1 Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.
2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;
3 For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.
4 Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.
5 For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.
6 For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.
7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.
8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.
9 For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.
10 For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.
11 O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.
12 And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.
13 And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.
14 In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.
15 Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.
16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.
17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.
1 Sing, H7442 O barren, H6135 thou that didst not bear; H3205 break forth H6476 into singing, H7440 and cry aloud, H6670 thou that didst not travail with child: H2342 for more H7227 are the children H1121 of the desolate H8074 than the children H1121 of the married wife, H1166 saith H559 the LORD. H3068
2 Enlarge H7337 the place H4725 of thy tent, H168 and let them stretch forth H5186 the curtains H3407 of thine habitations: H4908 spare H2820 not, lengthen H748 thy cords, H4340 and strengthen H2388 thy stakes; H3489
3 For thou shalt break forth H6555 on the right hand H3225 and on the left; H8040 and thy seed H2233 shall inherit H3423 the Gentiles, H1471 and make the desolate H8074 cities H5892 to be inhabited. H3427
4 Fear H3372 not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: H954 neither be thou confounded; H3637 for thou shalt not be put to shame: H2659 for thou shalt forget H7911 the shame H1322 of thy youth, H5934 and shalt not remember H2142 the reproach H2781 of thy widowhood H491 any more.
5 For thy Maker H6213 is thine husband; H1166 the LORD H3068 of hosts H6635 is his name; H8034 and thy Redeemer H1350 the Holy One H6918 of Israel; H3478 The God H430 of the whole earth H776 shall he be called. H7121
6 For the LORD H3068 hath called H7121 thee as a woman H802 forsaken H5800 and grieved H6087 in spirit, H7307 and a wife H802 of youth, H5271 when thou wast refused, H3988 saith H559 thy God. H430
7 For a small H6996 moment H7281 have I forsaken H5800 thee; but with great H1419 mercies H7356 will I gather H6908 thee.
8 In a little H8241 wrath H7110 I hid H5641 my face H6440 from thee for a moment; H7281 but with everlasting H5769 kindness H2617 will I have mercy H7355 on thee, saith H559 the LORD H3068 thy Redeemer. H1350
9 For this is as the waters H4325 of Noah H5146 unto me: for as I have sworn H7650 that the waters H4325 of Noah H5146 should no more go over H5674 the earth; H776 so have I sworn H7650 that I would not be wroth H7107 with thee, nor rebuke H1605 thee.
10 For the mountains H2022 shall depart, H4185 and the hills H1389 be removed; H4131 but my kindness H2617 shall not depart H4185 from thee, neither shall the covenant H1285 of my peace H7965 be removed, H4131 saith H559 the LORD H3068 that hath mercy H7355 on thee.
11 O thou afflicted, H6041 tossed with tempest, H5590 and not comforted, H5162 behold, I will lay H7257 thy stones H68 with fair colours, H6320 and lay thy foundations H3245 with sapphires. H5601
12 And I will make H7760 thy windows H8121 of agates, H3539 and thy gates H8179 of carbuncles, H68 H688 and all thy borders H1366 of pleasant H2656 stones. H68
13 And all thy children H1121 shall be taught H3928 of the LORD; H3068 and great H7227 shall be the peace H7965 of thy children. H1121
14 In righteousness H6666 shalt thou be established: H3559 thou shalt be far H7368 from oppression; H6233 for thou shalt not fear: H3372 and from terror; H4288 for it shall not come near H7126 thee.
15 Behold, they shall surely H1481 gather together, H1481 but not H657 by me: whosoever H4310 shall gather together H1481 against thee shall fall H5307 for thy sake.
16 Behold, I have created H1254 the smith H2796 that bloweth H5301 the coals H6352 in the fire, H784 and that bringeth forth H3318 an instrument H3627 for his work; H4639 and I have created H1254 the waster H7843 to destroy. H2254
17 No weapon H3627 that is formed H3335 against thee shall prosper; H6743 and every tongue H3956 that shall rise H6965 against thee in judgment H4941 thou shalt condemn. H7561 This is the heritage H5159 of the servants H5650 of the LORD, H3068 and their righteousness H6666 is of me, saith H5002 the LORD. H3068
1 Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith Jehovah.
2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations; spare not: lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes.
3 For thou shalt spread aboard on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall possess the nations, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.
4 Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth; and the reproach of thy widowhood shalt thou remember no more.
5 For thy Maker is thy husband; Jehovah of hosts is his name: and the Holy One of Israel is thy Redeemer; the God of the whole earth shall he be called.
