K U¹ 45:16-25. The nations. U² 46:1-13. Babylon's idols. U³ 47:1-15. Babylon. Doom.
U¹ V a 16. Idoaters. Their shame and confusion. b 17. Israel. Saved c 18-. Earth. Its formation. d -18. None besides Yehovah. e 19-. The oracles of God. Plain. f -19. Call to the seed of Jacob. W 20-. The escaped Nation. Called. V a -20. Idolaters. Their ignorance. b 21. Israel's Saviour c 22-. Earth. Call to. d -22. "None besid Elohim". e 23. The oath of God. Sure. f 24,25. Call to the seed of Israel.
603-588 B.C.
16 They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of images.
17 But Israel shall be saved in Yehovah with an everlasting salvation (see "ancient" people 44:7): you all shall not be ashamed nor confounded the ages of futurity.
18 For thus says Yehovah the Creator of the heavens (note how these expressions are heaped together to impress us with the fact that the One Who created all ought to be able to tell us, better than ignorant man, how He created it.); Elohim Himself the Former (or, Fashioner) of the earth and the Maker of it; He has established it, He created it (it did not come of itself by evolution. See Gen.1:1) not in vain (Heb. tohu. The same word as in Gen.1:2 ["without form"]. Therefore it must have become tohu: which is exactly what Gen.1:2 declares [see note there]. In Gen.1:1. we have "the world that then was" [cp. 2 Pet.3:6]; and in v.2 we have the ruin into which it fell. We are not told how, when, or why, or how long it lasted. When geologists have settled how many years they require, they may place them between vv.1 and 2 of Gen.1. In Gen.1:2-2:4, we have :the heavens and the earth which are now" of 2 Pet.3:7. Both are set in contrast with the "new heaven [age] and the new earth [age] of 2 Pet.3:13), He formed it to be inhabited (by His children, and you can find dinosaurs in Alaska with butter-cups in their mouths. He created it beautiful, He did not create it in void, a lumpy mass of nothingness, as some would have you belive): I Am Yehovah;
and there is none else.
19 I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: (If God declares things that are right, then why should there be discentions, disputes? All you have to do is listen clearly to what the Father says. He did not create the earth in a chaotic form - It became that way because of Satan's rebellion. See 2 Pet.3:5-10,13)
I said not to the seed of Jacob, ‘Seek yu all Me in vain:’ (Heb. tohu.Repeated from v.18. Yehovah did not command His People to seek Him in a pathless and trackless waste, where there was no indications of how He is to be found; but in His Word, where He has revealed Himself clearly and distictly: not "in secret" or "in darkness". See Deut.30:11. See 24:10) I Yehovah speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.
20 Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, all you that are escaped of the nations:
they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray to a god that cannot save.
21 Tell you all, and bring them near (i.e. the "image" and "god" of v.20); yes, let them take counsel together: who has declared this from ancient time? who has told it from that time? have not I Yehovah? and there is no God (Elohim) else beside Me; a just El and a Saviour; there is none beside Me.
22 Look to Me, and be you all saved, all the ends of the earth:
for I am God (El), and there is none else.
23 I have sworn by myself (quoted in Rom.14:11; and Phil.2:10. See Gen.22:16), the word is gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. (ascribed to Christ in the qutation above)
24 ‘Surely,’ shall one say, ‘in Yehovah have I righteousness and strength:’ even to Him shall one come; and all that are incensed against Him shall be ashamed.
25 In Yehovah shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.’ (see "give light" 13:10)
U² X 1,2. Impotence of idols. Y g 3,4. Call to hear. h 5. Challenge as to comparison. X 6,7. Impotence of Idols. Y h 8-11. Challenge as to comparison. g 12,13. Call to hear.
46)
1 Bel bows down (abbeviation of Baal = lord. Here = Zeus, or Jupiter of the Greek and Roman mythology), Nebo stoops (answers to the Egyptian Anubis, Greek Hermes, and Roman Mercurius [cp. Acts 14:12]. These gods were indeed brought down. In the Inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar, pp.15,21 [Oppert, Rheims,1866], found at Hillel in 1867 by Sir Hartford Jones, and now in the British Museum, these gods are mentioned, and in this order, with Meodach [Jer.50:2]. It is a block of black basalt in ten columns, making 620 lines), their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: the things you all carried about (i.e. in procession [Amos 5:26]) are become a burden; [are even now] loaded on beasts [for exile].
