Before CII RIST CHRIST 19. God's judgment upon CHAP. XLVII. Babylon and Chaldea. Beforer sit on the ground: there is no throne, est carelessly, that sayest in thine ci about 712. O daughter of the Chaldeans: for heart, I am, and none else beside me; about 712. thou shalt no more be called tender I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children: shall come upon thee in their perfec- 10 | For thou hast trusted in thy | ledge, it hath || perverted thee; and "Or, caused 5 Sit thou silent, and get thee into thou hast said in thine heart, I am, away. darkness, O daughter of the Chal- and none else beside me. . deans: for thou shalt no more be 11 | Therefore shall evil come called, The lady of kingdoms. upon thee; thou shalt not know +from+ Heb. the 6. I was wroth with my people, I whence it riseth : and mischief shall thereof. have polluted mine inheritance, and fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able given them into thine hand: thou to tput it off: and desolation shall Me didst shew them no mercy; upon the come upon thee suddenly, which thou ancient hast thou very heavily laid shalt not know. thy yoke. 12 Stand now with thine enchant- 8 Therefore hear now this, thou prevail. morning expiate. a Rev. 19. 7. The prophet addresses Babylon by this name as having years been mistress of the East, and domineered over never before been taken by an enemy; as Herodotus the countries round about, could ill brook the subjecsays expressly was the case. Bp. Newton. tion her people were fallen under, the removal of the seat - sit on the ground : there is no throne, &c.] See of government to Shushan by the Persians, and consethe notes on chap. iii. 26 ; lii. 2. quent diminution of the grandeur, pride, and wealth, of 2. Take the milstones, and grind meal :) See notes on the city. In the beginning therefore of Darius HystasExod. xi. 5 ; xii. 29. pes' reign, taking advantage of the revolution and trou- make bare the leg, - pass over the rivers.] Seebles of the Persian government, the Babylonians broke notes on chap. iii. 17; and xxiii. 7. out into open rebellion. Unable to cope with his army 3. – I will take rengeance, and I wili not meet thee as a in the field, they turned their thoughts wholly to supman.] Thou shalt feel the most dreadful effects of Myport themselves in the siege ; and took a most desperate fury; I will take no common and imperfect vengeance; and barbarous resolution, by which the prophecy in this namely, as that of a man. W. Lowth. verse was signally fulfilled; for, drawing together all their 6. - I have given them into thine hand : thou didst women and children, to make their provisions last shew them no mercy;] God charges the Babylonians, though longer, they agreed to cut off all unnecessary mouths, and ernployed by Himself to chastise His people, with cruelty each man choosing out one of his wives, and a servant in regard to them: they exceeded the bounds of justice and for domestick purposes, they strangled all the rest, wives, humanity in oppressing and destroying them; and though sisters, daughters, and young children, useless for the they were really executing the righteous decree of God, wars. Dean Prideaux. yet, as far as it regarded themselves, they were only in 1 - for the multitude of thy sorceries, &c.] By “sordulging their own ambition and violence. Zechariah sets ceries" may be either meant those forbidden arts of this matter in the same light, chap. i. 15: see too Isaiah divinaticn mentioned more particularly ver. 13, or, in X. 5-12. Bp. Louth. See notes on chap. x. 7, 12. general, wicked schemes of worldly policy, by which 7. And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever : &c.] potent kingdoms are wont to undermine and oppress Babylon is described here, and in the words full of inso- the weaker. W. Lowth. lence and blaspbemy that follow, (ver. 8,) as fancying At Babylon, (see ver. 13,) astrology, divination, and the herself exempt from the calamities of fortune, and arro- | interpretation of dreams, were fashionable studies with gating that self-sufficiency to herself which belongs to men of rank ; they carried about with them pocket asnone but God. Mystical Babylon is in the passage of tronomical tables, which they consulted, as well as astroRevelation, referred to in the margin, described as guilty logers, on every affair of moment. Richardson. They of the same pride and carnal security. W. Lowth are told here, that neither by their politicks, sorceries, 9. But these two things shall come to thee, the loss of astronomy, nor any part of their wisdom, shall they forechildren, and widowhood :) Babylon, having for many see or prevent their ruin. Bp. Wilson. CHRIST CHRIST Alleb. ledye concern ing the months, the beginni, e to pass red it to thee; The intent of prophecy. Before, tude of thy counsels. Let now the from the beginning; and they went Before about 712. + astrologers, the stargazers, † the forth out of my mouth, and I shewed about 712. - monthly prognosticators, stand up, them; I did them suddenly, and they riewers of the and save thee from these things that came to pass. + Heb. That shall come upon thee. 4 Because I knew that thou art mawern. 