Isaiah 51:1-23

Isaiah 51:1-23

Isaiah 51:1-23

1. Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.

1. Audite me, qui sequimini justitiam, qui qumritis Iehovam; aspicire ad petram excisionis vestrae, et ad cavernam specus unde eruti estis.

2. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.

2. Aspicite ad Abraham patrem vestrum, et ad Sarare, qum peperit vos; quoniam unitum vocavi eum, et benedixi, et multiplicavi eum.

3. For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

3. Utique consolabitur Iehova Sion, consolabitur omnes vastitates ejus, ponetque desertum ejus quasi ocum deliciarum, et solitudinem ejus quasi hortum Iehovae. Laetitia et gaudium invenientur in ea; confessio et vox cantici.

4. Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people.

4. Attendite ad me, popule mi; et plebs men audite me; quoniam Lex a me egredietur, et judietum meum in lucem populorum patifaciam.

5. My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust.

5. Prope est justitia mea; egressa eat salus mea; et brachia mea populos judicabunt. Me insulae expectabunt, et in brachium meum sperabunt.

6. Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.

6. Levate in coelum oculos vestros, et aspicite in terram deorsum; quoniam coeli ut fumus peribunt; et terra ut vestis veterascet; et incolae ejus in eundem modum interibunt. Atque salus mea in aeternum manebit, et justitia mea non interibit.

7. Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.

7. Audite me, qui cognoscitis justitiam, populus in cujus corde est lex mea. Ne timeatis probrum hominis eta contumelia eorum ne frangamini animo.

8. For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation.

8. Quoniam sieur vestimentum comedet eos tinea; sicut lanam comeder eos vermis. At justitia inca perpetuo manebit, et salus mea in seculum seculorum.

9. Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?

9. Suscita re, suscita to, indue fortitudinem, brachium Iehovae. Excita re, sicut in diebus antiquis, seculis olim praeteritis. Annon tu illud es, proscindens superbam, conficiens draconem?

10. Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?

10. Annon tu illud es, quod exsiccavit mare, aquam voraginis magnae; quod vertit profundum maris in viare, ad transitum redemptotum?

11. Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.

11. Ergo redempti ad Iehovam revertentur; venient in Sion cure cantico, eritque gaudium perpetuum super caput eorum. Laetitiam et gaudium obtinebunt, fugientque dolor et gemitus.

12. I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass;

12. Ego, ego sum, qui vos consolor. Quaenam es, ut timeas ab homine qui morietur? a filio hominis, qui foenum reputabitur?

13. And forgettest the LORD thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?

13. Et oblita es Iehovae factoris tui, qui extendit coelos, et fundavit terram; et formidasti jugiter tota die a furore affligentis, dum ad vastandum se parat. Et ubi furor affligentis?

14. The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail.

14. Festinat exul ut solvatur, ut non moriatur in specu, nec deficiat eum panis suus.

15. But I am the LORD thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The LORD of hosts is his name.

15. Et ego Iehova Deus tuus, qui seco mare, et sonabunt fluctus ejus; Iehova exercituum nomen ejus.

16. And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.

16. Et posui verba mea in ore tuo; et in umbra manus mere protexi to, ut plantem coelos, et fundem terram. Dieam Sioni, Populus meus tu.

17. Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out.

17. Expergiscere, expergiscere, surge, Ierusalem, quae bibisti e manu Iehovae calicem furoris ejus; faeces calicis angustiae (vel, trepidationis) bibisti exprimens.

18. There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought forth; neither is there any that taketh her by the hand of all the sons that she hath brought up.

18. Non est qui regat eam ex omnibus illils quos genuit; non est qui apprehendat manum ejus ex onmibus illils quos educavit.

19. These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort thee?

19. Duo haec acciderunt tibi. Quis condolebit tibi? Vastitas et contritio, et fames, et gladius. Quis consolabitur to?

20. Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as a wild bull in a net: they are full of the fury of the LORD, the rebuke of thy God.

20. Filii tui exanimati sunt; jacuerunt in capite omnium viarum, sicut bos sylvestris in reti, pleni furore Iehovae, increpatione Dei tui.

21. Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine:

21. Itaque nunc audi hoc, misera et ebria, non a vino.

22. Thus saith thy Lord the LORD, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again:

22. Sic dicit Dominus tuus, Iehova, et Deus tuus, vindex populi sui: Ecce abstuli e mae tua calicem angustiae (vel, trepidationis;) faecem calicis furoris mei. Non fiet ut bibas amplius.