2 They stoop, they bow down together; and they could not deliver the burden, but themselves (thei soul) are gone into captivity.
3 “Listen to Me, O house of Jacob (see 2:5), and all the remnant of the house of Israel (see 5:7), who are borne by Me from the belly (see Ex.19:4. Deut.1:31; 32:11), and who are carried from the womb:
4 And even to your old age I Am He; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; yes, I will carry, and will deliver you.
5 To whom will you all liken Me, and make Me equal, and compare Me, that We may be like?
6 They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith; and he makes it a god: they fall down, yes, they worship.
7 They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he stands; from his place shall he not remove: yes, one shall cry to him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble.
8 Remember this (see Deu.32:7), and show yourselves men: bring it again to mind, O all you transgressors.
9 Remember the former things of old: for I Am El, and there is none else; I Am Elohim, and there is none like Me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure:’
11 Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man of My counsel from a far country (i.e. Cyrus, a type o Messiah, set apart by God for this special service): yes, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass (see Num.23:19); I have purposed it, I will also do it.
12 Listen to Me, all you stouthearted, that are far from
righteousness:
13 I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and My salvation will not b too late: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel My glory.
U³ Z 1-5. Call to Babylon. Darkness and silence. A i 6,7. Crimination. Cruelty and self-exaltation. k 8,9. Retribution. Widowhood. A i 10. Crimination. Evil and self-deification. k 11. Retribution. Evil and desolation. Z 12-15. Call to Babylon. Impotence.
47)
1 Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon (cp. Tyre [23:12], and see 37:22. Ps.137:28), sit on the earth: throneless, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for you shall no more be called tender and delicate.
2 Take the millstones, and grind meal (the work of slaves [Ex.11:5. Matt.24:41]): remove your veil, lift up your skirts (or train), uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers.
3 Your nakedness shall be uncovered, yes, your shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not accept or regard any man.
4 As for our Redeemer, Yehovah Sabaioth is His name, the Set Apart One of Israel.
5 Sit you silent, and get you into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for you shall no more be called, The mistress kingdoms. (the king of Babylon called himself "the King Vicar" [Oppet, Inscription of Nebuchadnezzar,p.15]. Cp. Ezek.26:7. Dan.2:37 So the popes name themselves, and are so addressed when crowned.Cp. Rev.18:7)
6 I was wroth with My people, I have polluted My inheritance, and given them into your hand: you did show them no mercy (cp. 2 Kings 25:5,6,26. Jer.50:17; 51:34); upon the elder have you very heavily laid your yoke. (cp. Zech.1:15)
7 And you sai, ‘I shall be a lady for ever:’ so that you did not lay these things to your heart, neither did remember the issue thereof. (but some codices read, "your latter end". See Deut.32:29)
8 Therefore hear now this, you that are given to pleasures, that dwells confidently, that say in your heart, ‘I am, and none else beside me (Babylon and Rome claim the Divine attributes, as used in these Chapters. Cp. 45:6,14; 46:9); I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of sons:’
9 But these two things shall come to you in a moment in one day, the loss of sons, and widowhood: they shall come upon you in their full measure for the multitude of your sorceries, and for the great abundance of your enchantments.
10 For you have confided in your wickedness: you have said, ‘None sees me.’ Your wisdom and your knowledge, it has perverted you; and you have said in your heart, ‘I am, and none else beside me.’
11 Therefore shall calamity come upon you; you shall not know from which place it rises: and ruin shall fall upon you (especially as prepared for others); you shall not be able to expiate it (or charm it away): and desolation shall come upon you suddenly, which you shall not know.
12 Persist in your enchantments, and with the multitude of your sorceries, wherein you have laboured from your youth; if so be you shall be able to profit, if so be you may strike terror.
