collapse all  

Text -- Isaiah 48:19-22 (NET)

Strongs On/Off
Context
48:19 Your descendants would have been as numerous as sand, and your children like its granules. Their name would not have been cut off and eliminated from my presence. 48:20 Leave Babylon! Flee from the Babylonians! Announce it with a shout of joy! Make this known! Proclaim it throughout the earth! Say, ‘The Lord protects his servant Jacob. 48:21 They do not thirst as he leads them through dry regions; he makes water flow out of a rock for them; he splits open a rock and water flows out.’ 48:22 There will be no prosperity for the wicked,” says the Lord.
Parallel   Cross Reference (TSK)   ITL  

Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics

Names, People and Places:
 · Babylon a country of Babylon in lower Mesopotamia
 · Chaldea a region in lower Mesopotamia where the Chaldaeans lived
 · Jacob the second so of a pair of twins born to Isaac and Rebeccaa; ancestor of the 12 tribes of Israel,the nation of Israel,a person, male,son of Isaac; Israel the man and nation


Dictionary Themes and Topics: Wicked | Thankfulness | SERVANT OF JEHOVAH; SERVANT OF THE LORD; SERVANT OF YAHWEH | SAND | Remorse | LOVE | Kinsman | Isaiah, The Book of | Isaiah | God | GODSPEED | FLINT | Desert | DEATH | Blessing | Babylon | more
Table of Contents

Word/Phrase Notes
Wesley , JFB , Clarke , Calvin , TSK

Word/Phrase Notes
Barnes , Poole , Haydock , Gill

Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes , Geneva Bible

Verse Range Notes
TSK Synopsis , MHCC , Matthew Henry , Keil-Delitzsch , Constable , Guzik

collapse all
Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Wesley: Isa 48:20 - -- With joy and songs of praise.

With joy and songs of praise.

Wesley: Isa 48:20 - -- Publish God's wonderful works.

Publish God's wonderful works.

Wesley: Isa 48:21 - -- They shall not thirst. He speaks of things to come, as if they were already past.

They shall not thirst. He speaks of things to come, as if they were already past.

Wesley: Isa 48:22 - -- God having foretold that peace which he would give to his servant Jacob, adds an explication; and declares, that wicked men should not enjoy the benef...

God having foretold that peace which he would give to his servant Jacob, adds an explication; and declares, that wicked men should not enjoy the benefit of this mercy.

JFB: Isa 48:19 - -- Retaining the metaphor of "the sea" (Isa 48:18).

Retaining the metaphor of "the sea" (Isa 48:18).

JFB: Isa 48:19 - -- Rather, as the Hebrew, "like that (the offspring) of its (the sea's) bowels"; referring to the countless living creatures, fishes, &c., of the sea, ra...

Rather, as the Hebrew, "like that (the offspring) of its (the sea's) bowels"; referring to the countless living creatures, fishes, &c., of the sea, rather than the gravel [MAURER]. JEROME, Chaldee, and Syriac support English Version.

JFB: Isa 48:19 - -- Transition from the second person, "thy," to the third "his." Israel's name was cut off "as a nation" during the Babylonish captivity; also it is so n...

Transition from the second person, "thy," to the third "his." Israel's name was cut off "as a nation" during the Babylonish captivity; also it is so now, to which the prophecy especially looks (Rom 11:20).

JFB: Isa 48:20 - -- Primarily, a prophecy of their joyful deliverance from Babylon, and a direction that they should leave it when God opened the way. But the publication...

Primarily, a prophecy of their joyful deliverance from Babylon, and a direction that they should leave it when God opened the way. But the publication of it "to the ends of the earth" shows it has a more world-wide scope antitypically; Rev 18:4 shows that the mystical Babylon is ultimately meant.

JFB: Isa 48:20 - -- (Isa 43:1; Isa 44:22-23).

JFB: Isa 48:21 - -- Ezra, in describing the return, makes no mention of God cleaving the rock for them in the desert [KIMCHI]. The circumstances, therefore, of the delive...

Ezra, in describing the return, makes no mention of God cleaving the rock for them in the desert [KIMCHI]. The circumstances, therefore, of the deliverance from Egypt (Exo 17:6; Num 20:11; Psa 78:15; Psa 105:41) and of that from Babylon, are blended together; the language, while more immediately referring to the latter deliverance, yet, as being blended with circumstances of the former not strictly applicable to the latter, cannot wholly refer to either, but to the mystic deliverance of man under Messiah, and literally to the final restoration of Israel.

JFB: Isa 48:22 - -- Repeated (Isa 57:21). All the blessings just mentioned (Isa 48:21) belong only to the godly, not to the wicked. Israel shall first cast away its wicke...

Repeated (Isa 57:21). All the blessings just mentioned (Isa 48:21) belong only to the godly, not to the wicked. Israel shall first cast away its wicked unbelief before it shall inherit national prosperity (Zec 12:10-14; Zec 13:1, Zec 13:9; Zec 14:3, Zec 14:14, Zec 14:20-21). The sentiment holds good also as to all wicked men (Job 15:20-25, Job 15:31-34).

