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Bible Commentaries

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Isaiah 49





1. According to some, the people of Israel are here introduced as speaking. This is the opinion of Paulus, Doderlin, and Rosenmuller. The argument on which Rosenmuller relies is, that in Isaiah 49:3, the speaker is expressly called ‹Israel.‘ According to this idea, the whole people are represented as a prophet who is here introduced as speaking; who had labored in vain; and who, though Israel was not to be gathered, was in future times to be the instructor of the whole world Isaiah 49:4-6. Yet this interpretation is forced and unnatural. To say nothing of the impropriety of representing the collected Jewish people as a prophet - an idea not to be found elsewhere; according to this interpretation, the people are represented as laboring in vain, when as yet they had made no effort for the conversion of the pagan, and, in Isaiah 49:5, this same people, as a prophet, is represented as ‹not gathered,‘ and then, in Isaiah 49:6, turning to the Gentiles in order to be a light to them, and for salvation to the ends of the earth. It should be added, also, that even the ancient Jewish commentators who have applied Isaiah 53:1-12 to the Jewish people, have not ventured on such an interpretation hera The only argument on which Rosenmuller relies in favor of this interpretation - that drawn from the fact that the name ‹Israel‘ is given to the speaker - will be considered in the notes at Isaiah 49:3.

2. According to others, the prophet here refers to himself. This opinion was held by Jarchi, Aben Ezra, Kimchi, Grotius, and, among recent interpreters, by Koppe, Hensler and Staudlin. But this interpretation has little probability. It is incredible that the prophet should speak of himself as the light of the pagan world. The speaker represents himself as not satisfied Isaiah 49:6 that the Jewish people should be given to him, but as sent for the salvation of the ends of the earth. Before this same individual who thus speaks, and who is rejected and despised by the Jewish people, kings and princes are represented as prostrating themselves with the deepest reverence Isaiah 49:7. But it is certain that Isaiah never formed any such extravagant expectations for himself. Besides, there is the same objection to applying the name ‹Israel‘ Isaiah 49:3 to the prophet Isaiah which there is to the Messiah.


(1) Everything in the statement here proves that the subject is an individual, and not a mere personification. The personal pronouns are used throughout (see Isaiah 49:1-2, Isaiah 49:4, etc.), and the whole aspect of the account is that relating to an individual. It would be as proper to regard a statement made anywhere respecting an individual as referring to some collective body, as to interpret this in this manner.

(2) The prophets taken collectively cannot hear the name ‹Israel‘ Isaiah 49:3; and even Gesenius admits this, and in order to evade the force of it, denies the genuineness of the word ‹Israel‘ in the third verse.





(3) It is referred to the times of the Messiah in Acts 13:47, and in 2 Corinthians 6:2.


I. The Messiah is introduced as himself speaking, and stating the object of his mission, and his rejection by the Jewish nation, and the fact that he would be for a light to the Gentiles Isaiah 49:1-6. This portion consists of the following subjects:

1. The exordium, in which he calls the distant nations to hear his voice Isaiah 49:1.

2. His call to the office of the Messiah, and his qualifications for the work Isaiah 49:1-3. He was called from the womb Isaiah 49:1; he was eminently endowed for the work, as a sharp sword, or a polished shaft is for battle Isaiah 49:2; he was the selected servant of God, by whom he designed to be glorified Isaiah 49:3.

3. The want of success in his work Isaiah 49:4. He had labored in vain, yet he could commit his cause to God with the certainty of entire future success, and with the assurance of the divine approbation.

4. His future success would be glorious Isaiah 49:5-6. He would yet gather in the tribes of Israel, and be for a light to the pagan world, and for salvation to the ends of the earth.

II. A direct promise from Yahweh to the Messiah of ultimate success in his work Isaiah 49:7-12.

1. Men would indeed despise and reject him.

2. Yet kings and princes would arise and honor him Isaiah 49:7.

3. Yahweh had heard him, and would yet give him for a covenant to the world; a mediator to recover the earth back to himself Isaiah 49:8.

4. He would lead forth the prisoners, and those who sat in darkness Isaiah 49:9: he would protect and provide for them so that the sun should not smite them, and so that their needs should be supplied Isaiah 49:10: he would remove all obstructions front their path, and would level mountains and exalt valleys Isaiah 49:11: and his followers would come from far, from a distant land Isaiah 49:12.

