Commentari biblici

Christ, being sent to the Jews, complaineth of them, Isaiah 49:1-4. He is sent to the Gentiles with.gracious promises, Isaiah 49:5-12. God’s love to his church perpetual, Isaiah 49:13-17. The ample restoration of the church, and its enlargement, Isaiah 49:18-23, Powerful deliverance out of captivity, Isaiah 49:24-26.

Listen, O isles. God having in the last words secretly signified the wickedness of the Jewish nation, after so glorious a deliverance, and foreseeing that, for their wickedness, he should cast them off, he here turneth his speech to the nations of the Gentiles, who are frequently described in this prophecy and elsewhere under the title of isles, as hath been formerly noted, and inviteth them to hearken to those counsels and doctrines which the Jews would reject.

Unto me; unto Christ; for it is apparent from Isaiah 49:6, and other passages of this chapter, that Isaiah speaks these words ill the name of Christ, by whose Spirit they were dictated to him, 1 Peter 1:11, and unto whom alone they belong, as we shall see. So this chapter is a prophecy of Christ, which also is very proper and seasonable in this place. The prophet having at large prophesied of the deliverance of the Jews out of Babylon, he now proceeds further, and prophesieth of the redemption of the world by Christ, of which that deliverance out of Babylon was a type and forerunner.

Hearken, ye people, from far; which live in countries far from Judea, now the only place of God’s special presence and worship. It is evident from the foregoing clause, and many other passages following, that he speaks of distance of place, not of time.

The Lord hath called me from the womb: this or the like expression is used of Jeremiah, Isaiah 1:5, and of Paul, Galatians 1:15; but it was far more eminently true of Christ, who, as he was chosen to this great office of redemption from eternity, so he was separated and called to it before he was born, being both conceived and sanctified by the Holy Ghost in his mother’s womb, and sent into the world upon this errand; of which see Matthew 1:21 Luke 1:31, &c.; it. 11, &c.

Made mention of my name; called by my name, and by such a name as signified my office and work, in the places now mentioned.

He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; as he made me the great Teacher of his church and of the world, so he assisted me by his Spirit, and made my word or doctrine quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, &c., as it is said to be, Hebrews 4:12, killing men’s lusts, convincing, humbling, and converting their souls; and mighty to the pulling down of strong holds, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ, as we read, 2 Corinthians 10:4,5.

In the shadow of his hand hath he hid me; he will protect me by his power from all mine enemies, until I have finished the work for which he sent me.

Made me a polished shaft; like an arrow, whose point is bright and polished; which therefore pierceth deeper. This metaphor signifies the same thing with the former, Christ’s piercing of men’s hearts by his word and Spirit.

Quiver; where arrows are hid and kept. The quiver signifies the same thing with the shadow in the foregoing clause, even God’s powerful and gracious protection of him from dangers and mischiefs.

As the name of David is sometimes given to his successors, 1 Kings 12:16, and particularly to Christ, Jeremiah 30:9 Ezekiel 34:23 Hosea 3:5, and Jacob is called, as many think, by the name of his grandfather, Abraham, Acts 7:16, and the name of Isaac is given to his posterity, Amos 7:9; so here the name of Israel may not unfitly be given to Christ, not only because he descended from his loins, but also because he was the true and the great Israel, who, in a more eminent manner, prevailed with God, that name signifies, of whom Jacob, who was first called Israel, was but a type. And as the name of Christ, the Head, is sometimes given to the body, the church, as 1 Corinthians 12:12; so it is not strange if, on the contrary, the name of Israel, which properly belongs to the church, be given to Christ the Head of it. But this word may be otherwise rendered, being joined either,

1. With the foregoing words,

Thou art my servant unto, or in, or

for Israel, i.e. to bring them back unto me, from whom they have revolted; or,

2. With the following words; it is Israel,

in whom I will glorify myself by thee.

Then I said, by way of objection. Lord, thou sayest thou wilt be glorified by my ministry; but I find it otherwise. I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, without any considerable fruit of my word and works among the Israelites.

My judgment; my right, the reward which by his promise and my purchase is my right. Judgment is oft put for that which is just or right, as Exodus 23:6 Job 8:3, and in many other places. And so this clause agrees with the next; and the sense of both is this; Though I see no fruit of my labour among the Jews, and meet with nothing but contempt, and reproach, and ill usage from them; yet God sees my fidelity and diligence in my work, and he will give judgment for me, and my reward is laid up with and by him, which he will give me in due time.

To bring Jacob again to him; to convert the wicked and apostate Israelites unto God.

Though Israel be not gathered; not brought home to God by my ministry. This word implies that the Israelites were divided and scattered from God, and divided among themselves, as they were in a high degree when Christ came into the world, and turned every one to his own way, as is said, Isaiah 53:6, and therefore needed to be gathered. Either it is a metaphor from wandering sheep, Which the good shepherd diligently seeketh, and bringeth home to the fold; or it is an allusion to the state of the Israelites, who either now were, or shortly were to be, dispersed into several parts of the world, from whence God had promised to gather them, and bring them into their own land, and unto his temple, Isaiah 43:5,6, and elsewhere. The sense is, Though Israel, God’s own and only people, reject me, which will be an occasion of great wonder and scandal.

Yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord; God will not despise me for the unsuccessfulness of my labours, but will honour and glorify me, both with himself and in the face of the world, in crowning my endeavours with glorious success among other people.