14 Behold, they shall be as stub- + obstinate, and thy neck is an iron + Heb. hard. ble; the fire shall burn them; they sinew, and thy brow brass; the power of the flame: there shall declared it to thee; before it came to shouldest say, Mine idol hath done shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them. day when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I 1 8 Yea, thou heardest not; yea, mine anger, and for my praise will I but not || with silver ; I have chosen 1 0r, for 3 I have declared the former things thee in the furnace of affliction. Jehou knewest hear was not cope deal 15. Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast God ordained a succession of Prophets to foretell the laboured, even thy merchants, from thy youth:) That is, , most remarkable events that should happen to the Jews, “ Thus shall thy merchants deal with thee, with whom 'on purpose to prevent their ascribing them to idols. W. thou hast laboured from thy youth.” By "merchants" Lowth. are meant either the dealers in the deceitful wares of di - my molten image,] See the note on chap. xl. 19. vination and astrology, (ver. 12.) or, generally, any of 6. Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye dethose who have contributed by their traffick or counsel clare it ?7 An old translation gives the sense of the to maintain the grandeur of the Babylonish empire ; words more perspicuously; “Thou heardest it (before); compare Rev. xviii. 11, 12, 15, 23. W. Lowth. and behold it is come to pass : and shall not ye your selves confess the same?" W. Lowth. Chap. XLVIII. The Prophet applies himself to the 7. They are created now, and not from the beginning ;] Jews as under the state of captivity, reproves them for What immediately follows should rather be translated, their refractory temper and obstinacy, which had been “nor before this day hast thou heard them." Dr. W'ells. the occasion of it, and exhorts them to be reformed by 8. — yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened :) their afflictions, and fit themselves for the deliverance Rather, “nor was thine ear opened, of old, or from the which God had promised. W. Lowth. beginning.” W. Lowth. Ver. 1. - house of Jacob, which are called by the name - called a transgressor from the womb.] That is, of Israel,] Who value yourselves for being descended Thou wast addicted to idolatry from thy very infancy, from Jacob, and called after his name, but do not shew from the time when thou livedst in Egypt. Compare yourselves to be the true Israelites by your deeds. W. this verse and ver, 9, 11, with Ezek. xx. 8, 9. W. Lowth. Lowth. - are come forth out of the waters of Judah,] We 10. Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver ; &c.] have in Deut. xxxiii. 28. the expression of “the fountain Not with such a furious heat as is requisite to melt of Jacob ;" and Ps. Ixviii. 26, “ from the fountain of down silver, for then thou wouldest have been utterly Israel ;” used, as the expression here, for their pos- consumed: see Jer. xxx. 11; Ezek. xxii. 20. I have terity. Bp. Lowth. taken this method to purge thee from thy dross, and 5. I have even from the beginning declared it to thee;] | render thee a chosen people to Myself: or the latter Before CHRIST Before CHRIST a Chap. 42.8. 22. 13. 21. The intent of prophecy. c Beforest 11 For mine own sake, even for 19 Thy seed also had been as the Before about 712. mine own sake, will I do it: for how sand, and the offspring of thy bowels about 712. should my name be polluted ? and a I like the gravel thereof; his name 12 4 Hearken unto me, O Jacob stroyed from before me. and Israel, my called; I am he; I am 20 q Go ye forth of Babylon, flee b Chap. 41.4. the b first, I also am the last. ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice Res. 1.17. & 13 Mine hand also hath laid the of singing declare ye, tell this, utter gor, the palm foundation of the earth, and || my it even to the end of the earth; say ye, right hand hath spanned the heavens: The Lord hath e redeemed his ser- c Exod. 19. spread out. when I call unto them, they stand up | vant Jacob. together. | 21 And they thirsted not when he Lord, unto the wicked. CHAP. XLIX. 1 Christ, being sent to the Jews, complaineth rous. of them. 5 He is sent to the Gentiles with 16 | Come ye near unto me, hear | gracious promises, 13 God's love is perye this; I have not spoken in secret petual to his church. 18 The ample refrom the beginning; from the time storation of the church. 24 The powerful deliverance out of captivity. I hearken, ye people, from far; 18 O that thou hadst hearkened to like a sharp sword; in the shadow of part of the verse may be rendered, “I have tried or north and from the south, shall be accepted in their proved thee in the furnace of affliction.” W. Lowth. stead. Dr. S. Clarke. See note at chap. lvii. 20. See note on chap. iv. 4. 16. — and now the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent Chap. XLIX. ver. 1. Listen, O isles, unto me; anıl me.] The foregoing part of the verse shews that the hearken, ye people, from far ;] See note on chap. xi. 11. words are spoken by God; and since it is here affirmed, Hitherto the subject of the prophecy has been chiefly that the Lord God hath sent Him, we can understand confined to the redemption from the captivity of Bathe words of none other but the second Person of the bylon, with strong intimations of a more important deblessed Trinity; who was sent into the world by His liverance sometimes thrown in; to the refutation of Father, and anointed to His prophetical office by the idolatry; and the demonstration of the infinite power, Holy Spirit : see chap. xi. 2; xlii. 1; lxi. 1; Zech. ii. wisdom, and foreknowledge of God. The character 10, 11. W. Lowth. and office of the Messiah was exhibited in general terms 21. — they thirsted not when he led them through the at the beginning of chap. xlii, but here He is introduced deserts : &c.] Another instance of allusion to the de- in person, declaring the full extent of His commission ; parture from Egypt, in describing the gracious care and which is not only to restore the Israelites, and reconcile protection, which God vouchsafed to His people in their them to their Lord and Father, from whom they had so return from Babylon. Bp. Lowth. often revolted; but to be a light to lighten the Gentiles, 22. There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked.] to call them to the knowledge and obedience of the truc All the great promises which God has made to His God, and to bring them to be one church together with Church, to His people, to the families or nations of the Israelites, and to partake with them of the same His true worshippers, are evidently to be so all along common salvation procured for all by the great Reunderstood, as that wicked persons, of whatever family, deemer and Reconciler of man to God. Bp. Lowth. nation, or profession of religion they be, shall be ex- 2. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; cluded from the benefit of those promises, shall be cut &c.] How exactly does this passage suit the Messiah, off from God's people; and the good and righteous of who is represented as having “a sharp two-edged sword all nations, from the east and from the west, from the going out of His mouth," Rev. i. 16, who is Himself CHRIST CHRIST 1. Or, my reward. Christ is sent to the Gentiles ISAIAH. with gracious promises. Before 3 And said unto me, Thou art my arise, princes also shall worship, be- Before about 712. servant, O Israel, in whom I will be cause of the LORD that is faithful, about 712. glorified. and the Holy One of Israel, and he 4 Then I said, I have laboured in shall choose thee. vain, I have spent my strength for 8 Thus saith the LORD, b In an b 2 Cor. 6. 2. nought, and in vain : yet surely my | acceptable time have I heard thee, judgment is with the LORD, and || my and in a day of salvation have I helped work with my God. thee : and I will preserve thee, and 5 9 And now, saith the Lord that I give thee for a covenant of the peoformed me from the womb to be his ple, to || establish the eartlı, to cause | Or, raise up. servant, to bring Jacob again to him, to inherit the desolate heritages; | 0r, That || Though Israel be not gathered, yet 9 That thou mayest say to the c Chap. 42. 7. gathered to shall I be glorious in the eyes of the prisoners, Go forth; to them that LORD, and my God shall be my are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and 6 And he said, | It is a light thing their pastures shall be in all high than that thou that thou shouldest be my servant to places. *. raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to 10 They shall not a hunger nor d Rev. 7. 