1 Thus saith the LORD, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.
2 Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst.
3 I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.
4 The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.
5 The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.
6 I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.
7 For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.
8 He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me.
9 Behold, the Lord GOD will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.
10 Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God.
11 Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.
1 Thus saith H559 the LORD, H3068 Where is the bill H5612 of your mother's H517 divorcement, H3748 whom I have put away? H7971 or which of my creditors H5383 is it to whom I have sold H4376 you? Behold, for your iniquities H5771 have ye sold H4376 yourselves, and for your transgressions H6588 is your mother H517 put away. H7971
2 Wherefore, when I came, H935 was there no man? H376 when I called, H7121 was there none to answer? H6030 Is my hand H3027 shortened H7114 at all, H7114 that it cannot redeem? H6304 or have I no power H3581 to deliver? H5337 behold, at my rebuke H1606 I dry up H2717 the sea, H3220 I make H7760 the rivers H5104 a wilderness: H4057 their fish H1710 stinketh, H887 because there is no water, H4325 and dieth H4191 for thirst. H6772
3 I clothe H3847 the heavens H8064 with blackness, H6940 and I make H7760 sackcloth H8242 their covering. H3682
4 The Lord H136 GOD H3069 hath given H5414 me the tongue H3956 of the learned, H3928 that I should know H3045 how to speak H5790 a word H1697 in season to him that is weary: H3287 he wakeneth H5782 morning H1242 by morning, H1242 he wakeneth H5782 mine ear H241 to hear H8085 as the learned. H3928
5 The Lord H136 GOD H3069 hath opened H6605 mine ear, H241 and I was not rebellious, H4784 neither turned away H5472 back. H268
6 I gave H5414 my back H1460 to the smiters, H5221 and my cheeks H3895 to them that plucked off H4803 the hair: I hid H5641 not my face H6440 from shame H3639 and spitting. H7536
7 For the Lord H136 GOD H3069 will help H5826 me; therefore shall I not be confounded: H3637 therefore have I set H7760 my face H6440 like a flint, H2496 and I know H3045 that I shall not be ashamed. H954
8 He is near H7138 that justifieth H6663 me; who will contend H7378 with me? let us stand H5975 together: H3162 who is mine adversary? H1167 H4941 let him come near H5066 to me.
9 Behold, the Lord H136 GOD H3069 will help H5826 me; who is he that shall condemn H7561 me? lo, they all shall wax old H1086 as a garment; H899 the moth H6211 shall eat them up. H398
10 Who is among you that feareth H3373 the LORD, H3068 that obeyeth H8085 the voice H6963 of his servant, H5650 that walketh H1980 in darkness, H2825 and hath no light? H5051 let him trust H982 in the name H8034 of the LORD, H3068 and stay H8172 upon his God. H430
11 Behold, all ye that kindle H6919 a fire, H784 that compass yourselves about H247 with sparks: H2131 walk H3212 in the light H217 of your fire, H784 and in the sparks H2131 that ye have kindled. H1197 This shall ye have of mine hand; H3027 ye shall lie down H7901 in sorrow. H4620
1 Thus saith Jehovah, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, wherewith I have put her away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities were ye sold, and for your transgressions was your mother put away.
2 Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stink, because there is no water, and die for thirst.
3 I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.
4 The Lord Jehovah hath given me the tongue of them that are taught, that I may know how to sustain with words him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as they that are taught.
5 The Lord Jehovah hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away backward.
6 I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spitting.
7 For the Lord Jehovah will help me; therefore have I not been confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.
8 He is near that justifieth me; who will content with me? let us stand up together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me.
9 Behold, the Lord Jehovah will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? behold, all they shall wax old as a garment, the moth shall eat them up.
10 Who is among you that feareth Jehovah, that obeyeth the voice of his servant? he that walketh in darkness, and hath no light, let him trust in the name of Jehovah, and rely upon his God.
11 Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that gird yourselves about with firebrands; walk ye in the flame of your fire, and among the brands that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of my hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.
