Jesaja 45:15 Kommentar

Cyrus was nominated, in the foregoing chapter, to be God's shepherd; more is said to him and more of him in this chapter, not only because he was to be instrumental in the release of the Jews out of their captivity, but because he was to be therein a type of the great Redeemer, and that release was to be typical of the great redemption from sin and death; for that was the salvation of which all the prophets witnessed. We have here, I. The great things which God would do for Cyrus, that he might be put into a capacity to release God's people (Isa 45:1-4). II. The proof God would hereby give of his eternal power and godhead, and his universal, incontestable, sovereignty (Isa 45:5-7). III. A prayer for the hastening of this deliverance (Isa 45:8). IV. A check to the unbelieving Jews, who quarrelled with God for the lengthening out of their captivity (Isa 45:9, Isa 45:10). V. Encouragement given to the believing Jews, who trusted in God and continued instant in prayer, assuring them that God would in due time accomplish this work by the hand of Cyrus (Isa 45:11-15). VI. A challenge given to the worshippers of idols and their doom read, and satisfaction given to the worshippers of the true God and their comfort secured, with an eye to the Mediator, who is made of God to us both righteousness and sanctification (Isa 45:16-25). And here, as in many other parts of this prophecy, there is much of Christ and of gospel grace.

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 45 This chapter contains prophecies concerning Cyrus, the deliverer of the Jews from captivity; and concerning the grace, righteousness, and salvation of Christ; and the conversion of the Gentiles. An account is given of Cyrus, and of the great things God would do for him, and by him, Isa 45:1 and the ends for which he would do these things, for the sake of his people Israel; and that he might be known to be the only true God, who is the Maker of all things, Isa 45:4 an intimation is given of the Messiah, as the author of righteousness and salvation; and of the contention and murmuring of the Jews about him, Isa 45:8, encouragement is given to pray for and expect good things by him for the children of God, in consideration of the greatness of God as the Creator, who would raise him up in righteousness, the antitype of Cyrus, Isa 45:11, the conversion of the Gentiles, the confusion of idolaters, and the salvation of the Israel of God, are prophesied of, Isa 45:14, which are confirmed by his works and his word, what he had done and said, Isa 45:18, the vanity of idols is exposed, and Christ the only Saviour asserted, to whom persons in all nations are directed to look for salvation, Isa 45:20 when it is affirmed with an oath that all shall be subject to him; that his people shall come to him for righteousness and strength; that his enemies shall be ashamed, and the spiritual Israel of God shall be justified, and glory in him, Isa 45:23.

Verily thou art a God that hideth thyself,.... Who hid himself from the Gentile world for some hundreds of years, who had no knowledge of the true God, lived without him in the world, and whose times of ignorance God overlooked, and suffered them to walk in their own ways; though now he would make himself known by his Gospel sent among them, and blessed for the conversion of them. He is also a God that hides himself from his own people at times, withdraws his gracious presence, and withholds the communication of his love and grace. These seem to be the words of the prophet, speaking his own experience, and that of other saints: or rather of the church, upon the access of the Gentiles to her, declaring what the Lord had been to them in former times; but now had showed himself to them in a way of grace and mercy. Some render it "thou art the hidden God" (z); invisible in his nature; incomprehensible in his essence; not to be found out to perfection, nor to be traced in his providential dispensations; his judgments are unsearchable, and his ways past finding out. It may be applied to Christ in his state of humiliation; for though he was God manifest in the flesh, yet the glory of his deity was seen but by a few, being hid in the coarse veil of humanity; he appearing in the form of a servant, who was in the form of God, and equal to him; and to him the following words agree: O God of Israel, the Saviour; for he is God over all, and the God of his spiritual Israel in an especial manner; and the Saviour of them from sin, wrath, condemnation, and death, by his obedience, sufferings, and death; or if it is to be understood of God the Father, who is the God of Israel, he is the Saviour of them by his Son. (z) "tu es Deus absconditus", V. L. Tigurine version; "tu es abditus Deus Israelis", Syr.

