Isaiah 49:9

But this is directed to the isles (that is, the Gentiles, for they are called the isles of the Gentiles, Gen. x. 5 ) and to the people from far, that were strangers to the commonwealth of Israel, and afar off.

When God pleases even highway ground shall be good ground for the sheep of his pasture to feed in. Their pastures shall be not only in the valleys, but in all high places, which are commonly dry and barren. Wherever God brings his people he will take care they shall want nothing that is good for them, Ps. xxxiv.

That thou mayest say to the prisoners, go forth,....

Another sense probably is the right one. Israel, on its way back to the Holy Land, shall not have to turn aside to devious paths in search of necessaries, but shall find them in all places wherever their route lies; so ROSENMULLER.

THIS, of course, is a prophecy of what the Messiah would do. The Lord Jesus Christ, when He came among the sons of men, was to open the prison doors and to say to the prisoners, "Go forth," and to those who, in addition to being in prison, were in a dark cell, shut away from the light, He was to say, "Show yourselves." What wonders Jesus Christ has worked!

THIS, of course, is a prophecy of what the Messiah would do. The Lord Jesus Christ, when He came among the sons of men, was to open the prison doors and to say to the prisoners, "Go forth," and to those who, in addition to being in prison, were in a dark cell, shut away from the light, He was to say, "Show yourselves." What wonders Jesus Christ has worked! There are many of us who are living proofs of what Jesus Christ can do, for, when we were in prison, He said to us, "Come forth," and we are now free as the air, our spirits are buoyant and full of gladness and rejoicing! Some of us also sat in darkness—gloomy, thick, Egyptian night—but when Jesus came to us, that darkness fled away and now we walk in the Light of God as He is in the Light, and we have fellowship with Him, and with His Father, too, through the ever-blessed Spirit. Wonders of Grace belong to Christ! He has already worked enough to keep His redeemed amazed throughout all eternity with the splendor of the achievements of His Grace! Though He were never to work another miracle of mercy, He has already done enough to set all Heaven in amazement throughout all the ages that are yet to come, such a wondrous Savior has He proved Himself to be! The liberty which Jesus gives to prisoners is something very marvelous. To be a prisoner for life must be a horrible thing—to be immured in a dungeon for all one's days must be almost worse than death. Yet there is a slavery of the soul that is worse than wearing chains upon the wrist! There is an imprisonment of the heart that is far more terrible than being shut up within stone walls or iron bars.

To them that are in darkness “And to those that are in darkness” - Fifteen MSS. (five ancient) of Dr. Kennicott’s, eleven of De Rossi’s, and one ancient of my own, and the two old editions of 1486 and 1488, and three others, add the conjunction ו vau at the beginning of this member. Another MS. had it so at first, and two others have a rasure at the place: and it is expressed by the Septuagint, Syriac, Chaldee, and Vulgate.

That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth - This language occurs also in Isa 42:7. For an explanation of it, see the notes on that place. To them that are in darkness - Synonymous with being prisoners, as prisoners are usually confined in dark cells. Show yourselves - Hebrew, ‘Reveal,’ or manifest yourselves; that is, as those who come out of a dark cell come into light, so do you, who have been confined in the darkness of sin, come forth into the light of the Sun of righteousness, and be manifest as the redeemed.