Messiah, as the ideal Israel (Isa 49:3), states the object of His mission, His want of success for a time, yet His certainty of ultimate success.

Clarke: Isa 48:19 - -- Like the gravel thereof "Like that of the bowels thereof"- בצאצאי מעי הים והם הדגים betseetsaey meey haiyam vehem haddagim ; "...

Like the gravel thereof "Like that of the bowels thereof"- בצאצאי מעי הים והם הדגים betseetsaey meey haiyam vehem haddagim ; "As the issue of the bowels of the sea; that is, fishes."- Salom. ben Melec. And so likewise Aben Ezra, Jarchi Kimchi, etc

His name "Thy name"- For שמו shemo , "his name,"the Septuagint had in the copy from which they translated שמך shimcha , "thy name."

Clarke: Isa 48:20 - -- Tell this "Make it heard"- Twenty-seven MSS. of Kennicott’ s, (ten ancient), many of De Rossi’ s, and two ancient, of my own, with the Sep...

Tell this "Make it heard"- Twenty-seven MSS. of Kennicott’ s, (ten ancient), many of De Rossi’ s, and two ancient, of my own, with the Septuagint, Syriac, Chaldee, and Arabic, and one edition, prefix to the verb the conjunction ו vau , והשמיעו vehashmiu .

Clarke: Isa 48:21 - -- They thirsted not - through the deserts - Kimchi has a surprising observation upon this place: "If the prophecy,"says he, "relates to the return fro...

They thirsted not - through the deserts - Kimchi has a surprising observation upon this place: "If the prophecy,"says he, "relates to the return from the Babylonish captivity, as it seems to do, it is to be wondered how it comes to pass, that in the Book of Ezra, in which he gives an account of their return, no mention is made that such miracles were wrought for them; as, for instance, that God clave the rock for them in the desert."It is really much to be wondered, that one of the most learned and judicious of the Jewish expositors of the Old Testament, having advanced so far in a large Comment on Isaiah, should appear to be totally ignorant of the prophet’ s manner of writing; of the parabolic style, which prevails in the writings of all the prophets, and more particularly in the prophecy of Isaiah, which abounds throughout in parabolical images from the beginning ts the end; from "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth,"to "the worm and the fire"in the last verse. And how came he to keep his wonderment to himself so long? Why did he not expect that the historian should have related how, as they passed through the desert, cedars, pines, and olive-trees shot up at once on the side of the way to shade them; and that instead of briers and brambles the acacia and the myrtle sprung up under their feet, according to God’ s promises, Isa 41:19 and Isa 55:13? These and a multitude of the like parabolical or poetical images, were never intended to be understood literally. All that the prophet designed in this place, and which he has executed in the most elegant manner, was an amplification and illustration of the gracious care and protection of God vouchsafed to his people in their return from Babylon, by an allusion to the miraculous exodus from Egypt. See De S. Poesi, Hebr. Prael. ix.

Clarke: Isa 48:22 - -- There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked - See below, note on Isa 57:21 (note). As the destruction of Babylon was determined, God commands...

There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked - See below, note on Isa 57:21 (note). As the destruction of Babylon was determined, God commands his people to hasten out of it; for, saith the Lord, there is no peace (prosperity) to the wicked; ουκ εστι χαιρειν τοις ασεβεσιν, λεγει Κυριος . - Sept. "There is no rejoicing or prosperity to the wicked saith the Lord."Their is not pese to unrytous men seith the Lord. - Old MS. Bible.

Calvin: Isa 48:19 - -- 19.Thy === seed would have been as the sand. This also relates to a happy life, when progeny is multiplied, by whose aid the labors of the old are a...

19.Thy === seed would have been as the sand. This also relates to a happy life, when progeny is multiplied, by whose aid the labors of the old are alleviated, and which “resists the adversaries in the gate.” The Psalmist compares such children to “arrows shot by a strong hand,” and pronounces him to be “blessed who hath his quiver full of them;” that is, who has a large number of such children. (Psa 127:4.)

When he mentions sand, he appears to allude to the promise which was made to Abraham,

“I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is on the sea-shore.” (Gen 22:17.)

And he repeats the same sentiment in various words; according to the usage of the Hebrew writings, substituting children for “seed,” and small stones for “sand.” In a word, he shews that the people prevented God from causing them to enjoy the fruit of that promise.

===His name would not have been cut off Coming down to the interruption of this favor, he next reproaches them in more direct terms with having sought for dispersion, after having been miraculously collected by the hand of God; for by the word name he means the lawful condition of the people, which would always have flourished, if the blessing had not been tumed aside front its course. What he says about the people having been “cut off,” must be understood to refer to the land of Canaan, from which the people of God had been cast out, and thus appeared to have been thrust out of their Father’s house; for the Temple, of which they were deprived, was a symbol of God’s presence, and the land itself was a pledge or earnest of a blessed inheritance. Being driven into captivity, therefore, the people appeared to have been cut off and banished from the presence of God, and had no token of the divine assistance, if the Lord had not soothed their affliction by those promises. Now, we ought carefully to observe this distress, that, when they had been banished into a distant country, they had no temple, or sacrifices, or religious assemblies; for they who in the present day have no form of a Church, 241 no use of sacraments, and no administration of the word, ought to look upon themselves as being in some measure cast out from the presence of God, and should learn to desire, and continually to ask by earnest prayer, the restoration of the Church.

