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The third chief figure: The personal servant of God in the contrastive, principal features of his manifestation
Isaiah 42
1. THE MEEK SERVANT OF GOD
Isa_42:1-4
Mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth;
I have put my spirit upon him:
He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
2 He shall not cry, nor lift up,
Nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
3 A bruised reed shall he not break,
And the smoking flax shall he not quench:
He shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
4 He shall not fail nor be discouraged,
Till he have set ajudgment in the earth:
And the isles shall wait for his law.
Isa_42:1. With øöúä ðôùׁé one looks for áּåֹ (comp. Mic_6:7, etc). Evidently the preceding áּåֹ continues in force.
Isa_42:4. àì éëää corresponds to the second clause of Isa_42:3; ìà éøåõ to the first clause. From this it appears that éָøåּõ is not from øåּõ , but from øָöַéõ . The pronunciation of the imperf. Kal with u occurs also in other ò֨ò֨ verbs ( éָøåּï Pro_29:6. éָùׁåּã Psa_91:6), and it is remarkable that the imperfect forms of øöõ occur only with the pronunciation u, Psa_18:30; 2Sa_22:30; Ecc_12:6.
2. Behold my servant—for his law.
Isa_42:1-4. úָּîַêְ in itself can mean “to seize, hold fast.” Here, however, it is not an act of violence that is spoken of, but an act of love. The Servant of Jehovah supports Himself on Jehovah, and Jehovah supports, holds and bears His Servant (comp. Isa_42:6; Joh_8:29). The words “in whom I am well pleased,” Mat_3:17; Mat_17:5; 2Pe_1:17, heard at the baptism and the transfiguration of Christ, seem to connect with our øöúä åâå× and also with çָôֵõ ver 21. The idea of anointing seems to underly the expression I have put My Spirit upon Him. (The expression occurs only here in Isaiah; for Isa_37:7 belongs in another category; still comp. Isa_11:2; Isa_61:1). The use of the holy anointing oil (also of incense) is often signified by ðúï òì in Lev_2:1; Lev_2:15; Lev_14:17-18; Lev_14:28-29. This construction is confirmed by Isa_61:1. By the anointing with the Holy Spirit, the Servant of God is qualified to bring right to the nations. îùׁôè here can mean neither judicial transaction, nor judicial sentence; it can only mean standard of right. But what sort appears partly from the nature of the thing itself, partly from the parallel passages. The heathen, too, had standards of right in general. But they lacked the true source of right, the knowledge of Him who alone is truth; they lacked the íüìïò ôç ̄ ò ἀëçèåßáò . Not merely the juridical norm of right in the absolute sense, i. e., religion (HengstenbergChristol. on our text, Delitzsch, Reinke) is to be understood. This absolute standard of right, hitherto the prerogative of Jehovah and His people, the Servant of Jehovah will carry forth to all nations (comp. Isa_2:3; Mic_4:2; Isa_51:4; Psa_147:19-20). Thus äåֹöִéà signifies the publishing of what has hitherto been hid, revelation (Hab_1:4).
