Isaiah · Chapter 40

V. 1. Ye-Ye prophets and ministers.

Verse 1. Comfort ye, comfort ye] “The whole of this prophecy,” says Kimchi, “belongs to the days of the Messiah.”

1, 2.

(2,) These tidings introduced by a voice in the wilderness, giving assurance that all obstruction shall be removed, and that though all creatures fail and fade, the word of God shall be confirmed and accomplished, 3-8. (3,) A joyful prospect given to the people of God of the happy consequences of this redemption, 9-11.

(4,) The sovereignty and power of that God magnified, who effects this redemption, 12-17.

(5,) Idols triumphed over, and idolaters upbraided with their folly, 18-26. (6,) The people of God reproved for their fears and despondences, and encouragement given them by gracious promises, 27-31.

NOTES ON CHAPTER 40.

Verses 1, 2. Comfort ye, &c. — “The prophet, in the foregoing chapter, had delivered a very explicit declaration of the impending dissolution of the kingdom of Judah, and of the captivity of the royal house of David, and of the people, under the king of Babylon. As the subject of his subsequent prophecies was to be chiefly of the consolatory kind, he opens them with giving a promise of the restoration of the kingdom, and the return of the people from that captivity, by the merciful interposition of God in their favour. But the views of the prophet are not confined to this event; as the restoration of the royal family, and of the tribe of Judah, was necessary, in the design and order of Providence, for the fulfilling of God’s promises of establishing a more glorious and everlasting kingdom, under the Messiah, to be born of the tribe of Judah, and of the family of David; the prophet connects these two events together, and hardly ever treats of the former without throwing in some intimation of the latter, and sometimes is so fully possessed with the glories of the future more remote kingdom, that he seems to leave the more immediate subject of his commission almost out of the question.” — Bishop Lowth.

Comfort ye my people — Ye prophets and ministers of the Lord, which now are, or hereafter shall be; the LXX. say, iereiv, ye priests; deliver the following comfortable message from me to my people, that they may not sink under their burdens. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem — Hebrew, bl l[, to the heart of Jerusalem. So the LXX., lalhsate eiv thn kardian. And cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished — Proclaim in my name, that the time of her servitude, captivity, and misery, is finished. The LXX. render it, Comfort her, oti eplhsqh h tapeinwsiv authv, because her humiliation, that is, the time of her humiliation, is fulfilled. Her iniquity is pardoned — I am reconciled to her; I will not impute sin to her, so as to punish her any longer for it. She hath received at the Lord’s hand double, &c. — Not twice as much as her sins deserved, for she herself confesses the contrary, Lamentations 3:22; Ezra 9:13; but abundantly enough to answer God’s design in this chastisement, which was to humble and reform them, and to warn others by their example; double being often put for abundantly. Or, “double in proportion to God’s usual severity in punishing men’s sins.” See Jeremiah 16:18, and 17:18; Revelation 18:6. God always punishes men less than their iniquities deserve; yet he showed greater severity against the sins of the Jews than toward those of other nations, Daniel 9:12; Amos 3:2. For as they had received more peculiar favours from God, and a clearer knowledge of his will, than the rest of mankind, their sins were the more aggravated, and required a severer chastisement. Vitringa, however, and Bishop Lowth, not to mention some other learned interpreters, understand the clause in a different light. The meaning, according to the former, is, “that though God might, with great justice, punish the sins of his people more severely, yet, at this time of grace, he would cease from his severity, would forgive their sins, and crown them with a double portion of his blessings.” And the bishop, comparing the passage with Isaiah 61:7; Job 42:10; and Zechariah 9:12, (which see,) translates the verse, “Speak ye animating words to Jerusalem, and declare unto her that her warfare is fulfilled; that the expiation of her iniquity is accepted; that she shall receive, at the hands of Jehovah, blessings double to the punishment of all her sins.”

Verse 1. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people. What a sweet voice is this to the church, after all her long afflictions. The words are doubled, to designate the fulness of comfort in the pardon of sin, testified by remission of punishment.

1. Comfort ye — This chapter proleptically opens the scene, as it was laid in Babylon during the exile, of God’s coming deliverance to his people. The interminable ring of “a remnant shall be saved,” still sounds loud and clear. The voice is to the prophet and his partners and successors, — “Comfort ye.” The charge to “comfort” is re-doubled, denoting no cessation, no letting up, of this duty, for God is in earnest, and his promise means continuance of consolation till the exile is over. My people — The humble remnant, who are to be purified wholly of every idolatrous taint, and who shall be worthy of complete deliverance. Your God — Emphatic of “your;” because the humbled people are, and shall be accounted worthy to be, his — a people to whom he twice commands to announce a perpetual consolation.

V. 2. Warfare-The time of her captivity, and misery. Double-Not twice as much as her sins deserved, but abundantly enough to answer God’s design in this chastisement, which was to humble and reform them, and to warn others by their example.

Verse 2. Double for all her sins— “Blessings double to the punishment.”] It does not seem reconcilable to our notions of the Divine justice, which always punishes less than our iniquities deserve, to suppose that God had punished the sins of the Jews in double proportion; and it is more agreeable to the tenor of this consolatory message to understand it as a promise of ample recompense for the effects of past displeasure, on the reconciliation of God to his returning people. To express this sense of the passage, which the words of the original will very well bear, it was necessary to add a word or two in the version to supply the elliptical expression of the Hebrew. Compare Isaiah 61:7; Job 42:10; Zechariah 9:12. hacj chattaah signifies punishment for sin, Lamentations 3:39; Zechariah 14:19. But Kimchi says, “Double here means the two captivities and emigrations suffered by the Israelites. The first, the Babylonish captivity; the second, that which they now endure.” This is not a bad conjecture.

1, 2.

(2,) These tidings introduced by a voice in the wilderness, giving assurance that all obstruction shall be removed, and that though all creatures fail and fade, the word of God shall be confirmed and accomplished, 3-8. (3,) A joyful prospect given to the people of God of the happy consequences of this redemption, 9-11.

(4,) The sovereignty and power of that God magnified, who effects this redemption, 12-17.

(5,) Idols triumphed over, and idolaters upbraided with their folly, 18-26. (6,) The people of God reproved for their fears and despondences, and encouragement given them by gracious promises, 27-31.

NOTES ON CHAPTER 40.

Verses 1, 2. Comfort ye, &c. — “The prophet, in the foregoing chapter, had delivered a very explicit declaration of the impending dissolution of the kingdom of Judah, and of the captivity of the royal house of David, and of the people, under the king of Babylon. As the subject of his subsequent prophecies was to be chiefly of the consolatory kind, he opens them with giving a promise of the restoration of the kingdom, and the return of the people from that captivity, by the merciful interposition of God in their favour. But the views of the prophet are not confined to this event; as the restoration of the royal family, and of the tribe of Judah, was necessary, in the design and order of Providence, for the fulfilling of God’s promises of establishing a more glorious and everlasting kingdom, under the Messiah, to be born of the tribe of Judah, and of the family of David; the prophet connects these two events together, and hardly ever treats of the former without throwing in some intimation of the latter, and sometimes is so fully possessed with the glories of the future more remote kingdom, that he seems to leave the more immediate subject of his commission almost out of the question.” — Bishop Lowth.

Comfort ye my people — Ye prophets and ministers of the Lord, which now are, or hereafter shall be; the LXX. say, iereiv, ye priests; deliver the following comfortable message from me to my people, that they may not sink under their burdens. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem — Hebrew, bl l[, to the heart of Jerusalem. So the LXX., lalhsate eiv thn kardian. And cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished — Proclaim in my name, that the time of her servitude, captivity, and misery, is finished. The LXX. render it, Comfort her, oti eplhsqh h tapeinwsiv authv, because her humiliation, that is, the time of her humiliation, is fulfilled. Her iniquity is pardoned — I am reconciled to her; I will not impute sin to her, so as to punish her any longer for it. She hath received at the Lord’s hand double, &c. — Not twice as much as her sins deserved, for she herself confesses the contrary, Lamentations 3:22; Ezra 9:13; but abundantly enough to answer God’s design in this chastisement, which was to humble and reform them, and to warn others by their example; double being often put for abundantly. Or, “double in proportion to God’s usual severity in punishing men’s sins.” See Jeremiah 16:18, and 17:18; Revelation 18:6. God always punishes men less than their iniquities deserve; yet he showed greater severity against the sins of the Jews than toward those of other nations, Daniel 9:12; Amos 3:2. For as they had received more peculiar favours from God, and a clearer knowledge of his will, than the rest of mankind, their sins were the more aggravated, and required a severer chastisement. Vitringa, however, and Bishop Lowth, not to mention some other learned interpreters, understand the clause in a different light. The meaning, according to the former, is, “that though God might, with great justice, punish the sins of his people more severely, yet, at this time of grace, he would cease from his severity, would forgive their sins, and crown them with a double portion of his blessings.” And the bishop, comparing the passage with Isaiah 61:7; Job 42:10; and Zechariah 9:12, (which see,) translates the verse, “Speak ye animating words to Jerusalem, and declare unto her that her warfare is fulfilled; that the expiation of her iniquity is accepted; that she shall receive, at the hands of Jehovah, blessings double to the punishment of all her sins.”

Ver. 2. She hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. The later rabbins say here, that the Babylonian captivity, and the Roman dispersion, were the double punishment of Zion’s sins. The words are variously expounded.

(1) Hyperbolically, she has been doubly punished for her sins.

(2) Of grace, she has received double, in the gifts and graces of Christ Jesus.

2. Speak… comfortably — That is, carry the message in the tenderest way to the very heart. This is a thrice-told charge, rendering the meaning still more intense. Jerusalem — Another name for God’s beloved Zion or people. Wherever they are the prophet is to give them cheer. Officially sent of God, he has declared that her warfare (abx, tsaba,) — or the allotted time of her captivity — is accomplished. Here it is service and hardship implied in exile, of which God’s people have a double suffering, and for which there shall be provided twofold comfort in the form of pardon. Delitzsch calls their trouble “that unsheltered bivouac, as it were, of the people who had been transported into a foreign land, and were living there in bondage, restlessness, and insecurity.” See Job 7:5; 14:14; and Daniel 10:1.

No doubt there is a Messianic idea underneath here — that of a gloriously better day at hand; and if allusion is also made, as some think, to a past ritualistic hard life in the word “warfare,” above, then the deliverance by Messiah is the freedom of the Gospel, which thought in the prophet’s mind underlies the Babylonian deliverance.

These verses (one and two) open up the subject of the prophecies which now follow to the end of the book, and the two verses are the key words to them all.

V. 3. The voice-An abrupt speech. Methinks I hear a voice. Wilderness-This immediately relates to the deliverance of the Jews out of Babylon, and smoothing their passage from thence to Judea, which lay through a great wilderness; but principally to their redemption by the Messiah, whose coming was ushered in by the cry of John the baptist, in the wilderness. Prepare ye the way-You to whom this work belongs. He alludes to the custom of princes who send pioneers before them to prepare the way through which they are to pass. The meaning is, God shall by his spirit so dispose mens hearts, and by his providence so order the affairs of the world, as to make way for the accomplishment of his promise. This was eminently fulfilled, when Christ, who was, and is God, blessed for ever, came into the world in a visible manner.

Verse 3. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness— “A voice crieth, In the wilderness”] The idea is taken from the practice of eastern monarchs, who, whenever they entered upon an expedition or took a journey, especially through desert and unpractised countries, sent harbingers before them to prepare all things for their passage, and pioneers to open the passes, to level the ways, and to remove all impediments. The officers appointed to superintend such preparations the Latins call stratores. Ipse (Johannes Baptista) se stratorem vocat Messiæ, cujus esset alta et elata voce homines in desertis locis habitantes ad itinera et vias Regi mox venturo sternendas et reficiendas hortari.—Mosheim, Instituta, Majora, p. 96. “He (John the Baptist) calls himself the pioneer of the Messiah, whose business it was with a loud voice to call upon the people dwelling in the deserts to level and prepare the roads by which the King was about to march.”

Diodorus’s account of the marches of Semiramis into Media and Persia will give us a clear notion of the preparation of the way for a royal expedition: “In her march to Ecbatana she came to the Zarcean mountain, which, extending many furlongs, and being full of craggy precipices and deep hollows, could not be passed without taking a great compass about. Being therefore desirous of leaving an everlasting memorial of herself, as well as of shortening the way, she ordered the precipices to be digged down, and the hollows to be filled up; and at a great expense she made a shorter and more expeditious road, which to this day is called from her the road of Semiramis. Afterward she went into Persia, and all the other countries of Asia subject to her dominion; and wherever she went, she ordered the mountains and precipices to be levelled, raised causeways in the plain country, and at a great expense made the ways passable.”—Diod. Sic. lib. ii.

