Barren Zion Sings Under the Lord’s Everlasting Covenant of Peace

Isa 54:6 And this relation He now renews. “For Jehovah calleth thee as a wife forsaken and burdened with sorrow, and as a wife of youth, when once she is despised, saith thy God. ” The verb קרא, which is the one commonly used in these prophecies to denote the call of grace, on the ground of the election of grace, is used here to signify the call into that relation, which did indeed exist before, but had apparently been dissolved.

קראך is used here out of pause (cf. , Isa 60:9); it stands, however, quite irregularly for the form in ēkh , which is the one commonly employed (Jdg 4:20; Eze 27:26). “And as a wife:” ואשׁת is equivalent to וּכאשׁת. The hypothetical תמּאס כּי belongs to the figure. Jehovah calls His church back to Himself, as a husband takes back the wife he loved in his youth, even though he may once have been angry with her.

It is with intention that the word נמאסה is not used. The future (imperfect) indicates what partially happens, but does not become an accomplished or completed fact: He is displeased with her, but He has not cherished aversion or hatred towards her.

Isa 54:7-8 Thus does Jehovah’s displeasure towards Jerusalem pass quickly away; and all the more intense is the manifestation of love which follows His merely momentary anger. “For a small moment have I forsaken thee, and with great mercy will I gather thee. In an effusion of anger I hid my face from thee for a moment, and with everlasting grace I have compassion upon thee, saith Jehovah thy Redeemer.

” “For a small moment” carries us to the time of the captivity, which was a small moment in comparison with the duration of the tender and merciful love, with which Jehovah once more received the church into His fellowship in the person of its members. רגע in Isa 54:8 is not an adverb, meaning momentarily, as in Isa 47:9, but an accusative of duration, signifying a single moment long.

Ketseph signifies wrath regarded as an outburst ( fragor ), like the violence of a storm or a clap of thunder; shetseph , which rhymes with it, is explained by A. Schultens, after the Arabic, as signifying durum et asperum esse : and hence the rendering adopted by Hitzig, “in hard harshness. ” But this yields no antithesis to “everlasting kindness,” which requires that shetseph should be rendered in some way that expresses the idea of something transitory or of short duration.

The earlier translators felt this, when like the lxx for example, they adopted the rendering ἐν θυμῷ μικρῷ, and others of a similar kind; and Ibn Labrât, in his writing against Menahem b. Zerûk, who gives chŏrı̄ , burning heat, as a gloss to shetseph , explains it by מעט (as Kimchi and others did afterwards). But, as Jakob Tam correctly observes, “this makes the sense purely tautological.

” In all probability, shâtsaph is a form allied to shâtaph , as nâshabh (Isa 40:7) is to nâshaph (Isa 40:24), and qâmat (Job 16:8) to qâmats , which stand in the same relation to one another, so far as the sense is concerned, as bubbling over to flowing over: so that the proper rendering would not be “in the overflowing of glowing heat,” as Umbreit thinks, which would require קצף בּשׁטף (Pro 27:4), but in the gushing up of displeasure, the overflowing of indignation (Meier). The ketseph is only a shetseph , a vanishing moment (Jer.

in momento indignationis ), when compared with the true feeling of Jehovah towards Jerusalem, which is chesed ‛ōlâm , everlasting kindness.

Isa 54:7-8 Thus does Jehovah’s displeasure towards Jerusalem pass quickly away; and all the more intense is the manifestation of love which follows His merely momentary anger. “For a small moment have I forsaken thee, and with great mercy will I gather thee. In an effusion of anger I hid my face from thee for a moment, and with everlasting grace I have compassion upon thee, saith Jehovah thy Redeemer.

” “For a small moment” carries us to the time of the captivity, which was a small moment in comparison with the duration of the tender and merciful love, with which Jehovah once more received the church into His fellowship in the person of its members. רגע in Isa 54:8 is not an adverb, meaning momentarily, as in Isa 47:9, but an accusative of duration, signifying a single moment long.

Ketseph signifies wrath regarded as an outburst ( fragor ), like the violence of a storm or a clap of thunder; shetseph , which rhymes with it, is explained by A. Schultens, after the Arabic, as signifying durum et asperum esse : and hence the rendering adopted by Hitzig, “in hard harshness. ” But this yields no antithesis to “everlasting kindness,” which requires that shetseph should be rendered in some way that expresses the idea of something transitory or of short duration.

The earlier translators felt this, when like the lxx for example, they adopted the rendering ἐν θυμῷ μικρῷ, and others of a similar kind; and Ibn Labrât, in his writing against Menahem b. Zerûk, who gives chŏrı̄ , burning heat, as a gloss to shetseph , explains it by מעט (as Kimchi and others did afterwards). But, as Jakob Tam correctly observes, “this makes the sense purely tautological.

” In all probability, shâtsaph is a form allied to shâtaph , as nâshabh (Isa 40:7) is to nâshaph (Isa 40:24), and qâmat (Job 16:8) to qâmats , which stand in the same relation to one another, so far as the sense is concerned, as bubbling over to flowing over: so that the proper rendering would not be “in the overflowing of glowing heat,” as Umbreit thinks, which would require קצף בּשׁטף (Pro 27:4), but in the gushing up of displeasure, the overflowing of indignation (Meier). The ketseph is only a shetseph , a vanishing moment (Jer.

in momento indignationis ), when compared with the true feeling of Jehovah towards Jerusalem, which is chesed ‛ōlâm , everlasting kindness.

Isa 54:9 The ground of this “everlasting kindness” is given in Isa 54:9 : “For it is now as at the waters of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah should not overflow the earth any more; so have I sworn not to be wroth with thee, and not to threaten thee. ” The commencement of this v. has been a fluctuating one from the earliest times. The Sept. reading is ממּי; that of the Targ.

