulfilment in the contests which took place in the Roman empire, particularly during the reign of Diocletian when so many rivals contended for the sovereignty. Perhaps, however, it is in vain to attempt to refer this to any single conflict, or state of anarchy. The language is general; and it may mean in general that God would guard and protect his people; and that in doing this, he would fill the ranks of his foes with confusion, and suffer them to be torn and distracted with internal strifes; and amidst those strifes, and by means of them, would secure the deliverance and cafety of his own people. It has not unfrequently happened that he has suffered or caused discord to spring up among the enemies of his people, and distracted their counsels, and thus secured the safety and welfare of those whom they were opposing and persecuting. 11 As with sweet xoine. Marg.

new. The Hebrew word ^D^, means must, or new wine. Joel i. 5, iv. 18. Amos ix. 13. The LXX render it, o?- vov viov, new wine. The must, or new wine was the pur 2 juice which ran first after the grapes had been laid in a heap preparatory to pressure. The ancienta had the art of preserving this for a long time, so as to retain its peculiar flavour, and were in the habit of drinking it in the morning. See Hor. Sat. L. 2. iv. This had the intoxicating property very slightly if at all; and Harmer (Observations, Vol. ii. 151 J supposes that the kind here meant was rather such as was used in " royal palaces for its gratefulness," which was capable of being kept to a great age. It is possible, I think, that, there may be an allusion here to the fact that it required a large quantity of the must or new wine to produce intoxication, and that the idea here is that a large quantity of blood would be shed. V And all fiesh. The effect of all this shall be to diffuse the true religion throughout the world. The result of the contentions that shall be excited among the enemies of the people of God; of their civil wars and mutual slaughter; and of the consequent protection and defence of the people whom they were endeavouring to destroy, shall be to diffuse the true religion among the nations, and to bring all men to acknowledge that he who thus protects his church is the true and only God. It would be easy to show the fulfilment of this prediction from the records cf the past, and from the efforts which have been made tc destroy the church ef God. But thai would be foreign to the design of these notes. A very slight acquaintance with the repeated effort to destroy the ancient people of God ir* Egypt, in the wilderness, in Baybjon. and under Antiochua Epiphanes; wit'i the early persecution of the Christie ns in Judea; with the successive persecutions in the Roman Empire from tl e time of Nero to Diocletian; with the persecution of the Waldenses in Switzerland; of the Hugonots in France; a:.id of the Reformers in England, will be sufficient to convince any one that God is the protector of the church, and *hat no weapons formed against her shall prosper. Her enemies shall be distracted in their counsels, and left to anarchy and overthrow; and the church shall rise resplendent from all their persecutions, and shall prosper ultimately just in proportion to their effort* to destroy it.

This chapter properly consists of two parts. The first comprises the first three verses, and contains a statement of the reasons why the Jews had been rejected and punished. They are to be regarded as in exile in Babylon. It might be alleged by some of the unbelieving among them that the calamities which came upon them were proof of caprice in God, or of want of faithfulness, or of power, and not any proof that they were suffering under his righteous displeasure. To meet these implied charges, and to show them the true cause of their suffering, is the design of this portion of the chapter. In this, God says:

O.) That their sufferings were not the result of mere will, or of caprice, on his part, as a husband often put away his wife without any good reason, ver. 1.

(•<;.) There was a reason for their rejection, and that reason was. their sins, ver. I. They had brought all these calamities upon themselves, and had in fact sold ihemselves.

(3.) It was not for wantof power on the part of God to save them. His hand was not shortened, and he had abundantly shown that he hail power to defend his people, vs. 2. 3. He was able to dry up the sea, and to make the rivers a desert, and lie clothed the heavens with blackness, and he was abundantly able therefore to save his people.

The second part of tbe chapter comprises the portion from ver. 4, to ver. 1 1. This relates to a different subject; and in regard to it, there lias been considerable variety of interpretation A speaker is introduced who claims to be eminently qualified lor the office to which he was called (ver. 4) • who has been amply endowed by God lor the embassage on which he is sent (ver. 5); who meets with opposition, and who yet receives it all with meekness (ver. 6); who puts his trust in God, and confides in him alone (vs. 7—9); and who calls on ail who tear the Lord to hear him (ver. 10): and who threatens to inflict punishment on all who do uo! listen to hirn (ver. II). This portion of the chap- •er has been referred, by dirferent interpreters, to different individuals. Grotius, Rosenmuller, and Gesonius, suppose that it refers to the prop. let himself Oo3derlein, Dathe, Koppe, Augusti, and •ome o'her3 suppose that it refers either to the prophet himself, or to some other one living in exile •t the time of the captiM.y. Jerome says that ihis also was the prevailing interpretation among the Jews in his time. Paulus supposes that it is not the prophet who speaks, but the better and mors pious portion of the Jewish people. But the more common interpretation is that which refers it Ui lbs Messiah. In tUvour of this interpretation, the following considerations raiy be f ujjeestsd.

(1.) The prophet himself is not known fo have been in the circumstances I", ere descr.. •<! (vor. 6) nor is there any evidence that this can be applied to him. Of any other prophet to whom it woula Kpply we have no knowledge, nor would there be any propriety in so applying the language oflsaiah, it we did know of any such one.

