Isaiah 48:8 Kommentar

God, having in the foregoing chapter reckoned with the Babylonians, and shown them their sins and the desolation that was coming upon them for their sins, to show that he hates sin wherever he finds it and will not connive at it in his own people, comes, in this chapter, to show the house of Jacob their sins, but, withal, the mercy God had in store for them notwithstanding; and he therefore sets their sins in order before them, that by their repentance and reformation they might be prepared for that mercy. I. He charges them with hypocrisy in that which is good and obstinacy in that which is evil, especially in their idolatry, notwithstanding the many convincing proofs God had given them that he is God alone, (Isa 48:1-8). II. He assures them that their deliverance would be wrought purely for the sake of God's own name and not for any merit of theirs (Isa 48:9-11). III. He encourages them to depend purely upon God's power and promise for this deliverance (Isa 48:12-15). IV. He shows them that, as it was by their own sin that they brought themselves into captivity, so it would be only by the grace of God that they would obtain the necessary preparatives for their enlargement (Isa 48:16-19). V. He proclaims their release, yet with a proviso that the wicked shall have no benefit by it (Isa 48:20-22).

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 described by their natural descent and lineage, and by their hypocrisy in religious things, Isa 48:1. By their obstinacy and impudence, and by their proneness to idolatry, and to ascribe that to idols which belonged to God; which were the reasons why the Lord foretold all former things to them, before they came to pass, Isa 48:3. And for the same reasons also he declared unto them what should be hereafter, particularly the destruction of Babylon, and their deliverance by Cyrus, Isa 48:6. From which account of them it would clearly appear, that it was not for any merits of theirs, but for his own name's sake, for his own glory, that he chose them, purified, and saved them as gold tried in the fire, Isa 48:9. He observes his own perfections, his eternity and immutability, and power displayed in creation, to engage their faith in the promise of deliverance, Isa 48:12 and points out the deliverer Cyrus, a type of Christ, whom he loved, called, sent, and made him prosperous, Isa 48:14. Then he directs them to walk in his ways, with promises of peace and prosperity, Isa 48:17. And the chapter is concluded with an exhortation to go out of Babylon with joy, publishing wherever they came their redemption, and who would be supplied with all necessaries in their return to their own land; only it should be observed, that there was no peace or happiness for the wicked, Isa 48:20.

Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened,.... This, as Kimchi rightly observes, is said by way of reproof; showing that they were so far from knowing these things before the prophecy of them was given out, that when it was, they did not hearken or listen to them; they did not understand them, nor receive and embrace them, but turned a deaf ear to them; their hearts being hardened, and they given up blindness of mind; which was the case of the Jews, even when the Messiah, the antitype of Cyrus, came, and there was a more clear revelation of Gospel truths, as was foretold, Isa 6:9. To this sense is the Targum, "yea, thou has not heard the words of the prophets; yea, thou hast not received the doctrine of the law; yea, thou hast not inclined thine ear to the words of the blessings and curses of the covenant I made with thee at Horeb:'' for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously: with God, and with one another, as they did; and were, as Jeremiah calls them, an assembly of treacherous men; and especially so they were in Christ's time, and to him; one of his own disciples treacherously betrayed him into the hands of the Jews, and they delivered him into the hands of the Gentiles to be crucified and slain; all which he knew before hand, Joh 6:64. And so the Lord knows all the wickedness and unfaithfulness of men, and of his own people, who are by nature children of wrath, as, others; yet this hindered not the designs of his grace, and the discoveries of his love to them, after expressed: and wast called a transgressor from the womb; from the time of their civil birth, as a people and state, God was their Father that settled and established them; in this sense they were his children, whom he begot, brought up, and nourished; though they rebelled against him, and as soon almost as born, soon after they came out of Egypt, which were the days of their youth, of their infancy as a church and people; witness their murmurings and unbelief, their idolatry in making a golden calf, and worshipping it: and this is applicable to every particular person, and his natural birth, even to everyone of God's elect; who are all conceived in sin, and shapen in iniquity; go astray from God from the womb; and the imagination of whose heart is evil from their youth, and are continually transgressing the righteous law of God, and therefore justly deserve this name.

