Isaías 45:13 Comentario

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.

I have raised him up in righteousness,.... Though this may be said with some respect to Cyrus, yet chiefly to Christ, of whom Cyrus was a type; him the Lord appointed and determined to be the Saviour and Redeemer of his people; him he sent forth in time for that purpose, in righteousness or faithfulness to concerning him: or, "unto righteousness" (s), as the Vulgate Latin version; to bring in an everlasting righteousness for the justification of his people: or, "with righteousness", as the Septuagint version is (t): I have raised him up a King with righteousness; a righteous King, a King that reigns in righteousness, as Christ does, and better agrees with him than Cyrus; see Jer 23:5, and I will direct all his ways; or "make them plain" (u); remove all difficulties and obstructions out of his way; he shall succeed and prosper, as the "pleasure of the Lord did prosper" in the hands of Christ; God being at his right hand as man and Mediator, to direct, counsel, and assist him, and to make him successful: he shall build my city; not Cyrus, for he did not build the city of Jerusalem, whatever orders he might give for it, Isa 44:28 though his proclamation only mentions the temple, Ezr 1:2, but Christ, the builder of the church, often compared to a city, and called the city of God, of which the saints are fellow citizens; and which is built by Christ, upon himself the Rock, against which the gates of hell cannot prevail, Mat 16:18, and he shall let go my captives, not for price, nor reward, saith the Lord of hosts; the Lord's people are captives to sin, Satan, and the law; Christ has not only redeemed these captives, but has proclaimed liberty to them, and delivered them from their bondage by his Spirit and grace; and all this freely, not through any merits of theirs, but of his own rich grace and mercy; and though they are redeemed with a price; yet not with corruptible things, as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ; and whatever their redemption and freedom cost him, it costs them nothing, it is to them without money and without price, Isa 52:3. (s) "adjustitiam", V. L. (t) , Sept. "cum justitia", Forerius. (u) "aequabo", Piscator; "aequaturus", Junius & Tremellius; "rectificabo", Vatablus; "rectificabam", Cocceius; "aequas faciam", Vitringa.

[The Septuagint reads], “You are God, and we knew it not.” The words “we knew it not,” spoken in the person of those of old who did not know him, occur only in the Septuagint. The Hebrew is different and is rendered by Aquila, “God then is strong and hidden, God that saves Israel,” and by Theodotion, “Therefore a strong secret God preserves Israel.” It is remarkable how [Isaiah] calls Christ a hidden God and gives the reason clearly as to why he calls him God alone among the ones begotten after the First and Unbegotten, namely, the dwelling of the Father in him.…According to this, then, the true and only God must be One and alone owning the name in full right. The Second, by sharing in the being of the true God, is thought worthy to share his name, not being God in himself or existing apart from the Father, but altogether being, living and existing as God, through the presence of the Father in him. [He is] one in being with the Father, and constituted God from him and through him, holding his being as well as his divinity not from himself but from the Father.

