The collective body of the prophets, or the ideal prophet, is altogether out of place in chap. liii.; for there the Servant of God does not appear as a Prophet, but as a High Priest and Redeemer. This hypothesis meets with farther difficulties by the mention of Israel in chap. xlix. 3.Farther--It cannot well be conceived how the Prophet who, according to these expositors, lived about the end of the exile, could expect such glorious things of the prophetic order, as that from it even a preliminary and partial realization of his hopes should proceed. At that time the prophetic order was already dying out; and a prophetic order among the exiled cannot well be spoken ofFinally--That which is here ascribed to the Servant of God--the grand influence upon the heathen world--is not of such a character, as that the prophets could be considered as even the precursors and companions in the work ofthe Prophet. Neither prophecy nor history assigns to the prophets any share in this work. This hypothesis severe the second part from its connection with the whole remaining Old Testament, according to which it is by Christ alone that the reception of the Gentiles into the Kingdom of God shall be effected. And in this second part itself, it stands likewise in contradiction to chap. lv. 3, 4.
Ver. 1. "Behold my Servant whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my Spirit upon Him, He shall bring forth right[2]to the Gentiles."
Every pious man is called, in general, "servant of the Lord," comp. Job i. 8; Ps. xix. 12, 14; but ordinarily, the designation is, in a special sense, applied to those whom God makes use of for the execution of His purposes, to whom He entrusts the administration of His affaire, and whom He equips for the promotion of His glory. David, who, according to Acts xiii. 36, had in his generation served the counsel of God, calls himselfin his prayer in 2 Sam. vii., not fewer than ten times, the servant of God, (Vol. i, p. 135, 136); and the same designation he gives to himself in the inscriptions of Ps. xviii. and xxxvi. TheProphetsare called servants of God in 2 Kings xiii. 3; Jer. xxvi. 5. In the highest and most perfect degree, that designation belongs to Christ, who, in the most perfect manner, carried out the decrees of God, and to whom all former servants and instruments of the Lord in His kingdom, pointed as types. But the designation has not merely a reference to the subjective element of obedience, but points, at the same time, to thedignityof him who is thus designated. It is a high honour to be received by God among the number of His servants, who enjoy the providence and protection of their mighty and rich Lord. That this aspect--the dignity--comes here chiefly into consideration, in the case of Him who is the Servant of Godκατ᾽ á¼Î¶Î¿Ï‡Î®Î½, and in whom, therefore, this dignity must reach its highest degree, so that the designation,My Servant, borders very closely upon that ofMy Son, (comp. Matth. iii. 17, xvii. 5);--that this aspect comes here chiefly into consideration is probable even from the circumstance that, in those passages of the second part which treat ofIsraelas the servant of God, it is just this aspect which is pre-eminently regarded. Thus it is in chap. xli. 8: "And thou Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, my friend." To be the servant of God appears here as an honour, as the privilege which was bestowed upon Israel in preference to the Gentiles. On ver. 9: "Thou, whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and from her borders called thee, and said unto thee: Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee and not cast thee away," Luther remarks: "The name, 'my servant,' contains the highestconsolation, both when we look to Him who speaks, viz.. He who has created everything, and also to him who is addressed, viz., afflicted and forsaken man." In chap. xliv. 1, 2: "And now hear, O Jacob, my servant, and Israel whom I have chosen; thus saith the Lord that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, who will help thee: Fear not, O Jacob, my servant, and Jeshurun, whom I have chosen," all the designations of God and Israel serve only for an introduction to the exhortation: "Fear not," by laying open the necessity which exists for the promise inver. 3, which, without such ca foundation, would be baseless. The context and the parallelism with "whom I have chosen" show that the designation, "servant of God" in these verses has no reference to a duty imposed, but to a privilege, a relation which is the pledge of divine aid to Israel. Jeshurun stands as a kind ofnomen proprium, and is not parallel toעבדי, but to Jacob. In chap. xliv. 21: "Remember this, O Jacob, and Israel, for thou art my servant, I have formed thee for a servant to me, Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me," the×לה"this" refers to the folly of idolatry exhibited in the preceding verses. The duty that Israel should remember this, is founded upon the fact, that he is the servant of the Lord, called by Him to a glorious dignity, to high prerogatives, of which he must not rob himself by apostatizing from Him. It is He who has bestowed upon him this dignity, and He will soon show by deeds, that He cannot forget him, if only his heart does not forget his God. In a similar manner, in chap. xlv. 4, the protecting providence and love of God are looked to. The aspect of the duty and of the service which Israel has to perform to his Lord, is specially pointed out in a single passage only, in chap. xlii. 19; all the other passages place the dignity in the foreground. That, in the designation. Servant of God, in the passage before us, prominence is also given to the dignity, is confirmed by the addition of "whom I uphold," which presents itself as an immediate consequence of the relation of a servant of God, and by the parallel: "mine elect in whom my soul delighteth."