6 For Jehovah hath called thee as a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, even a wife of youth, when she is cast off, saith thy God.
7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.
8 In overflowing wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting lovingkindness will I have mercy on thee, saith Jehovah thy Redeemer.
9 For this is `as' the waters of Noah unto me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I will not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.
10 For the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed; but my lovingkindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall my covenant of peace be removed, saith Jehovah that hath mercy on thee.
11 O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will set thy stones in fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.
12 And I will make thy pinnacles of rubies, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy border of precious stones.
13 And all thy children shall be taught of Jehovah; and great shall be the peace of thy children.
14 In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression, for thou shalt not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near thee.
15 Behold, they may gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall because of thee.
16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the fire of coals, and bringeth forth a weapon for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.
17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of Jehovah, and their righteousness which is of me, saith Jehovah.
1 Sing, O barren, she hath not borne! Break forth with singing, and cry aloud, She hath not brought forth! For more `are' the sons of the desolate, Than the sons of the married one, said Jehovah.
2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, And the curtains of thy tabernacles they stretch out, Restrain not -- lengthen thy cords, And thy pins make strong.
3 For right and left thou breakest forth, And thy seed doth nations possess,
4 And desolate cities they cause to be inhabited. Fear not, for thou art not ashamed, Nor blush, for thou art not confounded, For the shame of thy youth thou forgettest, And the reproach of thy widowhood Thou dost not remember any more.
5 For thy Maker `is' thy husband, Jehovah of Hosts `is' His name, And thy Redeemer `is' the Holy One of Israel, `God of all the earth,' He is called.
6 For, as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, Called thee hath Jehovah, Even a youthful wife when she is refused, said thy God.
7 In a small moment I have forsaken thee, And in great mercies I do gather thee,
8 In overflowing wrath I hid my face `for' a moment from thee, And in kindness age-during I have loved thee, Said thy Redeemer -- Jehovah!
9 For, the waters of Noah `is' this to Me, In that I have sworn -- the waters of Noah Do not pass again over the earth -- So I have sworn, Wrath is not upon thee, Nor rebuke against thee.
10 For the mountains depart, and the hills remove, And My kindness from thee departeth not, And the covenant of My peace removeth not, Said hath thy loving one -- Jehovah.
11 O afflicted, storm-tossed, not comforted, Lo, I am laying with cement thy stones, And have founded thee with sapphires,
12 And have made of agate thy pinnacles, And thy gates of carbuncle stones, And all thy border of stones of delight,
13 And all thy sons are taught of Jehovah, And abundant `is' the peace of thy sons.
14 In righteousness thou establishest thyself, Be far from oppression, for thou fearest not, And from ruin, for it cometh not near unto thee.
15 Lo, he doth diligently assemble without My desire, Who hath assembled near thee? By thee he falleth!
16 Lo, I -- I have prepared an artizan, Blowing on a fire of coals, And bringing out an instrument for his work, And I have prepared a destroyer to destroy.
17 No weapon formed against thee prospereth, And every tongue rising against thee, In judgment thou condemnest. This `is' the inheritance of the servants of Jehovah, And their righteousness from me, an affirmation of Jehovah!
1 Exult, thou barren, that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and shout for joy, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith Jehovah.
2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes.
3 For thou shalt spread abroad on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall possess nations, and they shall make desolate cities to be inhabited.
4 Fear not, for thou shalt not be ashamed; neither be thou confounded, for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.
5 For thy Maker is thy husband: Jehovah of hosts is his name, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: the God of the whole earth shall he be called.
6 For Jehovah hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and as a wife of youth, that hath been refused, saith thy God.
7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.
8 In the outpouring of wrath have I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting loving-kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer.
9 For this is [as] the waters of Noah unto me, since I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth: so have I sworn that I will no more be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.
10 For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my loving-kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall my covenant of peace be removed, saith Jehovah, that hath mercy on thee.
11 [Thou] afflicted, tossed with tempest, not comforted! Behold, I will set thy stones in antimony, and lay thy foundations with sapphires;
12 and I will make thy battlements of rubies, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of precious stones.
13 And all thy children [shall be] taught of Jehovah, and great shall be the peace of thy children.
14 In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression, for thou shalt not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near thee.
15 Behold, they shall surely gather together, [but] not by me: whosoever gathereth together against thee shall fall because of thee.
16 Behold, it is I who have created the smith that bloweth in the fire of coal, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the destroyer to ravage.
17 No weapon that is prepared against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that riseth against thee in judgment, thou shalt condemn. This is the inheritance of the servants of Jehovah; and their righteousness is of me, saith Jehovah.