In Isa_42:2-3 it is added in praise of the Servant of the Lord that He will not cry in the streets, nor break the bruised reed. If He is to be praised for this, then He must have been able to do what He abstained from doing. Evidently a contrast presents itself here. It is not that the Servant of the Lord cannot do what He would even like to do. But the contrary: He could; but He will not. He abstains from the use of His power; He divests Himself. By this even it is intimated that His power must be great. Otherwise there would not be so much made of His refraining from using it. Is it credible that such humble abstinence from the use of power that they enjoyed could ever be mentioned to the praise of Isaiah, or of the prophets generally, or of the people of Israel generally, or of the spiritual Israel, or of Cyrus, or of Uzziah, or Hezekiah or Josiah [the various persons supposed by different commentators to be meant by the Servant of Jehovah.—Tr.]? When did Israel ever have great power in reference to the heathen, and in humble love abstain from its use? Or when had ever a prophet or king of Israel the high position of a teacher of mankind, and filled it with humble self-denial? And of Cyrus it cannot be said that he was called to give to the heathen the íïìïò ôç ̄ ò ἀëçèåßáò . There is only One, that stood as Teacher of all nations, and who, spite of His great dignity, could say of Himself: “Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light” (Mat_11:28-30). It is as if the Lord had our passage in mind when He spoke these words. For not only do His words: “I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth” (ibid, Isa 42:29) recall Isa_42:5 of our chapter, that describes God as the One “that created the heavens, and stretched them out.” But, what is still more important, we find there the same contrast as the basis of Christ’s words, that rules over also our passage. The almighty Lord of heaven and earth does not ask after the wise and prudent, He has revealed Himself to those under age. And Christ Himself! How significant that He introduces the words to the weary and heavy laden quoted above, with the words: “All things are delivered unto Me of My Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal Him” (ibid. Isa 42:27). Does He not say here in a most emphatic way, that He is a meek, lowly and patient teacher although the greatest power and the highest knowledge are delivered to Him? Besides the evident connection of our passage with Mat_11:25-30, that we have thus remarked, the evangelist Matthew himself declares expressly in what immediately follows (Mat_12:15-21) that he saw in the conduct of the Lord at that time the fulfilment of the words of our Prophet. That He healed the sick, and yet forbad to have it published, that He would only serve (comp. Mat_20:28), and sought not His honor and His advantage (Joh_8:50; Joh_5:30), that seems to Matthew to correspond to the picture of the Servant of the Lord that Isaiah drew in our chapter.
The expression ðָùָׂà meaning ðùׁà ÷éì occurs Num_14:1; Job_21:12, and in Isa. in part first (Isa_3:7) and in part second (Isaiah 42:2, 41). The omission being idiomatic, it need not be supplied from the following ÷åֹìåֹ . The statement that the Servant of Jehovah shall not cry nor lift up His voice is understood in various ways. It is said, on the contrary, Isa_42:13-14, that He will cry. This belongs to the contrasts with which the chapter abounds. The meaning of Isa_42:2-3 is, therefore, not that the Servant of the Lord will in general not cry, and will break nothing whatever. Rather, as His anointing with the Spirit implies, He will only not roar and rage as do the powers of this world, nor do violence to the weak and wretched. On the contrary He will show Himself gentle and kind to the poor and weak, which is precisely the Old Testament meaning of öַãִּé÷ . What is already bruised (“nicked,” ÷ָðֶä øָöåּõ comp. Isa_36:6; Isa_58:6; Deu_28:33) He will not finish by breaking, and the feebly glimmering wick He will not extinguish. ôִùְׁúָּä is the wick made from linen ( ôִּùְׁúֶּä which however does not occur, comp. Gesen.Thes. p. 1136). The double statement of Isa_42:3 contains a ëéôüôçò . For it is inconceivable that He, whose being is light and life, intends only the non-extinguishment of the wick or the non-fracture of the reed. Rather He intends both as the beginning of new life.
The clause ìàîú éåöéà î× stands alone as a positive statement in antithesis to the foregoing negatives. The LXX. translates: åßò ἀë ́ èåéáí ἐîïßóåé êñßóéí . Mat_12:20 reads: ἕùò ἄí ἐêâÜëç ̣ åἰò íῖêïò ôÞí êñßóéí . The latter translation seems to come from a confusion with Hab_1:4. For there it reads: åìֹà éֵöֵà ìָðֶöַç îùׁôָè . But in Aramaic ðְöַç means vicit; ðֶöְçָðָà , ðִöְçָðָà is victoria; ðַöִéçָà victor. ìֶֽàֱîֶú which occurs no where else in the Old Testament, can only mean secundam veritatem (Vulg.in ìְîִùְëָּè , ìְöֶøֶ÷ 32:1. One might suppose that the expression meant the same as îùׁôè éåöéà ìâåéí Isa_42:1. But it is to be noticed that Isa_42:1 it is the nations to whom the Servant of Jehovah brings forth right, whereas Isa_42:3 it is to those compared to the bruised reed and glimmering wick. Moreover in Isa_42:1 the addition ìàîú is wanting. Both considerations justify our assuming a modification of the sense in Isa_42:3. To the heathen, who do not know Him, God will reveal the standard of right, by the use of which they will find the right. But for the poor and wretched He will procure a right decree corresponding to the truth, He will help them to their rights; something that elsewhere also is made to be an essential part of the glory of the Messianic kingdom (Isa_1:21; Isa_1:26 sq.; Isa_9:6). But äåֹöִéà expresses here the proceeding, issuing of the decree of a judge, in which sense éָöָà occurs twice in Hab_1:4. Per ducere, to carry into effect, to conduct to the end, cannot be the meaning of äåöéà .
