Isa 45:13-25 | Clarke | STEP | Verse 13 I have raised him up - This evidently refers to Cyrus, and to what he did for the Jews; and informs us by whom he was excited to do it.

Isaiah 45:13-25

Verse 13

I have raised him up - This evidently refers to Cyrus, and to what he did for the Jews; and informs us by whom he was excited to do it. Verse 14

The labor of Egypt "The wealth of Egypt" - This seems to relate to the future admission of the Gentiles into the Church of God. Compare Psa 68:32; Psa 72:10; Psa 60:6-9. And perhaps these particular nations may be named, by a metonymy common in all poetry, for powerful and wealthy nations in general. See note on Isa 60:1.

The Sabeans, men of stature "The Sabeans, tall of stature" - That the Sabeans were of a more majestic appearance than common, is particularly remarked by Agatharchides, an ancient Greek historian quoted by Bochart, Phaleg, 2:26, τα σωματα εστι των κατοικουντων αξιολογωτερα. So also the Septuagint understand it, rendering it ανδρες ὑψηλοι, "tall men." And the same phrase, אנשי מדה anshey middah, is used for persons of extraordinary stature, Num 13:32, and 1Chr 20:6.

They shall make supplication unto thee "They shall in suppliant guise address thee" - The conjunction ו vau is supplied by the ancient Versions, and confirmed by fifteen MSS. of Kennicott's, (seven ancient), thirteen of De Rossi's, and six editions, ואליך veelayich. Three MSS. (two ancient) omit the ו vau before אליך elaylch at the beginning of the line. Verse 15

Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself - At present, from the nations of the world.

O God of Israel, the Savior - While thou revealest thyself to the Israelites and savest them. Verse 16

They shall be ashamed "They are ashamed" - The reader cannot but observe the sudden transition from the solemn adoration of the secret and mysterious nature of God's counsels in regard to his people, to the spirited denunciation of the confusion of idolaters, and the final destruction of idolatry; contrasted with the salvation of Israel, not from temporal captivity, but the eternal salvation by the Messiah, strongly marked by the repetition and augmentation of the phrase, to the ages of eternity. But there is not only a sudden change in the sentiment, the change is equally observable in the construction of the sentences; which from the usual short measure, runs out at once into two distichs of the longer sort of verse. See Prelim. Dissert. p. 66, etc. There is another instance of the same kind and very like to this, of a sudden transition in regard both to the sentiment and construction in Isa 42:17. "His adversaries" - This line, to the great diminution of the beauty of the distich, is imperfect in the present text: the subject of the proposition is not particularly expressed, as it is in the line following. The version of the Septuagint happily supplies the word that is lost: οἱ αντικειμενοι αυτῳ, "his adversaries," the original word was צריו tsaraiv. - L. Verse 18

He formed it to be inhabited "For he formed it to be inhabited" - An ancient MS. has כי ki before לשבת lashebeth; and so the ancient Versions. Verse 19

I have not spoken tn secret, in a dark place of the earth - In opposition to the manner in which the heathen oracles gave their answers, which were generally delivered from some deep and obscure cavern. Such was the seat of the Cumean Sybil: -

Excisum Euboicae latus ingens rupis in antrum.

Virg. Aen. 6:42. "A cave cut in the side of a huge rock."

Such was that of the famous oracle at Delphi; of which, says Strabo, lib. ix., φασι δ' ειναι το μαντειον αντρον κοιλον μετα βαθους, ου μαλα ευρυστομον. "The oracle is said to be a hollow cavern of considerable depth, with an opening not very wide." And Diodorus, giving an account of the origin of this oracle, says "that there was in that place a great chasm or cleft in the earth; in which very place is now situated what is called the Adytum of the temple." Αδυτον· σπηλαιον, η το αποκρυφον μερος του ἱερου. Mesych. "Adytum means a cavern, or the hidden part of the temple."

