3 For Jehovah hath comforted Zion, He hath comforted all her wastes, And He setteth her wilderness as Eden, And her desert as a garden of Jehovah, Joy, yea, gladness is found in her, Confession, and the voice of song.
The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah `is' on me, Because Jehovah did anoint me To proclaim tidings to the humble, He sent me to bind the broken of heart, To proclaim to captives liberty, And to bound ones an opening of bands. To proclaim the year of the good pleasure of Jehovah, And the day of vengeance of our God, To comfort all mourners. To appoint to mourners in Zion, To give to them beauty instead of ashes, The oil of joy instead of mourning, A covering of praise for a spirit of weakness, And He is calling to them, `Trees of righteousness, The planting of Jehovah -- to be beautified.' And they have built the wastes of old, The desolations of the ancients they raise up, And they have renewed waste cities, The desolations of generation and generation.
And after these things I heard a great voice of a great multitude in the heaven, saying, `Alleluia! the salvation, and the glory, and the honour, and the power, `is' to the Lord our God; because true and righteous `are' His judgments, because He did judge the great whore who did corrupt the earth in her whoredom, and He did avenge the blood of His servants at her hand;' and a second time they said, `Alleluia;' and her smoke doth come up -- to the ages of the ages! And fall down did the elders -- the twenty and four -- and the four living creatures, and they did bow before God who is sitting upon the throne, saying, `Amen, Alleluia.' And a voice out of the throne did come forth, saying, `Praise our God, all ye His servants, and those fearing Him, both the small and the great;' and I heard as the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, `Alleluia! because reign did the Lord God -- the Almighty! may we rejoice and exult, and give the glory to Him, because come did the marriage of the Lamb, and his wife did make herself ready;
Blessed `is' God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of the mercies, and God of all comfort, who is comforting us in all our tribulation, for our being able to comfort those in any tribulation through the comfort with which we are comforted ourselves by God;
Cry aloud, O daughter of Zion, shout, O Israel, Rejoice and exult with the whole heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. Jehovah hath turned aside thy judgments, He hath faced thine enemy, The king of Israel, Jehovah, `is' in thy midst, Thou seest evil no more. In that day it is said to Jerusalem, `Fear not, O Zion, let not thy hands be feeble. Jehovah thy God `is' in thy midst, A mighty one doth save, He rejoiceth over thee with joy, He doth work in His love, He joyeth over thee with singing.' Mine afflicted from the appointed place I have gathered, from thee they have been, Bearing for her sake reproach. Lo, I am dealing with all afflicting thee at that time, And I have saved the halting one, And the driven out ones I do gather, And have set them for a praise and for a name, In all the land of their shame. At that time I bring you in, Even at the time of My assembling you, For I give you for a name, and for a praise, Among all peoples of the land, In My turning back `to' your captivity before your eyes, said Jehovah!
Cedars have not hid him in the garden of God, Firs have not been like unto his boughs, And chesnut-trees have not been as his branches, No tree in the garden of God hath been like unto him in his beauty, Fair I have made him in the multitude of his thin shoots, And envy him do all trees of Eden that `are' in the garden of God. Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because that thou hast been high in stature, And he yieldeth his foliage between thickets, And high is his heart in his haughtiness,
Is a voice of joy and a voice of gladness, Voice of bridegroom, and voice of bride, The voice of those saying, Thank Jehovah of Hosts, for Jehovah `is' good, For His kindness `is' to the age, Who are bringing in thanksgiving to the house of Jehovah, For I turn back the captivity of the land, As at the first, said Jehovah. Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Again there is in this place -- that is waste, Without man and beast, And in all its cities -- a habitation of shepherds, Causing the flock to lie down. In the cities of the hill-country, In the cities of the low country, And in the cities of the south, And in the land of Benjamin, And in the suburbs of Jerusalem, And in the cities of Judah, Again doth the flock pass by under the hands of the numberer, said Jehovah.