, S. , Jerome, Syriac, and Saad. , כּימי; and even the Codd. read sometimes כּי־מי, sometimes כּימי (compare Mat 24:37, ὥσπερ αἱ ἡμέραι τοῦ Νῶε οὕτως κ. τ. λ - a passage which appears to derive its shape from the one before us, with the reading כימי, and which is expounded in Luk 17:26). If we read כימי, the word זאת must refer to the present, as the turning-point between wrath and mercy; but if we read כי־מי, זאת denotes the pouring out of wrath in connection with the captivity.

Both readings are admissible; and as even the Septuagint, with its ἀπὸ τοῦ ὕδατος (from the water), gives an indirect support to the reading כּימי as one word, this may probably merit the preference, as the one best sustained. אשׁר is ubi , quum , as in Num 20:13; Psa 95:9, etc. , although it might also be taken as the correlate of the kēn which follows, as in Jer 33:22 (cf.

, Isa 48:8); and in accordance with the accents, we prefer the former. The present turning-point resembles, in Jehovah’s esteem, the days of Noah - those days in which He swore that a flood should not any more come upon the earth ( min as in Isa 5:6 and many other passages): for so does He now confirm with an oath His fixed purpose that no such judgment of wrath as that which has just been endured shall ever fall upon Jerusalem again (גּער denotes threatening with a judicial word, which passes at once into effect, as in Isa 51:20).

Hendewerk has the following quibbling remark here: “What the comparison with the flood is worth, we may gather from the alter history, which shows how soon the new Jerusalem and the renovated state succumbed to the judicial wrath of God again. ” To this we reply: (1.) That the prophecy refers to the converted Israel of the last days, whose Jerusalem will never be destroyed again.

These last days appear to the prophet, according to the general character of all prophecy, as though linked on to the close of the captivity. For throughout all prophecy, along with the far-sightedness imparted by the Spirit, there was also a short-sightedness which the Spirit did not remove; that is to say, the directly divine element of insight into the future was associated with a human element of hope , which was nevertheless also indirectly divine, inasmuch as it subserved the divine plan of salvation; and this hope brought, as it were, the far distant future into the closest proximity with the troubled present.

If, the, we keep this in mind, we shall see that it was quite in order for the prophet to behold the final future on the very edge of the present, and not to see the long and undulating way between. (2.) The Israel which has been plunged by the Romans into the present exile of a thousand years is that part of the nation (Rom 11:25), which has thrust away the eternal mercy and the unchangeable covenant of peace; but this rejection has simply postponed, and not prevented, the full realization of the salvation promised to Israel as a people.

The covenant still exists, primarily indeed as an offer on the part of Jehovah, so that it rests with Israel whether it shall continued one-sided or not; but all that is wanted on the part of Israel is faith, to enable it to exchange the shifting soil of its present exile for the rocky foundation of that covenant of peace which has encircled the ages since the captivity (see Hag 2:9), as the covenant with Noah encircled those after the flood with the covenant sign of the rainbow in the cloud.

Isa 54:10 “For the mountains may depart, and the hills may shake; my grace will not depart from thee, and my covenant of peace will not shake, saith Jehovah who hath compassion on thee. ” Jehovah’s grace and covenant of peace (cf. , Num 25:12) stand as firm as the mountains of God (Psa 36:7), without departing from Jerusalem (מאתּך instead of the usual מאתּך) and without shaking; and they will be fulfilled.

This fulfilment will not take place either by force or by enchantment; but the church which is to be glorified must pass through sufferings, until it has attained the form which answers to the glory promised to it on oath. And this will also take place; for the old Jerusalem will come forth as a new one out of the furnace of affliction.

Isa 54:11-12 “O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, not comforted, behold, I lay thy stones in stibium, and lay thy foundations with sapphires; and make thy minarets of ruby, and thy gates into carbuncles, and all thy boundary into jewels. ” At the present time the church, of which Jerusalem is the metropolis, is sunk in misery, driven with tempest like chaff of the threshing-floor (Hos 13:3), without comfort; because till now it has waited in vain for any act of consolation on the part of God, and has been scorned rather than comforted by man (סערה is a part.

kal , not pual ; and נחמה 3rd pers. praet . like נעזבה, Isa 62:12, and רחמה, Hos 1:6; Hos 2:3). But this will be altered; Jerusalem will rise again from the dust, like a glorious building of God. Jerome makes the following apt remark on Isa 54:11 : “ in stibio , i. e. , in the likeness of an elegant woman, who paints her eyes with stibium ; referring to the beauty of the city.

” Pūkh is eye-black ( kohl , cf. , kâchal , Eze 23:40), i. e. , a sooty compound, the chief component of which was powdered antimony, or else manganese or lead, and with which oriental women coloured their eyebrows, and more particularly the eyelids both above and below the eyes, that the beauty of the latter might be all the more conspicuous (2Ki 9:30). The classic φῦκος, fucus , has a meaning foreign to the Hebrew word, viz.

, that of rouge for the cheeks. If, then, stibium (antimony), or any blackening collyrium generally, served the purpose of mortar in the rebuilding of Jerusalem, the stones of its walls (not its foundation-stones, אדניך, which is the reading adopted by Ewald, but, on the contrary, the visible stones of its towering walls) would look like the eyes of a woman shining forth from the black framework of their painted lids, i.

e. , they would stand out in splendour from their dark ground. The Beth in bassappı̄rı̄m indicates the means employed. Sapphires serve as foundation-stones, for the foundation of Jerusalem stands as immoveably firm as the covenant of God. The sapphire blue is the colour of the heaven, of revelation, and of the covenant. The shemâshōth , however, i. e. , the minarets which stand out like rays of the sun, and also the gates, have a red appearance.