Calvin: Isa 48:20 - -- 20.Go out of Babylon This is the second clause of this remonstrance, in which the Lord solemnly declares that he will be the Redeemer of his people, ...

20.Go out of Babylon This is the second clause of this remonstrance, in which the Lord solemnly declares that he will be the Redeemer of his people, though they have been unworthy and ungrateful. After having declared that he performed the office of a good teacher, but that the people refused to hearken to him, so that by their own fault they drew down on themselves the punishment of captivity, he now declares his unwearied forbearance, by adding that he will still assist them, in order to bring them out of slavery. He therefore commands them to go out of the land of Babylon, in which they were captives. Hence we see that God, in his unspeakable goodness, though he has just cause to remonstrate with us, yet relieves our afflictions, and assists those who had been unworthy, and even who had insolently rejected his grace.

With the voice ofrejoicing This relates to the confirmation of the deliverance, for he intended to give assurance to a promise which was altogether incredible. In order, therefore, to remove all doubt, he employed lofty language in extolling this blessing.

Tell it He describes the strength of that confidence by which he wished to encourage the Jews; for we are wont to utter loudly and boldly those things of which we are certain, and, if we have any doubt, we scarcely venture to speak, and are dumb. Isaiah speaks of a future event as if it had actually arrived, that the people might cherish in their hearts greater and stronger confidence He makes use of the imperative mood, which is much more forcible, and produces a more powerful impression on our minds, than if he had expressed his meaning in plain terms.

Calvin: Isa 48:21 - -- 21.Therefore they thirsted not Because the Jews did not see the way opened up for their return, and because great and dangerous wildernesses interven...

21.Therefore they thirsted not Because the Jews did not see the way opened up for their return, and because great and dangerous wildernesses intervened, the Prophet asserts the power of God, and brings forward examples of it, that they may not be terrified by any difficulty. He therefore bids them consider whether or not God had sufficient power to rescue their fathers from the slavery of Egypt, and to lead them through desolate wildernesses, in which he supplied them with food and water and everything that was necessary for them. (Exo 16:1.) Here the Jews, according to their custom, contrive absurd fables, and invent miracles which were never performed; and they do this, not through ignorance, but through presumption, by which anything that is plausible, though there be no ground whatever for it, easily gains their support.

The design of the Prophet was to recall to their remembrance the former departure from Egypt, and the miracles which the Lord performed at that time, which we have already remarked to be customary with the Prophets, when they wish to extol in lofty terms the works of God. Thus David, when he was celebrating the victories which he had obtained, says that

“the mountains trembled and flowed down, that the air was cleft asunder, and that the Lord was seen from heaven,”
(Psa 18:7,)

though nothing of this kind ever happened to him; but he imitates the description of the deliverance from Egypt, in order to shew that God, who was the author of it, had also been his supporter and leader in conquering his enemies, and that the power of God ought not to be less acknowledged in his victory than in those signs and wonders.

In like manner the Prophet wishes that the people should now contemplate those miracles, in order to correct their unbelief, and that they may not be tempted by any distrust. The holy servants of God were always accustomed to cast their eyes on that deliverance, in order that, by the remembrance of so great a benefit, they might strengthen the hearts of all in hope and confidence; as we have formerly said that it was the duty of believers in every age to expect the fruit of this redemption, that the Lord, by uninterrupted progress, might be the guardian of a redeemed people. Thus Isaiah means that the Lord will easily surmount every obstacle, will open up a way which is shut, and will supply them abundantly with water, so that they shall not die of thirst, in the same manner as he formerly brought water out of rock by an extraordinary miracle, when the people thought that their condition was hopeless; and consequently, that there is no reason why they should despair of their return, if they wish to contemplate, and cordially to believe, that power of God which they have already experienced.

Calvin: Isa 48:22 - -- 22.There is no peace, saith Jehovah to the wicked These words, “saith the Lord,” are included by some commentators in a parenthesis; but we view ...

22.There is no peace, saith Jehovah to the wicked These words, “saith the Lord,” are included by some commentators in a parenthesis; but we view them as having this connection with what goes before, that the Lord denies to wicked men that “peace” of which they are unworthy. 242 And this is expressly added, that hypocrites might not, according to their custom, cherish false confidence in these promises; for he declares that the promises do not belong to them, in order to shut them out altogether from the hope of salvation. But Isaiah appears also to have had his eye on something else; for, since the greater part of the people, under the influence of impiety, rejected this blessing, many weak and feeble persons might hesitate and might be terrified by the opinion of the multitude; 243 as in our own day we see feeble consciences disturbed, when they see the greater part of men despise the doctrine of salvation. Beholding many persons placed in danger, he tums away their minds from such a temptation, that they may not be troubled by the multitude of wicked and unbelieving men, who reject the grace of God and this prosperous condition, but that, without paying any regard to those men, they may embrace and enjoy this benefit.