--תמך"to take," "to seize," "to hold," when followed byב, always signifiesto lay hold of,to hold fast,to support. With the words: "Behold my servant whom I uphold," corresponds what the Lord says in John viii. 29:ὠπÎμψας με μετ’ á¼Î¼Î¿á¿¦ á¼ÏƒÏ„ιν· οá½Îº ἀφῆκΠμε μόνον ὠΠατὴÏ, ὅτι á¼Î³á½¼ Ï„á½° á¼€Ïεστὰ αá½Ï„á¿· ποιῶ πάντοτε; comp. John iii. 2; Acts x. 38. The Preterite× ×ª×ª×™is employed, because the communication of the Spirit is the condition of his bringing forth right, just as, in ver. 6, thecallingis the ground of the preservation. In the whole of the description of the Servant of God, the Future prevails throughout; thePraeteritum propheticumis employed only, where something is to be designated, which, relatively, is antecedent; compare the words: "And the Spirit of the Lord rests uponHim," in chap. xi. 2; lxi. 1; Matt. iii. 16; John iii. 34. The three passages in Isaiah which speak of the communication of the Spirit to Christ are inseparably connected with one another, and, on the whole Old Testament territory, there is no passage exactly parallel to them. The Hiphel ofיצ×must not be explained by "to announce," as some interpreters do; for in this signification it nowhere occurs; and according to what follows, and the parallel passages, the Servant of God does not by any means establish right by the mere announcement, but by His holy disposition. But as little can we explainהוצי×by "to lead out," in contrast to the circumstance that, under the Old Testament, right was limited to a single nation. For in the parallel passage, chap. li. 4: "Hearken unto me, my people, and give ear unto me, O my congregation, for law shalt proceed from me, and I will set my right for the light of the nations,"יצ×does not mean to goout, but to goforth,i.e., to proceed. In the same way, in Hab. i. 4: "And not does right go forth for ever,"i.e., it never comes forth, is never established, comp. Vol. i., p. 442, 443. Henceהוצי×here can mean only "to bring to light," "to bring forth."משפטis, by several interpreters, taken in the signification, "religion;" but it is just ver. 4, by which they support their view, which shows that the ordinary signification "right," must be retained here. For in that verse,rightstands in parallelism withlaw, by which right is established; comp. chap. li. 4. Before God's Kingdom was, by the Servant of God, extended to the Gentile nations, there existed among them, notwithstanding all the excellence of outward legal arrangements, a condition without right in the higher sense. Right, in its essence, has its root in God, as may be seen from the Ten Commandments, which everywhere go back to God, and in all of which Luther, in his exposition of the ten commandments, rightly repeats: "We shall fear and love God." Where, therefore, the living God is not known, there can be no right. The commandment: "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,"e.g., has any meaning only where the eye is open for the divine image which the neighbour bears, and for the redemption of which he is a fellow-partaker. The commandment: "Honour thy father and thy mother" will go to the heart only where the divine paternity is known, of which all earthly paternity is only an image.In Deut. iv. 5-8, Israel's happiness is praised, in that they alone, among all the nations, are in possession of God's laws and commandments. Those privileges of Israel are, by the Servant of God, to be extended to the Gentiles who, because they are destitute of right, are, in Deut. xxxii. 21, called a foolish nation. In Ps. cxlvii. 19, 20, it is said: "He showeth His word unto Jacob, His statutes and laws unto Israel. He has not dealt so with any nation, and law they do not know." This passage touches very closely upon that before us; like it, it denies right to the Gentiles in general. "The Gentiles, being without God in the world, do not know any right at all. For that which they call so, is only the shadow of that which really deserves this name, is only a dark mixture of right and wrong." As regards the first table of the Ten Commandments, they grope entirely in the dark; and with respect to the second table, it is only here and there that they see a faint glimpse of light.--A consequence of the bringing forth of right to the Gentiles is the ceasing of war, as it is described in chap. ii. 4. When right has obtained dominion, it cannot tolerate war beside it; where there is true right, there is also peace. The benefit which, in the first instance, is conferred upon the Gentiles, is enjoyed by Israel also: The intention of comforting and encouraging Israel clearly appears in the parallel passage, chap. li. 4. For the right which obtains dominion among the Gentiles, is Israel's pride and ornament, so that, along with their God and His right, they obtain also the dominion over the Gentile world, by which they were hitherto kept in bondage; and whensoever and wheresoever the divine right obtains dominion, the violent oppression must cease, under which the people of God had been groaning up to that time. The Servant of God, however, who brings forth right to the Gentiles, forms the contrast to the worldly conqueror, of whom it was said in chap. xli. 25: "He cometh upon princes as mortar, and, just as the potter treadeth the clay."--The words: "He shall bring forth right," purposely return again in ver. 3; and equally intentionally, the words: "He shall found right on the earth," in ver. 4, refer to them. "We have thus"--Stierpertinently remarks--"in ver. 1, the sum and substance, even to its aim. But it is immediately brought more distinctly to view, whatwill be the spirit and character, the mode of operation, by which this aim is to be brought about."