23. But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over.

23. Et tradam eum in manus oppressorum tuorum, qui dixerunt animae ’tuae, Incurvate, et transibimus. Et posuisti quasi terram corpus tuum, et quasi viam transeuntibus.

1 Hearken to me, ye that follow righteousness. The Prophet now exhorts the Jews not to despair because they are few in number; for they had been cut down and diminished to such a degree that they appeared to be on the eve of being reduced to nothing, while there was little or no hope of any to succeed them. He therefore reminds them of their origin, that they may know that, though they are a small remnant, God can increase and multiply them; and he bids them contemplate their father Abraham, who, though he was a single individual, grew to a vast number, and received from God a numerous posterity. Hence they might infer that God, who, in so short a period, had multiplied their fathers, would in future multiply them also; because his power has not been diminished, and his will has not been changed.

Look to the rock of your hewing. Some are of opinion that Abraham is called a “Rock,” because, as Paul declares, “he was strong in faith.” (Romans 4:20.) Others assign a totally opposite meaning to this metaphor; for they think that he is called a “Rock,” because he was worn out by age, and that Sarah is called a Pit, because she was barren. But both, in my opinion, are in the wrong; for it is a simple metaphor, taken from quarries, and declares that they have descended from Abraham and Sarah, as stones are cut out of a “rock” and a “pit.” Amidst the ruin of the nation it was highly necessary that the godly should be supported by this doctrine and admonition. God had promised that the seed of Abraham should be “as the stars of heaven,” (Genesis 15:5,) and as “the sand of the sea.” (Genesis 22:17.) This promise had apparently failed amidst that desolation in which they who were left hardly differed at all from a few clusters when the vintage was ended.

Note 21. “Regardez a la pierre dont vous avez este coupez.” “Look to the stone whence you were hewn.”

But since they had already known by experience how powerful was the strength of God to create a vast people out of nothing, the Prophet bids them cherish favorable hopes, that they may not be ungrateful to God; and he addresses his discourse directly to believers, to whom this was a sore temptation. He does not speak to all, but to those only who could rely on the promise, that is, to those whom he calls “followers of righteousness;” for the country abounded with unbelievers and hypocrites, who had formerly revolted from the practice of piety; and so much the more laudable was the steadfastness of those who did not cease to follow what was right. Wherever “righteousness” is practiced, there God is listened to; and wherever unbelief reigns, reliance cannot be placed on any promise. Although therefore they boasted that they were the children of Abraham, yet all were not capable of receiving this doctrine.

Note 22. “On ne sauroit recevoir promesse queleonque.” “No promise whatever can be believed.”

Ye that seek Jehovah. He explains the method of “following righteousness” to consist in “seeking the Lord;” for they who make an outward shew of “righteousness,” and do not aim at this end, must have wandered during their whole life. These two things, therefore, must be joined together; namely, the practice of righteousness and seeking God.

2. For I called him alone. This application plainly shews what was the design of this exhortation of the Prophet. It was to encourage the hearts of believers to cherish the hope of a better condition. He says that he “called him one or alone,” not only because he had none along with him, when he was called out of his country, but because the Lord suffered him to dwell in the land of Canaan without children up to a worn out old age, so that he had no hope of having children, especially because Sarah (Genesis 16:2) also was barren; and when at length, as a solace for their childless condition, one son was given to them, not long afterwards he appeared to be led forth to slaughter. Yet the Lord increased and enriched him with a great number of children.

How needful this consolation was to the Jews has been remarked by me a little before, and may be easily learned from their condition, which history plainly declares to have been wretched and unhappy. To us also, in the present day, amidst this distracted condition of the Church, it is highly necessary, that we may not be discouraged because our number is small, and that we may hope that God will increase his Church by unexpected methods. We behold a very clear and striking testimony of this in the blessing by which the Lord increased, even to extreme old age, the posterity of Abraham, who was childless and solitary. That promise relates not to the Jews only, but to other nations; and on this account also he

“was no longer called Abram, but Abraham.”
(Genesis 17:5.)