1 Thus said Jehovah: `Where `is' this -- the bill of your mother's divorce, Whom I sent away? Or to which of My creditors have I sold you? Lo, for your iniquities ye have been sold, And for your transgressions Hath your mother been sent away.
2 Wherefore have I come, and there is no one? I called, and there is none answering, Hath My hand been at all short of redemption? And is there not in me power to deliver? Lo, by My rebuke I dry up a sea, I make rivers a wilderness, Their fish stinketh, for there is no water, And dieth with thirst.
3 I clothe the heavens `with' blackness, And sackcloth I make their covering.
4 The Lord Jehovah hath given to me The tongue of taught ones, To know to aid the weary `by' a word, He waketh morning by morning, He waketh for me an ear to hear as taught ones.
5 The Lord Jehovah opened for me the ear, And I rebelled not -- backward I moved not.
6 My back I have given to those smiting, And my cheeks to those plucking out, My face I hid not from shame and spitting.
7 And the Lord Jehovah giveth help to me, Therefore I have not been ashamed, Therefore I have set my face as a flint, And I know that I am not ashamed.
8 Near `is' He who is justifying me, Who doth contend with me? We stand together, who `is' mine opponent? Let him come nigh unto me.
9 Lo, the Lord Jehovah giveth help to me, Who `is' he that declareth me wicked? Lo, all of them as a garment wear out, A moth doth eat them.
10 Who `is' among you, fearing Jehovah, Hearkening to the voice of His servant, That hath walked in dark places, And there is no brightness for him? Let him trust in the name of Jehovah, And lean upon his God.
11 Lo, all ye kindling a fire, girding on sparks, Walk ye in the light of your fire, And in the sparks ye have caused to burn, From my hand hath this been to you, In grief ye lie down!
1 Thus saith Jehovah: Where is the bill of your mother's divorce, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, through your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.
2 Wherefore did I come, and there was no man? I called, and there was none to answer? Is my hand at all shortened that I cannot redeem, or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make rivers a wilderness; their fish stink because there is no water, and die for thirst.
3 I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.
4 The Lord Jehovah hath given me the tongue of the instructed, that I should know how to succour by a word him that is weary. He wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the instructed.
5 The Lord Jehovah hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not away back.
6 I gave my back to smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spitting.
7 But the Lord Jehovah will help me: therefore shall I not be confounded; therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.
8 He is near that justifieth me: who will contend with me? let us stand together; who is mine adverse party? let him draw near unto me.
9 Behold, the Lord Jehovah will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? Behold, they all shall grow old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.
10 Who is among you that feareth Jehovah, that hearkeneth to the voice of his servant? he that walketh in darkness, and hath no light, -- let him confide in the name of Jehovah, and stay himself upon his God.
11 Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and among the sparks [that] ye have kindled. This shall ye have of my hand: ye shall lie down in sorrow.
1 Thus says Yahweh, Where is the bill of your mother's divorce, with which I have put her away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities were you sold, and for your transgressions was your mother put away.
2 Why, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it can't redeem? or have I no power to deliver? Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stink, because there is no water, and die for thirst.
3 I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.
4 The Lord Yahweh has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with words him who is weary: he wakens morning by morning, he wakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.
5 The Lord Yahweh has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away backward.
6 I gave my back to the strikers, and my cheeks to those who plucked off the hair; I didn't hide my face from shame and spitting.
7 For the Lord Yahweh will help me; therefore I have not been confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be disappointed.
8 He is near who justifies me; who will bring charges against me? Let us stand up together: who is my adversary? Let him come near to me.
9 Behold, the Lord Yahweh will help me; who is he who shall condemn me? Behold, all they shall wax old as a garment, the moth shall eat them up.
10 Who is among you who fears Yahweh, who obeys the voice of his servant? He who walks in darkness, and has no light, let him trust in the name of Yahweh, and rely on his God.
11 Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who gird yourselves about with firebrands; walk you in the flame of your fire, and among the brands that you have kindled. This shall you have of my hand; you shall lie down in sorrow.
