CHAP. XLVII.

12 Stand now with thine enchantments, and his quarter; none shall save thee.

CHAPTER XLVIII.

The Jews reproved for their obstinate attachment to idols, notwithstanding their experience of the Divine providence over them; and of the Divine prescience that revealed by the prophets the most remarkable events which concerned them, that they should not have the least pretext for ascribing any portion of their success to their idols, 1-8. The Almighty, after bringing them to the furnace for their perverseness, asserts his glorious sovereignty, and repeats his gracious promises of deliverance and consolation, 9-11. Prophecy concerning that individual (Cyrus) who shall be an instrument in the hand of God of executing his-will-on Babylon, and his power on the Chaldeans; and the idols of the people are again challenged to give a like proof of their foreknowledge, 12-16. Tender and passionate exclamation of Jehovah respecting the hardened condition of the Jewish nation, to which the very pathetic exclamation of the Divine Saviour when he wept over Jerusalem' may be considered a striking parallel, 17-19. Notwithstanding the repeated provocations of the house of Israel, Jehovah will again be merciful to them: They are commanded to escape from Babylon; and God's gracious favour towards them is beautifully represented by images borrowed from the exodus from Egypt, 20, 21. Certain perdition of the finally impenitent, 22. It will be proper here to remark that many passages in this chapter, and indeed the general strain of these prophecies, have a plain aspect to a restoration of the Church in the latter days upon a scale much greater than the world has yet witnessed, when the very violent fall of Babylon the Great, mentioned in the Revelation, of which the Chaldean capital was an expressive type, shall introduce by a most tremendous political convulsion, (Rev. xvi. 17-21,) that glorious epoch of the Gospel, which forms so conspicuous a part of the prophecies of the Old Testament, and has been a subject of the prayers of all saints in all ages.

ye this, O house of
HEAR
Jacob, which are called by
Numa Pompilii, the name of Israel, and are come

A. M. cir. 3292.
B. C. cir. 712.
Olymp. XVII. 1.

cir. annum

R. Roman., 4.

forth out of the waters of Judah, bwhich swear by the name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness.

с

2 For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is his name.

e

3. I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass.

4 Because I knew that thou art hobstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;

5

I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I showed it

a Psa. lxviii. 26.- b Deut. vi. 13; chap. lxv. 16; Zeph. i. 5. e Jer. iv. 2; v. 2.- d Chap. lii. 1. e Mic. iii. 11; Rom. ii. 17. Chap. xli. 22; xlii. 9; xliii. 9; xliv, 7, 8; xlv. 21; xlvi. 9, 10. 8 Josh, xxi. 45. h Heb. hard.

NOTES ON CHAP. XLVIII..

Verse 1. Are come forth out of the waters of Judah "Ye that flow from the fountain of Judah"]. mimmey," from the waters." Perhaps y mimmeey, "from the bowels," so many others have conjectured, or 17717", meni yehudah, or in meyhudah, "from Judah."-Secker. But see Michaelis in Prælect, not. 22. And we have ɔpy jy eyn yaakob, "the fountain of Jacob," Deut. xxxiii. 28, and mimmekor yishrael, "from the fountain of Israel," Psa. lxviii. 27. Twenty-seven MSS. of Kennicott's, six of De Rossi's and two of my own, with six editions, have '' meymey, "from the days;" which makes no good sense.

the Jews reproved.

A. M. èir. 3292.

B. C. eir. 712. Olymp. XVII. 1. Numa Pompilii,

cir. annum

R. Roman., 4.

thee: lest thou shouldest say,
Mine idol hath done them; and
my graven image, and my molten
image, hath commanded them.

6 Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have showed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them.

7 They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them.

8 Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not: yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb.

m

9 For my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain

Verse 6. Thou hast heard, see all this "Thou didst hear it beforehand; behold, the whole is accomplished"] For in chazeh, see, a MS. has nin hazzeh, this; thou hast heard the whole of this: the Syriac has nim vechazith, "thou hast heard, and thou hast seen, the whole." Perhaps it should be nɔn hinneh, behold. In order to express the full sense, I have rendered it somewhat paraphrastically.

Verse 9. And for my praise—" And for the sake of my praise"] I read ' ¡ ulemaan tehillathi. The word yn lemaan, though not absolutely necessary here, for it may be understood as supplied from the preceding member, yet seems to have been removed

from hence to ver. 11; where it is redundant, and where it is not repeated in the Septuagint, Syriac, and a MS. I have therefore omitted it in the latter place, and added it here.

in their captivity.

4. M. cir. 3292.

B. C. cir. 712.

Olymp. XVII. 1.

