Isaiah · Chapter 46

V. 1. Bel-The chief idol of the Babylonians, called by profane historians Jupiter Belus. Boweth-As the Babylonians used to bow down to him to worship, so now he bows down to the victorious Persians. Nebo-Another of the famous idols, which used to deliver oracles. Their idols-Were taken and broken, and the materials of them, gold, silver, and brass, were carried upon beasts into Persia. Your carriages-O ye Persians, to whom he turns his speech.

Verse 1. Their carriages were heavy loaden— “Their burdens are heavy”] For µkytacn nesuotheychem, your burdens, the Septuagint had in their copy µhytacn nesuotheyhem, their burdens.

Verses 1, 2. Bel — The chief idol of the Babylonians, called by profane historians Jupiter Belus; boweth down — As the Babylonians used to bow down to him to worship him, so now he bows down, and submits himself to the victorious Persians. Nebo stoopeth — Another of their famous idols, probably a deified prophet, the word signifying to deliver oracles, or to prophesy. The names of these idols were included in the names of several of their princes, as Bel, in Belshazzar; Nebo, in Nabonassar; Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan. Their idols were upon their beasts — Were taken and broken, and the materials of them, which were gold, and silver, and brass, were carried upon beasts into Persia. Your carriages — O ye Persians, to whom he suddenly turns his speech, were heavy loaden — With these useless gods, which were so far from being able to come forward to the help of their worshippers, that they could not move themselves, but must be dragged on carriages by cattle. They bow down together — The Babylonians and their idols, neither of them being able to help the other. They could not deliver the burden — The Babylonians could not deliver their idols, which he now had called a burden; but themselves are gone into captivity — They as well as their idols.

Verse 1. Bel or Baal. See on Numbers 32:38. It is understood that the name is derived from Belus; the history is involved in obscurity. The priests every night prepared him a voluptuous supper, and they and their wives entered by a private door and ate the meat. Daniel detected this imposture, as mentioned in the Apocrypha.

Nebo stoopeth. srq korais, stoops or crouches. His worshippers used to bow to receive his oracles; now the god himself stoopeth. The verb occurs only in this place, and I doubt not but it is the primitive of the Gothic “to crouch.” The Chaldean princes were proud to bear the name of this ancestor, and to worship his image; as in Nabopolassar, Nebuchadnezzar, Nabonassar, Nabonidus. Our Saxon princes did the same, tracing their regal line as far as they could, and naming the last father as the son of Odin. This is a prediction of the fall of Babylon by the fall of their idol gods.

1, 2. Bel — The same as Baal (lord or master) of the Phoenicians, and Jupiter of the Greeks. Used with Nebo — the Mercury of the Greeks — it indicates the worship of the sun and planets.

As Hebrew great names took fragments of the names Elohim and Jehovah, for example, Joshua, Elihu, etc., so Babylonian monarchs and chief men were similarly named from “Bel” and “Nebo” — as Belshazzar and Nebuchadnezzar. The prophet here pictures these images as fallen, and being carried off to captivity. Tutelar deities are often so represented when captivity and distress come upon their worshippers. See Jeremiah 48:7; 49:3; Hosea 10:5, 6. Carriages — This means, not vehicles, but things carried. See in Acts 21:15, “We took up our carriages.” Heavy laden — To wit, camels, asses, oxen, etc.

V. 2. They-The Babylonians. Together-The Babylonians and their idols together, neither could help the other. Deliver-The Babylonians could not deliver their idols.

Verse 2. They could not deliver the burden— “They could not deliver their own charge”] That is, their worshippers, who ought to have been borne by them. See the two next verses. The Chaldee and Syriac Versions render it in effect to the same purpose, those that bear them, meaning their worshippers; but how they can render acm massa in an active sense, I do not understand.

For al lo, not, alw velo, and they could not, is the reading of twenty-four of Kennicott’s, sixteen of Deuteronomy Rossi’s, and two of my own MSS. The added w vau gives more elegance to the passage.

But themselves— “Even they themselves”] For ונפשם venaphsham, an ancient MS. has נפשם yk ki naphsham, with more force.