By Isa_42:4, the Prophet would obviate a misunderstanding, by preparing a transition that makes prominent a contrastive side of the Servant of Jehovah, which appears even in the second, but still more decidedly in the third strophe. For instance, it might perhaps be inferred from Isa_42:2-3 that the Servant of Jehovah were only meek and lowly, that thus He were made only of weak stuff, that His being would lack the firmness, the manly force, the ability to be angry and punish. To obviate this false inference the Prophet says, though the Servant of Jehovah will be such as described Isa_42:2-3, still He will Himself be no bruised reed, [ éøåõ from øָöַõ see Text. and Gram]. Spite of his gentleness, He shall be firm as a rock (Isa_17:10; Isa_26:4), on which all attacks of His enemies shall dash to pieces, and He shall carry out His counsel victoriously. The conjunction öø signifies here, as often (Gen_28:15; Psa_112:8), continuance until the object is attained; the meaning of this form of expression being always that a ceasing will not take place till the end in view is attained (against Gesen.Thes. p. 992, and Hengstenberg,Authentie d. Daniel, p. 67). What follows does not enter into the consideration. The standard of right that the Servant of Jehovah will establish on the earth is the same mentioned Isa_42:1. It is afterwards called úּåֹøָä “law,” which is only nearer definition added on. That is, it is only made plainer that this standard of right will be a religious one, a counterpart of the law of Sinai. As Delitzsch remarks, the Servant of Jehovah will add to the Sinaitic the Zionitic Torah (comp. Isa_2:3). The position of ééçìå at the end of the clause indicates that we are not to consider it as dependent on òַã . But the Prophet would say: when the standard of right is established by the Servant of Jehovah as Torah, as religious law, then will the isles (meaning here the remotest regions of the heathen world) turn themselves to it in hope and trust (comp. Isa_51:4-5).
Footnotes:
reveal right.
Or, dimly burning.
Heb. quench it,
according to truth.
Heb. broken.
Isa_42:5-9
He that created the heavens, and stretched them out;
He that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it;
He that giveth breath unto the people upon it,
And spirit to them that walk therein:
6 I the Lord have called thee in righteousness,
And will hold thine hand,
And will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people,
For a light of the Gentiles;
7 To open the blind eyes,
To bring out the prisoners from the prison,
And them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.
8 I am the Lord: that is my name:
And my glory will I not give to another,
Neither my praise to graven images.
9 Behold, the former things are come to pass,
And new things do I declare:
Before they spring forth I tell you of them.
Isa_42:5. On ðèä ùׁîéí comp. Isa_40:22. The form ðåèéäí with é is to be explained, not indeed according to Isa_54:5, but after the analogy of those forms of ìç× in which the original é reappears. On øָ÷ַò comp. on Isa_40:19; Isa_44:24. As the word properly means to hammer out broad (comp. öàöàéä ,( øָ÷ִéòַ ( ôὰ ἔêãïíá , ëֹּì àֲùֶø úּåֹöֵà äָàָøֶõ Gen_1:12 sqq., a word that occurs only in Job and Isa.; comp. Isa_22:24) taken strictly does not suit it. But in ø÷ö there lies ideally the notion of spreading out and öàöàéä depends on that.
Isa_42:6. àַçְæֵ÷ , the abbreviated jussive form, here exceptionally in the first person [See Green’s Gr. § 97.2 a]. In regard to its being joined with áּ see Isa_4:1; Isa_45:1; Isa_51:18; Isa_56:2; Isa_56:4; Isa_56:6; Isa_64:6; comp. Isa_41:13).——That öָí and ðâֹéִí have not the article, accords with the prophetic style, and is not to be pressed.