Verse 11. For how should my name be polluted― "For how would my name be blasphemed"] The

word 'shemi, my name, is dropped out of the text; it is supplied by a MS. which has shemi; and by the Septuagint, ori so eμov ovoμa Beßnλoura. The Syriac and Vulgate get over the difficulty, by making the verb in the first person; that I may not be blasphemed.

of the earth, and my right hand
hath spanned the heavens: when
I call unto them, they stand up
together.

cir. annum

Numa Pompili,

R. Roman., 4.

14 All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The LORD hath loved him he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans.

15 I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.

16 Come ye near unto me, hear

this; I

e

ye

Z

* Psa. cii. 25.—y Or, the palm of my right hand hath spread out. Chap. xl. 26. ———a a Chap. xli. 22; xliv. 7; xlv. 20, 21.- Chap. xlv. 1.—c Chap. xliv. 28. Chap. xlv. 1, 2, &c.Chap.

xlv. 19.

aph ani, "even I," two ancient MSS. and the ancient Versions, read " veani, “and I;" more properly.

Verse 10. I have chosen thee-"I have tried thee"] For becharticha, “I have chosen thee," a MS. has Tn bechanticha, "I have tried thee." And so perhaps read the Syriac and Chaldee interpreters; they retain the same word bechartach; but in those languages it signifies, I have tried thee. kecheseph, quasi argentum, "as silver." Vulgate,

Verse 14. Which among them hath declared these things "Who among you hath predicted these things"] For on bahem, " among them," twenty-one MSS., nine ancient, and two editions, one of them that of the ́ year 1488, fourteen of De Rossi's, and one ancient of my own, have bachem," among you ;" and so the Syriac.

The Lord hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon" He, whom JEHOVAH hath loved, will execute his will on Babylon"] That is, Cyrus; so Sym

TomosI TO JEλnpa autou, "He whom the Lord hath loved will perform his will."

I cannot think becheseph, WITH silver, is the true reading. kecheseph, LIKE silver, as the Vulmachus has well rendered it: 'Ovó Kupios nyaungs gate evidently read it, I suppose to have been the original reading, though no MS. yet found supports this word; the similarity of the two letters, beth and caph, might have easily led to the mistake in the first instance; and it has been but too faithfully copied ever since. cur, which we translate furnace, should be rendered crucible, the vessel in which the silver is melted. The meaning of the verse seems to be this: I have purified you, but not as silver is purified; for when it is purified, no dross of any kind is left behind. Had I done this with you, I should have consumed you altogether; but I have put you in the crucible of affliction, in captivity, that you may acknowledge your sins, and turn unto me.

1

00

On the Chaldeans.] The preposition is lost; it is supplied in the edition of 1486, which has ` chasdim, and. so the Chaldee and Vulgate,

be

Verse 16, Come ye near unto me] After the word kirbu, "draw near," a MS. adds a goyim, “O ye nations;" which, as this and the two preceding verses are plainly addressed to the idolatrous nations, reproaching their gods as unable to predict future events, is probably genuine.

Hear ye this" And hear ye this"] A MS. adds the conjunction, wow vashimu; and so the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate.

I have not spoken in secret] The Alexandrine copy of the Septuagint adds here, ουδε εν τόπῳ γης σκοτεινῳ, "nor in a dark place of the earth," as in chap. xlv. 19. That it stands rightly, or at least stood, very early, in this place of the Version of the Septuagint, is highly probable, because it is acknowledged by the Arabic Version, and by the Coptic MS. St. Germain de Prez, Paris, translated likewise from the Septuagint. But whether it should be inserted, as of right belonging to the Hebrew text, may be doubted; for a transcriber of the Greek Version might easily add it by memory from the parallel place; and it is not necessary to the sense.

Verse 12. O Jacob-" O Jacob, my servant"] After Spy yaakob, a MS. of Kennicott's, two of De Rossi's, and the two old editions of 1486 and 1488, add the word "y abdi, “my servant,” which is lost out of the present text; and there is a rasure in its place in another ancient MS. The Jerusalem Talmud has the same word.

From the time that it was-" Before the time when it began to exist"] An ancient MS. has on heyo

I also am the last-"I am the last"] For Ntham," they began to exist;" and so another had it at

B. C. cir. 712.

infallible Teacher. and the offspring of thy bowels A. M. cir. 3292 like the gravel thereof; his name Olymp. XVII. 1. should not have been cut off nor Numa Pompilii, destroyed from before me.

cir. annum

R. Roman., 4.

17 Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy

20 m Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the

God which teacheth thee to profit, which earth; say ye, The LORD hath " redeemed his

h leadeth thee by the way that thou should-servant Jacob. est go.

