Bible Commentary (1871–1879 Edition)
The, Full of Babylon Foretold. ISAIAH XLIII. The Peoples Sins Inexemable. many, which shall refresh, not the bodies as formerly, but the souls of the thirsty, so that the proplu cy shall be fulmasculine expresses the complete totalUy of anything (Zechariah 9. 17). 7. called by my name—belong to Israel, whose people, as sons of God, bear the name of filled : "Witli joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation." [Jerome.] "A way" often stands for t?ie true religion (Acts 9. 2; 18. 26). " Rivers" express tlie influences of tlie Holy Spirit (Jolin 7. 37-39). Israel's literal restoration hereafter is included, as appears by comparing ch. their Father (eh. 44. 5; 48. 1). for my glory— (u. 21; ch. 29.
23.) 8. Solemn challenge given by God to the nations to argue with Him the question of His superiority to tlieir
Idols, and His power to deliver Israel (ch. 41. 1). blind people—the Gentiles, who also, like Israel (ch. 42. 19), are
11. 15, 16. !40. beast—image of Idolaters, defiled with blood and pollutions, dwelling like dragons, &c., in the wastes of Gentile ignorance: even they shall be converted. Or blind (spiritually), though having eyes, i. e., natural faculties, whereby they might know God (Romans 1. 20, 21). [LowTH.] Or else, the Jews. [Vitkinga.] 9. who . . . else, lit., such copious floods of water shall be given by God in the desert, that the very beasts shall (in poetic language) praise the Lord (Psalm 148.10). [Jerome.] dragons serpents : OT else jackals {Note, ch. 13. 22). owls—ratlier, ostriches. 21. This people—viz., The same as "my people, my chosen" (see v. 1,7; Psalm 102. 18). my praise—on account of the many and great benefits conferred on them, especially their restoration. 23. But—Israel, )iowcall declare tills—who among the idolatrous soothsayers hath predicted this, i. e., as to Cyrus being the Deliverer of Israel 7 former—predictions, as in ch. 42. 9. [Maureb.]
Or, tJiings that shall first come to pass (Note, eh. 41. 21, 22). [Baknes.] let them bring forth tbeir witnesses-as I do mine (v. 10). justified—declared veracious in their pretended prophecies, or—rather, and.- let men hear their prediction and say, from the event. It is verified (Note, cver, is not to think that these Divine favours are due to their own piety towards God. So the believer (Titus 3. 5). but—rather, for. weary of me—(Amos 8. 5, 6 ; Malachi 1. ch. 41. 26). 10. Ye—The Jews, to whom I have given predictions, verified by the event; and In delivering whom I have so often manifested my power (see r. 3, 4; ch. 44. 8). and my servant i. e., the whole Jewish people (ch. 41. 8). believe—trust in. formed—before I existed none of the 13), though "I have not wearied thee" (v. 23), yet "thou hast been weary of me." 33. small cattle—rather, the lamb or kid, required by the law to be daily ofl Tered to God (Exodus 29.38; Numbers 28.3). sacrificesottered any way ; whereas the Hebrew for holocaust, or " burnt ofl'ering," denotes that which ascends as an ofl'ering consumed by flre. I have not caused thee to serve i. e., to render the service of a jtoue (Matthew 11. 30; Romans 8. 15; 1 John false gods were formed. "Formed" applies to the idols, not to God. Revelation 1. 11 uses the same language to prove tlie Godhead of Jcsits, as Isaiah here to prove the Godheadiof Jehovah. 11. l.ord—Jehovah, saviour—temporally, from Babylon : eternally, from sin and hell (Rosea
4. 18; 5.3). offering—bloodless (Leviticus 2. l,2j. wearied —antithetical to v. 22, "Thou hast been weary of me." Though God In the law required such offerings, yet not so as to "weary" the worshipper, or to exact them in cases where, as in the Babylonish captivity, tliey were physically unable to render them; God did not require them, save in subordination to the higher moral duties (Psalm
13. 4; Acts 4. 12). The same titles as are applied to God are applied to Jesus. 13. declared-predicted the future (ch. 41. 22, 23). saved—the nation, in past times of danger. sHowed—142., that I was God. wlien ... no strange god, &o.—to whom the predictions uttered by me could be assigned. "Strange" means /oretg'n. Introduced from abroad. 13. hetore—lit., from the time of the Urst existenceofday. let—Old English for Wnder (ch. 14.27). Rather,