TSK: Isa 48:19 - -- seed : Isa 10:22; Gen 13:16, Gen 22:17; Jer 33:22; Hos 1:10; Rom 9:27 his name : Isa 48:9, Isa 9:14, Isa 14:22; Jos 7:9; Rth 4:10; 1Ki 9:7; Psa 9:5, P...

TSK: Isa 48:20 - -- ye forth : Isa 52:11; Jer 50:8, Jer 51:6, Jer 51:45; Zec 2:6, Zec 2:7; Rev 18:4 with a voice : Isa 12:1, Isa 26:1, Isa 45:22, Isa 45:23, Isa 49:13, Is...

TSK: Isa 48:21 - -- they thirsted : Isa 30:25, Isa 35:6, Isa 35:7, Isa 41:17, Isa 41:18, Isa 43:19, Isa 43:20, Isa 49:10; Jer 31:9 he caused : Exo 17:6; Num 20:11; Neh 9:...

TSK: Isa 48:22 - -- Isa 57:21; Job 15:20-24; Luk 19:42; Rom 3:17

collapse all
Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: Isa 48:19 - -- Thy seed also - Instead of being reduced to a small number by the calamities incident to war, and being comparatively a small and powerless peo...

Thy seed also - Instead of being reduced to a small number by the calamities incident to war, and being comparatively a small and powerless people sighing in captivity, you would have been a numerous and mighty nation. This is another of the blessings which would have followed from obedience to the commands of God; and it proves that a people who are virtuous and pious will become numerous and mighty. Vice, and the diseases, the wars, and the divine judgments consequent on vice, tend to depopulate a nation, and to make it feeble.

As the sand - This is often used to denote a great and indefinite number (Gen 22:17; Gen 32:12; Gen 41:49; Jos 11:4; Jdg 7:12; 1Sa 13:5; 2Sa 17:11; 1Ki 4:20-29; Job 29:18; Psa 139:18; the note at Isa 10:22; Hos 1:10; Rev 20:8).

And the offspring of thy bowels - On the meaning of the word used here, see the note at Isa 22:24.

Like the gravel thereof - literally, ‘ and the offspring of thy bowels shall be like its bowels,’ that is, like the offspring of the sea. The phrase refers probably rather to the fish of the sea, or the innumerable multitudes of animals that swim in the sea, than to the gravel. There is no place where the word means gravel. Jerome, however, renders it, Ut lapili ejus - ‘ As its pebbles.’ The Septuagint Ὡς ὁ χοῦς τῆς γῆς hōs ho chous tēs gēs - ‘ As the dust of the earth.’ The Chaldee also renders it, ‘ As the stones of the sea;’ and the Syriac also. The sense is essentially the same that the number of the people of the nation would have been vast.

His name should not have been out off - This does not imply of necessity that they had ceased to be a nation when they were in Babylon, but the meaning is, that if they had been, and would continue to be, obedient, their national existence would have been perpetuated to the end of time. When they ceased to be a distinct nation, and their name was blotted out among the kingdoms of the earth, it was for national crime and unbelief Rom 11:20.

Barnes: Isa 48:20 - -- Go ye forth of Babylon - The prophet now directly addresses those who were in exile in Babylon, and commands them to depart from it. The design...

Go ye forth of Babylon - The prophet now directly addresses those who were in exile in Babylon, and commands them to depart from it. The design of this is, to furnish the assurance that they should be delivered, and to show them the duty of leaving the place of their long captivity when the opportunity of doing it should occur. It is also designed to show that when it should occur, it would be attended with great joy and rejoicing.

Flee ye from the Chaldeans with a voice of singing - With the utmost exultation and joy. They should rejoice that their captivity was ended; they should exult at the prospect of being restored again to their own land.

Utter it even to the end of the earth - It is an event so great and wonderful that all the nations should be made acquainted with it.

The Lord hath redeemed ... - Yahweh has rescued from captivity his people (see the notes at Isa 43:1).

Barnes: Isa 48:21 - -- And they thirsted not - This is a part of that for which they would be called to celebrate his name. It was not merely that he had redeemed the...

And they thirsted not - This is a part of that for which they would be called to celebrate his name. It was not merely that he had redeemed them, but that he had abundantly provided for their needs in the desert, and guided them safe through the pathless wilderness to their own land (see the notes at Isa 35:6-7; Isa 41:17-18).

He caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them - The allusion here is undoubtedly to the fact that God caused the waters to flow out of the rock that Moses smote in the wilderness Exo 17:6; Num 20:11. This is not to be regarded as literally true that God would, in like manner, smite the rocks and cause waters to flow by miracle on their return from Babylon. There is no record that any such event took place, and it is not necessary so to understand this passage. It is a part of the triumphant song which they are represented as singing after their return to their own land. In that song, they celebrate his gracious interposition in language that was familiar to them, and by illustrations that were well known. They therefore speak of his mercy to them as if he had smitten the rock in the desert on their return, and caused the waters to flow; and the sense is, that his mercy to them then was similar to his goodness to their fathers when he led them to the land of promise. He met all their necessities; and his gracious interposition was experienced all the way as really as though he had smitten the rock, or caused cool and refreshing fountains to break out in the desert.

Barnes: Isa 48:22 - -- There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked - This verse contains a sentiment whose truth no one can doubt. To the transgressor of the l...

There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked - This verse contains a sentiment whose truth no one can doubt. To the transgressor of the laws of God there can be no permanent peace, enjoyment, or prosperity. The word peace is used in the Scriptures in all these senses (see the note at Isa 48:18). There may be the appearance of joy, and there may be temporary prosperity. But there is no abiding, substantial, permanent happiness, such as is enjoyed by those who fear and love God. This sentiment occurs not unfrequently in Isaiah. It is repeated in Isa 57:21; and in Isa 57:20, he says that ‘ the wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.’ Of the truth of the declaration here there can be no doubt; but it is not perfectly apparent why it is introduced here. It is probably a part of the song with which they would celebrate their return; and it may have been used for one of the following reasons:

1. As a general maxim, expressed in view of the joy which they had in their return to their own land. They had elevated peace and triumph and joy. This was produced by the fact that they had evidence that they were the objects of the divine favor and protection. How natural was it in view of these blessings to say, that the wicked had no such comfort, and in general, that there was no peace to them of any kind, or from any quarter. Or,

2. It may have been uttered in view of the fact that many of their countrymen may have chosen to remain in Babylon when they returned to their own land. They probably formed connections there, amassed wealth, and refused to attend those who returned to Judea to rebuild the temple. And the meaning may be, that they, amidst all the wealth which they might have gained, and amidst the idolatries which prevailed in Babylon, could never enjoy the peace which they now had in their return to the land of their fathers.

Whatever was the reason why it was used here, it contains a most important truth which demands the attention of all people. The wicked, as a matter of sober truth and verity, have no permanent and substantial peace and joy. They have none:

1. In the act of wickedness. Sin may be attended with the gratifications of bad passions, but in the act of sinning, as such, there can be no substantial happiness.

2. They have no solid, substantial, elevated peace in the business or the pleasures of life. This world can furnish no such joys as are derived from the hope of a life to come. Pleasures ‘ pall upon the sense,’ riches take wings; disappointment comes; and the highest earthly and sensual pleasure leaves a sad sense of want - a feeling that there is something in the capacities and needs of the undying mind which has not been filled.

3. They have no peace of conscience; no deep and abiding conviction that they are right. They are often troubled; and there is nothing which this world can furnish which will give peace to a bosom that is agitated with a sense of the guilt of sin.

4. They have no peace on a deathbed. There may be stupidity, callousness, insensibility, freedom from much pain or alarm. But that is not peace, anymore than sterility is fruitfulness; or than death is life; or than the frost of winter is the verdure of spring; or than a desert is a fruitful field.

5. There is often in these circumstances the reverse of peace. There is not only no positive peace, but there is the opposite. There is often disappointment, care, anxiety, distress, deep alarm, and the awful apprehension of eternal wrath. There is no situation in life or death, where the sinner can certainly calculate on peace, or where he will be sure to find it. There is every probability that his mind will be often filled with alarm, and that his deathbed will be one of despair.

6. There is no peace to the wicked beyond the grave. "A sinner can have no peace at the judgment bar of God; he can have no peace in hell."In all the future world there is no place where he can find repose; and whatever this life may be, even if it be a life of prosperity and external comfort, yet to him there will be no prosperity in the future world, and no external or internal peace there.

Poole: Isa 48:19 - -- Thy seed also had been as the sand to wit, for multitude, according to my promise made to Abraham; whereas now I have, for thy sins, made thee to kno...

Thy seed also had been as the sand to wit, for multitude, according to my promise made to Abraham; whereas now I have, for thy sins, made thee to know my breach of promise, as is said. Num 14:34 , and greatly diminished thy numbers.

The offspring of thy bowels which come out of thy bowels, or belly, or loins; for all these are but various expressions of the same thing.

His name which is continued in a man’ s posterity, and commonly dies with them; and so the name here is the same thing in effect with the seed and offspring in the former clauses, which, for the most part, are only the memorials of men, and of their names, when they are dead and gone.

Should not have been cut off as now it hath been in a great measure; and should have been totally and finally cut off, if I had not spared them for my own name’ s sake, as he said before.

From before me or, out of my sight; out of their own land, the place of my special presence and residence.

Poole: Isa 48:20 - -- Go ye forth of Babylon: the imperative is here, as it is very frequently, put for the future, Ye shall go forth , &c.; for this is not so much a com...

