Isaiah 44:28

): That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd. Israel is his people, and the sheep of his pasture. These sheep are now in the midst of wolves, in the hands of the thief and robber; they are impounded for trespass.

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The city of strangers, when it is ruined, shall never be built ( ch. xxv. 2 ), but the city of God's own children is but discontinued for a time. (2.) It is here supposed that the temple too should be destroyed, and lie for a time rased to the foundations; but it is promised that the foundation of it shall again be laid, and no doubt built upon.

That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd “Who saith to Cyrus, Thou art my shepherd” - Pastor meus es; Vulg. The true reading seems to be רעי אתה roi attah; the word אתה attah, has probably been dropped out of the text. The same word is lost out of the text, Psa 119:57. It is supplied in the Septuagint by the word ει, thou art. Saying to Jerusalem - For ולאמר velemor, the Septuagint and Vulgate read האומר haomer.

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--literally, "Who was with Me?" namely, when I did it; answering to "by Myself," in the parallel clause (compare similar phrases, Ho 8:4;

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my shepherd--type of Messiah (Isa 40:11; Eze 34:23). all my pleasure--so Messiah (Isa 42:1; This is the first time Cyrus is named expressly; and that, a hundred fifty years before the time when in 550 B.C. he began his reign.

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That saith of Cyrus - This is the first time in which Cyrus is expressly named by Isaiah, though he is often referred to. He is mentioned by him only in one other place expressly by name Isa 45:1. He is several times mentioned elsewhere in the Old Testament 2Ch 26:22-23; Ezr 1:1-2, Ezr 1:7; Ezr 3:7; Ezr 4:3; Ezr 5:13, Ezr 5:17; Dan 1:21; Dan 6:28; Dan 10:1. He began his reign about 550 b.c., and this prophecy was therefore delivered not far from a hundred and fifty years before he ascended the throne. None but God himself, or he whom God inspired, could have mentioned so long before, the name of him who should deliver the Jewish people from bondage; and if this was delivered, therefore, by Isaiah, it proves that he was under divine inspiration. The name of Cyrus (כורשׁ kôresh; Greek Κῦrος Kuros) the Greek writers say, means ‘the sun.’ It is contracted from the Persian word khorschid, which in that language has this signification. Cyrus was the celebrated king of the Medes and Persians, and was the son of Cambyses the Persian, and of Mandane, daughter of Astyages, king of the Medes. For an account of his character and reign, see the notes at Isa 41:2, where I have anticipated all that is needful to be said here. He is my shepherd - A shepherd is one who leads and guides a flock, and then the word denotes, by a natural and easy metaphor, a ruler, or leader of a people. Thus the name is given to Moses in Isa 43:2; compare Psa 77:20, and Eze 34:23. The name here is given to Cyrus because God would employ him to conduct his people again to their own land. The word ‘my’ implies, that he was under the direction of God, and was employed in his service. And shall perform all my pleasure - In destroying the city and kingdom of Babylon; in delivering the Jewish captives; and in rebuilding Jerusalem, and the temple. Even saying to Jerusalem - That is, I say to Jerusalem. […]