Red is the colour of blood, and hence of life and of imperishableness; also the colour of fire and of lightning, and hence of wrath and victory. Jehovah makes the minarets of “ruby. ” The Sept. and Jerome adopt the rendering iaspidem (a jasper); at any rate, כּדכד (which is the proper way of writing the word: Ewald, §48, c ) is a red sparkling jewel (from kidkēd ; cf.

, kı̄dōd , scintilla ). The arches of the gates He forms of אקדּח אבני, stones of fiery splendour (from qâdach , to burn: hence qaddachath , πυρετός), that is to say, or carbuncle stones (from carbunculus , a small red-hot coal), like ruby, garnet, etc. Jerome has adopted the false rendering lapides sculptos , after Symm. λίθοι γλυφῆς (from קדח = קדד, findere ?)

The accusative of the predicate כדכד is interchanged with עקדח לבני, and then with לאבני־חפץ, to denote the materia ex qua . The whole territory (precinct) of Jerusalem is turned by Jehovah into precious stones, that is to say, it appears to be paved with such stones, just as in Tobit 13:17 the streets are said to be “paved with beryl, and carbuncle, and stones of Ophir,” i.

e. , to be covered with a mosaic formed of precious stones. It is upon the passage before us that Tobit 13:16, 17, and Rev 21:18-21, are founded. The motley colours of the precious stones, with which the new Jerusalem is adorned, are something more than a mere childish fancy. Whence, then, do the precious stones derive their charm? The ultimate ground of this charm is the fact, that in universal nature everything presses to the light, and that in the mineral world the jewels represent the highest stage of this ascending process.

It is the self-unfolding process of the divine glory itself, which is reflected typologically in the several gradations of the manifold play of colours and the transparency of the precious stones. For this reason, the high priest wore a breastplate with twelve precious stones, upon which were the names of the twelve tribes of Israel; and for this same reason, the author of the Apocalypse carries out into detail in chapter 21 the picture of the new Jerusalem, which is here sketched by the prophet of the Old Testament (without distinguishing time from eternity), adding crystals and pearls to the precious stones which he there mentions one by one.

How can all this be explained, except on the ground that even the mineral world reflects the glory of those eternal lights from which God is called the “Father of lights,” or except on the assumption that the saints in light will one day be able to translate these stony types into the words of God, out of which they have their being?

Isa 54:11-12 “O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, not comforted, behold, I lay thy stones in stibium, and lay thy foundations with sapphires; and make thy minarets of ruby, and thy gates into carbuncles, and all thy boundary into jewels. ” At the present time the church, of which Jerusalem is the metropolis, is sunk in misery, driven with tempest like chaff of the threshing-floor (Hos 13:3), without comfort; because till now it has waited in vain for any act of consolation on the part of God, and has been scorned rather than comforted by man (סערה is a part.

kal , not pual ; and נחמה 3rd pers. praet . like נעזבה, Isa 62:12, and רחמה, Hos 1:6; Hos 2:3). But this will be altered; Jerusalem will rise again from the dust, like a glorious building of God. Jerome makes the following apt remark on Isa 54:11 : “ in stibio , i. e. , in the likeness of an elegant woman, who paints her eyes with stibium ; referring to the beauty of the city.

” Pūkh is eye-black ( kohl , cf. , kâchal , Eze 23:40), i. e. , a sooty compound, the chief component of which was powdered antimony, or else manganese or lead, and with which oriental women coloured their eyebrows, and more particularly the eyelids both above and below the eyes, that the beauty of the latter might be all the more conspicuous (2Ki 9:30). The classic φῦκος, fucus , has a meaning foreign to the Hebrew word, viz.

, that of rouge for the cheeks. If, then, stibium (antimony), or any blackening collyrium generally, served the purpose of mortar in the rebuilding of Jerusalem, the stones of its walls (not its foundation-stones, אדניך, which is the reading adopted by Ewald, but, on the contrary, the visible stones of its towering walls) would look like the eyes of a woman shining forth from the black framework of their painted lids, i.

e. , they would stand out in splendour from their dark ground. The Beth in bassappı̄rı̄m indicates the means employed. Sapphires serve as foundation-stones, for the foundation of Jerusalem stands as immoveably firm as the covenant of God. The sapphire blue is the colour of the heaven, of revelation, and of the covenant. The shemâshōth , however, i. e. , the minarets which stand out like rays of the sun, and also the gates, have a red appearance.

Red is the colour of blood, and hence of life and of imperishableness; also the colour of fire and of lightning, and hence of wrath and victory. Jehovah makes the minarets of “ruby. ” The Sept. and Jerome adopt the rendering iaspidem (a jasper); at any rate, כּדכד (which is the proper way of writing the word: Ewald, §48, c ) is a red sparkling jewel (from kidkēd ; cf.

, kı̄dōd , scintilla ). The arches of the gates He forms of אקדּח אבני, stones of fiery splendour (from qâdach , to burn: hence qaddachath , πυρετός), that is to say, or carbuncle stones (from carbunculus , a small red-hot coal), like ruby, garnet, etc. Jerome has adopted the false rendering lapides sculptos , after Symm. λίθοι γλυφῆς (from קדח = קדד, findere ?)