2. Thus saith God——therein.
Isa_42:5. It seems to me that äָàֵì put first is, like Gen_46:3, meant to designate emphatically the true God, who alone has power, in contrast with the powerless false gods (Isa_42:8). äàì placed before éäåä as here, does not occur elsewhere. Comp. Isa_5:16. áåøà see List: except in Isaiah only twice: Amo_4:13; Ecc_12:1. áåøà ùׁîéí , Isa_45:18 (Isa_65:17). öַí , which has äìëéí áä for parallel, signifies accordingly the people of the earth generally. The order of thought here makes it evident that the chief features of the Mosaic account of the creation float before the Prophet’s eye: creation of the heavens; spreading out the earth, the imparting of ðְùָׁîָä (comp. Gen_2:7) and øåּçַ (Gen_7:22) to men.
3. I the Lord——prison house.
Isa_42:6-7. Having reminded his hearers who God is as in Isa_42:5, the Prophet lets the Lord announce Himself as the one who will give the world a redeemer in His Servant. He that can create, etc., can also do this. One is reminded of those passages where Jesus Christ proves His power to forgive sins by pointing to His miracles: Mat_9:2 sqq.; Mar_2:3 sqq.; Luk_5:18 sqq.). That the one called is the Servant of God, is evident from the context. ÷øàúéê recalls Isa_41:2; Isa_41:4; Isa_41:9. But the Lord has called His Servant áöã÷ . If the Old Testament öã÷ä “righteousness” has for its antithesis çָîָí or òùֶׁ÷ּ , i.e., violence, unrighteousness, then a righteous man, öַãִּé÷ , is one who in every respect wills only what is right and proper. He will neither do violence to the poor and weak, nor regard the person of the mighty and violent man; He will neither condemn the penitent and contrite, nor let the impenitent go unpunished. Thus His treatment of the penitent sinner is as just as it is of the impenitent. He could destroy the former if He would; for He has the power. Who would call Him to account? But is then grace, that dispenses pardon on the ground of a subjective or objective performance, not also just? That is, does not God in a higher sense exercise righteousness, when He forgives the contrite who implores grace on the ground of the atoning-sacrifice that even God Himself has made for him? Thus it is not at all partial favor, measuring with unequal measure, when God calls His Servant into the world as redeemer. Rather, in Him grace displays itself as combined in one with righteousness. Unrighteous grace there is not in God any way. Thus Isaiah can say of Cyrus that God has raised him up in righteousness (Isa_45:13). By “I have called thee the appearance of the Servant is signified as something that has already taken place. The verbs that follow signify as future what the Lord purposes to do with His Servant. He will take Him by the hand and (which expresses the object of so doing) protect Him, and make Him for a covenant of the people, and for a light of the Gentiles.
When Hermann Schultz (Alttestamentl. Theol. II. p. 75) says, that there is here not the remotest mention of a future personality, I should like to know how he may reconcile that with Isa_42:9. One sees from the Futures àúðê , àöøê , àçæ÷ and still more plainly from Isa_42:9, that the Prophet points away to a remote future that has not even begun to bud. And the “covenant of the people,” too, must be a new one, and not one in existence already. For were it an old, already existing one, how did the Lord come to say that He would make His Servant for this covenant? In fact it must be a very new covenant, vastly superior to the old one, since, according to Isa_42:7, it can “open blind eyes, and bring out the prisoners from prison,” which the old covenant could not do. Neither the total of Israel, nor the ideal Israel, nor the order of prophets can set in operation what is promised in Isa_42:7; or if this were something that they could do, then it does not belong here. we justly expect something great here, a work of salvation, an act of redemption, in fact something greater than is promised Isa_42:2-3, for the strophe Isa_42:5-9 forms the ladder to what follows, which presents to view the highest good. Either Isaiah does not speak of the Messiah at all, (which indeed Knobel maintains with entire consistency), or he speaks of Him already here. The opinion that Isaiah here does not yet understand the Messiah under “the Servant of Jehovah,” that the Servant of Jehovah appears as an individual only later, say from Isa_52:14 on, comes from the failure to observe the character of 40–42 which prepare the foundation for what follows. In Jos_3:14 even the ark of the covenant is called äàøåï äáøéú . When even such an inanimate vessel is called the covenant, why may that not be said of the Lord Himself, who, in fact, is the sole living and personal bond that unites divinity and humanity. As Christ calls Himself the way (Joh_14:6), or the resurrection (Joh_11:25), so, too, He may be called the covenant. Thus, e.g., îַí “tributum” (Jos_16:10, etc.), signifies Him that tributum affert, ùָׁìåֹí (Psa_120:7) Him that pacem agit. Thus áøéú öí is He that mediates the covenant to the people. But this is no other than the Messiah. I do not comprehend how V. Fr. Oehler (D. Knecht Jehova’s, I. p. 50) can say: “Israel in the Messianic time needs no more an Abraham, a Moses as mediator of a covenant of the people with Jehovah, but the people as regenerated, as conscious of its destiny, as perfect servant of Jehovah is itself the covenant.” Israel has, indeed, no need of an Abraham or Moses; but Christ it does need, and without Him, too, it could never be “the perfect servant of Jehovah.”
