1HearH8085 ye this, O houseH1004 of JacobH3290, which are calledH7121 by the nameH8034 of IsraelH3478, and are come forthH3318 out of the watersH4325 of JudahH3063, which swearH7650 by the nameH8034 of the LORDH3068, and make mentionH2142 of the GodH430 of IsraelH3478, but not in truthH571, nor in righteousnessH6666. 2For they callH7121 themselves of the holyH6944 cityH5892, and stayH5564 themselves upon the GodH430 of IsraelH3478; The LORDH3068 of hostsH6635 is his nameH8034. 3I have declaredH5046 the former thingsH7223 from the beginningH227; and they went forthH3318 out of my mouthH6310, and I shewedH8085 them; I didH6213 them suddenlyH6597, and they came to passH935 . 4Because I knewH1847 that thou art obstinateH7186, and thy neckH6203 is an ironH1270 sinewH1517, and thy browH4696 brassH5154; 5I have even from the beginningH227 declaredH5046 it to thee; before it came to passH935 I shewedH8085 it thee: lest thou shouldest sayH559, Mine idolH6090 hath doneH6213 them, and my graven imageH6459, and my molten imageH5262, hath commandedH6680 them. 6Thou hast heardH8085, seeH2372 all this; and will not ye declareH5046 it? I have shewedH8085 thee new thingsH2319 from this timeH6258, even hidden thingsH5341, and thou didst not knowH3045 them. 7They are createdH1254 now, and not from the beginning; even beforeH6440 the dayH3117 when thou heardestH8085 them not; lest thou shouldest sayH559, Behold, I knewH3045 them. 8Yea, thou heardestH8085 not; yea, thou knewestH3045 not; yea, from that time that thine earH241 was not openedH6605 : for I knewH3045 that thou wouldest deal veryH898 treacherouslyH898, and wast calledH7121 a transgressorH6586 from the wombH990. 9For my name'sH8034 sake will I deferH748 mine angerH639, and for my praiseH8416 will I refrainH2413 for thee, that I cut thee not offH3772 . 10Behold, I have refinedH6884 thee, but not with silverH3701; I have chosenH977 thee in the furnaceH3564 of afflictionH6040. 11For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I doH6213 it: for how should my name be pollutedH2490 ? and I will not giveH5414 my gloryH3519 unto anotherH312. 12HearkenH8085 unto me, O JacobH3290 and IsraelH3478, my calledH7121 ; I am he; I am the firstH7223, I also am the lastH314. 13Mine handH3027 also hath laid the foundationH3245 of the earthH776, and my right handH3225 hath spannedH2946 the heavensH8064: when I callH7121 unto them, they stand upH5975 togetherH3162. 14All ye, assembleH6908 yourselves, and hearH8085 ; which among them hath declaredH5046 these things? The LORDH3068 hath lovedH157 him: he will doH6213 his pleasureH2656 on BabylonH894, and his armH2220 shall be on the ChaldeansH3778. 15I, even I, have spokenH1696 ; yea, I have calledH7121 him: I have broughtH935 him, and he shall make his wayH1870 prosperousH6743 . 16ComeH7126 ye nearH7126 unto me, hearH8085 ye this; I have not spokenH1696 in secretH5643 from the beginningH7218; from the timeH6256 that it was, there am I: and now the LordH136 GODH3069, and his SpiritH7307, hath sentH7971 me. 17Thus saithH559 the LORDH3068, thy RedeemerH1350, the Holy OneH6918 of IsraelH3478; I am the LORDH3068 thy GodH430 which teachethH3925 thee to profitH3276, which leadethH1869 thee by the wayH1870 that thou shouldest goH3212 . 18O thatH3863 thou hadst hearkenedH7181 to my commandmentsH4687! then had thy peaceH7965 been as a riverH5104, and thy righteousnessH6666 as the wavesH1530 of the seaH3220: 19Thy seedH2233 also had been as the sandH2344, and the offspringH6631 of thy bowelsH4578 like the gravelH4579 thereof; his nameH8034 should not have been cut offH3772 nor destroyedH8045 from beforeH6440 me. 20Go ye forthH3318 of BabylonH894, fleeH1272 ye from the ChaldeansH3778, with a voiceH6963 of singingH7440 declareH5046 ye, tellH8085 this, utterH3318 it even to the endH7097 of the earthH776; sayH559 ye, The LORDH3068 hath redeemedH1350 his servantH5650 JacobH3290. 21And they thirstedH6770 not when he ledH3212 them through the desertsH2723: he caused the watersH4325 to flowH5140 out of the rockH6697 for them: he claveH1234 the rockH6697 also, and the watersH4325 gushed outH2100 . 22There is no peaceH7965, saithH559 the LORDH3068, unto the wickedH7563.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 THE THINGS THAT BEFALL BABYLON JEHOVAH PREDICTED LONG BEFORE, LEST ISRAEL SHOULD ATTRIBUTE THEM, IN ITS "OBSTINATE" PERVERSITY, TO STRANGE GODS (
Isa 48:1-
Isa 48:5). (Isa. 48:1-22)
the waters of Judah--spring from the fountain of Judah (
Num 24:7;
Deut 33:28;
Ps 68:26; Margin). Judah has the "fountain" attributed to it, because it survived the ten tribes, and from it Messiah was to spring.
swear by . . . Lord-- (
Isa 19:18;
Isa 45:23;
Isa 65:16).
mention--in prayers and praises.
not in truth-- (
Jer 5:2;
John 4:24).