God the only

B. C. cir. 712.

cir. annum

A. M. cir. 3292. have not spoken in secret from
Olymp. XVII. 1. the beginning; from the time
Numa Pompilii, that it was, there am I: and now
R. Roman., 4. the Lord GOD, and his Spirit,
hath sent me.

ISAIAH.

21 And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out.

22

There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto

Verse 19: Like the gravel thereof" Like that of the bowels thereof”] ́D'in oni o'n 'yo NYNY betseetsáey meey haiyam vehem haddagim; "As the issue of the bowels of the sea; that is, fishes."-Salom. ben Melec. And so likewise Aben Ezra, Jarchi, Kimchi, &c. His name"Thy name"] For 1 shemo, "his name," the Septuagint had in the copy from which they translated shimcha, "thy name."

Verse 20. Tell this—" Make it heard"] Twentyseven MSS. of Kennicott's, (ten ancient,) many of De Rossi's, and two ancient, of my own, with the Septuagint, Syriac, Chaldee, and Arabic, and one edition, prefix to the verb the conjunction 1 vau, w`nin vehashmiu. Verse 21. They thirsted not-through the deserts] Kimchi has a surprising observation upon this place:

Jer. 1.8; li. 6, 45; Zech. ii. 6, 7; Rev. xviii. 4.-
4, 5, 6; chap. xliv. 22, 23. See chap. xli. 17, 18.
xvii. 6; Num. xx. II; Psa. cv. 41.- Chap. vii. 21.

ת.

Exod. xix.

- Exod.

first. From the time that the expedition of Cyrus was
planned, there was God managing the whole by the
economy of his providence.

"If the prophecy," says he, "relates to the return from
the Babylonish captivity, as it seems to do, it is to be
wondered how it comes to pass, that in the Book of

Verse 18. There am I-"I had decreed it"] I Ezra, in which he gives an account of their return, no take D sham for a verb, not an adverb.

९

And now the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me
"And now the Lord JEHOVAH hath sent me, and his
Spirit”] Τις εστιν ὁ ἐν τῷ Ησαιῳ λεγων, Και νυν Κυριος
απέστειλε με και το Πνέυμα αυτου; εν ᾧ, αμφιβόλου
οντος του ῥήτου, ποτέρον ὁ Πατήρ και το Αγιον Πνευμα
απέστειλαν τον Ιησουν, η ὁ Πατης απέστειλε τον σε
Χριςτον και το Αγιον Πνευμα· το δευτέρον εστιν αληθες.
Who is it that saith in Isaiah, And now the Lord hath
sent me and his Spirit? in which, as the expression is
ambiguous, is it the Father and the Holy Spirit who
have sent Jesus; or the Father, who hath sent both
Christ and the Holy Spirit. The latter is the true in-
terpretation."—Origen cont. Cels. lib. i. I have kept
to the order of the words of the original, on purpose
that the ambiguity, which Origen remarks in the Ver-
sion of the Septuagint, and which is the same in the
Hebrew, might still remain; and the sense which he
gives to it, be offered to the reader's judgment, which
is wholly excluded in our translation.

mention is made that such miracles were wrought for
them; as, for instance, that God clave the rock for them
in the desert." It is really much to be wondered, that
one of the mast learned and judicious of the Jewish
expositors of the Old Testament, having advanced so
far in a large Comment on Isaiah, should appear to be
totally ignorant of the prophet's manner of writing;
οf the parabolic style, which prevails in the writings
of all the prophets, and more particularly in the pro-
phecy of Isaiah, which ábounds throughout in para-
bolical images from the beginning to the end; from
"Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth," to "the
worm and the fire" in the last verse. And how came
he to keep his wonderment to himself so long? Why
did he not expect that the historian should have related
how, as they passed through the desert, cedars, pines,
and olive-trees shot up at once on the side of the way
to shade them; and that instead of briers and brambles
the acacia and the myrtle sprung up under their feet,
according to God's promises, chap. xli. 19 and lv. 13?

Verse 18. As a river—" Like the river"] That is, These and a multitude of the like parabolical or poet-
the Euphrates.
ical images, were never intended to be understood lite-
rally. All that the prophet designed in this place, and
which he has executed in the most elegant manner, was
an amplification and illustration of the gracious care
and protection of God vouchsafed to his people in their
return from Babylon, by an allusion to the miraculous
exodus from Egypt. See De S. Poësi, Hebr. Præl. ix.

Verse 22. There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked.] See below, note on chap. lvii. 21. As the destruction of Babylon was determined, God commands his people to hasten out of it; for, saith the Lord, there is no peace (prosperity) to the wicked; ovx 80 xαigen Tois adeßeσiv, λeyei Kugios.-Sept. "There is no rejoicing or prosperity to the wicked saith the Lord." Their is not pese to umytous men seith the Lord.-Old MS. Bible.