1 Sing, barren, you who didn't bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you who did not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, says Yahweh.
2 Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of your habitations; don't spare: lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes.
3 For you shall spread aboard on the right hand and on the left; and your seed shall possess the nations, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.
4 Don't be afraid; for you shall not be ashamed: neither be confounded; for you shall not be disappointed: for you shall forget the shame of your youth; and the reproach of your widowhood shall you remember no more.
5 For your Maker is your husband; Yahweh of Hosts is his name: and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; the God of the whole earth shall he be called.
6 For Yahweh has called you as a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, even a wife of youth, when she is cast off, says your God.
7 For a small moment have I forsaken you; but with great mercies will I gather you.
8 In overflowing wrath I hid my face from you for a moment; but with everlasting loving kindness will I have mercy on you, says Yahweh your Redeemer.
9 For this is [as] the waters of Noah to me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I will not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.
10 For the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed; but my loving kindness shall not depart from you, neither shall my covenant of peace be removed, says Yahweh who has mercy on you.
11 you afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in beautiful colors, and lay your foundations with sapphires.
12 I will make your pinnacles of rubies, and your gates of emeralds, and all your border of precious stones.
13 All your children shall be taught of Yahweh; and great shall be the peace of your children.
14 In righteousness shall you be established: you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not be afraid; and from terror, for it shall not come near you.
15 Behold, they may gather together, but not by me: whoever shall gather together against you shall fall because of you.
16 Behold, I have created the smith who blows the fire of coals, and brings forth a weapon for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.
17 No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of Yahweh, and their righteousness which is of me, says Yahweh.
1 Let your voice be loud in song, O woman without children; make melody and sounds of joy, you who did not give birth: for the children of her who had no husband are more than those of the married wife, says the Lord.
2 Make wide the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your house be stretched out without limit: make your cords long, and your tent-pins strong.
3 For I will make wide your limits on the right hand and on the left; and your seed will take the nations for a heritage, and make the waste towns full of people.
4 Have no fear; for you will not be shamed or without hope: you will not be put to shame, for the shame of your earlier days will go out of your memory, and you will no longer keep in mind the sorrows of your widowed years.
5 For your Maker is your husband; the Lord of armies is his name: and the Holy One of Israel is he who takes up your cause; he will be named the God of all the earth.
6 For the Lord has made you come back to him, like a wife who has been sent away in grief of spirit; for one may not give up the wife of one's early days.
7 For a short time I gave you up; but with great mercies I will take you back again.
8 In overflowing wrath my face was veiled from you for a minute, but I will have pity on you for ever, says the Lord who takes up your cause.
9 For this is like the days of Noah to me: for as I took an oath that the waters of Noah would never again go over the earth, so have I taken an oath that I will not again be angry with you, or say bitter words to you.
10 For the mountains may be taken away, and the hills be moved out of their places, but my love will not be taken from you, or my agreement of peace broken, says the Lord, who has had mercy on you.
11 O troubled one, storm-crushed, uncomforted! see, your stones will be framed in fair colours, and your bases will be sapphires.
12 I will make your towers of rubies, and your doors of carbuncles, and the wall round you will be of all sorts of beautiful stones.
13 And all your builders will be made wise by the Lord; and great will be the peace of your children.
14 All your rights will be made certain to you: have no fear of evil, and destruction will not come near you.
15 See, they may be moved to war, but not by my authority: all those who come together to make an attack on you, will be broken against you.
16 See, I have made the iron-worker, blowing on the burning coals, and making the instrument of war by his work; and I have made the waster for destruction.
17 No instrument of war which is formed against you will be of any use; and every tongue which says evil against you will be judged false. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness comes from me, says the Lord.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Isaiah 54
Commentary on Isaiah 54 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
After the “Servant of God” has expiated the sin of His people by the sacrifice of Himself, and Israel has acknowledged its fault in connection with the rejected One, and entered into the possession and enjoyment of the salvation procured by Him, the glory of the church, which has thus become a partaker of salvation through repentance and faith, is quite ready to burst forth. Hence the prophet can now exclaim, Isaiah 54:1 : “Exult, O barren one, thou that didst not bear; break forth into exulting, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for there are more children of the solitary one than children of the married wife, saith Jehovah.” The words are addressed to Jerusalem, which was a counterpart of Sarah in her barrenness at first, and her fruitfulness afterwards (Isaiah 41:1-3). She is not תלד לא עקרה (Job 24:21), but ילדה לא עקרה (Judges 13:2); not indeed that she had never had any children, but during her captivity and exile she had been robbed of her children, and as a holy city had given birth to no more (Isaiah 49:21). She was shōmēmâh , rendered solitary (2 Samuel 13:20; the allusion is to her depopulation as a city), whereas formerly she was בּעוּלה , i.e., enjoyed the fellowship of Jehovah her husband ( ba‛al ). But this condition would not last (for Jehovah had not given her a divorce): she was therefore to exult and shout, since the number of children which she would now have, as one desolate and solitary, would be greater than the number of those which she had as a married wife.