13 You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels. Let now the astrologers (the scientist of Babylon were divided into 3 classes: writers of (1) charms to be placed on afflicted persons or houses; (2) formulae of incantations; (3) records of observations which mixed up astronomy with astrology, and resulted, in the case of any two successive or concurrent events, in the conclusion that one was the cause of the other; and, the further conclusion was reached by reasoning from the "particlar" to the "general"), the stargazers, they who make known the future by observing new moons (see the 5th "creation tablet" [British Museum]), stand up, and save you from these things that shall come upon you.
14 Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves (their souls) from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it.
15 Thus shall they be to you with whom you have laboured, even your merchants (cp. Rev.18:11-19), from your youth: stagger onward every one to his quarter; none shall save you.
N l¹ 1,2. Israel. Call to hear. m¹ 3. Yehovah. Foreknowledge. l² 4. Israel. Obstinancy. m² 5. Yehovah. Foreknowledge. l³ 6-. Israel. Unheedful. m³ -6,7. Yehvah. Foreknowledge. l4 8. Israel. Treachery. m4 9-11. Yehovah. Forebearance. l5 12-. Israel. Call to hear. m5 -12,13. Yehovah. The only God. l6 14-. Israel. Call to assemble and hear. m6 -14,15. Yehovah. Fore-love. l7 16-. Israel. Call to hear. m7 -16,17. Yehovah. The only God. l8 18,19. Israel. Apostophe. m8 20,21. Yehovah. Redeemer and Suplier. l9 22. Israel. Sentence.
48)
1 Hear you all this, O house of Jacob (see 2:5), which are called by the name of Israel (see Gen.32:28; 35:10. Designates spiritual descent, while "Jacob" denotes natural descent), and are come forth out of the waters of Judah (some codices read "days"), which swear by the name of Yehovah (see Deut.6:13), and make mention of the Elohim of Israel (see 29:23), but not in truth (see 10:20), nor in righteousness.
2 For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the Elohim of Israel; Yehovah Sabaioth is His name. (see 1 Sam.1:3)
3 I have declared the former things from the beginning (such as the birth of Isaac, the Exodus, &c.); and they went forth out of My mouth, and I showed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass.
4 Because I knew that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew (see Ex.32:9), and your brow brass;
5 I have even from the beginning declared it to you; before it came to pass I showed it to you: lest you should say, ‘My idol has done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, has commanded them.’
6 You have heard, look close into all this; and will not you all declare it?
I have showed you new things from this time, even hidden things, and you did not know them.
7 They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when you heard them not; lest you should say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’
8 Yea, you heard not; yes, you knew not; yes, from that time that your ear was not opened: for I knew that you would deal very treacherously, and was called a rebel from the womb.
9 For My name's sake (see Ps.20:1) will I defer My anger, and for My praise will I refrain for you, that I cut you not off.
10 Behold, I have refined you, but not with silver; I have chosen you in the furnace of humiliation (or oppression).
11 For My own sake, even for My own sake, will I do it: for how should My name be polluted? and I will not give My glory to another. (see Ex.20:5. Cp. 42:8)
12 Listen to me, O Jacob and Israel (i.e. the natural and spiritual seed. See v.1. Some codices read "Jacob My servant"), My called;
I Am He; I am the first, I also am the last. (cp.41:4; 44:6)
13 My hand also has laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand has stretched out the heavens: when I call to them, they stand up together (to listen to My words).
14 All you all, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among you has declared these things?
Yehovah has loved him (i.e. Cyrus: 45:1; 46:10,11): He will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans. (fig., put for the judgment inflicted by it)
15 I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.
16 Come you all near to Me, hear you all this;
I have not spoken in secret from the beginning (see Deut.30:11. Cp. 45:19); from the time that it was, there am I: and now Adonai Yehovah, and His Spirit, has sent Me.” (or, has set both Me and His Spirit: i.e. the prophet, and His Spirit the inspirer of the message sen by Isaiah [cp. Acts 28:25], "well spoke the Holy Spirit by Isaiah", &c. Note the great doctrine of the trinity)
17 Thus saay Yehovah, your Kinsman-Redeemer (legal term. It's His right to buy you out of hell if He wants to), the Set Apart One of Israel; I Am Yehovah your Elohim Which teaches you to profit, Which leads you by the way (journey, path) that you should go.
