Isaiah · Chapter 44

Verses 1, 2. Yet now hear, O Jacob — Although I have chastised thee for thy sins, and had just cause utterly to destroy thee, yet in judgment I will remember mercy, and will still own thee for my servant and chosen people. Thus saith the Lord, that formed thee from the womb — “He speaks of the Jewish people under the character of a single person; and as God sometimes designed certain persons for particular offices, from their birth, or conception, so he set apart the posterity of Abraham to be his people from the very original of the family;” and formed and fashioned them for himself, by laws, ordinances, teachers, promises, threatenings, corrections, and many other ways. Jesurun is another name for Jacob or Israel, given to them by Moses, Deuteronomy 32:15, (where see the note.) and 33:5, 26.

1. Jacob my servant — The names Jacob and Israel, both synonymous, are used in these chapters to aid rhetorical effect by parallelism. They originally expressed psychological differences: The word Jacob meant a supplanter, and was changed to Israel, prevailer, when he who bore it wrestled and prevailed with God at Mahanaim, (Genesis 32:28,) and was ever afterward “a new man” and a faithful servant.

V. 2. Formed thee-From the time that I first took thee to be my people, I have been forming and fashioning thee. Jesurun-Another name of Jacob or Israel, given to him, Deuteronomy 32:15.

Verse 2. Jesurun] Jeshurun means Israel. This name was given to that people by Moses, Deuteronomy 32:15; 33:5, 26. The most probable account of it seems to be that in which the Jewish commentators agree; namely, that it is derived from rvy yashar, and signifies upright. In the same manner, Israel, as a people, is called משלם meshullam, perfect, Isaiah 42:19, They were taught of God, and abundantly furnished with the means of rectitude and perfection in his service and worship. Grotius thinks that ישרונ yeshurun is a diminutive of larvy yishrael, Israel; expressing peculiar fondness and affection; Israhlidion, O little Israel.

Verses 1, 2. Yet now hear, O Jacob — Although I have chastised thee for thy sins, and had just cause utterly to destroy thee, yet in judgment I will remember mercy, and will still own thee for my servant and chosen people. Thus saith the Lord, that formed thee from the womb — “He speaks of the Jewish people under the character of a single person; and as God sometimes designed certain persons for particular offices, from their birth, or conception, so he set apart the posterity of Abraham to be his people from the very original of the family;” and formed and fashioned them for himself, by laws, ordinances, teachers, promises, threatenings, corrections, and many other ways. Jesurun is another name for Jacob or Israel, given to them by Moses, Deuteronomy 32:15, (where see the note.) and 33:5, 26.

2. Fear not — Notwithstanding so many backslidings, God has intense love for his chosen, and to signify this he applies to them the name Jeshurun, which means, “people of my deepest affection.” — Gesenius. This name, with same meaning, is found in Deuteronomy 32:14; 33:5,

26. The name implies all that belongs to the designation elect people.

V. 3. Water-Upon him that is destitute of it.

Verses 3-5. I will pour water — My Spirit, as it is expounded in the latter part of the verse, frequently compared to water in the Scriptures; upon him that is thirsty — That is destitute of it, and that sincerely and earnestly desires it; and my blessing upon thine offspring — All the blessings of my covenant, especially those of a spiritual nature. This promise seems to have been made with a design to raise the minds and hearts of the Jews from carnal and worldly things, to which they were too much addicted, to spiritual and heavenly blessings, and thereby to prepare them for the reception of the gospel. And they shall spring up, &c. — They shall increase and flourish like grass, and those herbs and plants which grow up in the midst of it. One shall say, I am the Lord’s, &c. — This verse seems to relate to the increase of the church by the accession of the Gentiles: as if he had said, The blessing of God upon the Jews shall be so remarkable that many of the Gentiles shall join themselves unto them, and accept Jehovah for their God, and own themselves for his people.

3. Water… thirsty… floods… ground — Of the two parallelisms here the second explains the first. “Here, the Lord says to the beloved people why they need not be afraid. In the judgment that is to consume the fleshly Israel, the spiritual Israel is to remain unharmed.” — Nagelsbach. Abundant water promised in drought symbolizes great spiritual outpourings upon the true Israel, as predicted in the second chapter of Joel. See also Isaiah 41:17, 18; 43:18-21. Floods, rivers, streams, waters, and the like, are staple terms with the prophet to illustrate copious outpourings of the Holy Spirit in Messianic times.

Verse 4. They shall spring up as among the grass— “They shall spring up as the grass among the waters”] ryxj בבינ bebeyn chatsir, “They shall spring up in the midst of, or rather, in among, the grass.” This cannot be right: eleven MSS., and thirteen editions, have כבינ kebeyn, or כבנ keben. Twenty-four MSS. read it without the y yod, בבנ beben, in the son of the grass; and so reads the Chaldee; בבנ beben, in the son of the grass. Twenty-four MSS. of Dr. Kennicott’s, thirty-three of Deuteronomy Rossi’s, and one of my own, with six editions, have this reading. The Syriac, מבינ mibbeyn. The true reading is in all probability כבינ kebeyn; and the word מים mayim, which should have followed it, is lost out of the text: but it is happily supplied by the Septuagint, wv ana meson udatov, as among the water. “In every place where there is water, there is always grass; for water makes every thing grow in the east.” Sir John Chardin’s note on 1 Kings 17:5. Harmer’s Observations i. 64.

Verses 3-5. I will pour water — My Spirit, as it is expounded in the latter part of the verse, frequently compared to water in the Scriptures; upon him that is thirsty — That is destitute of it, and that sincerely and earnestly desires it; and my blessing upon thine offspring — All the blessings of my covenant, especially those of a spiritual nature. This promise seems to have been made with a design to raise the minds and hearts of the Jews from carnal and worldly things, to which they were too much addicted, to spiritual and heavenly blessings, and thereby to prepare them for the reception of the gospel. And they shall spring up, &c. — They shall increase and flourish like grass, and those herbs and plants which grow up in the midst of it. One shall say, I am the Lord’s, &c. — This verse seems to relate to the increase of the church by the accession of the Gentiles: as if he had said, The blessing of God upon the Jews shall be so remarkable that many of the Gentiles shall join themselves unto them, and accept Jehovah for their God, and own themselves for his people.

4. They — Jehovah’s spiritual seed, converted Jews and Gentiles. Spring up as among the grass — In Isaiah 40:6-8, grass was the emblem for perishable mankind. In the midst of a frail human race God’s people are to flourish in beauty and abiding strength.

V. 5. Israel-The blessing of God upon the Jews shall be so remarkable, that the Gentiles shall join them, and accept the Lord for their God.

Verse 5. Shall call himself— “Shall be called”] Passive, arqy yikkare; klhqhsetai, Symmachus.

Another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord— “This shall inscribe his hand to JEHOVAH”] Kai eterov epigrayei ceiri (ceira, Aq., Sym.) autou, Tou Qeou eimi, “And another shall write upon his hand, I belong to God.”—Sept. They seem to have read here, as before, yna hwhyl laihovah ani, I belong to JEHOVAH. But the repetition of the same phrase without any variation is not elegant. However, they seem to have understood it rightly, as an allusion to the marks, which were made by punctures rendered indelible, by fire or by staining, upon the hand or some other part of the body, signifying the state or character of the person, and to whom he belonged. The slave was marked with the name of his master, the soldier, of his commander; the idolater, with the name or ensign of his god: Stigmata epigrafomena dia twn strateuomenwn en taiv cersin, “Punctural inscriptions made by the soldiers on their hands.” Aetius apud Turnebum Advers. xxiv. 12. Victuris in cute punctis milites scripti et matriculis inserti jurare solent. “The soldiers having indelible inscriptions on their skin, and inserted in the muster-rolls, are accustomed to make oath.” Vigetius, ii. 5. And the Christians seem to have imitated this practice, by what Procopius says on this place of Isaiah: To de TH CEIRI, dia to stizein iswv pollouv epi karpwn, h bracionwn, h tou staurou shmeion, h thn cristou proshgorian. “Because many marked their wrists, or their arms, with the sign of the cross, or with the name of Christ.” See Revelation 20:4; Spencer, Deuteronomy Leg. Hebr. lib. ii., cap. 20.

Verses 3-5. I will pour water — My Spirit, as it is expounded in the latter part of the verse, frequently compared to water in the Scriptures; upon him that is thirsty — That is destitute of it, and that sincerely and earnestly desires it; and my blessing upon thine offspring — All the blessings of my covenant, especially those of a spiritual nature. This promise seems to have been made with a design to raise the minds and hearts of the Jews from carnal and worldly things, to which they were too much addicted, to spiritual and heavenly blessings, and thereby to prepare them for the reception of the gospel. And they shall spring up, &c. — They shall increase and flourish like grass, and those herbs and plants which grow up in the midst of it. One shall say, I am the Lord’s, &c. — This verse seems to relate to the increase of the church by the accession of the Gentiles: as if he had said, The blessing of God upon the Jews shall be so remarkable that many of the Gentiles shall join themselves unto them, and accept Jehovah for their God, and own themselves for his people.

Verse 5. Another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord. This phrase is somewhat obscure; it is not said whether they signed a covenant, or imprinted some mark on their hand. The latter sense is preferred by the critics. Vide Poli Synopsis. Slaves were branded in the hand with their master’s name; the cruel Assyrians branded their forehead. The heathen generally imprinted on their children, the mark or the sign of the god to which they were devoted. The worshippers of the antichristian beast are said to have his mark in their foreheads, which Peter Jurieu understands of their chrisms. Many christians, of early times, marked their arms with the cross, or with the name of Christ. Be the subscription what it might, it is pleasing to the Lord when we boldly profess his name before the unregenerate world; and the whole of this verse appears to contain a lively description of the nature of true religion, and especially of the conversion and accession of the gentiles to the church of God, who though they were not of the seed of Abraham, should take upon them the name of Jacob and of Israel.

This consecration of ourselves to God must be cordial, and with the whole heart, including the renunciation of every idol, and an unreserved devotedness of all to the Lord, who always had a right to our hearts, though we had sinfully given them to another. True conversion will constrain us to say, I am the Lord’s, and him only will I serve. Some of fair exterior, decent and respectable in the eyes of men, but eagerly devoted to the acquisition of wealth, and worshippers of the unrighteous mammon, have at length yielded to the love of God, and made an unreserved surrender of themselves to him. Some who have been conscious of a secret and unavowed hostility to the gospel, and to every thing spiritual and holy, to whom both family and public worship was a great burden, from which they were anxious to be delivered, have been reconciled and made nigh by the blood of the cross, and have now cheerfully subscribed with their hand to the Lord.