By öָí is meant Israel, as appears both from the added áøéú and from the antithetical âåéí (comp. Isa_49:6). Salvation comes from the Jews (Joh_4:22). The sunrise from on high (Luk_1:78) appears in Israel and proceeds thence to the heathen. For the recurrence of the phraseology here see Isa_49:6; Isa_49:8, comp. Isa_51:4. The covenant, that the Servant of Jehovah is to mediate is called Isa_54:10 a covenant of peace, and Isa_55:3; Isa_61:8, an everlasting covenant (comp. Isa_59:21; Isa_61:4; Isa_61:6).
In Isa_42:7, the Prophet specifies the contents of the general notions “covenant of the people,” “light of the Gentiles.” If ô÷ç ò× ò× (comp. Isa_35:5; Isa_29:18) connects primarily with àåø âåéí , and appears attracted by this thought, so äåöéà îîñâø àñéø relates primarily to òָí , thus to Israel. Why may one not think first of Israel in reference to the deliverance from imprisonment, seeing the entire second part of Isaiah is primarily a book of consolation for Israel in captivity? But to prevent our thinking that the opening of eyes refers only to the heathen, and the leading out of prison only to Israel, the Prophet adds a third clause, that combines both factors, and thus intimates that also those sitting in darkness shall be freed, and those languishing in prison be enlightened. From this appears how unjust to the text a rough, outward construction like Knobel’s is. For did the heathen, then, share Israel’s captivity in Babylon? Certainly not. But there is a blindness and a captivity under which both Israel and the heathen labored (comp. Act_26:17-18). At the same time it must not be denied, that also acts of physical deliverance are to be regarded as degrees of the fulfilment of our prophecy, e.g., from the chains of prison and darkness, like the deliverance from the Babylonish Exile, and those acts of healing that the personal Servant of Jehovah did during His life on earth (comp. Isa_9:1; Mat_4:14-16, with ibid. Isa_42:23). Light and freedom, therefore light and right (for freedom is his right whom the prison holds not or holds no longer) will the Servant of Jehovah bring to the world. Should not one think here of the Urim and Thummim of the High-Priest (Exo_28:30), and consequently construe this offering of light and right as the priestly activity of the Servant of Jehovah? The expression dwellers in darkness occurs only here and Psa_107:10. Comp. Isa_9:1.
