8 The Lord has taken an oath by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, Truly, I will no longer give your grain to be food for your haters; and men of strange countries will not take the wine for which your work has been done:
The fruit of your land and all the work of your hands will be food for a nation which is strange to you and to your fathers; you will only be crushed down and kept under for ever:
They will take all the produce of your fields, which would have been food for your sons and your daughters: they will take your flocks and your herds: they will take all your vines and your fig-trees: and with the sword they will make waste your walled towns in which you put your faith.
Your ox will be put to death before your eyes, but its flesh will not be your food: your ass will be violently taken away before your face, and will not be given back to you: your sheep will be given to your haters, and there will be no saviour for you.
And they will be building houses and living in them; planting vine-gardens and getting the fruit of them. They will no longer be building for the use of others, or planting for others to have the fruit: for the days of my people will be like the days of a tree, and my loved ones will have joy in full measure in the work of their hands. Their work will not be for nothing, and they will not give birth to children for destruction; for they are a seed to whom the Lord has given his blessing, and their offspring will be with them.
This will I do to you: I will put fear in your hearts, even wasting disease and burning pain, drying up the eyes and making the soul feeble, and you will get no profit from your seed, for your haters will take it for food.
And whenever Israel's grain was planted, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the east came up against them; And put their army in position against them; and they took all the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, till there was no food in Israel, or any sheep or oxen or asses. For they came up regularly with their oxen and their tents; they came like the locusts in number; they and their camels were without number; and they came into the land for its destruction. And Israel was in great need because of Midian; and the cry of the children of Israel went up to the Lord.
For lifting up my hand to heaven I say, By my unending life,
Your country has become waste; your towns are burned with fire; as for your land, it is overturned before your eyes, made waste and overcome by men from strange lands.
And say to them, This is what the Lord has said: In the day when I took Israel for myself, when I made an oath to the seed of the family of Jacob, and I gave them knowledge of myself in the land of Egypt, saying to them with an oath, I am the Lord your God;
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Isaiah 62
Commentary on Isaiah 62 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 62
Isa 62:1-12. Intercessory Prayers for Zion's Restoration, Accompanying God's Promises of It, as the Appointed Means of Accomplishing It.
1. I—the prophet, as representative of all the praying people of God who love and intercede for Zion (compare Isa 62:6, 7; Ps 102:13-17), or else Messiah (compare Isa 62:6). So Messiah is represented as unfainting in His efforts for His people (Isa 42:4; 50:7).
righteousness thereof—not its own inherently, but imputed to it, for its restoration to God's favor: hence "salvation" answers to it in the parallelism. "Judah" is to be "saved" through "the Lord our (Judah's and the Church's) righteousness" (Jer 23:6).
as brightness—properly the bright shining of the rising sun (Isa 60:19; 4:5; 2Sa 23:4; Pr 4:18).
lamp—blazing torch.
2. (Isa 11:10; 42:1-6; 49:7, 22, 23; 60:3, 5, 16).
new name—expression of thy new and improved condition (Isa 62:4), the more valuable and lasting as being conferred by Jehovah Himself (Isa 62:12; Isa 65:15; Re 2:17; 3:12).
3. (Zec 9:16)
in … hand of … Lord—As a crown is worn on the head, not "in the hand," hand must here be figurative for "under the Lord's protection" (compare De 33:3). "All His saints are in thy hand." His people are in His hand at the same time that they are "a crown of glory" to Him (Re 6:2; 19:12); reciprocally, He is "a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty" to them (Isa 28:5; compare Mal 3:17).
4. be termed—be "forsaken," so as that that term could be applicable to thee.
Hephzi-bah—(2Ki 21:1), the name of Hezekiah's wife, a type of Jerusalem, as Hezekiah was of Messiah (Isa 32:1): "my delight is in her."
Beulah—"Thou art married." See the same contrast of Zion's past and future state under the same figure (Isa 54:4-6; Re 21:2, 4).
land … married—to Jehovah as its Lord and Husband: implying not only ownership, but protection on the part of the Owner [Horsley].
5. thy sons—rather, changing the points, which are of no authority in Hebrew, "thy builder" or "restorer," that is, God; for in the parallel clause, and in Isa 62:4, God is implied as being "married" to her; whereas her "sons" could hardly be said to marry their mother; and in Isa 49:18, they are said to be her bridal ornaments, not her husband. The plural form, builders, is used of God in reverence as "husbands" (see on Isa 54:5).
over the bride—in the possession of the bride (Isa 65:19; Jer 32:41; Zep 3:17).
6. I—Isaiah speaking in the person of the Messiah.
watchmen upon … walls—image from the watches set upon a city's wall to look out for the approach of a messenger with good tidings (Isa 52:7, 8); the good tidings of the return of the Jewish exiles from Babylon, prefiguring the return from the present dispersion (compare Isa 21:6-11; 56:10; Eze 3:17; 33:7). The watches in the East are announced by a loud cry to mark the vigilance of the watchmen.
ye that … mention … Lord—Hebrew, "ye that are the Lord's remembrancers"; God's servants who by their prayers "put God in remembrance" of His promises (Isa 43:26); we are required to remind God, as if God could, which He cannot, forget His promises (Ps 119:49; Jer 14:21).
7. no rest—Hebrew, "silence"; keep not silence yourselves, nor let Him rest in silence. Compare as to Messiah Himself, "I will not hold … peace … not rest" (Isa 62:1); Messiah's watchmen (Isa 62:6, 7) imitate Him (Isa 62:1) in intercessory "prayer without ceasing" for Jerusalem (Ps 122:6; 51:18); also for the spiritual Jerusalem, the Church (Lu 18:1, 7; Ro 1:9).
a praise—(See on Isa 61:11; Zep 3:20).
8. sworn by … right hand—His mighty instrument of accomplishing His will (compare Isa 45:23; Heb 6:13).
sons of … stranger—Foreigners shall no more rob thee of the fruit of thy labors (compare Isa 65:21, 22).
9. eat … and praise—not consume it on their own lusts, and without thanksgiving.
drink it in … courts—They who have gathered the vintage shall drink it at the feasts held in the courts surrounding the temple (De 12:17, 18; 14:23, &c.).
10. What Isaiah in the person of Messiah had engaged in (Isa 62:1) unrestingly to seek, and what the watchmen were unrestingly to pray for (Isa 62:7), and what Jehovah solemnly promised (Isa 62:8, 9), is now to be fulfilled; the Gentile nations are commanded to "go through the gates" (either of their own cities [Rosenmuller] or of Jerusalem [Maurer]), in order to remove all obstacles out of "the way of the people (Israel)" (see on Isa 7:14; Isa 40:3; 52:10-12).
standard—for the dispersed Jews to rally round, with a view to their return (Isa 49:22; 11:12).
11. salvation—embodied in the Saviour (see Zec 9:9).
his work—rather, recompense (Isa 40:10).
12. Sought out—Sought after and highly prized by Jehovah; answering to "not forsaken" in the parallel clause; no longer abandoned, but loved; image from a wife (Isa 62:4; Jer 30:14).