18 O that you had listen to my commandments! (see Deut.5:29. Cp. Ps.81:13) then had your well-being (or prsperity) been as the river, and your righteousness as the waves of the sea:
19 Your seed also had been as the sand (see Gen.22:17; 32:12), and the offspring of your bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before Me.
20 Go you all forth of Babylon, flee you all from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare you all, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say you all, ‘Yehovah has redeemed His servant Jacob. (see 37:35)
21 And they thirsted not when He led them through the deserts (see Deut.8:2): He caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them (see Ex.17:6. Num.20:11): He clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out.’
22 There is no peace,” (cp. 57:20) says Yehovah, “to lawless ones. (i.e. the wicked in Israel)
M B 49:1-12. The Messiah in Person. His call, qualifications, and mission.
C 49:13-26. Zion. Her reconciliation, restoration, and enlargement.
D 50:1-11. Sin: the cause of Separation.
E G 51:1-8. The call to "Listen".
H 51:9 - 52:12. The call to Israel ("Awake").
F 52:13 - 53:12. Messiah's propitiatory work.
E G 54:1 - 56:8. The call to "Sing" and "come".
H 56:9 - 58:14. The call to Israel's enemies("Devour").
D 59:1-21. Sin: the cause of Seperation.
C 60:1-22. Zion. Her reconciliation, restoration, and enlargement.
B 61:1 - 66:24. The Messiah in Person. His anointing, and final victory.
B n¹ 1,2. Messiah. Called. o¹ 3. Object. Yehovah's glory. p¹ 4. Reception. n² 5-. Messiah. Formed. o² -5,6. Object. Yehovah's glory. p² 7. Reception. n³ 8. Messiah. Given. o² 9-11. Object. Israel's blessing. p³ 12. Reception.
49)
1 Listen, O maritime-countries (see 11:11), to Me; and listen, all you peoples, from far; Yehovah has called Me from the womb (fulfilled in Matt.1:18. Luke 1:28. The Messiah prophesied of in 7:14. Neither Isaiah, nor Israel, nor the Church); from the bowels of My mother has He made mention of My name.
2 And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword (cp. Rev.1:16; 2:12,16; 19:15); in the shadow of His hand has He hid Me, and made Me a polished (or, pointed) arrow; in His quiver has He hid Me; (30 years at Nazareth. 18 of which in England? See "Traditions of Glastonbury" by E. Raymond Capt)
3 And said to Me, ’You are My Servant, O Israel (= Prince of El [God]. Messiah making this use of, and implying the name to Himself. Israel could not "raise up" Israel, v.6. Christ is called "Israel" in the same way that he is called "David"; and Ps.24:6, "Jacob"), in Whom I will be glorified.’
4 Then I said (or, thought: i.e. said to Myself), ‘I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength (to endure) for nought (Heb. tohu. See 24:10), and in vain: yet surely My vindication is with Yehovah, and My recompence with My Elohim.
5 And now,” says Yehovah That formed Me from the womb (God chose many before the "womb")
to be His servant, to bring Jacob again to Him, “Though Israel be gathered to Him (marked in margin to read "to Him", which is confirmed by the list of such readings in the Massorah. If [in "be not gathered"], the negative be read, then the "though" and the "yet" must be retained; but if the preposition with suffix be read, then the rendering of the clause will be "to bring Jacob again to Him, and that Israel to Him might be gathered, and I be glorious", &c. Probably both readings may be correct, for Israel was not gathered at His first coming [John1:11], but will be at His second coming), yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of Yehovah, and My Elohim shall be My strength”. (for victory)
6 And He said, “It is a small thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give You for a light to the Nations (They are all His children. Heb. goyim. Cp.42:6. Therefore not the secret [or Mystery] of the Epistle to the Ephesians. Cp. Gen.12:3. Luke 2:29-32. Quoted in Luke 32. Acts 13:47), that You (this cannot be Israel, for it is expressly fulfilled in Christ) may be My salvation to the end of the earth.” (Fig., put for the Saviour Who worked salvation)
7 Thus says Yehovah, the Kinsman-Redeemer of Israel, and His Set Apart One, “Whom their (i.e. Israel's) soul despises (Cp. 53:3. Ps.42:5,6. Matt.26:67. 1 Cor.2:14), to Him Whom the nation (Heb. goi: i.e heathen nation. So called here for its unbelief and rejection of the Messiah) abhores, to a servant of rulers (cp. Ps.2:2. Matt.27:41), Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of Yehovah That is faithful, and the Set Apart One of Israel, and He shall choose You.”