50. 8-14 ; 51. 16, 17 ; Micah 6. 3, 6-8). 34. bought—lor " s v/eet cane" (aromatic calamus) was not indigenous to Palestine, but had to be bought from foreign countries (Jeremiah 6. 20). It was used among the Hebrews to make the sacred ointment (Exodus 30. 23). It is often offered as a mark of hospitality, filledsatiated (Jeremiah translate/' undo it. ' [Horsley.] 11. gent—uiz., the Medes and Persians (ch. 10. 5, 6; 13. 3). brought down—made to go down to tlie sea (ch. 42. 10), In order to escape the impending destruction of Babylon, nobles—rather, fugitives: viz., the foreigners who sojourned in populous Babylon (ch. 13. 14), distinct from the Chaldeans. [MauBER.] whose cry is in the ships exulting in their ships with the joyous sailors—cry, boastingly; their joy heretofore in their ships contrasts sadly with their present panic in fleeing to them (ch. 22.2; Zephaniah 2.15). Babylon was on the Euphrates, which was joined to the Tigris by a canal, and flowed into the Persian Gulf. Tlius it was famed for ships and commerce, until the Persian monarchs, to prevent revolt or Invasion, obstructed navigation by dams across the Tigris and Euphrates. 15. creator of Israel—(u. 1.) your—proved to be specially yours by delivering you. 16, 17. Allusion to the deliverance of Israel, and overthrow of Pharaoh In the Red Sea, the standing illustratiou of God's unchanging character towards His people (Exodus 14). the power—the might of the enemies' liost, every mighty warrior, they shall lie down together—as Pliaraoh's army sank "together" in a watery grave. 18. So wonderful shall be God's future interpositions in your behalf, that all past ones shall be forgotten in comparison. Plainly the future restoration of Israel is the event ultimately meant. Thus the " former things" are such events as the destruction of Sennacherib and the return from Babylon. " Things of old" are events still more aucient, the deliverance from Egypt and at the Red Sea, and entry into Canaan. [Vitkinga.] 19. new—unprecedented in its wonderful character (ch.
31. 14). God deigns to use human language to adapt Himself to human modes of thought, made me to serve—though "I have not caused thee to serve" (ti. 23). Our sin made the Son of God to become "a servant." He seived to save us from servile bondage (Philippians 2.7; Hebrews 2.14, 15). wearied me— Though I have "not wearied thee" (u. 23; see ch. 1.14). 35. (Ch. 44. 22.) I, even I—The God against whom your sin is committed, and who alone can and will pardon, for mine own sake — (Ch. 48.9,11.) How abominable a thing sin is, since it is against such a God of grace! "Blotted out" Is an image from an account-book, in which, when a debt Is paid, the charge is cancelled or blotted out. not remember. . . sins— (Jeremiah 31. 34.) When God forgive.-? He forgets, i. e., treats the sinner as if He had forgotten liissins. 26. Put me In remembrance—Remind me of every plea which thou hast to urge before me In thy defence. Image from a trial (ch. 1. 18; 41. 1). Our strongest plea is to remind God of His own promises. So Jacob did at Malianaim and Peniel (Genesis 32. 9, 12). God, then, instead of "pleading against us with His great power," "will put His strength" in us (Job 23.6); we thus become "the Lord's remembrancers" (ch. 62. 6, Margin). "Declare God's righteousness" vindicated in Jesus Christ "that thou mayest be justifled" (Romans 3. 26; cf. ch. 20., and Psalm 143. 2). 37. first father—collectively for " most ancient ancestors," as the parallelism ("teachers") proves. [Maurer.] Or, thy chief religious ministers or priests. [Gesenius.] A dam, the common father of all nations, can hardly be meant here, as it would have been irrelevant to mention Jiis sin in an address to the Jews specially. Abraham is equally out of place here, as he is everywhere cited as an example of faithfulness, not of sin. However, taking the passage
42.9). spring forth—as a germinating herb: a beautiful Image of the silent but certain gradual growth of events in God's providence (Mark 4. 26-28). way In . . . wilderness —just as Israel in tlie wilderness, between the Red Sea and Canaan, was guided, and supplied with water by Jehovah; but the "new" deliverance shall be attended with manifestations of God's power and love, eclipsing the old (cf. ch. 41. 17-19). "I will open a way, not merely In the Red Sea, but in the wilderness of the whole world; and not merely one river shall gush out of the rock, but its Ultimate application to the Church at large, Adam may be meant, teachers lit., interpreters between God and man.tne priests (Job 33. 23; Malachi 2.7). 28. pro479
The Church Comforted with Promises. ISAIAH XLIV. The Vanity of Llil-y.o'ship,
31. 3; the type of the redeemed Cliurch (Ephcsians 1.4). 9. be afraid — lit., be astounded, or distracted with fear from that time—viz., from the time tliat"! appointed the ancient pe6ple" (w. 7). From the time of Abraham's raned tlie princes—(Psalm 89.39; Lamentations 2. 2, 6, 7.)