Ver. 2; "He shall not cry nor lift up, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street."
Afterיש×"he shall lift up," "His voice" must be supplied from the context. The words must not be understood in such a manner, as if they stood in opposition to chap. lviii. 1: "Cry with thy throat, do not refrain, lift up thy voice like the trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and to the house of Jacob their sins." The Prophet, in that passage, encourages himself; and he cannot mean to represent that as objectionable, by the circumstance that, in the case of the Servant of God, the very ideal of all the servants of God, he points out and praises the very opposite. And, in like manner, every interpretation is to be avoided according to which "dumb dogs which cannot bark" find a pretext in this passage. According to Prov. i. 20: "Wisdom crieth aloud without, she uttereth her voice in the streets."Just as the prohibition of swearing in Matt. v. 34 is qualified by the opposition to Pharisaic levity in cursing and swearing, so here, also, the antithesis to the loud manner of the worldly conqueror must be kept in view,--the contrast to his violence which stakes every thing upon carrying his own will, which cries and rages when it meets with opposition and resistance, (Matt. rendersיצעקbyá¼Ïίσει, "He shall contend"), to the earnestly sought publicity, to the intention of causing sensation, as it proceeds from vanity or pride. TheκÏαυγάσει, by which Matthew renders theיש×, has nothing in common with theἔκÏαξεwhich, in John vii. 28, 37, is said of Christ. With the passionate restlessness, with which the conqueror from the East seeks to carry through his human plans, and to place himself in the centre of the world's history, is here contrasted the inward composure and deportment of the Servant of God, His equanimity, His freedom from excitement,--all of which are based upon the clear consciousness of His dignity and mission, upon the conviction of the power of the truth which is of God, of the power of the Spirit which opens up the minds and hearts for it, and which has its source in the declaration: "I put my Spirit upon Him," by which the great wall of separation between Him and the conqueror from the East is set up. It is justbecause of His not being beat upon carrying through any thing, because of His great confidence, that the Servant of Godgainseverything, and obtains His object of bringing right to the nations.--Matt., in chap. xii. 15-21, finds the confirmation of the character here assigned to Christ in two circumstances:--first, in His not entering into a violent dispute with the Pharisees opposing Him (οἱ δὲ φαÏισαῖοι συμβοÏλιον ἔλαβον κατ' αá½Ï„οῦ á¼Î¾ÎµÎ»Î¸ÏŒÎ½Ï„ες, ὅπως αá½Ï„ὸν ἀπολÎσωσιν), in His not exciting against them the masses who were devoted to Him, but in withdrawing from them (ὠδὲ Ἰησοῦς γνοὺς ἀνεχώÏησεν á¼ÎºÎµá¿–θεν, ver. 15), being convinced that the cause was not His but God's, and that there was no reason for getting angry with those who were contending against God; just as David said of Shimei: "Let him curse, because the Lord has said unto him, Curse David."--Secondly, in the circumstance that instead of availing himself of the excitement of the aroused masses, He charged them that they should not make known His miraculous deeds (καὶ á¼Ï€ÎµÏ„ίμησεν αá½Ï„οῖς ἵνα μὴ φανεÏὸν αá½Ï„ὸν ποιήσωσιν, ver. 16), being convinced that He did not need to seek to draw attention to himself, but that, by the secret and hidden power of God, His work would be accomplished.
Ver. 3. "The bent reed shall He not break, and the dimly burning wick shall He not quench; in truth shall He bring forth right."
