Isaiah 49

Is 49:1-26. Similar to Chapter 42:1-7 (Is 49:1-9).

Messiah, as the ideal Israel (Is 49:3), states the object of His mission, His want of success for a time, yet His certainty of ultimate success.

1. O isles--Messiah is here regarded as having been rejected by the Jews (Is 49:4, 5), and as now turning to the Gentiles, to whom the Father hath given Him "for a light and salvation." "Isles" mean all regions beyond sea.

from the womb--(Is 44:2; Lu 1:31; Joh 10:36).

from ... bowels ... mention of my name--His name "Jesus" (that is, God-Saviour) was designated by God before His birth (Mt 1:21).

2. my mouth ... sword--(Is 11:4; Re 19:15). The double office of the Word of God, saving and damnatory, is implied (Is 50:4; Joh 12:48; He 4:12).

shaft--(Psa 45:5). "Polished," that is, free from all rust, implies His unsullied purity.

in ... quiver ... hid me--Like a sword in its scabbard, or a shaft in the quiver, Messiah, before His appearing, was hid with God, ready to be drawn forth at the moment God saw fit [Hengstenberg]; also always protected by God, as the arrow by the quiver (Is 51:16).

3. Israel--applied to Messiah, according to the true import of the name, the Prince who had power with God in wrestling in behalf of man, and who prevails (Ge 32:28; Ho 12:3, 4). He is also the ideal Israel, the representative man of the nation (compare Mt 2:15 with Ho 11:1).

in whom ... glorified--(Joh 14:13; 17:1-5).

4. I--Messiah.

in vain--comparatively in the case of the greater number of His own countrymen. "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not" (Is 53:1-3; Lu 19:14; Joh 1:11; 7:5). Only a hundred twenty disciples met after His personal ministry was ended (Ac 1:15).

yet ... my judgment ... with the Lord--Ultimately, God will do justice to My cause, and reward (Margin for "work," compare Is 40:10; 62:11) My labors and sufferings. He was never "discouraged" (Is 42:4; 50:7, 10). He calmly, in spite of seeming ill success for the time, left the result with God, confident of final triumph (Is 53:10-12; 1Pe 2:23). So the ministers of Christ (1Co 4:1-5; 1Pe 4:19).

5. The reason why He was confident that His work would be accepted and rewarded, namely, because He is "glorious in the eyes of Jehovah," &c.

to bring Jacob again to him--(Mt 15:24; Ac 3:26).

Though Israel be not gathered--metaphor from a scattered flock which the shepherd gathers together again; or a hen and her chickens (Mt 23:37). Instead of the text "not," the Keri has the similar Hebrew word, "to Him," which the parallelism favors: "And that Israel may be gathered to Him."

yet--rather, parenthetically. "For I am glorious, &c., and My God is My strength." Then (Is 49:6) resuming the words from the beginning of Is 49:5, "He saith" (I repeat), &c. Horsley explains, "Notwithstanding the incredulity of the Jews, Messiah shall be glorified in the conversion of the Gentiles," reading as English Version: but if the Keri be read, "Israel shall at one time or other be gathered, notwithstanding their incredulity during Messiah's sojourn on earth."

6. It is a light thing--"It is too little that Thou shouldest," [Hengstenberg], that is, It is not enough honor to Thee to raise up Jacob and Israel, but I design for Thee more, namely, that Thou shouldest be the means of enlightening the Gentiles (Is 42:6, 7; 60:3).

the preserved--namely, those remaining after the judgments of God on the nation--the elect remnant of Israel reserved for mercy. Lowth, with a slight but needless change of the Hebrew, translates for "tribes" and "preserved," the "scions"--the "branches."

7. whom man despiseth--Hebrew, "the despised of soul," that is, by every soul, by all men (Is 52:14, 15; 53:3; 50:6-9; Psa 22:6). Lowth translates, "whose person is despised."

abhorreth--literally, "who is an abomination to the nation" (Lu 23:18-23). The Jews contemptuously call Him always Tolvi, "the crucified." I prefer, on account of Goi, the Hebrew term for nation being usually applied to the Gentiles, and that for people to the Jews (Ho 1:9; so the Greek terms respectively also Laos and Ethne, Ro 9:25), to take "nation" here collectively for the Gentile world, which also spurned Him (Psa 2:1-3; Ac 4:25-27).

servant of rulers--(Mt 17:27). He who would not exert His power against the rulers (Mt 26:52, 53).

shall see--namely the fulfilment of God's promises (Is 49:3, 6), "when He (shall be) a light to the Gentiles."

arise--to reverence Thee (Psa 72:10, 11; Php 2:10).

princes also--rather, for the parallelism, supply the ellipsis, thus, "Princes shall see and shall worship."

faithful--namely, to His promises.

choose thee--as God's elect (Is 42:1).