It is also of the nature of true religion to take a decided character, as is strikingly exemplified in this brief description of gentile conversion. The party is not represented as forming resolves and purposes, as to what is to be done in future, but as making a personal and immediate surrender of himself to God. The language is not, I will sometime or other be the Lord’s, but I am the Lord’s. I am no longer my own but his. Many remain long in a state of suspense, undecided betwixt God and the world; they have had many convictions, and want to put them off to a more convenient season. The kingdom of heaven is come nigh to them, and they themselves are not far from the kingdom; yet they have gone back to the world to see whether they cannot make something better of it than they have done, and so are still undecided. Others cleave to their own righteousness, and cannot wholly give it up, nor consent to the sacrifices which true religion requires. Genuine conversion however puts an end to all this indecision; it teaches us to make God’s cause our own, to join ourselves to him in a perpetual covenant never to be forgotten, saying as Ruth did to Naomi, thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.

5. When truth and holiness shall prevail among God’s people, then shall the latter be in such honour. Gentiles to the far ends of the earth shall vie to come into association with them. The triple parallels of this verse are picturesque; hz, (zeh,) thrice used, this, this, this. One shall proclaim his adherence to the Christians; another shall write it: and another shall add Christian as his surname.

SEC. 4, (1) CYRUS AND IMMANUEL, Isaiah 44:6-45:23.

1. The folly of idols, 6-28.

Verses 6-8. Thus saith the Lord, &c. — Here God renews his contest with idols, which he insists an so often, and so much, because his own people were exceeding prone to idolatry. And who — Which of all the heathen gods; shall call, and shall declare it — Shall, by his powerful call, cause a future event to be, and, by his infinite foreknowledge, declare that it shall be. And set it in order for me — Orderly relate all future events in the same manner as they shall happen. Since I appointed the ancient people — Af’ ou epoihsa anqrwpon. Since I first made man upon the earth: so the LXX. And the things that are coming, &c. — Such things as are near at hand, and such as are to come hereafter. Have not I told thee? — Thee, O Israel, whom he bids not to fear. The sense is, I call you Israelites to bear me witness, whether I have not, from time to time, acquainted you with things to come; from that time — When I appointed the ancient people, (verse 7,) from the first ages of the world. And have declared it — Have published it to the world in my sacred records. Ye are even my witnesses — Both of my predictions, and of the exact agreeableness of events to them.

Ver. 6. Besides me there is no God, or no Elohim. The unity of the Godhead is here asserted, in opposition to idols, who are only called gods, as more largely noted in Deuteronomy 6:4. St. Paul takes the same ground. 1 Corinthians 8:5. Consequently, there is nothing here to favour the Unitarian apostasy. He only is God who foretels the future; he only is God who brings his counsels to perfection. Messiah created the heavens, as in Isaiah 48:12-19. John 1:3. The whole Divinity is here understood.

6. Observe the same attributes are assumed by Christ in Revelation 1:8, 17, and 22:13. This mission of the Lord Jesus in its outcome, as the New Testament presents it, is, that he is also Messiah, and that he is king and judge of Messiah’s kingdom, the kingdom of all the true Israel, whether of Jews or Gentiles.

V. 7. Who-Which of all the Heathen gods. Declare-Shall by his powerful word cause it to be, and by his fore-knowledge declare that it shall be. Set in order-Orderly relate all future events in the same manner as they shall happen. Since-Since I first made man upon earth. The things-Such things as are near at hand, and such as are to come hereafter.

Verse 7. Let them show unto them— “Let them declare unto us.”] For wml lamo, unto them, the Chaldee reads wnl lanu, unto us. The Septuagint read לכם lachem, unto you; which is preferable to the reading of the text. But wml lamo, and wnl lanu, are frequently mistaken one for the other, see Isaiah 10:29; Psalm 80:7; 64:6.

Verses 6-8. Thus saith the Lord, &c. — Here God renews his contest with idols, which he insists an so often, and so much, because his own people were exceeding prone to idolatry. And who — Which of all the heathen gods; shall call, and shall declare it — Shall, by his powerful call, cause a future event to be, and, by his infinite foreknowledge, declare that it shall be. And set it in order for me — Orderly relate all future events in the same manner as they shall happen. Since I appointed the ancient people — Af’ ou epoihsa anqrwpon. Since I first made man upon the earth: so the LXX. And the things that are coming, &c. — Such things as are near at hand, and such as are to come hereafter. Have not I told thee? — Thee, O Israel, whom he bids not to fear. The sense is, I call you Israelites to bear me witness, whether I have not, from time to time, acquainted you with things to come; from that time — When I appointed the ancient people, (verse 7,) from the first ages of the world. And have declared it — Have published it to the world in my sacred records. Ye are even my witnesses — Both of my predictions, and of the exact agreeableness of events to them.

7, 8. Who, as I — Who, except God, the King of Israel, is sufficiently all knowing to predict events future, and to declare the time and order of each? Shall call — That is, to proclaim openly the event, and to place its occurrence in exact order as it will occur. For me — God overrules events, so that in the end they turn to the furtherance of his plans. Ancient people — Either, since the first generations from Adam, or since the first covenant made with Abraham. As relates to predictive power, it makes little difference which. Things that are coming — Probably referring to the deliverance by Cyrus. Shall come — More remote, so commentators of highest repute; not unlikely Messiah’s coming. Fear ye not — Ye shall be disappointed in none of these things. Is there a God (literally, a Rock) beside me — An abiding foundation. Promises resting on such a Rock can never fail. There is no God — Not, other than me, but, none independent of me. I am the sole eternal Being.

V. 8. Ye-Thee, O Israel, whom he bids not to fear. Told thee-Even from the first ages of the world. Declared-Have published it to the world in my sacred records. Witnesses-Both of my predictions, and of the exact agreeableness of events to them.

Verse 8. Fear ye not] whrt tirehu never occurs. Perhaps it should be waryt tireu, fear ye. Two MSS. read whryt tirehu, and one of mine wrht taharu.

Verses 6-8. Thus saith the Lord, &c. — Here God renews his contest with idols, which he insists an so often, and so much, because his own people were exceeding prone to idolatry. And who — Which of all the heathen gods; shall call, and shall declare it — Shall, by his powerful call, cause a future event to be, and, by his infinite foreknowledge, declare that it shall be. And set it in order for me — Orderly relate all future events in the same manner as they shall happen. Since I appointed the ancient people — Af’ ou epoihsa anqrwpon. Since I first made man upon the earth: so the LXX. And the things that are coming, &c. — Such things as are near at hand, and such as are to come hereafter. Have not I told thee? — Thee, O Israel, whom he bids not to fear. The sense is, I call you Israelites to bear me witness, whether I have not, from time to time, acquainted you with things to come; from that time — When I appointed the ancient people, (verse 7,) from the first ages of the world. And have declared it — Have published it to the world in my sacred records. Ye are even my witnesses — Both of my predictions, and of the exact agreeableness of events to them.

7, 8. Who, as I — Who, except God, the King of Israel, is sufficiently all knowing to predict events future, and to declare the time and order of each? Shall call — That is, to proclaim openly the event, and to place its occurrence in exact order as it will occur. For me — God overrules events, so that in the end they turn to the furtherance of his plans. Ancient people — Either, since the first generations from Adam, or since the first covenant made with Abraham. As relates to predictive power, it makes little difference which. Things that are coming — Probably referring to the deliverance by Cyrus. Shall come — More remote, so commentators of highest repute; not unlikely Messiah’s coming. Fear ye not — Ye shall be disappointed in none of these things. Is there a God (literally, a Rock) beside me — An abiding foundation. Promises resting on such a Rock can never fail. There is no God — Not, other than me, but, none independent of me. I am the sole eternal Being.

V. 9. Delectable things-Their idols, in which they take so much pleasure. They-They that make them, are witnesses against themselves, and against their idols, because they know they are the work of their own hands. See not-Have neither sense nor understanding, therefore they have just cause to be ashamed of their folly, in worshipping such senseless things.

Verses 9. - 10. That they may be ashamed. Who hath formed a god— “That every one may be ashamed, that he hath formed a god”] The Bodleian MS., one of the first extant for its antiquity and authority, instead of ym mi, at the beginning of the tenth verse, has yk ki, which greatly clears up the construction of a very obscure passage. Doederlein approves of this reading. The Septuagint likewise closely connect in construction the end of Isaiah 44:9 with the beginning of Isaiah 44:10; and wholly omit the interrogative ym mi, which embarrasses the sentence: Aiscunqhsontai oi plassontev Qeon, kai glufontev pantev

anwfelh “But they shall be confounded that make a god; and they who engrave unprofitable things;” agreeably to the reading of the MS. above mentioned.

Verses 9-11. They that make a graven image are vanity — Hereby discover themselves to be vain, empty, and foolish men. And their delectable things shall not profit — Their idols, in which they take so much pleasure. They are their own witnesses — They that make them are witnesses against themselves and against their idols, because they know they are not gods, but the work of their own hands. They see not, nor know — Have neither sense nor understanding, therefore they have just cause to be ashamed of their folly in worshipping such senseless things. Who hath formed a god, &c. — What man in his wits would do it? Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed — The workmen who, in this work, are partners with him, by whose cost and command the work is done; or those who any way assist in this work, and join with him in worshipping the image which he makes. They are of men — They are of mankind, and therefore cannot possibly make a god. They shall be ashamed together — Though all combine together, they shall be filled with fear and confusion when God shall plead his cause against them.

Ver. 9. They that make a graven image. Horace, it is likely, had never read Isaiah, yet he takes the same ground of satire on idols, and puts this most mortifying language into the mouth of Priapus, the most obscene of all the gods.

Olim truncus eram ficulnus, inutile lignum, &c. I was formerly the trunk of an old figtree, reckoned useless wood. For sometime, the carpenter was undecided what to do with me, whether to make me into a bench, or a god. At length he preferred my being a god,—so I am a god, and the very great terror of birds and thieves. The latter I frighten away with my cap of reeds, and the former with my staff, so that they dare not approach. Lib. 1. Sat. 8. See also a satire by Minutius Felix, cited in the reflections on Psalm 115.

9. They that make… image… vanity — The subject is, heathendom itself can be called and become, like yourselves, my witnesses. They make idols which they know to be nothing. They are their own witnesses — Or, Their witnesses are these things. That is, the heathen are fully aware that dumb idols can testify to absolutely nothing. “Their,” means, these makers and worshippers of idols. “These,” that is, the idols themselves. The folly of idolatry is a mark of fatuity in those engaged in it, and must lead to manifest shame. Not to shame merely, but to alarm also, when they assemble to put their system to the test.