Verses 1, 2. Bel — The chief idol of the Babylonians, called by profane historians Jupiter Belus; boweth down — As the Babylonians used to bow down to him to worship him, so now he bows down, and submits himself to the victorious Persians. Nebo stoopeth — Another of their famous idols, probably a deified prophet, the word signifying to deliver oracles, or to prophesy. The names of these idols were included in the names of several of their princes, as Bel, in Belshazzar; Nebo, in Nabonassar; Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan. Their idols were upon their beasts — Were taken and broken, and the materials of them, which were gold, and silver, and brass, were carried upon beasts into Persia. Your carriages — O ye Persians, to whom he suddenly turns his speech, were heavy loaden — With these useless gods, which were so far from being able to come forward to the help of their worshippers, that they could not move themselves, but must be dragged on carriages by cattle. They bow down together — The Babylonians and their idols, neither of them being able to help the other. They could not deliver the burden — The Babylonians could not deliver their idols, which he now had called a burden; but themselves are gone into captivity — They as well as their idols.

1, 2. Bel — The same as Baal (lord or master) of the Phoenicians, and Jupiter of the Greeks. Used with Nebo — the Mercury of the Greeks — it indicates the worship of the sun and planets.

As Hebrew great names took fragments of the names Elohim and Jehovah, for example, Joshua, Elihu, etc., so Babylonian monarchs and chief men were similarly named from “Bel” and “Nebo” — as Belshazzar and Nebuchadnezzar. The prophet here pictures these images as fallen, and being carried off to captivity. Tutelar deities are often so represented when captivity and distress come upon their worshippers. See Jeremiah 48:7; 49:3; Hosea 10:5, 6. Carriages — This means, not vehicles, but things carried. See in Acts 21:15, “We took up our carriages.” Heavy laden — To wit, camels, asses, oxen, etc.

V. 3. Carried-Whom I have nourished, ever since you were a people, and came out of Egypt; and that as tenderly, as parents bring up their own children.

Verse 3. Which are borne by me from the belly— “Ye that have been borne by me from the birth”] The prophet very ingeniously, and with great force, contrasts the power of God, and his tender goodness effectually exerted towards his people, with the inability of the false gods of the heathen. He like an indulgent father had carried his people in his arms, “as a man carrieth his son,” Deuteronomy 1:31. He had protected them, and delivered them from their distresses: whereas the idols of the heathen are forced to be carried about themselves and removed from place to place, with great labour and fatigue, by their worshippers; nor can they answer, or deliver their votaries, when they cry unto them.

Moses, expostulating with God on the weight of the charge laid upon him as leader of his people, expresses that charge under the same image of a parent’s carrying his children, in very strong terms: “Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them? that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father beareth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swarest unto their fathers;” Numbers 11:12.

Verses 3, 4. Hearken, &c., all the remnant of the house of Israel — All that remain of the twelve tribes. He terms them a remnant, either because the ten tribes were already carried into captivity by Shalmaneser, or because he addresses that remnant of the two tribes, which he foresaw would return from Babylon; which are borne by me, &c. — Whom I have nourished and cared for from time to time, ever since you were a people, and came out of Egypt, and that as affectionately and tenderly as parents bring up their own children. Even to hoar hairs will I carry you — That kindness which I have shown you, and that care which I have taken of you, I will continue to you to the end, never forsaking you, unless you wilfully and obstinately cast me off; which the Jews did when their Messiah came. I have made you, and will carry, and deliver you — You are my workmanship, both as you are men, and as you are my peculiar people; and therefore I will preserve and deliver you. The reader will observe, that the prophet here “very ingeniously, and with great force, contrasts the power of God, and his tender goodness effectually exerted toward his people with the inability of the false gods of the heathen: he, like an indulgent father, had carried his people, in his arms, ‘as a man carrieth his son,’ Deuteronomy 1:31; he had protected them and delivered them in their distresses; whereas the idols of the heathen were forced to be carried about themselves, and removed from place to place, with a great labour and fatigue to their worshippers; nor could they answer, or deliver their votaries, when they cried unto them.” See Numbers 11:12.

3, 4. I will carry, and will deliver — The prophet shows the nation very differently cared for by its Lord Jehovah, who attended “its birth at the exodus, its infancy in the desert, its manhood under David and Solomon, its old age under the later prophets, when the first covenant was ready to decay.” Idols do no such thing to their adherents and worshippers. See Numbers 11:12.

