Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• Title and writer
  The title of this book of the Bible, as is true of the other prophetical books, comes from its writer. The book claims to have come from Isaiah (1:1; 2:1; 7:3; 13:1; 20:2; 37:2, 6, 21; 38:1, 4, 21; 39:3, 5, 8), and Jesus Chri...
• Structure
  Occasional time references scattered throughout the book indicate that Isaiah arranged his prophecies in a basically chronological order (cf. 6:1; 7:1; 14:28; 20:1; 36:1; 37:38). However, they are not completely chronological...
• Outline
  I. Introduction chs. 1-5A. Israel's condition and God's solution ch. 11. The title of the book 1:12. Israel's condition 1:2-93. God's solution 1:10-204. Israel's response 1:21-31B. The problem with Israel chs. 2-41. God's des...
• C. The analogy of wild grapes ch. 5
  This is the third and last of Isaiah's introductory oracles. The first one (ch. 1) introduced the book as a whole by presenting major themes with which the prophet proceeded to deal in chapters 2-66. The second chiastic one (...
• C. The tests of Israel's trust chs. 36-39
  Chapters 36-39 conclude the section of the book dealing with the issue of trust by giving historical proof that Yahweh will protect those who trust in Him. In these chapters, King Hezekiah represents the people of Judah.344Th...
• 2. The Babylonian threat chs. 38-39
  The events in these chapters predate those in chapters 36-37 by a few months. Isaiah placed them here, out of chronological order, to make them a historical prologue to chapters 40-66, which focus on the Exile and the return ...
• The Babylonian embassy ch. 39
  39:1 The phrase "At that time"(cf. 38:1) anticipates a specially significant event and ties it to what preceded in chapter 38. As this verse explains, the events that follow happened after Hezekiah had recovered from his illn...
• A. God's grace to Israel chs. 40-48
  These chapters particularly address the questions of whether God could deliver and whether He wanted to deliver the Israelites that the coming exile raised in the minds of Isaiah's contemporaries."We emerge in 40:1 in a diffe...
• 1. The Lord of the servant ch. 40
  Would the coming Babylonian exile prove that God could not deliver His people or that He would not because they had been so sinful? Isaiah's answer was a resounding no! The new historical situation did not signal a change in ...
• The comforting Lord 40:1-11
  The first strophe of this poem (vv. 1-2) sets the tone for the rest of the chapter and for the rest of the book. It is an introduction to an introduction. In spite of affliction that lay ahead for the Judahites, God's ultimat...
• The ministering servant, Messiah 41:21-42:9
  How is it clear that Yahweh and not the idols directs world history? Yahweh alone can predict the future and then bring it to pass (41:21-29). Since Yahweh is the God of Israel, does He have any regard for the Gentile nations...
• The certainty of redemption 42:10-43:7
  God had not forgotten nor was He unable to deliver His people. Their redemption was certain."This vision of what God will accomplish through his Servant is so exciting that Isaiah breaks into the ecstatic hymn of praise (vv. ...
• 3. The Lord's redemption of His servant 44:23-47:15
  Isaiah began this section of the book dealing with God's grace to Israel (chs. 40-48) by glorifying God as the incomparable Lord of His servant Israel (ch. 40). Then he explained God's promises to (41:1-42:9) and His purposes...
• The God of redemption 45:14-46:13
  This section develops the ideas that preceded by unfolding the characteristics of Yahweh that His people needed to appreciate in view of the shocking news that their new Moses would be Cyrus. It opens with an emphasis on God ...
• The nation to be judged ch. 47
  This section of Isaiah on "The Lord's redemption of His servant [Israel]"(44:23-47:15) has included an announcement of redemption (44:23-28), the identification of the instrument of redemption, Cyrus (45:1-13), and a reminder...
• 4. The servant's attention to her Lord ch. 48
  This chapter climaxes Isaiah's arguments for Yahweh's superiority over pagan idols. The prophet was led to use the Israelites' exile in Babylon to prove his point. Isaiah had demonstrated God's trustworthiness (chs. 7-39) and...
• The present possibility 48:12-22
  In a sense verses 12-22 are the second verse of the song of which verses 1-11 are the first verse. God was making much the same point though with a slightly different emphasis.48:12 This segment opens like the first one (cf. ...
• B. God's atonement for Israel chs. 49-55
  In the previous section (chs. 40-48), Isaiah revealed that God would redeem His servant Israel from Babylonian captivity by using one of His servants, Cyrus. Israel's sin had resulted in her going into the furnace of Babylon ...
• The Servant's ministry 49:8-13
  Isaiah now announced more about the work of the Servant (cf. 42:5-9). He will enable people around the world to return to God, similarly to how the Israelites would return to Jerusalem after the Exile. The response to God's s...
• Zion's prominence before God 49:14-26
  God had not forgotten Israel. Even though He would leave her for a time, He would regather all her children from all over the world to Himself. Therefore she should continue to trust in Him.49:14 Having heard the promises tha...
• The Lord's arm 51:9-16
  The Israelites cried out for God to act for them. He had done so in their past history, but they needed His help now. Probably the believing remnant was requesting help.51:9 Israel's call for God to awake assumes that He had ...