Verses 9. - 10. That they may be ashamed. Who hath formed a god— “That every one may be ashamed, that he hath formed a god”] The Bodleian MS., one of the first extant for its antiquity and authority, instead of ym mi, at the beginning of the tenth verse, has yk ki, which greatly clears up the construction of a very obscure passage. Doederlein approves of this reading. The Septuagint likewise closely connect in construction the end of Isaiah 44:9 with the beginning of Isaiah 44:10; and wholly omit the interrogative ym mi, which embarrasses the sentence: Aiscunqhsontai oi plassontev Qeon, kai glufontev pantev

anwfelh “But they shall be confounded that make a god; and they who engrave unprofitable things;” agreeably to the reading of the MS. above mentioned.

Verses 9-11. They that make a graven image are vanity — Hereby discover themselves to be vain, empty, and foolish men. And their delectable things shall not profit — Their idols, in which they take so much pleasure. They are their own witnesses — They that make them are witnesses against themselves and against their idols, because they know they are not gods, but the work of their own hands. They see not, nor know — Have neither sense nor understanding, therefore they have just cause to be ashamed of their folly in worshipping such senseless things. Who hath formed a god, &c. — What man in his wits would do it? Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed — The workmen who, in this work, are partners with him, by whose cost and command the work is done; or those who any way assist in this work, and join with him in worshipping the image which he makes. They are of men — They are of mankind, and therefore cannot possibly make a god. They shall be ashamed together — Though all combine together, they shall be filled with fear and confusion when God shall plead his cause against them.

V. 11. Men-They are of mankind, and therefore cannot possibly make a god. Together-Tho’ all combine together, they shall be filled with fear and confusion, when God shall plead his cause against them.

Verse 11. His fellows] wyrbj chaberaiv: but wydb[ abadaiv, his servants or worshippers, is the reading of one of Deuteronomy Rossi’s MSS., and of the Chaldee.

And the workmen, they are of men— “Even the workmen themselves shall blush”] I do not know that any one has ever yet interpreted these words to any tolerably good sense: מאדם המה וחרשים vecharashim hemmah meadam. The Vulgate and our translators, have rendered them very fairly, as they are written and pointed in the text: Fabri enim sunt ex hominibus. “And the workmen they are of men.” Out of which the commentators have not been able to extract any thing worthy of the prophet. I have given another explanation of the place; agreeable enough to the context, if it can be deduced from the words themselves. I presume that אדם adam, rubuit, may signify erubuit, to be red through shame, as well as from any other cause; though I cannot produce any example of it in that particular sense; and the word in the text I would point מאדם meoddam; or if any one should object to the irregularity of the number, I would read מאדמים meoddamim. But I rather think that the irregularity of the construction has been the cause of the obscurity, and has given occasion to the mistaken punctuation. The singular is sometimes put for the plural. See Psalm 68:31; and the participle for the future tense, see Isaiah 40:11.—L.

Verses 9-11. They that make a graven image are vanity — Hereby discover themselves to be vain, empty, and foolish men. And their delectable things shall not profit — Their idols, in which they take so much pleasure. They are their own witnesses — They that make them are witnesses against themselves and against their idols, because they know they are not gods, but the work of their own hands. They see not, nor know — Have neither sense nor understanding, therefore they have just cause to be ashamed of their folly in worshipping such senseless things. Who hath formed a god, &c. — What man in his wits would do it? Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed — The workmen who, in this work, are partners with him, by whose cost and command the work is done; or those who any way assist in this work, and join with him in worshipping the image which he makes. They are of men — They are of mankind, and therefore cannot possibly make a god. They shall be ashamed together — Though all combine together, they shall be filled with fear and confusion when God shall plead his cause against them.

V. 12. Faint-This is mentioned as an evidence of great zeal and industry in carrying on this work; so that they forget or neglect to eat and drink.

Verse 12. The smith with the tongs, &c.— “The smith cutteth off a portion of iron”] dx[m meatstsed, Participium Pihel of dx[ atsad, to cut; still used in that sense in the Arabic. See Simonis Lex. Heb. The Septuagint and Syriac take the word in this form: but they render it sharpeneth the iron. See Castell. Lex. in voce.

The sacred writers are generally large and eloquent upon the subject of idolatry; they treat it with great severity, and set forth the absurdity of it in the strongest light. But this passage of Isaiah, Isaiah 44:12-20, far exceeds any thing that ever was written upon the subject, in force of argument, energy of expression, and elegance of composition. One or two of the apocryphal writers have attempted to imitate the prophet, but with very ill success; Wisd. 13:11-19; 15:7, &c.; Baruch vi., especially the latter, who, injudiciously dilating his matter, and introducing a number of minute circumstances, has very much weakened the force and effect of his invective. On the contrary a heathen author, in the ludicrous way, has, in a line or two, given idolatry one of the severest strokes it ever received:— Olim truncus eram ficulnus, inutile lignum,

Cum faber incertus, scamnum faceretne Priapum,

Maluit esse Deum. Deus inde ego.

HORAT. Satyr, lib. 1. sat. viii.

“Formerly I was the stump of a fig tree, a useless log; when the carpenter, after hesitating whether to make me a god or a stool, at last determined to make me a god. Thus I became a god!”

From the tenth to the seventeenth verse, a most beautiful strain of irony is carried on against idolatry. And we may naturally think that every idolater, who either read or heard it, must have been for ever ashamed of his own devices.—L.

Verses 12-17. The smith, &c. — “The sacred writers,” says Bishop Lowth, “are generally large and eloquent upon the subject of idolatry: they treat it with great severity, and set forth the absurdity of it in the strongest light. But this passage of Isaiah far exceeds any thing that ever was written upon the subject, in force of argument, energy of expression, and elegance of composition. One or two of the apocryphal writers have attempted to imitate the prophet, but with very ill success: Wisd. 13:11-19, and 15:7, &c.; Baruk, chap. 6.; especially the latter, who, injudiciously dilating his matter, and introducing a number of minute circumstances, has very much weakened the force and effect of his invective. On the contrary, a heathen author, in the ludicrous way, has, in a line or two, given idolatry one of the severest strokes it ever received:

“Olim truncus eram ficulnus, inutile lignum;

Cum faber, incertus scamnum faceretne Priapum,

Maluit esse Deum.”

“I was of old the trunk of a fig-tree, a useless block;

when the carpenter, uncertain whether to make a bench or a Priapus, chose that I should be a god.” — Hor., lib. 1. sat. 8.

He maketh it after the figure of a man, &c. — In the same comely shape and proportions which are in a living man; that it may remain in the house — In the dwelling-house of him that made it. He heweth him down cedars and the oak — Which afford the best and most durable timber; which he strengtheneth for himself — He plants, and with care and diligence improves those trees, that he or his posterity may thence have materials for their images, and those things which belong to them. He maketh an image, and falleth down thereto — Having related the practices of idolaters, he now discovers the vanity and folly of them, that they make their fire and their god of the same materials, distinguished only by the art of man, and roast their meat with the article which they worship.

12, 13. Notably, withering sarcasm is presented in these verses. Let the ridiculous farce come out in the translation following, that of Delitzsch: In the workshops, “The iron smith has a chisel, and works with redhot coals, and shapes it with hammer, and works it with his powerful arm. He gets hungry thereby, and his strength fails. If he drinks no water his strength fails. The carpenter draws the line, marks it with pencil, carries it out with the planes, makes a drawing of it with the compass, and carries it out like the figure of a man, like the beauty of a man, that it may dwell in the house.” Note the points: Great haste to have the idol made quickly. Some emergency. Hunger is neglected, and fainting occurs from thirst. Very eager to expedite the work while the iron is hot. Yet the god gives or allows no relief, except to hunger and thirst. Is such a god of any worth? Then the idol must be like a man — a beautiful man — and its divinity is on the same level.

V. 13. According to-In the same comely shape and proportions which are in a living man. House-In the dwelling-house of him that made it.

Verses 12-17. The smith, &c. — “The sacred writers,” says Bishop Lowth, “are generally large and eloquent upon the subject of idolatry: they treat it with great severity, and set forth the absurdity of it in the strongest light. But this passage of Isaiah far exceeds any thing that ever was written upon the subject, in force of argument, energy of expression, and elegance of composition. One or two of the apocryphal writers have attempted to imitate the prophet, but with very ill success: Wisd. 13:11-19, and 15:7, &c.; Baruk, chap. 6.; especially the latter, who, injudiciously dilating his matter, and introducing a number of minute circumstances, has very much weakened the force and effect of his invective. On the contrary, a heathen author, in the ludicrous way, has, in a line or two, given idolatry one of the severest strokes it ever received:

“Olim truncus eram ficulnus, inutile lignum;

Cum faber, incertus scamnum faceretne Priapum,

Maluit esse Deum.”

“I was of old the trunk of a fig-tree, a useless block;

when the carpenter, uncertain whether to make a bench or a Priapus, chose that I should be a god.” — Hor., lib. 1. sat. 8.

He maketh it after the figure of a man, &c. — In the same comely shape and proportions which are in a living man; that it may remain in the house — In the dwelling-house of him that made it. He heweth him down cedars and the oak — Which afford the best and most durable timber; which he strengtheneth for himself — He plants, and with care and diligence improves those trees, that he or his posterity may thence have materials for their images, and those things which belong to them. He maketh an image, and falleth down thereto — Having related the practices of idolaters, he now discovers the vanity and folly of them, that they make their fire and their god of the same materials, distinguished only by the art of man, and roast their meat with the article which they worship.

12, 13. Notably, withering sarcasm is presented in these verses. Let the ridiculous farce come out in the translation following, that of Delitzsch: In the workshops, “The iron smith has a chisel, and works with redhot coals, and shapes it with hammer, and works it with his powerful arm. He gets hungry thereby, and his strength fails. If he drinks no water his strength fails. The carpenter draws the line, marks it with pencil, carries it out with the planes, makes a drawing of it with the compass, and carries it out like the figure of a man, like the beauty of a man, that it may dwell in the house.” Note the points: Great haste to have the idol made quickly. Some emergency. Hunger is neglected, and fainting occurs from thirst. Very eager to expedite the work while the iron is hot. Yet the god gives or allows no relief, except to hunger and thirst. Is such a god of any worth? Then the idol must be like a man — a beautiful man — and its divinity is on the same level.

V. 14. Oak-Which afford the best and most durable timber. Strengtheneth-He plants, and with care and diligence improves those trees, that he or his posterity may thence have materials for their images, and those things which belong to them.

Verse 14. He heweth him down— “He heweth down”] For trkl lichroth, the Septuagint and Vulgate read trk carath or trky yichroth.