(Verse 14 onwards) Thus says the Lord: The labor of Egypt and the trade of Ethiopia and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over to you and be yours; they shall follow you; they shall come over in chains and bow down to you. They will plead with you, saying: Surely God is in you, and there is no other, no god besides you. Truly you are a hidden God, the God of Israel, the Savior. All of them are put to shame and are confounded; the makers of idols go in confusion together. Israel has been saved by the Lord with eternal salvation: you will not be confounded, and you will not be ashamed forever. LXX: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Egypt has labored, and the merchandise of Ethiopia and the Sabaeans: men of stature shall come over to you, and they shall be yours, they shall follow you in chains, and they shall come over to you, and they shall adore you, and they shall pray to you: for in you is God, and there is no other God beside you. You are indeed God, and we did not know it: the God of Israel, the Savior: let all his adversaries be confounded and ashamed, and let them walk in confusion. In this place, those who follow the story say that Egypt and the nations of Ethiopia and the Sabaeans, who are beyond Ethiopia, served Cyrus and were subject to him. And they understood by a marvelous victory that the Lord was in him, and there was no other God besides him who dwelt in him. But this that follows, 'Truly you are a hidden God, the God of Israel, the Savior,' how can it apply to the person of Cyrus, I do not understand. Unless, perhaps, they use the edition of Theodotion, who translated, 'In you is strength, and there is no other God besides you: therefore you are a hidden God, the God of Israel, the Savior.' Whatever way they twist it, they will not be able to escape the snares of truth. For if they make God to be in Cyrus, and there is no other besides him who is God in Cyrus, how can it be said of the person of Cyrus, 'Truly you are a hidden God, the God of Israel, the Savior?' Therefore, God in whom God is, our Lord Jesus Christ is understood more rightly and truly, who speaks in the Gospel: I and the Father are one (John 10:30). He who is called God, hidden because of the sacrament of assumed body, and the God of Israel the Savior, which is interpreted as Jesus. For it is he who, according to the Angel Gabriel, will save his people (Luke 1). Indeed, all were confused and ashamed together. Specifically, the scribes and the Pharisees. And the fabricators of error went away in confusion, who spread lies throughout the whole world, saying that it was stolen from the Apostles. But Israel, saved in the Lord with eternal salvation, refers to the chorus of the Apostles and those who believed through the Apostles. Therefore it is said to them: You will not be confused or ashamed, not only in this present age, but also in the future. It is not doubted that Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Sabaeans, great and lofty men, served him, when they see the world subjected to him, and from the names of a few nations dwelling at the ends of the earth, they see that all the corners of the heavens and all the shores of the earth will believe in him. From where 'Cessarelabor of Egypt' is called, elegantly as if to those who are laboring in the error of idolatry. For no other nation was so dedicated to idolatry and worshipped so many countless wonders as Egypt, of which we read above (19:1): 'Behold, the Lord will ascend on a light cloud, and will enter Egypt, and the idols of Egypt will be moved from his presence, and the heart of Egypt will waste away within it.' Moreover, what is added in the Septuagint: 'Be renewed to me, O islands,' we can explain in this way, that the churches gathered from the Gentiles are renewed in Christ, and are called islands because they endure the madness of persecutors and the storms, and, being founded upon the rock, are not shaken by the mass of whirlwinds. The Hebrews foolishly strive to assert, up to the point where it is read: There is only in you, God, and there is no God outside of you, God, neither to Jerusalem, nor to Cyrus to be called. However, what follows: Truly you are a hidden God, the God of Israel the Savior, suddenly turns into an apostrophe to the omnipotent God, even though it is clear to the foolish that there is one connected context of the discourse, and that the meaning cannot be divided, which is linked in the very order and reason of the narration.

Hidden, not visible like our gods; the savior, not weak: he made darkness his covert (Ps 18:11).