2 For--Ye deserve these reproofs; "for" ye call yourselves citizens of "the holy city" (
Isa 52:1), but not in truth (
Isa 48:1;
Neh 11:1;
Dan 9:24); so the inscription on their coins of the time of the Maccabees. "Jerusalem the Holy."
3 former--things which have happened in time past to Israel (
Isa 42:9;
Isa 44:7-
Isa 44:8;
Isa 45:21;
Isa 46:10).
suddenly--They came to pass so unexpectedly that the prophecy could not have resulted from mere human sagacity.
4 obstinate--Hebrew, "hard" (
Deut 9:27;
Ezek 3:7, Margin).
iron sinew--inflexible (
Acts 7:51).
brow brass--shameless as a harlot (see
Jer 6:28;
Jer 3:3;
Ezek 3:7, Margin).
5 (See on
Isa 48:1;
Isa 48:3).
6 Thou, &c.--So "ye are my witnesses" (
Isa 43:10). Thou canst testify the prediction was uttered long before the fulfilment: "see all this," namely, that the event answers to the prophecy.
declare--make the fact known as a proof that Jehovah alone is God (
Isa 44:8).
new things--namely, the deliverance from Babylon by Cyrus, new in contradistinction from former predictions that had been fulfilled (
Isa 42:9;
Isa 43:19). Antitypically, the prophecy has in view the "new things" of the gospel treasury (
Song 7:13;
Matt 13:52;
2Cor 5:17;
Rev 21:5). From this point forward, the prophecies as to Messiah's first and second advents and the restoration of Israel, have a new circumstantial distinctness, such as did not characterize the previous ones, even of Isaiah. Babylon, in this view, answers to the mystical Babylon of Revelation.
hidden--which could not have been guessed by political sagacity (
Dan 2:22,
Dan 2:29;
1Cor 2:9-10).
7 Not like natural results from existing causes, the events when they took place were like acts of creative power, such as had never before been "from the beginning."
even before the day when--rather [MAURER], "And before the day (of their occurrence) thou hast not heard of them"; that is, by any human acuteness; they are only heard of by the present inspired announcement.
8 heardest not--repeated, as also "knewest not," from
Isa 48:7.
from that time--Mine anger towards thee. Omit "that." "Yea, from "the first thine ear did not open itself," namely, to obey them [ROSENMULLER]. "To open the ear" denotes obedient attention (
Isa 50:5); or, "was not opened" to receive them; that is, they were not declared by Me to thee previously, since, if thou hadst been informed of them, such is thy perversity, thou couldst not have been kept in check [MAURER]. In the former view, the sense of the words following is, "For I knew that, if I had not foretold the destruction of Babylon so plainly that there could be no perverting of it, thou wouldst have perversely ascribed it to idols, or something else than to Me" (
Isa 48:5). Thus they would have relapsed into idolatry, to cure them of which the Babylonian captivity was sent: so they had done (
Exod 32:4). After the return, and ever since, they have utterly forsaken idols.
wast called--as thine appropriate appellation (
Isa 9:6).
from the womb--from the beginning of Israel's national existence (
Isa 44:2).
9 refrain--literally, "muzzle"; His wrath, after the return, was to be restrained a while, and then, because of their sins, let loose again (
Ps 78:38).
for thee--that is, that--omit "that": "From thee."
10 (See on
Isa 1:25).
with silver--rather, "for silver." I sought by affliction to purify thee, but thou wast not as silver obtained by melting, but as dross [GESENIUS]. Thy repentance is not complete: thou art not yet as refined silver. ROSENMULLER explains, "not as silver," not with the intense heat needed to melt silver (it being harder to melt than gold), that is, not with the most extreme severity. The former view is better (
Isa 1:25;
Isa 42:25;
Ezek 22:18-
Ezek 22:20,
Ezek 22:22).
chosen--or else [LOWTH], tried . . . proved: according to GESENIUS, literally, "to rub with the touchstone," or to cut in pieces so as to examine (
Zech 13:9;
Mal 3:3;
1Pet 1:7).
11 how should my name--MAURER, instead of "My name" from
Isa 48:9, supplies "My glory" from the next clause; and translates, "How (shamefully) My glory has been profaned!" In English Version the sense is, "I will refrain (
Isa 48:9, that is, not utterly destroy thee), for why should I permit My name to be polluted, which it would be, if the Lord utterly destroyed His elect people" (
Ezek 20:9)?
not give my glory unto another--If God forsook His people for ever, the heathen would attribute their triumph over Israel to their idols; so God's glory would be given to another.