The accusative of the predicate כדכד is interchanged with עקדח לבני, and then with לאבני־חפץ, to denote the materia ex qua . The whole territory (precinct) of Jerusalem is turned by Jehovah into precious stones, that is to say, it appears to be paved with such stones, just as in Tobit 13:17 the streets are said to be “paved with beryl, and carbuncle, and stones of Ophir,” i.

e. , to be covered with a mosaic formed of precious stones. It is upon the passage before us that Tobit 13:16, 17, and Rev 21:18-21, are founded. The motley colours of the precious stones, with which the new Jerusalem is adorned, are something more than a mere childish fancy. Whence, then, do the precious stones derive their charm? The ultimate ground of this charm is the fact, that in universal nature everything presses to the light, and that in the mineral world the jewels represent the highest stage of this ascending process.

It is the self-unfolding process of the divine glory itself, which is reflected typologically in the several gradations of the manifold play of colours and the transparency of the precious stones. For this reason, the high priest wore a breastplate with twelve precious stones, upon which were the names of the twelve tribes of Israel; and for this same reason, the author of the Apocalypse carries out into detail in chapter 21 the picture of the new Jerusalem, which is here sketched by the prophet of the Old Testament (without distinguishing time from eternity), adding crystals and pearls to the precious stones which he there mentions one by one.

How can all this be explained, except on the ground that even the mineral world reflects the glory of those eternal lights from which God is called the “Father of lights,” or except on the assumption that the saints in light will one day be able to translate these stony types into the words of God, out of which they have their being?

Isa 54:13 The outward glory of the city is only the manifestation, which strikes the senses, of the spiritual glory of the church dwelling therein. “And all thy children will be the learned of Jehovah; and great the peace of thy children. ” We translate both halves of the v. as substantive clauses, although they might be accusatives of both the object and predicate, dependent upon שׂמתּי.

ה למּוּדי are disciples of Jehovah, but, as in Isa 50:4, with the subordinate idea of both docility and learning. The children of Jerusalem will need no instruction from man, but carry within them the teaching of heaven, as those who are “taught of God” (διδακτοὶ Θεοῦ, Joh 6:45; θεοδίδακτοι, 1Th 4:9). Essentially the same promise is given in Joe 3:1-2, and Jer 31:34; and represented in 1Jo 2:20 ( “Ye have the anointing of the Holy One, and know all things” ) as already fulfilled.

In the place of the former inward and outward distress, there has no entered shâlōm , perfect inward and outward peace, complete salvation, and blessedness as its result. רב is an adjective, for this form cannot be shown to have existed as a syncopated third pers. praet . , like שׁח, חי (= חיי). The v. closes palindromically.

Isa 54:14-15 In perfect keeping with this grace through righteousness, Jerusalem will then stand firm and impregnable. “Through righteousness wilt thou be fortified: be far from anxiety, for thou hast nothing to fear; and from terror, for it will not come near thee. Behold, men crowd together in crowds; my will is not there. Who crowd together against thee? - he shall fall by thee.

” Both the thought and action of Jerusalem will be righteousness then, and it will thereby acquire strength; תּכּונני is a pausal future hithpalel , with the ת of the reflective opening syllable assimilated (Ges. §53, 2, b ). With this reciprocal influence of its moral character and imparted glory, it can, and is to keep far away from all thought of oppression and terror; for, through divine grace and a corresponding divine nature, it has nothing to fear.

הן ( Isa 54:15 ), when pointing to any transaction as possible (as, for example, in Job 12:14; Job 23:8), acquires almost the significance of a conditional particle (Ewald, §103, g ). The equally hypothetical parallel clause is clothed in the form of an interrogative. For the verb gūr , the meaning “to gather together” (related to אגר), more especially to join together with hostile intention (cf.

, συνάγεσθαι, Rev 19:19; Rev 20:8), is sustained by Psa 56:7; Psa 59:4; and with גּרה, lacessere , it has nothing to do (Hitzig and Ewald). אתּך has the force of contra te , as in the case of verbs of combat. The first apodosis is this: “but it takes place entirely away from me,” i. e. , without and against my will; מאותי = מאתּי (as in Isa 59:21), and אותם = אתּם, are no sure signs of a later usage; for this alternation of the two forms of את is met with as early as Jos 14:12.

The second apodosis is, “he will fall upon (or against) thee,” or, as we should say, “founder,” or “be wrecked. ” It is far more likely that this is the meaning of the words, than that they mean “he will fall to thy lot” (על נפל, like ל נפל elsewhere, to fall to a person); for the context here is a totally different one from Isa 45:14, and we look for nothing more than a declaration of the utter failure and ruin of the undertaking.

Isa 54:14-15 In perfect keeping with this grace through righteousness, Jerusalem will then stand firm and impregnable. “Through righteousness wilt thou be fortified: be far from anxiety, for thou hast nothing to fear; and from terror, for it will not come near thee. Behold, men crowd together in crowds; my will is not there. Who crowd together against thee? - he shall fall by thee.

” Both the thought and action of Jerusalem will be righteousness then, and it will thereby acquire strength; תּכּונני is a pausal future hithpalel , with the ת of the reflective opening syllable assimilated (Ges. §53, 2, b ). With this reciprocal influence of its moral character and imparted glory, it can, and is to keep far away from all thought of oppression and terror; for, through divine grace and a corresponding divine nature, it has nothing to fear.

הן ( Isa 54:15 ), when pointing to any transaction as possible (as, for example, in Job 12:14; Job 23:8), acquires almost the significance of a conditional particle (Ewald, §103, g ). The equally hypothetical parallel clause is clothed in the form of an interrogative. For the verb gūr , the meaning “to gather together” (related to אגר), more especially to join together with hostile intention (cf.