Verses 3, 4. Hearken, &c., all the remnant of the house of Israel — All that remain of the twelve tribes. He terms them a remnant, either because the ten tribes were already carried into captivity by Shalmaneser, or because he addresses that remnant of the two tribes, which he foresaw would return from Babylon; which are borne by me, &c. — Whom I have nourished and cared for from time to time, ever since you were a people, and came out of Egypt, and that as affectionately and tenderly as parents bring up their own children. Even to hoar hairs will I carry you — That kindness which I have shown you, and that care which I have taken of you, I will continue to you to the end, never forsaking you, unless you wilfully and obstinately cast me off; which the Jews did when their Messiah came. I have made you, and will carry, and deliver you — You are my workmanship, both as you are men, and as you are my peculiar people; and therefore I will preserve and deliver you. The reader will observe, that the prophet here “very ingeniously, and with great force, contrasts the power of God, and his tender goodness effectually exerted toward his people with the inability of the false gods of the heathen: he, like an indulgent father, had carried his people, in his arms, ‘as a man carrieth his son,’ Deuteronomy 1:31; he had protected them and delivered them in their distresses; whereas the idols of the heathen were forced to be carried about themselves, and removed from place to place, with a great labour and fatigue to their worshippers; nor could they answer, or deliver their votaries, when they cried unto them.” See Numbers 11:12.

3, 4. I will carry, and will deliver — The prophet shows the nation very differently cared for by its Lord Jehovah, who attended “its birth at the exodus, its infancy in the desert, its manhood under David and Solomon, its old age under the later prophets, when the first covenant was ready to decay.” Idols do no such thing to their adherents and worshippers. See Numbers 11:12.

Verses 5-8. To whom will you liken me, &c. — If you be tempted at any time to exchange me for an idol, do me and yourselves the right seriously to consider, whether you can find another god, who will be more able and more ready to do you good than I have been. They lavish gold &c., and he maketh it a god — Let us suppose a god made with the greatest cost and art. They bear him upon the shoulder — From that place where he is made, unto that place where they intend to set him up. From his place shall he not remove — Or, rather, he cannot remove. He cannot stir, either hand or foot, to help his people. Remember this — Consider these things which I now speak, O ye Israelites; and show yourselves men — Act like reasonable creatures, and be not so brutish as to worship your own works: be so wise and courageous as to withstand all solicitations to idolatry. Bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors — Think of this again and again, O ye who have been guilty of this foolish sin, and who, therefore, are obliged to take the better heed, lest you should relapse into it again.

5. To whom will ye liken me — Compare with chap. 40:18, 25. Is the compassionate and infinite Jehovah to be compared with the contemptible idols of the heathen?

Verses 5-8. To whom will you liken me, &c. — If you be tempted at any time to exchange me for an idol, do me and yourselves the right seriously to consider, whether you can find another god, who will be more able and more ready to do you good than I have been. They lavish gold &c., and he maketh it a god — Let us suppose a god made with the greatest cost and art. They bear him upon the shoulder — From that place where he is made, unto that place where they intend to set him up. From his place shall he not remove — Or, rather, he cannot remove. He cannot stir, either hand or foot, to help his people. Remember this — Consider these things which I now speak, O ye Israelites; and show yourselves men — Act like reasonable creatures, and be not so brutish as to worship your own works: be so wise and courageous as to withstand all solicitations to idolatry. Bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors — Think of this again and again, O ye who have been guilty of this foolish sin, and who, therefore, are obliged to take the better heed, lest you should relapse into it again.

6, 7. They lavish gold — A more brief but substantially similar picture to the one drawn in Isaiah 44:12-20. The idols of the more wealthy are here, doubtless, referred to. But costliness in worship, whether that of idols or the true God, does not in itself make it the more acceptable.

V. 7. Remove-He can stir neither hand nor foot to help his people.

Verse 7. They bear him upon the shoulder-and set him in his place] This is the way in which the Hindoos carry their gods; and indeed so exact a picture is this of the idolatrous procession of this people, that the prophet might almost be supposed to have been sitting among the Hindoos when he delivered this prophecy.—WARD’S Customs.

Pindar has treated with a just and very elegant ridicule the work of the statuary even in comparison with his own poetry, from this circumstance of its being fixed to a certain station. “The friends of Pytheas,” says the Scholiast, “came to the poet, desiring him to write an ode on his victory. Pindar demanded three drachms, (minae, I suppose it should be,) for the ode. No, say they, we can have a brazen statue for that money, which will be better than a poem. However, changing their minds afterwards, they came and offered him what he had demanded.” This gave him the hint of the following ingenious esordium of his ode:—

Ouk andriantopoiov eim~

~Wst~ elinussonta m~ ergaze&

sqai agalmat~ ep~ autav baqmidov

~Estaoq~. All~ epi pasav

~Okadov en t~ akatw glukei~ aoida

Steic~ ap~ Auginav diaggel&

Lois~ oti Lampwnov uiov

Puqeav eurusqenhv

Nikh Nemeioiv pagkratiou stefanon.