Go ye forth of Babylon: the imperative is here, as it is very frequently, put for the future, Ye shall go forth , &c.; for this is not so much a command as a promise; although this form of speech may be the rather used to intimate that it was their duty to go forth , as well as God’ s promise to carry them forth.

With a voice of singing with joy and songs of praise to the Lord. Declare ye ; publish God’ s wonderful works on your behalf to all nations.

Poole: Isa 48:21 - -- This is part of the matter which the Jews are obliged to declare to all people, as they have opportunity, to wit, that God took the same care of the...

This is part of the matter which the Jews are obliged to declare to all people, as they have opportunity, to wit, that God took the same care of them in their return from Babylon to Canaan, which was through many dry and desolate places, as he did in their march from Egypt to Canaan.

They thirsted not & c., i.e. they shall not thirst. He speaks of things to come, as if they were already past or present, as the prophets commonly do.

Poole: Isa 48:22 - -- God having in the next foregoing verses foretold, that peace and blessed deliverance which he would certainly give to his servant Jacob , Isa 48:20...

God having in the next foregoing verses foretold, that peace and blessed deliverance which he would certainly give to his servant Jacob , Isa 48:20 , he here adds an explication and limitation of this mercy, and declareth that wicked men should not enjoy the benefit of this mercy; where, by the wicked , he means either,

1. The Babylonians, who well deserved that title; who shall be destroyed, when God’ s Israel shall be delivered: or rather,

2. The unbelieving and ungodly Jews, of whom these very words are used again, Isa 57:21 , and to whom such a denunciation as this was far more proper and necessary, at least in this place, than to the Babylonians; for he had already said far more and worse things than this concerning them, having again and again declared that Babylon should be destroyed, in order to this deliverance of God’ s people out of it. But there was great need why he should say this to the ungodly Jews, because they were exceeding prone to cry, Peace, peace to themselves, when there was no solid ground of peace; and they confidently expected a share in this great deliverance. This therefore was a very seasonable caution to the Jews in Babylon to take heed to themselves, and to prepare for this mercy, and to purify themselves from ali wickedness; because those of them who should either wickedly tarry in Babylon, when God invited and required them to go out of it, and when their godly brethren returned to their own land, and to the place of God’ s worship; or continue in wickedness, when they were restored to their own country; should not enjoy that tranquillity and comfort which they promised to themselves. And the necessity of this commination appears from the event; for the Jews that returned to Canaan did, for the most part, relapse to many of their former sins, and therefore fell short of that peace and prosperity which otherwise they might have enjoyed.

Haydock: Isa 48:19 - -- Name. The Jews were not forgotten, till they had rejected the Messias.

Name. The Jews were not forgotten, till they had rejected the Messias.

Haydock: Isa 48:21 - -- Out. Their return was facilitated. This may easily be applied (Calmet) to the conversion of the Gentiles. (St. Jerome)

Out. Their return was facilitated. This may easily be applied (Calmet) to the conversion of the Gentiles. (St. Jerome)

Haydock: Isa 48:22 - -- Peace. Septuagint, "rejoicing," or prosperity for the Chaldeans or wicked Jews, ver. 18. (Calmet) --- It is promised only to the penitent. (Worth...

Peace. Septuagint, "rejoicing," or prosperity for the Chaldeans or wicked Jews, ver. 18. (Calmet) ---

It is promised only to the penitent. (Worthington)

Gill: Isa 48:19 - -- Thy seed had also been as the sand,.... Upon the sea shore, as numerous as that, as was promised to Abraham, Gen 22:17, and the offspring of thy bo...

Thy seed had also been as the sand,.... Upon the sea shore, as numerous as that, as was promised to Abraham, Gen 22:17,

and the offspring of thy bowels as the gravel thereof; that is, of the sand; the little stones that are in it, which lie in great numbers on the sea shore; the same thing expressed in different words, denoting the number of their posterity, as it would have been, had they received the Messiah, his doctrines and ordinances: it may be rendered, "and the offspring", or "those that go out of thy bowels", that spring from thee, are born of thee, "as the bowels thereof" q, that is, of the sea; as what is within it, particularly the fishes of it, which are innumerable; and so Aben Ezra and Jarchi interpret it; and which sense is mentioned by Kimchi and Ben Melech:

his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me: the name of Israel, as the Targum has it; the name of the people of the Jews is no more in the land where they dwelt; they are cut off as a nation; their city and temple are destroyed, where they appear no more before the Lord; which would not have been, had they hearkened to the Messiah, embraced his truths, and been obedient to his commands.

Gill: Isa 48:20 - -- Go ye forth of Babylon,.... Which the Jews had leave to do by the proclamation of Cyrus; and so the people of God will be called to come forth out of ...