4. I am the Lord——of them.—
Isa_42:8-9.The verses 6, 7 form the pith of the strophe; which is prefaced (Isa_42:5) by words that let us infer its significance, and is concluded by just such words (Isa_42:8-9). The words àðֹé éäåä , that directly follow the pith of the strophe, seem to correspond to the words of similar meaning with which (Isa_42:6) it immediately begins. They are therefore in apposition with àðé éäåä at the beginning of Isa_42:6, and to be translated “I Jehovah” (not “I am Jehovah”). Verily it must be something great which the Lord twice announces with the words, “I, Jehovah, do it.” It must be something that only Jehovah can do; thus something far beyond the power of a man or of any other creature. Jehovah, however, can do it because He is called éäåä , i, e., according to Exo_3:14, the eternally existent, the absolutely existent (in äåà ùׁîé , appears even a reminiscence of æä ùׁîé , Exo_3:15), who just thereby is distinguished from all other beings, that either have no real existence at all, as idols, or that have not the source of their existence in themselves. Did the Lord not do what He has promised, Isa_42:6-7, His name would lie. He would not then be what He calls Himself; He were a liar and deceiver, like those that unjustly assume the name “god.” Thus He pledges the honor of His name for the fulfilment of what is promised, Isa_42:6-7. But the Lord must do this not only to be consistent with Himself; He does it also in order that His honor may not unlawfully be taken by another. Did He promise and not fulfil, He would not be distinguished from idols. Indeed, in a certain sense, He would be less than idols. For not to be able to prophesy at all (Isa_41:21) were better than to prophesy and not fulfil. In a quite similar sense Isa_48:11. But, moreover the Lord may not risk the coming to pass of the great things spoken of, Isa_42:6-7, without His having previously foretold them, lest Israel say as in Isa_48:5, “mine idol hath done them,” etc. Thus, as in Isa_41:4; Isa_41:22 sqq., by prophesying them, He vindicates the future things as His plan and His work, and proves His divinity. But as He does not now first begin to prophesy, but had done it already in the remote past, so He can now point, not only to the future fulfilment of what is now prophesied, but also to the actual fulfilment of what was formerly prophesied. Thus present fulfilment is security for that which is to be. Accordingly, by äøàùׁðåú , Isa_42:9, I cannot, with Delitzsch and others, understand the immediate future, but only that foretold in the past. If the øàùׁðåú were “the appearance of Cyrus and the movements of the nations connected therewith,” then instead of áָּàåּ it must read áָּàåֹú (comp. Isa_41:22). How can fulfilments still future, any way, be the pledge of others also future? I understand, therefore, by the former things the totality of prophecies made from the days of the Patriarchs to the catastrophe of Assyria, and in part fulfilled, and by new things (comp. Isa_48:6) all that the Prophet has to say concerning the future salvation that begins with Cyrus. These are the things which the Prophet, with the actual or the ideal present in view, designates as not recognizable even in their buds (comp. Isa_43:19).
Footnotes:
I the Lord.
Isa_42:10-17
And his praise from the end of the earth,
Ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein;
The isles, and the inhabitants thereof
11 Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice,
The villages that Kedar doth inhabit:
Let the inhabitants of the rock sing,
Let them shout from the top of the mountains.
12 Let them give glory unto the Lord,
And declare his praise in the islands.
13 The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man,
He shall stir up jealousy like a man of war:
He shall cry, yea, roar;
He shall prevail against his enemies.
14 I have long time holden my peace;
I have been still and refrained myself:
Now will I cry like a travailing woman;
I will destroy and devour at once.
15 I will make waste mountains and hills,
And dry up all their herbs;
And I will make the rivers islands,
And I will dry up the pools.
16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not;
I will lead them in paths that they have not known:
I will make darkness light before them,
And crooked things straight.
These things will I do unto them., and not forsake them.
17 They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed,
That trust in graven images,
That say to molten images,
Ye are our gods.
Isa_42:10. î÷öä äàøò depends on ùִׁéøåּ . But that Hebrew usage is to be noted which puts the terminus a quo where we put the terminus in quo. Comp. Isa_17:13; Gen_1:7. Thus our way of expressing it would be “at the end of the earth.” But when even the furthest off praise the Lord, certainly those lying between are not excluded.——The words éåøãé äéí åîìàå strongly remind one of Psa_96:11; Psa_98:7, where it reads éִøְòַí äַéָí åּîְìֹàåֹ , which is the more remarkable seeing these Psalms belong to those that begin with ùׁéøå ìé× ùׁéø çãùׁ Lowth conjectures for this reason that we ought instead of éåøãé to read here éִøְòַí ( éָøֹï , éָøִéòַ or the like). But éøòí would not suit the following àééí åéùׁáéäí .
Isa_42:12. The expression ùִéí ëְּáåֹã , beside the present, occurs only Jos_7:19; comp. Psa_66:2.
