CHAPTER LII _Jerusalem, in manifest allusion to the strong figure employed_ _in the close of the preceding chapter, is represented as fallen_ _asleep in the dust, and in that helpless state bound by her_ _enemies. The prophet, with all the ardour natural to one who_ _had such joyful news to com... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 52:2. _SIT DOWN, O JERUSALEM_ - "Ascend thy lofty seat, O Jerusalem"] The literal rendering here is, according to our English translation, "arise, sit;" on which a very learned person remarks: "So the old versions. But sitting is an expression of mourning in Scripture and the ancients;... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 52:4. _THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD_] אדני יהוה _Adonai Jehovah_; but _Adonai_ is wanting in _twelve_ of _Kennicott's_, _five_ of _De_ _Rossi's_, and two of my own MSS.; and by the _Septuagint_ and _Arabic._ Some MSS. have יהוה צבאות _Jehovah tsebaoth_, "Lord of hosts;" and others have יהוה... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 52:5. _THEY THAT RULE OVER THEM_ - "They that are lords over them"] For משלו _moshelo_, singular, in the text, more than a hundred and twenty MSS. (_De Rossi_ says, codices innumeri, "numberless copies") have משליו _moshelaiv_, plural, according to the Masoretical correction in the marg... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 52:6. _THEREFORE MY PEOPLE SHALL KNOW_] The word לכן _lachen_, occurring the second time in this verse, seems to be repeated by mistake. It has no force nor emphasis as a repetition; it only embarrasses the construction and the sense. It was not in the copies from which the _Septuagint,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 52:7. _HOW BEAUTIFUL_] The watchmen discover afar off, on the mountains, the messenger bringing the expected and much-wished-for news of the deliverance from the Babylonish captivity. They immediately spread the joyful tidings, Isaiah 52:8, and with a loud voice proclaim that JEHOVAH is... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 52:8. _THY WATCHMEN LIFT UP THE VOICE_ - "All thy watchmen lift up their voice"] There is a difficulty in the construction of this place which, I think, none of the ancient versions or modern interpreters have cleared up satisfactorily. Rendered word for word it stands thus: "The voice... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 52:9. _HE HATH REDEEMED JERUSALEM _- "He hath redeemed Israel."] For the word ירושלם _yerushalaim_, which occurs the second time in this verse, MS. Bodleian and another read ישראל _yisrael_. It is upon a rasure in a third; and left unpointed at first, as suspected, in a fourth. It was a... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 52:11. _DEPART YE, DEPART YE, GO YE OUT FROM THENCE_] The Prophet Jeremiah seems to have had his eye on this passage of Isaiah, and to have applied it to a subject directly opposite. It is here addressed by the prophet in a way of encouragement and exhortation to the Jews coming out of... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 52:13. _MY SERVANT SHALL DEAL PRUDENTLY_] ישכיל _yaskil, shall_ _prosper_, or _act prosperously_. The subject of Isaiah's prophecy, from the fortieth chapter inclusive, has hitherto been, in general, the deliverance of the people of God. This includes in it _three distinct parts_; which... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 52:14. _AS MANY WERE ASTONISHED AT THEE_ - "As many were astonished at him"] For עליך _aleicha_ read עליו _alaiv_. So the _Syriac, Chaldee_, and _Vulgate_ in a MS.; and so likewise two ancient MSS. _HIS VISAGE WAS SO MARRED MORE THAN ANY MAN_] Most interpreters understand this of the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Isaiah 52:15. _SO SHALL HE SPRINKLE MANY NATIONS_] I retain the common rendering, though I am by no means satisfied with it. "יזה _yazzeh_, frequent in the law, means only to sprinkle: but the water sprinkled is the accusative case; the thing on which has על _al_ or אל _el_. θαυμασονταιο, mak... [ Continue Reading ]