The writer of the apocryphal book called Baruch expresses the same subject by the same images, either taking them from this place of Isaiah, or from the common notions of his countrymen: “For God hath appointed that every high hill, and banks of long continuance, should be cast down, and valleys filled up, to make even the ground, that Israel may go safely in the glory of God.” Baruch 5:7.

The Jewish Church, to which John was sent to announce the coming of Messiah, was at that time in a barren and desert condition, unfit, without reformation, for the reception of her King. It was in this desert country, destitute at that time of all religious cultivation, in true piety and good works unfruitful, that John was sent to prepare the way of the Lord by preaching repentance. I have distinguished the parts of the sentence according to the punctuation of the Masoretes, which agrees best both with the literal and the spiritual sense; which the construction and parallelism of the distich in the Hebrew plainly favours, and of which the Greek of the Septuagint and of the evangelists is equally susceptible. John was born in the desert of Judea, and passed his whole life in it, till the time of his being manifested to Israel. He preached in the same desert: it was a mountainous country; however not entirely and properly a desert; for though less cultivated than other parts of Judea, yet it was not uninhabited. Joshua (Joshua 15:61, 62) reckons six cities in it. We are so prepossessed with the idea of John’s living and preaching in the desert, that we are apt to consider this particular scene of his preaching as a very important and essential part of history: whereas I apprehend this circumstance to be no otherwise important, than as giving us a strong idea of the rough character of the man, which was answerable to the place of his education; and as affording a proper emblem of the rude state of the Jewish Church at that time, which was the true wilderness meant by the prophet, in which John was to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah.

Verses 3, 4. The voice of him that crieth — Or, as the Hebrew may be properly rendered, A voice crieth; an abrupt and imperfect speech, implying, “Methinks I hear a voice;” or, “A voice shall be heard;” in the wilderness — Which word signifies the place, either where the cry was made, or where the way was to be prepared, as it is expressed in the following clause, which seems to be added to explain this. Bishop Lowth understands it in this latter sense, and translates the words, A voice crieth, In the wilderness, prepare ye the way of Jehovah. Which he thus interprets, “He hears a crier giving orders, by solemn proclamation, to prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness; to remove all obstructions before Jehovah marching through the desert; through the wild, uninhabited, unpassable country. The idea is taken from the practice of the eastern monarchs, who, whenever they entered upon an expedition, or took a journey, especially through desert and unpractised countries, sent harbingers before them to prepare all things for their passage, and pioneers to open the passes, to level the ways, and to remove all impediments. The officers appointed to superintend such preparations the Latins called stratores.” The bishop understands the prophet as referring to the return of the Jews from Babylon, which he has “no doubt was the first, though not the principal thing in his view.” This deliverance, he says, “is considered as parallel to the former deliverance of them from the Egyptian bondage. God was then represented as their king, leading them in person through the vast deserts which lay in their way to the promised land of Canaan. It was not merely for Jehovah himself that in both cases the way was to be prepared, and all obstructions to be removed; but for Jehovah marching in person at the head of his people.” “Babylon,” the bishop adds, “was separated from Judea by an immense tract of country, which was one continued desert; that large part of Arabia, called very properly Deserta. This was the nearest way homeward for the Jews; and whether they actually returned by this way or not, the first thing that would occur, on the proposal or thought of their return, would be the difficulty of this almost impracticable passage. Accordingly, the proclamation for the preparation of the way is the most natural idea, and most obvious circumstance, by which the prophet could have opened his subject.”

But though Bishop Lowth considers the prophet as first intending to comfort the Jews in their captivity, by predicting, in these words, that God would make the way plain for their return, yet he views him also as employing this deliverance out of Babylon, “as an image to shadow out a redemption of an infinitely higher and more important nature.” “Obvious and plain,” says he, “as I think this literal sense is, we have nevertheless the irrefragable authority of John the Baptist, and of Christ himself, as recorded by all the evangelists, for explaining this exordium of the prophecy of the opening of the gospel by the preaching of John, and of the introduction of the kingdom of Messiah, who was to effect a much greater deliverance of the people of God, Gentiles as well as Jews, from the captivity of sin, and the dominion of death. And this we shall find to be the case in many subsequent parts also of this prophecy, where passages, manifestly relating to the deliverance of the Jewish nation, effected by Cyrus, are, with good reason, and upon undoubted authority, to be understood of the redemption of mankind by Christ.” This interpretation supposes the wilderness to be the place where the way was prepared, rather than the place where the cry was made, and, in the spiritual or mystical application now mentioned, that wilderness signifies “the Jewish Church, to which John was sent to announce the coming of Messiah, and which was, at that time, in a barren and desert condition, unfit, without reformation, for the reception of her king. It was in this desert country, destitute at that time of all religious cultivation, in true piety and good works unfruitful, that John was sent to prepare the way of the Lord, by preaching repentance.” It must be observed, however, that, according to the translation of this clause by the LXX., and the punctuation, as we have it in their copies, and as it is understood by all the evangelists, the voice cried in the desert. For they all read, fwnh bowntov en th erhmw, Etoimasate, &c. The voice of one crying in the desert, Prepare ye, &c. But, omitting the consideration of the pointing, we may allow, with some interpreters of the first authority, that “the words, in the desert, belong to both parts of the sentence. The voice of one crying in the desert, Prepare ye in the desert the way of the Lord. And the word desert may be understood both in a proper and mystical sense, for it is certain that John proclaimed this approach of the Messiah in a desert, in the wilderness of Judea; and thence took occasion to consider that people, in which the kingdom of God was to be manifested under the figure of a desert, to be levelled before the face of Jesus Christ; for the metaphorical expressions which follow refer to that great preparation of mind which is necessary for the reception of Christ: see Malachi 3:1. That raising the low, that debasing the high, that refutation of all false and erroneous doctrine, and introduction of truth and righteousness, which was the consequence of the revelation of Christ.” See Vitringa.

Ver. 3. The voice that crieth in the wilderness. The ministry of John the baptist, preparing the way of the Lord, announcing the revelation of his glory, expostulating with the withering grass, and exhorting the people to hear his heralds on the tops of the mountains. Blessed are they that know the joyful sound.

Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Providence took care that this should be done by the translation of the holy scriptures into Greek, which was then the travelling language of the world; by the Roman conquests, and by the tolerant character of those conquests in adopting all gods, and honouring all temples, on which account Cicero calls the Romans the most religious of all nations; by a vast accession of gentile proselytes, and by synagogues in the great cities of the empire.

3-5. The voice of him that crieth — Rather, A voice crieth, though the Septuagint and the Vulgate translate as in our version. It is rhetorically suitable to read, “Hark! a crier.” So Delitzsch. Who is the crier is not given; nor is it important. More important is what follows. In the wilderness — Not unlikely the allusion here is, as if to a voice across the desert five hundred miles from Babylon toward Jerusalem. The scene is dramatic: Jehovah heads a column of exiles returning to Zion, as he did of old when, across from Egypt to Canaan, he conducted Israel. Both are sub-type and type of John the Baptist heralding the great coming One at a stage which completed the then pending preparatory dispensation. Prepare ye the way — The meaning, spiritually applied, is clear. “Prepare the roadway (of a custom immemorially far back is this an oriental picture) for the coming retinue of redeemed believers; remove rocks, level up gorges, excavate hills, and straighten crooked courses; Jehovah’s glory of victorious leading shall be seen by all.” Of this the last of verse 5 is the solemn voucher. For reference of this scene to John the Baptist, see Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:1, and Luke 3:4-6. See also remarks at pages 169, 170, showing Isaiah’s authorship of this chapter.

Verse 4. Crooked] The word bq[ akob is very generally rendered crooked: but this sense of the word seems not to be supported by any good authority. Ludolphus, Comment. ad Hist. Æthiop. p. 206, says “that in the Ethiopia language it signifies clivus, locus editus:” and so the Syriac Version renders it in this place, amr[ arama: Hebrew, hmr[ aramah, tumulus, acervus. Thus the parallelism would be more perfect: “the hilly country shall be made level, and the precipices a smooth plain.”

Verses 3, 4. The voice of him that crieth — Or, as the Hebrew may be properly rendered, A voice crieth; an abrupt and imperfect speech, implying, “Methinks I hear a voice;” or, “A voice shall be heard;” in the wilderness — Which word signifies the place, either where the cry was made, or where the way was to be prepared, as it is expressed in the following clause, which seems to be added to explain this. Bishop Lowth understands it in this latter sense, and translates the words, A voice crieth, In the wilderness, prepare ye the way of Jehovah. Which he thus interprets, “He hears a crier giving orders, by solemn proclamation, to prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness; to remove all obstructions before Jehovah marching through the desert; through the wild, uninhabited, unpassable country. The idea is taken from the practice of the eastern monarchs, who, whenever they entered upon an expedition, or took a journey, especially through desert and unpractised countries, sent harbingers before them to prepare all things for their passage, and pioneers to open the passes, to level the ways, and to remove all impediments. The officers appointed to superintend such preparations the Latins called stratores.” The bishop understands the prophet as referring to the return of the Jews from Babylon, which he has “no doubt was the first, though not the principal thing in his view.” This deliverance, he says, “is considered as parallel to the former deliverance of them from the Egyptian bondage. God was then represented as their king, leading them in person through the vast deserts which lay in their way to the promised land of Canaan. It was not merely for Jehovah himself that in both cases the way was to be prepared, and all obstructions to be removed; but for Jehovah marching in person at the head of his people.” “Babylon,” the bishop adds, “was separated from Judea by an immense tract of country, which was one continued desert; that large part of Arabia, called very properly Deserta. This was the nearest way homeward for the Jews; and whether they actually returned by this way or not, the first thing that would occur, on the proposal or thought of their return, would be the difficulty of this almost impracticable passage. Accordingly, the proclamation for the preparation of the way is the most natural idea, and most obvious circumstance, by which the prophet could have opened his subject.”

But though Bishop Lowth considers the prophet as first intending to comfort the Jews in their captivity, by predicting, in these words, that God would make the way plain for their return, yet he views him also as employing this deliverance out of Babylon, “as an image to shadow out a redemption of an infinitely higher and more important nature.” “Obvious and plain,” says he, “as I think this literal sense is, we have nevertheless the irrefragable authority of John the Baptist, and of Christ himself, as recorded by all the evangelists, for explaining this exordium of the prophecy of the opening of the gospel by the preaching of John, and of the introduction of the kingdom of Messiah, who was to effect a much greater deliverance of the people of God, Gentiles as well as Jews, from the captivity of sin, and the dominion of death. And this we shall find to be the case in many subsequent parts also of this prophecy, where passages, manifestly relating to the deliverance of the Jewish nation, effected by Cyrus, are, with good reason, and upon undoubted authority, to be understood of the redemption of mankind by Christ.” This interpretation supposes the wilderness to be the place where the way was prepared, rather than the place where the cry was made, and, in the spiritual or mystical application now mentioned, that wilderness signifies “the Jewish Church, to which John was sent to announce the coming of Messiah, and which was, at that time, in a barren and desert condition, unfit, without reformation, for the reception of her king. It was in this desert country, destitute at that time of all religious cultivation, in true piety and good works unfruitful, that John was sent to prepare the way of the Lord, by preaching repentance.” It must be observed, however, that, according to the translation of this clause by the LXX., and the punctuation, as we have it in their copies, and as it is understood by all the evangelists, the voice cried in the desert. For they all read, fwnh bowntov en th erhmw, Etoimasate, &c. The voice of one crying in the desert, Prepare ye, &c. But, omitting the consideration of the pointing, we may allow, with some interpreters of the first authority, that “the words, in the desert, belong to both parts of the sentence. The voice of one crying in the desert, Prepare ye in the desert the way of the Lord. And the word desert may be understood both in a proper and mystical sense, for it is certain that John proclaimed this approach of the Messiah in a desert, in the wilderness of Judea; and thence took occasion to consider that people, in which the kingdom of God was to be manifested under the figure of a desert, to be levelled before the face of Jesus Christ; for the metaphorical expressions which follow refer to that great preparation of mind which is necessary for the reception of Christ: see Malachi 3:1. That raising the low, that debasing the high, that refutation of all false and erroneous doctrine, and introduction of truth and righteousness, which was the consequence of the revelation of Christ.” See Vitringa.