With this prospect before her, even her dwelling-place would need enlarging. “Enlarge the space of thy tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of thy habitations; forbid not! lengthen thy cords, and fasten thy plugs.” She is to widen out the space inside her tent, and they ( יטּוּ has no definite subject, which is often the case where some subordinate servant is to be thought of) are to spread out far and wide the coverings of the framework of her dwelling, which is called m ishk e nōth (in the plural) on account of its roominess and magnificence: she is not to forbid it, thinking in her weakness of faith, “It is good enough as it is; it would be too large.” The cords which hold up the walls, she is to lengthen; and the plugs, to which the cords are fastened, she is to ram fast into the earth: the former because the tent (i.e., the holy city, Jeremiah 31:38-40, and the dwelling-place of the church generally, Isaiah 26:15) has to receive a large number of inhabitants; the latter because it will not be broken up so soon again (Isaiah 33:20).
The reason why the tent is to be so large and strong is given in Isaiah 54:3 : “For thou wilt break forth on the right and on the left; and thy seed will take possession of nations, and they will people desolate cities.” “On the right and on the left” is equivalent to “on the south and north” (Psalms 89:13, the speaker being supposed to have his face turned towards the east: compare the Sanscrit apân , situated at the back, i.e., towards the west). We must supply both west and east, since the promises contained in such passages as Genesis 15:18-21 remained unfulfilled even in the age of David and Solomon. Jerusalem will now spread out, and break through all her former bounds ( pârats is used in the same sense in Genesis 28:14); and her seed (i.e., the seed acquired by the Servant of Jehovah, the dead yet eternally living One, the σπέρμα , whose σπέρμα He Himself is) will take possession of nations ( yârash , yârēsh , capessere , occupare ; more especially κληρονομεῖν , syn. nâchal ); and they (i.e., the children born to her) will people desolate cities ( hōshı̄bh , the causative of yâshabh , to be inhabited, Isaiah 14:20). Thus will the promise be fulfilled, that “the meek shall inherit the earth,” - a promise not confined to the Preacher on the mount, but found also in Psalms 37:9-11, and uttered by our own prophet in Isaiah 60:21; Isaiah 65:9.
The encouraging promise is continued in Isaiah 54:4 : “Fear not, for thou wilt not be put to shame; and bid defiance to reproach, for thou wilt not blush: no, thou wilt forget the shame of thy youth, and wilt no more remember the reproach of thy widowhood.” Now that redemption was before the door, Israel was not to fear any more, or to be overcome (as the niphal nikhlam implies) by a felling of the shame consequent upon her state of punishment, or so to behave herself as to leave no room for hope. For a state of things was about to commence, in which she would have no need to be ashamed (on bōsh and c hâphēr or hechpı̄r ), but which, on the contrary ( כּי , imo , as in Isaiah 10:7; Isaiah 55:9), would be so glorious that she would forget the shame of her youth, i.e., of the Egyptian bondage, in which the national community of Israel was still but like a virgin ( ‛ almâh ), who entered into a betrothal when redeemed by Jehovah, and became His youthful wife through a covenant of love ( ehe = b e rı̄th ) when the law was given at Sinai (Jeremiah 2:2; Ezekiel 16:60); so glorious indeed, that she would never again remember the shame of her widowhood, i.e., of the Babylonian captivity, in which she, the wife whom Jehovah had taken to Himself, was like a widow whose husband had died.
It was no real widowhood, however, but only an apparent one (Jeremiah 51:5), for the husband of Jerusalem was living still, “For thy husband is thy Creator; Jehovah of hosts is His name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; God of the whole earth is He called.” The plurals בעלי ך and עשׂי ך (see at Isaiah 22:11) are to be explained from the plural 'Elōhı̄m , which is connected with plural attributes in Joshua 24:19; 1 Samuel 17:26, Ps. 58:12 (compare מרימיו in Isaiah 10:15), and with plural predicates in Genesis 20:13; Genesis 35:7, and 2 Samuel 7:23. By such expressions as these, which represent all the plurality of the divine nature as inherent in the One, the religion of revelation, both Israelitish and Christian, exhibits itself as embodying all that is true in polytheism. He who has entered into the relation of husband to Jerusalem ( בעלי ך , not בעליך , Isaiah 1:3) is the very same through whom she first came into existence, the God whose bidding the heavenly hosts obey; and the Redeemer of Jerusalem, the Holy One of Israel, is called the God of the whole earth, and therefore has both the power and the means to help her, as prompted by the relation of love which exists between them.
