Isaiah 54:8

How sorrowful the church's condition had been. She had been as a woman forsaken, whose husband was dead, or had fallen out with her, though she was a wife of youth, upon which account she is grieved in spirit, takes it very ill, frets, and grows melancholy upon it; or she had been as one refused and rejected, and therefore full of discontent.

As he is slow to anger, so he is swift to show mercy. The afflictions of God's people, as they are light, so they are but for a moment, a cloud that presently blows over. How sweet the returns of mercy would be to them when God should come and comfort them according to the time that he had afflicted them.

I hid my face from thee for a moment - The word רגע rega is omitted by the Septuagint, Syriac, and two MSS. of Kennicott’s, and two of De Rossi’s. It seems to embarrass rather than to help the sentence. Forte reponi debet pro שצף shetseph, quod potest a קצף ketseph errore scribae originem duxisse. “Perhaps it ought to be substituted for שצף shetseph, an error probably made by some scribe from its similarity to קצף ketseph.” - Secker Thy Redeemer - גאלך goalech: but for this word three of De Rossi’s MSS. have מרחמך merachamech, thy commiserator.

In a little wrath--rather, "In the overflowing of wrath"; as Pr 27:4, Margin, [GESENIUS]. The wrath, though but "for a moment," was overflowing while it lasted. hid . . . face-- (Isa 8:17;

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

THIS precious passage is the property of all true Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. We might not have ventured to say this if it were not for the last verse of the chapter, which assures us that it is so. "This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of Me, says the Lord."

THIS precious passage is the property of all true Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. We might not have ventured to say this if it were not for the last verse of the chapter, which assures us that it is so. "This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of Me, says the Lord." The matchless promises and assurances of this chapter do not belong to the Jews, alone, nor only to the Gentile Church, nor even exclusively to the whole Church considered as a community—they are the property of all who are sons and servants of the living God. Isaiah speaks of both sonship and service. "This is the heritage," or portion obtained by heirship, which implies sonship. The promise, then, is ours, if we have been born into the family of Grace. But then, all God's sons are also servants, even as the Firstborn among many brethren became a Servant of servants for our sakes. Judge yourselves, dear Friends, as to whether you are sons of God by birth and servants of God by choice, for if you are, then you may take these promises to yourselves. In the last clause it is written, "Their righteousness is of Me, says the Lord." In this we can claim our part, for we have no righteousness of our own! But it has pleased the Lord to work a righteousness for us and a righteousness in us, since we stood in great need of both of these. Neither could we, by any means, have procured them for ourselves. If the Lord Jesus had not been made unto us both our justification and our sanctification, we could have had no hope of seeing the face of God with acceptance. If we are sons by regeneration and servants by the renewal of our nature. And if our righteousness, both imputed and imparted, is found in God, alone, then the text is ours most richly to enjoy! Stand not back from a table so richly spread, but eat and drink abundantly of its dainty provisions.

In a little wrath - The Syriac renders this, ‘In great wrath.’ The Vulgate, ‘In a moment of indignation.’ The Septuagint, ‘In a little wrath.’ (Noyes renders it in accordance with the view of Rosenmuller, ‘In overflowing wrath.’ This variety of interpretation has arisen from the various meanings affixed to the unusual word שׁצף shetsep. This word occurs nowhere else in the Bible. Gesenius supposes that it is used for the sake of paronomasia with קצף qetsep, ‘wrath,’ instead of שׁטף sheṭep. This word frequently occurs, and means a gushing out, an overflowing, an inundation, a flood Neh 1:8; Job 38:25; Psa 32:6; Pro 27:4. According to this it would mean, ‘in my overflowing anger,’ in accordance with the expression in Pro 27:4, ‘anger is outrageous,’ more correctly in the margin, ‘An overflowing.’ The parallelism, however, seems to demand the sense of short or momentary, as it stands opposed to ‘everlasting.’ But it is not possible to demonstrate that the Hebrew word has this signification. Rosenmuller agrees with Gesenius in the opinion that it should be rendered ‘In overflowing wrath;’ and perhaps as the parallelism of the word ‘everlasting’ will be sufficiently secured by the phrase ‘for a moment,’ the probability is in favor of this interpretation. Then it will mean that the wrath, though it was but for a moment, was overflowing. It was like a deluge; and all their institutions, their city, their temple, their valued possessions, were swept away. I hid my face from thee - This is expressive of displeasure (see the note at Isa 53:3; compare Job 13:24; Job 34:29; Psa 30:7; Psa 44:24; Isa 8:17). Here it refers to the displeasure which he had manifested in the punishment which he brought on them in Babylon. For a moment - (See the note at Isa 54:7). […]