Isaiah 50:2

Jehovah expresses surprise that His message of redemption (delivered through the prophet) has been received with so little enthusiasm by the people.

was there no man? The expression occurs again in Isaiah 59:16; in both places the indefinite "man" is explained by the second member of the parallelism; here, therefore, it means "no man to answer."

Is my hand shortened at all &c. Is it the case that my hand is too short to redeem? (cf. Isaiah 59:1). And the unreasonableness of such doubts as to Jehovah's power is then proved by an appeal to His mighty works in the natural sphere, probably with a special allusion to the miracles of the Exodus period.

at( by) my rebuke Cf. ch. Isaiah 17:13; esp. Psalms 104:7; Psalms 106:9.

I make[the rivers a wilderness Psalms 107:33.

their fish stinketh &c. Exodus 7:18.