Ver. 4. Every valley shall be exalted. The reference is to the pioneers, who go before great armies, and prepare the way. Semiramis levelled the road over the Zarcean mountain to Ecbatana; the Romans also made military roads in all the countries united to their empire. The existence of those roads can still be traced in different parts of England.

3-5. The voice of him that crieth — Rather, A voice crieth, though the Septuagint and the Vulgate translate as in our version. It is rhetorically suitable to read, “Hark! a crier.” So Delitzsch. Who is the crier is not given; nor is it important. More important is what follows. In the wilderness — Not unlikely the allusion here is, as if to a voice across the desert five hundred miles from Babylon toward Jerusalem. The scene is dramatic: Jehovah heads a column of exiles returning to Zion, as he did of old when, across from Egypt to Canaan, he conducted Israel. Both are sub-type and type of John the Baptist heralding the great coming One at a stage which completed the then pending preparatory dispensation. Prepare ye the way — The meaning, spiritually applied, is clear. “Prepare the roadway (of a custom immemorially far back is this an oriental picture) for the coming retinue of redeemed believers; remove rocks, level up gorges, excavate hills, and straighten crooked courses; Jehovah’s glory of victorious leading shall be seen by all.” Of this the last of verse 5 is the solemn voucher. For reference of this scene to John the Baptist, see Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:1, and Luke 3:4-6. See also remarks at pages 169, 170, showing Isaiah’s authorship of this chapter.

Verse 5. “The salvation of our God.”] These words are added here by the Septuagint: to swthrion tou Qeou, wnyhla t[wcy ta eth yesuath Eloheynu, as it is in the parallel place, Isaiah 52:10. The sentence is abrupt without it, the verb wanting its object; and I think it is genuine. Our English translation has supplied the word it, which is equivalent to this addition, from the Septuagint.

This omission in the Hebrew text is ancient, being prior to the Chaldee, Syriac, and Vulgate Versions: but the words stand in all the copies of the Septuagint, and they are acknowledged by Luke, Luke 3:6. The whole of this verse is wanting in one of my oldest MSS.

Verse 5. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed — It was revealed in some sort when God brought his people out of Babylon: for that was a glorious work of God, in which he displayed his power, and love, and faithfulness in fulfilling his promises. But his glory was much more eminently revealed when Christ, the Lord of glory, was manifested in the flesh, and gave much clearer and fuller discoveries of God’s glorious wisdom, holiness, goodness, and other divine perfections, than ever before had been imparted to mankind, or to his church. And all flesh shall see it together — All nations, Jews as well as Gentiles. For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it — Though it may seem incredible, yet God is able to accomplish it.

Ver. 5. The glory of the Lord shall be revealed. Christ and his gospel. John 1:14. Eusebius says, the gospel was like the sun enlightening the world at once. The sound of the preachers’ voice went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. Romans 10:18. There was no nation where their voice was not heard. Psalms 19:3Psalm 19:3.

3-5. The voice of him that crieth — Rather, A voice crieth, though the Septuagint and the Vulgate translate as in our version. It is rhetorically suitable to read, “Hark! a crier.” So Delitzsch. Who is the crier is not given; nor is it important. More important is what follows. In the wilderness — Not unlikely the allusion here is, as if to a voice across the desert five hundred miles from Babylon toward Jerusalem. The scene is dramatic: Jehovah heads a column of exiles returning to Zion, as he did of old when, across from Egypt to Canaan, he conducted Israel. Both are sub-type and type of John the Baptist heralding the great coming One at a stage which completed the then pending preparatory dispensation. Prepare ye the way — The meaning, spiritually applied, is clear. “Prepare the roadway (of a custom immemorially far back is this an oriental picture) for the coming retinue of redeemed believers; remove rocks, level up gorges, excavate hills, and straighten crooked courses; Jehovah’s glory of victorious leading shall be seen by all.” Of this the last of verse 5 is the solemn voucher. For reference of this scene to John the Baptist, see Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:1, and Luke 3:4-6. See also remarks at pages 169, 170, showing Isaiah’s authorship of this chapter.

V. 6. Cry-God speaks unto his ministers. He-The prophet. All flesh-The prophet having foretold glorious things, confirms the certainty of them, by representing the vast difference between the nature, and word, and work of men and of God. All that men are or have, yea, their highest accomplishments, are but like the grass of the field, weak and vanishing, soon nipt and brought to nothing; but God’s word is like himself, immutable and irresistible: and therefore as the mouth of the Lord, and not of man, hath spoken these things, so doubt not but they shall be fulfilled.

Verse 6. The voice said, Cry— “A voice saith Proclaim”] To understand rightly this passage is a matter of importance; for it seems designed to give us the true key to the remaining part of Isaiah’s prophecies, the general subject of which is the restoration of the people and Church of God. The prophet opens the subject with great clearness and elegance: he declares at once God’s command to his messengers, (his prophets, as the Chaldee rightly explains it,) to comfort his people in captivity, to impart to them the joyful tidings, that their punishment has now satisfied the Divine justice, and the time of reconciliation and favour is at hand. He then introduces a harbinger giving orders to prepare the way for God, leading his people from Babylon, as he did formerly from Egypt, through the wilderness, to remove all obstacles, and to clear the way for their passage. Thus far nothing more appears to be intended than a return from the Babylonish captivity; but the next words seem to intimate something much greater:— “And the glory of JEHOVAH shall be revealed;

And all flesh shall see together the salvation of our God.” He then introduces a voice commanding him to make a solemn proclamation. And what is the import of it? that the people—the flesh, is of a vain temporary nature; that all its glory fadeth, and is soon gone; but that the word of God endureth for ever. What is this, but a plain opposition of the flesh to the spirit; of the carnal Israel to the spiritual; of the temporary Mosaic economy to the eternal Christian dispensation? You may be ready to conclude, (the prophet may be disposed to say,) by this introduction to my discourse, that my commission is only to comfort you with a promise of the restoration of your religion and polity, of Jerusalem, of the temple, and its services and worship in all its ancient splendour. These are earthly, temporary, shadowy, fading things, which shall soon pass away, and be destroyed for ever; these are not worthy to engage your attention in comparison of the greater blessings, the spiritual redemption, the eternal inheritance, covered under the veil of the former, which I have it in charge to unfold unto you. The law has only a shadow of good things; the substance is the Gospel. I promise you a restoration of the former, which, however, is only for a time, and shall be done away, according to God’s original appointment: but under that image I give you a view of the latter, which shall never be done away, but shall endure for ever. This I take to be agreeable to St. Peter’s interpretation of this passage of the prophet, quoted by him, 1 Peter 1:24, 25: “All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth and the flower thereof falleth away; but the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you.” This is the same word of the Lord of which Isaiah speaks, which hath now been preached unto you by the Gospel. The law and the Gospel are frequently opposed to one another by St. Paul, under the images of flesh and spirit: “Having begun in the spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” Galatians 3:3.—L. All the goodliness thereof— “All its glory”] For wdsj chasdo read wdj chadu; the Septuagint and Vulgate, and 1 Peter 1:24.

Verses 6-8. The voice said, Cry — Rather, A voice; for it is not the voice last mentioned, which cried in the wilderness, that is intended, but the voice of God, who (verse 1) said, Comfort my people. Having, with a view to comfort them, commissioned his prophet to foretel glorious and wonderful things, which he was determined to do for them, he here commands him to assure them of the certainty of these things, by representing the vast difference between the nature, word, and work of men, and those of God. All that men are or have, yea, their highest accomplishments, are but like the grass, or flower of the field, weak and vanishing, soon nipped and brought to nothing: but God’s word is like himself, immutable and irresistible: and, therefore, as the mouth of the Lord, and not of man, had spoken this, as was said verse 5, so they ought not to doubt but it would be fulfilled in due time. The passage first refers to the deliverance from Babylon, and imports both that the power of man, if it should set itself to oppose that deliverance, was not to be feared, for it should be as grass before the word, that is, before the purpose and promise of the Lord; should soon wither and come to nothing; and if it should favour, and endeavour to promote the deliverance, it was not to be confided in, for it was still but as grass, compared with the Lord’s word, the only firm foundation for men to build their hopes upon. The words are still more applicable to the salvation of the gospel, the salvation from the power of Satan, sin, and death: with respect either to the preventing or effecting this, the wisdom, or power, or merit of man, is but as grass, or a flower of the grass; weak, and frail, and fading, and neither to be trusted in nor feared. When God is about to work deliverance for his people, he will have them to be taken off from depending upon creatures which would fail their expectation; for he will not allow any creature to be a rival with him for the confidence and hope of his people. As it is his word only that shall stand for ever, so on that word only must our faith stand. St. Peter applies this passage to the salvation effected for God’s spiritual Israel, and by this word of our God which shall stand for ever, he understands that word of the gospel which is preached to us, and by which we are regenerated and purified. See 1 Peter 1:23-25. The grass withereth, &c., because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it — Rather, the wind of the Lord, as hwhy jwr is with equal propriety translated, and undoubtedly here signifies; which Bishop Lowth justly observes, “is a Hebraism, meaning no more than a strong wind;” adding, “It is well known, that a hot wind in the East at once destroys every green thing.” See note on <19A316>Psalm 103:16. Surely, the people is grass — Or, this people, as µ[h may be properly rendered, namely, the Jews no less than the Gentiles. But the word of our God shall stand for ever — Whatsoever God hath said shall infallibly be verified, and come to pass. And particularly the glad tidings of salvation by Christ, published in the ministry of the gospel, and received by true faith, shall be confirmed and established, and be a solid foundation for the confidence and hope of the people of God to rest on in all ages.

6-8. Cry — Isaiah again hears a voice crying. Not the same voice. That was the herald’s cry. This one belongs to another subject. He said — rmaw, v’amar, is the true pointing of the text, according to the best authorities, though Lowth, Noyes, the Septuagint, the Vulgate, and a few Hebrew manuscripts read, And I said, and this apparently helps the sense of what follows. But it is, too, apparent, on the other hand, that it is the prophet who is here hearing, and the voice seems to be that of God, or of an ideal person in behalf of God, to the prophet, because when the latter asks, What shall I cry? the answer is such as to exalt the divine Word above all that is conceivable of man. The answer is, therefore, the theme of the entire passage. He is commanded to proclaim the perishable nature of man and of all flesh, and the imperishable nature of the word of God. Why such a proclamation? Possibly for preparing the way in men’s minds to see the absolute nothingness of idols (as shown in chapters following) when compared with the infinite exaltation of the almighty God. But more probably, and more directly, to assure the confidence of men in the reliability of God’s word of promise that Zion, or the believing ones in exile, shall surely have the deliverance promised. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth — Grass is “all flesh,” or man in the abstract. Then these predicates of man show him in infinite contrast with God. Man is impotent, limited, perishing: the blast of God’s breath upon man is his destruction. Whatever such an infinite One says, therefore, can never fail. His promise of consolation and comfort is sure. This is clearly the sense to verse 9. See Psalms 10:15Psalm 10:15; Isaiah 1:10, 11; 1 Peter 1:24, 25.

Verse 7. The grass withereth] The whole of this verse is wanting in three of Kennicott’s and five of Deuteronomy Rossi’s MSS., and in a very correct and ancient MS. of my own, and also in the Septuagint and Arabic. Surely the people— “Verily this people”] So the Syriac; who perhaps read hzh העם haam hazzeh.

Because the spirit of the Lord— “When the wind of JEHOVAH”] hwhy jwr ruach Jehovah, a wind of JEHOVAH, is a Hebraism, meaning no more than a strong wind. It is well known that a hot wind in the east destroys every green thing. Compare <19A316>Psalm 103:16. Two MSS. omit the word hwhy Yehovah, Jehovah.