1 This is the word of the Lord: Where is the statement which I gave your mother when I put her away? or to which of my creditors have I given you for money? It was for your sins that you were given into the hands of others, and for your evil-doing was your mother put away.
2 Why, then, when I came, was there no man? and no one to give answer to my voice? has my hand become feeble, so that it is unable to take up your cause? or have I no power to make you free? See, at my word the sea becomes dry, I make the rivers a waste land: their fish are dead for need of water, and make an evil smell.
3 By me the heavens are clothed with black, and I make haircloth their robe.
4 The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are experienced, so that I may be able to give the word a special sense for the feeble: every morning my ear is open to his teaching, like those who are experienced:
5 And I have not put myself against him, or let my heart be turned back from him.
6 I was offering my back to those who gave me blows, and my face to those who were pulling out my hair: I did not keep my face covered from marks of shame.
7 For the Lord God is my helper; I will not be put to shame: so I have made my face like a rock, and I am certain that he will give me my right.
8 He who takes up my cause is near; who will go to law with me? let us come together before the judge: who is against me? let him come near to me.
9 See, the Lord God is my helper; who will give a decision against me? truly, all of them will become old like a robe; they will be food for the worm.
10 Who among you has the fear of the Lord, giving ear to the voice of his servant who has been walking in the dark and has no light? Let him put his faith in the name of the Lord, looking to his God for support.
11 See, all you who make a fire, arming yourselves with burning branches: go in the flame of your fire, and among the branches you have put a light to. This will you have from my hand, you will make your bed in sorrow.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Isaiah 50
Commentary on Isaiah 50 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
The words are no longer addressed to Zion, but to her children. “Thus saith Jehovah, Where is your mother's bill of divorce, with which I put her away? Or where is one of my creditors, to whom I sold you? Behold, for your iniquities are ye sold, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.” It was not He who had broken off the relation in which He stood to Zion; for the mother of Israel, whom Jehovah had betrothed to Himself, had no bill of divorce to show, with which Jehovah had put her away and thus renounced for ever the possibility of receiving her again (according to Deuteronomy 24:1-4), provided she should in the meantime have married another. Moreover, He had not yielded to outward constraint, and therefore given her up to a foreign power; for where was there on of His creditors (there is not any one) to whom He would have been obliged to relinquish His sons, because unable to pay His debts, and in this way to discharge them? - a harsh demand, which was frequently made by unfelling creditors of insolvent debtors (Exodus 21:7; 2 Kings 4:1; Matthew 18:25). On nōsheh , a creditor, see at Isaiah 24:2. Their present condition was indeed that of being sold and put away; but this was not the effect of despotic caprice, or the result of compulsion on the part of Jehovah. It was Israel itself that had broken off the relation in which it stood to Jehovah; they had been sold through their own faults, and “for your transgressions is your mother put away.” Instead of וּבפשׁעיה we have וּבפשׁעיכם . This may be because the church, although on the one hand standing higher and being older than her children (i.e., her members at any particular time), is yet, on the other hand, orally affected by those to whom she has given birth, who have been trained by her, and recognised by her as her own.