My God shall be my strength, to support and strengthen me under this and all other discouragements and difficulties in the discharge of mine office.

He; the Lord, expressed both in the foregoing and following verses.

It is a light thing; this is but a small favour in comparison of what follows.

To raise up the tribes of Jacob; that remnant of them which shall survive all their calamities and desolations.

I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation; I will make thy labour effectual for the illumination, and conversion, and salvation of the Gentiles in all the parts of the world; which cannot be said of Isaiah with any truth or colour, and therefore must be understood of Christ, by whom this was literally and fully accomplished. By my salvation he means the great instrument and author of that eternal salvation which I will give to the Gentiles.

His Holy One; the Holy One of Israel, as he is frequently called.

To him whom man despiseth; to Christ, to whom, as he was in the days of his flesh, this description doth most truly and fully agree, being the same in effect with that, Isaiah 53:3; for men, both Jews and Gentiles among whom he lived, did despise him from their very hearts and souls, as is here implied; and the whole nation of which he was a member, and among whom he conversed and preached, abhorred both his person and his doctrine; and he was so far from being a great temporal monarch, as the Jews vainly imagined, that he came in the form of a servant, and was

a servant of rulers, professing subjection and laying tribute unto Caesar, Matthew 17:24,25 22:21, and being treated by the rulers, both of the Jews and the Romans, like a servant, being despitefully used and crucified, which was the proper punishment of servants.

Kings shall see: though for a time thou shalt be despised, yet after a while thou shalt be advanced to such royal majesty and glory, that kings shall look upon thee with admiration and reverence,

and arise from their seats in token of reverence, as was usual, Leviticus 19:32 Judges 3:20 Job 29:8, or to worship thee, as the next clause explains it:

shall see and arise, may be put for when they see thee they shall arise to thee; which is a common Hebraism.

Because of the Lord that is faithful; because God shall make good his promises to thee concerning the raising thee from the dead, and concerning the effusion of his Spirit upon thy disciples, by whose assistance they shall preach most powerfully, and confirm their doctrine by evident and glorious miracles, and concerning the

giving unto thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession, as he promised, Psalm 2:8. These and such-like considerations were the great motives which prevailed with the princes and people of the Gentiles to receive thee as the true Messiah and Saviour of the world.

He shall choose thee: and although thou shalt be rejected by thine own people, and refused by their builders or rulers, as was prophesied, Psalm 118:22, and for a time and in some respects forsaken by God himself, Matthew 27:46; yet God will return to thee and choose thee again, and manifest unto the world, that thou, and thou only, art the person whom God hath chosen to be the Redeemer of mankind, and whom, in spite of all opposition, he will make the Head-stone of the corner. For the phrase, See Poole "Isaiah 48:10". But these words are well rendered by others, who will choose or hath chosen thee, the conjunction and being put for the pronoun relative, as Isaiah 44:14, and in many other places, as hath been observed before.

Thus saith the Lord, God the Father, unto Christ, In an acceptable time, Heb. In a time of good-will; in that time when I shall have, and in a special manner manifest, my good-will unto the sons of men; in the day of my grace, and of man s salvation, as this phrase is explained in the next clause; in the time of the gospel, which is the time of God’s good-will towards men, as the host of heaven declared at the birth of Christ, Luke 2:14; In the days of thy flesh, when thou didst offer up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save thee from death, as we read, Hebrews 5:7, which text is a good comment upon this place. Heard thee; though not so as to deliver thee from death and from the sense of my wrath, yet so as to keep thee from sinking under these burdens, and so as thou shouldst not be holden under the pains or power of death, Acts 2:24, and so as to crown thee with glory and honour, and a blessed success of all thy labours and sufferings.

In a day of salvation; in the time of grace and of the gospel, which I have appointed for the working out of man’s salvation by thee.

I will preserve thee upon earth till thy work be finished, and unto that eternal kingdom and glory which is prepared for thee.

Give thee for a covenant; to be the Mediator and Surety of that covenant, which is made between me and them; as Christ is called, Hebrews 7:22 8:6; to renew and confirm the covenant, which the Messiah is said to do, Daniel 9:27, by his own blood, by which God and men are reconciled and united one to the other. And therefore he may well be called the covenant by a known metonymy, which is very usual in such eases, as upon the same account circumcision, the sign of the covenant, is called God’s covenant, Genesis 17:10, and the paschal lamb is called the passover, Exodus 12:11, and the sacramental cup is called the new testament, Luke 22:20, and the communion of the blood of Christ, 1 Corinthians 10:16. Of the people; indefinitely of all my people, not only Jews, but also the Gentiles, as may be gathered from the context, and by comparing this place with Isaiah 42:6, where the same phrase is used; from both which places it is most manifest that the Messiah is designed, and not Isaiah, to whom this and divers other phrases here used cannot be ascribed without great force.

To establish the earth; to compose and settle the earth, and the inhabitants thereof, by making peace between God and men, and between Jews and Gentiles, and by establishing truth, and righteousness, and holiness upon earth, and by subduing those lusts and passions which are the great disturbers of human society; which was the design of God in sending, and of Christ in coming into the world.

To cause to inherit the desolate heritages; that desolate places may be repaired and repossessed. That Christ may possess the heathen, according to Psalm 2:8, who were in a spiritual sense in a most desolate and forlorn condition.