Verses 6-8. The voice said, Cry — Rather, A voice; for it is not the voice last mentioned, which cried in the wilderness, that is intended, but the voice of God, who (verse 1) said, Comfort my people. Having, with a view to comfort them, commissioned his prophet to foretel glorious and wonderful things, which he was determined to do for them, he here commands him to assure them of the certainty of these things, by representing the vast difference between the nature, word, and work of men, and those of God. All that men are or have, yea, their highest accomplishments, are but like the grass, or flower of the field, weak and vanishing, soon nipped and brought to nothing: but God’s word is like himself, immutable and irresistible: and, therefore, as the mouth of the Lord, and not of man, had spoken this, as was said verse 5, so they ought not to doubt but it would be fulfilled in due time. The passage first refers to the deliverance from Babylon, and imports both that the power of man, if it should set itself to oppose that deliverance, was not to be feared, for it should be as grass before the word, that is, before the purpose and promise of the Lord; should soon wither and come to nothing; and if it should favour, and endeavour to promote the deliverance, it was not to be confided in, for it was still but as grass, compared with the Lord’s word, the only firm foundation for men to build their hopes upon. The words are still more applicable to the salvation of the gospel, the salvation from the power of Satan, sin, and death: with respect either to the preventing or effecting this, the wisdom, or power, or merit of man, is but as grass, or a flower of the grass; weak, and frail, and fading, and neither to be trusted in nor feared. When God is about to work deliverance for his people, he will have them to be taken off from depending upon creatures which would fail their expectation; for he will not allow any creature to be a rival with him for the confidence and hope of his people. As it is his word only that shall stand for ever, so on that word only must our faith stand. St. Peter applies this passage to the salvation effected for God’s spiritual Israel, and by this word of our God which shall stand for ever, he understands that word of the gospel which is preached to us, and by which we are regenerated and purified. See 1 Peter 1:23-25. The grass withereth, &c., because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it — Rather, the wind of the Lord, as hwhy jwr is with equal propriety translated, and undoubtedly here signifies; which Bishop Lowth justly observes, “is a Hebraism, meaning no more than a strong wind;” adding, “It is well known, that a hot wind in the East at once destroys every green thing.” See note on <19A316>Psalm 103:16. Surely, the people is grass — Or, this people, as µ[h may be properly rendered, namely, the Jews no less than the Gentiles. But the word of our God shall stand for ever — Whatsoever God hath said shall infallibly be verified, and come to pass. And particularly the glad tidings of salvation by Christ, published in the ministry of the gospel, and received by true faith, shall be confirmed and established, and be a solid foundation for the confidence and hope of the people of God to rest on in all ages.

Ver. 7. The Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. Breath, wind, and spirit, very often are of the same import. Here it may mean the droughty season, when the grass was dried into hay.

6-8. Cry — Isaiah again hears a voice crying. Not the same voice. That was the herald’s cry. This one belongs to another subject. He said — rmaw, v’amar, is the true pointing of the text, according to the best authorities, though Lowth, Noyes, the Septuagint, the Vulgate, and a few Hebrew manuscripts read, And I said, and this apparently helps the sense of what follows. But it is, too, apparent, on the other hand, that it is the prophet who is here hearing, and the voice seems to be that of God, or of an ideal person in behalf of God, to the prophet, because when the latter asks, What shall I cry? the answer is such as to exalt the divine Word above all that is conceivable of man. The answer is, therefore, the theme of the entire passage. He is commanded to proclaim the perishable nature of man and of all flesh, and the imperishable nature of the word of God. Why such a proclamation? Possibly for preparing the way in men’s minds to see the absolute nothingness of idols (as shown in chapters following) when compared with the infinite exaltation of the almighty God. But more probably, and more directly, to assure the confidence of men in the reliability of God’s word of promise that Zion, or the believing ones in exile, shall surely have the deliverance promised. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth — Grass is “all flesh,” or man in the abstract. Then these predicates of man show him in infinite contrast with God. Man is impotent, limited, perishing: the blast of God’s breath upon man is his destruction. Whatever such an infinite One says, therefore, can never fail. His promise of consolation and comfort is sure. This is clearly the sense to verse 9. See Psalms 10:15Psalm 10:15; Isaiah 1:10, 11; 1 Peter 1:24, 25.

Verses 6-8. The voice said, Cry — Rather, A voice; for it is not the voice last mentioned, which cried in the wilderness, that is intended, but the voice of God, who (verse 1) said, Comfort my people. Having, with a view to comfort them, commissioned his prophet to foretel glorious and wonderful things, which he was determined to do for them, he here commands him to assure them of the certainty of these things, by representing the vast difference between the nature, word, and work of men, and those of God. All that men are or have, yea, their highest accomplishments, are but like the grass, or flower of the field, weak and vanishing, soon nipped and brought to nothing: but God’s word is like himself, immutable and irresistible: and, therefore, as the mouth of the Lord, and not of man, had spoken this, as was said verse 5, so they ought not to doubt but it would be fulfilled in due time. The passage first refers to the deliverance from Babylon, and imports both that the power of man, if it should set itself to oppose that deliverance, was not to be feared, for it should be as grass before the word, that is, before the purpose and promise of the Lord; should soon wither and come to nothing; and if it should favour, and endeavour to promote the deliverance, it was not to be confided in, for it was still but as grass, compared with the Lord’s word, the only firm foundation for men to build their hopes upon. The words are still more applicable to the salvation of the gospel, the salvation from the power of Satan, sin, and death: with respect either to the preventing or effecting this, the wisdom, or power, or merit of man, is but as grass, or a flower of the grass; weak, and frail, and fading, and neither to be trusted in nor feared. When God is about to work deliverance for his people, he will have them to be taken off from depending upon creatures which would fail their expectation; for he will not allow any creature to be a rival with him for the confidence and hope of his people. As it is his word only that shall stand for ever, so on that word only must our faith stand. St. Peter applies this passage to the salvation effected for God’s spiritual Israel, and by this word of our God which shall stand for ever, he understands that word of the gospel which is preached to us, and by which we are regenerated and purified. See 1 Peter 1:23-25. The grass withereth, &c., because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it — Rather, the wind of the Lord, as hwhy jwr is with equal propriety translated, and undoubtedly here signifies; which Bishop Lowth justly observes, “is a Hebraism, meaning no more than a strong wind;” adding, “It is well known, that a hot wind in the East at once destroys every green thing.” See note on <19A316>Psalm 103:16. Surely, the people is grass — Or, this people, as µ[h may be properly rendered, namely, the Jews no less than the Gentiles. But the word of our God shall stand for ever — Whatsoever God hath said shall infallibly be verified, and come to pass. And particularly the glad tidings of salvation by Christ, published in the ministry of the gospel, and received by true faith, shall be confirmed and established, and be a solid foundation for the confidence and hope of the people of God to rest on in all ages.

6-8. Cry — Isaiah again hears a voice crying. Not the same voice. That was the herald’s cry. This one belongs to another subject. He said — rmaw, v’amar, is the true pointing of the text, according to the best authorities, though Lowth, Noyes, the Septuagint, the Vulgate, and a few Hebrew manuscripts read, And I said, and this apparently helps the sense of what follows. But it is, too, apparent, on the other hand, that it is the prophet who is here hearing, and the voice seems to be that of God, or of an ideal person in behalf of God, to the prophet, because when the latter asks, What shall I cry? the answer is such as to exalt the divine Word above all that is conceivable of man. The answer is, therefore, the theme of the entire passage. He is commanded to proclaim the perishable nature of man and of all flesh, and the imperishable nature of the word of God. Why such a proclamation? Possibly for preparing the way in men’s minds to see the absolute nothingness of idols (as shown in chapters following) when compared with the infinite exaltation of the almighty God. But more probably, and more directly, to assure the confidence of men in the reliability of God’s word of promise that Zion, or the believing ones in exile, shall surely have the deliverance promised. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth — Grass is “all flesh,” or man in the abstract. Then these predicates of man show him in infinite contrast with God. Man is impotent, limited, perishing: the blast of God’s breath upon man is his destruction. Whatever such an infinite One says, therefore, can never fail. His promise of consolation and comfort is sure. This is clearly the sense to verse 9. See Psalms 10:15Psalm 10:15; Isaiah 1:10, 11; 1 Peter 1:24, 25.

V. 9. Zion-Zion or Jerusalem is the publisher, and the cities of Judah the hearers. Get up-That thy voice may be better heard. Afraid-Lest thou shouldest be found a false prophet. Say-To all my people in the several places of their abode. Behold-Take notice of this wonderful work, and glorious appearance of your God.

Verse 9. O Zion, that bringest good tidings— “O daughter, that bringest glad tidings to Zion”] That the true construction of the sentence is this, which makes Zion the receiver, not the publisher, of the glad tidings, which latter has been the most prevailing interpretation, will, I think, very clearly appear, if we rightly consider the image itself, and the custom and common practice from which it is taken. I have added the word daughter to express the feminine gender of the Hebrew participle, which I know not how to do otherwise in our language; and this is absolutely necessary in order to ascertain the image. For the office of announcing and celebrating such glad tidings as are here spoken of, belongs peculiarly to the women. On occasion of any great public success, a signal victory, or any other joyful event, it was usual for the women to gather together, and with music, dances, and songs, to publish and celebrate the happy news. Thus after the passage of the Red Sea, Miriam, and all the women, with timbrels in their hands, formed a chorus, and joined the men in their triumphant song, dancing, and throwing in alternately the refrain or burden of the song:— “Sing ye to JEHOVAH, for he is greatly exalted;

The horse and his rider hath he cast into the sea.”

Exodus 15:20, 21.

So Jephthah’s daughter collected a chorus of virgins, and with dances and songs came out to meet her father, and to celebrate his victory, Judges 11:34. After David’s conquest of Goliath, “all the women came out of the cities of Israel singing and dancing to meet Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of music;” and, forming themselves into two choruses, they sang alternately:—

“Saul has slain his thousands:

And David his ten thousands.”

1 Samuel 18:6, 7.

And this gives us the true sense of a passage in the sixty-eighth Psalm, which has frequently been misunderstood:—

“JEHOVAH gave the word, (that is, the joyful news,)

The women, who published the glad tidings, were a great company; The kings of mighty armies did flee, did flee:

And even the matron, who stayed at home, shared the spoil.” The word signifying the publishers of glad tidings is the same, and expressed in the same form by the feminine participle, as in this place, and the last distich is the song which they sang. So in this place, JEHOVAH having given the word by his prophet, the joyful tidings of the restoration of Zion, and of God’s returning to Jerusalem, (see Isaiah 52:8,) the women are exhorted by the prophet to publish the joyful news with a loud voice from eminences, whence they might best be heard all over the country; and the matter and burden of their song was to be, “Behold your God!” See on Psalms 68:11Psalm 68:11.

Verse 9. O Zion, thou bringest good tidings — Of deliverance from the Babylonish captivity, to other cities, and parts of the country; and of redemption by Christ to other nations. Lowth, and many other interpreters, think the marginal reading is to be preferred, as giving a better sense, O thou that bringest good tidings to Zion, &c. According to which, Zion is not the deliverer, but the receiver of the tidings, as she is in the parallel place, chap. 52:7. But the translation in our text agrees better with the Hebrew, in which the word for the bringer of the tidings, trcbm, and the verb wyr[, get thee up, are both in the feminine gender, and agree with Zion and Jerusalem, continually spoken of, as cities generally are, in that gender, but not with any prophet, apostle, or other messenger of God in the masculine gender. It is true, Bishop Lowth supplies a word to suit the text, as to this particular, and reads, O daughter, that bringest good tidings. But that seems to be taking a liberty with the text which necessity only could warrant, a necessity which certainly does not here exist. For the passage, as we have it rendered, makes good sense, representing Zion or Jerusalem, collectively considered, and including its inhabitants, as the publisher, and the cities of Judah as the hearers of the good tidings. The glad tidings of the coming of Christ into the world, and of the salvation of mankind through him, having been made known to Zion, or Jerusalem, were carried from thence, first to all the cities of Judah, and then to the most distant nations. For out of Zion went forth the gospel law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem: and the rod of the Messiah’s strength, the gospel word, was sent forth out of Zion. See notes on Isaiah 2:3; and <19B002>Psalm 110:2. Get thee up upon the high mountain — That thy voice may be better heard. Lift up thy voice; be not afraid — Lest thou shouldest be found a false witness, for the declaration shall certainly be verified; say to the cities of Judah — To all my people in the several places of their abode, whether cities or countries; behold your God — Take notice of God’s appearance for your comfort and deliverance; and also that the Messiah, so long expected, is now at last exhibited, in and through whom God will be so present with you, that men may point at him, and say, Behold, here he is! See Haggai 2:7; Zechariah 9:9; Malachi 3:1; Acts 13:32, 33.

Ver. 9. Behold your God. The Messiah must not be degraded, else how should the world regard him with joy, as in the next words. Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him. St. Mark begins his history thus: The gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. St. John says, “In the beginning was the Word,” coëternal with the Father, whose Divinity is the fountain of the Son’s Divinity, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God. Similar is the language of the apostle to the Romans, 1:3, 4; and to the Hebrews, 1:1-8.