In Symmachus’s translation: “And you, though faithless to the covenant, were called from the womb,” so that not through you but through my merciful love I foretold and showed to you the things that would come to destroy your enemies, hurrying to save you in every engagement with them.

These words would not be of any help to you if you had not been already warned. Nevertheless, dwelling in my loving-kindness, I still bear witness and distinguish you from those assembled in Babylon and the Chaldeans about to attack you. Open your eyes! As you see the foretold destruction taking hold when the warriors come from Babylon, you will know with understanding that God has told you these things would happen and you can call on his help when the predicted end strikes. These things are available to you from my words.

(Verse 3, 4 and following) I announced the former things long ago, they went out from my mouth, and I made them heard. Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass. For I knew that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew, and your forehead is bronze. I foretold them to you long ago, before they came to pass I announced them to you, lest you should say, 'My idols did these things, and my carved images and molded idols commanded them.' You have heard; see all this. And will you not declare it? I have made known to you new things from this time, even hidden things which you have not known. They are created now, and not from before; even until this day you have not heard of them, lest you should say, 'Behold, I knew them!' Neither have you heard, nor have you known, nor from that time your ear has been opened. For I knew that you would deal treacherously, and called you a transgressor from the womb. For my name's sake I will defer my anger, and for my praise I will hold it back from you, so that you do not cut off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have chosen you in the furnace of poverty. Because of me, because of me I will act, so that I may not blaspheme; and I will not give my glory to another. I have announced beforehand: and from my mouth they have gone forth, and it has been heard: suddenly I have done it, and they have come. I know that you are stubborn, and your neck is an iron sinew, and your forehead is bronze. I have announced it to you long ago, before it came to pass, so that you would not say, 'My idols have made these things for me, and my images and molded idols have commanded them to me.' You have heard all, and you have not understood: but I have told you new things that will happen now. And you did not say, now they are happening, and not in the past days. Do not even say that you knew them: neither do you know, nor do you understand, nor have you opened your ears from the beginning. For I know that you will act deceitfully: and you will be called unjust even from the womb. Because of my name, I will show you my anger: and I will bring my glory upon you, so that I do not kill you. Behold, I have sold you not for silver: I have redeemed you out of the furnace of poverty: for my own sake will I do this, lest my name should be polluted: and I will not give my glory to another. I have declared to you the things that are to come, before they come to pass I have foretold them to you: lest thou shouldst say: My idols have done these things, and my graven and molten things have commanded them. Thou hast heard, see all this, and will you not declare it? I have shown thee new things from that time, and things before they came to pass I foretold thee: and thou hast not heard them, lest thou shouldst say: Behold I knew them. Thou hast neither heard, nor known, neither was thy ear opened of old. For I know that transgressing thou wilt transgress, and I have called thee a transgressor from the womb. For my name's sake I will remove my wrath far off: and for my praise I will bridle thee, lest thou shouldst perish. Behold I have refined thee, but not as silver, I have chosen thee in the furnace of poverty. For my own sake, for my own sake will I do it, that I may not be blasphemed: and I will not give my glory to another. Behold, you have heard all things that are to come, and yet you conceal the truth in silence. I do not speak of past events, in which my power has often been proven, such as when I led the people out of Egypt, drowned the Egyptians in the Red Sea, gave them the promised land, and subjected various nations to you. But I announce the new things that I am going to do against Babylon, so that the impudence of your mouth may be refuted, you who claim to know what you do not know. From the beginning you have been a transgressor of my commands; and from the womb you were called a transgressor by God, when you were delivered from Egypt, as if you were conceived in my womb, and brought up, and taught. You desired the head of the Egyptian bull, saying: These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. Therefore, not by your merit, but by my mercy, I have delayed my anger, so that you would not be completely destroyed, and for the sake of the praise of my name, I will restrain you, so that you will follow me like a beast and an unwilling horse with reins. Behold, I have tested you, that is, I have proved how silver is refined. Whether in wealth or in the furnace of poverty, I desired to test you. From which it is shown that both wealth and poverty tempt many, if they either misuse them or cannot endure poverty with virtue. Therefore, I will act for my own sake, so that my name is not blasphemed among the nations, and so that they do not think that you have overcome by my anger, but by the assistance of their own idols. And what it brings forth, I will not give my glory to another, this signifies that it should not be thought that idols have oppressed the people of God. Certainly, when he says, 'I will not give to another,' he indicates that he has already given to another, for he is said to have given to another in order to distinguish the first. Many of our people, as I will briefly mention in accordance with the Seventy Interpreters, think that the coming of Christ is prophesied, that he will come suddenly, unexpectedly, and demonstrate his presence to a very stubborn people; to whom the Lord has never revealed, because their heart has become fat and their ears have become heavy. And immediately, as the Lord came forth from the virgin womb, he was called a transgressor and unjust, seeking to kill him. And he connects: For My name's sake I will show thee My fury, and My glory I will bring upon thee. He abuses the sense of the Apostle Paul, or the Apostle Paul takes testimony from this passage (Rom. I), so that the wrath of God may be revealed to terrify those who sin, and afterwards glory may be given to those who are converted: Behold, he says, I have sold you not for money, but I have sold you in your sins, and I have delivered you from the furnace of poverty. For this reason, Solomon (Prov. III) does not want to have wealth and poverty, but only the necessities, so that his heart is not lifted up in pride because of them, or compelled to do things he does not want, and to blaspheme God while pressed by poverty. Hence the Apostle says: Having, he says, food and clothing, let us be content with these (I Tim. VI, 8).