Here, too, the antithesis to the worldly conqueror who, without mercy, "Cometh upon princes as mortar, and as a potter treadeth the clay" (chap. xli. 25), whose mind is bent only upon destroying and cutting off nations not a few (chap. x. 7), who does not give rest until he has fully cast down to the ground the broken power. The Servant of God, far from breaking the bent reed, shall, on the contrary--this is the positive opposed to the negative--care for, and assist the wretched with tender love. Just thereby does He accomplish the object of His efforts. The confirmation of the character here assigned to Christ is, by Matthew, found in His healing the sick (καὶ á¼Î¸ÎµÏάπευσεν αá½Ï„οὺς πάντας, ver. 15), as prefiguring all that which He, who has declared the object of His coming to be to seek all that which was lost, did and accomplished, in general, for the misery of the human race. There cannot be any doubt that the bent reed and the dimly burning wick are figurative designationsof those who, beaten down by sufferings, feel themselves to be poor and miserable. These the weary and heavy laden, the Servant of God will not drive to despair by severity, but comfort and refresh by tender love. His conduct towards them is that of a Saviour. As a bent reed,×§× ×” רצוץ, Pharaoh appears on account of his broken power, in chap. xxxvi. 6, and in chap. lviii. 6, theרצוצי×are the oppressed. The fact, that thewickdimly burning and near to being extinguished is an image of exhausted strength, is shown by chap. xliii. 17, where, in reference to the Egyptians carried away by the judgment, it is said: "They are extinct, they are quenched like a wick." In the parallel passages which treat of the Servant of God, thewearyin chap. l. 4, and thebroken-heartedin chap. lxi. 1, correspond to it. Elsewhere, too, the wretched appear as objects of the loving providence of the Saviour. Thus, in chap. xi. 4: "And He judges in righteousness the low;" in Ps. lxxii. 4: "He shall judge the poor of the people; He shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor;" and in vers. 12-14: "For He delivereth the needy when he crieth, and the miserable, and him that hath no deliverer. From oppression and violence He delivereth their soul, and precious is their blood in His sight." Just as, in the passage before us, the bringing forth of right appears as a consequence of the loving providence for the bent reed, and the dimly burning wick, so in that Psalm, the great fact: "And all the kings worship Him, and all the nations serve Him," is traced back to the tender love with which He cares for and helps the poor and needy. In the Sermon on the Mount, the beatitude of theπτωχοί, Matt. v. 3, of theπενθοῦντες, ver. 4, and in Matt. xi. 28, the invitation of theκοπιῶντες καὶ πεφοÏτισμÎνοι, exactly correspond. The wicked and ungodly, upon whom the judgments of God have been inflicted, are not included, because they are not wretched in the full sense; for they harden themselves against the suffering, or seek to divert themselves in it; they do not take it fully to heart. TheÏ„á¿· πνεÏματι, "in their consciousness," which in Matthew is added to the simpleπτωχοί, which alone we find in Luke, must be understood as a matter of course. He only is poor in the full sense, who feels and takes to heart his poverty. According to an interpretation widely spread, repenting sinners are designatedby the bent reed, and dimly burning wick. Thus Luther writes: "That means that the wounded conscience, those who are terrified at the sight of their sins, the weak in life and faith are not cast away by Him, are not oppressed and condemned, but that He cares for them, tends and nurses them, makes them whole and embraces them with love." But repenting sinners do not here come into considerationper se, but only as one species of the wretched, inasmuch as, according to Luther's expression, truly to feel sin is a torment beyond all torments.--The last words: "In truth shall He bring forth right" again take up the close of ver. 1, after the means have been stated, in the intervening words, by which He is to bring about the result. Theל×מתmust not be translated: "For truth" (LXX:εἰς ἀλήθειαν); for there is a thorough difference betweenלand×ל; the former does not, like the latter, designate the motion towards some object, but is rather, here also, a preposition signifying "belonging to;" henceל×מתmeans "belonging to truth," "in a true manner," "in truth." By every other mode of dealing, right would be establishedin appearanceandoutwardlyonly. Matthew renders it:ἕως ἂν á¼ÎºÎ²Î¬Î»á¿ƒ εἰς νῖκος τὴν κÏίσιν, "until He has led right to victory." By the addition ofἕωςhe intimates, that the last words state the result which is brought about by the conduct of the Servant of God described in the preceding words.Εἰς νῖκοςis a free translation ofל×מת;κÏίσιςis "right," as in chap. xxiii. 23.--How objectionable and untenable all the non-Messianic explanations are, appears very clearly in this verse. If Israel were the Servant of God, then theGentile worldmust be represented by the bent reed and dimly burning wick. But in that case, we must have recourse to such arbitrary interpretations as,e.g., that given byKöster: "The weak faith and imperfect knowledge of the Gentiles." No weak faith, no imperfect knowledge, however, is spoken of; but the Servant of God appears as a Saviour of the poor and afflicted, of those broken by sufferings. Those who, by the Servant of God, understand the better portion of the people, or the prophetic order, speak of "the meek spirit of the mode of teaching, which does not by any means altogether crush the sinner already brought low, but, in a gentle, affectionate manner, raises him up," (Umbreit); or say withKnobel: "These poor and afflicted He does nothumble still more by hard, depressingwords, butspeaksto them in a comforting and encouraging way, raising them up and strengthening them." But in this explanation everything is, without reason, drawn into the territory of speech, while Matthew rightly sees, in the healing of the sick by Christ, a confirmation by deeds of the prophecy before us. In chap. lxi., also, the Servant of God does not only bring glad tidings, butcreates, at the same time, the blessings announced. According to chap. lxi. 3, He gives to them that mourn in Zion beauty for ashes, joy for mourning, garment of praise for a weak (×›×”×”) spirit. Verse 6 of the chapter before us most clearly indicates how little we are allowed to limit ourselves to mere speaking; for, according to that verse, the Servant of God is himself the covenant of the people, and the light of the Gentiles, and according to ver. 7, He opens the eyes of the blind, &c.