3. Surely Jehovah will comfort Zion. The Prophet shews that in the person of Abraham there was exhibited an example which applies to all ages; for, as the Lord suddenly produced from one man so numerous an offspring, so he will also people his Church by wonderful and unknown methods, and not once only, but whenever she shall be thought to be childless and solitary. In like manner, Paul, after having spoken of the faith of Abraham and praised his excellence, applies that doctrine to each of us, that

“he believed in hope against hope, and that his mind was not driven hither and thither, but that he was fully persuaded that what God had promised he was able also to perform, though it appeared to be incredible and at variance with all reason.”
(Romans 4:18-21.)

He will comfort all her desolations. This may be explained to mean, “The Lord will comfort his Church, not only when she shall be in a flourishing condition, but likewise when she shall be desolate and reduced to solitude;“ for she must have been laid desolate, and her frightful ruins must have brought her to the verge of destruction, before she felt the aid which is here described.

And will make her desert like a place of delights. The Prophet here alludes to a passage in the writings of Moses, in which he relates that man was at first placed in “the garden of Eden,” (Genesis 2:15,) that is, in “a place of delights,” from which he was driven out by his own fault. (Genesis 3:24.) Now we, who have been deprived of that blessing which he bestowed on our first parent, are exiles throughout the whole world, and are deprived of that paradise. Accordingly, whenever great calamities happen, and the order of events is overturned, and everything is thrown into wretched desolation and ruin, let us know that we are punished for our unbelief and for our heinous sins; and let us remember that sentence which was pronounced on our first parent, or rather on all mankind; and that in every part of life, but especially when we see the condition of the Church ruined and overturned. The earth, which otherwise would abound in blessings of every kind, has been reduced to solitude through our fault; and the Church, which would flourish everywhere, has been ruined and laid desolate.

Joy and gladness. He means that the change shall be so great that the Church will no longer groan or complain; for, so long as the Church was oppressed by a harsh captivity, nothing could be heard in her but mouming and lamentation. Now restored, she shall rejoice and render thanksgiving to God. Thus we are also exhorted to gratitude, that we may burst out into praise and thanksgiving to God, when we have had experience of his goodness.

4. Attend to me, my people. There are good reasons why the Lord so frequently demands that he shall be heard. We know by experience how slow we are to hear him, especially in adversity; and even when we would have great need of consolation, we reject it by our impatience, and faint. Each of us, therefore, the sorer are the afflictions which press upon him, ought to endeavor more earnestly to enlarge his heart, and in this way to arouse himself, and to shake off his slothfulness, that he may receive consolation. What is here demanded is attention, to sustain our hearts by patience, till the season of grace be fully come.

For the law shall go forth from me. The meaning is, that the Lord will again reign, and will arouse his Church to call on his name. Though the word Law is equivalent to the edict which God shall order to be proclaimed, when he shall be pleased to gather his Church, yet at the same time he describes his manner of reigning; namely, by his “Law” and byhis doctrine. Hence we see that wherever doctrine is rejected, God’s government is not found, that is, is not recognised by men. By judgment he means the order and administration of government, by which he shall restore his kingdom.

For a light of the peoples, He says that this will be “for a light of the peoples,” because, when God begins to reign, miserable men are rescued from darkness and enlightened by the doctrine of the word.

Note 23. “Les hommes miserables de nature.” “Men who are by nature miserable.”

I will reveal. This vero ארגיע (argiang) is variously expounded by commentators, because רגע (ragang) has various significations. Sometimes it signifies to “cut” and “open,” and sometimes “to be at rest.” Some therefore explain it, “I will cause to rest,” that is, “I will establish;” and that meaning is not inappropriate. Most of the Jewish writers explain it differently, but I shall not relate their crooked and harsh interpretations. I rather approve of this translation, “I will manifest judgment,” or, “I will cause judgment to break forth,” or, which means the same thing, “I will reveal;” because I think that it agrees better with the former clause. Repetitions, we know, are very customary among the Hebrew writers. Although, therefore, he employs different words, still the meaning is the same. Having formerly said that “the law shall go forth from him,” he now says that “he will reveal judgment.”

5. My righteousness is near. He confirms the former doctrine. The “righteousness” of the Lord has relation to men, who know by experience that he is “righteous.” While the people were oppressed by cruel bondage, they knew, indeed, that they were justly punished for their sins; but they might wonder that they were so much forsaken, because the worship of God ceased, and his name was blasphemed by wicked men, who pursued their wicked career without punishment. In order, therefore, to bring them some consolation, he promises that God will speedily assist them, so that all shall acknowledge that he is faithful and just. By the word “righteous” the Prophet does not mean that he renders to every one a “righteous” reward, but that he yields the best protection, and dispenses the largest kindness to his people, that he faithfully performs his promises to all believers, when he delivers them and does not suffer them to be finally overwhelmed.