You have neither heard, from idols, neither was your ear opened, by me: man shall come to a deep heart (Ps 64:6-7). He also sets out their condition, from which this reason is drawn: for I know; from the womb, that is, from the time when I carried you through the desert as in the womb: I see that this people is stiff-necked (Exod 32:9), above: with the prevarication of transgressors (Isa 24:16).

The following prophecy concerning the Moabites is supposed to have had its accomplishment during the long siege of Tyre in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. The whole of this chapter is poetry of the first order. The distress of the cities of Moab, with which it opens, is finely described. The cries of one ruined city resound to those of another, Jer 48:1-3. The doleful helpless cry of the children is heard, Jer 48:4; the highways, on either hand, resound with the voice of weeping, Jer 48:5; and the few that remain resemble a blasted tree in the wide howling waste, Jer 48:6. Chemosh, the chief god of the Moabites, and the capital figure in the triumph, is represented as carried off in chains, with all his trumpery of priests and officers, Jer 48:7. The desolation of the country shall be so general and sudden that, by a strong figure, it is intimated that there shall be no possibility of escape, except it be in the speediest flight, Jer 48:8, Jer 48:9. And some idea may be formed of the dreadful wickedness of this people from the consideration that the prophet, under the immediate inspiration of the Almighty, pronounces a curse on those who do the work of the Lord negligently, in not proceeding to their utter extermination, Jer 48:10. The subject is then diversified by an elegant and well-supported comparison, importing that the Moabites increased in insolence and pride in proportion to the duration of their prosperity, Jer 48:11; but this prosperity is declared to be nearly at an end; the destroyer is already commissioned against Moab, and his neighbors called to sing the usual lamentation at his funeral, Jer 48:13-18. The prophet then represents some of the women of Aroer and Ammon, (the extreme borders of Moab), standing in the highways, and asking the fugitives of Moab, What intelligence? They inform him of the complete discomfiture of Moab, Jer 48:19-24, and of the total annihilation of its political existence, Jer 48:25. The Divine judgments about to fall upon Moab are farther represented under the expressive metaphor of a cup of intoxicating liquor, by which he should become an object of derision because of his intolerable pride, his magnifying himself against Jehovah, and his great contempt for the children of Israel in the day of their calamity, Jer 48:26, Jer 48:27. The prophet then points out the great distress of Moab by a variety of striking figures, viz., by the failure of the customary rejoicings at the end of harvest, by the mournful sort of music used at funerals, by the signs which were expressive among the ancients of deep mourning, as shaving the head, clipping the beard, cutting the flesh, and wearing sackcloth; and by the methods of catching wild beasts in toils, and by the terror and pitfall, vv. 28-46. In the close of the chapter it is intimated that a remnant shall be preserved from this general calamity whose descendants shall be prosperous in the latter days, Jer 48:47.