Verses 12-17. The smith, &c. — “The sacred writers,” says Bishop Lowth, “are generally large and eloquent upon the subject of idolatry: they treat it with great severity, and set forth the absurdity of it in the strongest light. But this passage of Isaiah far exceeds any thing that ever was written upon the subject, in force of argument, energy of expression, and elegance of composition. One or two of the apocryphal writers have attempted to imitate the prophet, but with very ill success: Wisd. 13:11-19, and 15:7, &c.; Baruk, chap. 6.; especially the latter, who, injudiciously dilating his matter, and introducing a number of minute circumstances, has very much weakened the force and effect of his invective. On the contrary, a heathen author, in the ludicrous way, has, in a line or two, given idolatry one of the severest strokes it ever received:

“Olim truncus eram ficulnus, inutile lignum;

Cum faber, incertus scamnum faceretne Priapum,

Maluit esse Deum.”

“I was of old the trunk of a fig-tree, a useless block;

when the carpenter, uncertain whether to make a bench or a Priapus, chose that I should be a god.” — Hor., lib. 1. sat. 8.

He maketh it after the figure of a man, &c. — In the same comely shape and proportions which are in a living man; that it may remain in the house — In the dwelling-house of him that made it. He heweth him down cedars and the oak — Which afford the best and most durable timber; which he strengtheneth for himself — He plants, and with care and diligence improves those trees, that he or his posterity may thence have materials for their images, and those things which belong to them. He maketh an image, and falleth down thereto — Having related the practices of idolaters, he now discovers the vanity and folly of them, that they make their fire and their god of the same materials, distinguished only by the art of man, and roast their meat with the article which they worship.

14-17. Heweth… cedars… cypress… oak — Back of manufacture, the prophet now goes for the origin of idols. He seeks the trees from which they are made — trees which require rains long before they can be made into idols. He seeks the cedar, oak, holm oak. (Why seek trees of Palestine if this prophet is of Babylon at the time of Cyrus, and is not Isaiah one hundred and fifty years before?) The fig tree is used, too, but half of it — its chips — is taken for fuel to cook and warm by. Why such a material for the making of a god? Delitzsch quotes as follows, in loco: “Diagoras of Melos, a pupil of Democritus, once threw a wooden figure of Hercules into the fire, and said jocularly, “Hercules, come now, perform thy thirteenth labour, and help me cook my turnips.” With as keen a point does Isaiah virtually ask: “Is there a god in your cedar, holm, or fig tree logs or billets?”

V. 15. Fallen down-Having related the practices of idolaters, he now discovers the folly of them, that he makes his fire and his god of the same materials, distinguished only by the art of man.

Verses 12-17. The smith, &c. — “The sacred writers,” says Bishop Lowth, “are generally large and eloquent upon the subject of idolatry: they treat it with great severity, and set forth the absurdity of it in the strongest light. But this passage of Isaiah far exceeds any thing that ever was written upon the subject, in force of argument, energy of expression, and elegance of composition. One or two of the apocryphal writers have attempted to imitate the prophet, but with very ill success: Wisd. 13:11-19, and 15:7, &c.; Baruk, chap. 6.; especially the latter, who, injudiciously dilating his matter, and introducing a number of minute circumstances, has very much weakened the force and effect of his invective. On the contrary, a heathen author, in the ludicrous way, has, in a line or two, given idolatry one of the severest strokes it ever received:

“Olim truncus eram ficulnus, inutile lignum;

Cum faber, incertus scamnum faceretne Priapum,

Maluit esse Deum.”

“I was of old the trunk of a fig-tree, a useless block;

when the carpenter, uncertain whether to make a bench or a Priapus, chose that I should be a god.” — Hor., lib. 1. sat. 8.

He maketh it after the figure of a man, &c. — In the same comely shape and proportions which are in a living man; that it may remain in the house — In the dwelling-house of him that made it. He heweth him down cedars and the oak — Which afford the best and most durable timber; which he strengtheneth for himself — He plants, and with care and diligence improves those trees, that he or his posterity may thence have materials for their images, and those things which belong to them. He maketh an image, and falleth down thereto — Having related the practices of idolaters, he now discovers the vanity and folly of them, that they make their fire and their god of the same materials, distinguished only by the art of man, and roast their meat with the article which they worship.

14-17. Heweth… cedars… cypress… oak — Back of manufacture, the prophet now goes for the origin of idols. He seeks the trees from which they are made — trees which require rains long before they can be made into idols. He seeks the cedar, oak, holm oak. (Why seek trees of Palestine if this prophet is of Babylon at the time of Cyrus, and is not Isaiah one hundred and fifty years before?) The fig tree is used, too, but half of it — its chips — is taken for fuel to cook and warm by. Why such a material for the making of a god? Delitzsch quotes as follows, in loco: “Diagoras of Melos, a pupil of Democritus, once threw a wooden figure of Hercules into the fire, and said jocularly, “Hercules, come now, perform thy thirteenth labour, and help me cook my turnips.” With as keen a point does Isaiah virtually ask: “Is there a god in your cedar, holm, or fig tree logs or billets?”

Verse 16. With part— “AND with part”] Twenty-three MSS., the Septuagint, and Vulgate add the conjunction w vau, and ועל veal.

Verses 12-17. The smith, &c. — “The sacred writers,” says Bishop Lowth, “are generally large and eloquent upon the subject of idolatry: they treat it with great severity, and set forth the absurdity of it in the strongest light. But this passage of Isaiah far exceeds any thing that ever was written upon the subject, in force of argument, energy of expression, and elegance of composition. One or two of the apocryphal writers have attempted to imitate the prophet, but with very ill success: Wisd. 13:11-19, and 15:7, &c.; Baruk, chap. 6.; especially the latter, who, injudiciously dilating his matter, and introducing a number of minute circumstances, has very much weakened the force and effect of his invective. On the contrary, a heathen author, in the ludicrous way, has, in a line or two, given idolatry one of the severest strokes it ever received:

“Olim truncus eram ficulnus, inutile lignum;

Cum faber, incertus scamnum faceretne Priapum,

Maluit esse Deum.”

“I was of old the trunk of a fig-tree, a useless block;

when the carpenter, uncertain whether to make a bench or a Priapus, chose that I should be a god.” — Hor., lib. 1. sat. 8.

He maketh it after the figure of a man, &c. — In the same comely shape and proportions which are in a living man; that it may remain in the house — In the dwelling-house of him that made it. He heweth him down cedars and the oak — Which afford the best and most durable timber; which he strengtheneth for himself — He plants, and with care and diligence improves those trees, that he or his posterity may thence have materials for their images, and those things which belong to them. He maketh an image, and falleth down thereto — Having related the practices of idolaters, he now discovers the vanity and folly of them, that they make their fire and their god of the same materials, distinguished only by the art of man, and roast their meat with the article which they worship.

14-17. Heweth… cedars… cypress… oak — Back of manufacture, the prophet now goes for the origin of idols. He seeks the trees from which they are made — trees which require rains long before they can be made into idols. He seeks the cedar, oak, holm oak. (Why seek trees of Palestine if this prophet is of Babylon at the time of Cyrus, and is not Isaiah one hundred and fifty years before?) The fig tree is used, too, but half of it — its chips — is taken for fuel to cook and warm by. Why such a material for the making of a god? Delitzsch quotes as follows, in loco: “Diagoras of Melos, a pupil of Democritus, once threw a wooden figure of Hercules into the fire, and said jocularly, “Hercules, come now, perform thy thirteenth labour, and help me cook my turnips.” With as keen a point does Isaiah virtually ask: “Is there a god in your cedar, holm, or fig tree logs or billets?”

V. 17. He eateth-He dresses flesh for his eating. Seen-I have felt the warmth of it.

Verse 17. He falleth down unto it] There were four forms of adoration used among the Hebrews: 1. hwjtvh HISHTACHAVAH, The prostration of the whole body. 2. ddq KADAD, The bowing of the head. 3. [rk CARA, The bending of the upper part of the body down to the knees. 4. Ërb BARACH, Bowing the knee, or kneeling. See on Isaiah 49:23.

Verses 12-17. The smith, &c. — “The sacred writers,” says Bishop Lowth, “are generally large and eloquent upon the subject of idolatry: they treat it with great severity, and set forth the absurdity of it in the strongest light. But this passage of Isaiah far exceeds any thing that ever was written upon the subject, in force of argument, energy of expression, and elegance of composition. One or two of the apocryphal writers have attempted to imitate the prophet, but with very ill success: Wisd. 13:11-19, and 15:7, &c.; Baruk, chap. 6.; especially the latter, who, injudiciously dilating his matter, and introducing a number of minute circumstances, has very much weakened the force and effect of his invective. On the contrary, a heathen author, in the ludicrous way, has, in a line or two, given idolatry one of the severest strokes it ever received:

“Olim truncus eram ficulnus, inutile lignum;

Cum faber, incertus scamnum faceretne Priapum,

Maluit esse Deum.”

“I was of old the trunk of a fig-tree, a useless block;

when the carpenter, uncertain whether to make a bench or a Priapus, chose that I should be a god.” — Hor., lib. 1. sat. 8.

He maketh it after the figure of a man, &c. — In the same comely shape and proportions which are in a living man; that it may remain in the house — In the dwelling-house of him that made it. He heweth him down cedars and the oak — Which afford the best and most durable timber; which he strengtheneth for himself — He plants, and with care and diligence improves those trees, that he or his posterity may thence have materials for their images, and those things which belong to them. He maketh an image, and falleth down thereto — Having related the practices of idolaters, he now discovers the vanity and folly of them, that they make their fire and their god of the same materials, distinguished only by the art of man, and roast their meat with the article which they worship.

14-17. Heweth… cedars… cypress… oak — Back of manufacture, the prophet now goes for the origin of idols. He seeks the trees from which they are made — trees which require rains long before they can be made into idols. He seeks the cedar, oak, holm oak. (Why seek trees of Palestine if this prophet is of Babylon at the time of Cyrus, and is not Isaiah one hundred and fifty years before?) The fig tree is used, too, but half of it — its chips — is taken for fuel to cook and warm by. Why such a material for the making of a god? Delitzsch quotes as follows, in loco: “Diagoras of Melos, a pupil of Democritus, once threw a wooden figure of Hercules into the fire, and said jocularly, “Hercules, come now, perform thy thirteenth labour, and help me cook my turnips.” With as keen a point does Isaiah virtually ask: “Is there a god in your cedar, holm, or fig tree logs or billets?”

V. 18. Not known-This shews that they have not the understanding of a man. For he-God. Not as if God did make men wicked; he only permits them so to be, and orders, and over-rules their wickedness to his own glorious ends.

