1 Lo, My servant, I take hold on him, My chosen one -- My soul hath accepted, I have put My Spirit upon him, Judgment to nations he bringeth forth.
And having been baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water, and lo, opened to him were the heavens, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him, and lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying, `This is My Son -- the Beloved, in whom I did delight.'
And He saith to me, `My servant Thou art, O Israel, In whom I beautify Myself.' And I said, `For a vain thing I laboured, For emptiness and vanity my power I consumed, But my judgment `is' with Jehovah, And my wage with my God. And now, said Jehovah, who is forming me from the belly for a servant to Him, To bring back Jacob unto Him, (Though Israel is not gathered, Yet I am honoured in the eyes of Jehovah, And my God hath been my strength.) And He saith, `It hath been a light thing That thou art to Me for a servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And the preserved of Israel to bring back, And I have given thee for a light of nations, To be My salvation unto the end of the earth.' Thus said Jehovah, Redeemer of Israel, His Holy One, To the despised in soul, To the abominated of a nation, To the servant of rulers: `Kings see, and have risen, princes, and worship, For the sake of Jehovah, who is faithful, The Holy of Israel, and He chooseth thee.' Thus said Jehovah: `In a time of good pleasure I answered thee, And in a day of salvation I helped thee, And I keep thee, and give thee, For a covenant of the people, To establish the earth, To cause to inherit desolate inheritances.
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. The Lord Jehovah opened for me the ear, And I rebelled not -- backward I moved not. My back I have given to those smiting, And my cheeks to those plucking out, My face I hid not from shame and spitting. 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. 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. 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.
`Lo, My servant, whom I did choose, My beloved, in whom My soul did delight, I will put My Spirit upon him, and judgment to the nations he shall declare, he shall not strive nor cry, nor shall any hear in the broad places his voice, a bruised reed he shall not break, and smoking flax he shall not quench, till he may put forth judgment to victory, and in his name shall nations hope.'
And I say Jesus Christ to have become a ministrant of circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises to the fathers, and the nations for kindness to glorify God, according as it hath been written, `Because of this I will confess to Thee among nations, and to Thy name I will sing praise,' and again it saith, `Rejoice ye nations, with His people;' and again, `Praise the Lord, all ye nations; and laud Him, all ye peoples;' and again, Isaiah saith, `There shall be the root of Jesse, and he who is rising to rule nations -- upon him shall nations hope;' and the God of the hope shall fill you with all joy and peace in the believing, for your abounding in the hope in power of the Holy Spirit. And I am persuaded, my brethren -- I myself also -- concerning you, that ye yourselves also are full of goodness, having been filled with all knowledge, able also one another to admonish; and the more boldly I did write to you, brethren, in part, as putting you in mind, because of the grace that is given to me by God, for my being a servant of Jesus Christ to the nations, acting as priest in the good news of God, that the offering up of the nations may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
Rested on him hath the Spirit of Jehovah, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and might, The spirit of knowledge and fear of Jehovah. To refresh him in the fear of Jehovah, And by the sight of his eyes he judgeth not, Nor by the hearing of his ears decideth. And he hath judged in righteousness the poor, And decided in uprightness for the humble of earth, And hath smitten earth with the rod of his mouth, And with the breath of his lips he putteth the wicked to death. And righteousness hath been the girdle of his loins, And faithfulness -- the girdle of his reins.
and immediately coming up from the water, he saw the heavens dividing, and the Spirit as a dove coming down upon him; and a voice came out of the heavens, `Thou art My Son -- the Beloved, in whom I did delight.'
And John testified, saying -- `I have seen the Spirit coming down, as a dove, out of heaven, and it remained on him; and I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water, He said to me, On whomsoever thou mayst see the Spirit coming down, and remaining on him, this is he who is baptizing with the Holy Spirit; and I have seen, and have testified, that this is the Son of God.'
delivering thee from the people, and the nations, to whom now I send thee, to open their eyes, to turn `them' from darkness to light, and `from' the authority of the Adversary unto God, for their receiving forgiveness of sins, and a lot among those having been sanctified, by faith that `is' toward me.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Isaiah 42
Commentary on Isaiah 42 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 42
The prophet seems here to launch out yet further into the prophecy of the Messiah and his kingdom under the type of Cyrus; and, having the great work of man's salvation by him yet more in view, he almost forgets the occasion that led him into it and drops the return out of Babylon; for indeed the prospect of this would be a greater comfort and support to the believing pious Jews, in their captivity, than the hope of that. And (as Mr. Gataker well observes) in this and similar prophecies of Christ, that are couched in types, as of David and Solomon, some passages agree to the type and not to the truth, other to the truth and not to the type, and many to the type in one sense and the truth in another. Here is,
Isa 42:1-4
We are sure that these verses are to be understood of Christ, for the evangelist tells us expressly that in him this prophecy was fulfilled, Mt. 12:17-21. Behold with an eye of faith, behold and observe, behold and admire, my servant, whom I uphold. Let the Old-Testament saints behold and remember him. Now what must we behold and consider concerning him?
Isa 42:5-12
Here is
Isa 42:13-17
It comes all to one whether we make these verses (as some do) the song itself that is to be sung by the Gentile world or a prophecy of what God will do to make way for the singing of that song, that evangelical new song.
Isa 42:18-25
The prophet, having spoken by way of comfort and encouragement to the believing Jews who waited for the consolation of Israel, here turns to those among them who were unbelieving, for their conviction and humiliation. Among those who were in captivity in Babylon there were some who were as the evil figs in Jeremiah's vision, who were sent thither for their hurt, to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth, for a reproach and a proverb, Jer. 24:9. In them there was a type of the Jews who rejected Christ and were rejected by him, and then fell more than ever under the curse, when those who believed were inheriting the blessing; for they were broken, and ruined, and remain dispersed unto this day. Observe,