THE THINGS THAT BEFALL BABYLON JEHOVAH PREDICTED LONG BEFORE, LEST ISRAEL SHOULD ATTRIBUTE THEM, IN ITS "OBSTINATE" PERVERSITY, TO STRANGE GODS (Isa 48:1-5). (Isa. 48:1-22) the waters of Judah--spring from the fountain of Judah (Num 24:7; Deu 33:28; Psa 68:26; Margin). Judah has the "fountain" attributed to it, because it survived the ten tribes, and from it Messiah was to spring. swear by . . . Lord-- (Isa 19:18; Isa 45:23; Isa 65:16). mention--in prayers and praises. not in truth-- (Jer 5:2; Joh 4:24).

heardest not--repeated, as also "knewest not," from Isa 48:7. from that time--Mine anger towards thee. Omit "that." "Yea, from "the first thine ear did not open itself," namely, to obey them [ROSENMULLER]. "To open the ear" denotes obedient attention (Isa 50:5); or, "was not opened" to receive them; that is, they were not declared by Me to thee previously, since, if thou hadst been informed of them, such is thy perversity, thou couldst not have been kept in check [MAURER]. In the former view, the sense of the words following is, "For I knew that, if I had not foretold the destruction of Babylon so plainly that there could be no perverting of it, thou wouldst have perversely ascribed it to idols, or something else than to Me" (Isa 48:5). Thus they would have relapsed into idolatry, to cure them of which the Babylonian captivity was sent: so they had done (Exo 32:4). After the return, and ever since, they have utterly forsaken idols. wast called--as thine appropriate appellation (Isa 9:6). from the womb--from the beginning of Israel's national existence (Isa 44:2).

This third portion of the trilogy (Isa 46:1-13, Isa 47:1-15, 48) stands in the same relation to Isa 47:1-15, as Isa 46:3. to Isa 46:1-2. The prophecy is addressed to the great body of the captives. "Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and have flowed out of the waters of Judah, who swear by the name of Jehovah, and extol the God of Israel, not in truth and not in righteousness! For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel, Jehovah of hosts His name." The summons to hear is based upon the Israelitish nationality of those who are summoned, to which they still cling, and upon the relation in which they place themselves to the God of Israel. This gives to Jehovah the right to turn to them, and imposes upon them the duty to hearken to Him. The blame, inserted by the way, points at the same time to the reason for the address which follows, and to the form which it necessarily assumes. "The house of Jacob" is not all Israel, as the following words clearly show, but, as in Isa 46:3, the house of Judah, which shared in the honourable name of Israel, but have flowed out of the waters, i.e., the source of Judah. The summons, therefore, is addressed to the Judaean exiles in Babylon, and that inasmuch as they swear by the name of Jehovah, and remember the God of Israel with praise (hizkı̄r b' as in Psa 20:8), though not in truth and not in righteousness (Kg1 3:6; Zac 8:8), i.e., without their state of mind (cf., Isa 38:3; Jer 32:41) or mode of action corresponding to their confession, so as to prove that it was sincerely and seriously meant. The praise bestowed upon the persons summoned, which is somewhat spoiled by this, is explained in Isa 48:2; they call themselves after the holy city (this title is applied to Jerusalem both here and in Isa 52:1, as well as in the books of Daniel and Nehemiah). We may easily supply here, that the holiness of the city laid an obligation upon its citizens to be holy in their character and conduct. They also relied upon the God of Israel, whose name is Jehovah Zebaoth; and therefore He would require of them the fullest confidence and deepest reverence.