This chapter is evidently connected with the subject treated of in the thirty-sixth. Baruch, who had written the prophecies of Jeremiah, and read them publicly in the temple, and afterwards to many of the princes, is in great affliction because of the awful judgments with which the land of Judah was about to be visited; and also on account of the imminent danger to which his own life was exposed, in publishing such unwelcome tidings, Jer 45:1-3. To remove Baruch's fear with respect to this latter circumstance, the prophet assures him that though the total destruction of Judea was determined because of the great wickedness of the inhabitants, yet his life should be preserved amidst the general desolation, Jer 45:4, Jer 45:5.

Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself - At present, from the nations of the world. O God of Israel, the Savior - While thou revealest thyself to the Israelites and savest them.

These seven verses should have been appended to previous chapter, and the new chapter should begin with Isa 45:8, "Drop down," &c. [HORSLEY]. Reference to the deliverance by Messiah often breaks out from amidst the local and temporary details of the deliverance from Babylon, as the great ultimate end of the prophecy. (Isa 45:1-7) his anointed--Cyrus is so called as being set apart as king, by God's providence, to fulfil His special purpose. Though kings were not anointed in Persia, the expression is applied to him in reference to the Jewish custom of setting apart kings to the regal office by anointing. right hand . . . holden--image from sustaining a feeble person by holding his right hand (Isa 42:6). subdue nations--namely, the Cilicians, Syrians, Babylonians, Lydians, Bactrians, &c.; his empire extended from Egypt and the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean, and from Ethiopia to the Euxine Sea. loose . . . girdle loins--that is, the girdle off the loins; and so enfeeble them. The loose outer robe of the Orientals, when girt fast round the loins, was the emblem of strength and preparedness for action; ungirt, was indicative of feebleness (Job 38:3; Job 12:21); "weakeneth the strength of the mighty" (Margin), "looseth the girdle of the strong." The joints of (Belshazzar's) loins, we read in Dan 5:6, were loosed during the siege by Cyrus, at the sight of the mysterious handwriting on the palace walls. His being taken by surprise, unaccoutred, is here foretold. to open . . . gates--In the revelry in Babylon on the night of its capture, the inner gates, leading from the streets to the river, were left open; for there were walls along each side of the Euphrates with gates, which, had they been kept shut, would have hemmed the invading hosts in the bed of the river, where the Babylonians could have easily destroyed them. Also, the gates of the palace were left open, so that there was access to every part of the city; and such was its extent, that they who lived in the extremities were taken prisoners before the alarm reached the center of the palace. [HERODOTUS, 1.191].

God that hidest thyself--HORSLEY, after JEROME, explains this as the confession of Egypt, &c., that God is concealed in human form in the person of Jesus. Rather, connected with Isa 45:9-10, the prophet, contemplating the wonderful issue of the seemingly dark counsels of God, implies a censure on those who presume to question God's dealings (Isa 55:8-9; Deu 29:29). Faith still discerns, even under the veil, the covenant-keeping "God of Israel, the Saviour" (Isa 8:17).