And they have come in, And have sung in the high place of Zion, And flowed unto the goodness of Jehovah, For wheat, and for new wine, and for oil, And for the young of the flock and herd, And their soul hath been as a watered garden, And they add not to grieve any more. Then rejoice doth a virgin in a chorus, Both young men and old men -- together, And I have turned their mourning to joy, And have comforted them, And gladdened them above their sorrow, And satisfied the soul of the priests `with' fatness, And My people with My goodness are satisfied, An affirmation of Jehovah.
Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, And be glad in her, all ye loving her, Rejoice ye with her for joy, All ye are mourning for her, So that ye suck, and have been satisfied, From the breast of her consolations, So that ye wring out, and have delighted yourselves From the abundance of her honour. For thus said Jehovah: `Lo, I am stretching out to her peace as a river, And as an overflowing stream the honour of nations, And ye have sucked, on the side ye are carried, And on the knees ye are dandled. As one whom his mother comforteth, so do I comfort you, Yea, in Jerusalem ye are comforted. And ye have seen, and rejoiced hath your heart, And your bones as tender grass do flourish, And the hand of Jehovah hath been known unto His servants, And He hath been indignant with His enemies.
And Jehovah God planteth a garden in Eden, at the east, and He setteth there the man whom He hath formed; and Jehovah God causeth to sprout from the ground every tree desirable for appearance, and good for food, and the tree of life in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
For, as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, Called thee hath Jehovah, Even a youthful wife when she is refused, said thy God. In a small moment I have forsaken thee, And in great mercies I do gather thee, In overflowing wrath I hid my face `for' a moment from thee, And in kindness age-during I have loved thee, Said thy Redeemer -- Jehovah!
I open on high places rivers, And in midst of valleys fountains, I make a wilderness become a pond of water, And a dry land become springs of water. I give in a wilderness the cedar, Shittah, and myrtle, and oil-tree, I set in a desert the fir-pine and box-wood together.
And the mirage hath become a pond, And the thirsty land fountains of waters, In the habitation of dragons, Its place of couching down, a court for reed and rush. And a highway hath been there, and a way, And the `way of holiness' is called to it, Not pass over it doth the unclean, And He Himself `is' by them, Whoso is going in the way -- even fools err not. No lion is there, yea, a destructive beast Ascendeth it not, it is not found there, And walked have the redeemed, And the ransomed of Jehovah return, And have entered Zion with singing. And joy age-during on their head, Joy and gladness they attain, And fled away have sorrow and sighing!
They joy from the wilderness and dry place, And rejoice doth the desert, and flourish as the rose, Flourishing it doth flourish, and rejoice, Yea, `with' joy and singing, The honour of Lebanon hath been given to it, The beauty of Carmel and Sharon, They -- they see the honour of Jehovah, The majesty of our God.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Isaiah 51
Commentary on Isaiah 51 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 51
Isa 51:1-23. Encouragement to the Faithful Remnant of Israel to Trust in God for Deliverance, Both from Their Long Babylonian Exile, and from Their Present Dispersion.
1. me—the God of your fathers.
ye … follow after righteousness—the godly portion of the nation; Isa 51:7 shows this (Pr 15:9; 1Ti 6:11). "Ye follow righteousness," seek it therefore from Me, who "bring it near," and that a righteousness "not about to be abolished" (Isa 51:6, 7); look to Abraham, your father (Isa 51:2), as a sample of how righteousness before Me is to be obtained; I, the same God who blessed him, will bless you at last (Isa 51:3); therefore trust in Me, and fear not man's opposition (Isa 51:7, 8, 12, 13). The mistake of the Jews, heretofore, has been, not in that they "followed after righteousness," but in that they followed it "by the works of the law," instead of "by faith," as Abraham did (Ro 9:31, 32; 10:3, 4; 4:2-5).
hole of … pit—The idea is not, as it is often quoted, the inculcation of humility, by reminding men of the fallen state from which they have been taken, but that as Abraham, the quarry, as it were (compare Isa 48:1), whence their nation was hewn, had been called out of a strange land to the inheritance of Canaan, and blessed by God, the same God is able to deliver and restore them also (compare Mt 3:9).