And this relation He now renews. “For Jehovah calleth thee as a wife forsaken and burdened with sorrow, and as a wife of youth, when once she is despised, saith thy God.” The verb קרא , which is the one commonly used in these prophecies to denote the call of grace, on the ground of the election of grace, is used here to signify the call into that relation, which did indeed exist before, but had apparently been dissolved. קרא ך is used here out of pause (cf., Isaiah 60:9); it stands, however, quite irregularly for the form in ēkh , which is the one commonly employed (Judges 4:20; Ezekiel 27:26). “And as a wife:” ואשׁת is equivalent to וּכאשׁת . The hypothetical תמּאס כּי belongs to the figure. Jehovah calls His church back to Himself, as a husband takes back the wife he loved in his youth, even though he may once have been angry with her. It is with intention that the word נמאסה is not used. The future (imperfect) indicates what partially happens, but does not become an accomplished or completed fact: He is displeased with her, but He has not cherished aversion or hatred towards her.
Thus does Jehovah's displeasure towards Jerusalem pass quickly away; and all the more intense is the manifestation of love which follows His merely momentary anger. “For a small moment have I forsaken thee, and with great mercy will I gather thee. In an effusion of anger I hid my face from thee for a moment, and with everlasting grace I have compassion upon thee, saith Jehovah thy Redeemer.” “For a small moment” carries us to the time of the captivity, which was a small moment in comparison with the duration of the tender and merciful love, with which Jehovah once more received the church into His fellowship in the person of its members. רגע in Isaiah 54:8 is not an adverb, meaning momentarily, as in Isaiah 47:9, but an accusative of duration, signifying a single moment long. Ketseph signifies wrath regarded as an outburst ( fragor ), like the violence of a storm or a clap of thunder; shetseph , which rhymes with it, is explained by A. Schultens, after the Arabic, as signifying durum et asperum esse : and hence the rendering adopted by Hitzig, “in hard harshness.” But this yields no antithesis to “everlasting kindness,” which requires that shetseph should be rendered in some way that expresses the idea of something transitory or of short duration. The earlier translators felt this, when like the lxx for example, they adopted the rendering ἐν θυμῷ μικρῷ , and others of a similar kind; and Ibn Labrât , in his writing against Menahem b. Zerûk , who gives c hŏrı̄ , burning heat, as a gloss to shetseph , explains it by מעט (as Kimchi and others did afterwards). But, as Jakob Tam correctly observes, “this makes the sense purely tautological.” In all probability, shâtsaph is a form allied to shâtaph , as nâshabh (Isaiah 40:7) is to nâshaph (Isaiah 40:24), and qâmat (Job 16:8) to qâmats , which stand in the same relation to one another, so far as the sense is concerned, as bubbling over to flowing over: so that the proper rendering would not be “in the overflowing of glowing heat,” as Umbreit thinks, which would require קצף בּשׁטף (Proverbs 27:4), but in the gushing up of displeasure, the overflowing of indignation (Meier). The ketseph is only a shetseph , a vanishing moment (Jer. in momento indignationis ), when compared with the true feeling of Jehovah towards Jerusalem, which is c hesed ‛ ōlâm , everlasting kindness.