III. A song of praise in view of the glorious results of the work of the Messiah Isaiah 49:13.

IV. Zion is comforted with the assurance that God had not forgotten her Isaiah 49:14-21.

1. Zion had said that Yahweh had forgotten her, and left her to suffer alone without pity or compassion Isaiah 49:14.

2. God assures her that he could no more forget her than a mother could forget her child Isaiah 49:15.

3. He had engraven her name on the palms of his hands Isaiah 49:16.

4. All her enenmies and destroyers would flee away Isaiah 49:17.

5. She would be yet decorated and adorned as a bride, instead of being desolate Isaiah 49:18; and would be greatly increased and enlarged by accessions from the Gentile world, so that the place where she dwelt would be too strait for her Isaiah 49:19-21.

V. God would extend salvation, with all its blessings, to the Gentiles. Kings and queens would become the patrons of the church of God, and all the foes of himself and his cause be destroyed Isaiah 49:22-26.

Verse 1




The Lord hath called me from the womb - Yahweh hath set me apart to this office from my very birth. The stress here is laid on the fact that he was thus called, and not on the particular time when it was done. The idea is, that he had not presumptuously assumed this office; he had not entered on it without being appointed to it; he had been designated to it even before he was born (see Isaiah 49:5). A similar expression is used in respect to Jeremiah Jeremiah 1:5: ‹Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee; and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.‘ Paul also uses a similar expression respecting himself Galatians 1:15: ‹But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother‘s womb.‘ That this actually occurred in regard to the Redeemer, it is not needful to pause here to show (see Luke 1:31).

From the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name - This is another form of stating the fact that he had been designated to this office from his very infancy. Many have supposed that the reference here is to the fact that Mary was commanded by the angel, before his birth, to call his name Jesus Luke 1:31. The same command was also repeated to Joseph in a dream Matthew 1:21. So Jerome, Vitringa, Michaelis, and some others understand it. By others it has been supposed that the phrase ‹he hath made mention of my name is the same as to call. The Hebrew is literally, ‹He has caused my name to be remembered from the bowels of my mother.‘ The Septuagint renders it, ‹He hath called my name.‘ Grotius renders it, ‹He has given to me a beautiful name, by which salvation is signified as about to come from the Lord.‘ I see no objection to the supposition that this refers to the fact that his name was actually designated before he was born. The phrase seems obviously to imply more than merely to call to an office; and as his name was thus actually designated by God, and as he designed that there should be special significancy and applicability in the name, there can be no impropriety in supposing that this refers to that fact. If so, the idea is, that he was not only appointed to the work of the Messiah from his birth, but that he actually had a name given him by God before he was born, which expressed the fact that he would save people, and which constituted a reason why the distant pagan lands should hearken to his voice.

Verse 2

And he hath made my mouth - The idea here is, that he had qualified him for a convincing and powerful eloquence - for the utterance of words which would penetrate the heart like a sharp sword. The mouth here, by an obvious figure, stands for discourse. The comparison of words that are pungent, penetrating, powerful, to a sword, is common. Indeed the very terms that I have incidentally used, ‹pungent,‘ ‹penetrating,‘ are instances of the same kind of figure, and are drawn from a needle, or anything sharp and pointed, that penetrates. Instances of this occur in the following places in the Scriptures: ‹The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies‘ Ecclesiastes 12:11. ‹The word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow‘ Hebrews 4:12. In Revelation 1:16, probably in reference to this passage, the Redeemer is represented as seen by John as having a ‹sharp two-edged sword‘ proceeding out of his mouth. So in Isaiah 19:15: ‹And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword.‘ The bold and striking metaphor of the sword and arrow applied to powerful discourse, has been used also by pagan writers with great elegance and force. In the passages quoted by Lowth, it is said of Pericles by Aristophanes:

‹His powerful speech

Pierced the hearer‘s soul, and left behind

Deep in his bosom its keen point infixt.‘

So Pindar, Olym. ii. 160:

‹Come on! thy brighest shafts prepare,

And bend, O Muse, thy sounding bow:

Say, through what paths of liquid air

Our arrows shall we throw?‘



- καὶ μόνος τῶν ῥητόρων

τὸ κέντρον ἐγκατέλειπε τοἴς ἀκροωμένοις.

- kai monos tōn rētorōn

to kentron egkateleipe tois akroōmenois similar metaphor occurs frequently in Arabic poetry. ‹As arrows his words enter into the heart?