9. O Zion — The English Version makes Zion the announcer of the message; in the margin, (backed by nearly all commentators,) Zion is the receiver of it. So the order is in the Hebrew, and so in the Septuagint. That bringest — Rather, thou that receivest. Good tidings — To Zion, to Jerusalem. The one speaking is the “voice,” — perhaps in the person of the prophet — hitherto proclaiming comfort to exiled ones, now uttering good news to a voice from the high mountain — an ideal elevation between Babylon and Jerusalem. Lift up… with strength — Fearlessly ring out the words. Behold… God — Speak to the people to be returned to their native land and native cities in Judah: speak with bold, confident strength of voice: speak with full knowledge of the case — “Behold your God!” Why so speak? Because this watchful, mighty God of Israel does at last restore his remnant people back to Jerusalem. This, indeed: but more than this. Merely for this result the language is too strong. Superadded is the idea of the coming One, the Messiah, whose power to save meek and submissive ones shall be to the end of days! No doubt the outlook takes in unlimited ages. This typical restoration involves victories unnumbered till error and sin are put away, and holiness and truth are forever established; else the terms here used seem strained and extravagant.

V. 10. His arm-He shall need no succours, for his own power shall be sufficient to govern his people, and to destroy his adversaries. His reward-He comes furnished with recompences as well of blessings for his friends, as of vengeance for his enemies. His work-He carries on his work effectually: for that is said in scripture to be before a man which is in his power.

Verse 10. His reward is with him, and his work before him.— “His reward is with him, and the recompense of his work before him.”] That is, the reward and the recompense which he bestows, and which he will pay to his faithful servants; this he has ready at hand with him, and holds it out before him, to encourage those who trust in him and wait for him.

Verses 10, 11. Behold, the Lord God will come with a strong hand — With invincible strength, to deliver his people from their most powerful enemies; and his arm shall rule for him — His own power shall be sufficient, without any other help, to overcome all opposition. His reward is with him — He comes furnished with recompenses, as well of mercy and blessings for his friends and followers, as of justice and vengeance for his enemies: or, “the reward and the recompense which he bestows, and which he will pay to his faithful servants, he has ready at hand with him, and holds out before him to encourage those who trust in him, and wait for him; and his work before him — He is ready to execute what he hath undertaken; or, he carries on his work effectually; for that is said in Scripture to be before a man which is in his power. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd, &c. — He shall perform all the offices of a tender and faithful shepherd toward his people, conducting himself with great wisdom, condescension, and compassion to every one of them, according to their several capacities and infirmities. And shall gently lead those that are with young — Or, those that give suck, as the word twl[, may be rendered. Bishop Lowth translates the clause, The nursing ewes shall he gently lead; observing, that “it is a beautiful image, expressing, with the utmost propriety, as well as elegance, the tender attention of the shepherd to his flock.”

10, 11. Behold — Serious attention is again challenged. Amplification of last words in preceding verse. With strong hand — The Lord is coming “against the strong,” (see margin;) — soon his great power shall appear — “hand” is evidently implied, and is in itself the symbol of power: “strong hand” is extra power. “Behold” him and trust in him. He is, as it were, commended here as a trustful and safe leader to his returning people; as himself the Almighty Strongest One, and will show himself to be such. Adversaries, earthly or spiritual, shall not stand before him. His reward — “Reward,” taken in a good sense, is freely to be bestowed on his purified ones returning from exile. His work — Taken in an evil sense, “his work” is to be exercised in the way of punishing those who antagonize him. Though absolutely strong, and a powerful ruler, he is gentle as a tender shepherd to the weak and dependent of the flock which he is to conduct across the arid wastes to Jerusalem and Zion. Lambs — Children. With young — Tender women soon to be mothers, or who have lately become such. How beautiful the image!

The theory respecting the turn which the thought now takes (verses 12-26) is that of Nagelsbach, and it is one most easy to approve. It is this: “The exceedingly comforting introduction, (verses 1-11,) does not at once cheer up Israel. Doubts arise. Is the Lord in earnest when he promises? and, Can he do it? Shall He that did not uphold us when we stood, lift us up again when we have fallen?” The thought is, God’s infinite incomparableness with any other being possible to conceive of; and hence his infinite ability and willingness to do what he promises leave no ground for doubt.

Verse 11. Shall gently lead those that are with young— “The nursing ewes shall he gently lead.”] A beautiful image, expressing, with the utmost propriety as well as elegance, the tender attention of the shepherd to his flock. That the greatest care in driving the cattle in regard to the dams and their young was necessary, appears clearly from Jacob’s apology to his brother Esau, Genesis 33:13: “The flocks and the herds giving suck to their young are with me; and if they should be overdriven, all the flock will die.” Which is set in a still stronger light by the following remark of Sir John Chardin: “Their flocks,” says he, speaking of those who now live in the east after the patriarchal manner, “feed down the places of their encampments so quick, by the great numbers that they have, that they are obliged to remove them too often, which is very destructive to their flocks, on account of the young ones, who have not strength enough to follow.” Harmer’s Observ. i., p. 126.

Verses 10, 11. Behold, the Lord God will come with a strong hand — With invincible strength, to deliver his people from their most powerful enemies; and his arm shall rule for him — His own power shall be sufficient, without any other help, to overcome all opposition. His reward is with him — He comes furnished with recompenses, as well of mercy and blessings for his friends and followers, as of justice and vengeance for his enemies: or, “the reward and the recompense which he bestows, and which he will pay to his faithful servants, he has ready at hand with him, and holds out before him to encourage those who trust in him, and wait for him; and his work before him — He is ready to execute what he hath undertaken; or, he carries on his work effectually; for that is said in Scripture to be before a man which is in his power. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd, &c. — He shall perform all the offices of a tender and faithful shepherd toward his people, conducting himself with great wisdom, condescension, and compassion to every one of them, according to their several capacities and infirmities. And shall gently lead those that are with young — Or, those that give suck, as the word twl[, may be rendered. Bishop Lowth translates the clause, The nursing ewes shall he gently lead; observing, that “it is a beautiful image, expressing, with the utmost propriety, as well as elegance, the tender attention of the shepherd to his flock.”

10, 11. Behold — Serious attention is again challenged. Amplification of last words in preceding verse. With strong hand — The Lord is coming “against the strong,” (see margin;) — soon his great power shall appear — “hand” is evidently implied, and is in itself the symbol of power: “strong hand” is extra power. “Behold” him and trust in him. He is, as it were, commended here as a trustful and safe leader to his returning people; as himself the Almighty Strongest One, and will show himself to be such. Adversaries, earthly or spiritual, shall not stand before him. His reward — “Reward,” taken in a good sense, is freely to be bestowed on his purified ones returning from exile. His work — Taken in an evil sense, “his work” is to be exercised in the way of punishing those who antagonize him. Though absolutely strong, and a powerful ruler, he is gentle as a tender shepherd to the weak and dependent of the flock which he is to conduct across the arid wastes to Jerusalem and Zion. Lambs — Children. With young — Tender women soon to be mothers, or who have lately become such. How beautiful the image!

The theory respecting the turn which the thought now takes (verses 12-26) is that of Nagelsbach, and it is one most easy to approve. It is this: “The exceedingly comforting introduction, (verses 1-11,) does not at once cheer up Israel. Doubts arise. Is the Lord in earnest when he promises? and, Can he do it? Shall He that did not uphold us when we stood, lift us up again when we have fallen?” The thought is, God’s infinite incomparableness with any other being possible to conceive of; and hence his infinite ability and willingness to do what he promises leave no ground for doubt.

V. 12. Who hath-Who can do this but God? And this discourse of God’s infinite power and wisdom, is added to give them the greater assurance, that God was able to do the wonderful things, he had promised.

Verses 12-14. Who hath measured the waters, &c. — Who can do this but God? And this discourse on God’s infinite power and wisdom is added, to give them the greater assurance, that he was able, as he had declared himself willing, to do those great and wonderful things which he had promised; and neither men nor false gods were able to hinder him. Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, &c. — Whom did God either need or take to advise him in any of his works, either of creation or the government of the world? Were they not all the effects of his own sole wisdom? Therefore, though all the nations of the world should conspire and contrive against him, and oppose this work of his, as indeed they will do, yet his own counsel shall confound all their devices, and he will carry on his work in spite of them. Who taught him in the path of judgment — How to conduct himself, and manage his affairs with good judgment and discretion? Bishop Lowth translates the verse, “Whom hath he consulted, that he should instruct him, and teach him the path of judgment; that he should impart to him science, and inform him in the way of understanding?” Thus the prophet, “in the most sublime manner, celebrates the divine majesty and greatness, but particularly his wisdom. Rapt into an ecstasy, after he had described the beginning and the nature of the new economy, he sees that there would be many men of worldly prudence, who would hesitate at the methods of the divine counsel, and that the pious themselves, considering the extent and firmness of the kingdom of Satan in the world, the obstinate prejudices of the Gentiles, and the power of idolatry, would have their fears and doubts of the effect and success of the kingdom of the Messiah; a spiritual kingdom, to be established without any external means, by the mere preaching of the word, and to oppose itself to whatever was great or strong among men. The prophet, therefore, recurs to these thoughts; teaching, first, that the divine counsel, though it might seem strange to carnal judgment, was yet founded in the sovereign and most perfect wisdom and knowledge of God, whereof the clearest proofs were discernible in the structure of this world; that God was wiser than men; that his counsel was maturely weighed; that it pertained to his wisdom and glory to establish and to promote his kingdom in the world, rather by this method than any other, that he might put to shame all carnal wisdom, both of the Jews and Gentiles; for that the foolishness of God, as it seems to carnal men, is wiser than men, and the weakness of God stronger than men, (1 Corinthians 1:22,) &c., therefore he knew that this method of establishing his kingdom would have its certain effect; that this word, this faith, would overcome the world, and subvert idolatry.” See Vitringa and Dodd.

12-14. In the presence and hearing of the Jewish people, the prophet asks, Who hath measured… meted… comprehended — The verbs are in the past tense, and the last is better rendered as here written (comprehended) because it, on the whole, expresses not what is physical, as do the other terms employed, but what is spiritual or mental. Who hath directed — To the question respecting God’s omnipotence, is one added respecting his omniscience: who, besides himself, can regulate the movements of His will, intellect, boundless power, and matchless wisdom? This general idea runs on, showing God’s infinite sufficiency in himself, and how vain human assumptions of being in possible communication with God as his counsellor. This thought is referred to by Paul, (Romans 11:34; 1 Corinthians 2:16,) to show in both cases, as here, the inconceivable absurdity of attempting comparison of man with God.

V. 13. Who-Who did God either need or take to advise him in any of his works, either of creation or the government of the world.

Verses 12-14. Who hath measured the waters, &c. — Who can do this but God? And this discourse on God’s infinite power and wisdom is added, to give them the greater assurance, that he was able, as he had declared himself willing, to do those great and wonderful things which he had promised; and neither men nor false gods were able to hinder him. Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, &c. — Whom did God either need or take to advise him in any of his works, either of creation or the government of the world? Were they not all the effects of his own sole wisdom? Therefore, though all the nations of the world should conspire and contrive against him, and oppose this work of his, as indeed they will do, yet his own counsel shall confound all their devices, and he will carry on his work in spite of them. Who taught him in the path of judgment — How to conduct himself, and manage his affairs with good judgment and discretion? Bishop Lowth translates the verse, “Whom hath he consulted, that he should instruct him, and teach him the path of judgment; that he should impart to him science, and inform him in the way of understanding?” Thus the prophet, “in the most sublime manner, celebrates the divine majesty and greatness, but particularly his wisdom. Rapt into an ecstasy, after he had described the beginning and the nature of the new economy, he sees that there would be many men of worldly prudence, who would hesitate at the methods of the divine counsel, and that the pious themselves, considering the extent and firmness of the kingdom of Satan in the world, the obstinate prejudices of the Gentiles, and the power of idolatry, would have their fears and doubts of the effect and success of the kingdom of the Messiah; a spiritual kingdom, to be established without any external means, by the mere preaching of the word, and to oppose itself to whatever was great or strong among men. The prophet, therefore, recurs to these thoughts; teaching, first, that the divine counsel, though it might seem strange to carnal judgment, was yet founded in the sovereign and most perfect wisdom and knowledge of God, whereof the clearest proofs were discernible in the structure of this world; that God was wiser than men; that his counsel was maturely weighed; that it pertained to his wisdom and glory to establish and to promote his kingdom in the world, rather by this method than any other, that he might put to shame all carnal wisdom, both of the Jews and Gentiles; for that the foolishness of God, as it seems to carnal men, is wiser than men, and the weakness of God stronger than men, (1 Corinthians 1:22,) &c., therefore he knew that this method of establishing his kingdom would have its certain effect; that this word, this faith, would overcome the world, and subvert idolatry.” See Vitringa and Dodd.

