The comparison is evidently not between the high and the low, but between the cultivated and the wild, the field and the forest.
(J. A. Alexander.)
The first last and the last first
The only natural interpretation of the verse is that which regards it as prophetic of a mutual change of condition, the first becoming last and the last first. If the previous context has respect to the Jews under the old dispensation, nothing can be more appropriate or natural than to understand the verse before us as foretelling the excision of the unbelieving Jews and the admission of the Gentiles to the Church. (J. A. Alexander.)
Jew and Gentile
I. I shall show HOW THE LORD HAS BEEN PLEASED TO VERIFY THIS SCRIPTURE GENERALLY.
II. THE SIGNS THAT MUST ACCOMPANY THE WORK IN THESE LATTER DAYS.
1. The deaf shall hear the words of the book.
2. The blind shall see out of obscurity and darkness.
3. “The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord,” etc.