Verse 18. He hath shut their eyes— “Their eyes are closed up”] The Septuagint, Chaldee, and Vulgate, for jc tach, read wjc, tachu. See Clarke’s note on “Isaiah 6:10”.

Verses 18-20. They have not known, &c. — They want common discretion, and have not the understanding of a rational being in them. For what an absurdity is it for a man to dress his meat and make his god with the same piece of wood! Or to think that a log of timber hath any more divinity in it than it had before, because of the form man can give it, or any thing he can do to it! “When,” says Minutius Felix, “does it become a god! Behold, it is cast, fashioned, and carved! It is not yet a god. It is soldered, put together, and set up. Neither is it yet a god. Behold, it is adorned, consecrated, and prayed to! Then at length it is a god when men have chosen and dedicated it.” He hath shut their eyes — God hath. Not as if God made men wicked; he only permits them so to be, and orders and overrules their wickedness to his own glorious ends. And none considereth in his heart — By which the prophet implies, that the true cause of this, as well as of other absurd and brutish practices of sinners, is the neglect of serious and impartial consideration. He feedeth on ashes — An unprofitable and pernicious food, and no less unsatisfying and mischievous is the worship of idols. A deceived heart — A mind corrupted and deceived by deep prejudice, gross error, and especially by his own lusts; hath turned him aside — From the way of truth, from the knowledge and worship of the true God, unto this irrational and foolish idolatry; that he cannot deliver his soul — From this error, and the vengeance that will follow upon it; nor say, Is there not a lie, &c. — Is not this idol which I honour and trust to a mere fiction and delusion which will deceive me?

18-20. The whole system of idol religion, in like manner, is simply foolish. Its votaries embrace it only to be blinded in conscience and reason. The makers and worshippers of idols are alike fools. And the sarcastic prophet cannot lament the dementing effects of the idol system in language more fitting than in the exactly literal words of verses 19 and 20, which sufficiently explain themselves.

Verses 18-20. They have not known, &c. — They want common discretion, and have not the understanding of a rational being in them. For what an absurdity is it for a man to dress his meat and make his god with the same piece of wood! Or to think that a log of timber hath any more divinity in it than it had before, because of the form man can give it, or any thing he can do to it! “When,” says Minutius Felix, “does it become a god! Behold, it is cast, fashioned, and carved! It is not yet a god. It is soldered, put together, and set up. Neither is it yet a god. Behold, it is adorned, consecrated, and prayed to! Then at length it is a god when men have chosen and dedicated it.” He hath shut their eyes — God hath. Not as if God made men wicked; he only permits them so to be, and orders and overrules their wickedness to his own glorious ends. And none considereth in his heart — By which the prophet implies, that the true cause of this, as well as of other absurd and brutish practices of sinners, is the neglect of serious and impartial consideration. He feedeth on ashes — An unprofitable and pernicious food, and no less unsatisfying and mischievous is the worship of idols. A deceived heart — A mind corrupted and deceived by deep prejudice, gross error, and especially by his own lusts; hath turned him aside — From the way of truth, from the knowledge and worship of the true God, unto this irrational and foolish idolatry; that he cannot deliver his soul — From this error, and the vengeance that will follow upon it; nor say, Is there not a lie, &c. — Is not this idol which I honour and trust to a mere fiction and delusion which will deceive me?

18-20. The whole system of idol religion, in like manner, is simply foolish. Its votaries embrace it only to be blinded in conscience and reason. The makers and worshippers of idols are alike fools. And the sarcastic prophet cannot lament the dementing effects of the idol system in language more fitting than in the exactly literal words of verses 19 and 20, which sufficiently explain themselves.

V. 20. Ashes-An unprofitable and pernicious food, and no less unsatisfying and mischievous is the worship of idols. Deceived heart-A mind corrupted and deceived by deep prejudice, gross error, and especially by his own lusts. Turned-From the way of truth. Deliver-From the snares and dangers of idolatry. Is there not-What is this idol which I set at my right-hand, as the true God is said in scripture to be at the right-hand of his people; which I highly honour, for the most honourable place was on the right-hand; to which I look for relief and assistance, which God in scripture is said to afford to his people, by being at and holding their right-hand. What, I say, is this idol? Is it not a lie, which tho’ it pretends to be a god, yet, in truth is nothing but vanity and falsehood?

Verse 20. He feedeth on ashes] He feedeth on that which affordeth no nourishment; a proverbial expression for using ineffectual means, and bestowing labour to no purpose. In the same sense Hosea says, “Ephraim feedeth on wind.” Hosea 12:1.

Verses 18-20. They have not known, &c. — They want common discretion, and have not the understanding of a rational being in them. For what an absurdity is it for a man to dress his meat and make his god with the same piece of wood! Or to think that a log of timber hath any more divinity in it than it had before, because of the form man can give it, or any thing he can do to it! “When,” says Minutius Felix, “does it become a god! Behold, it is cast, fashioned, and carved! It is not yet a god. It is soldered, put together, and set up. Neither is it yet a god. Behold, it is adorned, consecrated, and prayed to! Then at length it is a god when men have chosen and dedicated it.” He hath shut their eyes — God hath. Not as if God made men wicked; he only permits them so to be, and orders and overrules their wickedness to his own glorious ends. And none considereth in his heart — By which the prophet implies, that the true cause of this, as well as of other absurd and brutish practices of sinners, is the neglect of serious and impartial consideration. He feedeth on ashes — An unprofitable and pernicious food, and no less unsatisfying and mischievous is the worship of idols. A deceived heart — A mind corrupted and deceived by deep prejudice, gross error, and especially by his own lusts; hath turned him aside — From the way of truth, from the knowledge and worship of the true God, unto this irrational and foolish idolatry; that he cannot deliver his soul — From this error, and the vengeance that will follow upon it; nor say, Is there not a lie, &c. — Is not this idol which I honour and trust to a mere fiction and delusion which will deceive me?

18-20. The whole system of idol religion, in like manner, is simply foolish. Its votaries embrace it only to be blinded in conscience and reason. The makers and worshippers of idols are alike fools. And the sarcastic prophet cannot lament the dementing effects of the idol system in language more fitting than in the exactly literal words of verses 19 and 20, which sufficiently explain themselves.

V. 21. These-These things, the deep ignorance and stupidity of idolaters. Forgotten-I will not forget nor forsake thee; therefore thou shalt have no need of idols.

Verses 21-23. Remember these — These things, the deep ignorance and stupidity of idolaters. O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten — I will not forget nor forsake thee; therefore thou shalt have no need of idols. I have blotted out as a cloud, &c. — As the sun arising disperses the clouds, and causes them to vanish and disappear, so have I, arising for thy salvation, with the light and influence of my grace, scattered and removed thy transgressions, that there is no remnant or appearance of them left: a beautiful and expressive metaphor. Return unto me — From thine idolatry, and other sinful practices. For 1 have redeemed thee — Therefore thou art mine, and obliged to return and adhere to me. Sing, O ye heavens, &c. — “The prophet here, by an elegant apostrophe, calls upon all creatures to glorify God for his singular blessing to his people in delivering them from their captivity in Babylon; which also has a further respect to the great and spiritual deliverance of mankind by the Messiah;” a mercy so transcendent, that, as he intimates, it is sufficient, were it possible, to make even the stones break forth in praises to God.

21. This sarcasm he turns into admonition of God’s people. For them chiefly he has drawn the foregoing picture, and from it he turns to the contrast. Remember these, O Jacob and Israel — Note your own condition in comparison. Thou art my servant — That is, one co-operating with me in establishing a kingdom of truth and salvation.

V. 22. As a cloud-So that there is no remnant of it left.

Verse 22. I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins— “I have made thy transgressions vanish away like a cloud, and thy sins like a vapour”] Longinus admired the sublimity of the sentiment, as well as the harmony of the numbers, in the following sentence of Demosthenes: Touto to yhfisma ton tote th polei teristanta kindunon parelqein epoihsen wsper nefov. “This decree made the danger then hanging over the city pass away like a cloud.” Probably Isaiah alludes here to the smoke rising up from the sin-offering, dispersed speedily by the wind. and rendered invisible. He who offered his sacrifice aright was as sure that the sin for which he offered it was blotted out, as that the smoke of the sacrifice was dispersed by the wind, and was no longer discernible.

Verses 21-23. Remember these — These things, the deep ignorance and stupidity of idolaters. O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten — I will not forget nor forsake thee; therefore thou shalt have no need of idols. I have blotted out as a cloud, &c. — As the sun arising disperses the clouds, and causes them to vanish and disappear, so have I, arising for thy salvation, with the light and influence of my grace, scattered and removed thy transgressions, that there is no remnant or appearance of them left: a beautiful and expressive metaphor. Return unto me — From thine idolatry, and other sinful practices. For 1 have redeemed thee — Therefore thou art mine, and obliged to return and adhere to me. Sing, O ye heavens, &c. — “The prophet here, by an elegant apostrophe, calls upon all creatures to glorify God for his singular blessing to his people in delivering them from their captivity in Babylon; which also has a further respect to the great and spiritual deliverance of mankind by the Messiah;” a mercy so transcendent, that, as he intimates, it is sufficient, were it possible, to make even the stones break forth in praises to God.

22. Blotted… clouds… sins — Two-fold figure of clouds obscuring the sun and of sins hiding the face of God. Clouds being removed, the sun, with the clear blue heavens, comes to view; so sins repented of, bring sense of approval from God, revealing the truth, I have redeemed thee.

V. 23. Sing-By such invitations to the senseless creatures, he signifies the transcendent greatness of this mercy, sufficient to make even the stones, if it were possible, to break forth into God’s praises.

Verses 21-23. Remember these — These things, the deep ignorance and stupidity of idolaters. O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten — I will not forget nor forsake thee; therefore thou shalt have no need of idols. I have blotted out as a cloud, &c. — As the sun arising disperses the clouds, and causes them to vanish and disappear, so have I, arising for thy salvation, with the light and influence of my grace, scattered and removed thy transgressions, that there is no remnant or appearance of them left: a beautiful and expressive metaphor. Return unto me — From thine idolatry, and other sinful practices. For 1 have redeemed thee — Therefore thou art mine, and obliged to return and adhere to me. Sing, O ye heavens, &c. — “The prophet here, by an elegant apostrophe, calls upon all creatures to glorify God for his singular blessing to his people in delivering them from their captivity in Babylon; which also has a further respect to the great and spiritual deliverance of mankind by the Messiah;” a mercy so transcendent, that, as he intimates, it is sufficient, were it possible, to make even the stones break forth in praises to God.