16. ne restore the || preserved of Israel: I thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun a Chap. 42. 6. will also give thee for a a light to smite them : for he that hath mercy the Gentiles, that thou mayest be on them shall lead them, even by them. deemer of Israel, and his Holy One, tains a way, and my highways shall servant of rulers, Kings shall see and far: and, lo, these from the north 1 Or, desolations. soul. the Word of God; which "word is quick, and power- worship,] See ver. 23;, chap. lii. 15; Ps. lxxii. 10, ful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing | 11. even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of 8. - In an acceptable time hare I heard thee, &c.] the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts These words, which are spoken to Christ in the person and intents of the heart,” Hebr. iv. 12. See note on of God the Father, are applied by St. Paul, in the passage chap. xi. 4. This mighty agent and instrument of God, cited in the margin, to His members of the church in Co“ laid long up in store with Him, and sealed up among rinth ; This, says he, when the Gospel is imparted to you, His treasures,” is at last revealed, and produced by His is your time; which ye are concerned not to let slip. power, and under His protection, to execute His great The argument drawn from hence is, that when the grace and holy purposes; He is compared to a polished shaft of God is offered, we must be very diligent to lay hold stored in His quiver for use in His due time. The of and improve it; knowing, as we must, that this life polished shaft denotes the same efficacious word, which is the utmost period of the day of grace; that the conis before represented by the “sharp sword.” The doc- tinuance of life is most uncertain ; and that we cannot trine of the Gospel pierced the hearts of its hearers, be sure that God will extend to us the opportunities “bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of grace so long as life does continue. Dean Stanhope. of Christ." The metaphor of the sword and the arrow, 1 9. That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; as applied to powerful, speech, is bold, yet just: it has &c.] The “prisoners” here inentioned may be perhaps been employed by the most ingenious heathen writers. more particularly applied to the Jews, referring to the Bp. Lowth. “heavy burden” of the Mosaick Law; “they that are 3. And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in darkness” to the Gentiles, who are described, Ephes, in whom I will be glorified.] That by “ Israel” in this v. 8, to have been “ darkness" itself: both expressions place is not meant either Jacob or the people that came however may well suit either; the phrase seems to be from him, but the Messiah, will be very evident from taken from the custom of liberating captives at the incomparing what is said afterwards. Bp. Kidder. auguration of kings. Those, whom the Prophet has 5. — Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be thus represented as captives rescued from bondage and glorious &c.] If we follow the reading given here in darkness into the glorious light and liberty of the Gosthe text of our translation, the sense is, That although pel, he next exhibits under the emblem of a flock, feedChrist's ministry be unsuccessful in gathering the Jews ing at its leisure in secure pastures, guarded by its into the Church, yet the preaching of His Apostles shepherd from the ill effects of the heat, and plentifully should meet with better success among the Gentiles : supplied with all necessary food; an emblem not unif we follow the reading of the margin, this verse and frequently used (see chap. xxx. 24, 25; xl. 11.) to the next import, that God hath ordained Christ to be a shadow out the future situation of the Church of Christ, light to the Gentiles, as well as the glory of His people safe under the protection and watchful care of the great Israel. W. Lowth. Shepherd of souls, and blessed with the ample oppor7.- to him whom man despiseth, &c.] See notes on tunities of grace, which God shail afford her; the Aposchap. liji. 1, 3. tle St. John (as referred to in the margin) applies the Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall \ passage in this manner. Vitringa. haring compussion. God's love is perpetual to his church. CHAP. XLIX. The ample restoration of the church. Before and from the west; and these from places, and the land of thy destruc- Before about in the land of Sinimheavens: and b tion, shall even now be too narrow about 712. 