I the Lord speak righteousness, I declare things that are right "I am Jehovah, who speak truth, who give direct answers" - This also is said in opposition to the false and ambiguous answers given by the heathen oracles, of which there are many noted examples; none more so than that of the answer given to Croesus when he marehed against Cyrus, which piece of history has some connection with this part of Isaiah's prophecies. Let us hear Cicero's account of the Delphic answers in general, and of this in particular: Sed jam ad te venio,

O sancte Apollo, qui umbilicum certum terrarum obsides,

Unde superstitiosa primum saeva evasit vox fera.

Tuis enim oraculis Chrysippus totum volumen implevit, partim falsis, ut ego opinor; partim casu veris, ut fit in omni oratione saepissime; partim flexiloquis et obscuris, ut interpres egeat interprete, et sors ipsa ad sortes referenda sit; partim ambiguis, et quae ad dialecticum deferenda sint. Nam cum sors illa edita est opulentissimo regi Asiea, Croesus Halym penetrans magnam pervertet opum vim: hostium vim sese perversurum putavit; pervertit autem suam. Utrum igitur eorum accidisset, verum oraculum fuisset. De Divinat. 2:56. Mountainous countries, and those which abounded in chasms, caves, and grottos, were the places in which oracles were most frequent. The horror and gloom inspired by such places were useful to the lying priests in their system of deception. The terms in which those oracles were conceived, (they were always ambiguous, or equivocal, or false, or illusory), sometimes the turn of a phrase, or a peculiarity in idiom or construction which might be turned pro or con, contained the essence of the oracular declaration. Sometimes, in the multitude of guesses, one turned out to be true; at other times, so equivocal was the oracle, that, however the thing fell out, the declaration could be interpreted in that way, as in the above to Croesus, from the oracle at Delphi, which was: If Croeses march against Cyrus, he shall overthrow a great empire: he, supposing that this promised him success, fought, and lost his own, while he expected to destroy that of his enemy. Here the quack demon took refuge in his designed ambiguity. He predicted the destruction of a great empire, but did not say which it was; and therefore he was safe, howsoever the case fell out. Not one of the predictions of God's prophets is conceived in this way. Verse 21

Bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together - For יועצו yoatsu or yivvaatsu, let them consult, the Septuagint read ידעו yedau, let them know. but an ancient MS. has יועדו yoedu, let them come together by appointment; which may probably be the true reading. Verse 22

Look unto me, and be ye saved, etc. - This verse and the following contain a plain prediction of the universal spread of the knowledge of God through Christ; and so the Targum appears to have understood it; see Rom 14:11; Phi 2:10. The reading of the Targum is remarkable, viz., אתפנו למימרי ithpeno lemeymri, look to my Word, ὁ Λογος, the Lord Jesus. Verse 23

I have sworn by myself - במימרי bemeymri, by my Word: and the word - פתגם pithgam, or saying, to distinguish it from the personal substantial Word meymra, mentioned before. See the Targum.

The word is gone out of my mouth "Truth is gone forth from my mouth; the word" - So the Septuagint distinguish the members of the sentence, preserving the elegance of the construction and the clearness of the sense. Verse 24

Surely, shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness and strength "Saying, Only to Jehovah belongeth salvation and power" - A MS. omits לי li, unto me; and instead of לי אמר li amar, he said or shall say unto me, the Septuagint read, in the copy which they used, לאמר lemor, saying. For יבא yabo, He shall come, in the singular, twelve MSS. three ancient) read יבאו yabeu, plural; and a letter is erased at the end of the word in two others: and so the Alexandrine copy of the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate read it. For צדקות tsedakoth plural, two MSS. read צדקת tsidkath, singular; and so the Septuagint, Syriac, and Chaldee.

Probably these are the words of Cyrus, who acknowledged that all his success came from Jehovah. And this sentiment is in effect contained in his decree or proclamation, Ezr 1:2 : "Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth, "etc.