Ver. 4. "He shall not fail nor run away until He shall have founded right in the earth, and for His law the isles shall wait."
On: "He shall not fail," properly, "He shall not become dim," comp. Deut. xxxiv. 7, where it is said of Moses, the servant of God: "His eye had not become dim, nor had his strength fled." The×œ× ×™×¨×•×¥"He shall not run away" (properly, "He shall notrun") is qualified and fixed by the parallelism with×œ× ×™×›×”×”"He shall not fail."רוץin other passages also, several times receives, by the context, the qualified signification "to run away," "to take to flight," "to flee;" comp. Judges viii. 21; Jer. xlix. 19. The words: "He shall not fail nor run away" imply that, in the carrying out of His vocation, the Servant of God shall meet with powerfulobstacles, with obstinateenemies, and shall have to endure severe sufferings. That which is here merely hinted at, is carried out and detailed in chap. xlix., l., liii. How near He was to failing and running away (David, too, was obliged to say: "Oh! that I had wings like a dove, then would I fly away and be at rest") is seen from His utterance in Matt. xvii. 17:ὦ γενεὰ ἄπιστος καὶ διεστÏαμμÎνη, ἕως πότε ἔσομαι μεθ’ ὑμῶν; ἕως πότε ἀνÎξομαι ὑμῶν.--According to the current opinion,ירוץis here assumed to be the Future ofרצץ, forיָרֹץ, and that in the appropriate signification: "He shall not be broken." (Thus it was probablyviewed by the Chaldean Paraphrast who renders×œ× ×™×œ××™non laborabit; by the LXX., who translateοὠθÏαυθσησεται, whileAquilaandSymmachus, according to the account ofJerome, render,non curret, thus following the derivation fromרוץ). As×™×›×”×”points back to×›×”×”in the preceding verse, so, in that caseירוץwould point back toרצוץ"He shall not break that which is bent, nor quench that which is dimly burning; but neither shall He himself be broken or quenched." But this explanation is opposed by the circumstance, that we must make up our minds to admit a double anomaly. The territories of the two verbsרצץandרוץare everywhere else kept distinct, and the former everywhere else means "to break," and not "to be broken." In the only passage, Eccl. xii. 6, brought forward in support of this irregularity,רוץ"to run," "to flee away," being in parallelism with× ×¨×—×§"to be removed," is quite appropriate; just as in the second clause of that verseרוץ"to be crushed," is in parallelism with× ×©×‘×¨] "to be broken."--××™×™×are, in theusus loquendiof Isaiah, not so much the real islands, as rather the islands in the sea of the world, the countries and kingdoms; compare remarks on Rev. vi. 14, and Ps. xcvii. 1 (second Edition). Thelawfor which the islands wait is not so much a ready-made code of laws, as the single decisions of the living Lawgiver, which the Gentiles, with anxious desire, shall receive as their rule in all circumstances, after they have spontaneously submitted to the dominion of the Servant of God, having been attracted by His loving dispensations. Several unphilologically translate: "for Hisdoctrine," which does not even give a good sense, for it is not the doctrine which is waited for; its value is known only after it has been preached. The Servant of God appears here as the spiritual Ruler of the nations; and this He becomes by being, in the fullest sense, the Servant of God, so that His will is not different from the will of God, norתורהfrom that of God, just as, in a lower territory, even Asaph speaks the bold word: "Hear, my people, my law." "The singer comes forth as one who has full authority, the 'Seer' and 'Prophet' utterlawswhich leave no alternative between Salvation and destruction." Parallel is chap. ii. 3, 4, where the nations go up to Zion, in order there to seek laws for the regulation of their practical conduct, and according to which the Lordjudgesamong the nations, and the law goes forthout of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. The difference is this only,--that, in that passage, the matter is traced back immediately to God, while here, the Servant of God is mentioned as the Mediator between Him and the Gentiles. But we must keep in mind that, for chap. ii. also, the parallel passages in chap. iv., ix., xi., furnish the supplement. We must, farther, compare also chap. li. 5: "My righteousness is near, my salvation goes forth,mine arms shall judge the nations, the isles shall wait for me, and on mine arm shall they hope." Thejudgingin that passage does not mean divine punitive judgments; but it is rather thereby intimated that all the nations shall recognise the Lord as their King, to whose government they willingly submit, and with whom they seek the decision of their disputes. Matthew purposely changes it into: "And inHis nameshall the Gentiles trust." The desire for the commands of the Lord is an effect of the love of Hisname,i.e., of Him who is glorified by His deeds. For the name is the product of deeds,--here especially of those designated in ver. 2 and 3. The commands are desired and longed for, only because the person is beloved on account of His deeds. Matthew has only distinctly brought out that which, in the original text, is intimated by the connection with the preceding verses. In consequence of this, His quiet, just, and merciful dispensation, the isles shall wait for His law.