I have estet ined, or treated, them as persons not saej-ed. I have left tlieni to sutler the same treatment as the common people, stripped of their holy office and in captivity. pr Uices of t!ic sanctuary—"governopsof " it (1 Chronicles call, his family were the depositories of the predictions of the Redeemer, whereas the promise of Cyrus was not heard of till Isaiah's time; therefore, the event to the prediction and accomplishment of which God appeals In proof of His sole Godhead, is the redemption of man by a descendant of Abraham, in whose person "the ancient people" was first formally " appointed." The deliverance of the Jews, by Cyrus, is mentioned afterwards only as an earnest of that greater mercy. [Horsley.] no God Hebrew, tsur, " rock" (Deuterdnomy 32. 4), i. e., a stronghold to take refuge in, and a solid foundation to build on. 9. (Ch. 40. 18, 20; 41. 29.) delectable things—the idols In which they take such pride and delight, not profit (Habakkuk 2. 18.) they are their own witnesses—contrasted with, "Ye are witnesses" (v. 8). "They," i. e., both the makers and the idols, are witnesses against themselves, for the Idols palpably see and know nothing (Psalm 115. 4-8). that they may be asliamed—The consequence deducible from tiie whole previous argument, not merely from the words immediately preceding, as inch.
24.5); directing its lioly services: priests, cwrse—Hebrew, Cherhii, a solemn anathema, or excommunication, reproaclies—(Psahri 123. 3, 4.)
CHAPTER XLIV.
Ver. 1-2,^. Continuation of the pkevious Chapter
1-5). 1. Yet—Though thou hast sinned, yet hear God's gracious pi-omise as to tliy deliverance, chosen—(Ch. 41.
8.) a. (Ch. 13. 1, 7.) formed . . . from . . . womb—(So v.
24; ch. 19. 1,5.) The sense is similar to that in ch. 1.2, " I have nourished and brought up children." Jeswnm— diminutive term of endearment applied to Israel. The full title of aft'ectiou was Isi-aelun ; contracted it became Jeshnrun, with an allusion to the Hebrew root, jashar, "upriijht," "perfect" (see Note on "He that is perfect," ch. 42. 19) [Ghsenius] (Deuteronomy 32. 15). 3. (Ch. 41. 18.) Ulm . . . thirsty—rather, the land (ch. 35. 6, 1), fig. tor man thirsting after righteousness (Matthew 5. 6). floods—the abundant Inllurnces of the Holy Spirit, stronger than "water." sp Srit— including all spiritual and temporal
28. 13; 36. 12. I say all this to show that they are doomed to perish with shame, which is their only lifting end. 10. Who I—Sarcastic question: "How debased the man must be who forms a god.'" It is a contradiction in terms. A made god, wox-shipped by its maker (1 Corinthians 8. 4) ! 11. his fellows—The associates of him who makes an idol ; or of the idol (see Deuteronomy 7. 26 ; Psalm 115. 8 ; Hosea 4. 17). they are of men—they are mortal men them.selves; what better, then, can the idol be than Its maker? gathered together . . . stand up—as in a court of justice, to try the Issue between God and them (Note, ch. 41. 1, 21). yetwrongly inserted in English Version. The issue of the trial shall be, "they shall fear," &c. 13. tongs—rather, "prepareth (tobesupplied)anrta;e," viz., with which tocutdown the tree designed as the material of the idol. Tlie "smith" {Hebrew, workmanin iron) here answers to the " carpenter" {Hebrew, workman in wood). "He worketh it (the axe, not the idol, which was wood, not metal) in the coals," Ac The axe -was wrought, not cast. The smith makes the axe gifts, as the pai allel, " blessing," proves (ch. 11. 2; 32. 15). seed— (Ch. 59. 21.) 4. tliey— thy "seed " and "offspring"- (v. 3j. as among—needlessly inserted in English Version. Rather, "Tliy seed shall spring up a.s willows among the (/(ass beside canals of water." [Horsley.] Or, " They shall spring up among the grass (i. e., luxuriantly; for what grows in the tnidst of grass grows luxuriantly) as willows by the water-courses," which makes the parallel clauses better balanced. [Mauber.] 5. The third clause answers in parallelism to the first, the fourth to the second. I am tlie Lord's—(.Teremiah 5l». 5; 1 Corinthians 6. 19,20; 2 Corinthians 8. 5). call Skimself by tlie name of Jacob—The Gentiles (as the result of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Israel, the Lord's "seed," first) shall join themselves to the children of Jacob, in order to worship their God (cf. ch. 43. 7 ; Psalm 49. 11). Or, calls, i. e., invokes and celebrates the name nj Jacob, attaches him.self to his nation and refor the carpenter, hungry . . . drlnketh no water—so eager is he to expedite his work while the iron is hot. ligion [Mauuer] (Psalm 24. 6). snbscribe . . . hand unto. . . Jord—in solemn and public covenant, pledging hlra-