, συνάγεσθαι, Rev 19:19; Rev 20:8), is sustained by Psa 56:7; Psa 59:4; and with גּרה, lacessere , it has nothing to do (Hitzig and Ewald). אתּך has the force of contra te , as in the case of verbs of combat. The first apodosis is this: “but it takes place entirely away from me,” i. e. , without and against my will; מאותי = מאתּי (as in Isa 59:21), and אותם = אתּם, are no sure signs of a later usage; for this alternation of the two forms of את is met with as early as Jos 14:12.

The second apodosis is, “he will fall upon (or against) thee,” or, as we should say, “founder,” or “be wrecked. ” It is far more likely that this is the meaning of the words, than that they mean “he will fall to thy lot” (על נפל, like ל נפל elsewhere, to fall to a person); for the context here is a totally different one from Isa 45:14, and we look for nothing more than a declaration of the utter failure and ruin of the undertaking.

Isa 54:16-17 Jerusalem will be thus invincible, because Jehovah, the Almighty One, is its protector. “Behold, I have created the smith who bloweth the coal-fire, and brings to the light a weapon according to his trade; and I have created the destroyer to destroy. Every weapon formed against thee has no success, and every tongue that cometh before the judgment with thee thou wilt condemn.

This the inheritance of the servants of Jehovah; and their righteousness from me, saith Jehovah. ” If Jehovah has created the armourer, who forges a weapon למעסהוּ (i. e. , according to his trade, or according to the thing he has to finish, whether an arrow, or a sword, or a spear; not “for his own use,” as Kimchi supposes), to be used in the hostile army against Jerusalem, He has also created a destroyer (לחבּל) to destroy.

The very same creative might, to which the origin of the weapon is to be traced as its primary cause, has opposed to it beforehand a defender of Jerusalem. And as every hostile weapon fails, Jerusalem, in the consciousness of its divine right, will convict every accusing tongue as guilty and deserving of utter condemnation (הרשׁיע as in Isa 50:9, cf. , 1Sa 14:47, where it denotes the punishment of the guilty).

The epiphonem in Isa 54:17 , with the retrospective זאת and the words “saith the Lord,” which confirm the certainty of the fulfilment, forms an unmistakeable close to the prophecy. This is the position in which Jehovah has placed His servants as heirs of the future salvation; and this the righteousness which they have received as His gift, and which makes them strong within and victorious without.

The individual idea of the church, which we find elsewhere personified as “the servant of Jehovah,” equivalent to “the people in whose heart is my law” (Isa 51:7), or “my people that have sought me” (Isa 65:10), is here expanded into “the servants of Jehovah” (as in Isa 65:8-9; compare Isa 59:21 with Isa 51:16). But totally different colours are employed in Isa 52:13 to Isa 53:1-12 to depict the exaltation of the one “Servant of Jehovah,” from those used here to paint the glory of the church of the “servants of Jehovah,” a proof that the ideas do not cover one another.

That which is the reward of suffering in the case of the former, is the experience of divine mercy in that of the latter: it becomes a partaker of the salvation purchased by the other. The one “Servant of Jehovah” is the heart of the church, in which the crisis which bursts forth into life is passing; the righteousness of the “servants of Jehovah” is the fruit of the sufferings of this one “Servant of Jehovah,” who is Himself צדיק and מצידק.

He is the Mediator of all the salvation of the church. He is not only its “head,” but its “fulness” (πλήρωμα) also.

Isa 54:16-17 Jerusalem will be thus invincible, because Jehovah, the Almighty One, is its protector. “Behold, I have created the smith who bloweth the coal-fire, and brings to the light a weapon according to his trade; and I have created the destroyer to destroy. Every weapon formed against thee has no success, and every tongue that cometh before the judgment with thee thou wilt condemn.

This the inheritance of the servants of Jehovah; and their righteousness from me, saith Jehovah. ” If Jehovah has created the armourer, who forges a weapon למעסהוּ (i. e. , according to his trade, or according to the thing he has to finish, whether an arrow, or a sword, or a spear; not “for his own use,” as Kimchi supposes), to be used in the hostile army against Jerusalem, He has also created a destroyer (לחבּל) to destroy.

The very same creative might, to which the origin of the weapon is to be traced as its primary cause, has opposed to it beforehand a defender of Jerusalem. And as every hostile weapon fails, Jerusalem, in the consciousness of its divine right, will convict every accusing tongue as guilty and deserving of utter condemnation (הרשׁיע as in Isa 50:9, cf. , 1Sa 14:47, where it denotes the punishment of the guilty).

The epiphonem in Isa 54:17 , with the retrospective זאת and the words “saith the Lord,” which confirm the certainty of the fulfilment, forms an unmistakeable close to the prophecy. This is the position in which Jehovah has placed His servants as heirs of the future salvation; and this the righteousness which they have received as His gift, and which makes them strong within and victorious without.

The individual idea of the church, which we find elsewhere personified as “the servant of Jehovah,” equivalent to “the people in whose heart is my law” (Isa 51:7), or “my people that have sought me” (Isa 65:10), is here expanded into “the servants of Jehovah” (as in Isa 65:8-9; compare Isa 59:21 with Isa 51:16). But totally different colours are employed in Isa 52:13 to Isa 53:1-12 to depict the exaltation of the one “Servant of Jehovah,” from those used here to paint the glory of the church of the “servants of Jehovah,” a proof that the ideas do not cover one another.

That which is the reward of suffering in the case of the former, is the experience of divine mercy in that of the latter: it becomes a partaker of the salvation purchased by the other. The one “Servant of Jehovah” is the heart of the church, in which the crisis which bursts forth into life is passing; the righteousness of the “servants of Jehovah” is the fruit of the sufferings of this one “Servant of Jehovah,” who is Himself צדיק and מצידק.