12 The Almighty, who has founded heaven and earth, can, and will, restore His people.
the first . . . last-- (
Isa 41:4;
Isa 44:6).
13 spanned--measured out (
Isa 40:12).
when I call . . . stand up together-- (
Isa 40:26;
Jer 33:25). But it is not their creation so much which is meant, as that, like ministers of God, the heavens and the earth are prepared at His command to execute His decrees (
Ps 119:91) [ROSENMULLER].
14 among them--among the gods and astrologers of the Chaldees (
Isa 41:22;
Isa 43:9;
Isa 44:7).
Lord . . . loved him; he will, &c.--that is, "He whom the Lord hath loved will do," &c. [LOWTH]; namely, Cyrus (
Isa 44:28;
Isa 45:1,
Isa 45:13;
Isa 46:11). However, Jehovah's language of love is too strong to apply to Cyrus, except as type of Messiah, to whom alone it fully applies (
Rev 5:2-
Rev 5:5).
his pleasure--not Cyrus' own, but Jehovah's.
15 brought--led him on his way.
he--change from the first to the third person [BARNES]. Jehovah shall make his (Cyrus') way prosperous.
16 not . . . in secret-- (
Isa 45:19). Jehovah foretold Cyrus' advent, not with the studied ambiguity of heathen oracles, but plainly.
from the time, &c.--From the moment that the purpose began to be accomplished in the raising up of Cyrus I was present.
sent me--The prophet here speaks, claiming attention to his announcement as to Cyrus, on the ground of his mission from God and His Spirit. But he speaks not in his own person so much as in that of Messiah, to whom alone in the fullest sense the words apply (
Isa 61:1;
John 10:36). Plainly,
Isa 49:1, which is the continuation of the forty-eighth chapter, from
Isa 48:16, where the change of speaker from God (
Isa 48:1,
Isa 48:12-
Isa 48:15) begins, is the language of Messiah.
Luke 4:1,
Luke 4:14,
Luke 4:18, shows that the Spirit combined with the Father in sending the Son: therefore "His Spirit" is nominative to "sent," not accusative, following it.
17 teacheth . . . to profit--by affliction, such as the Babylonish captivity, and the present long-continued dispersion of Israel (
Heb 12:10).
18 peace-- (
Ps 119:165). Compare the desire expressed by the same Messiah (
Matt 23:37;
Luke 19:42).
river-- (
Isa 33:21;
Isa 41:18), a river flowing from God's throne is the symbol of free, abundant, and ever flowing blessings from Him (
Ezek 47:1;
Zech 14:8;
Rev 22:1).
righteousness--religious prosperity; the parent of "peace" or national prosperity; therefore "peace" corresponds to "righteousness" in the parallelism (
Isa 32:17).
19 sand--retaining the metaphor of "the sea" (
Isa 48:18).
like the gravel thereof--rather, as the Hebrew, "like that (the offspring) of its (the sea's) bowels"; referring to the countless living creatures, fishes, &c., of the sea, rather than the gravel [MAURER]. JEROME, Chaldee, and Syriac support English Version.
his name . . . cut off--transition from the second person, "thy," to the third "his." Israel's name was cut off "as a nation" during the Babylonish captivity; also it is so now, to which the prophecy especially looks (
Rom 11:20).
20 Go . . . forth . . . end of the earth--Primarily, a prophecy of their joyful deliverance from Babylon, and a direction that they should leave it when God opened the way. But the publication of it "to the ends of the earth" shows it has a more world-wide scope antitypically;
Rev 18:4 shows that the mystical Babylon is ultimately meant.
redeemed . . . Jacob-- (
Isa 43:1;
Isa 44:22-
Isa 44:23).
21 Ezra, in describing the return, makes no mention of God cleaving the rock for them in the desert [KIMCHI]. The circumstances, therefore, of the deliverance from Egypt (
Exod 17:6;
Num 20:11;
Ps 78:15;
Ps 105:41) and of that from Babylon, are blended together; the language, while more immediately referring to the latter deliverance, yet, as being blended with circumstances of the former not strictly applicable to the latter, cannot wholly refer to either, but to the mystic deliverance of man under Messiah, and literally to the final restoration of Israel.
22 Repeated (
Isa 57:21). All the blessings just mentioned (
Isa 48:21) belong only to the godly, not to the wicked. Israel shall first cast away its wicked unbelief before it shall inherit national prosperity (
Zech 12:10-
Zech 12:14;
Zech 13:1,
Zech 13:9;
Zech 14:3,
Zech 14:14,
Zech 14:20-
Zech 14:21). The sentiment holds good also as to all wicked men (
Job 15:20-
Job 15:25,
Job 15:31-
Job 15:34).
Messiah, as the ideal Israel (
Isa 49:3), states the object of His mission, His want of success for a time, yet His certainty of ultimate success.