Isaiah 49:1-9
1. O isles—Messiah is here regarded as having been rejected by the Jews (Isa 49:4, 5), and as now turning to the Gentiles, to whom the Father hath given Him "for a light and salvation." "Isles" mean all regions beyond sea.
from the womb— (Isa 44:2; Lu 1:31; Joh 10:36). from . . . bowels . . . mention of my name—His name "Jesus" (that is, God-Saviour) was designated by God before His birth (Mt 1:21).2. my mouth . . . sword— (Isa 11:4; Re 19:15). The double office of the Word of God, saving and damnatory, is implied (Isa 50:4; Joh 12:48; Heb 4:12).
shaft— (Ps 45:5). "Polished," that is, free from all rust, implies His unsullied purity. in . . . quiver . . . hid me—Like a sword in its scabbard, or a shaft in the quiver, Messiah, before His appearing, was hid with God, ready to be drawn forth at the moment God saw fit [HENGSTENBERG]; also always protected by God, as the arrow by the quiver (Isa 51:16).3. Israel—applied to Messiah, according to the true import of the name, the Prince who had power with God in wrestling in behalf of man, and who prevails (Ge 32:28; Ho 12:3, 4). He is also the ideal Israel, the representative man of the nation (compare Mt 2:15 with Ho 11:1).
in whom . . . glorified— (Joh 14:13; 17:1-5).4. I—Messiah.
in vain—comparatively in the case of the greater number of His own countrymen. "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not" (Isa 53:1-3; Lu 19:14; Joh 1:11; 7:5). Only a hundred twenty disciples met after His personal ministry was ended (Ac 1:15). yet . . . my judgment . . . with the Lord—Ultimately, God will do justice to My cause, and reward (Margin for "work," compare Isa 40:10; 62:11) My labors and sufferings. He was never "discouraged" (Isa 42:4; 50:7, 10). He calmly, in spite of seeming ill success for the time, left the result with God, confident of final triumph (Isa 53:10-12; 1Pe 2:23). So the ministers of Christ (1Co 4:1-5; 1Pe 4:19).5. The reason why He was confident that His work would be accepted and rewarded, namely, because He is "glorious in the eyes of Jehovah," &c.
to bring Jacob again to him— (Mt 15:24; Ac 3:26). Though Israel be not gathered—metaphor from a scattered flock which the shepherd gathers together again; or a hen and her chickens (Mt 23:37). Instead of the text "not," the Keri has the similar Hebrew word, "to Him," which the parallelism favors: "And that Israel may be gathered to Him." yet—rather, parenthetically. "For I am glorious, &c., and My God is My strength." Then (Isa 49:6) resuming the words from the beginning of Isa 49:5, "He saith" (I repeat), &c. HORSLEY explains, "Notwithstanding the incredulity of the Jews, Messiah shall be glorified in the conversion of the Gentiles," reading as English Version: but if the Keri be read, "Israel shall at one time or other be gathered, notwithstanding their incredulity during Messiah's sojourn on earth."6. It is a light thing—"It is too little that Thou shouldest," [HENGSTENBERG], that is, It is not enough honor to Thee to raise up Jacob and Israel, but I design for Thee more, namely, that Thou shouldest be the means of enlightening the Gentiles (Isa 42:6, 7; 60:3).
the preserved—namely, those remaining after the judgments of God on the nation—the elect remnant of Israel reserved for mercy. LOWTH, with a slight but needless change of the Hebrew, translates for "tribes" and "preserved," the "scions"—the "branches."7. whom man despiseth—Hebrew, "the despised of soul," that is, by every soul, by all men (Isa 52:14, 15; 53:3; 50:6-9; Ps 22:6). LOWTH translates, "whose person is despised."
abhorreth—literally, "who is an abomination to the nation" (Lu 23:18-23). The Jews contemptuously call Him always Tolvi, "the crucified." I prefer, on account of Goi, the Hebrew term for nation being usually applied to the Gentiles, and that for people to the Jews (Ho 1:9; so the Greek terms respectively also Laos and Ethne, Ro 9:25), to take "nation" here collectively for the Gentile world, which also spurned Him (Ps 2:1-3; Ac 4:25-27). servant of rulers— (Mt 17:27). He who would not exert His power against the rulers (Mt 26:52, 53). shall see—namely the fulfilment of God's promises (Isa 49:3, 6), "when He (shall be) a light to the Gentiles." arise—to reverence Thee (Ps 72:10, 11; Php 2:10). princes also—rather, for the parallelism, supply the ellipsis, thus, "Princes shall see and shall worship." faithful—namely, to His promises. choose thee—as God's elect (Isa 42:1).8. Messiah is represented as having asked for the grace of God in behalf of sinners; this verse contains God the Father's favorable answer.
an acceptable time—"In a time of grace" [HENGSTENBERG]. A limited time (Isa 61:2; 2Co 6:2). The time judged by God to be the best fitted for effecting the purposes of His grace by Messiah. heard thee— (Ps 2:8; Heb 5:7). day of salvation—when "the fulness of time" (Ga 4:4) shall have come. The day of salvation is "to-day" (Heb 4:7). helped—given Thee the help needed to enable Thee, as man, to accomplish man's salvation. preserve—from the assaults and efforts of Satan, to divert Thee from Thy voluntary death to save man. covenant of the people—(See on Isa 42:6). "The people," in the singular, is always applied exclusively to Israel. establish the earth—rather, "to restore the land," namely, Canaan to Israel. Spiritually, the restoration of the Church (the spiritual Israel) to the heavenly land forfeited by man's sin is also included. cause to inherit . . . desolate heritages—image from the desolate state of Judea during the Babylonish captivity. Spiritually, the Gentile world, a moral waste, shall become a garden of the Lord. Literally, Judea lying desolate for ages shall be possessed again by Israel (compare Isa 61:7, "in their land"). Jesus, the antitype of, and bearing the same name as Joshua (Heb 4:8), shall, like him, divide the land among its true heirs (Isa 54:3; 61:4).9. (Isa 42:7; Zec 9:12).
prisoners—the Jews bound in legal bondage. them . . . in darkness—the Gentiles having no light as to the one true God [VITRINGA]. Show yourselves—not only see but be seen (Mt 5:16; Mr 5:19). Come forth from the darkness of your prison into the light of the Sun of righteousness. in the ways, &c.—In a desert there are no "ways," nor "high places," with "pastures"; thus the sense is: "They shall have their pastures, not in deserts, but in cultivated and inhabited places." Laying aside the figure, the churches of Christ at the first shall be gathered, not in obscure and unknown regions, but in the most populous parts of the Roman empire, Antioch, Alexandria, Rome, &c. [VITRINGA]. Another sense probably is the right one. Israel, on its way back to the Holy Land, shall not have to turn aside to devious paths in search of necessaries, but shall find them in all places wherever their route lies; so ROSENMULLER. God will supply them as if He should make the grass grow in the trodden ways and on the barren high places.