Nem. v.

Thus elegantly translated by Mr. Francis in a note to Hor. Carm. iv. 2. 19. “It is not mine with forming hand

To bid a lifeless image stand

For ever on its base:

But fly, my verses, and proclaim

To distant realms, with deathless fame,

That Pytheas conquered in the rapid race.”

Jeremiah, Jeremiah 10:3-5, seems to be indebted to Isaiah for most of the following passage:—

“The practices of the people are altogether vanity:

For they cut down a tree from the forest;

The work of the artificer’s hand with the axe;

With silver and with gold it is adorned;

With nails and with hammers it is fastened, that it may not totter. Like the palm-tree they stand stiff, and cannot speak; They are carried about, for they cannot go:

Fear them not, for they cannot do harm;

Neither is it in them to do good.”

Verses 5-8. To whom will you liken me, &c. — If you be tempted at any time to exchange me for an idol, do me and yourselves the right seriously to consider, whether you can find another god, who will be more able and more ready to do you good than I have been. They lavish gold &c., and he maketh it a god — Let us suppose a god made with the greatest cost and art. They bear him upon the shoulder — From that place where he is made, unto that place where they intend to set him up. From his place shall he not remove — Or, rather, he cannot remove. He cannot stir, either hand or foot, to help his people. Remember this — Consider these things which I now speak, O ye Israelites; and show yourselves men — Act like reasonable creatures, and be not so brutish as to worship your own works: be so wise and courageous as to withstand all solicitations to idolatry. Bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors — Think of this again and again, O ye who have been guilty of this foolish sin, and who, therefore, are obliged to take the better heed, lest you should relapse into it again.

6, 7. They lavish gold — A more brief but substantially similar picture to the one drawn in Isaiah 44:12-20. The idols of the more wealthy are here, doubtless, referred to. But costliness in worship, whether that of idols or the true God, does not in itself make it the more acceptable.

V. 8. Bring it-Think of this again and again, ye who have been guilty of this foolish sin.

Verse 8. Show yourselves men] wvvath hithoshashu. This word is rather of doubtful derivation and signification. It occurs only in this place: and some of the ancient interpreters seem to have had something different in their copies. The Vulgate read wvvbth hithbosheshu, take shame to yourselves; the Syriac wnnwbth hithbonenu, consider with yourselves; the Septuagint stenaxete, perhaps wlbath hithabbelu, groan or mourn, within yourselves. Several MSS. read wvvwath hithosheshu, but without any help to the sense.

Verses 5-8. To whom will you liken me, &c. — If you be tempted at any time to exchange me for an idol, do me and yourselves the right seriously to consider, whether you can find another god, who will be more able and more ready to do you good than I have been. They lavish gold &c., and he maketh it a god — Let us suppose a god made with the greatest cost and art. They bear him upon the shoulder — From that place where he is made, unto that place where they intend to set him up. From his place shall he not remove — Or, rather, he cannot remove. He cannot stir, either hand or foot, to help his people. Remember this — Consider these things which I now speak, O ye Israelites; and show yourselves men — Act like reasonable creatures, and be not so brutish as to worship your own works: be so wise and courageous as to withstand all solicitations to idolatry. Bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors — Think of this again and again, O ye who have been guilty of this foolish sin, and who, therefore, are obliged to take the better heed, lest you should relapse into it again.

8, 9. Remember this — The address is now, probably, to the Israelites. The impotence of idol gods was shown them in early days. See Deuteronomy 32:37-39. Show yourselves men — That is, learn the lesson of the impotence of idol gods to give aid; learn to stand firm, and resist staunchly the whole idol system. Know and assert who your true deity is.

Verses 9-11. Remember the former things — What I have done for you and in the world, my evident predictions of future things, justified by the event; and those other miraculous works, whereby I have abundantly proved my divinity. Declaring the end from the beginning — Foretelling from the beginning of the world, or from the beginning of your nation, those future events which should happen in succeeding ages, even to the end of the world, or to the end of your commonwealth; for such predictions we find delivered by Moses, the first founder of their state. My counsel shall stand — As I will not, so no other power can, disappoint my purposes and predictions. This is another argument urged for the divinity of the God of Israel, namely, his foreknowledge and prediction of future events, of which the prophet subjoins a particular instance in the next words. Calling a ravenous bird, or eagle, from the east — From Persia, as Isaiah 41:2. “There can be no doubt that Cyrus is here meant. Kings and princes are often compared in Scripture to eagles, Jeremiah 49:22; Ezekiel 17:3. But it has been thought that there is a peculiar propriety in this application to Cyrus, as the eagle well denotes the magnanimity, the quickness of judgment, the celerity in all his expeditions and motions, for which Cyrus was so remarkable. We are also told by Plutarch, that Cyrus had an aquiline nose; and Xenophon expressly relates, that his standard was a golden eagle; which yet continues, says he, to be the standard of the Persian kings.” — Vitringa.