The radical sin, however, which has lasted from the time of the captivity down to the present time, is disobedience to the word of God. This sin brought upon Zion and her children the judgment of banishment, and it was this which made it last so long. “Why did I come, and there was no one there? Why did I call, and there was no one who answered? Is my hand too short to redeem? or is there no strength in me to deliver? Behold, through my threatening I dry up the sea; turn streams into a plain: their fish rot, because there is no water, and die for thirst. I clothe the heavens in mourning, and make sackcloth their covering.” Jehovah has come, and with what? It follows, from the fact of His bidding them consider, that His hand is not too short to set Israel loose and at liberty, that He is not so powerless as to be unable to draw it out; that He is the Almighty, who by His mere threatening word (Psalms 106:9; Psalms 104:7) can dry up the sea, and turn streams into a hard and barren soil, so that the fishes putrefy for want of water (Exodus 7:18, etc.), and die from thirst ( thâmōth a voluntative used as an indicative, as in Isaiah 12:1, and very frequently in poetical composition); who can clothe the heavens in mourning, and make sackcloth their (dull, dark) covering (for the expression itself, compare Isaiah 37:1-2); who therefore, fiat applicatio , can annihilate the girdle of waters behind which Babylon fancies herself concealed (see Isaiah 42:15; Isaiah 44:27), and cover the empire, which is now enslaving and torturing Israel, with a sunless and starless night of destruction (Isaiah 13:10). It follows from all this, that He has come with a gospel of deliverance from sin and punishment; but Israel has given no answer, has not received this message of salvation with faith, since faith is assent to the word of God. And in whom did Jehovah come? Knobel and most of the commentators reply, “in His prophets.” This answer is not wrong, but it does not suffice to show the connection between what follows and what goes before. For there it is one person who speaks; and who is that, but the servant of Jehovah, who is introduced in these prophecies with dramatic directness, as speaking in his own name? Jehovah has come to His people in His servant. We know who was the servant of Jehovah in the historical fulfilment. It was He whom even the New Testament Scriptures describe as τὸν παῖδα τοῦ κυρίου , especially in the Acts (Acts 3:13, Acts 3:26; Acts 4:27, Acts 4:30). It was not indeed during the Babylonian captivity that the servant of Jehovah appeared in Israel with the gospel of redemption; but, as we shall never be tired of repeating, this is the human element in these prophecies, that they regard the appearance of the “servant of Jehovah,” the Saviour of Israel and the heathen, as connected with the captivity: the punishment of Israel terminating, according to the law of the perspective foreshortening of prophetic vision, with the termination of the captivity - a connection which we regard as one of the strongest confirmations of the composition of these addresses before the captivity, as well as of Isaiah's authorship. But this ἀνθρώπινον does not destroy the θεῖον in them, inasmuch as the time at which Jesus appeared was not only similar to that of the Babylonian captivity, but stood in a causal connection with it, since the Roman empire was the continuation of the Babylonian, and the moral state of the people under the iron arm of the Roman rule resembled that of the Babylonian exiles (Ezekiel 2:6-7). At the same time, whatever our opinion on this point may be, it is perfectly certain that it is to the servant of Jehovah, who was seen by the prophet in connection with the Babylonian captivity, that the words “wherefore did I come” refer.
He in whom Jehovah came to His nation, and proclaimed to it, in the midst of its self-induced misery, the way and work of salvation, is He who speaks in Isaiah 50:4 : “The Lord Jehovah hath given me a disciple's tongue, that I may know how to set up the wearied with words: He wakeneth every morning; wakeneth mine ear to attend in disciple's manner.” The word limmūdı̄m , which is used in the middle of the verse, and which is the older word for the later talmidı̄m , μαθηταί , as in Isaiah 8:16; Isaiah 54:13, is repeated at the close of the verse, according to the figure of palindromy, which is such a favourite figure in both parts of the book of Isaiah; and the train of thought, “He wakeneth morning by morning, wakeneth mine ear,” recals to mind the parallelism with reservation which is very common in the Psalms, and more especially the custom of a “triolet-like” spinning out of the thoughts, from which the songs of “degrees” (or ascending steps, shı̄r hamma‛ălōth ) have obtained their name. The servant of Jehovah affords us a deep insight here into His hidden life. The prophets received special revelations from God, for the most part in the night, either in dreams or else in visions, which were shown them in a waking condition, but yet in the more susceptible state of nocturnal quiet and rest. Here, however, the servant of Jehovah receives the divine revelations neither in dreams nor visions of the night; but every morning ( babbōqer babbōqer as in Isaiah 28:19), i.e., when his sleep is over, Jehovah comes to him, awakens his ear, by making a sign to him to listen, and then takes him as it were into the school after the manner of a pupil, and teaches him what and how he is to preach. Nothing indicates a tongue befitting the disciples of God, so much as the gift of administering consolation; and such a gift is possessed by the speaker here. “To help with words him that is exhausted” (with suffering and self-torture): עוּת , Arab. gât̬ , med. Vav , related to אוּשׁ , חוּשׁ , signifies to spring to a person with words to help, Aq. ὑποστηρίσαι , Jer. sustentare . The Arabic gât̬ , med. Je , to rain upon or water (Ewald, Umbreit, etc.), cannot possibly be thought of, since this has no support in the Hebrew; still less, however, can we take עוּת as a denom. from עת , upon which Luther has founded his rendering, “to speak to the weary in due season” (also Eng. ver.). דּבר is an accusative of more precise definition, like אשׁר in Isaiah 50:1 (cf., Isaiah 42:25; Isaiah 43:23). Jerome has given the correct rendering: “that I may know how to sustain him that is weary with a word.”