13 | Sing, O heavens; and be joy- by reason of the inhabitants, and they ful, 0 earth; and break forth into that swallowed thee up shall be far singing, O mountains : for the Lord away. hath comforted his people, and will 20 The children which thou shalt have mercy upon his afflicted. have, after thou hast lost the other, 14 But Zion said, The Lord hath shall say again in thine ears, The forsaken me, and my Lord hath for- place is too strait for me: give place gotten me. to me that I may dwell. coinpassion on the son of her womb ? seeing I have lost my children, and | to and fro ? and who hath brought up 17 Thy children shall make haste; hold, I will lift up mine hand to the thee waste shall go forth of thee. the people: and they shall bring thy e Chap. 60.4. 18 fLift up thine eyes round sons in their farms, and thy daugh- + Heb. bosom. about, and behold: all these gather ters shall be carried upon their 19 For thy waste and thy desolate the earth, and flick up the dust of r Ps. 72. 9. + Heb. 12. — and these from the land of Sinim.) We have Jews, and an engraftment upon their stock. Dr. Berrithe same scene here as is laid before us chap. xliii. 5,6. man. the restoration of the Jewish nation, and gathering of 18, – thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, &c.] God's elect from all parts. The Latin Vulgate, instead As the Church is represented as Christ's bride, so this of “land of Sinim," renders “the south country,” which conversion, both of Jews and Gentiles, may fitly be reanswers to the north before mentioned. W. Lowth. presented by the bride's being adorned with all sorts of By “from far," may possibly be meant from Babylon; fine clothing or precious jewels, in order to her marwhich, being to the east, would answer to the west. riage; (Rev. xix. 7, 8;) or entering upon her triumphAbp. Secker. See chap. xxxix. 3; Jer. v. 15. ant state. Dr. Wells. As our translation gives it, “ Sinim” may mean Pelu- 20, 21. The children which thou shalt have, after thou sium in Egypt, called “ Sin," Ezek. xxx. 15; or the hast lost the other, &c.] The Church is represented as wilderness of Sin, Exod. xvi. 1; both which lay south- | lamenting the loss of her children, and wondering at a ward of Judea. W. Lowth. new and numerous offspring settled in their room. The 13. Sing, O heavens ; &c.] See note on chap. xliv. 23. greatest part of the Jewish people were to fall by a 16. — I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands ; | deplorable apostacy ; (see chap. x. 20;) but their dethy walls are continually before me. An allusion to some fection was to be abundantly supplied by the accession practice, common among the Jews at that time, of of the Gentiles. Dr. Berriman. making marks on their hands or arms by punctures on 22. - and thy daughters shall be carried upon their the skin, with some sort of representation of the city or shoulders.] This custom is practised in the East to a temple, to shew their zeal and affection for it. The great extent. Dandini, in his voyage to mount Libanus, pilgrims at the Holy Sepulchre, as Maundrell tells us, I tells us, that “ being on horseback they carry their get themselves marked in this manner, with what they young children upon their shoulders with great dexcall ensigns of Jerusalem ; and this art is practised by terity. These children hold by the head of him who travelling Jews all over the world at this day. Bp. | carries them, whether he be on horseback or on foot; Lowth. See note on chap. xliv. 5. and do not hinder him from walking, or doing what 17. - shall go forth of thee.] Shall become thy off he pleases.” Fragments to Calmet. spring, shall proceed, spring, issue from thee, as thy 23. - shall bow down to thee with their face toward the children. The accession of the Gentiles to the Church earth, &c.] It is well known that expressions of subof God is considered as an addition made to the num- | mission, homage, and reverence, always have been, and ber of the family and children of Zion; see ver. 21, I are still, carried to a great degree of extravagance in the 22; and chap. lx. 4. Bp. Lowth. As the true religion Eastern countries. The kings of Persia never admitted had long been professed only by the Jews, and when any one to their presence without exacting this act of explained to greater perfection, was to be propagated adoration, for that was the proper term for it. Bp. from them through the earth; the conversion of the Lowth. The whole passage here imports the assistance, Gentiles is very deservedly reputed an accession to the submission, deference, and veneration, that the Gentiles |