8, 9. Remember this — The address is now, probably, to the Israelites. The impotence of idol gods was shown them in early days. See Deuteronomy 32:37-39. Show yourselves men — That is, learn the lesson of the impotence of idol gods to give aid; learn to stand firm, and resist staunchly the whole idol system. Know and assert who your true deity is.

V. 10. Declaring-Foretelling from the beginning of the world, future events which should happen in succeeding ages, even to the end of the world.

Verses 9-11. Remember the former things — What I have done for you and in the world, my evident predictions of future things, justified by the event; and those other miraculous works, whereby I have abundantly proved my divinity. Declaring the end from the beginning — Foretelling from the beginning of the world, or from the beginning of your nation, those future events which should happen in succeeding ages, even to the end of the world, or to the end of your commonwealth; for such predictions we find delivered by Moses, the first founder of their state. My counsel shall stand — As I will not, so no other power can, disappoint my purposes and predictions. This is another argument urged for the divinity of the God of Israel, namely, his foreknowledge and prediction of future events, of which the prophet subjoins a particular instance in the next words. Calling a ravenous bird, or eagle, from the east — From Persia, as Isaiah 41:2. “There can be no doubt that Cyrus is here meant. Kings and princes are often compared in Scripture to eagles, Jeremiah 49:22; Ezekiel 17:3. But it has been thought that there is a peculiar propriety in this application to Cyrus, as the eagle well denotes the magnanimity, the quickness of judgment, the celerity in all his expeditions and motions, for which Cyrus was so remarkable. We are also told by Plutarch, that Cyrus had an aquiline nose; and Xenophon expressly relates, that his standard was a golden eagle; which yet continues, says he, to be the standard of the Persian kings.” — Vitringa.

V. 11. A bird-Cyrus, called a bird for his swiftness, and ravenous for his fierceness, and victoriousness over his enemies.

Verse 11. Calling a ravenous bird from the east— “Calling from the east the eagle”] A very proper emblem for Cyrus, as in other respects, so particularly because the ensign of Cyrus was a golden eagle, AETOS crusouv, the very word cy[ ayit, which the prophet uses here, expressed as near as may be in Greek letters. XENOPH. Cyrop. lib. vii. sub. init. Kimchi says his father understood this, not of Cyrus, but of the Messiah. From a far country— “From a land far distant”] Two MSS. add the conjunction w vau, xramw umeerets; and so the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate.

Verses 9-11. Remember the former things — What I have done for you and in the world, my evident predictions of future things, justified by the event; and those other miraculous works, whereby I have abundantly proved my divinity. Declaring the end from the beginning — Foretelling from the beginning of the world, or from the beginning of your nation, those future events which should happen in succeeding ages, even to the end of the world, or to the end of your commonwealth; for such predictions we find delivered by Moses, the first founder of their state. My counsel shall stand — As I will not, so no other power can, disappoint my purposes and predictions. This is another argument urged for the divinity of the God of Israel, namely, his foreknowledge and prediction of future events, of which the prophet subjoins a particular instance in the next words. Calling a ravenous bird, or eagle, from the east — From Persia, as Isaiah 41:2. “There can be no doubt that Cyrus is here meant. Kings and princes are often compared in Scripture to eagles, Jeremiah 49:22; Ezekiel 17:3. But it has been thought that there is a peculiar propriety in this application to Cyrus, as the eagle well denotes the magnanimity, the quickness of judgment, the celerity in all his expeditions and motions, for which Cyrus was so remarkable. We are also told by Plutarch, that Cyrus had an aquiline nose; and Xenophon expressly relates, that his standard was a golden eagle; which yet continues, says he, to be the standard of the Persian kings.” — Vitringa.

Ver. 11. Calling a ravenous bird from the east. This is Cyrus, whose standard, says Xenophon, was a golden eagle with extended wings. What a luminous prediction!

11. Calling… from the east — Literally, from the sun rising. A ravenous bird — Cyrus was rapid in movement and execution; quick, keen sighted, strong. He is said to have taken for his ensign a golden eagle standing with outstretched wings. XENOPHON, Cyrop., 7:1.