12-14. In the presence and hearing of the Jewish people, the prophet asks, Who hath measured… meted… comprehended — The verbs are in the past tense, and the last is better rendered as here written (comprehended) because it, on the whole, expresses not what is physical, as do the other terms employed, but what is spiritual or mental. Who hath directed — To the question respecting God’s omnipotence, is one added respecting his omniscience: who, besides himself, can regulate the movements of His will, intellect, boundless power, and matchless wisdom? This general idea runs on, showing God’s infinite sufficiency in himself, and how vain human assumptions of being in possible communication with God as his counsellor. This thought is referred to by Paul, (Romans 11:34; 1 Corinthians 2:16,) to show in both cases, as here, the inconceivable absurdity of attempting comparison of man with God.

Verses 12-14. Who hath measured the waters, &c. — Who can do this but God? And this discourse on God’s infinite power and wisdom is added, to give them the greater assurance, that he was able, as he had declared himself willing, to do those great and wonderful things which he had promised; and neither men nor false gods were able to hinder him. Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, &c. — Whom did God either need or take to advise him in any of his works, either of creation or the government of the world? Were they not all the effects of his own sole wisdom? Therefore, though all the nations of the world should conspire and contrive against him, and oppose this work of his, as indeed they will do, yet his own counsel shall confound all their devices, and he will carry on his work in spite of them. Who taught him in the path of judgment — How to conduct himself, and manage his affairs with good judgment and discretion? Bishop Lowth translates the verse, “Whom hath he consulted, that he should instruct him, and teach him the path of judgment; that he should impart to him science, and inform him in the way of understanding?” Thus the prophet, “in the most sublime manner, celebrates the divine majesty and greatness, but particularly his wisdom. Rapt into an ecstasy, after he had described the beginning and the nature of the new economy, he sees that there would be many men of worldly prudence, who would hesitate at the methods of the divine counsel, and that the pious themselves, considering the extent and firmness of the kingdom of Satan in the world, the obstinate prejudices of the Gentiles, and the power of idolatry, would have their fears and doubts of the effect and success of the kingdom of the Messiah; a spiritual kingdom, to be established without any external means, by the mere preaching of the word, and to oppose itself to whatever was great or strong among men. The prophet, therefore, recurs to these thoughts; teaching, first, that the divine counsel, though it might seem strange to carnal judgment, was yet founded in the sovereign and most perfect wisdom and knowledge of God, whereof the clearest proofs were discernible in the structure of this world; that God was wiser than men; that his counsel was maturely weighed; that it pertained to his wisdom and glory to establish and to promote his kingdom in the world, rather by this method than any other, that he might put to shame all carnal wisdom, both of the Jews and Gentiles; for that the foolishness of God, as it seems to carnal men, is wiser than men, and the weakness of God stronger than men, (1 Corinthians 1:22,) &c., therefore he knew that this method of establishing his kingdom would have its certain effect; that this word, this faith, would overcome the world, and subvert idolatry.” See Vitringa and Dodd.

12-14. In the presence and hearing of the Jewish people, the prophet asks, Who hath measured… meted… comprehended — The verbs are in the past tense, and the last is better rendered as here written (comprehended) because it, on the whole, expresses not what is physical, as do the other terms employed, but what is spiritual or mental. Who hath directed — To the question respecting God’s omnipotence, is one added respecting his omniscience: who, besides himself, can regulate the movements of His will, intellect, boundless power, and matchless wisdom? This general idea runs on, showing God’s infinite sufficiency in himself, and how vain human assumptions of being in possible communication with God as his counsellor. This thought is referred to by Paul, (Romans 11:34; 1 Corinthians 2:16,) to show in both cases, as here, the inconceivable absurdity of attempting comparison of man with God.

V. 15. Are counted-By him, and in comparison of him. The dust-Which accidentally cleaves to the balance, but makes no alteration in the weight. The isles-Those numerous and vast countries, to which they went from Judea by sea, which are commonly called isles.

Verses 15-17. Behold the nations, &c. — As the drop of a bucket is as nothing when compared with the waters of the immense ocean, so all the nations of the world are as nothing when compared with God; and are counted by him, and in comparison of him, as the small dust which accidentally cleaves to the balance, but makes no alteration of the weight. Behold, he taketh, up the isles, &c. — Those numerous and vast countries, to which they went from Judea by sea, which are commonly called isles in the Scriptures. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, &c. — Although he is pleased to accept poor and small sacrifices from his people, yet, if men were to offer a sacrifice suitable to his infinite excellency, the whole forest of Lebanon could not afford either a sufficient number of beasts to be sacrificed, or a sufficient quantity of wood to consume the sacrifice. All nations before him — In his eyes, or being set against him, as wdgn properly and usually signifies; are as nothing — In his judgment; or in comparison of him; less than nothing — Less than a thing of naught, or of no account or worth.

15. The nations are as a drop — So far the omnipotence and omniscience of God: — now his exaltation as governor of the universe. Necessarily, all expressions of God’s natural attributes are anthropomorphic, after the limited human way of speaking; and, whatever metaphysicians may say, or attempt to say, Isaiah, the greatest of the prophets intellectually, never attempts to get beyond this. The thought here is, that the great nations of earth are no more a burden resting upon the King of the world than a drop hanging from a bucket is a burden to the man carrying it — no more than the weight in the balances is perceptibly increased by the smallest sand atom that lies upon it. Isles — Or fragments of the solid continent on which the heathen world is scattered, are to Him who carries the universe like the smallest dust rising in the air. — Delitzch.

V. 16. Lebanon-If men were to offer a sacrifice agreeable to his infinite excellency, the whole forest of Lebanon could not afford either a sufficient number of beasts to be sacrificed: or, a sufficient quantity of wood to consume the sacrifice.

Verse 16. And Lebanon is not sufficient] The image is beautiful and uncommon. It has been imitated by an apocryphal writer, who however comes far short of the original:—

“For all sacrifice is too little for a sweet savour unto thee: And all the fat is not sufficient for thy burnt-offering.” Judith 16:16.

Does not the prophet mean here that all the burnt-offerings and sacrifices that could be offered were insufficient to atone for sin? That the nations were as nothing before him, not merely because of his immensity, but because of their insufficiency to make any atonement by their oblations for the iniquities which they had committed? Therefore the Redeemer was to come to Zion, &c.

Verses 15-17. Behold the nations, &c. — As the drop of a bucket is as nothing when compared with the waters of the immense ocean, so all the nations of the world are as nothing when compared with God; and are counted by him, and in comparison of him, as the small dust which accidentally cleaves to the balance, but makes no alteration of the weight. Behold, he taketh, up the isles, &c. — Those numerous and vast countries, to which they went from Judea by sea, which are commonly called isles in the Scriptures. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, &c. — Although he is pleased to accept poor and small sacrifices from his people, yet, if men were to offer a sacrifice suitable to his infinite excellency, the whole forest of Lebanon could not afford either a sufficient number of beasts to be sacrificed, or a sufficient quantity of wood to consume the sacrifice. All nations before him — In his eyes, or being set against him, as wdgn properly and usually signifies; are as nothing — In his judgment; or in comparison of him; less than nothing — Less than a thing of naught, or of no account or worth.

16. Lebanon is not sufficient — To express adequate adoration of such a Being, all the “cedars of Lebanon” — the most massive timber to be found in that land — are not “sufficient” for the sacrifices that should be offered. Nor are there animals enough for such sacrifices.

Verses 15-17. Behold the nations, &c. — As the drop of a bucket is as nothing when compared with the waters of the immense ocean, so all the nations of the world are as nothing when compared with God; and are counted by him, and in comparison of him, as the small dust which accidentally cleaves to the balance, but makes no alteration of the weight. Behold, he taketh, up the isles, &c. — Those numerous and vast countries, to which they went from Judea by sea, which are commonly called isles in the Scriptures. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, &c. — Although he is pleased to accept poor and small sacrifices from his people, yet, if men were to offer a sacrifice suitable to his infinite excellency, the whole forest of Lebanon could not afford either a sufficient number of beasts to be sacrificed, or a sufficient quantity of wood to consume the sacrifice. All nations before him — In his eyes, or being set against him, as wdgn properly and usually signifies; are as nothing — In his judgment; or in comparison of him; less than nothing — Less than a thing of naught, or of no account or worth.

17. All nations… are as nothing — The thought of verse 15 is resumed. In weighing comparisons of such a Being all nations of the earth “are as nothing.”

V. 18. To whom-This is a proper inference from the foregoing discourse of God’s infinite greatness; from whence he takes occasion to shew both the folly of those that make mean and visible representations of God, and the utter inability of men or idols to give any opposition to God.

Verse 18. To whom then will ye liken God? — This is a proper inference from the foregoing discourse of God’s infinite greatness; from whence he takes occasion to show both the folly of those that make mean and visible representations of God, and the utter inability of men or idols to give any opposition to God. And this discourse, concerning the madness of idolaters, prosecuted both here and in the following chapter, was designed by God as a necessary antidote, whereby the Jews might be preserved from the contagion of idolatry, to which God saw they now had strong inclinations, and would have many and great temptations while they were in captivity.

18, 19. To whom… will ye liken God — The conclusion is, the impossibility of adequately conceiving Jehovah’s greatness and exaltation. Likeness of him to any thing is beyond any human conception. Hence image representation is a thing in the highest degree absurd. An image! an image of metal! (not wooden as yet, and so cut and carved, as the idea is in English!) the smith casts it; the melter plates it with gold, and forms silver chains for it — a process picture, with the describer as spectator; — this thing to be a likeness of the incomprehensible God! So much for the metal image.

V. 19. Melteth-He melts metal into a mould, which afterwards is graven or carved to make it more exact.

Verse 19. And casteth silver chains— “And forgeth for it chains of silver.”] For ãrwx tsoreph, the participle, twenty-seven MSS., five ancient, and three editions, read ãrx tsaraph, pret. third person.

Verses 19, 20. The workman melteth a graven image — He melteth some base metal into a mould which giveth it the form of an image, which afterward is graven or carved to make it the more exact and pleasing likeness of some creature. Thus the image owes all its excellence to the earth for the matter of it, and to the art of man for the fashion of it. The goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold — Beaten out into leaves or plates; and casteth silver chains — For ornaments; or rather, for use, to fasten it to a wall or pillar, lest it should fall down and be broken in pieces. Which is spoken by way of derision of such ridiculous deities as needed such supports. He that hath no oblation — That can hardly procure money to buy the meanest sacrifice; chooseth a tree, &c. — He is so mad upon his idols, that he will find money to procure the choicest materials, and the best artist to make his idol; to prepare a graven image, &c. — Which, after all this cost, cannot stir one step out of its place to give him any help.

18, 19. To whom… will ye liken God — The conclusion is, the impossibility of adequately conceiving Jehovah’s greatness and exaltation. Likeness of him to any thing is beyond any human conception. Hence image representation is a thing in the highest degree absurd. An image! an image of metal! (not wooden as yet, and so cut and carved, as the idea is in English!) the smith casts it; the melter plates it with gold, and forms silver chains for it — a process picture, with the describer as spectator; — this thing to be a likeness of the incomprehensible God! So much for the metal image.

V. 20. He-That can hardly procure money to buy a sacrifice. Chuseth-He is so mad upon his idols, that he will find money to procure the choicest materials, and the best artist to make his idol. An image-Which after all this cost, cannot stir one step out of its place to give you any help.

Verse 20. Chooseth a tree that will not rot] For what? To make a god out of it! The rich we find made theirs of gold and silver; the poor man was obliged to put up with a wooden god! From the words “he that hath no oblation chooseth a tree,” we may learn that the gold and silver necessary to make the graven image was first dedicated, and then formed into a god! How stupid is idolatry! Strange that these people did not perceive that there could be no help in these molten and wooden idols!