8. Messiah is represented as having asked for the grace of God in behalf of sinners; this verse contains God the Father's favorable answer.

an acceptable time--"In a time of grace" [Hengstenberg]. A limited time (Is 61:2; 2Co 6:2). The time judged by God to be the best fitted for effecting the purposes of His grace by Messiah.

heard thee--(Psa 2:8; He 5:7).

day of salvation--when "the fulness of time" (Ga 4:4) shall have come. The day of salvation is "to-day" (He 4:7).

helped--given Thee the help needed to enable Thee, as man, to accomplish man's salvation.

preserve--from the assaults and efforts of Satan, to divert Thee from Thy voluntary death to save man.

covenant of the people--(See on Is 42:6). "The people," in the singular, is always applied exclusively to Israel.

establish the earth--rather, "to restore the land," namely, Canaan to Israel. Spiritually, the restoration of the Church (the spiritual Israel) to the heavenly land forfeited by man's sin is also included.

cause to inherit ... desolate heritages--image from the desolate state of Judea during the Babylonish captivity. Spiritually, the Gentile world, a moral waste, shall become a garden of the Lord. Literally, Judea lying desolate for ages shall be possessed again by Israel (compare Is 61:7, "in their land"). Jesus, the antitype of, and bearing the same name as Joshua (He 4:8), shall, like him, divide the land among its true heirs (Is 54:3; 61:4).

9. (Is 42:7; Zec 9:12).

prisoners--the Jews bound in legal bondage.

them ... in darkness--the Gentiles having no light as to the one true God [Vitringa].

Show yourselves--not only see but be seen (Mt 5:16; Mr 5:19). Come forth from the darkness of your prison into the light of the Sun of righteousness.

in the ways, &c.--In a desert there are no "ways," nor "high places," with "pastures"; thus the sense is: "They shall have their pastures, not in deserts, but in cultivated and inhabited places." Laying aside the figure, the churches of Christ at the first shall be gathered, not in obscure and unknown regions, but in the most populous parts of the Roman empire, Antioch, Alexandria, Rome, &c. [Vitringa]. Another sense probably is the right one. Israel, on its way back to the Holy Land, shall not have to turn aside to devious paths in search of necessaries, but shall find them in all places wherever their route lies; so Rosenmuller. God will supply them as if He should make the grass grow in the trodden ways and on the barren high places.

10. Messiah will abundantly satisfy all the wants, both of literal Israel on their way to Palestine, and of the spiritual on their way to heaven, as their Shepherd (Is 65:13; Mt 5:6), also in heaven (Re 7:16, 17).

11. my--All things are God's.

mountains a way--I will remove all obstructions out of the way (Is 40:4).

exalted--that is, cast up (Is 57:14; 62:10); for instance, over valleys. Vitringa explains "mountains" as great kingdoms, Egypt, Syria, &c., subjected to Rome, to facilitate the spreading of the Gospel; "highways," the Christian doctrine wherein those who join the Church walk, and which, at the time of Constantine, was to be raised into prominence before all, and publicly protected (Is 35:8, 9).

12. Sinim--The Arabians and other Asiatics called China Sin, or Tchin; the Chinese had no special name for themselves, but either adopted that of the reigning dynasty or some high-sounding titles. This view of "Sinim" suits the context which requires a people to be meant "from far," and distinct from those "from the north and from the west" [Gesenius].

13. So Re 12:12. God will have mercy on the afflicted, because of His compassion; on His afflicted, because of His covenant.

14. Zion--the literal Israel's complaint, as if God had forsaken her in the Babylonian captivity; also in their dispersion previous to their future restoration; thereby God's mercy shall be called forth (Is 63:15-19; Psa 77:9, 10; 102:17).