23. Sing… shout… the Lord hath redeemed — Gospel hope is herein so full and assured, and Messianic prospect so grandly cheering, that a chorus of rejoicing is called for from the universe, the heavens, the earth’s depths, mountains, and forests. Such signs of victory and superiority — infinitely exceptional as to devils and created beings, and nothingnesses of the idol worship — are worthy of shouts through the universe in behalf of the Lord God Almighty and the Redeemer of Israel.

Verse 24. By myself] Thirteen MSS., six ancient, confirm the reading of the Keri, ytam meittai.

Verses 24-27. I am the Lord that maketh all things — And therefore I can save thee without the help of any other gods, or any creature; that frustrateth the tokens of the liars — Of the magicians and astrologers, who were numerous and greatly esteemed in Babylon, and who had foretold the long continuance and prosperity of the Chaldean empire. And maketh the diviners mad — With grief for the disappointment of their predictions, and their disgrace which followed it. That turneth wise men backward — Stopping their way, and blasting their designs. That confirmeth the word of his servants — The prophets, as appears from the next clause, namely, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others, whom God sent to foretel the destruction of Babylon, and the redemption of his people. The connection of this with verse 25, is, As God discovers the folly and madness of such false prophets, so he punctually fulfils the predictions of his own prophets. That saith to the deep, Be dry — That with a word can dry up the sea and rivers, and remove all impediments. “Cyrus took Babylon by laying the bed of the Euphrates dry, and leading his army into the city by night, through the empty channel of the river. This remarkable circumstance, in which the event so exactly corresponded with the prophecy, was also noted by Jeremiah. A drought shall be upon her waters, and they shall be dried up: I will lay her sea dry; and I will scorch up her springs, Jeremiah 50:38; 51:36. It is proper here to give some account of the method by which the stratagem of Cyrus was effected. The Euphrates, in the middle of summer, from the melting of the snows on the mountains of Armenia, like the Nile, overflows the country. In order to diminish the inundation, and carry off the waters, two canals were made by Nebuchadnezzar a hundred miles above the city; the first on the eastern side, called Naharmalca, or the Royal river, by which the Euphrates was let into the Tigris; the other on the western side, called Pallacopas, or Naharaga, (Hebrew, µga rhn, the river of the pool,) by which the redundant waters were carried into a vast lake, forty miles square, contrived, not only to lessen the inundation, but for a reservoir, with sluices to water the barren country on the Arabian side. Cyrus, by turning the whole river into the latter lake, laid the channel, where it ran through the city, almost dry; so that his army entered it both above and below by the bed of the river, the water not reaching above the middle of the thigh. By the great quantity of water let into the lake, the sluices and dams were destroyed; and being never repaired afterward, the waters spread over the whole country below, and reduced it into a morass, in which the river is lost.” — Bishop Lowth.

Ver. 24, 25. I am the Lord—that maketh diviners mad. With the revival of idolatry all sorts of obah, or obee, or divinations were practised. One presumes to prophesy, another invokes Hecate, a third cries in doleful tones to Tisiphone, a fourth, like a ventriloquist, talks out of his belly to those about him. St. Paul is justified in asserting that all those prayers were addressed to devils. 1 Corinthians 10:20.

24-28. The remaining verses of the chapter virtually make a single paragraph, unbroken in sense; the sense being a confirmation of the divine promises to Israel — that is, to the Church — by instances cited of God’s omnipotence exercised in Israel’s peculiar behalf. They are the original forming of Israel by the Maker of all things, who made the heavens, (as well as man,) and phenomenally spread them out; and the earth also. By myself — That is, by himself alone, no one being in existence besides him. Frustrateth the tokens of the liars — Putting diviners to flight and shame; but, on the other hand, aiding his servants the prophets to foretell that Jerusalem shall be built, and Zion again occupied. That saith to the deep, Be dry — Removeth all barriers to the return, seas and rivers opening dry passages therefor, (referring to Israel’s history, first at the Red Sea and the Jordan, and last at the Euphrates,) and who, at last, names the deliverer, Cyrus, God’s fold-builder for the flock.

CONTINUATION IN REGARD TO CYRUS.

The mention of Cyrus by name at the close (verse 28) of an array of divine titles and perfections is no trivial circumstance — no dim prediction of this personage — one hundred and seventy years before his coming. There is significance in his coming and in his reign at such a time of the greatest importance to the world’s civilization. The character of Cyrus is variously drawn in the fragments of the old histories, but in none of them is there any thing otherwise than what, in the hands of divine providence, he could have been with full free will shaped to be a coadjutor of Jehovah — the Lord’s servant. Prior to his connexion with the Jews he is represented as a great conqueror and organizer, but not wanting in humane and noble feelings toward his subjects — to the Jews especially: who, both as colonists in Palestine and as citizens and residents in the East, adhered patriotically to him amid all attempted revolts.

The liberation from exile was a thing small, indeed, in itself, when compared with the other great events of his reign, yet it ranks with the greatest events as seen in its issues to mankind. Naturally endowed with great special gifts, and these sanctified measurably by the divinity which rules over as well as in men, he was prepared to be thus “the anointed of Jehovah” in the special work of furthering the redemption of mankind. Speculations as to the name Cyrus, from Kur or Kuru, (Persian,) and this Hebraized in Koresh, may be waived; but the ancient references to him may well be noted as to his character. Eschylus (Persae) says, “He was naturally gentle;” Plutarch and Diodorus preserve traditions greatly favourable. Josephus also. Thus he was eminently fitted to facilitate the progress of the redemptive work of Christ. Melchizedec and Cyrus (both of them Gentiles outside the sacred enclosure from Abraham) were certainly proper to be called types of Christ at points in which they shadowed the Christ-like character. How came Cyrus to so touch at those points? By direct providential ordering leading to his consent to be so fashioned of God. God “raised him up in righteousness.” (Isaiah 45:13.) God chose him “to perform his will in Babylon.” (Isaiah 48:14.) See also 2 Chronicles 36:22, 23, and first verse in Ezra 1. Not unlikely Cyrus was in direct communication with Daniel (So Josephus.) Doubtless Cyrus was not a polytheist. His religion, (if that were Zoroastrianism,) did not allow it as heathenism allows it. It is conceivable that, through Daniel, those chapters in Isaiah were exhibited to Cyrus. Daniel, though then, it may be, in his last years, could not but be serviceable and influential with the young conqueror; for Daniel was a sage, a statesman, a tried man as to his own religion, and so far himself also a conqueror.

V. 25. Liars-Of the magicians, and astrologers, who were numerous, and greatly esteemed in Babylon, and who had foretold the long continuance and prosperity of the Chaldean empire. Mad-With grief for the disappointment of their predictions, and their disgrace which followed it. Turneth-Stopping their way, and blasting their designs.

Verses 24-27. I am the Lord that maketh all things — And therefore I can save thee without the help of any other gods, or any creature; that frustrateth the tokens of the liars — Of the magicians and astrologers, who were numerous and greatly esteemed in Babylon, and who had foretold the long continuance and prosperity of the Chaldean empire. And maketh the diviners mad — With grief for the disappointment of their predictions, and their disgrace which followed it. That turneth wise men backward — Stopping their way, and blasting their designs. That confirmeth the word of his servants — The prophets, as appears from the next clause, namely, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others, whom God sent to foretel the destruction of Babylon, and the redemption of his people. The connection of this with verse 25, is, As God discovers the folly and madness of such false prophets, so he punctually fulfils the predictions of his own prophets. That saith to the deep, Be dry — That with a word can dry up the sea and rivers, and remove all impediments. “Cyrus took Babylon by laying the bed of the Euphrates dry, and leading his army into the city by night, through the empty channel of the river. This remarkable circumstance, in which the event so exactly corresponded with the prophecy, was also noted by Jeremiah. A drought shall be upon her waters, and they shall be dried up: I will lay her sea dry; and I will scorch up her springs, Jeremiah 50:38; 51:36. It is proper here to give some account of the method by which the stratagem of Cyrus was effected. The Euphrates, in the middle of summer, from the melting of the snows on the mountains of Armenia, like the Nile, overflows the country. In order to diminish the inundation, and carry off the waters, two canals were made by Nebuchadnezzar a hundred miles above the city; the first on the eastern side, called Naharmalca, or the Royal river, by which the Euphrates was let into the Tigris; the other on the western side, called Pallacopas, or Naharaga, (Hebrew, µga rhn, the river of the pool,) by which the redundant waters were carried into a vast lake, forty miles square, contrived, not only to lessen the inundation, but for a reservoir, with sluices to water the barren country on the Arabian side. Cyrus, by turning the whole river into the latter lake, laid the channel, where it ran through the city, almost dry; so that his army entered it both above and below by the bed of the river, the water not reaching above the middle of the thigh. By the great quantity of water let into the lake, the sluices and dams were destroyed; and being never repaired afterward, the waters spread over the whole country below, and reduced it into a morass, in which the river is lost.” — Bishop Lowth.

Ver. 24, 25. I am the Lord—that maketh diviners mad. With the revival of idolatry all sorts of obah, or obee, or divinations were practised. One presumes to prophesy, another invokes Hecate, a third cries in doleful tones to Tisiphone, a fourth, like a ventriloquist, talks out of his belly to those about him. St. Paul is justified in asserting that all those prayers were addressed to devils. 1 Corinthians 10:20.

24-28. The remaining verses of the chapter virtually make a single paragraph, unbroken in sense; the sense being a confirmation of the divine promises to Israel — that is, to the Church — by instances cited of God’s omnipotence exercised in Israel’s peculiar behalf. They are the original forming of Israel by the Maker of all things, who made the heavens, (as well as man,) and phenomenally spread them out; and the earth also. By myself — That is, by himself alone, no one being in existence besides him. Frustrateth the tokens of the liars — Putting diviners to flight and shame; but, on the other hand, aiding his servants the prophets to foretell that Jerusalem shall be built, and Zion again occupied. That saith to the deep, Be dry — Removeth all barriers to the return, seas and rivers opening dry passages therefor, (referring to Israel’s history, first at the Red Sea and the Jordan, and last at the Euphrates,) and who, at last, names the deliverer, Cyrus, God’s fold-builder for the flock.

CONTINUATION IN REGARD TO CYRUS.

The mention of Cyrus by name at the close (verse 28) of an array of divine titles and perfections is no trivial circumstance — no dim prediction of this personage — one hundred and seventy years before his coming. There is significance in his coming and in his reign at such a time of the greatest importance to the world’s civilization. The character of Cyrus is variously drawn in the fragments of the old histories, but in none of them is there any thing otherwise than what, in the hands of divine providence, he could have been with full free will shaped to be a coadjutor of Jehovah — the Lord’s servant. Prior to his connexion with the Jews he is represented as a great conqueror and organizer, but not wanting in humane and noble feelings toward his subjects — to the Jews especially: who, both as colonists in Palestine and as citizens and residents in the East, adhered patriotically to him amid all attempted revolts.