Verse 12. Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted—This is an address to the Babylonians, stubbornly bent on the practice of injustice towards the Israelites.

ISAIAH

Verses 12, 13. Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted — “God had addressed those kindly who had suffered themselves, through imprudence, to be seduced from the right way, and whose conversion might more reasonably be expected; but he speaks more severely to the hypocrites, the incredulous, the fierce and proud in heart, who obstinately doubted the completion of his excellent promises: ‘O you, says he, who are yourselves far from faith, truth, integrity, and all true piety, but full of deceit, hypocrisy, incredulity, and who complain that my salvation is far off, and call my fidelity in question, hearken to me, and know that my righteousness, or justification, is not far off, but near at hand, and shortly to be revealed.’” I bring near my righteousness — Though you are unrighteous, I will show myself a righteous and faithful God, making good my promise of delivering you out of Babylon after seventy years. It shall not be far off — Namely, my work of saving you from captivity. I will place salvation in Zion — I will bring my people from Babylon to Zion, and there I will save them from all their enemies; for Israel my glory — In whom I will again glory, as my people, and the illustrious monuments of my wisdom, power, truth, and goodness; whom I will make a great and glorious people, though now they are mean and contemptible, and among whom I will once more settle my glorious presence and ordinances.

12, 13. Hearken… ye stout-hearted — The strong of heart, who are far from righteousness, are all who, despite of these almighty demonstrations, still harden themselves, whether heathen or apostate Jews. The Lord still entreats them, showing unwillingness to give them up. As usual, there is in him compassion as well as power. These show unalterable love on Jehovah’s part, and exhibit his character as one with that of our blessed Lord in the New Testament. See Matthew 2. I bring… my righteousness — “Righteousness,” here, has the elements of demanding and bestowing — demanding men to submit, and be-stowing pardon on submission. This attribute is in constant exercise. It shall not be far off — Salvation is the object for which it is in exercise, for which it is present. Zion is the seat of the devotions of the true Israel. The shekinah, or divine glory, shines within Zion and upon a regenerate people.

This is the theology of Isaiah, and it is the glorious Gospel throughout the Bible.

V. 13. I bring-Tho’ you are unrighteous, I will shew myself a righteous and faithful God, making good my promise of delivering you out of Babylon after seventy years. It-My work of saving you from the Babylonish captivity. Will place-I will bring my people to Zion, and save them from all their enemies. My glory-In whom I will once again glory as my people.

Verses 12, 13. Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted — “God had addressed those kindly who had suffered themselves, through imprudence, to be seduced from the right way, and whose conversion might more reasonably be expected; but he speaks more severely to the hypocrites, the incredulous, the fierce and proud in heart, who obstinately doubted the completion of his excellent promises: ‘O you, says he, who are yourselves far from faith, truth, integrity, and all true piety, but full of deceit, hypocrisy, incredulity, and who complain that my salvation is far off, and call my fidelity in question, hearken to me, and know that my righteousness, or justification, is not far off, but near at hand, and shortly to be revealed.’” I bring near my righteousness — Though you are unrighteous, I will show myself a righteous and faithful God, making good my promise of delivering you out of Babylon after seventy years. It shall not be far off — Namely, my work of saving you from captivity. I will place salvation in Zion — I will bring my people from Babylon to Zion, and there I will save them from all their enemies; for Israel my glory — In whom I will again glory, as my people, and the illustrious monuments of my wisdom, power, truth, and goodness; whom I will make a great and glorious people, though now they are mean and contemptible, and among whom I will once more settle my glorious presence and ordinances.

12, 13. Hearken… ye stout-hearted — The strong of heart, who are far from righteousness, are all who, despite of these almighty demonstrations, still harden themselves, whether heathen or apostate Jews. The Lord still entreats them, showing unwillingness to give them up. As usual, there is in him compassion as well as power. These show unalterable love on Jehovah’s part, and exhibit his character as one with that of our blessed Lord in the New Testament. See Matthew 2. I bring… my righteousness — “Righteousness,” here, has the elements of demanding and bestowing — demanding men to submit, and be-stowing pardon on submission. This attribute is in constant exercise. It shall not be far off — Salvation is the object for which it is in exercise, for which it is present. Zion is the seat of the devotions of the true Israel. The shekinah, or divine glory, shines within Zion and upon a regenerate people.

This is the theology of Isaiah, and it is the glorious Gospel throughout the Bible.