Bible Commentaries

Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;

To his anointed, — i.e., To his appointed and enabled one, to subdue many nations. Xenophon, in his first book De Cyropaed., gives us a list of them. Cyrus subdued, saith he, the Syrians, Assyrians, Arabians, Cappadocians, Phrygians, the Lydians, Carians, Phoenicians, Babylonians, the Bactrians, Indians, Cilicians, Sacians, Paphlagonians, Maryandines, and many other nations. He also had dominion over the Asiatics, Greeks, Cyprians, Egyptians, … He vanquished, saith Herodotus, Lib. i. what country soever he invaded. And what wonder, when God himself, as here, "held," or "strengthened his right hand," and "loosed the loins of kings" that were his adversaries - that is, disarmed and disabled them; for it is he alone who strengtheneth and weakeneth the arm of either party. Ezekiel 30:24 Et nemo vir magnus sine afflatu divine unquam fuit, saith Cicero. De Nat. Deor., lib. ii. God transferreth kingdoms, and setteth up kings. Daniel 2:21

To open unto him the two leaved gates. — Or, Doors. Whether doors of houses or gates of cities, all shall fly open before him. as Acts 12:10

return to '

I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:

And make the crooked places even. — Or, The hilly places level.

I will break in pieces the gates of brass. — This God would do, that his temple might be built; compare Isaiah 44:28 but in the New Testament, Christ throweth the gates of hell off their hinges, like another Samson, that he may build his Church. Matthew 16:18 And it is this Aedificabo Ecclesiam meam I will build my church, that hath made all the stir in the world.

return to '

And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call [thee] by thy name, [am] the God of Israel.

And I will give thee the treasures of darkness. — All that Croesus, that rich king, had amassed, and other princes, but especially Babylon (Jeremiah 50:37 ; Jeremiah 51:13 . See Strabo, lib. xv.; Plin. xxxiii. cap. 3. Daniel 5:3 ). Pliny saith that Cyrus brought out of Asia, which he had subdued, as much treasure as amounteth in our money to three hundred millions. And yet this same Cyrus was within few years after made as poor as Irus; for being in Scythia, and there making show of his great riches at a feast, he was on the sudden slain, and spoiled of all by Tomyris, queen of that country. Justin., lib. i.

return to '

For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.

For Jacob my servant’s sake. — That the enemies of my people being subdued, they may have some breathing while, and liberty to live quietly in their own country. For which purpose also, it was the will of God that this prophecy of Isaiah should be made known to Cyrus, for the good of the Jews, that he might favour them; and so it was, as appeareth by Ezra 1:2 , and by Josephus, Antiq., lib. xi. cap. 1.

I have even called thee by thy name. — Thy name of honour; H. Stephan. for Cyrus signifieth the "sun," saith Plutarch; "Lord," say others, in the Persian; as in Hebrew it seemeth to signify an heir, or possessor. Some derive our word sir from it. Cyrus was at first called Achzadat and Spaco, being the son of Cambyses, a noble Persian, and Mandane, the daughter of Astyages, king of Medes. The name of Cyrus he took when he entered upon the kingdom; and that from Cyrus, a river of Persia, as some hold. De Cyro fluvio scribit Strabo, lib. xv.

I have surnamed thee. — Or, I have entitled thee, scil., My shepherd, mine anointed, …

Though thou hast not known me, — scil., Savingly. For albeit he knew the true God in part, and acknowledged him to be great above other gods; yet he forsook not his idols, saith Jerome, and therefore perished miserably by the hands of the Scythians. Nevertheless, others Scultet. are of the opinion, that he was instructed by Daniel, and brought to a true belief, as was also Darius.

return to '

I [am] the LORD, and [there is] none else, [there is] no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:

I am the Lord, and none else. — None of thy Persian gods, to whom thou didst offer solemn sacrifice, both at the beginning of thy reign, and. likewise at thy death, if Zenophon Xenoph., Cyr. lib. i. and viii. may be believed, saying, Iupiter patriae et Sol, …, magnas ago vobis gratias, quod vestram de me curam intellexi, …

Though thou hast not known me. — Or, When as yet thou wast altogether ignorant of me. That he afterwards believed the immortality of the soul, Cicero testifieth in his Cato Major; and that he believed in Christ for the salvation of his soul, Scultetus thinketh, because he was a type of Christ; as was also Solomon, saith he; which to me is one good argument that he was saved.

return to '

That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that [there is] none beside me. I [am] the LORD, and [there is] none else.

That they may know from the rising of the sun, — i.e., All the world over, by thy proclamation. Ezra 1:1-2

That there is none besides me. — Quia nihilum praeter me: ego Dominus et nihil ultra, so Oecolampadius rendereth it, and saith further that it is oppido profanda sententia, a very profound sentence, teaching us that where God is not, there is nothing; for in him we are, move and live, and it is he who worketh all in all things.

return to '

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these [things].

I form the light, and create darkness, — sc., By withdrawing the light whence darkness succeedeth; so doth misery when God withholdeth mercy. But what an odd, or rather mad conceit was that of the Manichees, that there were two beginnings of things - a good one, and an evil! that the latter was the God of the Old Testament, and the former of the New! that the God of the Old Testament did good by accident and occasionally, but created evil of himself, even evil of sin! for so they mistook this text, which is to be understood as evil of punishment only, see Amos 3:6 Lamentations 3:38 which he inflicteth on evildoers for the manifestation of his justice and power, ac propterea recte, et non male eo pacto quo per nos mala male flunt. Vide Aug. contra Julian., lib. iii. cap. 8.

I make peace, and create evil. — Evil, that is, war, by a specialty, and κατ αντονομασιαν , Omega nostrorum Mors est, Mars Alpha malorum. Sin, Satan, and war have all one name; evil is the best of them. The best of sin is deformity, of Satan enmity, of war misery.

return to '

Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.

Drop down, ye heavens, from above. — A prayer of the poor captives in Babylon, say some, for a speedy performance of their promised deliverance; and this the rather because else Christ could not come of them, teach in their country, work miracles, and fulfil the office of a mediator, as the prophets had foretold. Whereunto God immediately answereth: I, the Lord, have created him, or will create him, that is, send him in due time, doubt ye not. Others make it a description of Cyrus’s just and happy reign; see the like of Solomon. Psalms 72:6-7 And indeed Cyrus is famous in heathen histories for his wisdom, justice, temperance, magnanimity, and liberality. It is not the custom of Cyrus to hoard up money, saith Xenophon, Cyropaed., lib. viii. for he taketh more delight in giving than in getting or possessing. But it seemeth rather to be a command from God of plenty and prosperity, opposite to that countermand. Isaiah 5:6 The Papists apply it to Christ and his mother, and hence their roaring out of Rorate in their solemn service, a month before the feast of the nativity, and then they call for their carousing cups.

return to '