And made me a polished shaft - The word rendered ‹polished‘ (ברוּר bârûr ), may mean either chosen, or polished. It properly means that which is separated, or severed from others; then select, chosen. Then it may mean anything which is cleansed, or purified, and here may denote an arrow that is cleansed from rust; that is, polished, or made bright. The word ‹shaft‘ (חץ chēts ), means properly an arrow; and the sense here is, that the Messiah pierced the hearts of people like a pointed and polished arrow that is sped from the bow. “In his quiver.” The word ‹quiver‘ means the covering that was made for arrows, and which was so slung over the shoulder that they could be readily reached by the hand as they should be needed.

Hath he hid me - ‹Before his appearing,‘ says Hengstenberg, ‹the Messiah was concealed with God like a sword kept in its sheath, or like an arrow lying in the quiver.‘ But perhaps this is too much refined and forced. The meaning is, probably, simply that he had protected him. ‹God, by his own power,‘ says Calvin, ‹protected Christ and his doctrine, so that nothing could hinder its course.‘ Yet there is, undoubtedly, the idea that he was adapted to produce rapid and mighty execution; that he was fitted, like an arrow, to overcome the foes of God; and that he was kept in the ‹quiver‘ for that purpose.

Verse 3



1. The most obvious interpretation of the verse, if it stood alone, would be to refer it to the Jews as ‹the servant of Jehovah,‘ in accordance with Isaiah 41:8, by whom he would be glorified in accordance with the declaration in Isaiah 44:23. This is the opinion of Rosenmuller and of some others. But the objection to this is, that the things which are affirmed of this ‹servant,‘ by no means apply to the Jews. It is evidently an individual that is addressed; and in no conceivable sense can that be true of the Jews at large which is affirmed of this person in Isaiah 49:4 ff.

2. It has been referred to Isaiah. This was the opinion of Grotius, Dathe, Saadias, Doderlin, and others. Grotius supposes it means, ‹thou art my servant for the good of Israel.‘ So Dathe renders it: ‹It is for Israel‘s benefit that I will glorify myself in thee.‘ Saadias renders it, ‹Thou art my ambassador to Israel.‘ Aben Ezra says of the passage, ‹Thou art my servant, descended from Israel, in whom I will be glorified. Or, the sense is this: Thou who in my eyes art reputed as equal to all Israel.‘ But, as has been remarked in the analysis, this interpretation is attended with all the difficulty of the interpretation which refers it to the Messiah, and is inconsistent with the known character of Isaiah, and with the declarations made of the person referred to in the following verses. There is certainly no more reason why the name ‹Israel‘ should be given to Isaiah, than there is why it should be given to the Messiah; and it is certain that Isaiah never arrogated to himself such high honor as that of being a light to the Gentiles, and a covenant of the people, and as being one before whom kings would rise up, and to whom princes would do homage.

3. Gesenius supposes that the word ‹Israel‘ is not genuine, but has come by error into the text. But for this there is no authority except one manuscript, to which he himself attaches no weight.



1. Lowth and Vitringa suppose that it is because the name, in its full import and signification, can be given only to him; and that there is a reference here to the fact recorded in Genesis 32:28, where Jacob is said to have wrestled with God, and prevailed, and was, in consequence of that, called Israel. The full import of that name, says Lowth, pertains only to the Messiah, ‹who contended powerfully with God in behalf of mankind.‘




In whom I will be glorified - This means that the result of the Redeemer‘s work would be such as eminently to honor God. He would be glorified by the gift of such a Saviour; by his instructions, his example, the effect of his ministry while on earth, and by his death. The effect of the work of the Messiah as adapted to glorify God, is often referred to in the New Testament (see John 12:28; John 13:31-32; John 14:13; John 16:14; John 17:1-5).

Verse 4



I have spent my strength for nought - Comparatively for nought. This does not mean that he would not be ultimately as successful as he desired to be (compare the notes at Isaiah 53:11); but it means, that in his personal ministry he had exhausted his strength, and seen comparatively little fruit of his toils.






4. The ministers of religion, when their message is rejected, and the world turns away from their ministry, should imitate the example of the Redeemer, and say, ‹my judgment is with Jehovah. My cause is his cause; and the result of my labors I commit to him.‘ To do this as he did, they should labor as he did; they should honestly devote all their strength and talent and time to his service; and then they can confidently commit all to him, and then and then only they will find peace, as he did, in the assurance that their work will be ultimately blessed, and that they will find acceptance with him.

Verse 5


That formed thee from the womb - Who appointed me before I was born to the office of a servant to accomplish important purposes (see the notes at Isaiah 49:1).