8 Thus says Yehovah, “In a time of acceptance have I answered You (we are almost there. Quoted in 2 Cor.6:2), and in a day of salvation have I helped You: and I will preserve You, and give You for the covenant of a People (cp. 42:6,7. Heb. ’ãm, noy goi as in v.7), to raise up the Land, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; (see 1:7)
9 That You may say to the prisoners (this cannot be the nation, but Messiah), ‘Go forth;’ (cp. 42:7; 61:1) and to them that are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.
10 They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for He That has mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall He cause them to rest. (quoted in Rom.7:16)
11 And I will make all My mountains a way, and My highways shall be exalted. (see 7:5)
12 Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.“ (probably = China. Occurs only here)
C 13. Introduction. The call to Rejoice.J 14. Zion's despondency. K 15-23-. Answer. Promise. L -23. Yehovah the only God. J 24. Zion's dspondency. K 25,26-. Answer. Prophecy. L -26. Yehovah. The only God.
13 Shout in triumph, O heaven; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing (see 14:7), O mountains: for Yehovah has comforted His People (cp. 40:1; 51:3), and will have mercy upon His afflicted.
14 But Zion said (this sets at rest the conflicting interpretations), “Yehovah has forsaken me (see 1:4), and Yehovah has forgotten me.”
K q 15,16. Zion. Not forgotten. r 17,18. Her sons. Returned. q 19. Zion. Enlarged. r 20-23-. Her sons. Repleneshed.
15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yes, they may forget, yet will I not forget you.
16 Behold, I have graven you upon the palms of My hands (denoting permanence); your walls are continually before me.
17 Your sons shall make haste; your destroyers and they that made you waste shall go forth of you.
18 Lift up your eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to you. “As I live,” says Yehovah, “you shall surely cloth yourself with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on you, as a bride does. (first occ. in this connection)
19 For your waste and your desolate places, and the land of your destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed you up shall be far away.
20 The sons which you shall have, after you have lost the other (= of your childlessness, or, of whom you were bereaved), shall say again in your ears, ‘The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.’
21 And shall you say in your heart, ‘Who has begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; and these, where were tey?’ ”
22 Thus says Adonai Yehovah, “Behold, I will lift up My hand (Idiom put for "call") to the nations, and set up My standard to the peoples: and they shall bring your sons in their bosom (the folds of the garment forming a large natural pocket; but childre were, and still are, usually carried astride the shoulder as soon as they can sit), and your daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. (showing the care they shall recieve, for girls are usually left to shift for themselves. See 60:4)
23 And kings shall be your nursing fathers, and their princesses your nursing mothers: they shall bow down to you with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of your feet (fig. denoting subjection and submission, as in Gen.3:14. Cp. Ps.72:9 and Mic.7:17);
and you shall know that I Mm Yehovah (see Ex.6:7): for they shall not be ashamed that wait for Me.” (see Gen.49:18)
24 Shall the prey (see Num.31:11,12,26,27,32) be taken from a mighty one, or the lawful captive delivered?
25 But thus says Yehovah, “Even the captivity of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the tyrant (or ruthless one) shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contends with you, and I will save your sons.
26 And I will feed them that oppress you with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with new wine (the product of the same year):
and all flesh shall know (cp. 40:5; 52:10) that I Yehovah am your Saviour (or, am saving you) and your Kinsman-Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.” (see Gen.49:24)