The first strophe of the first half of this sixth prophecy (Isa 44:24.), the subject of which is Cyrus, the predicted restorer of Jerusalem, of the cities of Judah, and of the temple, is now followed by a second strophe (Isa 45:1-8), having for its subject Cyrus, the man through whose irresistible career of conquest the heathen would be brought to recognise the power of Jehovah, so that heavenly blessings would come down upon the earth. The naming of the great shepherd of the nations, and the address of him, are continued in Isa 45:1-3 : "Thus saith Jehovah to His anointed, to Koresh, whom I have taken by his right hand to subdue nations before him; and the loins of kings I ungird, to open before him doors and gates, that they may not continue shut. I shall go before thee, and level what is heaped up: gates of brass shall I break in pieces, and bolts of iron shall I smite to the ground. And I shall give thee treasures of darkness, and jewels of hidden places, that thou mayest know that I Jehovah am He who called out thy name, (even) the God of Israel." The words addressed to Cyrus by Jehovah commence in Isa 45:2, but promises applying to him force themselves into the introduction, being evoked by the mention of his name. He is the only king of the Gentiles whom Jehovah ever meshı̄chı̄ (my anointed; lxx τῷ χριστῷ μου). The fundamental principle of the politics of the empire of the world was all-absorbing selfishness. But the politics of Cyrus were pervaded by purer motives, and this brought him eternal honour. The very same thing which the spirit of Darius, the father of Xerxes, is represented as saying of him in the Persae of Aeschylus (v. 735), Θεὸς γὰρ οὐκ ἤχθησεν ὡς εὔφρων ἔφυ (for he was not hateful to God, because he was well-disposed), is here said by the Spirit of revelation, which by no means regards the virtues of the heathen as splendida vitia. Jehovah has taken him by his right hand, to accomplish great things through him while supporting him thus. (On the inf. rad for rōd, from râdad, to tread down, see Ges. 67, Anm. 3.) The dual delâthaim has also a plural force: "double doors" (fores) in great number, viz., those of palaces. After the two infinitives, the verb passes into the finite tense: "loins of kings I ungird" (discingo; pittēăch, which refers primarily to the loosening of a fastened garment, is equivalent to depriving of strength). The gates - namely, those of the cities which he storms - will not be shut, sc. in perpetuity, that is to say, they will have to open to him. Jerome refers here to the account given of the elder Cyrus in Xenophon's Cyropaedia. A general picture may no doubt be obtained from this of his success in war; but particular statements need support from other quarters, since it is only a historical romance. Instead of אושׁר (אושׁר)? in Isa 45:2, the keri has אישּׁר; just as in Psa 5:9 it has הישׁר instead of הושׁר. A hiphil הושׁיר cannot really be shown to have existed, and the abbreviated future form עושׁר would be altogether without ground or object here. הדּורים (tumida; like נעיימם, amaena, and others) is meant to refer to the difficulties piled up in the conqueror's way. The "gates of brass' (nedhūshâh, brazen, poetical for nechōsheth, brass, as in the derivative passage, Psa 107:16) and "bolts of iron" remind one more especially of Babylon with its hundred "brazen gates," the very posts and lintels of which were also of brass (Herod. i. 179); and the treasures laid up in deep darkness and jewels preserved in hiding-places, of the riches of Babylon (Jer 50:37; Jer 51:13), and especially of those of the Lydian Sardes, "the richest city of Asia after Babylon" (Cyrop. vii. 2, 11), which Cyrus conquered first. On the treasures which Cyrus acquired through his conquests, and to which allusion is made in the Persae of Aeschylus, v. 327 ("O Persian, land and harbour of many riches thou"), see Plin. h. n. xxxiii. 2. Brerewood estimates the quantity of gold and silver mentioned there as captured by him at no less than 126,224,000 sterling. And all this success is given to him by Jehovah, that he may know that it is Jehovah the God of Israel who has called out with his name, i.e., called out his name, or called him to be what he is, and as what he shows himself to be.

What follows in Isa 45:15 is not a continuation of the words of the Gentiles, but a response of the church to their confession. The nations that have been idolatrous till now, bend in humble spontaneous worship before the church and its God; and at the sight of this, the church, from whose soul the prophet is speaking, bursts out into an exclamation of reverential amazement. "Verily Thou art a mysterious God, Thou God of Israel, Thou Savour." Literally, a God who hides Himself (mistattēr: the resemblance to μυστηρ-ιώδης is quite an accidental one; the ē is retained in the participle even in pause). The meaning is, a God who guides with marvellous strangeness the history of the nations of the earth, and by secret ways, which human eyes can never discern, conducts all to a glorious issue. The exclamation in Rom 11:33, "O the depth of the riches," etc., is a similar one.