To bring Jacob again to him - To recover the Jewish people again to the pure worship of Yahweh. To them the Messiah was first to be sent, and when they rejected him, he was to proffer the same salvation to the Gentiles (see Isaiah 49:6; compare Matthew 21:33-43). Accordingly the Saviour spent his life in preaching to the Jews, and in endeavoring to bring them back to God, and for this purpose he regarded himself as sent (Matthew 15:24; see Acts 3:26).

Though Israel be not gathered - This metaphor is taken from a scattered flock which a shepherd endeavors to gather, or collect to himself. There is great variety in the interpretation of this expression. The margin reads it, ‹That Israel may be gathered to him, and I may‘ be glorious. So Lowth, ‹That Israel unto him may be gathered.‘ So Noyes, ‹To gather Israel to him.‘ Jerome renders it, ‹Israel shall not be gathered.‘ The Septuagint renders it, ‹To gather Jacob unto him, and Israel.‘ The Syriac, ‹That I may gather Jacob unto him, and assemble Israel.‘ This variety has arisen front the different readings in the Hebrew text. The reading in the text is לא lo' (“not”); but instead of this the marginal reading, or the Qere‘ of the Masoretes is, לו lô “to him.” ‹Five manuscripts (two ancient),‘ says Lowth, ‹confirm the Qere‘, or marginal construction of the Masoretes; and so read Aquila, and the Chaldee, Septuagint, and Arabic.‘ Gesenius and Rosenmuller adopt this, and suppose that לא lo' is only a different form of writing לו lô Grotius and Hengstenberg render it as it is in our version. It is impossible to determine the true reading; and the only guide is the context, and the views which shall be entertained of the design of the passage. To me it seems that the parallelism demands that we should adopt the reading of the Keri, the Septuagint, the Chaldee, and the Syriac, and which has been adopted by Lowth. According to this, it means that he had been appointed to gather in the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and gave his life to it. Other parts of this statement Isaiah 49:4-6 show, that by them he was rejected, and that then salvation was sent to other parts of the world. Luther renders it, ‹That Israel be not carried away.‘



Verse 6


It is a light thing - Margin, ‹Art thou lighter than that thou,‘ etc. Lowth renders it, ‹It is a small thing.‘ Hengstenberg, ‹It is too little that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob.‘ The sense is, that God designed to glorify him in an eminent degree, and that it would not be as much honor as be designed to confer on him, to appoint him merely to produce a reformation among the Jews, and to recover them to the spiritual worship of God. He designed him for a far more important work - for the recovery of the Gentile world, and for the spread of the true religion among all nations. The Septuagint renders this, It is a great thing for thee to be called my servant.‘ The Chaldee proposes it as a question, ‹Is it a small thing for you that you are called my servant?‘

My servant - (See Isaiah 49:3).


And to restore - To bring back (להשׁיב lehâshiyb ) that is, to recover them from their sin and hypocrisy, and bring them back to the worship of the true and only God. The Chaldee, however, renders this, ‹To bring back the captivity of Israel.‘ But it means, doubtless, to recover the alienated Jewish people to the pure and spiritual worship of God.

The preserved of Israel - Lowth renders this, ‹To restore the branches of Israel;‘ as if it were נצרי netsârēy in the text, instead of נצוּרי netsûrēy The word נצר nêtser means “branch” (see the notes at Isaiah 11:1; Isaiah 14:9), and Lowth supposes that it means the branches of Israel; that is, the descendants of Israel or Jacob, by a similitude drawn from the branches of a tree which are all derived from the same stem, or root. The Syriac here renders it, ‹The branch of Israel.‘ But the word properly means those who are kept, or preserved (from נצר nâtsar “to keep, preserve”), and may be applied either literally to those who were kept alive, or who survived any battle, captivity, or calamity - as a remnant; or spiritually, to those who are preserved for purposes of mercy and grace out of the common mass that is corrupt and unbelieving. It refers here, I suppose, to the latter, and means those whom it was the purpose of God to preserve out of the common mass of the Jews that were sunk in hypocrisy and sin. These, it was the design of God to restore to himself, and to do this, was the primary object in the appointment of the Messiah.

I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles - I will appoint thee to the higher office of extending the knowledge of the true religion to the darkened pagan world. The same expression and the same promise occur in Isaiah 42:6 (see the notes at that verse).


Verse 7


The Redeemer of Israel - (See the note at Isaiah 43:1).

To him whom man despiseth - On the construction of the Hebrew here, see Gesenius, Vitringa, and Hengstenberg. The phrase לבזה־נפשׁ libezoh -nephesh (to the despised of soul), means evidently one who is despised, rejected, contemned by people. The word ‹soul‘ here (נפשׁ nephesh ) means the same as man; that is, every man. It was a characteristic of him that he was despised and rejected by all; and the prophet, in this verse, has given a summary of all that be has said respecting him in Isaiah 53:1-12.