If the god were worth any thing, it would not let him grow "faint" with hunger and thirst. "Wii-j.iams, the inissionary, states, that the South Sea islanders when they make an idol abstain from food and drink. 13. After the smith's work in preparing the instruments comes the carpenter's work in forming the iilol. rule rather, line. [Barnes.] with a line—rather, u pencil. [Horsley. J Lit., red ochre, which he uses to mark on the wood the outline of the figure. [Lowth.] Or best, the Belf to God's service (cf. Nehemiah 9. 38), before "witnesses" (Heln-ews 12. 1), after the manner of a civil contract (Jeremiah 32. 10, 12, 44). .So the Christian In the sacraments. [Uarnks.] Lit., "shall fill his hand with letters (Exodus 32. 15; Kzekiel 2. 10) in honour of Jehovah;" or "shall write upon liis hand, I am Jehovah's" (cf. ch.49.
16; Revelation 13. IG); alluding to the puncture with ink on the hand, whereby a soldier marked himself as bound to his commander; and whereby the Christians used to mark themselves with the name.of Christ. [Lowth.] The former view is simpler, surname himself. . . Israel Maurer and Gesenius interpret this as the Hebrew sancstylus or graver, ^yitll which the Incision of the outline is made. [Gesenius.] planes—rather, chisels or carving tooU, for a plane would not answer for carving, compass—from a Hebrew root, to make a circle; by it symmetry of form is secured, according to . . . beauty of a man—irony. The highest idea the heathen could form of a god was one of a form like their own. Jerome says, "The more handsome the statue the more august the god was thought." The incarnation of the Son of God condescends to this anthropomorphic feeling so natural to man, but in such a way as to raise man's thoughts up to the infinite God who " is a spirit." that It may remain In . . . house—the only thing it was good for; it could net hear nor save (cf. Wisdom 13. 15). 14. Description of the material out Of which the idol is formed. C3p>res8—rather, from Hebrew tions, answering to their rendering of the parallel second clause, "eato blandly (speaks in honourable terms of) the name of Israel." Retaining English Version, we must, from the Hebrea understand it thus, "Surname himself by the honourabli: name of Israel " (ch. 45. 4). 6. Here follows an argument for Jehovah, as the only God, and against the idols, as vaniiy (see Notes ch. 41. 4; 43. 1, 10-12). 7. Who but God can predict future events and declare also the order and lime of each (Note ch. 41. 22, 23 ; 45. 21)? callopen/,;/ ;>roc/«(m (ch, 40. fi) tilings to come. [Maurer.] Or, cxxll forth tlie event; command that it happen (ch. 46. 11;
48. 15). [Harnks.J set ... In order—There is no chance or confusion; all events occur in the order best fitted to subs<'rve God's plans, for me—It Is for God that all root, to be hard, " the holm-oak," an evergreen abundant In Palestine. [Gksenius.] slrcngtheneth- "and he getteth strength to himself In the trees of tlie forest," i. e., he layeth in a great store of timber. [Lowth.] Or, thlnis exist and take place (Revelation 4. 11). But MauRKK translates, "Ijet him set it forth (Job 37. 19) to me." »ince '. . . nnci«-nt people—I have given the .Tews predictions of IJie future ever since I appointed them a.s my people in ancient times; therefore they were qualified to bo His witiie."iseH {v. 8). As to their being God's "ancient (everlasting) people," see Deuteronomy 32. 7-9; Jeremiah "chooset/i," as " madest strong for thj'self," i. <?., bust chosen (Psalm 80. 15, 17). [Gksenius.] But Engti.ih Version gives a good sense ; " strengtheneth," f. e., rears to matii/rity; a meaning suitable also to the context of I'salm 80, 16, 17, where Israel Is compared to a vine plunted by JolUWEliS Of JUDEA: part Of 'lUl!^ WALLS OF HEBRON.