The ground of this “everlasting kindness” is given in Isaiah 54:9 : “For it is now as at the waters of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah should not overflow the earth any more; so have I sworn not to be wroth with thee, and not to threaten thee.” The commencement of this v. has been a fluctuating one from the earliest times. The Sept. reading is ממּי ; that of the Targ., S., Jerome, Syriac, and Saad., כּימי ; and even the Codd. read sometimes כּי־מי , sometimes כּימי (compare Matthew 24:37, ὥσπερ αἱ ἡμέραι τοῦ Νῶε οὕτως κ.τ.λ - a passage which appears to derive its shape from the one before us, with the reading כימי , and which is expounded in Luke 17:26). If we read כימי , the word זאת must refer to the present, as the turning-point between wrath and mercy; but if we read כי־מי , זאת denotes the pouring out of wrath in connection with the captivity. Both readings are admissible; and as even the Septuagint, with its ἀπὸ τοῦ ὕδατος (from the water), gives an indirect support to the reading כּימי as one word, this may probably merit the preference, as the one best sustained. אשׁר is ubi , quum , as in Numbers 20:13; Psalms 95:9, etc., although it might also be taken as the correlate of the kēn which follows, as in Jeremiah 33:22 (cf., Isaiah 48:8); and in accordance with the accents, we prefer the former. The present turning-point resembles, in Jehovah's esteem, the days of Noah - those days in which He swore that a flood should not any more come upon the earth ( min as in Isaiah 5:6 and many other passages): for so does He now confirm with an oath His fixed purpose that no such judgment of wrath as that which has just been endured shall ever fall upon Jerusalem again ( גּער denotes threatening with a judicial word, which passes at once into effect, as in Isaiah 51:20). Hendewerk has the following quibbling remark here: “What the comparison with the flood is worth, we may gather from the alter history, which shows how soon the new Jerusalem and the renovated state succumbed to the judicial wrath of God again.” To this we reply: (1.) That the prophecy refers to the converted Israel of the last days, whose Jerusalem will never be destroyed again. These last days appear to the prophet, according to the general character of all prophecy, as though linked on to the close of the captivity. For throughout all prophecy, along with the far-sightedness imparted by the Spirit, there was also a short-sightedness which the Spirit did not remove; that is to say, the directly divine element of insight into the future was associated with a human element of hope , which was nevertheless also indirectly divine, inasmuch as it subserved the divine plan of salvation; and this hope brought, as it were, the far distant future into the closest proximity with the troubled present. If, the, we keep this in mind, we shall see that it was quite in order for the prophet to behold the final future on the very edge of the present, and not to see the long and undulating way between. (2.) The Israel which has been plunged by the Romans into the present exile of a thousand years is that part of the nation (Romans 11:25), which has thrust away the eternal mercy and the unchangeable covenant of peace; but this rejection has simply postponed, and not prevented, the full realization of the salvation promised to Israel as a people. The covenant still exists, primarily indeed as an offer on the part of Jehovah, so that it rests with Israel whether it shall continued one-sided or not; but all that is wanted on the part of Israel is faith, to enable it to exchange the shifting soil of its present exile for the rocky foundation of that covenant of peace which has encircled the ages since the captivity (see Haggai 2:9), as the covenant with Noah encircled those after the flood with the covenant sign of the rainbow in the cloud.
“For the mountains may depart, and the hills may shake; my grace will not depart from thee, and my covenant of peace will not shake, saith Jehovah who hath compassion on thee.” Jehovah's grace and covenant of peace (cf., Numbers 25:12) stand as firm as the mountains of God (Psalms 36:7), without departing from Jerusalem ( מאתּ ך instead of the usual מאתּך ) and without shaking; and they will be fulfilled. This fulfilment will not take place either by force or by enchantment; but the church which is to be glorified must pass through sufferings, until it has attained the form which answers to the glory promised to it on oath. And this will also take place; for the old Jerusalem will come forth as a new one out of the furnace of affliction.
“O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, not comforted, behold, I lay thy stones in stibium, and lay thy foundations with sapphires; and make thy minarets of ruby, and thy gates into carbuncles, and all thy boundary into jewels.” At the present time the church, of which Jerusalem is the metropolis, is sunk in misery, driven with tempest like chaff of the threshing-floor (Hosea 13:3), without comfort; because till now it has waited in vain for any act of consolation on the part of God, and has been scorned rather than comforted by man ( סערה is a part. kal , not pual ; and נחמה 3rd pers. praet . like נעזבה , Isaiah 62:12, and רחמה , Hosea 1:6; Hosea 2:3). But this will be altered; Jerusalem will rise again from the dust, like a glorious building of God. Jerome makes the following apt remark on Isaiah 54:11 : “ in stibio , i.e., in the likeness of an elegant woman, who paints her eyes with stibium ; referring to the beauty