This appears more clearly from the following clause, in which, for the purpose of explanation, he adds, My salvation hath gone forth; for the “righteousness” of God shone brightly in the deliverance of the people. Now, the captivity in which the Jews were held in Babylon was a kind of death, in consequence of which that deliverance is here called “Salvation.”

My arms shall judge the peoples. By “arms” he means the wide exercise of his power. That figure of speech which describes God under forms of expression drawn from the human frame occurs frequently in Scripture. Because God’s government appeared to be confined within narrow limits, or rather was not at all visible, on this account he mentions arms, by which he means that he will spread his kingdom far and wide.

6. Lift up your eyes toward heaven. When we see so great changes in the world, we are apt to think that the Church comes within the influence of the sanhe violent motion; and therefore we need to have our minds elevated above the ordinary course of nature; otherwise, the salvation of the Church will appear to hang on a thread, and to be carried hither and thither by the billows and tempests. Yet, we may see both in heaven and in earth how wisely God regulates all things, with what fatherly kindness he upholds and defends his workmanship and the frame of the world, and with what equity he provides for all his creatures. But in a remarkable manner he deigns to watch over his Church, as he has separated her from the ordinary rank.

And look upon the earth beneath. Both of the views now stated are here embraced by the Prophet; for he bids believers turn their eyes upwards and downwards, so as to perceive both in heaven and in earth the wonderful providence of God, by which he so beautifully preserves the order and harmony which he at first established. But he adds that, though heaven and earth hasten to decay, it is impossible that the Church shall fail, the stability of which is founded on God; as if he had said, “A thousand times rather shall leaven mingle with the earth than the promise on which your salvation rests shall fail of its accomplishment.”-

My salvation shall endure for ever. First of all, he mentions “salvation,” and next he speaks of “righteousness,” on which it rests as on a solid foundation. Whenever, therefore, dangers shall press upon us on every hand, let us learn to betake ourselves to this place of refuge. And with this sentiment agree the words of the Psalmist,

“The heavens shall wax old and vanish away; but thou, Lord, art always the same, and thy years are not changed.”
(Psalm 102:26, 27)

Both passages remind us that the grace of God, which he displays in the preservation of his Church, surpasses all his other works. Everything that is contained in heaven and earth is frail and fading; but God’s salvation, by which he guards the Church, is eternal, and therefore cannot be liable to these dangers.

7. Hearken to me. Because wicked men, when they enjoy prosperity, laugh at our faith, and ridicule our distresses and afflictions, on this account the Prophet exhorts believers to patience, that they may not dread their reproaches or be dismayed by their slanders. The reason assigned is, that their prosperity shall not be of long duration. Whatever may be their insolent boasting, they are already pronounced (verse 8) to be the food of moths and worms; while God holds in his hand the salvation of believers, from which they appear to be thrown to the greatest possible distance. Here we ought again to observe the repetition of the word Hearken. This is now the third time that the Lord demands a “hearing;” because, when we tremble with anxiety on account of our distresses, it is with the greatest difficulty that we rely on his promises, and therefore we need to be often roused and stimulated, till we have conquered every difficulty.

Ye that know righteousness, Here he does not address unbelievers, but those who “know righteousness;” because, though they do not intentionally reject the word of God, yet they often shut the door against his “righteousness,” so that it does not reach them, when, under the influence of adversity, they shut their ears and almost despair. In order therefore that they may receive the promises, and that they may admit consolation, the Prophet stirs up and arouses them.

A people in whose heart is my law. We must attend to the train of thought. First, he describes what kind of people the Lord wishes to have, namely, “those who know righteousness;” and next he explains what is the nature of this knowledge, that is, when the people have “the law” fixed and deeply rooted in their hearts. Without the word of the Lord there call be no “righteousness.” No laws of men, however well framed, will lead us to true righteousness, of which they may indeed give us a feeble idea, but which they never can justly describe. At the same time, he shews in what manner we ought to make progress in the law of the Lord; namely, by embracing it with the heart; for the seat of the law is not in the brain, but in the heart, that, being imbued with heavenly doctrine, we may be altogether renewed.