Verses 19, 20. The workman melteth a graven image — He melteth some base metal into a mould which giveth it the form of an image, which afterward is graven or carved to make it the more exact and pleasing likeness of some creature. Thus the image owes all its excellence to the earth for the matter of it, and to the art of man for the fashion of it. The goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold — Beaten out into leaves or plates; and casteth silver chains — For ornaments; or rather, for use, to fasten it to a wall or pillar, lest it should fall down and be broken in pieces. Which is spoken by way of derision of such ridiculous deities as needed such supports. He that hath no oblation — That can hardly procure money to buy the meanest sacrifice; chooseth a tree, &c. — He is so mad upon his idols, that he will find money to procure the choicest materials, and the best artist to make his idol; to prepare a graven image, &c. — Which, after all this cost, cannot stir one step out of its place to give him any help.

20. Chooseth a tree — Now for the wooden idol, and the most cunning workman sought for graver! See Isaiah 44:14.

V. 21. Known-God to be the only true God, the maker and governor of the world.

Verse 21. Have ye not known] On this verse Kimchi has a very interesting comment, an extract of which I subjoin. “The whole world may be considered as a house built up; heaven its roof; the stars its lamps; and the fruits of the earth its table spread. The Master of the house is God, blessed for ever; and man is the steward into whose hand all the business of the house is given. If he always consider in his heart that the Master of the house is continually over him, and that he keeps his eye upon his work, and if in consequence he acts wisely, he shall find favour in the eyes of the Master of the house. But if he find wickedness in the house, then will he remove him wtdyqp מנ min pekidutho, ‘from his stewardship.’ The foolish steward does not think of this; for as his eyes do not see the Master of the house, he saith in his heart, ‘I will eat and drink what I find in this house, and will take my pleasure in it; nor shall I be careful whether there be a master over this house or not.’ When the Lord of the house marks this, he comes and expels him from the house speedily, and with great anger; therefore it is said, Isaiah 40:23, He bringeth the princes to nothing.” It seems that this parable had been long in use among the Jews, as our blessed Lord alludes to it in his parable of the unjust steward. Or did the rabbin, finding it to his purpose, steal the parable from the Gospel? In both places it has great and peculiar beauties.

Have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth— “Have ye not understood it from the foundations of the earth?”] The true reading seems to be twdswmm mimmosedoth, to answer to varm merosh in the foregoing line. It follows a word ending with m mem, and out of three mems concurring, it was an easy mistake to drop the middle one.

Verses 21-24. Have ye not known — Jehovah to be the only true God, the Maker and Governor of the world, and all its inhabitants? How can ye be ignorant of so evident a truth? He addresses his speech to the idolatrous Gentiles; from the beginning — Namely, of the world, as the next clause explains it: were not these infinite perfections of God manifestly discovered to all mankind, by the creation of the world? It is he that sitteth — As a judge or governor upon his throne; upon, or rather, above, the circle of the earth — Far above this round earth, even in the highest heavens; from whence he looketh down upon the earth, where men appear to him like grasshoppers. As here we have the circle of the earth, so elsewhere we read of the circle of heaven, Job 22:14, and of the circle of the deep, or sea, Proverbs 8:27, because the form of the heaven, and earth, and sea, is circular. Spreadeth them out as a tent — For the benefit of the earth and of mankind, that all parts might partake of their comfortable influences. That bringeth the princes to nothing — Who can, at his pleasure, destroy all the great potentates of the world. Yea, they — The princes and judges last mentioned; shall not be planted, &c. — They shall take no root, for planting and sowing are in order to taking root. They shall not continue and flourish, as they have vainly imagined, but shall be rooted up, and perish.

21. Such absurdities fit only for the sharpest sarcasm. Have ye not known… heard… from the beginning? — Addressed to those still inclined, among the doubters, to idolatry, and equivalent to saying to them, “Ye know better, and why are you guilty of such consummate folly?” Of the four verbs of this verse, the first two are, in the Hebrew, future, the second two in the past tense. The former imply what is possible, the latter what is fact. Have ye not known and heard, what has always been possible to know from reason and conscience, (Romans 1:19, 20; 2:13,) that only the infinite God can create worlds? “From the beginning” this has been set before the eyes of all men.

V. 22. Sitteth-Far above this round earth, even in the highest heavens; from whence he looketh down upon the earth, where men appear to him like grasshoppers. As here we have the circle of the earth, so elsewhere we read of the circle of heaven, Job 22:14, and of the circle of the deep, or sea, Proverbs 8:27, because the form of the heaven, and earth and sea is circular. Spreadeth-For the benefit of the earth and of mankind, that all parts might partake of its comfortable influences.

Verse 22. As a curtain— “As a thin veil”] “It is usual in the summer season, and upon all occasions when a large company is to be received, to have the court sheltered from heat or inclemency of the weather by a velum, umbrella, or veil, as I shall call it; which being expanded on ropes from one side of the parapet wall to the other, may be folded or unfolded at pleasure. The psalmist seems to allude to some covering of this kind in that beautiful expression of spreading out the heavens like a curtain.”— Shaw’s Travels, p. 274.

Verses 21-24. Have ye not known — Jehovah to be the only true God, the Maker and Governor of the world, and all its inhabitants? How can ye be ignorant of so evident a truth? He addresses his speech to the idolatrous Gentiles; from the beginning — Namely, of the world, as the next clause explains it: were not these infinite perfections of God manifestly discovered to all mankind, by the creation of the world? It is he that sitteth — As a judge or governor upon his throne; upon, or rather, above, the circle of the earth — Far above this round earth, even in the highest heavens; from whence he looketh down upon the earth, where men appear to him like grasshoppers. As here we have the circle of the earth, so elsewhere we read of the circle of heaven, Job 22:14, and of the circle of the deep, or sea, Proverbs 8:27, because the form of the heaven, and earth, and sea, is circular. Spreadeth them out as a tent — For the benefit of the earth and of mankind, that all parts might partake of their comfortable influences. That bringeth the princes to nothing — Who can, at his pleasure, destroy all the great potentates of the world. Yea, they — The princes and judges last mentioned; shall not be planted, &c. — They shall take no root, for planting and sowing are in order to taking root. They shall not continue and flourish, as they have vainly imagined, but shall be rooted up, and perish.

22. He that sitteth — This verse contains the fact that should have been known by all men. It is He alone that is enthroned above the vault of the earth, etc. In the old cosmogony of the Hebrews, the heaven was a circular arch which rested on the waters that surrounded the flat, round (not globular) earth. Are as grasshoppers — The comparison is, as the weak locust is to man, so is weak man to God. As a curtain — In Eastern houses the court is sometimes sheltered from heat by a veil of tent cloth, which may be folded and unfolded at pleasure by means of ropes from one side of the parapet wall to the other, and the image is thus furnished of God’s spreading out the veil of the heavens.

Verses 21-24. Have ye not known — Jehovah to be the only true God, the Maker and Governor of the world, and all its inhabitants? How can ye be ignorant of so evident a truth? He addresses his speech to the idolatrous Gentiles; from the beginning — Namely, of the world, as the next clause explains it: were not these infinite perfections of God manifestly discovered to all mankind, by the creation of the world? It is he that sitteth — As a judge or governor upon his throne; upon, or rather, above, the circle of the earth — Far above this round earth, even in the highest heavens; from whence he looketh down upon the earth, where men appear to him like grasshoppers. As here we have the circle of the earth, so elsewhere we read of the circle of heaven, Job 22:14, and of the circle of the deep, or sea, Proverbs 8:27, because the form of the heaven, and earth, and sea, is circular. Spreadeth them out as a tent — For the benefit of the earth and of mankind, that all parts might partake of their comfortable influences. That bringeth the princes to nothing — Who can, at his pleasure, destroy all the great potentates of the world. Yea, they — The princes and judges last mentioned; shall not be planted, &c. — They shall take no root, for planting and sowing are in order to taking root. They shall not continue and flourish, as they have vainly imagined, but shall be rooted up, and perish.

23, 24. Princes… judges… vanity — Other predicates are here added respecting God, the ruler of the universe. He annihilates the potentates and judges of the earth when they displease him. In various ways hevisits them. They are scarcely planted, (to use the figure of the verse,) scarcely sown, etc., ere the hot eastern blast withers them, and carries them away. The meaning is plain, though the figure is mixed.

V. 24. Sown-They shall take no root, for planting and sowing are in order to taking root. They shall not continue and flourish, as they have vainly imagined, but shall be rooted up and perish.

Verse 24. And he shall also blow upon them— “And if he but blow upon them”] The Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, and MS. Bodl., with another, have גם gam, only, without the conjunction w vau, and.

Verses 21-24. Have ye not known — Jehovah to be the only true God, the Maker and Governor of the world, and all its inhabitants? How can ye be ignorant of so evident a truth? He addresses his speech to the idolatrous Gentiles; from the beginning — Namely, of the world, as the next clause explains it: were not these infinite perfections of God manifestly discovered to all mankind, by the creation of the world? It is he that sitteth — As a judge or governor upon his throne; upon, or rather, above, the circle of the earth — Far above this round earth, even in the highest heavens; from whence he looketh down upon the earth, where men appear to him like grasshoppers. As here we have the circle of the earth, so elsewhere we read of the circle of heaven, Job 22:14, and of the circle of the deep, or sea, Proverbs 8:27, because the form of the heaven, and earth, and sea, is circular. Spreadeth them out as a tent — For the benefit of the earth and of mankind, that all parts might partake of their comfortable influences. That bringeth the princes to nothing — Who can, at his pleasure, destroy all the great potentates of the world. Yea, they — The princes and judges last mentioned; shall not be planted, &c. — They shall take no root, for planting and sowing are in order to taking root. They shall not continue and flourish, as they have vainly imagined, but shall be rooted up, and perish.

23, 24. Princes… judges… vanity — Other predicates are here added respecting God, the ruler of the universe. He annihilates the potentates and judges of the earth when they displease him. In various ways hevisits them. They are scarcely planted, (to use the figure of the verse,) scarcely sown, etc., ere the hot eastern blast withers them, and carries them away. The meaning is plain, though the figure is mixed.

Verses 25, 26. To whom then will ye liken me — He repeats what he said verse 18, that he might oblige them to the more serious and frequent consideration of the absurdity of idolatry. Lift up your eyes on high — To the high and starry heaven, as appears from the following words. Who created these things — Which you see on high? The host of heaven, as it follows. That bringeth out their host — That at first brought them out of nothing, and from day to day brings them forth, making them to rise and set in their appointed times; by number — As a general brings forth his army into the field, and there musters them. He calleth them all by names — As a master calleth all the members of his family. For that he is strong — Which work is a certain and evident proof of God’s infinite power; not one faileth — Either to appear when he calls them, or to do the work to which he sends them.

25, 26. To whom… shall I be equal — As compared with miserable idols? The prophet calls for answer. To whom, of all they know, will they now compare the great Jehovah? Saith the Holy One — A new epithet, perhaps a new attribute, occurs here. Holiness also exalts Jehovah. Job 15:18. He bids them look into starry space, and challenges creator-ship above his own. There is no reply to that challenge from idol worshippers. No one who, besides creating, can know, command, and dispose of all things, is able to be brought forth as competitor with Jehovah. And this Almighty One is likewise the Holy One, the Holy One of Israel. Inference: Let no half-doubter, then, among exiles in Babylon, fear the ability and willingness of such a God to convey and restore his people to Zion.

V. 26. Bringeth-That at first brought them out of nothing, and from day to day brings them forth, making them to rise and set in their appointed times. Faileth-Either to appear when he calls them; or to do the work to which he sends them.

Verse 26. Left up your eyes on high] The rabbins say, He who is capable of meditating on the revolutions of the heavenly bodies, and does not meditate on them, is not worthy to have his name mentioned among men.

Verses 25, 26. To whom then will ye liken me — He repeats what he said verse 18, that he might oblige them to the more serious and frequent consideration of the absurdity of idolatry. Lift up your eyes on high — To the high and starry heaven, as appears from the following words. Who created these things — Which you see on high? The host of heaven, as it follows. That bringeth out their host — That at first brought them out of nothing, and from day to day brings them forth, making them to rise and set in their appointed times; by number — As a general brings forth his army into the field, and there musters them. He calleth them all by names — As a master calleth all the members of his family. For that he is strong — Which work is a certain and evident proof of God’s infinite power; not one faileth — Either to appear when he calls them, or to do the work to which he sends them.