The Pcopie Exhorted to Praise God. ISAIAH XLV. The Church's Deliverance by Cyrus. novah. [MAunER.] rain . . . noiirislicth It—Though tions; prophets' co Mnsei* concern the future (cf. "counsellor," ch. 41. 28). Jenisalem—regarded prophetically, as lying in ruins. 27. Referring to the Euphrates, which was turned into a different channel, close to Babylon, by Cyrus, wlio thereby took the city. " The deep" is applied to Euphrates as "sea" (Jeremiah 51. 32, 30). "Rivers" refers to the artificial canals from the Euphrates made to irrigate the country; when it was turned off into a different bed, viz., a lake, forty miles square, which was originally formed to receive the superfluous water in an inundathe man planted tlie tree, yet he couUl not make it grow.
In preparing lo nialie an idol, he has to depend on the true God for rain from lieaven (Jeremiali 14. 22). 15. The same tree that furnislies the material for the god is in part used as fuel for a fire to cook his meals witli and warm himself! tlicrcto—rather, " lie falleth down before them," i.e., such images. [Maui4E11.J 16. part . . . part—not distinct parts, but t?ie same part of the wood (cf. v. 17). catetli—1. e., cof)ks so as to eat (v. 19). I liave seen—I feel tion, the canals became dry. 28. my shepherd—tj pe of Messiah (eh. 40. 11; Psalm 23. 1; 77. 20; Ezekiel 34. 23). all my pleasure—so Messiah (ch. 42. 1; 53. 10). This is the Its power. 18. he—God hath given them over to judicial blimlncss; not His direct physical, but His providential agency in administering His moral government, is meant first time Cyrus is named expressly; and that, 150 years before the time when in 550 b. c. he began his reign. The name comes from the Persian Khorsdiid, ' the sun ;" kings often taking their names from the gods; the sun was worshipped as a god in Persia, saying—ratlier, "and that saith;" construed with God, not with Cyrus. God's word (ch. G. 9, 10). "Shut," lU., daubed, plastered up; it is an East ern custom in some ca.ses to seal up the eyes of offenders. 1». cousldcretli— layeth it to heart (ch. 42. 25 ; Jeremiah 12. 11). nboiulnation— tlie scriptural term for an Idol, not merely abominable, l)ut the essence of what is so, in the eyes of a.Jealous God (1 Kings H. 5, 7). 30. feedeth on aslics—/I'i/., for the idolater delights in what is vain (Proverbs 15. 14; Hosea 12. 1). "Feedeth on wind." There is instantaneously efficient in accomplisliing his will, to . . . to—or, " of Jerusalem . . . of the temple," as previously, the same Hebrew word iu translated, "of Cyrus." [Barnes.] English Version is more gi'aphic. Cyrus, according to JosEPHUS, heard of this propliecy of Isaiah delivered so long before ; hence he was induced to do that which was so contrary to Oriental policy, to aid in restoring the captive Jews and rebuilding their temple and is an allusion, perhaps, also, to the god being made of a tree, t!ie half of whiclr was reduced to aslies by fire {v. 15, 16, 17); the idol, it is implied, was no better, and could, and ought, to have been reduced to ashes like the other half, deceived heart—llie heart and will first go astray, then the intellect and life (Homans 1. 28; Ephesians 4. IS). He in .". . right hami—is not my handiwork (the idol) aselfdeceit? ai. lieracmtoer-"Be not like the idolaters who consider not in their heart" {v. 19). these—things just said as to the folly of idol-worship, my servant—not city.
CHAPTER XLV.