The liberation from exile was a thing small, indeed, in itself, when compared with the other great events of his reign, yet it ranks with the greatest events as seen in its issues to mankind. Naturally endowed with great special gifts, and these sanctified measurably by the divinity which rules over as well as in men, he was prepared to be thus “the anointed of Jehovah” in the special work of furthering the redemption of mankind. Speculations as to the name Cyrus, from Kur or Kuru, (Persian,) and this Hebraized in Koresh, may be waived; but the ancient references to him may well be noted as to his character. Eschylus (Persae) says, “He was naturally gentle;” Plutarch and Diodorus preserve traditions greatly favourable. Josephus also. Thus he was eminently fitted to facilitate the progress of the redemptive work of Christ. Melchizedec and Cyrus (both of them Gentiles outside the sacred enclosure from Abraham) were certainly proper to be called types of Christ at points in which they shadowed the Christ-like character. How came Cyrus to so touch at those points? By direct providential ordering leading to his consent to be so fashioned of God. God “raised him up in righteousness.” (Isaiah 45:13.) God chose him “to perform his will in Babylon.” (Isaiah 48:14.) See also 2 Chronicles 36:22, 23, and first verse in Ezra 1. Not unlikely Cyrus was in direct communication with Daniel (So Josephus.) Doubtless Cyrus was not a polytheist. His religion, (if that were Zoroastrianism,) did not allow it as heathenism allows it. It is conceivable that, through Daniel, those chapters in Isaiah were exhibited to Cyrus. Daniel, though then, it may be, in his last years, could not but be serviceable and influential with the young conqueror; for Daniel was a sage, a statesman, a tried man as to his own religion, and so far himself also a conqueror.

Verses 24-27. I am the Lord that maketh all things — And therefore I can save thee without the help of any other gods, or any creature; that frustrateth the tokens of the liars — Of the magicians and astrologers, who were numerous and greatly esteemed in Babylon, and who had foretold the long continuance and prosperity of the Chaldean empire. And maketh the diviners mad — With grief for the disappointment of their predictions, and their disgrace which followed it. That turneth wise men backward — Stopping their way, and blasting their designs. That confirmeth the word of his servants — The prophets, as appears from the next clause, namely, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others, whom God sent to foretel the destruction of Babylon, and the redemption of his people. The connection of this with verse 25, is, As God discovers the folly and madness of such false prophets, so he punctually fulfils the predictions of his own prophets. That saith to the deep, Be dry — That with a word can dry up the sea and rivers, and remove all impediments. “Cyrus took Babylon by laying the bed of the Euphrates dry, and leading his army into the city by night, through the empty channel of the river. This remarkable circumstance, in which the event so exactly corresponded with the prophecy, was also noted by Jeremiah. A drought shall be upon her waters, and they shall be dried up: I will lay her sea dry; and I will scorch up her springs, Jeremiah 50:38; 51:36. It is proper here to give some account of the method by which the stratagem of Cyrus was effected. The Euphrates, in the middle of summer, from the melting of the snows on the mountains of Armenia, like the Nile, overflows the country. In order to diminish the inundation, and carry off the waters, two canals were made by Nebuchadnezzar a hundred miles above the city; the first on the eastern side, called Naharmalca, or the Royal river, by which the Euphrates was let into the Tigris; the other on the western side, called Pallacopas, or Naharaga, (Hebrew, µga rhn, the river of the pool,) by which the redundant waters were carried into a vast lake, forty miles square, contrived, not only to lessen the inundation, but for a reservoir, with sluices to water the barren country on the Arabian side. Cyrus, by turning the whole river into the latter lake, laid the channel, where it ran through the city, almost dry; so that his army entered it both above and below by the bed of the river, the water not reaching above the middle of the thigh. By the great quantity of water let into the lake, the sluices and dams were destroyed; and being never repaired afterward, the waters spread over the whole country below, and reduced it into a morass, in which the river is lost.” — Bishop Lowth.

24-28. The remaining verses of the chapter virtually make a single paragraph, unbroken in sense; the sense being a confirmation of the divine promises to Israel — that is, to the Church — by instances cited of God’s omnipotence exercised in Israel’s peculiar behalf. They are the original forming of Israel by the Maker of all things, who made the heavens, (as well as man,) and phenomenally spread them out; and the earth also. By myself — That is, by himself alone, no one being in existence besides him. Frustrateth the tokens of the liars — Putting diviners to flight and shame; but, on the other hand, aiding his servants the prophets to foretell that Jerusalem shall be built, and Zion again occupied. That saith to the deep, Be dry — Removeth all barriers to the return, seas and rivers opening dry passages therefor, (referring to Israel’s history, first at the Red Sea and the Jordan, and last at the Euphrates,) and who, at last, names the deliverer, Cyrus, God’s fold-builder for the flock.

CONTINUATION IN REGARD TO CYRUS.

The mention of Cyrus by name at the close (verse 28) of an array of divine titles and perfections is no trivial circumstance — no dim prediction of this personage — one hundred and seventy years before his coming. There is significance in his coming and in his reign at such a time of the greatest importance to the world’s civilization. The character of Cyrus is variously drawn in the fragments of the old histories, but in none of them is there any thing otherwise than what, in the hands of divine providence, he could have been with full free will shaped to be a coadjutor of Jehovah — the Lord’s servant. Prior to his connexion with the Jews he is represented as a great conqueror and organizer, but not wanting in humane and noble feelings toward his subjects — to the Jews especially: who, both as colonists in Palestine and as citizens and residents in the East, adhered patriotically to him amid all attempted revolts.

The liberation from exile was a thing small, indeed, in itself, when compared with the other great events of his reign, yet it ranks with the greatest events as seen in its issues to mankind. Naturally endowed with great special gifts, and these sanctified measurably by the divinity which rules over as well as in men, he was prepared to be thus “the anointed of Jehovah” in the special work of furthering the redemption of mankind. Speculations as to the name Cyrus, from Kur or Kuru, (Persian,) and this Hebraized in Koresh, may be waived; but the ancient references to him may well be noted as to his character. Eschylus (Persae) says, “He was naturally gentle;” Plutarch and Diodorus preserve traditions greatly favourable. Josephus also. Thus he was eminently fitted to facilitate the progress of the redemptive work of Christ. Melchizedec and Cyrus (both of them Gentiles outside the sacred enclosure from Abraham) were certainly proper to be called types of Christ at points in which they shadowed the Christ-like character. How came Cyrus to so touch at those points? By direct providential ordering leading to his consent to be so fashioned of God. God “raised him up in righteousness.” (Isaiah 45:13.) God chose him “to perform his will in Babylon.” (Isaiah 48:14.) See also 2 Chronicles 36:22, 23, and first verse in Ezra 1. Not unlikely Cyrus was in direct communication with Daniel (So Josephus.) Doubtless Cyrus was not a polytheist. His religion, (if that were Zoroastrianism,) did not allow it as heathenism allows it. It is conceivable that, through Daniel, those chapters in Isaiah were exhibited to Cyrus. Daniel, though then, it may be, in his last years, could not but be serviceable and influential with the young conqueror; for Daniel was a sage, a statesman, a tried man as to his own religion, and so far himself also a conqueror.

V. 27. That saith-That with a word can dry up the sea and rivers, and remove all impediments.

Verse 27. That saith to the deep, Be dry— “Who saith to the deep, Be thou wasted”] Cyrus took Babylon by laying the bed of the Euphrates dry, and leading his army into the city by night through the empty channel of the river. This remarkable circumstance, in which the event so exactly corresponded with the prophecy, was also noted by Jeremiah, Jeremiah 50:38; 51:36.

“A drought shall be upon her waters,

and they shall be dried up:—

I will lay her sea dry

And I will scorch up her springs.”

It is proper here to give some account of the means and method lay which the stratagem of Cyrus was effected.

The Euphrates in the middle of the summer, from the melting of the snows on the mountains of Armenia, like the Nile, overflows the country. In order to diminish the inundation, and to carry off the waters, two canals were made by Nebuchadnezzar a hundred miles above the city; the first on the eastern side called Naharmalca, or the Royal River, by which the Euphrates was let into the Tigris; the other on the western side, called Pallacopas, or Naharaga, (אגם נהר nahar מאגא, The river of the pool,) by which the redundant waters were carried into a vast lake, forty miles square, contrived, not only to lessen the inundation, but for a reservoir, with sluices, to water the barren country on the Arabian side. Cyrus, by turning the whole river into the lake by the Pallacopas, laid the channel, where it ran through the city, almost dry; so that his army entered it, both above and below, by the bed of the river, the water not reaching above the middle of the thigh. By the great quantity-of water let into the lake, the sluices and dams were destroyed; and being never repaired afterwards, the waters spread over the whole country below, and reduced it to a morass, in which the river is lost. Ingens modo et navigabilis, inde tenuis rivus, despectus emoritur; et nusquam manifesto exitit effluit, ut alii omnes, sed deficit. “And thus a navigable river has been totally lost, it having no exit from this morass. No wonder then that the geographical face of this country is completely changed;” MELA iii. 8; HEROD. i. 186, 190; XENOPHON, Cyrop. vii.; ARRIAN vii.

Verses 24-27. I am the Lord that maketh all things — And therefore I can save thee without the help of any other gods, or any creature; that frustrateth the tokens of the liars — Of the magicians and astrologers, who were numerous and greatly esteemed in Babylon, and who had foretold the long continuance and prosperity of the Chaldean empire. And maketh the diviners mad — With grief for the disappointment of their predictions, and their disgrace which followed it. That turneth wise men backward — Stopping their way, and blasting their designs. That confirmeth the word of his servants — The prophets, as appears from the next clause, namely, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others, whom God sent to foretel the destruction of Babylon, and the redemption of his people. The connection of this with verse 25, is, As God discovers the folly and madness of such false prophets, so he punctually fulfils the predictions of his own prophets. That saith to the deep, Be dry — That with a word can dry up the sea and rivers, and remove all impediments. “Cyrus took Babylon by laying the bed of the Euphrates dry, and leading his army into the city by night, through the empty channel of the river. This remarkable circumstance, in which the event so exactly corresponded with the prophecy, was also noted by Jeremiah. A drought shall be upon her waters, and they shall be dried up: I will lay her sea dry; and I will scorch up her springs, Jeremiah 50:38; 51:36. It is proper here to give some account of the method by which the stratagem of Cyrus was effected. The Euphrates, in the middle of summer, from the melting of the snows on the mountains of Armenia, like the Nile, overflows the country. In order to diminish the inundation, and carry off the waters, two canals were made by Nebuchadnezzar a hundred miles above the city; the first on the eastern side, called Naharmalca, or the Royal river, by which the Euphrates was let into the Tigris; the other on the western side, called Pallacopas, or Naharaga, (Hebrew, µga rhn, the river of the pool,) by which the redundant waters were carried into a vast lake, forty miles square, contrived, not only to lessen the inundation, but for a reservoir, with sluices to water the barren country on the Arabian side. Cyrus, by turning the whole river into the latter lake, laid the channel, where it ran through the city, almost dry; so that his army entered it both above and below by the bed of the river, the water not reaching above the middle of the thigh. By the great quantity of water let into the lake, the sluices and dams were destroyed; and being never repaired afterward, the waters spread over the whole country below, and reduced it into a morass, in which the river is lost.” — Bishop Lowth.