In ver. 5-7 the Lord addresses His Servant, and promises Him that, by His omnipotence, the great work for which He has called Him, shall be carried out and accomplished, viz., that the covenant relation to Israel shall be fully realized, and the darkness of the Gentile world shall be changed into light.
Ver. 5. "Thus saith God the Lord, who createth the heavens and stretcheth them out; who spreadeth forth the earth and that which cometh out of it; who giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk thereon."
The Prophet directs attention to the omnipotence of God, in order to give a firm support to faith in the promise which exceeds all human conception. It is by this that the accumulation of the predicates is to be accounted for. He who fully realizes what a great thing it is to bring an apostate world back to God, to that God who has become a stranger to it,will surely not explain this accumulation by a "disposition, on the part of the Prophet, to diffuseness."
Ver. 6. "I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and I will seize thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for the covenant of the people and, for the Light of the Gentiles."
It is so obvious thatבצדקmust be translated by "in righteousness," that the explanations which disagree with it do not deserve to be even mentioned. The mission of the Servant of God has its root in the divinerighteousness, which gives to every one his due,--to the covenant-people, salvation. Even apart from the promise, the appearance of Christ rests on the righteousness of God. For it is in opposition to the nature and character of a people of God to be, for any length of time, in misery, and shut up to one corner of the earth. That which is to be accomplished for Israel by the Servant of God, forms, in the sequel, the first subject of discourse. But even that which He affords to theGentilesis, at the same time, given to Israel, inasmuch as it is one of their prerogatives that salvation for the Gentiles should go forth from them. As, here, the mission of the Servant of God, so, in chap. xlv. 13, the appearance of the lower deliverer appears as the work of divine righteousness: "I have raised him up in righteousness, and all his ways I will make straight." Similarly also in chap. xli. 2: "Who raised up from the East him whom righteousness calls wherever he goes,"i.e., him, all whose steps are determined by God's righteousness, who, in all his undertakings, is guided by it.--The seizing by the hand, the keeping, &c., are the consequence of His being called, and are equivalent to: just because I have called him, therefore will I, &c. Luther remarks: "Namely, for this reason, that Satan and the world, with all their might and wisdom, willresistthy work." In the words: "For the Covenant of the people, and for the Light of the Gentiles,"×¢×andגוי×form an antithesis. The absence of the article shows that we ought properly to translate: "For a Covenant of a people, for a Light of Gentiles." It is thus, in the first instance, only said that the Servant of God should be the personal covenant for a people; butwhatpeople that should be, cannot admit of a moment's doubt. To Israel, as such, the name of thepeoplepre-eminently belongs. Israel, in preference to all others, is called×¢×(compareGesenius'Thesauruss.v.גוי), because it is only the people of God that is a people in the full sense, connected by an internal unity; the Gentiles are×œ× ×¢×,non-people, according to Deut. xxxii. 21, because they lack the only real tie of unity. But what is still more decisive is the mention of theCovenant. The covenant can belong to the covenant-people only,ὧν αἱ διαθῆκαι, Rom. ix. 4,--the old, no less than the new one. The covenant with Abraham is an everlasting covenant of absolute exclusiveness, Gen. xvii. 7. The Servant of God is called the personal and embodied Covenant, because in His appearance the covenant made with Israel is to find its full truth; and every thing implied in the very idea of a covenant, all the promises flowing from this idea, are to be in Him, Yea and Amen. The Servant of God is here called the Covenant of Israel, just in the same manner as in Mic. v. 4 (comp. Ephes. ii. 14), it is said of Him: "This (man) is Peace," because in Him, peace, as it were, represents itself personally;--just as in chap. xlix. 6, He is called theSalvationof God, because this salvation becomes personal in Him, the Saviour,--just as in Gen. xvii. 10, 13, circumcision is called a covenant, as being the embodied covenant,--just as in Luke xxii. 20, the cup, the blood of Christ, is called the New Covenant, because in it it has