To him whom the nation abhorreth - The word ‹nation‘ here refers doubtless to the Jewish people, as in Isaiah 1:4; Isaiah 10:6. The word rendered ‹abhorreth‘ means “for an abomination” (למתעב limetâ‛ēb ), Piel participle, from תעב tâ‛ab ), and the idea is, that he was regarded as an abomination by the people. The same idea is more fully expressed in Isaiah 53:3-4, that the Messiah would be rejected and treated with abhorrence by the nation as such - a statement which the slightest acquaintance with the New Testament will lead anyone to see has been literally fulfilled. No being ever excited more abhorrence; no man was ever regarded with so much abomination by any people as Jesus of Nazareth was, and still is, by the Jewish people. He was condemned by the Sanhedrim; publicly rejected by the nation; and at the instigation and by the desire of the assembled people at Jerusalem, he was executed as a malefactor in the most shameful and ignominious manner then known (see Luke 23:18-23). To this day, his name excites the utmost contempt among Jews, and they turn from him and his claims with the deepest abhorrence. The common name by which he is designated in the Jewish writings is Tolvi - ‹the crucified;‘ and nothing excites more deep abhorrence and contempt than the doctrine that they, and all others, can be saved only by the merits of ‹the crucified.‘ The Chaldee renders all this in the plural, ‹To those who are contemned among the people, to those who have migrated to ether kingdoms, to those who serve other lords.‘



Princes also shall worship - The word used here, (ישׁתחווּ yı̂shettachăvû ), from שׁחה shâchâh ) means “to bow down, to incline oneself”; it then means “to prostrate oneself” before anyone, in order to do him honor or reverence. This was the customary mode of showing respect or reverence in the East. It consisted generally in falling upon the knees, and then touching the forehead to the ground, and is often alluded to in the Bible (see Genesis 42:6; Genesis 18:2; Genesis 19:1; Nehemiah 8:6). This honor was paid not only to kings and princes as superior 2 Samuel 9:8, but also to equals Genesis 23:7; Genesis 37:7, Genesis 37:9-10. It was the customary form of religious homage, as it is still in the East, and denoted sometimes religious worship Genesis 22:5; 1 Samuel 1:3; but not necessarily, or always (see the note at Matthew 2:11; compare Matthew 8:2; Matthew 14:33; Matthew 15:25; Matthew 18:26; Mark 5:6). Here it does not mean that they would render to him religious homage, but that they would show him honor, or respect.



Verse 8


In an acceptable time - Hebrew, ‹In a time of delight or will,‘ that is, a time when Yahweh was willing, or pleased to hear him. The word רצין râtsôn means properly delight, satisfaction, acceptance Proverbs 14:35; Isaiah 56:7; will, or pleasure Esther 8:1; Psalm 40:9; Daniel 8:4-11; then also goodwill, favor, grace Proverbs 16:15; Proverbs 19:12. The Septuagint renders this, Καιρῷ δεκτῷ Kairō dektō - ‹In an acceptable time.‘ So Jerome, Gesenius, and Hengstenberg render it, ‹In a time of grace or mercy.‘ The main idea is plain, that Yahweh was well pleased to hear him when he called upon him, and would answer his prayers. In a time of favor; in a time that shall be adjudged to be the best fitted to the purposes of salvation, Yahweh will be pleased to exalt the Messiah to glory, and to make him the means of salvation to all mankind.



And the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.




And give thee for a covenant of the people - The ‹people‘ (עם 'âm ) refers doubtless primarily to the Jews - the better portion of the Israelite people - the true Israel Romans 2:28-29. To them he was first sent, and his own personal work was with them (see the notes at Isaiah 49:6). On the meaning of the phrase ‹for a covenant,‘ see the notes at Isaiah 42:6.



Verse 9

That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth - This language occurs also in Isaiah 42:7. For an explanation of it, see the notes on that place.