(2.) The Messianic interpretation has almost universally prevailed in the Christian church— an argument of value only as showing that when so many agree in interpreting any writing th.it; is prr< eumptive proof i hat "they have not mistaken its meaning.

t3.) All the charad eristics of the servant of God here referred to apply to the Redeemer, and anj descriptive of him and of his work. All that is said of his humiliation, and meekness; of the opposition which he encountered, and of his confidence in God, applies eminently to the Lord Jesus, an£ to no other one.

(A.) The closing part (ver. 11), where the speaker threatens to inflict punishment on hi< ioes, cannot be used with reference to Isaiah or any other prophet, but has a striking applicability to the Messiah.

(5.) In Luke xviii. 32, the passage (ver. 6) is applied by the Lord Jesus to himself. He says th3 the prophecies in regard to him must be fulfilled, and among other things, says that the tact the he should be " spitted on," should be a fulfilment of a prophecy— a statement which has an obvioui and manifest reference to this passage in Isaiah-

The passage, if it refers to the Messiah, relates particularly to his humiliation and sufferings, and accords with that in ch. liii. It embraces the following points:

(a) He was endowed for his work, and especially fitted to comfort the afflicted and weary, ver. 4.

W) He was entirely obedient to God, and submitted to all his arrangements with cheerfulness, vei. 5.

(c) He submitted with meekness to all the injuries inflicted on him by others— even to ihejr deepest expressions of contempt, ver. 6.

(d) He was sustained in these trials because he put his trust in God, and believed that he could deliver him, vs. 7—9

(e) He calls upon all who feared God to put their trust in him, and stay themselves upon their God —an address to the pious portion of the nation, ver. to.

(/) He warns those who were trusting to themselves, and who were pecking their own welfan oaly, that he would himself inflict exemplary punishment upon them, and that ihey should he dowc in sorrow, ver. 11.

1 Thus saith the Lord, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, 6whom I have put away? or which of my creditors

1. Thus saith the Lord. To the Jews in Babylon, who were suffering under his hand, and who might be disposed to complain that God had dealt with them with as much caprice and cruelty as a man did with his wife, when he gave her a writing of divorce and put her away without any just cause. IT Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement. God here speaks of himself as the husband of his people,.is having married the church to himself, denoting the tender affection which he had for his people. This figure is frequently used in the Bible. Thus in ch. lxii. 5: " As the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. Isa. liv. 5: "For thy Maker is thy husband." Jer: iii. 14: " Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you." Thus in Rev. xxi. 9, the church io called " the bride, the Lamb's wife." Cornp. Ezek. ch. xvi. See Lowth or; Hebrew poetry, Lee. xxxi. The phrase, * bm of divorcement," refers to the

is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves/ and for your transgressions is your mother put away.

writing or instrument which a husband was by law obliged to give a wife wher. he chose to put her away. This custom of divorce Moses found probably in existence among the Jews, and also iu surrounding nations, and as it was difficult if not impossible at once to remove it, he permitted it on account of the hardness of the hearts of the Jews. Deut. xxiv. 1. Comp. Matt. xix. 8. It originated probably from the erroneous views which then prevailed of the nature of the marriage compact. It was extensively regarded as substantially like any other compact, in which the wife became a purchase from her father and of course as she had been purchased, the husband claimed the right of dismissing her when he pleased. Mosea nowhere defines the causes for which a man might put away his wife, but left these to be judged of by the people themselves. But he regulated the way in which it might be done. He ordiinea a law which was designed to operate a* a material check on the hasty feelings,

2 Wheiefore, when I came, was thereno man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power

the caprice, and the passions of the husband. He designed that it should be with him, if exercised, not a matter of mere excited feeling, but that he should take time to deliberate upon it; and hence he ordained that in all cases a formal instrument of writing should be executed releasing the wife from the marriage tie, and leaving her at liberty to pursue her own inclinations in regard lo future marriages. Deut. xxiv. 2. It is evident thit this would operate very materially in favour of the wife, and in checking and restraining the excited passions of the husband. See Jahn's Biblical Archae. § 160; Michaelis' Comm. on the Laws of Moses, Vol. i. pp. 450-473, ii. 127-140. Ed. Lond. 1814, 8vo. In the passage before us, God says that he had not rejected his people. He had not been governed by the caprice, sudden passion. vr cruelty which husbands often evinced. There was a just cause why he had treated them as he had, and he did not regard them as the children of a divorced wife. The phrase, " your mother," here is used to denote the ancestry from whom they were descended. They were not regarded as the children of a disgraced mother. IT Or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Among the Hebrews, a father had the right by the law of Moses, if he was oppressed with debt, to sell his children. Ex. xxi. 7. Neh. v. 5. In like manner, if a man had stolen any thing, and had nothing to make restitution, he might be sold for the theft. Ex. xxii. 3. If a man also was poor and unable to pay his debts, he might be sold. Lev. xxv. 39. 2 Kings iv. 1. Matt, xviii. 25. Ou the subject of slavery among the Hebrews, and the Mosaic laws in regard to it, see Michaelis' Comm. on the Laws of Moses, Vol. ii. p. 155, seq. In this passage God says that he had not been governed by any such motives in his to deliver? behold, at my rebuke

I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst.

dealings with his people. He had not dealt with them as a poor parent sometimes felt himself under a necessity of doing, when he sold his children, or as a creditor did when a man was not able to pay him. He had been governed by different motives, and he had punished them only on account of their transgressions. IT Ye have sold yourselves. That is, you have gone into captivity only on account of your sins. It has been your own act, and you have thus become bondmen to a foreign power only by your own choice. IT Is your mother put away. Retaining the figure respecting divorce. The nation has bee a rejected and suffered to go into exiie only on account of its transgressions.

2. Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? That is, when I came to call you to repentance why was there no man of the nation to yield obed: ence? The sense is, that they had not been punished without warning. He had called them to repentance, but no one heard his voice. The Chaldee renders this, " Wherefore did I send my prophets, and they did not turn 1 They prophesied, but they did not attend." IT When I called was there none to answer? None obeyed, or regarded my voice. It was not, therefore, by his fault that they had been punished, but it was because they did not listen to the messengers which he had sent unto them.

II Is my hand shortened at all. The meaning of this is, that it was not because God was unable to save, that they had been thus punished. The hand, in the Scriptures, is an emblem of strength, as it is the instrument by which we accomplish our purposes. To shorten the hand, i. e. to cut it off, is an emblem of diminishing, or destroying our ability to execute any purpose. See ch. lix. 1. So in Ex. xi. 23: " Is the Lord's Uand waxed short]" IT That it cannoi

3 I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.

4 The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned/1

redeem? That it cannot rescue or deliver you. The idea is, that it was not because he was less able to save them than he had been in former times, that they were sold into captivity, and sighed in bondage. IT Behold, at my rebuke. At my chiding — as a father rebukes a disobedient child, or as a man would rebuke an excited multitude. Similar language is used of the Saviour when he stilled the tempest on the sea of Gennesareth: " Then he arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm." Matt. viii. 26. The reference here is, undoubtedly, to the fact that God dried up the Red Sea, or made a way for the children of Israel to pass through it. The idea is, that he who had power to perform such a stupendous miracle as that, had power clso to deliver his people at any time, and that, therefore, it was for no want of power in him that the Jews were Buffering in exile. IT / make the rivers a wilderness. I dry up streams at pleasure, and have power even to make the bed of rivers, and all the country watered by them, a pathless, and an unfruitful desert. IT Their Jish siinketh. The waters leave them, and the fish die, and putrify. It is nut uncommon in the East for large streams and even rivers thus to be dried up by the intense heat of the sun, and by being lost in the Band. Thus the river Barrady which flows through the fertile plain on which Damascus is situated, and which is divided into innumerable streams and canals to water the city and the gardens adjacent to it, after flowing to a chort distance, from the city is wholly lost — partly absorbed in the sands, and partly dried up by the intense rays of the sun. See Jones' Excursions to Jerusalem, Egypt, Sec. The idea here ia, that it was God who had power to dry &p those streams, qnd that He who could

that I should know how *o speak a word in season to him that is weary:* he wakeneth morning by morning: he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.

3. 1 clothe the heavens with blackness. With the dark clouds of a tempest — perhaps with an allusion to the remarkable clouds and tempests that encircled the brow of Sinai when he gave the law. Or possibly alluding to the thick darkness which he brought over the land ol Egypt. Ex. x. 21. Grotius. In the previous verse, he had stated what he did on the earth, and referred to the exhibitions of his great power there. He here refers to the exhibition of hia power in the sky; and the argument is, that he who had thus the power to spread darkness over the face of the sky, had power also to deliver his people. IT / make sackcloth their covering. Alluding to the clouds. Sackcloth was a coarse and dark cloth which was usually worn as an emblem of mourning. Sec Note on ch. iii. 24. The same image is used in Rev. vi. 12: " And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair." To say, therefore, that the heavens were clothed with sackcloth, is one of the most striking and impressive figures which can be conceived.

4. The Lord God hath given me. This verse commences a new subject, and the deliverer is directly introduced as himself speaking. The reasons why this is supposed to refer to the Messiah have been givon in the analysis to the chapter. Those reasons will be strengthened by the examination of the particular expressions in the passage, and by showing as we proceed in the c.\ position in what way they are applicable <o him. It will be assumed that the reference is to he Messiah; and we shall find that it /s a most beautiful description of his character *u\d of some of the principal

5 The Lord God hath opened

evcnta of his life. — This verse is designed to state how he was fitted for the peculiar work to which he was called. The whole endowment is traced to Jehovah. It was he who had called him; he who had given him the tongue of the learned, and he who had carefully and attentively qualified him for his work. I The tongue of the learned. Heb. • the tongue of those who are instructed;' i. e. of the eloquent; or the tongue of instruction (iraUeius, LXX); that is, he has qualified me to instinct others. It does not mean human science or learning; nor does it mean that any other had been qualified as he was, or that there were any other who were. learned like him. But it means that on the subject of religion he was eminently endowed with intelligence, and with eloquence. In regard to the Redeemer's power of instruction, the discourses which he delivered, as recorded in the New Testament, and especially his sermon on the Mount, may be referred lo None on the subject of religion ever spake like him; none was ever so well qualified to instruct mankind. Comp. Matt. xiii. 54. IT That 1 should know how to speak a word in season. The Hebrew here is, ' that I might know how to strengthen with a word the