its root. The explanation: Mediator of the covenant,διαθήκης ἔγγυος, is meagre, and weakens the meaning. The circumstance that the Servant of God is, without farther qualification, called the Covenant of the people, shows that He stands in a different relation to the covenant from that of Moses, to whom the name of theMediatorof the covenant does not the less belong than to Him. From Jer. xxxi. 31, we learn which are the blessings and gifts which the Servant of God is to bestow, and by which He represents himself as the personal Covenant. They are concentrated in the closest connection to be established by Him between God and His people: "I will be their God, and they shall be my people." It is only in the New Covenant, described in that passage of Jeremiah, that the Old Covenant attains to its truth. The second destination of the Servant of God, which, according to the context, here comes into special consideration, is, to bethe Light of the Gentiles. By the realization of this destination, an important feature inthe former was, at the same time, realized. For it formed part of the promises of the covenant with Israel that, from the midst of them, salvation for all the families of the earth should go forth, as our Saviour says:ἡ σωτηÏία á¼Îº τῶν Ἰουδαίων á¼ÏƒÏ„ίνLight is here, according to the commonusus loquendiof Scripture, a figurative designation ofsalvation. In the parallel passage, chap. xlix. 6, light is at once explained by salvation. The designation proceeds upon the supposition that the Gentiles, not less than Israel, (comp. chap. ix. 1 [2]) shall, until the appearance of the Servant of God, sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,--that they are in misery, although, in some instances, it may be abrilliantmisery. The following verse farther carries out and declares what is implied in the promise: "Light of the Gentiles." Parallel is chap. lx. 3: "And the heathen walk in thy (Zion's) light"--they become partakers of the salvation which shines for Zion--"and kings in the brightness which riseth to thee."--The supporters of that opinion, which understands Israel by the Servant of God, are in no small difficulty regarding this verse, and cannot even agree as to the means of escape from that difficulty. Several assume that×¢×is used collectively, and refer it to the Gentile nations. But opposed to this explanation is the evident antithesis of×¢×andגוי×; and it is entirely overthrown by the parallel passage in chap. xlix. Scripture knows nothing of a covenant with the Gentiles. According to the view of the Old, as well as of the New Testament, the Gentiles are received into the communion of the covenant with Israel. Others (Hitzig,Ewald) explain: "covenant-people,i.e., a mediatorial, connecting people, a bond of union between God and the nations." But the passage, chap. xlix. 8, is most decidedly opposed to this.Farther--The parallelism with×ור גוי×shows thatברית ×¢×is thestatus constructus. ButfÅ“dus alicujus, is, according to the remark ofGesenius,fÅ“dus cum aliquo sancitum. Thus in Lev. xxvi. 45, the covenant of the ancestors is the covenant entered into with the ancestors; Deut. iv. 31; Lev. xxvi. 42 (the covenant of Jacob, the covenant of Isaac, &c.) According toKnobel: "the true theocrats are to become a covenant of the people, the restorers of the Israelitish Theocracy, they themselves having connection and unity by faithfully holding fast by Jehovah, and by representing His cause." This explanation,also, is opposed to theusus loquendi, according to which "covenant of the people" can have the sense only of "covenant with the people," not a covenant among the people. And,farther, the parallel passage in chap. xlix. 8 is opposed to this interpretation also, inasmuch as, in that passage, the Servant of the Lord is calledברית ×¢×, not on account of what He is in himself, but on account of the influence which He exercises upon others, upon the whole of the people: "That thou mayest raise up the land, distribute desolate heritages, that thou mayest say to the prisoners: Go forth," &c. In that passage the land, the desolate heritages, the prisoners, &c., evidently correspond to the people.Finally--A covenant is a relation between two parties standing opposite one another. "The word is used,"saysGesenius, "of a covenant formed between nations, between private persons,e.g., David and Jonathan, between Jehovah and the people of Israel." But here no parties are mentioned to be united by the covenant.
Ver. 7. "That thou mayest open blind eyes, bring out them that are bound from the prison, and from the house of confinement them that sit in darkness."