Go ye forth of Babylon,.... Which the Jews had leave to do by the proclamation of Cyrus; and so the people of God will be called to come forth out of mystical Babylon before its destruction, to which these words are applied, Rev 18:4 perhaps this, in the figurative sense, may be a call to the Christians in Jerusalem, now become another Babylon for wickedness, to come out of it a little before its ruin; and may be applied to the call of persons, by the Gospel, from a state of confusion, sin, and darkness, in which they are:

flee ye from the Chaldeans with the voice of singing; not by stealth, or through fear, but openly and publicly, and with all the tokens and demonstrations of joy and gladness. So the Christians separated, from the unbelieving Jews; as will the followers of the Lamb from the antichristian states, Rev 19:1 and so all that are called by grace should flee from the company of wicked men:

declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; this shows that something more than deliverance from the Babylonish captivity is here intended; for what had all the ends of the earth to do with that? even redemption and salvation by Christ, typified by it; which the apostles and ministers of the word are here exhorted to declare, publish, and proclaim, to the ends of the earth; Christ having a people there to be called and saved by him; and accordingly such a declaration has been made, Rom 10:18,

say ye, the Lord hath deemed his servant Jacob; as the people of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, so the people of God, his spiritual Jacob and Israel, his sons and servants, from sin, Satan, and the world, the law, its curses, and condemnation, by the precious blood of Christ, which is the sum and substance of the Gospel declaration.

Gill: Isa 48:21 - -- And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts,.... As when he led the people of Israel through the wilderness to Canaan's land, though th...

And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts,.... As when he led the people of Israel through the wilderness to Canaan's land, though they sometimes thirsted for want of water, yet they were supplied with it, by which their thirst was extinguished, to which the reference here is. So when they came out of Babylon, and passed through the waste and desert places which lay between that and Judea, they were supplied with all necessaries. Thus the apostles of Christ, when they travelled through the Gentile world, comparable to a desert, publishing redemption and salvation by Christ, had every needful supply, both of temporal and spiritual things; they lacked not any thing. In like manner the people of God, while they pass through the wilderness of this world to the heavenly glory, are furnished and refreshed with living water out of the fountain and fulness of grace in Christ, of which if a man drink, he shall thirst no more, Joh 4:14, Isa 49:10, he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for thee; that is, for the Israelites in the wilderness, when they were come out of Egypt, and wanted water, Exo 17:6,

he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out; Psa 78:15, the rock was a type of Christ, from whom the living waters of grace flow, to the support, supply, comfort, and refreshment of the saints in this world, 1Co 10:4. Grace is often signified by waters, because purifying and cleansing, reviving and refreshing, softening and fructifying, and an extinguisher of thirst: their gushing out denotes the abundance of it, which is received from Christ, not only at first conversion, in the regeneration and quickening of men; in the pardon of their sins, and the justification of their persons; but in the large communications of grace, after made, for the supply of their wants: and all which come from Christ the Rock, that is higher than they, from whence their bread is given them, and their waters are sure unto them; and who is the Rock of their refuge and salvation: and the cleaving of this Rock may signify his sufferings and death; his being smitten, bruised, and broken for his people, that they may partake of his grace, and the blessings of it.

Gill: Isa 48:22 - -- There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked,.... To Nebuchadnezzar and his seed, says Jarchi; to the Babylonians, say Aben Ezra and Kimchi; who...

There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked,.... To Nebuchadnezzar and his seed, says Jarchi; to the Babylonians, say Aben Ezra and Kimchi; who enjoyed no more peace and prosperity, being conquered by Cyrus, and their monarchy dissolved, and put an end to: but rather this is to be understood of the wicked among the Jews; which sense Aben Ezra mentions, though he prefers the former; and either those are meant, who refused to go out of Babylon, and the land of Chaldea, when they might, but continued among an idolatrous people, and therefore are threatened with want of peace and prosperity; or rather the Jews in the times of Christ and his apostles, who disbelieved the Messiah, despised his Gospel, and rejected his ordinances; the consequence of which was, they had no peace, no outward prosperity, but all the reverse; their nation, city, and temple, were destroyed, and they carried captive, and scattered up and down in the world; nor any inward spiritual peace, nor eternal happiness; for blaspheming and contradicting the word of the Gospel, and putting it away from them, they judged themselves unworthy of everlasting life; and the apostles were bid to turn from them to the Gentiles, and preach the Gospel to them; hence the next chapter begins,

listen, O isles, unto me, &c.; see Luk 19:4.

expand all
Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Isa 48:19 Heb “and his name would not be cut off and would not be destroyed from before me.”

NET Notes: Isa 48:20 Heb “redeems.” See the note at 41:14.

NET Notes: Isa 48:21 The translation above (present tense) assumes that this verse describes God’s provision for returning Babylonian exiles (see v. 20; 35:6; 49:10)...

Geneva Bible: Isa 48:19 Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy body like its gravel; his ( x ) name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from befo...

Geneva Bible: Isa 48:20 ( y ) Go ye forth from Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it [even] to the end of the earth; sa...

Geneva Bible: Isa 48:21 And they ( z ) thirsted not [when] he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he broke the rock also, and...

