Isaiah 42:10-25
10. new song--such as has never before been sung, called for by a new manifestation of God's grace, to express which no hymn for former mercies would be appropriate. The new song shall be sung when the Lord shall reign in Jerusalem, and all "nations shall flow unto it" (Is 2:2; 26:1; Re 5:9; 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 living creatures that fill the sea (Psa 96:11) [Maurer]. Or, all sailors and voyagers [Gesenius]. But these were already mentioned in the previous clause: there he called on all who go upon the sea; in this clause all animals in the sea; so in Is 42:11, he calls on the inanimate wilderness to lift up its voice. External nature shall be so renovated as to be in unison with the moral renovation. 11. cities--in a region not wholly waste, but mainly so, with an oasis here and there. Kedar--in Arabia-Deserta (Is 21:16; Ge 25:13). The Kedarenians led a nomadic, wandering life. So Kedar is here put in general for that class of men. rock--Sela, that is, Petra, the metropolis of Idumea and the Nabathoean Ishmaelites. Or it may refer in general to those in Arabia-Petræa, who had their dwellings cut out of the rock. the mountains--namely, of Paran, south of Sinai, in Arabia-Petræa [Vitringa]. 12. glory ... islands--(Is 24:15). 13-16. Jehovah will no longer restrain His wrath: He will go forth as a mighty warrior (Ex 15:3) to destroy His people's and His enemies, and to deliver Israel (compare Psa 45:3). stir up jealousy--rouse His indignation. roar--image from the battle cry of a warrior. 17. turned back ... ashamed--disappointed in their trust; the same phrase occurs in Psa 35:4. 18. deaf--namely, to the voice of God. blind--to your duty and interest; wilfully so (Is 42:20). In this they differ from "the blind" (Is 42:16). The Jews are referred to. He had said, God would destroy the heathen idolatry; here he remembers that even Israel, His "servant" (Is 42:19), from whom better things might have been expected, is tainted with this sin. 19. my servant--namely, Israel. Who of the heathen is so blind? Considering Israel's high privileges, the heathen's blindness was as nothing compared with that of Israelite idolaters. my messenger ... sent--Israel was designed by God to be the herald of His truth to other nations. perfect--furnished with institutions, civil and religious, suited to their perfect well-being. Compare the title, "Jeshurun," the perfect one, applied to Israel (compare Is 44:2), as the type of Messiah [Vitringa]. Or translate, the friend of God, which Israel was by virtue of descent from Abraham, who was so called (Is 41:8), [Gesenius]. The language, "my servant" (compare Is 42:1), "messenger" (Mal 3:1), "perfect" (Ro 10:4; He 2:10; 1Pe 2:22), can, in the full antitypical sense, only apply to Christ. So Is 42:21 plainly refers to Him. "Blind" and "deaf" in His case refer to His endurance of suffering and reproach, as though He neither saw nor heard (Psa 38:13, 14). Thus there is a transition by contrast from the moral blindness of Israel (Is 42:18) to the patient blindness and deafness of Messiah [Horsley]. 20. observest--Thou dost not keep them. The "many things" are the many proofs which all along from the first God had given Israel of His goodness and His power (De 4:32-38; 29:2-4; Psa 78:1-72; 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 Is 6:10). This language, too (see on Is 42:19), applies to Messiah as Jehovah's servant (Is 50:5; Psa 40:6). 21. his righteousness--not His people's, but His own; Is 42:24 shows that they had no righteousness (Is 45:24; 59:16). God is well pleased with His Son ("in whom My soul delighteth," Is 42:1), "who fulfils all righteousness" (Mt 3:15) for them, and with them for His sake (compare Is 42:6; Psa 71:16, 19; Mt 5:17; Ro 10:3, 4; Php 3:9). 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 could only be based on the righteousness of Messiah, the promised seed, which is God's righteousness. 22. holes--caught by their foes in the caverns where they had sought refuge [Barnes]. Or bound in subterranean dungeons [Maurer]. prison-houses--either literal prisons, or their own houses, whence they dare not go forth for fear of the enemy. The connection is: Notwithstanding God's favor to His people for His righteousness' sake (Is 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 imprisonment is included (Is 42:7). none saith, Restore--There is no deliverer (Is 63:5). 23. A call that they should be warned by the past judgments of God to obey Him for the time to come. 24. Who--Their calamity was not the work of chance, but God's immediate act for their sins. Jacob ... 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 acknowledging His share in the nation's sins (compare Jos 5:1). 25. him--Israel (Is 42:24). strength of battle--violence of war. it--the battle or war (compare Is 10:16). knew not--knew not the lesson of repentance which the judgment was intended to teach (Is 5:13; 9:13; Jr 5:3).
Copyright information for
JFB