of the city.” Pūkh is eye-black ( kohl , cf., kâchal , Ezekiel 23:40), i.e., a sooty compound, the chief component of which was powdered antimony, or else manganese or lead, and with which oriental women coloured their eyebrows, and more particularly the eyelids both above and below the eyes, that the beauty of the latter might be all the more conspicuous (2 Kings 9:30). The classic φῦκος , fucus , has a meaning foreign to the Hebrew word, viz., that of rouge for the cheeks. If, then, stibium (antimony), or any blackening collyrium generally, served the purpose of mortar in the rebuilding of Jerusalem, the stones of its walls (not its foundation-stones, אדני ך , which is the reading adopted by Ewald, but, on the contrary, the visible stones of its towering walls) would look like the eyes of a woman shining forth from the black framework of their painted lids, i.e., they would stand out in splendour from their dark ground. The Beth in bassappı̄rı̄m indicates the means employed. Sapphires serve as foundation-stones, for the foundation of Jerusalem stands as immoveably firm as the covenant of God. The sapphire blue is the colour of the heaven, of revelation, and of the covenant. The sh e mâshōth , however, i.e., the minarets which stand out like rays of the sun, and also the gates, have a red appearance. Red is the colour of blood, and hence of life and of imperishableness; also the colour of fire and of lightning, and hence of wrath and victory. Jehovah makes the minarets of “ruby.” The Sept. and Jerome adopt the rendering iaspidem (a jasper); at any rate, כּדכד (which is the proper way of writing the word: Ewald, §48, c )
(Note: The first כ is dagessatum , the second raphatum : see Norzi. The word forms one of the eighteen which have a dagesh after a word ending with a vowel sound ( בלא מבטל בתר יה וא דגשין ): see Masora Magna on Daniel 5:11, and Heidenheim's הטעמים משפטי , 41 a . The object is to secure greater euphony, as in ככרכמישׁ ( הלא ), Isaiah 10:9, which is one of the eighteen words.)
is a red sparkling jewel (from kidkēd ; cf., kı̄dōd , scintilla ). The arches of the gates He forms of אקדּח אבני , stones of fiery splendour (from qâdach , to burn: hence qaddachath , πυρετός ), that is to say, or carbuncle stones (from c arbunculus , a small red-hot coal), like ruby, garnet, etc. Jerome has adopted the false rendering lapides sculptos , after Symm. λίθοι γλυφῆς (from קדח = קדד , findere ?). The accusative of the predicate כדכד is interchanged with עקדח לבני , and then with לאבני־חפ ץ , to denote the materia ex qua . The whole territory (precinct) of Jerusalem is turned by Jehovah into precious stones, that is to say, it appears to be paved with such stones, just as in Tobit 13:17 the streets are said to be “paved with beryl, and carbuncle, and stones of Ophir,” i.e., to be covered with a mosaic formed of precious stones. It is upon the passage before us that Tobit 13:16, 17, and Revelation 21:18-21, are founded. The motley colours of the precious stones, with which the new Jerusalem is adorned, are something more than a mere childish fancy. Whence, then, do the precious stones derive their charm? The ultimate ground of this charm is the fact, that in universal nature everything presses to the light, and that in the mineral world the jewels represent the highest stage of this ascending process. It is the self-unfolding process of the divine glory itself, which is reflected typologically in the several gradations of the manifold play of colours and the transparency of the precious stones. For this reason, the high priest wore a breastplate with twelve precious stones, upon which were the names of the twelve tribes of Israel; and for this same reason, the author of the Apocalypse carries out into detail in chapter 21 the picture of the new Jerusalem, which is here sketched by the prophet of the Old Testament (without distinguishing time from eternity), adding crystals and pearls to the precious stones which he there mentions one by one. How can all this be explained, except on the ground that even the mineral world reflects the glory of those eternal lights from which God is called the “Father of lights,” or except on the assumption that the saints in light will one day be able to translate these stony types into the words of God, out of which they have their being?
The outward glory of the city is only the manifestation, which strikes the senses, of the spiritual glory of the church dwelling therein. “And all thy children will be the learned of Jehovah; and great the peace of thy children.” We translate both halves of the v. as substantive clauses, although they might be accusatives of both the object and predicate, dependent upon שׂמתּי . ה למּוּדי are disciples of Jehovah, but, as in Isaiah 50:4, with the subordinate idea of both docility and learning. The children of Jerusalem will need no instruction from man, but carry within them the teaching of heaven, as those who are “taught of God” ( διδακτοὶ Θεοῦ , John 6:45; θεοδίδακτοι , 1 Thessalonians 4:9). Essentially the same promise is given in Joel 3:1-2, and Jeremiah 31:34; and represented in 1 John 2:20 ( “Ye have the anointing of the Holy One, and know all things” ) as already fulfilled. In the place of the former inward and outward distress, there has no entered shâlōm , perfect inward and outward peace, complete salvation, and blessedness as its result. רב is an adjective, for this form cannot be shown to have existed as a syncopated third pers. praet ., like שׁח , חי (= חיי ). The v. closes palindromically.