CHAPTER XLIX.

In this chapter the Messiah is introduced, declaring the full extent of his commission, which is not only to be Saviour to the Jews, but also to the Gentiles. The power and efficacy of his word is represented by apt images; the ill success of his ministry among the Jews is intimated, and the great success of the Gospel among the Gentiles, 1–12.、 But the prophet, then casting his eye on the happy, though distant, period of Israel's restoration, makes a beautiful apostrophe to the whole creation to shout forth the praises of God on the prospect of this remarkable favour, 13. The tender mercies of God to his people, with the prosperity of the Church in general, and the final overthrow of all its enemies, make the subject of the remaining verses, 14-26.

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a

Olymp. XVII. 1.

cir. annum

B. C. cur. 712 LISTEN, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from Numa Pompilii, far; The LORD hath called me R. Roman., 4. from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my

name.

2 And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he

Chap. xli. 1. Ver. 5; Jer. i. 5; Matt. i. 20, 21; Luke i. 15, 31; John x. 36; Gal. i. 15.- Chap. xi. 4; li. 16; Hos. vi. 5; Heb. iv. 12; Rev. i. 16.

Messiah to Jews and Gentiles.

NOTES ON CHAP. XLIX.

Verse 1. Listen, O isles, unto me-" Hearken unto me, O ye distant lands"] Hitherto the subject of the prophecy has been chiefly confined to the redemption from the captivity of Babylon; with strong intimations of a more important deliverance sometimes thrown in, to the refutation of idolatry, and the demonstration of the infinite power, wisdom, and foreknowledge of, God. The character and office of the Messiah was exhibited in general terms at the beginning of chap. xlii.; but here he is introduced in person, declaring the full extent of his commission, which is not only to restore the Israelites, and reconcile them to their Lord and Father, from whom they had so often revolted, but to be a light to lighten the Gentiles, to call them to the knowledge and obedience of the true God, and to bring them to be one Church together with the Israelites, and to partake with them of the same common salvation procured for all by the great Redeemer and Reconciler of man to God.

and intents of the heart;" Heb. iv. 12. This mighty Agent and Instrument of God, "long laid up in store with him, and sealed up among his treasures,” is at last revealed and produced by his power, and under his protection, to execute his great and holy purposes. He is compared to a polished shaft stored in his quiver for use in his due time. The polished shaft denotes the same efficacious word which is before represented by the sharp sword. The doctrine of the Gospel piereed the hearts of its hearers, "bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." The metaphor of the sword and the arrow, applied to powerful speech, is bold, yet just. It has been employed by the most ingenious heathen writers, if with equal elegance, not with equal force. It is said of Pericles by Aristophanes, (see Cicero, Epist. ad Atticum, xii. 6 :)—

Ούτως εκηλέι, και μόνος των ρήτορων
Το κέντρον εγκατέλειπε τοις ακροωμένοις.
Apud. Diod. lib. xii.

Verse 2. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword" And he hath made my mouth a sharp sword"] The servant of God, who speaks in the former part of this chapter, must be the Messiah. If any part of this character can in any sense belong to the prophet, yet in some parts it must belong exclusively to Christ; and in all parts to him in a much fuller and more proper sense. Isaiah's mission was to the Jews, not to the distant nations, to whom the speaker in this place addresses himself. "He hath made my mouth a sharp sword;""to reprove the wicked, and to denounce unto them punishment," says Jarchi, understanding it of Isaiah. But how much better does it suit him who is represented as having "a sharp two-edged sword going out of his mouth," Rev. i. 16; who is himself the WEST. Word of God; which word is "quick and powerful, See also ver. 149 of the same ode, and Olymp. ix. 17, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even on the former of which places the Scholiast says, poto the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the πιχος ὁ λόγος· βελη δε τους λόγους ειρηκε, δια το οξυ Joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts | και καίριον των εγκώμιων. "He calls his verses shafts,

His powerful speech
Pierced the hearer's soul, and left behind
Deep in his bosom its keen point infixed..

Επεχε νυν σκοπῳ τόξον,
Αγε, θυμε. τινα βαλλομέν
Εκ μαλίακας αυτε φρε
νος ευκλέας οϊστους
Ιεντές— ;

Pindar is particularly fond of this metaphor, and frequently applies it to his own poetry :

Olymp. ii. 160.
"Come on! thy brightest shafts prepare,
And bend, O Muse, thy sounding bow
Say, through what paths of liquid air
Our arrows shall we throw ?"