Isaiah 43:8

Bring forth i.e. not "from exile," but "before the tribunal." The sense demands an imperat., and the Heb. pointing (which gives a perf.) must be altered accordingly.

a blind people that have eyes "a people which is blind and yet has eyes &c." This cannot mean "a people onceblind and deaf, but nowin possession of sight and hearing"; and it scarcely means anything so subtle as "a people which though blind and deaf yet possesses the organs of sight and hearing," and therefore can be made to see and hear (Isaiah 43:10). The paradox is the same as in ch. Isaiah 42:20 ("thou hast seen many things but thou observest not," &c.) and goes back to ch. Isaiah 6:9 ff.; the sense being that while Israel lacks insight into the divine meaning of its own history, it is nevertheless a perfectly competent witness to the bare external facts; it has heardthe predictions and seenthem fulfilled.