Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. The former were local and temporary in their reference. These belong to the distant future, and are world-wide in their interest. The deliverance from Babylon under Cyrus, which he here foretells, by prophetic suggestion, carries him on to the gre... [ Continue Reading ]
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD's hand double for all her sins. SPEAK YE COMFORTABLY - literally, to the heart; not merely to the intellect. SPEAK YE COMFORTABLY - literally, t... [ Continue Reading ]
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. THE VOICE OF HIM THAT CRIETH IN THE WILDERNESS. So the Septuagint and connect the words. The Hebrew accents, however, connect them thus: 'In the wilderness prepare ye... [ Continue Reading ]
Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: EVERY VALLEY SHALL BE EXALTED ... Eastern monarchs send heralds before them in a journey, to clear away obstacles, make causeways over valleys, and le... [ Continue Reading ]
And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. ALL FLESH SHALL SEE IT. The Septuagint for "it" have 'the salvation of God.' So (cf. , "mine eyes have seen thy salvation" - i:e., Messiah); but the evangelist probably too... [ Continue Reading ]
The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: THE VOICE SAID, CRY. The same divine herald as in . AND HE SAID, WHAT SHALL I CRY? "He" - one of those ministers or prophets (note, ) whose duty it was, by dire... [ Continue Reading ]
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. THE GRASS WITHERETH ... BECAUSE THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD BLOWETH UPON IT - or, the wind of Yahweh (). The withering east wind of those countries sent by Yahweh (). But the Spirit of... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE GRASS WITHERETH, THE FLOWER FADETH: BUT THE WORD OF OUR GOD SHALL STAND FOR EVER._ NO JFB COMMENTARY ON THIS VERSE.... [ Continue Reading ]
O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! O ZION, THAT BRINGEST GOOD THINGS ... O JERUSALEM, THAT BRINGEST GOOD TIDINGS.... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. WILL COME WITH STRONG (HAND) - rather, as a strong one ( bªchaazaaq (H2389): the "b" being the Beth essentioe). 'With strength,' the Septuagint, Vulgate, Chald... [ Continue Reading ]
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. HE SHALL FEED HIS FLOCK - including all a shepherd's care: tend (; ; ; ). CARRY (THEM) IN HIS BOSOM - applicable to Messiah's restorati... [ Continue Reading ]
Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Lest the Jews should suppose that He who was just before described as a "shepherd" is a... [ Continue Reading ]
Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him? WHO HATH DIRECTED THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD, OR (BEING) HIS COUNSELOR, HATH TAUGHT HIM? The Hebrew here for "directed" ( tikeen (H8505)) is the same as in Isaiah 40:12 for "meted out;" thus the sense is, 'Yahweh measu... [ Continue Reading ]
With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding? (WHO) ... TAUGHT HIM IN THE PATH OF JUDGMENT - the way of rightly regulating all things. Who taught Him in the wisdom whereby He so bea... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. OF - literally, (hanging) from a bucket ( midliy (H1805)). HE TAKETH UP THE ISLES AS A VERY LITTLE THING - or, 'the isles are as a mere grain... [ Continue Reading ]
And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. LEBANON IS NOT SUFFICIENT TO BURN - All Lebanon's forests would not supply fuel enough to burn sacrifices worthy of the glory of God (; ; Psalms 50:8. NOR THE BEASTS THEREOF - which abounded in Leban... [ Continue Reading ]
All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity. ALL NATIONS BEFORE HIM (ARE) AS NOTHING - (Psalms 62:9; Daniel 4:35.) LESS THAN NOTHING. Maurer translates ( mee'epec (H657)) as in Isa. 12:24 , of nothing (the Hebrew particle min (H4480) is part... [ Continue Reading ]
To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? TO WHOM THEN WILL YE LIKEN GOD? - Which of the pagan idols, then, is to be compared to this Almighty God? This passage, if not written, as Barnes thinks, so late as the idolatrous times of Manasseh, has at least a prospec... [ Continue Reading ]
The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains. THE WORKMAN MELTETH A GRAVEN IMAGE. "Graven" - Hebrew, pecel (H6459); rather, an image in general; because it is incongruous to say melteth (i:e., casts out of metal) a graven image (i:e... [ Continue Reading ]
He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved. HE THAT (IS) SO IMPOVERISHED - literally, sunk in circumstances. THAT HE HATH NO OBLATION - he who cannot afford to o... [ Continue Reading ]
Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? HAVE YE NOT KNOW? - who worship idols. The question emphatically implies they had known. FROM THE BEGINNING - (; ; .) God is the beginning (). The tradi... [ Continue Reading ]
It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: (IT IS) HE THAT SITTETH - rather, connected with last verse, 'Have ye not known? have ye not understood... [ Continue Reading ]
That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. THAT BRINGETH THE PRINCES TO NOTHING - (; .) THE JUDGES - i:e., rulers; because these exercised judicial authority (). The Hebrew shoptee, answers to the Carthagenian chief magistrates, suffetes.... [ Continue Reading ]
Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. THEY - the 'princes and judges' () who oppose God's purposes and God's peopl... [ Continue Reading ]
To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. TO WHOM THEN WILL YE LIKEN ME? - resuming .... [ Continue Reading ]
Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth. BRINGETH OUT THEIR HOST BY NUMBER - image from a general reviewing his army. H... [ Continue Reading ]
Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God? WHY SAYEST THOU, O JACOB ... MY WAY IS HID FROM THE LORD? - Since these things are so, thou hast no reason to think that thine interests ("way" - i:e., condition, ; ) are di... [ Continue Reading ]
Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard that the everlasting God the LORD the Creator of the ends of Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. HA... [ Continue Reading ]
He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. HE GIVETH POWER TO THE FAINT - Not only does He 'not faint' (), but He gives power to them who do faint. TO (THEM THAT HAVE) NO MIGHT HE INCREASETH STRENGTH - a seeming paradox. They "have no might" in themsel... [ Continue Reading ]
Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: THE YOUNG MEN (Hebrew, bachuwriym (H970)) - literally, those selected. men picked out on account of their youthful vigour for an enterprise. SHALL UTTERLY FALL - Hebrew, falling, shall fall.... [ Continue Reading ]
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. THEY SHALL MOUNT UP (2 Samuel 1:23) - literally, they shall make their wing to ascend [ ya`ªluw (H5927) 'eeber (H83)]. Or el... [ Continue Reading ]