• Drunken Jerusalem 51:17-23
  God now turned the tables on His people and called on them to awake (cf. v. 1). They needed to wake up to the fact that He would comfort them and punish their oppressors (cf. 40:2; Lam. 1-2). The fact that the Babylonian capt...
• The Servant despised 53:1-3
  Expositors have called this chapter the holy of holies of Isaiah. It is also the middle chapter in part two of the book (chs. 40-66). Most of the approximately 80 references to Isaiah in the New Testament come from this chapt...
• Transforming salvation 55:6-13
  This pericope repeats and refocuses the invitation just extended (vv. 1-3). The offer continues to be to come to God, but the focus shifts from receiving satisfaction to resting in faith and from salvation's freeness to its t...
• 1. The need for humility and holiness chs. 56-57
  These chapters introduce the main subject of this section of the book, which grows out of what Isaiah revealed previously. If salvation depends on God's grace, do God's servants have any responsibility other than receiving th...
• The nations serving Israel 60:10-16
  Now the relationship of the nations to Israel becomes even clearer. The Gentiles will come to Israel because of her God, will submit themselves to Israel because of what the Lord will do for her, and will serve the Lord with ...
• The mission of the Anointed One 61:1-3
  These two chapters begin with an introduction of the Servant (Messiah) and His mission. That the Servant of the Servant Songs is the same person as the Anointed One (Messiah) of chapter 11 is clear from what Isaiah wrote abou...
• The need for faith 62:10-12
  Having learned of the mission of the Anointed One to bring salvation to Israel, and having received promises of benefits that would accompany His salvation, the Israelites needed to believe these promises in spite of impendin...
• Consistent faithfulness 65:8-16
  The Lord proceeded to explain that even though He would destroy the ungodly, He would also spare the truly godly among His people (cf. Gen. 18:23-25).65:8 Yahweh promised not to destroy the whole nation (cluster of grapes) bu...
• The future glories of Jerusalem 66:7-14
  The mood now reverts back to hope (cf. 65:17-25). In contrast to all the bereavement and deprivation that Jerusalem had experienced and would yet experience (cf. 26:16-18; 37:3; 51:18-20), the ultimate future of the city and ...
• Worship or destruction 66:15-24
  This pericope concludes the sections on the culmination of Israel's future (65:17-66:24), Israel's future transformation (chs. 56-66), Israel's hope (chs. 40-66), and the whole book, Yahweh's salvation. As 56:1-8, it clarifie...
• Bibliography
  Alexander, Joseph Addison. Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah. 1846, 1847. Revised ed. 2 vols. in 1. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1971.Allen, Kenneth W. "The Rebuilding and Destruction of Babylon."Bibliotheca...
• Future blessings following imminent judgment 16:14-21
  The following three pericopes bracket assurance of imminent judgment for Judah with promises of distant blessing for Israel and the nations. This passage promises deliverance from the captivity for the Israelites. It appears ...
• C. The Book of Consolation chs. 30-33
  This section of the Book of Jeremiah is a collection of prophecies that focus on the hope that lay before the Israelites. To this point in the book the emphasis has been mainly on judgment to come, though we have seen occasio...
• I. The oracle against Babylon chs. 50-51
  Jeremiah wrote almost as much about Babylon's future as he did about the futures of all the other nations in his other oracles combined. The length of this oracle reflects the great importance of Babylon in his ministry as we...
• The restoration of the Davidic kingdom 9:11-12
  The rest of the book is quite different from what has preceded because of its positive message. As is true of other eighth-century prophets to Israel and Judah, Amos included hope in his prophecy (cf. Isa. 40-66; Hos. 1:10-2:...
• V. Oracles about the Messiah and Israel's future chs. 9--14
  This part of Zechariah contains two undated oracles that are almost entirely eschatological. They expand the eschatological vision in chapters 1-8 and modify its generally optimistic view with emphasis on Israel's purificatio...
• The deliverance and blessing of Zion's people 9:11-17
  Before Messiah can reign in peace, He must destroy all enemies and deliver and restore His people (cf. Ps. 110).9:11 As for the Israelites (Zion), the Lord promised to set free those of them whom their enemies would hold pris...
• Their condition 5:3-10 (cf. Luke 6:20-26)
  This pericope describes the character of the kingdom's subjects and their rewards in the kingdom.236"Looked at as a whole . . . the Beatitudes become a moral sketch of the type of person who is ready to possess, or rule over,...
• Jesus' healing and forgiveness of a paralytic 9:1-8 (cf. Mark 2:1-12; Luke 5:17-26)
  The incident that follows occurred before the one in 8:28-34. Matthew placed it in his Gospel here for thematic reasons. It is another evidence of Jesus' supernatural power but in a different realm.9:1 Jesus arrived back in C...
• The call for God's people to leave Babylon 18:4-8
  18:4 Another voice from heaven instructed God's people to separate themselves from the system that the city symbolizes so they would avoid getting caught in her judgment. The being speaking is evidently an angel who speaks fo...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

• Great Voices From Heaven
  Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. 2. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for al...