_Keep_, &c. “The prophet, having in view the subversion of idolatry, had, in the former chapter, from Isaiah 41:18, argued against it, from the essence and nature of God, the supreme Creator and Ruler of the world, being such as not to be represented by any corporeal matter or figure. To this disput... [ Continue Reading ]
_Who raised up_ Into being and power? Was it not my work alone? _The righteous man_ Many expositors understand this of Abraham, who was a person eminently righteous, and was called from the other side of the Euphrates, which lay eastward from Judea, and who performed the things here mentioned, partl... [ Continue Reading ]
_Who hath done it?_ Whose work was this but mine? _Calling the generations_ Calling them out of nothing; giving them breath and being; disposing and employing them as I see fit: _from the beginning_ All persons and generations of mankind from the beginning of the world. _I the Lord, the first_, &c.... [ Continue Reading ]
_But thou, Israel, art my servant_ Thus the Gentiles show themselves to be the servants of their idols, and own them for their gods: but thou art my people, and I am and will be thy God. _Jacob, whom I have chosen_ Out of the multitude of idolatrous nations, to be my peculiar people. _The seed of Ab... [ Continue Reading ]
_Fear not, thou worm Jacob_ Who art weak in thyself, despised and trodden under foot by thy proud and potent enemies. _I will make thee a new sharp thrashing instrument_ Such as were usual in those times and places. _Thou shall thrash the mountains and hills_ The great and lofty potentates of the wo... [ Continue Reading ]
_When the poor and needy seek water_, &c. When my poor people are come to the greatest extremity of danger and misery, then will I appear for their relief. _I will open rivers in high places_ Upon the hills and mountains, where, by the course of nature, there are no rivers; _and fountains in the mid... [ Continue Reading ]
_Produce your cause_ He renews his challenge to the idolaters to plead the cause of their idols, and give convincing proof of their divinity: see on Isaiah 41:1. _Bring forth your strong reasons_ Hebrew, הגישׁו עצמותיכם, which Bishop Lowth renders, “Produce these your mighty powers;” and Jerome, “Ac... [ Continue Reading ]
_I have raised up_, &c. You neither foreknow, nor can do any thing. But I do now fore-tel, and will certainly effect, a great revolution and change in the world, which you shall not be able to hinder; _one from the north_ Cyrus might be said to come _from the north_, because he was a Mede by his mot... [ Continue Reading ]
_Who hath declared from the beginning_ Which of your idols could foretel such things as these from the beginning of the world unto this day? _And beforetime_ Before the things come to pass. _That we may say, He is righteous_ His cause is good; he is a God indeed. _Yea, there is none that showeth_ He... [ Continue Reading ]
_The first shall say_, &c. Hebrew, ראשׁון לציון, literally, _first_, or _the first to Zion;_ which words some interpret thus: I, who am the first, (Isaiah 41:4,) do and will foretel to my people things to come. _Behold, behold them_ I represent things future (namely, the rise of Cyrus, and the deliv... [ Continue Reading ]
_For I beheld_ I looked to see if I could find any of them that could certainly foretel future events; _and there was no man_ Not any of the idols; for the word _man_ is sometimes used by the Hebrews of brute creatures, and even of lifeless things. _There was no counsellor_ Though these idols were o... [ Continue Reading ]