15. (Is 44:21; Psa 103:13; Mt 7:11).

16. Alluding to the Jews' custom (perhaps drawn from Ex 13:9) of puncturing on their hands a representation of their city and temple, in token of zeal for them [Lowth], (So 8:6).

17. Thy children--Israel (Is 49:20, 21; Is 43:6). Jerome reads, for "Thy children," "Thy builders"; they that destroyed thee shall hasten to build thee.

haste--to rebuild thy desolate capital.

shall go forth--Thy destroyers shall leave Judea to Israel in undisturbed possession.

18. As Zion is often compared to a bride (Is 54:5), so the accession of converts is like bridal ornaments ("jewels," Is 62:3; Mal 3:17). Her literal children are, however, more immediately meant, as the context refers to their restoration; and only secondarily to her spiritual children by conversion to Christ. Israel shall be the means of the final complete conversion of the nations (Mi 5:7; Ro 11:12, 15).

as a bride--namely, binds on her ornaments.

19. land of thy destruction--thy land once the scene of destruction.

too narrow--(Is 54:1, 2; Zec 10:10).

20. children ... after ... other--rather, "the children of thy widowhood," that is, the children of whom thou hast been bereft during their dispersion in other lands (see on Is 47:8) [Maurer].

again--rather, "yet."

give place--rather, "stand close to me," namely, in order that we may be the more able to dwell in in the narrow place [Horsley]. Compare as to Israel's spiritual children, and the extension of the gospel sphere, Ro 15:19, 24; 2Co 10:14-16. But Is 49:22 (compare Is 66:20) shows that her literal children are primarily meant. Gesenius translates, "Make room."

21. Who, &c.--Zion's joyful wonder at the unexpected restoration of the ten tribes. Secondarily, the accession of spiritual Israelites to the mother church of Jerusalem from the Gentiles is meant. This created surprise at first (Ac 10:45; 14:27; 15:3, 4).

lost ... am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro--rather, "bereaved of ... have been barren, an exile and outcast" [Horsley]. She had been "put away" by Jehovah, her husband (Is 50:1); hence her wonder at the children begotten to her.

22. lift ... hand--that is, beckon to (see on Is 13:2).

standard--(Is 11:12).

bring ... sons in ... arms--The Gentiles shall aid in restoring Israel to its own land (Is 60:4; 66:20). Children able to support themselves are carried on the shoulders in the East; but infants, in the arms, or astride on one haunch (Is 60:12). "Thy sons" must be distinct from "the Gentiles," who carry them; and therefore cannot primarily refer to converts among the Gentiles.

23. lick ... dust--that is, kiss thy feet in token of humble submission.

for they ... not ... ashamed ... wait for me--The restoration of Israel shall be in answer to their prayerful waiting on the Lord (Is 30:18, 19; Psa 102:16, 17; Zec 12:10; 14:3).

24. the prey--Israel, long a prey to mighty Gentile nations, whose oppression of her shall reach its highest point under Antichrist (Da 11:36, 37, 41, 45).

lawful captive--the Jews justly consigned for their sins (Is 50:1) as captives to the foe. Secondarily, Satan and Death are "the mighty" conquerors of man, upon whom his sin give them their "lawful" claim. Christ answers that claim for the sinners, and so the captive is set free (Job 19:25; 14:14; Mt 12:29; Ho 6:2, where Is 49:4 shows the primary reference is to Israel's restoration, to which the resurrection corresponds; Is 26:19; Ep 4:8; He 2:14, 15). Others not so well translate, "the captives taken from among the just Israelites."

25. (Is 53:12; Psa 68:18; Col 2:15).

contend with him, &c.--(Is 54:17).

26. feed ... own flesh--a phrase for internal strifes (Is 9:20).

own blood--a just retribution for their having shed the blood of God's servants (Re 16:6).

sweet wine--that is, must, or new wine, the pure juice which flows from the heap of grapes before they are pressed; the ancients could preserve it for a long time, so as to retain its flavor. It was so mild that it required a large quantity to intoxicate; thus the idea here is that very much blood would be shed (Re 14:10, 20).

all flesh shall, &c.--the effect on the world of God's judgments (Is 66:15, 16, 18, 19; Re 15:3, 4).