Ver. 1-25. The Subject of the Deliver.a.nce by Cyrus is followed up (v. 1-7). These seven verses should have been appended to last chapter, and the new chapter should begin with v. 8, "Drop down," &c. [Hoksley.] Reference to the deliverance by Messiah often breaks out from amidst the local and temporary details of the deliverance from Babylon, as .the great ultimate end of the prophecy. 1. his anointed—Cyrus is so called aa being set apart as king, by God's providence, to fulfil His special purpose. Though kings were not anointed in Persia, the expression is applied to him in reference to like the idolaters, slaves to the stock of a tree (v. 19). See
V. I, 2. thou . . . not . . . forgotten of me—Therefore
oughtest to "remember" me. 23. blotted outthe debt of thy sin from the account-book in wliich it was entered (Exodus 32. 32, 33; Revelation 20. 12). as a thick cloud—scattered away by the wind (Psalm 103. 12). as a cloud—a descending gradation. Not only the " thick cloud" of the heavier "transgressions," but the "cloud" (" vapour" [LowTH], not so dense, but covering the sky as 9, mist) of the countless "sins." These latter, though not thought much of by man, need, as much as the former, to be cleared away by the 8un of righteousness, else they tlie Jewish custom of setting apart kings to the regal office by anointing, right hand . . . holden— image from sustaining a feeble person by holding his right hand will be a mist separating us fi-om heaven (Psalm 19.
12, 13; 1 John 1. 7-9). return . . . for—The antecedent redemption is the ground of, and motive to, repentance. We do not repent in order that He may redeem us, but because He hath redeemed us (Zecharlah 12. 10; Luke 24. 47; Acts 3. 18, 10,1. He who believes in his being forgiven cannot but love (Lnlce 7. 43, 47). 33. Call to inanimate nature (ch. 42. 6). subdue nations viz., the Cilicians, Syrians, Babylonians, Lydians, Bactrians, &c. ; his empire extended from Egypt and the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean, and from Ethiopia to the Euxine Sea. loose . . . loins i. e., the girdle off the loins; and so enfeeble them. The loose outer robe of the Orientals, when girt fast round the loins, was the emblem of strength and preparedness for action; ungirt, was indicative of feebleness (Job 38.3; 12. to praise God; for it also shall share in the coming deliverance from " the bondage of corruption" (Romans 8.
20.21). done It—effected redemption for both the literal and spiritual Israel, lower parts, &c.—antithetical to "heavens;" " mountains," " forest," and " tree," are the Intermediate objects in a descending gradation (see Psalm
21); "weakeneth the strength of the mighty" (Margin),. " looseth the girdle of the strong." The joints of Belshazzar's loins, we read in Daniel 5. 6, were loosed during the siege by Cyrus, at the sight of the mysterious handwriting onthe palace walls. His being taken by surprise, unaccoutred.
96. 11, 12). 24t-28. Confirmation of His promises to the Church and Israel, by various instances of His omnipotence; among these the restoration of the Jews by Cyrus, alone lit.. Who was with me f wz., when I did it; answering to " by myself," in the parallel clause (cf. similar phrases, Hosea 8. 4; John 5. 30). [Maukek.] 25. tokens —prognostics ; the pretended miracles which they gave as proofs of their supernatural powers, liars—(Jeremiah 50.
Is here foretold, to open . . . gates—In the revelry in: Babylon on the night of its capture, the inner gates, leading from the streets to the river, were left open, for there were walls along each side of the Euphrates with gates, which, had they been kept shut, would hav« hemmed the invading hots in the bed of the river, where the Babylonians could have easily destroyed them. Also, the gates of the palace were' left open, so that there was access to every part of the city; and such was its-extent, that they who lived in the extremities were taken prisoners before the alarm reached the centre of the palace. [Herodotus, 1. sec. 191]. 3. crooked . . . straight—(ch.
36). Conjurors; or, astroloffers; men leading a retired contemplative life, in order to study divination by the signs of the stars. [Vitrinqa.] backward—with shame at their predictions not being verified; "To turn away the face" is to frustrate defeat (ch. 36. 9; 1 Kings 2. 1.5). The "wise men" are the diviners who, when Babylon, was attacked by Cyrus, predicted his overthrow. 36. servant —in a collective sense, for the prophets in general, who foretold the return from Babylon; answering to "His messengers" (plural, in the parallel clause). [Maurer.] Antltypically, and ultimately, Messiah, who is the con Bummating embodiment of all the prophets and messen-
40. 4), rather, " maketh toountains plain" [Lowth], t. e., clear out of thy way all opposing persons and things. The Keri reads as In v. 13, "make straight" (Margin). gates of brass-(Psalm 107. 16.) Herodotus, 1. sec. 179, says, Babylon had 100 massive gates, twenty-five on each of the four sides of the city, all, as well as their posts, of brass, bars of iron—with which the gates were fastened. 3. treasures of darkness—t. e., hidden in subterranean places; a common Oriental practice Sorcerers pretended ger's of God (Malachl 3. 1; Matthew 21, 34, 36, 37; John 10.
88); hence the singular, " His servant." counsel-predic31