2. alone—translate, "I called him when he was but one" (Eze 33:24). The argument is: the same God who had so blessed "one" individual, as to become a mighty nation (Ge 12:1; 22:7), can also increase and bless the small remnant of Israel, both that left in the Babylonish captivity, and that left in the present and latter days (Zec 14:2); "the residue" (Isa 13:8, 9).
3. For—See for the argument, see on Isa 51:2.
the garden of the Lord—restoration of the primeval paradise (Ge 2:8; Eze 28:13; Re 2:7).
melody—Hebrew, "psalm." God's praises shall again be heard.
4. my people—the Jews. This reading is better than that of Gesenius: "O peoples … nations," namely, the Gentiles. The Jews are called on to hear and rejoice in the extension of the true religion to the nations; for, at the first preaching of the Gospel, as in the final age to come, it was from Jerusalem that the gospel law was, and is, to go forth (Isa 2:3).
law … judgment—the gospel dispensation and institutions (Isa 42:1, "judgment").
make … to rest—establish firmly; found.
light, &c.—(Isa 42:6).
5. righteousness … near—that is, faithful fulfilment of the promised deliverance, answering to "salvation" in the parallel clause (Isa 46:13; 56:1; Ro 10:8, 9). Ye follow after "righteousness"; seek it therefore, from Me, and you will not have far to go for it (Isa 51:1).
arms—put for Himself; I by My might.
judge—(Isa 2:3, 4; Ps 98:9).
isles, &c.—(Isa 60:9).
arm—(Ro 1:16), "the power of God unto (the Gentiles as well as the Jews) salvation."
6. (Isa 40:6, 8; Ps 102:26; Heb 1:11, 12).
vanish away—literally, "shall be torn asunder," as a garment [Maurer]; which accords with the context.
in like manner—But Gesenius, "Like a gnat"; like the smallest and vilest insect. Jerome translates, as English Version, and infers that "in like manner" as man, the heavens (that is, the sky) and earth are not to be annihilated, but changed for the better (Isa 65:17).
righteousness—My faithfully fulfilled promise (see on Isa 51:5).
7. know righteousness—(See on Isa 51:1).
8. (See on Isa 50:9; Job 4:18-20). Not that the moth eats men up, but they shall be destroyed by as insignificant instrumentality as the moth that eats a garment.
9. Impassioned prayer of the exiled Jews.
ancient days—(Ps 44:1).
Rahab—poetical name for Egypt (see on Isa 30:7).
dragon—Hebrew, tannin. The crocodile, an emblem of Egypt, as represented on coins struck after the conquest of Egypt by Augustus; or rather here, "its king," Pharaoh (see on Isa 27:1; Ps 74:13, 14; Eze 32:2, Margin; Eze 29:3).
10. it—the arm.
Art not Thou the same Almighty power that … ? dried the sea—the Red Sea (Isa 43:16; Ex 14:21).
11. (Isa 35:10).
Therefore—assurance of faith; or else the answer of Jehovah corresponding to their prayer. As surely as God redeemed Israel out of Egypt, He shall redeem them from Babylon, both the literal in the age following, and mystical in the last ages (Re 18:20, 21). There shall be a second exodus (Isa 11:11-16; 27:12, 13).
singing—image from the custom of singing on a journey when a caravan is passing along the extended plains in the East.
everlasting joy—(Jude 24).
sorrow … flee away—(Re 21:4).
12. comforteth—(Isa 51:3; Isa 40:1).
thou—Zion.
son of man—frail and dying as his parent Adam.
be made as grass—wither as grass (Isa 40:6, 7).
13. (Isa 40:12, 26, 28), the same argument of comfort drawn from the omnipotence of the Creator.
as if … ready, &c.—literally, "when he directs," namely, his arrow, to destroy (Ps 21:12; 7:13; 11:2) [Maurer].