Geneva Bible: Isa 48:22 [There is] no ( a ) peace, saith the LORD, to the wicked. ( a ) Thus he speaks that the wicked hypocrites should not abuse God's promise, in whom was...

expand all
Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: Isa 48:1-22 - --1 God, to convince the people of their foreknown obstinancy, revealed his prophecies.9 He saves them for his own sake.12 He exhorts them to obedience,...

MHCC: Isa 48:16-22 - --The Holy Spirit qualifies for service; and those may speak boldly, whom God and his Spirit send. This is to be applied to Christ. He was sent, and he ...

Matthew Henry: Isa 48:16-22 - -- Here, as before, Jacob and Israel are summoned to hearken to the prophet speaking in God's name, or rather to God speaking in and by the prophet, an...

Keil-Delitzsch: Isa 48:17-19 - -- The exhortation is now continued. Israel is to learn the incomparable nature of Jehovah from the work of redemption thus prepared in word and deed. ...

Keil-Delitzsch: Isa 48:20-22 - -- So far the address is hortatory. In the face of the approaching redemption, it demands fidelity and faith. But in the certainty that such a faithful...

Constable: Isa 40:1--55:13 - --IV. Israel's calling in the world chs. 40--55 This part of Isaiah picks up a theme from chapters 1-39 and develo...

Constable: Isa 40:1--48:22 - --A. God's grace to Israel chs. 40-48 These chapters particularly address the questions of whether God cou...

Constable: Isa 48:1-22 - --4. The servant's attention to her Lord ch. 48 This chapter climaxes Isaiah's arguments for Yahwe...

Constable: Isa 48:12-22 - --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 muc...

Guzik: Isa 48:1-22 - --Isaiah 48 - Chastening and Mercy for Judah A. The LORD clearly sees the hard hearts of His people. 1. (1-2) The LORD sees the hypocrisy of Judah. ...

expand all
Introduction / Outline

JFB: Isaiah (Book Introduction) ISAIAH, son of Amoz (not Amos); contemporary of Jonah, Amos, Hosea, in Israel, but younger than they; and of Micah, in Judah. His call to a higher deg...

JFB: Isaiah (Outline) PARABLE OF JEHOVAH'S VINEYARD. (Isa. 5:1-30) SIX DISTINCT WOES AGAINST CRIMES. (Isa. 5:8-23) (Lev 25:13; Mic 2:2). The jubilee restoration of posses...

TSK: Isaiah (Book Introduction) Isaiah has, with singular propriety, been denominated the Evangelical Prophet, on account of the number and variety of his prophecies concerning the a...

TSK: Isaiah 48 (Chapter Introduction) Overview Isa 48:1, God, to convince the people of their foreknown obstinancy, revealed his prophecies; Isa 48:9, He saves them for his own sake; I...

Poole: Isaiah (Book Introduction) THE ARGUMENT THE teachers of the ancient church were of two sorts: 1. Ordinary, the priests and Levites. 2. Extraordinary, the prophets. These we...

Poole: Isaiah 48 (Chapter Introduction) CHAPTER 48 God reproveth their hypocrisy and obstinacy by his prophecies, Isa 48:1-8 . He spareth them for his name’ s sake, and that they may...

MHCC: Isaiah (Book Introduction) Isaiah prophesied in the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. He has been well called the evangelical prophet, on account of his numerous and...

MHCC: Isaiah 48 (Chapter Introduction) (Isa 48:1-8) The Jews reproved for their idolatry. (Isa 48:9-15) Yet deliverance is promised them. (Isa 48:16-22) Solemn warnings of judgment upon t...

Matthew Henry: Isaiah (Book Introduction) An Exposition, With Practical Observations, of The Book of the Prophet Isaiah Prophet is a title that sounds very great to those that understand it, t...

Matthew Henry: Isaiah 48 (Chapter Introduction) God, having in the foregoing chapter reckoned with the Babylonians, and shown them their sins and the desolation that was coming upon them for thei...

Constable: Isaiah (Book Introduction) Introduction Title and writer The title of this book of the Bible, as is true of the o...

Constable: Isaiah (Outline) Outline I. Introduction chs. 1-5 A. Israel's condition and God's solution ch. 1 ...

Constable: Isaiah Isaiah Bibliography Alexander, Joseph Addison. Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah. 1846, 1847. Revised ed. ...

Haydock: Isaiah (Book Introduction) THE PROPHECY OF ISAIAS. INTRODUCTION. This inspired writer is called by the Holy Ghost, (Ecclesiasticus xlviii. 25.) the great prophet; from t...

Gill: Isaiah (Book Introduction) INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH This book is called, in the New Testament, sometimes "the Book of the Words of the Prophet Esaias", Luk 3:4 sometimes only t...

Gill: Isaiah 48 (Chapter Introduction) INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 48 The prophecy of this chapter is concerning the deliverance and salvation of the Jews, and is addressed unto them; who are...

Advanced Commentary (Dictionaries, Hymns, Arts, Sermon Illustration, Question and Answers, etc)


created in 0.20 seconds
powered by
bible.org - YLSA