Commentaires bibliques

Isa 45:1-25.

THE SUBJECT OF THE DELIVERANCE BY CYRUS IS FOLLOWED UP.

Isa 45:1-7.

These seven verses should have been appended to previous chapter, and the new chapter should begin with

Isa 45:8,

"Drop down," &c. [HORSLEY]. Reference to the deliverance by Messiah often breaks out from amidst the local and temporary details of the deliverance from Babylon, as the great ultimate end of the prophecy.

1. his anointed--Cyrus is so called as being set apart as king, by God's providence, to fulfil His special purpose. Though kings were not anointed in Persia, the expression is applied to him in reference to the Jewish custom of setting apart kings to the regal office by anointing.

right hand . . . holden--image from sustaining a feeble person by holding his right hand

(Isa 42:6).

subdue nations--namely, the Cilicians, Syrians, Babylonians, Lydians, Bactrians, &c.; his empire extended from Egypt and the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean, and from Ethiopia to the Euxine Sea.

loose . . . girdle loins--that is, the girdle off the loins; and so enfeeble them. The loose outer robe of the Orientals, when girt fast round the loins, was the emblem of strength and preparedness for action; ungirt, was indicative of feebleness

(Job 38:3; 12:21);

"weakeneth the strength of the mighty" (Margin), "looseth the girdle of the strong." The joints of (Belshazzar's) loins, we read in

Da 5:6,

were loosed during the siege by Cyrus, at the sight of the mysterious handwriting on the palace walls. His being taken by surprise, unaccoutred, is here foretold.

to open . . . gates--In the revelry in Babylon on the night of its capture, the inner gates, leading from the streets to the river, were left open; for there were walls along each side of the Euphrates with gates, which, had they been kept shut, would have hemmed the invading hosts in the bed of the river, where the Babylonians could have easily destroyed them. Also, the gates of the palace were left open, so that there was access to every part of the city; and such was its extent, that they who lived in the extremities were taken prisoners before the alarm reached the center of the palace. [HERODOTUS, 1.191].

2. crooked . . . straight--

(Isa 40:4),

rather, "maketh mountains plain" [LOWTH], that is, clear out of thy way all opposing persons and things. The Keri reads as in

Isa 45:13,

"make straight" (Margin).

gates of brass--

(Ps 107:16).

HERODOTUS (1.179) says, Babylon had a hundred massive gates, twenty-five on each of the four sides of the city, all, as well as their posts, of brass.

bars of iron--with which the gates were fastened.

3. treasures of darkness--that is, hidden in subterranean places; a common Oriental practice. Sorcerers pretended to be able to show where such treasures were to be found; in opposition to their pretensions, God says, He will really give hidden treasures to Cyrus

(Jer 50:37; 51:13).

PLINY (Natural History,, 33:3) says that Cyrus obtained from the conquest of Asia thirty-four thousand pounds weight of gold, besides golden vases, and five hundred thousand talents of silver, and the goblet of Semiramis, weighing fifteen talents.

that thou mayest know--namely, not merely that He was "the God of Israel," but that He was Jehovah, the true God.

Ezr 1:1, 2

shows that the correspondence of the event with the prediction had the desired effect on Cyrus.

which call . . . thy name--so long before designate thee by name

(Isa 43:1).

4. (See on

Isa 41:8;

Isa 43:14).

surnamed--that is, designated to carry out My design of restoring Judah (see on

Isa 44:5;

Isa 44:28;

Isa 45:1).

MAURER here, as in

Isa 44:5,

translates, "I have addressed thee by an honorable name."

hast not known me--previous to My calling thee to this office; after God's call, Cyrus did know Him in some degree

(Ezr 1:1-3).

5.

(Isa 42:8; 43:3, 11; 44:8; 46:9).

girded thee--whereas "I will loose (the girdle off) the loins of kings"

(Isa 45:1),

strengthening thee, but enfeebling them before thee.

though . . . not known me--

(Isa 45:4).

God knows His elect before they are made to know Him

(Ga 4:9; Joh 15:16).

6. From the rising to the setting of the sun, that is, from east to west, the whole habitable world. It is not said, "from north to south," for that would not imply the habitable world, as, "from east to west" does

(Ezr 1:1,

&c.). The conquest of Jerusalem by Babylon, the capital of the world, and the overthrow of Babylon and restoration of the Jews by Cyrus, who expressly acknowledged himself to be but the instrument in God's hands, were admirably suited to secure, throughout the world, the acknowledgment of Jehovah as the only true God.

7. form . . . create--yatzar, to give "form" to previously existing matter. Bara, to "create" from nothing the chaotic dark material.

light . . . darkness--literally

(Ge 1:1-3),

emblematical also, prosperity to Cyrus, calamity to Babylon and the nations to be vanquished [GROTIUS] . . . Isaiah refers also to the Oriental belief in two coexistent, eternal principles, ever struggling with each other, light or good, and darkness or evil, Oromasden and Ahrimanen. God, here, in opposition, asserts His sovereignty over both [VITRINGA].

create evil--not moral evil

(Jas 1:13),

but in contrast to "peace" in the parallel clause, war, disaster (compare

Ps 65:7; Am 3:6).

8. Drop--namely, the fertilizing rain

(Ps 65:12).

skies--clouds; lower than the "heavens."

righteousness--that is, the dews of the Holy Spirit, whereby "righteousness" shall "spring up." (See latter end of the verse).

earth--figuratively for the hearts of men on it, opened for receiving the truth by the Holy Ghost

(Ac 16:14).

them--the earth and the heavens. HORSLEY prefers: "Let the earth open, and let salvation and justice grow forth; let it bring them forth together; I the Lord have created him"

(Isa 45:13).

MAURER translates, "Let all kinds of salvation (prosperity) be fruitful"

(Ps 72:3, 6, 7).

The revival of religion after the return from Babylon suggests to the prophet the diffusion of Messiah's Gospel, especially in days still future; hence the elevation of the language to a pitch above what is applicable to the state of religion after the return.