14. captive exile—literally, one bowed down as a captive (Isa 10:4) [Maurer]. The scene is primarily Babylon, and the time near the close of the captivity. Secondarily, and antitypically, the mystical Babylon, the last enemy of Israel and the Church, in which they have long suffered, but from which they are to be gloriously delivered.
pit—such as were many of the ancient dungeons (compare Jer 38:6, 11, 13; Ge 37:20).
nor … bread … fail—(Isa 33:16; Jer 37:21).
15. divided … sea—the Red Sea. The same Hebrew word as "make to rest" (Isa 51:4). Rather, "that terrify the sea," that is, restrain it by My rebuke, "when its waves roar" [Gesenius]. The Hebrew favors Maurer, "that terrify the sea so that the waves roar." The sense favors Gesenius (Jer 5:22; 31:35), or English Version (Isa 51:9, 10, which favors the special reference to the exodus from Egypt).
16. Addressed to Israel, embodied in "the servant of Jehovah" (Isa 42:1), Messiah, its ideal and representative Head, through whom the elect remnant is to be restored.
put my words in thy mouth—true of Israel, the depository of true religion, but fully realized only in Israel's Head and antitype, Messiah (Isa 49:2; 50:4, 5; 59:21; De 18:18; Joh 3:34).
covered … in … shadow of … hand—protected thee (see on Isa 49:2).
plant—rather, "fix" as a tabernacle; so it ought to be rendered (Da 11:45). The "new creation," now going on in the spiritual world by the Gospel (Eph 2:10), and hereafter to be extended to the visible world, is meant (Isa 65:17; 66:22; compare Isa 13:13; 2Pe 3:10-13).
Zion—Its restoration is a leading part in the new creation to come (Isa 65:17, 19).
17. Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, &c.—(Isa 52:1).
drunk—Jehovah's wrath is compared to an intoxicating draught because it confounds the sufferer under it, and makes him fall (Job 21:20; Ps 60:3; 75:8; Jer 25:15, 16; 49:12; Zec 12:2; Re 14:10); ("poured out without mixture"; rather, "the pure wine juice mixed with intoxicating drugs").
of trembling—which produced trembling or intoxication.
wrung … out—drained the last drop out; the dregs were the sediments from various substances, as honey, dates, and drugs, put into the wine to increase the strength and sweetness.
18. Following up the image in Isa 51:17, intoxicated and confused by the cup of God's anger, she has none to guide her in her helpless state; she has not yet awakened out of the sleep caused by that draught. This cannot apply to the Babylonish captivity; for in it they had Ezekiel and Daniel, Ezra and Nehemiah, as "guides," and soon awoke out of that sleep; but it applies to the Jews now, and will be still more applicable in their coming oppression by Antichrist.
19. two—classes of evils, for he enumerates four, namely, desolation and destruction to the land and state; famine and the sword to the people.
who shall be sorry for thee—so as to give thee effectual relief: as the parallel clause, "By whom shall I comfort thee?" shows (La 2:11-13).
20. head of all … streets—(La 2:19; 4:1).
wild bull—rather, "oryx" [Jerome], or gazelle [Gesenius], or wild goat [Bochart]; commonly in the East taken in a net, of a wide sweep, into which the beasts were hunted together. The streets of cities in the East often have gates, which are closed at night; a person wishing to escape would be stopped by them and caught, as a wild animal in a net.
21. drunken … not with wine—(Isa 29:9; compare Isa 51:17, 20, here; La 3:15).
22. pleadeth … cause—(Ps 35:1; Jer 50:34; Mic 7:9).
no more drink it—(Isa 54:7-9). This cannot apply to Israel after the return from Babylon, but only to them after their final restoration.
23. (Isa 49:26; Jer 25:15-29; Zec 12:2).
Bow down that … go over—Conquerors often literally trod on the necks of conquered kings, as Sapor of Persia did to the Roman emperor Valerian (Jos 10:24; Ps 18:40; 66:11, 12).