Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

“ROSENMULLER not so well translates, "He shall not be too slow on the one hand, nor run too hastily on the other." judgment--His true religion, the canon of His judgments and righteous reign. isles . . . wait, &c.--The distant lands beyond sea shall put their…”

“Previously God had spoken of Messiah; now (Isa 42:5-7) He speaks to Him. To show to all that He is able to sustain the Messiah in His appointed work, and that all might accept Messiah as commissioned by such a mighty God, He commences by announcing Himself a…”

“50:8, 9). hold . . . hand--compare as to Israel, the type of Messiah, Ho 11:3. covenant--the medium of the covenant, originally made between God and Abraham (Isa 49:8). "The mediator of a better covenant" (Heb 8:6) than the law (see Isa 49:8;”

“God turns from addressing Messiah to the people. Lord--JEHOVAH: God's distinguishing and incommunicable name, indicating essential being and immutable faithfulness (compare Ex 6:3; Ho 12:5). my--that is due to Me, and to Me alone.”

“The new song shall be sung when the Lord shall reign in Jerusalem, and all "nations shall flow unto it" (Isa 2:2; 14:3). ye that go down to the sea--whose conversion will be the means of diffusing the Gospel to distant lands. all . . . therein--all the livi…”

“I will destroy all My foes. mountains--in Palestine usually planted with vines and olives in terraces, up to their tops. islands--rather, "dry lands." God will destroy His foes, the heathen, and their idols, and "dry up" the fountains of their oracles, their…”

“"Blind," they are called, as not having heretofore seen God's ways in ordering His Church. make darkness light, &c.--implies that the glorious issue would only be known by the event itself [VITRINGA].”

“In this they differ from "the blind" (Isa 42:16). The Jews are referred to. He had said, God would destroy the heathen idolatry; here he remembers that even Israel, His "servant" (Isa 42:19), from whom better things might have been expected, is tainted with…”

“Or translate, the friend of God, which Israel was by virtue of descent from Abraham, who was so called (Isa 41:8), [GESENIUS]. The language, "my servant" (compare Isa 42:1), "messenger" (Mal 3:1), "perfect" (Ro 10:4; 1Pe 2:22), can, in the full antityp…”

“105:1-45). he--transition from the second to the third person. "Opening . . . ears," that is, though he (Israel) hath his ears open (see on Isa 6:10). This language, too (see on Isa 42:19), applies to Messiah as Jehovah's servant (Isa 50:5;”

“Perhaps in God's "righteousness" here is included His faithfulness to His promises given to Israel's forefathers [ROSENMULLER]; because of this He is well pleased with Israel, even though displeased with their sin, which He here reproves; but that promise coul…”

“The connection is: Notwithstanding God's favor to His people for His righteousness' sake (Isa 42:21), they have fallen into misery (the Babylonish and Romish captivities and their present dispersion), owing to their disregard of the divine law: spiritual imp…”

“Who--Their calamity was not the work of chance, but God's immediate act for their sins. Israel . . . we--change from the third to the first person; Isaiah first speaking to them as a prophet, distinct from them; then identifying himself with them, and acknowle…”

“The Hebrew means to ransom by a price paid in lieu of the captives (compare Isa 43:3). Babylon was to be the ransom in this case, that is, was to be destroyed, in order that they might be delivered; so Christ became a curse, doomed to death, that we might be …”

“God chose that Egypt, though so much more mighty, should be destroyed, in order that His people might be delivered; thus Egypt stood, instead of Israel, as a kind of "ransom." The Hebrew, kopher, means properly "that with which anything is overlaid," as the pi…”

“Since--All along from the beginning; for there was never a time when Israel was not Jehovah's people. The apodosis should be at, "I will give." "Since ever thou wast precious in My sight, honorable, and that I loved thee, I will give," &c. [MAURER].”

“Solemn challenge given by God to the nations to argue with Him the question of His superiority to their idols, and His power to deliver Israel (Isa 41:1). blind people--the Gentiles, who also, like Israel (Isa 42:19), are blind (spiritually), though having…”

“Or, things that shall first come to pass (see on Isa 41:21, 22) [BARNES]. let them bring forth their witnesses--as I do mine (Isa 43:10). justified--declared veracious in their pretended prophecies. or--rather, "and"; let men hear their prediction and sa…”

“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 Isa 43:3, 4; Isa 44:8). and my servant--that is, the whole Jewish people (Isa 41:8). believe--trust in. formed--before I…”

“Babylon was on the Euphrates, which was joined to the Tigris by a canal, and flowed into the Persian Gulf. Thus it was famed for ships and commerce until the Persian monarchs, to prevent revolt or invasion, obstructed navigation by dams across the Tigris and E…”

“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 ancient, the deliverance from Egypt and at the…”

“"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 many, which shall refresh, not the bodies as formerly, but the souls of the thirsty, so that the prophecy shall be…”

“This people--namely, The same as "My people, My chosen" (see Isa 43:1, 7; Ps 102:18). my praise--on account of the many and great benefits conferred on them, especially their restoration.”

“(Isa 44:22). for mine own sake-- (Isa 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 . . …”

“So Jacob did at Mahanaim and Peniel (Ge 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" (Isa 62:6, Margin). "Declare God's righteousness" vind…”