(Verse 9 and following) Woe to those who contradict their maker, a pot made of clay, and say to the one who formed them, 'What are you making?' or 'Your work has no hands.' Woe to those who say to their father, 'What are you begetting?' or to their mother, 'What are you in labor with?' This is what the Lord says, the Holy One of Israel, and its maker: Ask me about the things to come, concerning my children, and about the work of my hands, give me orders. I made the earth and created humans on it, I stretched out the heavens with my hands, and I command all their host. I have raised him up to righteousness, and I will direct all his ways. He will build my city, and he will release my captivity, not for a price or with gifts, says the Lord of hosts. LXX: What better have I done than clay to a potter? Will the plowman plow the earth? Will the clay say to the potter, what are you doing, since you do not work and do not have hands? Woe to him who says to his father, what do you beget, and to his mother, what do you give birth? For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, who created what is to come. Ask me about my sons and command me concerning the work of my hands. I made the earth and created man upon it. I, with my own hand, stretched out the heavens; I commanded all the stars. I raised him up with righteousness as a king; all his ways are straight. He himself will build my city and will turn the captivity of my people, not with price nor with gifts, says the Lord God of hosts. Those who want to apply what was said to the character of Cyrus interpret this place as follows: With me promising great things, because of the return of my people to Judea, I will subjugate all the kingdoms to Cyrus: Woe to him who is incredulous and does not believe what I say will come to pass, as if clay and broken pottery were to criticize its potter why it was made or why it was made in that way; and a work should speak against its artist's hands; and a son should criticize his father and mother, why he was poured out onto the earth by the law of nature. Since I am the Holy Lord of Israel who formed Cyrus and caused him to be born by my command, it is pointless for you to doubt the future. Rather, you should know that my sons, the people of Israel, and the work of my hands are not subject to your control, but to my will. I, who created darkness and evil for them in the past, will now give them light and peace. For I am the God who did not create the earth in vain, but for the purpose of habitation by humans. I have extended and established the heavens as the dwelling place of the angels. I have adorned them with the diversity of the stars, and I have commanded each one to run its course in order, and to fill the different spaces of days, months, and years. Therefore, if I have made the heavens and the earth, what is it of great significance if I create one king who will obey my commands and direct all his ways? For he will be commanded to build my city, Jerusalem, and to bring the captives back to Judah. Not for reward or gifts, but for my own willingness, says the Lord God of hosts. But whoever brings understanding to Christ refers to his explanation in the following words: Woe to those who contradict God and do not believe that Christ will come; as if clay and a vessel were to contradict its potter. Woe to him who says to the Almighty Father, why do you beget a son, and to the holy woman Mary, what are you giving birth to? Of whom the Apostle also writes (Galatians 4): That Christ was made from a woman, made under the law. Therefore, the Holy Lord of Israel, who formed the Savior in a virgin womb, says, speaking through Gabriel: The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you (Luke 1:35). And what will be born in you, holy, will be called the Son of God. Let the earthen vessel ask me, and let it seek the secrets of the future. And let it command me how I should regenerate the adopted children who will believe in my Son. And the evangelist John says: Whoever received him, he gave them the power to become children of God (John 1:12). But if I made the earth to be inhabited by men, and stretched out the heavens above, and adorned them with the variety of stars, so that the worshipers of God might dwell on earth: why is it surprising that I sent my Son, the righteous king, into the world, or raised him from the dead, whose ways are all straight? For he did not commit sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth (1 Peter 2:22). Whoever builds my city upon a rock, against which the gates of Hell shall not prevail (Matth. XVI); and which, when placed on a mountain, cannot be hidden (Ibid., V): and who first binds the possessed with chains, and sets all the children free, not for a price or reward: for we have been saved freely, both those who listen and those who act: You have received freely, freely give (Matth. X, 8). Some attribute these words to Zorobabel, who led the captives out of Babylon, and built the city, and constructed the temple, as prophesied by Haggai and Zechariah, who said: The hands of Zorobabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands shall complete it (Zach. IV, 9). But we say more correctly and truly, neither did Cyrus build the city that was later built under Nehemiah, nor were all its roads straight. To whom it was said above: I have taken you, and girded you: and you have not known me; and Zerubbabel, who was under the authority and power of the Medes and Persians, exceeds all that is said. For Zerubbabel did not build the city, nor did he release the captivity, nor can he be called a king, who, living under other kings, lacked this title. But what do the Seventy mean, who translated at the beginning of this chapter: What have I done better than the clay of the potter? Will the one who tills, till the earth? I do not know: unless perhaps I follow the edition of Theodotion, who put instead: Woe to him who contends against his maker, the one who tills tilling the earth: because he would wound the hearts of mortals in repentance, and in the manner of plows, he would undermine and overthrow it. But even this interpretation is frivolous. Furthermore, because a potter, that is, our Creator and Maker, is called God, and the apostle Paul speaks in his Epistle to the Romans: Does the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why have you made me like this? Does not the potter have power over the clay, to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor? (Romans 9:20) And in Jeremiah it is written in more detail, where he narrates among other things: I went down to the potter's house, and behold, he was making a work on the wheel, and the vessel that he made was marred in his hands. And again he made another vessel from the same clay, as it pleased him in his sight. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Cannot I do with you, as this potter, O house of Israel, saith the Lord? Behold as clay is in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel (Jeremiah 18:3-4). And that which is written: I have commanded the stars to all, and I have given opportunity to some, so that the stars may have reason and soul and sense. For they say that He would not have commanded [these things] unless they were intelligible: not remembering [what is] written in Jonah: 'The Lord commanded a burning wind' (Jonah 4:8). And again: 'The Lord commanded the morning worm' (Ibid., 7). And that in the Gospel the Savior rebuked the winds and the sea (Luke 8), in which it is clear that there is no sense or reason.

And the direction of its execution: I have raised, to worthiness, him, Cyrus, using the past tense for the future, to carry out justice concerning the Chaldeans: in all your ways think on him, and he will direct your steps (Prov 3:6); and he promises the liberation: he, namely, Cyrus, shall build, promising and paying the expenses for building, below: you were sold gratis, and you shall be redeemed, without money (Isa 52:3).

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.

I have raised him up - This evidently refers to Cyrus, and to what he did for the Jews; and informs us by whom he was excited to do it.

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].

him--Cyrus, type of Messiah, who redeems the captives of Satan "without money and without price" (Isa 55:1), "freely" (gratuitously) (Isa 52:3; Isa 61:1; Zac 9:11; Rom 3:24). in righteousness--to fulfil My righteous purpose (see on Isa 41:2; Isa 42:6; Jer 23:6).

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.

He who created all things, and called all things into existence, had also raised up this Cyrus, whose victorious career had increased the anxieties and fears of the exiles, instead of leading them to lift up their heads, because their redemption was drawing nigh. "I, I have raised him up in righteousness, and all his ways shall I make smooth: He will build my city, and release my banished ones, not for price nor for reward, saith Jehovah of hosts." All the anxieties of the exiles are calmed by the words "in righteousness," which trace back the revolutions that Cyrus was causing to the righteousness of Jehovah, i.e., to His interposition, which was determined by love alone, and tended directly to the salvation of His people, and in reality to that of all nations. And they are fully quieted by the promise, which is now expressed in the clearest and most unequivocal words, that Cyrus would build up Jerusalem again, and set the captivity free (gâlūth, as in Isa 20:4), and that without redemption with money (Isa 52:3) - a clear proof that Jehovah had not only raised up Cyrus himself, but had put his spirit within him, i.e., had stirred up within him the resolution to do this (see the conclusion to the books of Chronicles, and the introduction to that of Ezra). This closes the first half of our sixth prophecy.