This is an image which we have frequently had in Isaiah, and perhaps the meaning may be, that to his people the Redeemer would open unexpected sources of comfort and joy; that in places and times in which they would scarcely look for a supply of their spiritual needs, he would suddenly meet and satisfy them as if green grass for flocks and herds should suddenly start up in the down-trodden way, or luxuriant vegetation burst forth on the sides and the tops of barren, rocky, and desolate hills. Harmer, however, supposes that this whole description refers rather to the custom which prevailed in the East, of making feasts or entertainments by the sides of fountains or rivers. ‹To fountains or rivers,‘ Dr. Chandler tells us in his Travels, ‹the Turks and the Greeks frequently repair for refreshment; especially the latter, in their festivals, when whole families are seen sitting on the grass, and enjoying their early or evening repast, beneath the trees, by the side of a rill‘ - (Travels in Asia Minor, p. 21.) Compare 1 Kings 1:9. Thus Harmer supposes that the purpose of the prophet is, to contrast the state of the Jews when they were shut up in prison in Babylon, secluded from fresh air, and even the light itself, or in unwholesome dungeons, with their state when walking at liberty, enjoying the verdure, and the enlivening air of the country; passing from the tears, the groans, and the apprehensions of such a dismal confinement, to the music, the songs, and the exquisite repasts of Eastern parties of pleasure (see Harmer‘s Obs., vol. ii. pp. 18-25; Ed. Lond. 1808). The interpretation, however, above suggested, seems to me most natural and beautiful.

Verse 10


Neither shall the heat nor sun smite them - In Revelation 7:16, this is, ‹Neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat;‘ that is, the burning heat of the sun shall not oppress them - an image of refreshment, protection, and joy, as when the traveler in burning sands finds the grateful shade of a rock or of a grove (see the notes at Isaiah 4:6; Isaiah 14:3; Isaiah 25:4; Isaiah 32:2). The word rendered here ‹heat‘ (שׁרב shârâb ), denotes properly heat, burning; and then the heated vapor which in burning deserts produces the phenomenon of the mirage (see it explained in the notes at Isaiah 35:7). It is equivalent here to intense heat; and means that they shall not be exposed to any suffering like that of the intense heat of the burning sun reflected from sandy wastes.


Even by the springs of water - In Revelation 7:17, ‹Shall lead them unto living fountains of waters‘ (see the notes at Isaiah 35:6). The whole figure in this verse is taken from the character of a faithful shepherd who conducts his flock to places where they may feed in plenty; who guards them from the intense heat of a burning sun on sandy plains; and who leads them beside cooling and refreshing streams. It is a most beautiful image of the tender care of the Great Shepherd of his people in a world like this - a world in its main features, in regard to real comforts, not unaptly compared to barren hills, and pathless burning sands.

Verse 11


And my highways shall be exalted - That is, the way shall be cast up (see Isaiah 57:14; Isaiah 62:10), as when a road is made over valleys and gulf (see the notes at Isaiah 40:4).

Verse 12

Behold, these shall come from far - That is, one part shall come from a distant land, and another from the north and west. This is a statement of the fulfillment of the promise made to him Isaiah 49:6-7, that he should be for a light to the Gentiles, and that kings and princes should rise up and honor him. The words ‹from far,‘ denote a distant land, without specifying the particular direction from which they would come. The most distant nations should embrace his religion, and submit to him. Lowth and Seeker understand it of Babylon; Grotius of the East, that is, Persia, and the other countries east of Judea. But it more properly denotes any distant country; and the sense is, that converts should be made from the most distant lands.

And lo, these - Another portion.

From the north - The regions north of Palestine.



From the land of Sinim - There have been many different opinions in regard to the ‹land of Sinim.‘ The name ‹Sinim‘ (סינים siyniym ) occurs nowhere else in the Bible, and of course it is not easy to determine what country is meant. It is evident that it is some remote country, and it is remarkable that it is the only land specified here by name. Some, it is said, should come from far, some from the north, others from the west, and another portion from the country here specifically mentioned. Jerome understands it of the south in general - Isti de terra Australi. The Septuagint understands it as denoting Persia - Ἄλλοι δὲ ἐκ γῆς Περσῶν alloi di ek gēs Persōn The Chaldee also interprets it as Jerome has done, of the south. The Syriac has not translated it, but retained the name Sinim. The Arabic coincides with the Septuagint, and renders it, ‹From the land of Persia.‘ Grotius supposes that it means the region of Sinim to the south of Palestine, and Vitringa also coincides with this opinion.