( weary;' that is, that he might sustain, comfort, and refresh them by his promises and his counsels. How eminently he was fitted to alleviate those who were heavy laden with sin, and to comfort those who were burdened with calamities and trials, may be seen by the slightest reference to the New Testament, and the most partial acquaintance with hi3 instructions and his life. The

£ weary here are those who are burdened with a sense of guilt; who feel that they have no strength to bear up under the mighty load, and who therefore seek relief. See Matt, xi 28. T He wakeneth morning by morning. That is, lie wakens me every morning early. The language is taken from an instructor *rho awakens his pupils early in order

"mine ear, and I was not ^rebel lious, neither turned away back.

that they may receive instruction. The idea is, that the Redeemer would be eminently endowed under the divine instruction and guidance for his work He would be one who was, so to speak, in the school of God, and who would bt qualified to impart instruction to others. V He wakeneth mine car. To awaken the ear is to prepare one to receive instruction. The expressions to open the ear, to uncover the ear, to awaken the ear, occur often in the Scriptures in the sense of preparing to receive instruction; or of disposing to receive divine communications. The sense here is plain. The Messiah would be taught of God, and would be inclined to receive all that he imparted, f To hear as the learned. Many translate the phrase here " as disciples," that is, as thos< who are learning. So Lowth, " with the attention of a learner." So Noyes, " in the manner of a disciple." The LXX render it, " he has given me an ear to hear." The idea is, probably, that he was attentive as they a\e who wish to leara; that is, as docile disciples. The figure is taken from a masier who in the morning summons his pupils around him, and imparts instruction to them. And the doctrine which is taught is, that the Messiah would be eminently qualified by divine teaching to be the instructor of mankind. The Chaldee paraphrases this, " morning by morning, he anticipates (the dawn), that he may send his prophets, if perhaps they may open the ears of sinners, and receive instruction."

5. The Lord God hath opened mine ear. This is another expression denoting that he was attentive to the import o» the divine commission. See Ps. xl. G f And I was not rebellious. I willing ly undertook the task of communicating the divine will to mankind. The statement here is in accordance with all tha,1; is said of the Messiah, that he was willing to come and do the will of God and that whatever trials the work in» volved he was preparod to meet thera

6 I dgave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off" the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spit-

6. I gave my back to the stniters. I submitted willingly to be scourged, or whipped. This is one of the parts of this chapter which can be applied to no other one but the Messiah. There is not the slightest evidence, whatever may be supposed to have been the probability, that Isaiah was subjected to any such trial as this, or that he was scourged in a public manner. Yet it was literally fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. Matt, xxvii. 26. Comp. Luke xviii. 33. If And my checks to them that plucked off the hair. Literally, ' my cheeks to those who pluck, or pull.' The word here used (^1^) means properly to polish, to sharpen, to make smooth; then to make smooth the head, to make bald; that is, to pluck out the hair, or the beard. To do this was to offer the highest insult that could be imagined among the Orientals. The beard is Buffered to grow long, and is regarded as a mark of honour. Nothing is regarded as more infamous than to cut it off (see 2 Sam. x. 4), or to pluck it out; and there is nothing which an Oriental will sooner resent than an insult offered to his beard. " It is a custom among the Orientals, as well among the Greeks as among other nations, to cultivate the beard with the utmost care and solicitude, so that they regard it as the highest possible insult if a single hair of the beard is taken away by violence." William of Tyre, an eastern archbishop, Gcsta Dei, p. 802, quoted in Harmer, Vol. ii. p. 359. It is customary to beg by the beard, and to swear by the beard. " By your beard; by the life of your beard; God preserve your beard; God pour his blessings on your beard," — are common expressions there. The Mahometans have such a respect for the Ward that thev think it criminal *o

7 For the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.

shave. Harmer, Vol. ii p. 360. Tke LXX render this, " I gave my cheeks to buffeting," eij pazic^a; that is, to being smitten with the open hand, which was literally fulfilled in the case of the Redeemer. Matt. xxvi. 67. Mark. xiv. 65. The general sense of this expression is, that he would be treated with the highest insult, tf / hid not my face from shame and spitting. 1 o spit on any one was regarded among the Orientals, as it is every where else, as an expression of the highest insult and indignity. Deut. xxv. 9. Num. xii. 14. Job xxx. 10. Among the Orientals also it was regarded as an insult — as it should be every where — to spit in the presence of any person. Thus among the Medes, Herodotus says that Deiocee ordained that, " to spit in the king's presence, or in the presence of each other, was an act of indecency," B. i. 99. So also among the Arabians, it is regarded as an offence. Niebuhr's Travels, i. 57. Thus Monsieur d'Arvieux tells us, " the Arabs are sometimes disposed to think, that when a person spits, it ig done out of contempt; and that they never do it before their superiors." Voydans la Pa!, p. 140. Harmer, iv. 430. This act of the highest indignity was pei-formed in reference to the Redeemer (Matt. xxvi. 6, 7, xxvii. 30); and this expression of their contempt, he bore with the utmost meekness. This expression is one of the proofs that this entire passage refers to the Messiah. It is said (Luke xvii. 32) that the prophecies should be fulfilled by his being spit upon, and yet there is no other prophecy of the Old Testament but tliij which contains such a prediction.