His calling is to save, not to destroy; and for this calling he has Jehovah as a teacher, and to Him he has submitted himself in docile susceptibility and immoveable obedience. Isaiah 50:5 “The Lord Jehovah hath opened mine ear; and I, I was not rebellious, and did not turn back.” He put him into a position inwardly to discern His will, that he might become the mediator of divine revelation; and he did not set himself against this calling ( m ârâh , according to its radical meaning stringere , to make one's self rigid against any one, ἀντιτείνειν ), and did not draw back from obeying the call, which, as he well knew, would not bring him earthly honour and gain, but rather shame and ill-treatment. Ever since he had taken the path of his calling, he had not drawn timidly back from the sufferings with which it was connected, but had rather cheerfully taken them upon him. V.6 “I offered my back to smiters, and my cheeks to them that pluck off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spitting.” He offered his back to such as smote it, his cheeks to such as plucked out the hair of his beard ( m ârat as in Nehemiah 13:25). He did not hide his face, to cover it up from actual insults, or from being spit upon (on k e limmōth with rōq , smiting on the cheek, κολαφίζειν , strokes with rods, ῥαπίζειν , blows upon the head, τύπτειν εἰς τὴν κεφαλήν with ἐμπτύειν , compare Matthew 26:67; Matthew 27:30; John 18:22). The way of his calling leads through a shameful condition of humiliation. What was typified in Job (see Isaiah 30:10; Isaiah 17:6), and prefigured typically and prophetically in the Psalms of David (see Psalms 22:7; Psalms 69:8), finds in him its perfect antitypical fulfilment.
But no shame makes him faint-hearted; he trusts in Him who hath called him, and looks to the end. “But the Lord Jehovah will help me; therefore have I not suffered myself to be overcome by mockery: therefore did I make my face like the flint, and knew that I should not be put to shame.” The ו introduces the thought with which his soul was filled amidst all his sufferings. In נכלמתּי לא he affirms, that he did not suffer himself to be inwardly overcome and overpowered by k e limmâh . The consciousness of his high calling remained undisturbed; he was never ashamed of that, nor did he turn away from it. The two על־כּן stand side by side upon the same line. He made his face kachallâmı̄sh (from c hâlam , related to gâlam in Isaiah 49:21, with the substantive termination ı̄sh : see Jeshurun , p. 229), i.e., he made it as unfelling as a flint-stone to the attacks of his foes (cf., Ezekiel 3:8-9). The lxx renders this ἔθηκα τὸ πρόσωπον μου ὡς στερεὰν πέτραν ; but ἐστήριξα τὸ πρός , which is the rendering given to פני שׂים in Jeremiah 21:10, would have been just the proper rendering here (see Luke 9:51). In “holy hardness of endurance,” as Stier says, he turned his face to his antagonists, without being subdued or frightened away, and was well assured that He whose cause he represented would never leave him in the lurch.