Isa_42:14. äָùָׁä (comp ּ äָñָä ) is more “to be quiet”, while çָøַùׁ agreeably to the fundamental meaning incidere, insculpere, means primarily “to be deaf and dumb” (comp. êùöüò from êüðôù , obtusus, the dull, dumb), hence “to be silent.” The imperfects àçøéùּׁ and àúàô÷ signify, (by reason of äçùׁéúé that represents the silence generally as an accomplished fact), the single acts of keeping still that constantly followed each other in the past.—— àֶôְּòֶä , ἄð . ëåã . The root ôָּòָä occurs only in the serpent-name àֶôְòֶä (Isa_30:6; Isa_59:5; Job_20:16), in the substantive àֶôַò (Isa_41:24 which see) and in the name of the midwife ôּåּòָä (Exo_1:15). Both that serpent name and the kindred roots ôָּàָä , ôåּçַ involve the meaning “to breathe, blow.” In Chald., however, ôָּòָä means directly “to cry,” and is especially used of the bleating of sheep. Thence come the substantives ôְּòִéָä “vociferatio,” and ôָּòַéְúָà mulier clamosa. We will likely come nearest the truth if we take ôָּòָä to mean the loud groaning, joined with lamentation, of the travailing woman, which, too, offers an admirable explanation of the name ôּåּòָä for a midwife. There is, moreover, an assonance in àôòä and àúàô÷ , that continues in àùׁí and àùׁàó To derive àùּׁí from ùָׁîֵí vastatem esse, because in Eze_36:3 ùַׁîּåֹú åְùָׁàֹó are found conjoined, is forbidden both by grammar and the context. It is rather derived from ðָùַׁí , an unused root, indeed, but one that occurs in the substantive ðְùָׁîַä .
Isa_42:17. With éáùׁå , instead of the inf. absol., we have a noun of the same stem as in Isa_22:17-18; Isa_14:19; Isa_14:22; Isa_29:14; Isa_33:4; Isa_46:10.
2. Sing unto–—islands.
Isa_42:10-12. A new song is becoming for the new matter; like new skin bottles for new wine (Mat_9:17). The expression a new song occurs, Psa_33:3; Psa_40:4; Psa_96:1; Psa_98:1; Psa_144:9; Psa_149:1 : “sing unto the Lord a new song” occurs, Psa_33:3; Psa_96:1; Psa_98:1. It is to be noted, too, that the more ancient of these Pss. (Psalms 33, 96, 98) have all of them, I may say, an ecumenical character, in that all treat of the mutual relation of Jehovah and of all creation, i.e., of the power of Jehovah over all that is created, and of the duty of the latter to worship and praise the Lord.Psa_40:4; Psa_144:9 express only the author’s purpose to sing a new song to the Lord. But Psalms 149, certainly a late song and an imitation, has a very particularistic character. One may say, therefore, that here, like in chapter 12, the author strikes up the psalm tone. He summons those to praise who are on the sea, and those that are in the sea, as immediately after he directs the same summons to the isles and their inhabitants, to the wilderness and its towns. The éåøãé äéí are not those that go down to the sea, but those that sail down the sea, as appears plainly from Psa_107:23, the only other place where the expression occurs. For the sea, optically regarded, may be conceived as an elevation (comp. Luk_5:4); thus, as really seen, the sea presents itself as flowing. Flowing water, however, cannot mount up. It seems to me far fetched, when Delitzsch supposes that Ezion-Geber is the Prophet’s point of view in calling out. I rather think that by those sailing down the sea and isles, which he conceives as between his point of view and “the ends of the earth,” the Prophet would signify the west. Behind him lie the desert and the villages of the Arabs ( áְּðֵé ÷ֶãֶí ) on the east; on the left he has the rock city ( ñìò ), and on the right mountains, i.e., to the south the mountain of Edom, to the north Lebanon. Regarding éִùְׂàåּ see on Isa_42:2. It is well known that in the desert, too, there were and are cities (fortified places). Comp., e.g..Jos_15:61-62; Jos_20:8. The úöøéí (comp. Lev_25:31) are opposed on the one hand to cities, on the other to the mere tent encampments; like Hadaríje (stationary Arabs) are distinguished from Wabarîje (tent Arabs) (Delitzsch). On Kedar comp. at Isa_21:16. There were hardly dwellers in the rooks numerous enough, in an appellative sense, to make it worth while naming them here, where only grand genera are mentioned. But the Prophet might very well, in order to signify the South, think of the great rock city of Edom (Petra, comp. on Isa_16:1). But I do not think he intends by “mountains” only the mountains near Petra; for then the North would be entirely omitted. Hence I think we must understand the great mountains to the north of Palestine. As object of the crying out, Isa_42:12 again expressly mentions the honor and praise of Jehovah. The islands are named as representing the remotest regions.