Bochart supposes that it means the same as Sin or Syene, that is, Pelusium, a city of Egypt; and that it is used to denote Egypt, as Pelusium was a principal city in Egypt. In Ezekiel 30:15, Sin or Pelusium (margin) is mentioned as ‹the strength of Egypt.‘ Gesenius supposes that it refers to the Chinese, and that the country here referred to is Sina or China. ‹This very ancient and celebrated people,‘ says he, ‹was known to the Arabians and Syrians by the name Sin, Tein, Tshini; and a Hebrew writer might well have heard of them, especially if sojourning in Babylon, the metropolis as it were of all Asia. This name appears to have been given to the Chinese by the other Asiatics; for the Chinese themselves do not employ it, and seem indeed to be destitute of any ancient domestic name, either adopting the names of the reigning dynasties, or ostentatiously assuming high-sounding titles, as “people of the empire in the center of the world.” ‹The Rev. Peter Parker, M. D., missionary to China, remarked in an address delivered in Philadelphia, that ‹the Chinese have been known from time immemorial by the name Tschin. Tschin means a Chinaman.‘ When they first received this appellation, cannot be determined, nor is the reason of its being given to them now known.



Verse 13


Verse 14


Verse 15



Yea, they may forget - They will sooner forget their child than God will forget his afflicted and suffering people. The phrase ‹they may forget,‘ implies that such a thing may occur. In pagan lands, strong as is the instinct which binds a mother to her offspring, it has not been uncommon for a mother to expose her infant child, and to leave it to die. In illustration of this fact, see the notes at Romans 1:31.

Verse 16



Verse 17

Thy children - The children of Zion - the true people of God. But there is here considerable variety in the interpretation. The Hebrew of the present text is בניך bânâyı̂k (“thy sons”). But Jerome reads it, Structores tui - ‹Thy builders;‘ as if it were בונין . The Septuagint renders it, ‹Thou shalt be speedily built ( ταχὺ οἰκοδομηθήσῃ tachu oikodomēthēsē ) by those by whom thou hast been destroyed.‘ The Chaldee renders it, ‹Those that rebuild thy waste places shall hasten.‘ The Syriac reads it, ‹Thy sons;‘ and the Arabic, ‹Thou shalt be rebuilt by those by whom thou hast been destroyed.‘ But there is no good authority for changing the present Hebrew text. nor is it necessary. The sense probably is, the descendants of those who dwelt in Zion, who are now in exile, shall hasten to rebuild the wastes of the desolate capital, and restore its ruins. And may it not mean, that in the great work under the Messiah, of restoring the nation to the worship of God, and of spreading the true religion, God would make use of those who dwelt in Zion; that is, of the Jews, as his ambassadors?


Verse 18


All these gather themselves - That is, from a far country, from the north, the west, and the south, Isaiah 49:12.

As I live, saith the Lord - The customary form of an oath when Yahweh swears It is a solemn assurance that the event shall as certainly occur as he has an existence (see the note at Isaiah 45:23; compare Jeremiah 22:24; Ezekiel 5:11; Ezekiel 14:16, Ezekiel 14:18, Ezekiel 14:20; Ezekiel 16:48).

Thou shalt surely clothe thee with them - Zion is here represented, as it is often elsewhere, as a female (see the note at Isaiah 1:8); and the accession of converts from abroad is represented under the figure of bridal ornaments. The accession of converts karo the Gentiles should be to her what jewels are to a bride.

And bind them on thee as a bride doth - The sentence here is manifestly incomplete. It means, as a bride binds on her ornaments. The Septuagint has supplied this, and renders it, ‹As a bride her ornaments‘ ( ὡς κόσμον νύμφη hōs kosmon numphē ). The sentiment is, that the accession of the large humber of converts under the Messiah to the true church of God, would be the real ornament of Zion, and would greatly increase her beauty and loveliness.

Verse 19


And the land of thy destruction - That is, thy land laid in ruins. The construction is not uncommon where a noun is used to express the sense of an adjective. Thus in Psalm 2:6, the Hebrew phrase (margin) is correctly rendered ‹my holy hill.‘ Here the sense is, that their entire country had been so laid waste as to be a land of desolation.


And they that swallowed thee up - The enemies that laid waste thy land, and that “absorbed,” as it were, thy inhabitants, and removed them to a distant land. They shall be all gone, and the land shall smile again in prosperity and in loveliness.

Verse 20





Verse 21



I have lost my children - Jerusalem had been desolated by wars, and had become like a widow that was bereft of all her sons (compare the notes at Isaiah 47:8-9).



Verse 22



They shall bring thy sons in their arms - Margin, ‹Bosom.‘ Jerome renders it, In ulnis - ‹In their arms.‘ The Septuagint, Ἐν κόλπῳ En kolpō - ‹In the bosom.‘ Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, Ἀγκαλας Agkalas - ‹In their arms.‘ If it means bosom, as Gesenius renders it, it refers to the bosom of a garment in which things are carried. But it more probably means in the arms, as children are borne; and the idea is, that the distant nations would come and bear with them those who were the children of Zion, that is, those who would become the true friends and worshippers of God.

And thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders - Referring, doubtless, to the manner in which children were carried. In Isaiah 66:12, the same idea is expressed by their being carried upon the sides, referring to the custom still prevalent in the East, of placing a child when it is nursed astride on the side of the mother. The following quotation will more fully explain the customs here alluded to. ‹It is a custom in many parts of the East, to carry their children astride upon the hip, with the arm around the body. In the kingdom of Algiers, where the slaves take the Children out, the boys ride upon their shoulders; and in a religious procession, which Symes had an opportunity of seeing at Ava, the capital of the Burman empire, the first personages of rank that passed by were three children borne astride, on people‘s shoulders. It is evident, from these facts, that the Oriental children are carried sometimes the one way, sometimes the other.

Nor was the custom, in reality, different in Judea, though the prophet expresses himself in these terms: “They shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders;” for, according to Dr. Russel, the children able to support themselves are usually carried astride on the shoulders; but in infancy they are carried in the arms, or awkwardly on one haunch. Dandini tells us that, on horseback, the Asiatics “carry their children upon their shoulders with great dexterity. These children hold by the head of him who carries them, whether he be on horseback or on foot, and do not hinder him from walking or doing what he pleases.” This augments the import of the passage in Isaiah, who speaks of the Gentiles bringing children thus; so that distance is no objection to this mode of conveyance, since they may thus be brought on horseback from among the people, however remote.‘ (Paxton) ‹Children of both sexes are carried on the shoulders.


Verse 23





Verse 24


Or the lawful captive delivered? - Margin, ‹The captivity of the just.‘ Lowth reads this, ‹Shall the prey seized by the terrible be rescued?‘ So Noyes. Lowth says of the present Hebrew text, that the reading is a ‹palpable mistake;‘ and that instead of צדיק tsadiyq (“the just”), the meaning should be עריץ ‛ârı̂yts (“the terrible”). Jerome so read it, and renders it, A robusto - ‹The prey taken by the strong.‘ So the Syriac reads it. The Septuagint renders it, ‹If anyone is taken captive unjustly ( ἀδίκως adikōs ), shall he be saved?‘ But there is no authority from the manuscripts for changing the present reading of the Hebrew text; and it is not necessary. The word ‹just,‘ here may either refer to the fact that the just were taken captive, and to the difficulty of rescuing them; or perhaps, as Rosenmuller suggests, it may be taken in the sense of severe, or rigid, standing opposed to benignity or mercy, and thus may be synonymous with severity and harshness; and the meaning may be that it was difficult to rescue a captive from the hands of those who had no clemency or benignity, such as was Babylon. Grotius understands it of those who were taken captive in a just war, or by the rights of war. But the connection rather demands that we should interpret it of those who were made captive by those who were indisposed to clemency, and who were severe and rigid in their treatment of their prisoners. The idea is, that it was difficult or almost impossible to rescue captives from such hands, and that therefore it was a matter of wonder and amazement that that could be accomplished which God here promises.

Verse 25


Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away - Margin, as Hebrew, ‹The captivity of the mighty.‘ That which could not have been rescued by any ordinary means. The language here refers undoubtedly to Babylon, and to the captivity of the Jews there.

The prey of the terrible - Of a nation formidable, cruel, and not inclined to compassion; in the previous verse described as ‹just,‘ that is, indisposed to mercy.


Verse 26



As with sweet wine - Margin, ‹New.‘ The Hebrew word (עסיס ‛âsiys ) means ‹must,‘ or new wine Joel 1:5; Joel 3:18; Amos 9:13. The Septuagint renders it, Οῖνον νέον Oinon neon - ‹New wine.‘ The ‹must,‘ or new wine, was the pure juice which ran first after the grapes had been laid in a heap preparatory to pressure. The ancients had the art of preserving this for a long time, so as to retain its special flavor, and were in the habit of drinking it in the morning (see Hor. Sat. ii. 4). This had the intoxicating property very slightly, if at all; and Harmer (Obs. vol. ii. p. 151) supposes that the kind here meant was rather such as was used in ‹royal palaces for its gratefulness,‘ which was capable of being kept to a great age. It is possible, I think, that there may be an allusion here to the fact that it required a ‹large quantity of the must‘ or new wine to produce intoxication, and that the idea here is that a large quantity of blood would be shed.



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Bibliography Information
Barnes, Albert. "Commentary on Isaiah 49:4". "Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible". 1870.

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