In perfect keeping with this grace through righteousness, Jerusalem will then stand firm and impregnable. “Through righteousness wilt thou be fortified: be far from anxiety, for thou hast nothing to fear; and from terror, for it will not come near thee. Behold, men crowd together in crowds; my will is not there. Who crowd together against thee? - he shall fall by thee.” Both the thought and action of Jerusalem will be righteousness then, and it will thereby acquire strength; תּכּונני is a pausal future hithpalel , with the ת of the reflective opening syllable assimilated (Ges. §53, 2, b ). With this reciprocal influence of its moral character and imparted glory, it can, and is to keep far away from all thought of oppression and terror; for, through divine grace and a corresponding divine nature, it has nothing to fear. הן ( Isaiah 54:15 ), when pointing to any transaction as possible (as, for example, in Job 12:14; Job 23:8), acquires almost the significance of a conditional particle (Ewald, §103, g ). The equally hypothetical parallel clause is clothed in the form of an interrogative. For the verb gūr , the meaning “to gather together” (related to אגר ), more especially to join together with hostile intention (cf., συνάγεσθαι , Revelation 19:19; Revelation 20:8), is sustained by Psalms 56:7; Psalms 59:4; and with גּרה , lacessere , it has nothing to do (Hitzig and Ewald). אתּ ך has the force of contra te , as in the case of verbs of combat. The first apodosis is this: “but it takes place entirely away from me,” i.e., without and against my will; מאותי = מאתּי (as in Isaiah 59:21), and אותם = אתּם , are no sure signs of a later usage; for this alternation of the two forms of את is met with as early as Joshua 14:12. The second apodosis is, “he will fall upon (or against) thee,” or, as we should say, “founder,” or “be wrecked.” It is far more likely that this is the meaning of the words, than that they mean “he will fall to thy lot” ( על נפל , like ל נפל elsewhere, to fall to a person); for the context here is a totally different one from Isaiah 45:14, and we look for nothing more than a declaration of the utter failure and ruin of the undertaking.
Jerusalem will be thus invincible, because Jehovah, the Almighty One, is its protector. “Behold, I have created the smith who bloweth the coal-fire, and brings to the light a weapon according to his trade; and I have created the destroyer to destroy. Every weapon formed against thee has no success, and every tongue that cometh before the judgment with thee thou wilt condemn. This the inheritance of the servants of Jehovah; and their righteousness from me, saith Jehovah.” If Jehovah has created the armourer, who forges a weapon למעסהוּ (i.e., according to his trade, or according to the thing he has to finish, whether an arrow, or a sword, or a spear; not “for his own use,” as Kimchi supposes), to be used in the hostile army against Jerusalem, He has also created a destroyer ( לחבּל ) to destroy. The very same creative might, to which the origin of the weapon is to be traced as its primary cause, has opposed to it beforehand a defender of Jerusalem. And as every hostile weapon fails, Jerusalem, in the consciousness of its divine right, will convict every accusing tongue as guilty and deserving of utter condemnation ( הרשׁיע as in Isaiah 50:9, cf., 1 Samuel 14:47, where it denotes the punishment of the guilty). The epiphonem in Isaiah 54:17 , with the retrospective זאת and the words “saith the Lord,” which confirm the certainty of the fulfilment, forms an unmistakeable close to the prophecy. This is the position in which Jehovah has placed His servants as heirs of the future salvation; and this the righteousness which they have received as His gift, and which makes them strong within and victorious without. The individual idea of the church, which we find elsewhere personified as “the servant of Jehovah,” equivalent to “the people in whose heart is my law” (Isaiah 51:7), or “my people that have sought me” (Isaiah 65:10), is here expanded into “the servants of Jehovah” (as in Isaiah 65:8-9; compare Isaiah 59:21 with Isaiah 51:16). But totally different colours are employed in Isaiah 52:13 to Isaiah 53:1-12 to depict the exaltation of the one “Servant of Jehovah,” from those used here to paint the glory of the church of the “servants of Jehovah,” a proof that the ideas do not cover one another. That which is the reward of suffering in the case of the former, is the experience of divine mercy in that of the latter: it becomes a partaker of the salvation purchased by the other. The one “Servant of Jehovah” is the heart of the church, in which the crisis which bursts forth into life is passing; the righteousness of the “servants of Jehovah” is the fruit of the sufferings of this one “Servant of Jehovah,” who is Himself צדיק and מצידק . He is the Mediator of all the salvation of the church. He is not only its “head,” but its “fulness” ( πλήρωμα ) also.