3. The Lord shall go——forsake them.
Isa_42:13-16. As in the preceding strophe we distinguished a kernel, and a preface and conclusion, forming, so to speak, a shell for it, so we must do here. From the extent of the preface and its elevated tone, we observe that the kernel must be something highly significant. Isa_42:13-16 cease to speak of the Servant of Jehovah. But He reappears, Isa_42:22. Instead appears Jehovah Himself, Isa_42:13. And things are affirmed of Jehovah that partly agree, partly form a strange contrast with what before and after is imputed to the Servant of Jehovah. When it is said, Isa_42:7, that the Servant of Jehovah will open the eyes of the blind and free the prisoner, is that essentially different from what we read, Isa_42:16, of leading the blind, etc.? Do these blind remain blind? What, then, has the Lord to do with blind persons! Or are the ways that He leads them not ways of freedom and salvation? But if, Isa_42:2-3, the Servant of Jehovah appears as one that does not cry, but is meek and gentle, how comes it that, Isa_42:13-14, Jehovah is portrayed as an impetuous warrior, that cries and groans? And this appears in the climax-strophe of our chapter to which the preceding strophes lead up, and from which those following lead down I cannot believe that the third of the five strophes of our chapter can treat of a foreign subject. It must be the same, though the form makes it difficult to detect the unity. And in fact it was difficult for the Prophet himself, a very riddle, to comprehend the unity of Jehovah and His Servant, just as it must assuredly have been also an inexplicable mystery that the Son of David should at the same time be Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isa_9:5). I do not say, therefore, that Isaiah here produces a doctrine in an unhistorical way, that must remain hidden from himself. But I do say that the Spirit of God intimates here a relation of Jehovah to His Servant, which, of course, only presents itself to us in entire clearness in the New Testament history; but which, now we stand in this clear light, we can and ought thereby to detect in its Old Testament envelope. Oehler begins the article Messias in Herz.,R-Enc., with these words: “According to the view of Old Testament prophecy, the completion of salvation is brought about by the personal coming of Jehovah in His glory. He Himself appears amid the rejoicing of the whole creation for the restoration of His kingdom on earth. Psa_96:10 sqq.; psa 98:7 sqq.,” etc. It is remarkable that Oehler, in support of his thought, cites precisely those Pss. which, as above shown, have such resemblance to our passage. It is admitted by expositors that these Pss. have generally a near relation to Isaiah 40-66 (comp. Moll on Psalms 96.sqq.). May we not have in Psalms 96, 98 the oldest commentary on our passage, a testimony that already in the time after the Exile our passage was referred to the Messiah, therefore that the unity of the Messiah and Jehovah was recognized?
The Prophet, then, here describes the Servant of Jehovah from another side. He, the quiet, and meek One, is at the same time El-Gibbor, and hence it may be said of Him: Jehovah goes forth like a mighty man.—But as being El-Gibbor he is no more called Servant of Jehovah; for the El Gibbor has laid aside the form of a servant. Further on this see below under Doctrinal and Ethical, p. 461, § 9. An àéùׁ îìçîåú is a man that carries on many wars (comp. 2Sa_8:10; 1Ch_18:10). The expression He shall stir up jealousy (sc. in Himself) recalls passages like Psa_78:38; Dan_11:25; Hag_1:14; Isa_59:17. The intensive àó , comp. Isa_43:7. The enemies against whom Jehovah goes forth are manifestly the same that as conquered, yet at the same time blessed, are to offer praise and thanks to the Lord (Isa_42:10-12). The entire heathen world is meant. This is confirmed by Isa_42:17 that speaks of the confusion of those that persist in serving idols in spite of their knowledge of God.
It is quite preposterous, with Hahn, to assume a dividing line between Isa_42:13-14. Is