24-28. The remaining verses of the chapter virtually make a single paragraph, unbroken in sense; the sense being a confirmation of the divine promises to Israel — that is, to the Church — by instances cited of God’s omnipotence exercised in Israel’s peculiar behalf. They are the original forming of Israel by the Maker of all things, who made the heavens, (as well as man,) and phenomenally spread them out; and the earth also. By myself — That is, by himself alone, no one being in existence besides him. Frustrateth the tokens of the liars — Putting diviners to flight and shame; but, on the other hand, aiding his servants the prophets to foretell that Jerusalem shall be built, and Zion again occupied. That saith to the deep, Be dry — Removeth all barriers to the return, seas and rivers opening dry passages therefor, (referring to Israel’s history, first at the Red Sea and the Jordan, and last at the Euphrates,) and who, at last, names the deliverer, Cyrus, God’s fold-builder for the flock.

CONTINUATION IN REGARD TO CYRUS.

The mention of Cyrus by name at the close (verse 28) of an array of divine titles and perfections is no trivial circumstance — no dim prediction of this personage — one hundred and seventy years before his coming. There is significance in his coming and in his reign at such a time of the greatest importance to the world’s civilization. The character of Cyrus is variously drawn in the fragments of the old histories, but in none of them is there any thing otherwise than what, in the hands of divine providence, he could have been with full free will shaped to be a coadjutor of Jehovah — the Lord’s servant. Prior to his connexion with the Jews he is represented as a great conqueror and organizer, but not wanting in humane and noble feelings toward his subjects — to the Jews especially: who, both as colonists in Palestine and as citizens and residents in the East, adhered patriotically to him amid all attempted revolts.

The liberation from exile was a thing small, indeed, in itself, when compared with the other great events of his reign, yet it ranks with the greatest events as seen in its issues to mankind. Naturally endowed with great special gifts, and these sanctified measurably by the divinity which rules over as well as in men, he was prepared to be thus “the anointed of Jehovah” in the special work of furthering the redemption of mankind. Speculations as to the name Cyrus, from Kur or Kuru, (Persian,) and this Hebraized in Koresh, may be waived; but the ancient references to him may well be noted as to his character. Eschylus (Persae) says, “He was naturally gentle;” Plutarch and Diodorus preserve traditions greatly favourable. Josephus also. Thus he was eminently fitted to facilitate the progress of the redemptive work of Christ. Melchizedec and Cyrus (both of them Gentiles outside the sacred enclosure from Abraham) were certainly proper to be called types of Christ at points in which they shadowed the Christ-like character. How came Cyrus to so touch at those points? By direct providential ordering leading to his consent to be so fashioned of God. God “raised him up in righteousness.” (Isaiah 45:13.) God chose him “to perform his will in Babylon.” (Isaiah 48:14.) See also 2 Chronicles 36:22, 23, and first verse in Ezra 1. Not unlikely Cyrus was in direct communication with Daniel (So Josephus.) Doubtless Cyrus was not a polytheist. His religion, (if that were Zoroastrianism,) did not allow it as heathenism allows it. It is conceivable that, through Daniel, those chapters in Isaiah were exhibited to Cyrus. Daniel, though then, it may be, in his last years, could not but be serviceable and influential with the young conqueror; for Daniel was a sage, a statesman, a tried man as to his own religion, and so far himself also a conqueror.

V. 28. Cyrus-Whom God here mentions by his proper name, two hundred years before he was born, that this might be an undeniable evidence of the exactness of God’s fore-knowledge, and a convincing argument to conclude this dispute between God and idols. Shepherd-Then will I set up to be the shepherd of my people, to rescue them from wolves or tyrants, to gather them together, to rule them gently, and to provide comfortably for them.

Verse 28. That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd— “Who saith to Cyrus, Thou art my shepherd”] Pastor meus es; Vulg. The true reading seems to be אתה רעי roi attah; the word hta attah, has probably been dropped out of the text. The same word is lost out of the text, Psalm 119:57. It is supplied in the Septuagint by the word ei, thou art. Saying to Jerusalem] For rmalw velemor, the Septuagint and Vulgate read rmwah haomer.

And to the temple] lkyhlw uleheychal, as לירושלם lirushalayim, before; the preposition is necessary, and the Vulgate seems to read so.— Houbigant.

That saith of CYRUS, He is, or thou art, my shepherd—Saving to JERUSALEM, “Thou shalt be built;” and to the TEMPLE, “Thy foundation shall be laid.”—There is a remarkable beauty and propriety in this verse.

1. Cyrus is called God’s shepherd. Shepherd was an epithet which Cyrus took to himself; and what he gave to all good kings.

2. This Cyrus should say to the temple: “Thy foundation shall be laid.” Not—thou shalt be built. The fact is, only the foundation was laid in the days of Cyrus, the Ammonites having prevented the building; nor was it resumed till the second year of Darius, one of his successors. There is often a precision in the expressions of the prophets which is as honourable to truth, as it is unnoticed by careless readers.

ISAIAH

Verse 28. That saith of Cyrus — Whom God here mentions by his proper name, two hundred years before he was born, that this might be an undeniable evidence of the exactness of God’s foreknowledge, and a convincing argument to conclude this dispute between God and idols. He is my shepherd — Him will I set up to be the shepherd of my people, to rescue them from wolves or tyrants, to gather them together, to rule them gently, and to provide comfortably for them. Xenophon tells us, that Cyrus used to compare kings in general, and himself in particular, to a shepherd. — Cyropæd., lib. 8. And shall perform all my pleasure — All that I command him to do, especially to give leave and order for the rebuilding of the city and temple of Jerusalem, as it here follows. This prophecy, which thus speaks of Cyrus by name, as foreknown and appointed by the divine counsel for the performance of the great work designed by providence, is one of the most remarkable contained in Scripture, of the same kind with that 1 Kings 13:1, 2.

Ver. 28. Cyrus—my shepherd. Homer calls Hypsënor the shepherd of his people.—Iliad 13. Cyrus, as a shepherd, gathered the Hebrew flock together, and protected them from the wolves of Chaldaic and Persian governors: he led them to green pastures in Judea and Galilee. Such is the Lord Messiah to his people, as described by Ezekiel 34. Now Isaiah foretold this of Cyrus one hundred and fifty years, at least, before it occurred; and God prolonged Daniel’s life to show the conqueror the parchments. The Lord, as ver. 26, would confirm his word to his servants, while he made diviners frantic with mortification and shame.

24-28. The remaining verses of the chapter virtually make a single paragraph, unbroken in sense; the sense being a confirmation of the divine promises to Israel — that is, to the Church — by instances cited of God’s omnipotence exercised in Israel’s peculiar behalf. They are the original forming of Israel by the Maker of all things, who made the heavens, (as well as man,) and phenomenally spread them out; and the earth also. By myself — That is, by himself alone, no one being in existence besides him. Frustrateth the tokens of the liars — Putting diviners to flight and shame; but, on the other hand, aiding his servants the prophets to foretell that Jerusalem shall be built, and Zion again occupied. That saith to the deep, Be dry — Removeth all barriers to the return, seas and rivers opening dry passages therefor, (referring to Israel’s history, first at the Red Sea and the Jordan, and last at the Euphrates,) and who, at last, names the deliverer, Cyrus, God’s fold-builder for the flock.

CONTINUATION IN REGARD TO CYRUS.

The mention of Cyrus by name at the close (verse 28) of an array of divine titles and perfections is no trivial circumstance — no dim prediction of this personage — one hundred and seventy years before his coming. There is significance in his coming and in his reign at such a time of the greatest importance to the world’s civilization. The character of Cyrus is variously drawn in the fragments of the old histories, but in none of them is there any thing otherwise than what, in the hands of divine providence, he could have been with full free will shaped to be a coadjutor of Jehovah — the Lord’s servant. Prior to his connexion with the Jews he is represented as a great conqueror and organizer, but not wanting in humane and noble feelings toward his subjects — to the Jews especially: who, both as colonists in Palestine and as citizens and residents in the East, adhered patriotically to him amid all attempted revolts.

The liberation from exile was a thing small, indeed, in itself, when compared with the other great events of his reign, yet it ranks with the greatest events as seen in its issues to mankind. Naturally endowed with great special gifts, and these sanctified measurably by the divinity which rules over as well as in men, he was prepared to be thus “the anointed of Jehovah” in the special work of furthering the redemption of mankind. Speculations as to the name Cyrus, from Kur or Kuru, (Persian,) and this Hebraized in Koresh, may be waived; but the ancient references to him may well be noted as to his character. Eschylus (Persae) says, “He was naturally gentle;” Plutarch and Diodorus preserve traditions greatly favourable. Josephus also. Thus he was eminently fitted to facilitate the progress of the redemptive work of Christ. Melchizedec and Cyrus (both of them Gentiles outside the sacred enclosure from Abraham) were certainly proper to be called types of Christ at points in which they shadowed the Christ-like character. How came Cyrus to so touch at those points? By direct providential ordering leading to his consent to be so fashioned of God. God “raised him up in righteousness.” (Isaiah 45:13.) God chose him “to perform his will in Babylon.” (Isaiah 48:14.) See also 2 Chronicles 36:22, 23, and first verse in Ezra 1. Not unlikely Cyrus was in direct communication with Daniel (So Josephus.) Doubtless Cyrus was not a polytheist. His religion, (if that were Zoroastrianism,) did not allow it as heathenism allows it. It is conceivable that, through Daniel, those chapters in Isaiah were exhibited to Cyrus. Daniel, though then, it may be, in his last years, could not but be serviceable and influential with the young conqueror; for Daniel was a sage, a statesman, a tried man as to his own religion, and so far himself also a conqueror.