7. For the Lord God will help me. That is, he will sustain me amidst all these expressions of contempt and scoria. IT Shall I not be confounded. Ileb. ' 1 shall not be ashamed;' that is, I wiU

8 He is near tfia* justifieth

!ct us stand together: who is mine adversary? ''let him come near to me.

bear all this with the assurance of his favour and protection and I will not blush to be thus treated in a cause so glorious, and which must finally triumph and prevail. 11 Therefore have I set my face like a flint. To harden the face, the brow, the forehead, might be used either in a bad or a good sense — in the former as denoting shamclessness or haughtiness (Note ch. xlviii. 4); in the latter denoting courage, firmness, resolution. It is used in this sense here; and it means that the Messiah would be firm and resolute amidst all the contempt and scorn which he would meet, and would not shrink from any kind or degree of suffering which should be necessary to accomplish the great work in which he was engaged. A similar expression occurs in Ezek. iii. 8, 9: " Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads. As an adamant, harder than a flint, have I made thy forehead; fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks."

8. He is near that justifieth me. That is, God, who will vindicate my character, and who approves what I do, does not leave nor forsake me, and I can with confidence commit myself and my cause to him. See Note ch. xlix. 4. The word justify here is not used in the sense in which it is often in the Scriptures, to denote the act by which a sinner is justified before God, but in the proper, judicial sense, that he would declare him to be righteous; he would vindicate his character, and show him tc be innocent. This was done by all the testimonials of God in his favour — ■ by the voice which spake from heaven at his baptism — by the miracles which he wrought, showing that he was commissioned and approved by God — by the fact that even Pilate was constrained to

9 Behold, the Lord God will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? A'lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth 'shall eat them up.

declare him innocent — by the wonders that attended his crucifixion, showing that " he was a righteous man," even in the view of the Roman centurion (Luke xxiii. 47), and by the fact that he was raised from the dead, and was taken to heaven, and placed at the right hand of the Father — thus showing that his whole work was approved by God, and furnishing the most ample vindication of his character from all the accusations of his foes. TT Who will contend with me? This question indicates confidence in God, and in the integrity of his own character. The language is taken from transactions in the courts of justice; and it is a solemn call on any who would dare to oppose him to enter into a trial, and allege the accusations against him before the tribunal of a holy God. IT Let us stand together. Before the seat of judgment as in a court. Comp. Note ch. xli. 1. V Who is mine adversary '{ Marg. * Who is the master of my cause V The Heb. is * lord (?3J3 bddl) of judgment.' The expression means not merely one who has a lawsuit, or a cause, but one who is ' lord of the judgment,' i. e. possessor of the cause, or one who has a claim, and can demand that the judgment should be in his favour. And the call here is on any who should have such a claim to prefer against the Messiah; who should have any real ground of accusation against him; that is, it is an assertion of innocence. IT Let him come near to me. Let him come and make his charge?, and enter on the trial.

9. The Lord God will help me. See ver. 7. In the Hebrew this in, ' the Lord Jehovah,' as it is in ver. 7 abo, and these are among the places where our translators have improperly rendered

10 Who is among you that feareth the Loud, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness," and hath no light? let him trust0 in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God.

u God." Who is he that shall condemn me? If Jehovah is my advocate and friend, my cause must be right. Similar lauguage is used by the Apostle Paul. '« If God be for us, who can be against us 1" Rom. viii. 31, and in Ps. cxviii. 6:

JEHOVA H is on my side; I will not fear: What can man do unto mu J

IT They all shall wax old. All my enemies shall pass away, as a garment is worn out and cast aside. The idea is, that the Messiah would survive all their attacks; his cause, his truth, and his reputation would live, while all the power, the influence, the reputation of his adversaries, would vanish as a garment that is worn out and then thrown ■nway. The same image respecting his enemies is used again in ch. li. 8. ff The moth shall eat them up. The moth is a well known insect attached particularly to woollen clothes, and which soon consumes them. See Note Job iv. 19. In eastern countries, where wealth consisted much in changes of raiment, the depredations of the moth would be particularly to be feared, and hence it is frequently referred to in the Bible. The sense here is, that the adversaries of the Messiah would be wholly destroyed.

10. Who is among you that feareth the Lord. This whole prophecy is concluded with an address made in this verse to the friends of God, and in the next to his enemies. It is the language of the Messiah, calling on the one class to put their trust in Jehovah, and threatening the other with displeasure and wrath. The exhortation in this verse is made in view of what is said in the previous verses. It is the entreaty of the Redeemer to all who love and fear God, and w?:o may be placed in circumstances