He is the Mediator of all the salvation of the church. He is not only its “head,” but its “fulness” (πλήρωμα) also.

Isa 55:1-2 All things are ready; the guests are invited; and nothing is required of them except to come. “Alas, all ye thirsty ones, come ye to the water; and ye that have no silver, come ye, buy, and eat! Yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without payment! Wherefore do ye weigh silver for that which is not bread, and the result of your labour for that which satisfieth not?

O hearken ye to me, and eat the good, and let your soul delight itself in fat. ” Hitzig and Knobel understand by water, wine, and milk, the rich material blessings which awaited the exiles on their return to their fatherland, whereas they were now paying tribute and performing service inf Babylon without receiving anything in return. But the prophet was acquainted with something higher than either natural water (Isa 54:3, cf.

, Isa 41:17) or natural wine (Isa 25:6). He knew of an eating and drinking which reached beyond the mere material enjoyment (Isa 65:13); and the expression ה טּוּב, whilst it includes material blessings (Jer 31:12), is not exhausted by them (Isa 63:7, cf. , Psa 27:13), just as התענּג in Isa 58:14 (cf. , Psa 37:4, Psa 37:11) does not denote a feeling or worldly, but of spiritual joy.

Water, wine, and milk, as the fact that water is placed first clearly shows, are not the produce of the Holy Land, but figurative representations of spiritual revival, recreation, and nourishment (cf. , 1Pe 2:2, “the sincere milk of the word”). The whole appeal is framed accordingly. When Jehovah summons the thirsty ones of His people to come to the water, the summons must have reference to something more than the water to which a shepherd leads his flock.

And as buying without money or any other medium of exchange is an idea which neutralizes itself in the sphere of natural objects, wine and ilk are here blessings and gifts of divine grace, which are obtained by grace (χάριτι, gratis ), their reception being dependent upon nothing but a sense of need, and a readiness to accept the blessings offered. Again, the use of the verb שׁברוּ, which is confined in other passages to the purchase of cereals, is a sufficient proof that the reference is not to natural objects, but to such objects as could properly be compared to cereals.

The bread and other provisions, which Israel obtained in its present state of punishment, are called “not bread,” and “not serving to satisfy,” because that which truly satisfies the soul comes from above, and being of no earthly nature, is to be obtained by those who are the most destitute of earthly supplies. Can any Christian reader fail to recall, when reading the invitation in Isa 55:1, the words of the parable in Mat 22:4, “All things are now ready?

” And does not Isa 55:2 equally suggest the words of Paul in Rom 11:6, “If by grace, then is it no more of works? ” Even the exclamation hoi (alas! see Isa 18:1), with which the passage commences, expresses deep sorrow on account of the unsatisfied thirst, and the toilsome labour which affords nothing but seeming satisfaction. The way to true satisfaction is indicated in the words, “Hearken unto me:” it is the way of the obedience of faith.

In this way alone can the satisfaction of the soul be obtained.

Isa 55:1-2 All things are ready; the guests are invited; and nothing is required of them except to come. “Alas, all ye thirsty ones, come ye to the water; and ye that have no silver, come ye, buy, and eat! Yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without payment! Wherefore do ye weigh silver for that which is not bread, and the result of your labour for that which satisfieth not?

O hearken ye to me, and eat the good, and let your soul delight itself in fat. ” Hitzig and Knobel understand by water, wine, and milk, the rich material blessings which awaited the exiles on their return to their fatherland, whereas they were now paying tribute and performing service inf Babylon without receiving anything in return. But the prophet was acquainted with something higher than either natural water (Isa 54:3, cf.

, Isa 41:17) or natural wine (Isa 25:6). He knew of an eating and drinking which reached beyond the mere material enjoyment (Isa 65:13); and the expression ה טּוּב, whilst it includes material blessings (Jer 31:12), is not exhausted by them (Isa 63:7, cf. , Psa 27:13), just as התענּג in Isa 58:14 (cf. , Psa 37:4, Psa 37:11) does not denote a feeling or worldly, but of spiritual joy.

Water, wine, and milk, as the fact that water is placed first clearly shows, are not the produce of the Holy Land, but figurative representations of spiritual revival, recreation, and nourishment (cf. , 1Pe 2:2, “the sincere milk of the word”). The whole appeal is framed accordingly. When Jehovah summons the thirsty ones of His people to come to the water, the summons must have reference to something more than the water to which a shepherd leads his flock.

And as buying without money or any other medium of exchange is an idea which neutralizes itself in the sphere of natural objects, wine and ilk are here blessings and gifts of divine grace, which are obtained by grace (χάριτι, gratis ), their reception being dependent upon nothing but a sense of need, and a readiness to accept the blessings offered. Again, the use of the verb שׁברוּ, which is confined in other passages to the purchase of cereals, is a sufficient proof that the reference is not to natural objects, but to such objects as could properly be compared to cereals.

The bread and other provisions, which Israel obtained in its present state of punishment, are called “not bread,” and “not serving to satisfy,” because that which truly satisfies the soul comes from above, and being of no earthly nature, is to be obtained by those who are the most destitute of earthly supplies. Can any Christian reader fail to recall, when reading the invitation in Isa 55:1, the words of the parable in Mat 22:4, “All things are now ready?

” And does not Isa 55:2 equally suggest the words of Paul in Rom 11:6, “If by grace, then is it no more of works? ” Even the exclamation hoi (alas! see Isa 18:1), with which the passage commences, expresses deep sorrow on account of the unsatisfied thirst, and the toilsome labour which affords nothing but seeming satisfaction. The way to true satisfaction is indicated in the words, “Hearken unto me:” it is the way of the obedience of faith.