25, 26. To whom… shall I be equal — As compared with miserable idols? The prophet calls for answer. To whom, of all they know, will they now compare the great Jehovah? Saith the Holy One — A new epithet, perhaps a new attribute, occurs here. Holiness also exalts Jehovah. Job 15:18. He bids them look into starry space, and challenges creator-ship above his own. There is no reply to that challenge from idol worshippers. No one who, besides creating, can know, command, and dispose of all things, is able to be brought forth as competitor with Jehovah. And this Almighty One is likewise the Holy One, the Holy One of Israel. Inference: Let no half-doubter, then, among exiles in Babylon, fear the ability and willingness of such a God to convey and restore his people to Zion.

V. 27. What-Why dost thou give way to such jealousies concerning thy God, of whose infinite power and wisdom, and goodness, there are such evident demonstrations. Is hid-He takes no notice of my prayers and tears, and sufferings, but suffers mine enemies to abuse me at their pleasure. This complaint is uttered in the name of the people, being prophetically supposed to be in captivity. Judgment-My cause. God has neglected to plead my cause, and to give judgment for me against mine enemies.

Verses 27, 28. Why sayest thou, O Jacob — The consolatory part of the prophet’s discourse begins at this verse, wherein the foregoing doctrine and prophecy are applied to the comfort of the church, complaining, amid her various afflictions, that she had been neglected of the Lord; which complaint makes the basis of the consolation contained in this period. Why dost thou give way to such jealousies concerning thy God, of whose infinite power, and wisdom, and goodness, there are such evident demonstrations? My way is hid — He takes no notice of my prayers, and tears, and sufferings, but suffers mine enemies to abuse me at their pleasure. This complaint is uttered in the name of the people, being prophetically supposed to be in captivity. My judgment is passed over from my God — My cause. God has neglected to plead my cause, and to give judgment for me against mine enemies. Hast thou not known? — Art thou ignorant, wilt thou not consider; that the everlasting God — Who had no beginning of days, and will have no end of life; who was from eternity, and will be to eternity, and with whom therefore there is no deficiency, no decay; the Lord — Hebrew, JEHOVAH, the self-existent Being; the Creator of the ends of the earth — That is, of the whole earth, to its utmost bounds, and of all that is in it; fainteth not, neither is weary — With the care of his church, or of the world? He is not by age or labour become weak and unable to help his people, as men are wont to be; nor is the care of them any burden to him. There is no searching of his understanding — His providence comprehends all things, and nothing is exempted from it: and the counsels by which he governs all the world, and, in an especial manner, the affairs of his people, are far above the reach of any human understanding; and therefore we act ignorantly and foolishly if we pass a rash judgment upon the ways of the infinitely wise God.

27. Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel? — Amid such proofs, as above, of the infinite incomparableness of Jehovah, the promiser and comforter, what ground for saying, My way is hid from the Lord? To the exiles, long brooding over their afflictions, temptation to fear and doubt was a most easy matter. The long hidings of God’s face from them led to assurances and re-assurances through the prophet that Jehovah had not forgotten to be again gracious.

Verse 28. There is no searching of his understanding— “And that his understanding is unsearchable.”] Twenty-four MSS., two editions, the Septuagint and Vulgate, read ואינ veein, with the conjunction w vau.

Verses 27, 28. Why sayest thou, O Jacob — The consolatory part of the prophet’s discourse begins at this verse, wherein the foregoing doctrine and prophecy are applied to the comfort of the church, complaining, amid her various afflictions, that she had been neglected of the Lord; which complaint makes the basis of the consolation contained in this period. Why dost thou give way to such jealousies concerning thy God, of whose infinite power, and wisdom, and goodness, there are such evident demonstrations? My way is hid — He takes no notice of my prayers, and tears, and sufferings, but suffers mine enemies to abuse me at their pleasure. This complaint is uttered in the name of the people, being prophetically supposed to be in captivity. My judgment is passed over from my God — My cause. God has neglected to plead my cause, and to give judgment for me against mine enemies. Hast thou not known? — Art thou ignorant, wilt thou not consider; that the everlasting God — Who had no beginning of days, and will have no end of life; who was from eternity, and will be to eternity, and with whom therefore there is no deficiency, no decay; the Lord — Hebrew, JEHOVAH, the self-existent Being; the Creator of the ends of the earth — That is, of the whole earth, to its utmost bounds, and of all that is in it; fainteth not, neither is weary — With the care of his church, or of the world? He is not by age or labour become weak and unable to help his people, as men are wont to be; nor is the care of them any burden to him. There is no searching of his understanding — His providence comprehends all things, and nothing is exempted from it: and the counsels by which he governs all the world, and, in an especial manner, the affairs of his people, are far above the reach of any human understanding; and therefore we act ignorantly and foolishly if we pass a rash judgment upon the ways of the infinitely wise God.

28. Hast thou not known — The words here go on with the same reassuring intent. After the first pair of questions of verse 21, the affirmation is: This eternal, all-perfect God does not tire of the humble supplicant’s appeal. Fainteth not — To search the depths of his wisdom baffles all effort, but proof is found therein of goodness that fails not.

Verses 29-31. He giveth power to the faint — He hath strength enough, not only for himself, but for all, even the weakest of his creatures, whom he can easily strengthen to bear all their burdens, and to vanquish all their oppressors. The prophet seems to speak with an especial reference to those among God’s people whose faith and hope were very low, which he would support, even until the time of their promised deliverance. Even the youths shall faint — Those that make the greatest boast of their strength, as young men are apt to do, shall find it fail them whenever God withdraws his support. But they that wait upon the Lord — That rely on him for strength to bear their burdens, and for deliverance from them in due time; shall renew their strength — Shall grow stronger and stronger in faith, patience, and fortitude, whereby they shall be more than conquerors over all their enemies and adversities. They shall mount up on wings as eagles — Which, of all fowls, fly most strongly and swiftly, and rise highest in their flight, and out of the reach of all danger. Instead of, They shall mount up, &c., Bishop Lowth reads, They shall put forth fresh feathers, like the moulting eagle; observing, “It has been a common and popular opinion, that the eagle lives and retains his vigour to a great age; and that, beyond the common lot of other birds, he moults in his old age, and renews his feathers, and with them his youth. Thou shalt renew my youth like the eagle, says the psalmist, on which place St. Ambrose notes, ‘Aquila longam ætatem ducit, dum, vetustis plumis fatiscentibus, nova pennarum successione juvenescit.’” The eagle extends his age to a great length, while the old feathers failing, he grows young by a new succession of feathers. See note on <19A305>Psalm 103:5.

29. He giveth power — So far from becoming faint himself, as the God of power and wisdom he giveth strength to the fainthearted always.

V. 30. The youths-The youngest and strongest men, left to themselves.

Verses 29-31. He giveth power to the faint — He hath strength enough, not only for himself, but for all, even the weakest of his creatures, whom he can easily strengthen to bear all their burdens, and to vanquish all their oppressors. The prophet seems to speak with an especial reference to those among God’s people whose faith and hope were very low, which he would support, even until the time of their promised deliverance. Even the youths shall faint — Those that make the greatest boast of their strength, as young men are apt to do, shall find it fail them whenever God withdraws his support. But they that wait upon the Lord — That rely on him for strength to bear their burdens, and for deliverance from them in due time; shall renew their strength — Shall grow stronger and stronger in faith, patience, and fortitude, whereby they shall be more than conquerors over all their enemies and adversities. They shall mount up on wings as eagles — Which, of all fowls, fly most strongly and swiftly, and rise highest in their flight, and out of the reach of all danger. Instead of, They shall mount up, &c., Bishop Lowth reads, They shall put forth fresh feathers, like the moulting eagle; observing, “It has been a common and popular opinion, that the eagle lives and retains his vigour to a great age; and that, beyond the common lot of other birds, he moults in his old age, and renews his feathers, and with them his youth. Thou shalt renew my youth like the eagle, says the psalmist, on which place St. Ambrose notes, ‘Aquila longam ætatem ducit, dum, vetustis plumis fatiscentibus, nova pennarum successione juvenescit.’” The eagle extends his age to a great length, while the old feathers failing, he grows young by a new succession of feathers. See note on <19A305>Psalm 103:5.

30, 31. Youths shall faint — Young men chosen for war or other hard service, even, lose all their vigour. But they that wait upon (or for) the Lord, however weak physically. Shall renew… strength — Become spiritually strong. Their waiting has the sense of expecting. In general, the Old Testament gives not the full glory to come, but Isaiah has here caught the view. Starting from the exile condition and deliverance from it through trustful waiting, expecting, he sees spiritual victories under Messiah. Souls rise by faith, like eagles by their pinions. The imagery here is strikingly correspondent to Christian experiences.

V. 31. Wait-That rely upon him. Renew-Shall grow stronger and stronger.

Verse 31. They shall mount up with wings as eagles— “They shall put forth fresh feathers like the moulting eagle”] It has been a common and popular opinion that the eagle lives and retains his vigour to a great age; and that, beyond the common lot of other birds, he moults in his old age, and renews his feathers, and with them his youth. “Thou shalt renew thy youth like the eagle,” says the psalmist, <19A305>Psalm 103:5; on which place St. Ambrose notes, Aquila longam ætatem ducit, dum, vetustis plumis fatiscentibus, nova pennarum successione juvenescit:— “The eagle lives to a very advanced age; and in moulting his youth is renewed with his new feathers.”

Phile, Deuteronomy Animalibus, treating of the eagle, and addressing himself to the emperor Michael Palæologus junior, raises his compliment upon the same notion:—

Toutou su, basileu, ton polun zwoiv bion,

Aei neourgwn, kai kratunwn thn fusin.

“Long may’st thou live, O king; still like the eagle

Renew thy youth, and still retain thy vigour.”

To this many fabulous and absurd circumstances are added by several ancient writers and commentators on Scripture; see Bochart, Hieroz. II. ii.

1. Rabbi Saadias says, Every tenth year the eagle flies near the sun; and when not able any longer to bear the burning heat, she falls down into the sea, and soon loses her feathers, and thus renews her vigour. This she does every tenth year till the hundredth, when, after she has ascended near the sun, and fallen into the sea, she rises no more. How much proof do such stories require! Whether the notion of the eagle’s renewing his youth is in any degree well founded or not, I need not inquire; it is enough for a poet, whether profane or sacred, to have the authority of popular opinion to support an image introduced for illustration or ornament.—L ISAIAH

Verses 29-31. He giveth power to the faint — He hath strength enough, not only for himself, but for all, even the weakest of his creatures, whom he can easily strengthen to bear all their burdens, and to vanquish all their oppressors. The prophet seems to speak with an especial reference to those among God’s people whose faith and hope were very low, which he would support, even until the time of their promised deliverance. Even the youths shall faint — Those that make the greatest boast of their strength, as young men are apt to do, shall find it fail them whenever God withdraws his support. But they that wait upon the Lord — That rely on him for strength to bear their burdens, and for deliverance from them in due time; shall renew their strength — Shall grow stronger and stronger in faith, patience, and fortitude, whereby they shall be more than conquerors over all their enemies and adversities. They shall mount up on wings as eagles — Which, of all fowls, fly most strongly and swiftly, and rise highest in their flight, and out of the reach of all danger. Instead of, They shall mount up, &c., Bishop Lowth reads, They shall put forth fresh feathers, like the moulting eagle; observing, “It has been a common and popular opinion, that the eagle lives and retains his vigour to a great age; and that, beyond the common lot of other birds, he moults in his old age, and renews his feathers, and with them his youth. Thou shalt renew my youth like the eagle, says the psalmist, on which place St. Ambrose notes, ‘Aquila longam ætatem ducit, dum, vetustis plumis fatiscentibus, nova pennarum successione juvenescit.’” The eagle extends his age to a great length, while the old feathers failing, he grows young by a new succession of feathers. See note on <19A305>Psalm 103:5.

Ver. 31. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. In the fable, when the eaglets asked their dam what they should do when exposed to danger, she replied, “my children, look right at the sun.” This is equally good advice for the christian. By looking to heaven, he leaves danger far behind. He renews his strength by conversing with unseen objects, and gets fresh supplies of grace. The eagle lives to a great age, and when she renews her plumage, she is said to renew her youth.

30, 31. Youths shall faint — Young men chosen for war or other hard service, even, lose all their vigour. But they that wait upon (or for) the Lord, however weak physically. Shall renew… strength — Become spiritually strong. Their waiting has the sense of expecting. In general, the Old Testament gives not the full glory to come, but Isaiah has here caught the view. Starting from the exile condition and deliverance from it through trustful waiting, expecting, he sees spiritual victories under Messiah. Souls rise by faith, like eagles by their pinions. The imagery here is strikingly correspondent to Christian experiences.