11 Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks; walk rin the light of your fire, and in the sparks iliat ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand, ye shall lie down in sorrow.4

of trial and darkness as he was, to imitate his example, and not to rely on their own power, but to put their trust in the arm of Jehovah. He had done this, vs. 7-9. He had been afflicted persecuted, forsaken by men (ver. 6). and he had at that time confided in Goc and committed his cause to him; and he had never left or forsaken him. Encouraged by his example, he exhort a all others to cast themselves on the care of him who would defend a righteous cause. IT That feareth the Lord. Who are worshippers of Jehovah. tf That obeyeth the voice of his servant. The Messiah. See note ch. xlii. 1. This is another characteristic of piety. They who fear the Lord will also obey the voice of the Redeemer. John v. 23. IT That icalkcth in darkness. In a manner similar to the Messiah, ver. G. God's true people experience afHic lions like others, and have often trials peculiarly their own. They are sometimes in deep darkness of mind, and see no light. Comfort has forsaken them, and their days and nights are passed in gloom. 1T Let him trust in the name of the Lord. The Messiah had done this (vs. 8, 9), and he exhorts all others to do it. Doing this they would obtain divine assistance, and would find that he would never leave nor forsake them. IT And stay upon his God. Lean upon him, as one does on a staff or other support. This may be regarded still as the language of the merciful Redeemer, appealing to his own example, and entreating all who are in like circumstances to put their trust in God.

11. Behold, all ye that kindle afire. This verse refers to the wicked. In the previous verse, the Messiah had called upon all the pious to put their trust iif

God, anu it is there implied that they would do so. Cut it would not be so with the wicked. In times of darkness and calamity, instead of trusting in God they would confide in their own resources, and endeavour to kindle a light for themselves in which they might walk. But the result would be, that they would find no comfort, and would ultimately under his hand lie down in sorrow. The figure is continued from the previous verse. The pious who are in darkness wait patiently for the light which Jehovah shall kindle for them. But not so with the wicked. They attempt to kindle a light for themselves, and to walk in that. The phrase, " that kindle a fire," refers to all the plans which men form with reference to their own salvation; all which they rely upon to guide them through the darkness of this world. It may include, therefore, all the schemes of human philosophy, of false religion, of heathenism, of infidelity, deism, and seif-righteousness; all dependence on our good works, our charities, and our prayers. All these are false lights which men enkindle in order to guide themselves when they resolve to cast ofTGod, to renounce his revelation, and to resist his Spirit. It may have had a primary reference to the Jews, who so often rejected the divine guidance, and who relied so much on themselves; but 'it also includes all the plans which men devise to conduct themselves to heaven. The confidence of the pious (ver. 10) is in the light of God; that of the wicked is in the light of men. H That compass yourselves about with sparks. There has been considerable variety in the interpretation of the word here rendered sparks, t\\p^. It occurs nowhere else in the Bible, though the word fcipt occurs in Prov. xxvi. 18, where it is rendered in the text fire-brands, and in the margin fiames, or sparks. Gesenius supposes that these are different forms of the same word, and renders the word here, burning arrows, fiery darts. The Vulgate renders it flames. The LXX <p\oy"i, flame. In the Syriac the word has the lenae of lightning. Vitringa supposes it means faggots, and that the sense isi that they encompass themselves with faggots in order to make a great r/mflagration. Lowth renders it very loosely, " who heap the fuel round about." But it is probable that the common veision has given the true sense, and that the reference is to human devices which give no steady and clear light, but which may be compared with a spark struck from a flint. The idea probably is; that all human devices for salvation bear the same resemblance to tie true plan proposed by God, which a momentary spark in the dark does to the clear shining of a bright light like that of the sun. If this is the sense, -it is a most graphic and striking descrip'don of the nature of all the schemes by which the sinner hopes to save himself. Walk in the light of your fire. That is, you will walk in that light. It is not a command as if he w;&hed them to do it, but it is a declaration which is intended to direct their attention to the fact that if they did this tucy would lie down in sorrow. It is language such as we often use, as when we say to a young man, 'go on a little farther in a career ot dissipation, and you will bring youiseli to poverty and shame and death.' Or as if we should say to a man near a precipice, 'go on a little farther and you will fall down and be dashed in pieces. The essential idea is, that this course would lead to ruin. It is implied ihat they would walk on in this way and be destroyed. IT This shall ye have. As the result of this, you shall lie down in sorrow. Herder renders this:

How simple and yet how sublime an expression is this! The Messiah but lifta his hand and the lights are quenched. His foes lie down sad and dejected in darkness and sorrow. The idea is. that they would receive their doom from his hand, and that it would be as easy for him a3 is the uplifting or waving o{ the hand, to quench all their lights, and consign them to grief. Comp. Matt, xxv.

Thi*:&ipter, together with ch- Li. 1—12, is one connected portion, and injury has been done bj If raraMng it. It is a part of Isaiah or exquisite beauty, and is a moit suitable introduction to thi important portion which follows <oh lii 13— 18, ch. l.ii.) respecting the Messiah. This is designed chiefly to comfort the Jews in iheir exile. They are regarded as in Babylon near the close of tlieir captivity, and as earnestly desiring to be rescued. It is somewhat dran.atic in its character, and is made up of alternate addresses of God and his people— the one urging the strong language of consolation, and the other fervent petitions lor deliverance. The following analysis will give a correct view of the chapter.

I. God addres.-e* them in the language of consolation, and directs them to remember the founder of their nation, and assures them that He is able also to deliver them, vs. 1—3.

(«) He speaks of them as pious, and as seeking the Lord, ver. 1.