In this way alone can the satisfaction of the soul be obtained.

Isa 55:3-5 And in this way it is possible to obtain not only the satisfaction of absolute need, but a superabundant enjoyment, and an overflowing fulfilment of the promise. “Incline your ear, and come to me: hear, and let your soul revive; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the true mercies of David. Behold, I have set him as a witness for nations, a prince and commander of nations.

Behold, thou wilt call a mass of people that thou knowest not; and a mass of people that knoweth thee not will hasten to thee, for the sake of Jehovah thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel, that He hath made thee glorious. ” The expression “make a covenant” ( kârath berı̄th ) is not always applied to a superior in relation to an inferior (compare, on the contrary, Ezr 10:3); but here the double-sided idea implied in pactio is confined to one side alone, in the sense of a spontaneous sponsio having all the force of a covenant (Isa 61:8; compare 2Ch 7:18, where kârath by itself signifies “to promise with the force of a covenant”), and also of the offer of a covenant or anticipated conclusion of a covenant, as in Eze 34:25, and in the case before us, where “the true mercies of David” are attached to the idea of offering or granting involved in the expression, “I will make an everlasting covenant with you,” as a more precise definition of the object.

All that is required on the part of Israel is hearing, and coming, and taking: let it do this, and it will be pervaded by new life; and Jehovah will meet with with an everlasting covenant, viz. , the unchangeable mercies of David. Our interpretation of this must be dependent chiefly upon whether Isa 55:4 is regarded as looking back to the history of David, or looking forward to something future.

In the latter case we are either to understand by “David” the second David (according to Hos 3:5; Jer 30:9; Eze 34:24), so that the allusion is to the mercies granted in the Messiah, and according to Isa 9:7, enduring “from henceforth even for ever;” or else David is the son of Jesse, and “the mercies of David” are the mercies bestowed upon him, which are called “the true mercies” as mercies promised and running into the future (Psa 89:50; 2Ch 6:42), in which case Isa 55:4 explains what David will become in the person of his antitype the second David. The directly Messianic application of the name “David” is to be objected to, on the ground that the Messiah is never so called without further remark; whilst the following objections may be adduced to the indirectly Messianic interpretation of Isa 55:4 (David in the Messiah).

(1.) The change of the tense in Isa 55:4, Isa 55:5, which requires that we should assume that Isa 55:4 points backwards into the past, and Isa 55:5 forwards into the future. (2.) That the choice of the expression in Isa 55:4, Isa 55:5 is designed to represent what Israel has to look for in the future as going beyond what was historically realized in David; for in Isa 55:5 the mass of the heathen world, which has hitherto stood out of all relation to Israel, answers to the לאמּים.

(3.) That the juxtaposition of the Messiah and Israel would be altogether without parallel in these prophecies (chapters 40-66), and contrary to their peculiar character; for the earlier stereotype idea of the Messiah is here resolved into the idea of the “servant of Jehovah,” from which it returns again to its primary use, i. e. , from the national basis to the individual, by means of the ascending variations through which this expression passes, and thus reaches a more comprehensive, spiritual, and glorified form.

The personal “servant of Jehovah” is undoubtedly no other than the “Son of David” of the earlier prophecy; but the premises, from which we arrive at this conclusion in connection with our prophet, are not that the “servant of Jehovah” is of the seed of David and the final personal realization of the promise of a future king, but that he is of the nation of Israel, and the final personal realization of the idea of Israel, both in its inward nature, and in its calling in relation to the whole world of nations. Consequently Isa 55:4 and Isa 55:5 stand to one another in the relation of type and antitype, and the “mercies of David” are called “the true mercies” (Probably with an allusion to 2Sa 7:16; cf.

, Psa 89:29-30), as being inviolable-mercies which had both been realized in the case of David himself, and would be realized still further, inasmuch as they must endure for an everlasting future, and therefore be further and further fulfilled, until they have reached that lofty height, on the summit of which they will remain unchangeable for ever. It is of David the son of Jesse that Jehovah says in Isa 55:4, “I have given him for a witness to peoples, a leader and commander to the peoples.

” So far as the sense is concerned, נגיד is as much a construct as מצוּה. In the application to David of the term עד, which never means anything but testis , witness, in these prophecies, we may clearly see the bent of the prophet’s mind towards what is spiritual. David had subdued nations by the force of arms, but his true and loftiest greatness consisted in the fact that he was a witness of the nations - a witness by the victorious power of his word, the conquering might of his Psalms, the attractive force of his typical life.

What he expresses so frequently in the Psalms as a resolution and a vow, viz. , that he will proclaim the name of Jehovah among the nations (Psa 18:50; Psa 57:10), he has really fulfilled: he has not only overcome them by bloody warfare, but by the might of his testimony, more especially as “the sweet psalmist of Israel” (2Sa 23:1). What David himself was able to say in Psa 18:43, “People that I did not know served me,” will be fulfilled to a still wider extent in the experience of Israel.

Having been presented with the promised “inviolable mercies of David,” it will effect a spiritual conquest over the heathen world, even over that portion which has hitherto stood in no reciprocal relation to it, and gain possession of it for itself for the sake of Jehovah, whom it has for its God, and to the Holy One of Israel (ל of the object, in relation to which, or at the instigation of which, anything is done), because He hath glorified it (His people: פארך is not a pausal form for פארך, cf. , Isa 54:6, but for פארך, פארך, hence = פארך, cf.

, ענך, Isa 30:19); so that joining themselves to Israel is the same as joining themselves to God and to the church of the God of revelation (cf. , Isa 60:9, where Isa 55:5 is repeated almost word for word).

