Isaiah 42 - Introduction

The high destiny of Israel as the Servant of Jehovah contrasted with its present abasement and unfitness for its mission

The two preceding Chapter s were to some extent introductory to what follows. Nearly all the leading ideas of the prophecy have been already expressed, and all the personages of the drama Jehovah, Israel, Cyrus, the nations and their gods have been brought upon the stage, or at least have been mentioned. With this chapter the prophet begins to amplify and develope the various conceptions, already touched upon, by means of which he is enabled to interpret the action of Jehovah in the present crisis of history. And the first which he takes up is the thought of Israel, Jehovah's Servant. Up to ch. Isaiah 44:23, that is the central and recurrent idea; in the end of that chapter the figure of Cyrus comes to the front, and the main theme for several Chapter s is the mission which he executes in the service of Jehovah. But the treatment is nowhere exhaustive; and although the minor sections are remarkably distinct, sharply defined stages or advances in the general thought can hardly be found. The writer glides rapidly from one theme to another, frequently returning on his track; and while some conceptions are dropped as he proceeds, there are others, and these the most important, which run on to the close.

In the view of many expositors, indeed, an entirely new personage is introduced in the opening verses of this chapter, namely, the Servant of Jehovah, whom these writers hold to be distinct from Israel. This is the deepest problem in the whole prophecy, and is only to be solved by paying the closest attention to the exegesis of the individual passages and the prophet's general scheme of thought. As supplementing the notes on Isaiah 42:1 below, see Introduction, pp. xxxii xxxvii, and Appendix, Note I.

Ch. 42 consists of three divisions:

i. Isa 42:1-9. The ideal calling and function of Israel.

(1) Isaiah 42:1. A portrait of Israel as the Lord's Servant from the point of view of Jehovah, who is the speaker.

(2) Isaiah 42:5. The truth embodied in the portrait is held up as a ground of encouragement to Israel; Jehovah, as it were, pledges His Godhead to the fulfilment of the ideal in the experience of the people.

ii. Isa 42:10-17. The prophet's thoughts are thus led forward to the great redemptive act by which Jehovah will raise Israel to the height of its glorious destiny.

(1) Isaiah 42:10 are a poem calling on the whole earth to rejoice in Jehovah's triumph over His enemies.

(2) Isaiah 42:14. Jehovah Himself is then introduced as the speaker, announcing that He will rouse Himself from His long inactivity, to bring about the redemption of His people, and the consequent overthrow of idolatry.

iii. Isa 42:18-25. The prophet addresses himself to Israel in its present state of blindness and wretchedness. He calls on the exiles to reflect on all that they have suffered at the hand of their God, and to recognise in it the effect of their obduracy and unfaithfulness to their calling, their misuse of religious privileges, and their positive transgressions of the law of Jehovah.