(b) They were to remember Abraham and Sarah— the quarry, so to speak, from which the nation had been hewed;— they were to remember how feeble they were, and yet how God had made a great nation of them, and to feel assured that God was equally able to conduct them forth and to multiply them into a great nation, vs. 1, 2.

<c) A direct promise that God would comfort Zion, and make it like Eden, ver. 3.

II. God calls upon his people to hearken to him, with the assurance that lie would extend the true religion even to the Gentile world, and that his salvation should be more permanent than were the heavens, vs. 4—6.

(a) He would make his religion a light to the Jewish people, ver. 4. Though now in darkness, yet they should be brought lorth into light.

(b) He would extend it to the isles— to the hesthen world, ver. 5.

(c) It should be everlasting, 'lhe heavens should grow old and vanish, but his situation should not he abolished, ver. G.

HI. God assures them them that they have no reason to despond on account of the number and powerof their enemies. However mighty they were, yet they should be consumed as the moth ta;s up a garment, and as the worm consumes wool, vs. 7, 8.

IV. The people are introduced as calling upon God, and as beseeching him to interpose as he had done in former times in their behalf, vs. 9, 10. In this appeal they refer to what God had done in former periods when he cut Rahab, i. e. Egypt, in pieces, and delivered his people, and they cry to him to interpose in like manner again, and to deliver them.

(a) That his Redeemed shall return with joy and triumph, ver. 11.

(c) The captive exile was soon to be unloosed, and they hastened that they might be restored; that is, it would soon occur, ver. 14.

(d) JEHOVAH who had divided the sea was their protector. He had given them a solemn promise, and he had covered his people with the shadow of his hand, and he would defend them, vs. 15, 16.

VI. The chapter closes with a direct address to Jeru.-alem. and with assurances that it shall be rebuilt, and that it would be no more visited with such calamities, vs. 17—23.

(rt> The calamities of Jerusalem are enumerated. She had drunk the cup of the fury of Jehovah (ver. 17); she had been forsaken of those who were qualified to guide her (ver. 18); desolation and destruction had therefore come upon her (ver. 19); her sons had fainted in the streets, and had drunk of the fury of God, ver. 20.

(b) God promises deliverance. She was drunken, butnotwith wine (ver. 21>; God had taken ou' of her hand the cup of trembling-, and she should no more drink it again (ver. 22); he would put that cup into the hand of those who had afflicted her, and they should diink it, ver. 23.

1 Hearken "to me, ye that "follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord: look unto the

1. Hearken unto me. That is, to the God of their fathers, who now addresses them. They are regarded as in exile and bondage, and as desponding in regard to their prospects. In this situation God, or perha-ps more properly the Messiah (comp. Notes on ch. 1.), is introduced as addressing them with the assurances of deliverance. T Ye that follow after rigldeousness. This is addressed evidently to those who sought rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are to be righteous, and who truly feared the Lord. There was a portion of the nation that continued faithful to Jehovah. They still loved and worshipped him in exile, and they were anxiously looking for deliverance and for a return to their own land. IT Look unto the rock whence ye, are hewn. To Abraham the founder oi the nation. The figure is taken from the act of quarrying stone for the purposes of building; and the essential idea

2 Look *un1o Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I callcdy him alone, and blessed2 him, and increased him.

3 For the Lord shall comfort

here is, that God had formed the nation from the beginning as a mason constructs a building; that he had, so to Epeak, taken the materials rough and unhewn from the very quarry: that he had shaped, and fitted them, and moulded them into an edifice. The idea is not that their origin was dishonourable or obscure. It is not that Abraham was not an honoured ancestor, or that they should be ashamed of the founder of their nation. But the idea is, that God had had the entire moulding of the nation; that he had taken Abraham and Sarah from a distant land, and had formed them into a great people and nation for his own purpose. The argument is, that he who had done this was able to raise them up from captivity, and make them again a great people. Probably allusion is made to this passage by the Saviour in Matt. iii. 9, where he says, " for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham." IF The hole of the pit. The word rendered hole means such an excavation as men make who are taking stones from a quarry. It expresses sub- Btantially the same idea as the previous member of the verse. This language is sometimes addressed to Christians, with a view to produce humility by reminding them that they have been taken by God from a state of sin, and raised up, as it were, from a deep and dark pit of pollution. But this is not the sense of the passage, nor will it bear such an application. It may be used to denote that God has taken them, as stone is taken from the quarry; that he found them in their natural state as unhewn blocks of marble are; that he has moulded and formed them by his own agency, and Sited them into his spiritual temple; and that thev owe all the beauty and

Zion: Bhe will comfort all hel waste places, and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy 6and gladness shall be

grace of their Christian deportment to him; that this is an argument to prove that he who had done so much for them as to transform them, so to speak, from rough and unsightly blocks to polished stones fitted for his spiritual temple on earth, is able to keep them still, and tc fit them for his temple above. Such is the argument in the passage before us; and such a use of it is, of course, perfectly legitimate and fair.