On account of the connection with the "for the Light of the Gentiles," which would stand too much isolated, if, in the words immediately following, Israel alone were again the subject of discourse, the activity of God here mentioned refers, in the first instance, to theGentiles; and the words: "them that sit in darkness," moreover, evidently point back to "for the Light of the Gentiles." But from chap. xlix. 9, and also from ver. 16 of the chapter before us, where the blindness of Israel is mentioned, it appears that Israel too must not be excluded. Hence, we shall say: It is here more particularly described how the Servant of Godproveshimself as the Covenant of the people and the Light of the Gentiles, how He puts an end to the misery under which both equally groan. It will be better to understandblindness, in connection with imprisonment, sitting in darkness, as a designation of the need of salvation, than as a designation of spiritual blindness, of the want of the light of knowledge. That is also suggested by the preceding: "for the Light of the Gentiles," which, according to the commonusus loquendi, and according to chap. ix. 1 (2) is not to be referred to the spiritual illumination especially,but to the bestowal of salvation. To this view we are likewise led by a comparison of ver. 16: "And I will lead the blind by a way that they knew not, I will lead them in paths that they have not known, I will change the darkness before them into light, the crooked things into straightness." Theblindin this verse are those who do not know what to do, and how to help themselves, those who cannot find the way of salvation, the miserable; they are to be led by the Lord on the ways of salvation, which are unknown to them. In a similar sense and connection, the blind are, elsewhere also, spoken of, comp. Remarks on Ps. cxlv. 8.--On the words: "Bring out them that are bound from the prison,"Knobelremarks: "The citizens of Judah were, to a great extent, imprisoned; the Prophet hopes for their deliverance by the theocratic portion of the people." A strange hope! By this coarsely literal interpretation, the connection with "for the Light of the Gentiles" is broken up; and this is the less admissible that the words at the close of the verse: "those that sit in darkness," so clearly refer to it.Imprisonmentis a figurative designation of themiserable condition, not less than, thedarkness, which, on account of the light contrasted with it, and on account of chap. ix. 1 (2), cannot be understood otherwise than figuratively. Under the image of men bound in dark prisons, the miserable and afflicted appear also in Ps. cvii. 10-16; Job xxxvi. 8, where the words, "bound in fetters," are explained by the parallel "holden in the cords of misery." When David, in Ps. cxlii. 8, prays: "Bring my soul out of the prison," he himself explains this in Ps. cxliii. 11 by the parallel: "Thou wilt bring my soul out oftrouble;" comp. also Ps. xxv. 17: "O bring thou me out of mydistresses." If we here understand the prison literally, we might, with the same propriety in other passages, also,e.g., in Ps. lxvi. 11, understandliterallythe net, the snare, the trap.
Ver. 8: "I the Lord, that is my name, and my honour I will not give to another, nor my glory to idols.Ver. 9.The former(things),behold, they came to pass, and new(things)do I declare; before they spring forth, I cause you to hear."
We have here the solemn close and exhortation. At the close of chap. xli. it had been pointed out, how the prediction of theConqueror from the Eastserves for the glory of Jehovah,who thereby proves himself to be the only true God. Here the zeal of God for His glory is indicated as the reason which has brought forth the prediction of theServant of Godand His glorious work,--a prediction which cannot be accounted for from natural causes. It is thus the object of the prophecy which is here, in the first instance, stated. It is intended to manifest the true God as such, as a God who is zealously bent on His glory. But the same attribute of God which called forth the prophecy, calls forth also the events prophesied, viz., the appearance of the Servant of God, and the victory over the idols accomplished thereby, the bringing forth of the law of God over the whole earth through Him, and the full realization of the covenant with Israel. The thought is this:--that a God who does not manifest and prove himself as such, who is contented with the honour granted to Him without His interference, cannot be a God; that the true God must of necessity be filled with the desire of absolute, exclusive dominion, and cannot but manifest and prove this desire. From this thought, the prophecy and that which it promises flow with a like necessity.--According toStier,ר××©× ×•×ª, "the former (things)" means "the redemption of the exiled by Cyrus," which in chaps. xli. xlviii. forms the historico-typical foreground, whose coming is here anticipated by the Prophet. But the parallel passages, chaps. xli. 22, xliii. 9, xlviii. 3, are conclusive against this view; for, according to these passages, it is only the former already fulfilled predictions of the Prophet and his colleagues, from the beginnings of the people, which can be designated by "the former (things)." By "the new (things)" therefore, is to be understood the aggregate of the events which are predicted in the second part, to which belongs the prophecy of the Servant of God which immediately precedes, and which the Prophet has here as pre-eminently in view (Michaelis:et nova, imprimis de Messia), as, in the parallel passage chap. xli. 22, the announcement of the conqueror from the East. Both of these verses seem to round off our prophecy, by indicating that such disclosures regarding the Future are not by any means intended to serve for the gratification of idle curiosity, but to advance the same object to which the events prophesied are also subservient, viz., the promotion of God's glory. Themodern view of Prophetism is irreconcileable with the verses under consideration, which evidently shew, that the prophets themselves were filled with a different consciousness of their mission and position And in like manner it follows from them, that there is no reason to put, by means of a forced interpretation, the prophecy within the horizon of the Prophet's time, seeing that the Prophet himself shows himself to be thoroughly penetrated by its altogether supernatural character.
[1]This embarrassment becomes still more obvious in the explanation ofVatke, who understands by the Servant of God, "the harmless ideal abstract of the people;" and that ofBeck, who understands thereby "the notion of the people."
[1]This embarrassment becomes still more obvious in the explanation ofVatke, who understands by the Servant of God, "the harmless ideal abstract of the people;" and that ofBeck, who understands thereby "the notion of the people."