In the midst of his continued sufferings he was still certain of victory, feeling himself exalted above every human accusation, and knowing that Jehovah would acknowledge him; whereas his opponents were on the way to that destruction, the germ of which they already carried with them. “He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me?! We will draw near together! Who is my adversary in judgment?! Let him draw near to me! Behold, the Lord Jehovah will help me; who is he that could condemn me?! Behold, they all shall fall to pieces like a garment; the moth shall eat them up.” הצדּיו and הרשׁיע are forensic antitheses: the former signifies to set one forth, both practically and judicially, as righteous (2 Samuel 15:4; Psalms 82:3); the latter as guilty, רשׁע (Deuteronomy 25:1; Psalms 109:7). נעמדה , which has lost the principal tone on account of the following יחד ( יּהד ), has m unach instead of m etheg in the antepenultimate. Ba‛al m ishpâtı̄ means, “he who has a judicial cause of lawsuit against me,” just as in Roman law the dominus litis is distinguished from the procurator, i.e., from the person who represents him in court (syn. ba‛al d e bhârı̄m , Exodus 24:14, and 'ı̄sh rı̄bhı̄ in Job 31:35; compare Isaiah 41:11). מי־הוּא are connected, and form an emphatic τίς , Romans 8:34 (Ewald §325, a ). “All of them” ( kullâm ): this refers to all who are hostile to him. They fall to pieces like a worn-out garment, and fall a prey to the moth which they already carry within them - a figure which we meet with again in Isaiah 51:8 (cf., Job 13:28; Hosea 5:12), and one which, although apparently insignificant, is yet really a terrible one, inasmuch as it points to a power of destruction working imperceptibly and slowly, but yet effecting the destruction of the object selected with all the greater certainty.
Thus far we have the words of the servant. The prophecy opened with words of Jehovah (Isaiah 50:1-3), and with such words it closes, as we may see from the expression, “this shall ye have at my hand,” in Isaiah 50:11 . The first word of Jehovah is addressed to those who fear Him, and hearken to the voice of His servant. Isaiah 50:10 “Who among you is fearing Jehovah, hearkening to the voice of His servant? He that walketh in darkness, and without a ray of light, let him trust in the name of Jehovah, and stay himself upon his God.” The question is asked for the purpose of showing to any one who could reply, “I am one, or wish to be such an one,” what his duty and his privileges are. In the midst of the apparent hopelessness of his situation ( c hăshēkhı̄m the accusative of the object, and plural to c hăshēkhâh , Isaiah 8:22), and of his consequent despondency of mind, he is to trust in the name of Jehovah, that firmest and surest of all grounds of trust, and to stay himself upon his God, who cannot forsake or deceive him. He is to believe (Isaiah 7:9; Isaiah 28:16; Habakkuk 2:4) in God and the word of salvation, for בטח and נשׁען are terms applied to that fiducia fidei which is the essence of faith. The second word of Jehovah is addressed to the despisers of His word, of which His servant is the bearer. Isaiah 50:11 “Behold, all ye that kindle fire, that equip yourselves with burning darts, away into the glow of your fire, and into the burning darts that ye have kindled! This comes to you from my hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.” The fire is not the fire of divine wrath (Jeremiah 17:4), but the fire of wickedness ( rish‛âh , Isaiah 9:17), more especially that hellish fire with which an evil tongue is set on fire (James 3:6); for the zı̄qōth (equivalent to ziqqōth , from zēq = zinq , from zânaq , to spring, to let fly, Syr. to shoot or hurl), i.e., shots, and indeed burning arrows (Psalms 7:14), are figurative, and stand for the blasphemies and anathemas which they cast at the servant of Jehovah. It is quite unnecessary to read מאירי instead of מאזּרי , as Hitzig, Ewald, and Knobel propose, or even, contrary to all usage of speech, מאורי . The former is the more pictorial: they gird burning darts, accingunt malleolos , i.e., they equip or arm themselves with them for the purpose of attack (Isaiah 45:5). But the destruction which they prepare for the servant of Jehovah becomes their own. They themselves have to go into the midst of the burning fire and the burning darts, that they have set on fire. The hand of Jehovah suddenly inverts the position; the fire of wrath becomes the fire of divine judgment, and this fire becomes their bed of torment. The lxx has it correctly, ἐν λύπῃ κοιμηθήσεσθε . The Lamed indicates the situation (Ewald, §217, d ). תּשׁכּבוּן with the tone upon the last syllable gives a dictatorial conclusion. It has a terrible sound, but still more terrible (apart from the future state) is the historical fulfilment that presents itself to the eye.