Isa 55:3-5 And in this way it is possible to obtain not only the satisfaction of absolute need, but a superabundant enjoyment, and an overflowing fulfilment of the promise. “Incline your ear, and come to me: hear, and let your soul revive; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the true mercies of David. Behold, I have set him as a witness for nations, a prince and commander of nations.

Behold, thou wilt call a mass of people that thou knowest not; and a mass of people that knoweth thee not will hasten to thee, for the sake of Jehovah thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel, that He hath made thee glorious. ” The expression “make a covenant” ( kârath berı̄th ) is not always applied to a superior in relation to an inferior (compare, on the contrary, Ezr 10:3); but here the double-sided idea implied in pactio is confined to one side alone, in the sense of a spontaneous sponsio having all the force of a covenant (Isa 61:8; compare 2Ch 7:18, where kârath by itself signifies “to promise with the force of a covenant”), and also of the offer of a covenant or anticipated conclusion of a covenant, as in Eze 34:25, and in the case before us, where “the true mercies of David” are attached to the idea of offering or granting involved in the expression, “I will make an everlasting covenant with you,” as a more precise definition of the object.

All that is required on the part of Israel is hearing, and coming, and taking: let it do this, and it will be pervaded by new life; and Jehovah will meet with with an everlasting covenant, viz. , the unchangeable mercies of David. Our interpretation of this must be dependent chiefly upon whether Isa 55:4 is regarded as looking back to the history of David, or looking forward to something future.

In the latter case we are either to understand by “David” the second David (according to Hos 3:5; Jer 30:9; Eze 34:24), so that the allusion is to the mercies granted in the Messiah, and according to Isa 9:7, enduring “from henceforth even for ever;” or else David is the son of Jesse, and “the mercies of David” are the mercies bestowed upon him, which are called “the true mercies” as mercies promised and running into the future (Psa 89:50; 2Ch 6:42), in which case Isa 55:4 explains what David will become in the person of his antitype the second David. The directly Messianic application of the name “David” is to be objected to, on the ground that the Messiah is never so called without further remark; whilst the following objections may be adduced to the indirectly Messianic interpretation of Isa 55:4 (David in the Messiah).

(1.) The change of the tense in Isa 55:4, Isa 55:5, which requires that we should assume that Isa 55:4 points backwards into the past, and Isa 55:5 forwards into the future. (2.) That the choice of the expression in Isa 55:4, Isa 55:5 is designed to represent what Israel has to look for in the future as going beyond what was historically realized in David; for in Isa 55:5 the mass of the heathen world, which has hitherto stood out of all relation to Israel, answers to the לאמּים.

(3.) That the juxtaposition of the Messiah and Israel would be altogether without parallel in these prophecies (chapters 40-66), and contrary to their peculiar character; for the earlier stereotype idea of the Messiah is here resolved into the idea of the “servant of Jehovah,” from which it returns again to its primary use, i. e. , from the national basis to the individual, by means of the ascending variations through which this expression passes, and thus reaches a more comprehensive, spiritual, and glorified form.

The personal “servant of Jehovah” is undoubtedly no other than the “Son of David” of the earlier prophecy; but the premises, from which we arrive at this conclusion in connection with our prophet, are not that the “servant of Jehovah” is of the seed of David and the final personal realization of the promise of a future king, but that he is of the nation of Israel, and the final personal realization of the idea of Israel, both in its inward nature, and in its calling in relation to the whole world of nations. Consequently Isa 55:4 and Isa 55:5 stand to one another in the relation of type and antitype, and the “mercies of David” are called “the true mercies” (Probably with an allusion to 2Sa 7:16; cf.

, Psa 89:29-30), as being inviolable-mercies which had both been realized in the case of David himself, and would be realized still further, inasmuch as they must endure for an everlasting future, and therefore be further and further fulfilled, until they have reached that lofty height, on the summit of which they will remain unchangeable for ever. It is of David the son of Jesse that Jehovah says in Isa 55:4, “I have given him for a witness to peoples, a leader and commander to the peoples.

” So far as the sense is concerned, נגיד is as much a construct as מצוּה. In the application to David of the term עד, which never means anything but testis , witness, in these prophecies, we may clearly see the bent of the prophet’s mind towards what is spiritual. David had subdued nations by the force of arms, but his true and loftiest greatness consisted in the fact that he was a witness of the nations - a witness by the victorious power of his word, the conquering might of his Psalms, the attractive force of his typical life.

What he expresses so frequently in the Psalms as a resolution and a vow, viz. , that he will proclaim the name of Jehovah among the nations (Psa 18:50; Psa 57:10), he has really fulfilled: he has not only overcome them by bloody warfare, but by the might of his testimony, more especially as “the sweet psalmist of Israel” (2Sa 23:1). What David himself was able to say in Psa 18:43, “People that I did not know served me,” will be fulfilled to a still wider extent in the experience of Israel.

Having been presented with the promised “inviolable mercies of David,” it will effect a spiritual conquest over the heathen world, even over that portion which has hitherto stood in no reciprocal relation to it, and gain possession of it for itself for the sake of Jehovah, whom it has for its God, and to the Holy One of Israel (ל of the object, in relation to which, or at the instigation of which, anything is done), because He hath glorified it (His people: פארך is not a pausal form for פארך, cf. , Isa 54:6, but for פארך, פארך, hence = פארך, cf.

, ענך, Isa 30:19); so that joining themselves to Israel is the same as joining themselves to God and to the church of the God of revelation (cf. , Isa 60:9, where Isa 55:5 is repeated almost word for word).