2. Look unto Abraham. What was figuratively expressed in the former verse is here expressed literally. They were directed to remember that God had taken Abraham and Sarah from a distant land, and that from so humble a beginning he had increased them to a great nation. The argument is, that he was able to bless and increase the exile Jews, though comparatively feeble and few. IT For I called him alone. Heb. a For one I called him;" that is, he was alone; there was but one, and he increased to a mighty nation. So Jerome, quia unum vocavi cum. So the LXX, on e»s %». For he was one. The point of the declaration here is, that God had called one individual — ■ Abraham — and that he had caused him to increase till a mighty nation had sprung from him, and that he had the same power to increase the little remnant that remained in Babylon until they should again become a mighty people.

3. For the Lord shall comfort Zion. On the word Zion, see Note ch. i. 8. The meaning here is, that he would again restore it from its ruins. The argument is drawn frcm the statement in the previous verses. If God had raised up so great a nation from so humble an origin, he had power to restore the waste places of Judea to more than their former beauty and prosperity. See Notes ch. xl. 1. IT An<* he wii

found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

4 Hearken unto me, my people, and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law dshall proceed from me, and I will make my

make her wilderness. Judea is here represented as lying waste. It is to be remembered that the time to which the prophet here refers is that of the captivity, and near its close. Of course, as that would have continued seventy years, in so long a period Judea would have become almost an extended wilderness, a wide waste. Any country that was naturally as fertile as Judea, would in that time be overrun with briers, thorns, and underbrush, and even with a wild and luxuriant growth of the trees of the forest. IT Like Eden. Gen. ii. Like a cultivated and fertile garden — distinguished not only for its fertility but for its beauty and order. IT Her desert like the garden of the Lord. Like the garden which the Lord planted. Gen. ii. 8. LXX, &$ irapaSettrov Kvpiov, as the paradise of the Lord. The idea is, that it should be again distinguished for its beauty and fertility. IT Joy and gladness. The sound of reioicing and praise shall be again heard there, where are now heard the cries of wild beasts. f The voice of melody. Heb. ' the voice of a psalm.' The praises of God shall again be celebrated.

The reason why he proposes this change is, that he supposes the address here is made to the Gentiles and not to the Jews, and in favour of the change he observes, that two MSS. read it in this manner. Gesenius (Comm.) says that three codices read CPE? peoples, in- Btead of ",'S? my people; and that thirteen read fBwb nations, instead of *£isb my nation. Noyes also has adopted this reading. But the authority js too slight to justify a change in judgment to rest for a light of the

5 My 'righteousness?s near \ my salvation n gone forth, and mine arms shall judge' the people: the isles* shall wait upon

the text. The Vulgate reads it in accordance with the present Hebrew text, and so substantially do the LXX. They render it, 'hear me, hear me, my people, and ye kings, give ear unto me.' It is not necessary to suppose any change in the text. The address is to the Jews; and the design is, to comfort them in view of the fact that the heathen would be brought to partake oi the privileges and blessings of the true religion. They would not only be restored to their own land, but the true religion would be ex tended also to the distant nations of the earth. In view of this great and glorious truth, Jehovah calls on his people to hearken to him, and receive the glad announcement. It was a truth in which they were deeply interested, and to which they should therefore attend. IT For a laio shall proceed from me. The idea here is, that Jehovah would give law to the distant nations by the diffusion of the true religion. IT And I will make my judgment to rest for a light. The word judgment here is equivalent to law, or statute, or to the institutions of the true religion. The word here rendered " to rest," S^S'niX from 25^, Lowth renders " I will cause to break forth." Noyes renders it, " I will establish." The Vulgate, " requiescet," shall rest. The LXX render it simply, "my judgment for a light of the nation." The word properly means to make afraid, to terrify, to restrain by threats; Isa. Ii. 15 (rendered " divideth"), Job xxvi. 12; then to be afraid, to shrink from iear, and hence to be still, or quiet, as if cowering down from fear. Here it means that he would set firmly his law; he would place it so that it would be established and immovable.

me, and on mine arm shall they trust.

6 Lilt up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath; for *the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the

word righteousness is used in a great Variety of significations. Here it means, probably,,ae faithful completion of his promises to his people. Lowth. IT My salvation is gone forth. The promise of salvation is gone forth, and already the execution of that purpose is commenced. He would soon deliver his people; he would at no distant period extend salvation to all nations, if And mine arm shall judge the people. That is, shall dispense judgment to them. The arm here is put for himself, as the arm is the instrument by which we execute our purposes. See Notes, on ver. (J. f The isles shall wait upon me. The distant nations; the heathen lands. See Note ch. xli. 1. The idea is, that distant lands would become interested in the true religion, and acknowledge and worship the true God.

6. Lift up your eyes to the heavens. The design of directing their attention to the heavens and the earth is, probably, to impress them more deeply with a conviction of the certainty of his salvation in this manner, viz.: the heavens and the earth appear firm, and fixed; there is in them no apparent tendency to dissolution and decay. Yet though apparently thus fixed and determined, they will all vanish away, but the promise of God will be unfailing. 1T For the heavens shall vanish away. The word which is here rendered ' shall vanish away' (^5^)> occurs nowhere else '« the Bible. The primary idea, according to Gesenius, is that of smoothness and softness. Then it means to glide away, to disappear. The idea here is, that the heavens would disappear, as smoke is dissipated and disappears in the air. The idea of the vanishing, or *he disappearing of the heavens and the tartii, is one that often occurs in the earth shall wax old like a gar. ment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not °be abolished.