Isaia 42:8 Commento

The prophet seems here to launch out yet further into the prophecy of the Messiah and his kingdom under the type of Cyrus; and, having the great work of man's salvation by him yet more in view, he almost forgets the occasion that led him into it and drops the return out of Babylon; for indeed the prospect of this would be a greater comfort and support to the believing pious Jews, in their captivity, than the hope of that. And (as Mr. Gataker well observes) in this and similar prophecies of Christ, that are couched in types, as of David and Solomon, some passages agree to the type and not to the truth, other to the truth and not to the type, and many to the type in one sense and the truth in another. Here is, I. A prophecy of the Messiah's coming with meekness, and yet with power, to do the Redeemer's work (Isa 42:1-4). II. His commission opened, which he received from the Father (Isa 42:5-9). III. The joy and rejoicing with which the glad tidings of this should be received (Isa 42:10-12). IV. The wonderful success of the gospel, for the overthrow of the devil's kingdom (Isa 42:13-17). V. The rejection and ruin of the Jews for their unbelief (Isa 42:18-25).

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 42 This chapter begins with a prophecy concerning the Messiah, under the character of the servant of the Lord, and his elect, whom he supported, and was well pleased with; whose work is pointed at, and for which he was well qualified with the Spirit without measure, Isa 42:1 and is described by his humility and meekness, Isa 42:2, by his tenderness to weak and ignorant persons, Isa 42:3 and by his courage and resolution, Isa 42:4 then follow his call to his work, and the several parts of it, introduced with setting forth the greatness of God that called him, as the Creator of the heavens and of the earth, and of men upon it, Isa 42:5, whose name is Jehovah, and whose glory is incommunicable to a creature, and whose knowledge reaches to future things, which are predicted by him, Isa 42:8, and then Gentiles are called upon to praise the Lord, and give glory to him, partly for the above promises concerning the Messiah, Isa 42:10, and partly for the destruction of his enemies, Isa 42:13, and also for his gracious regard to such who had been blind and ignorant, Isa 42:16, the confusion of idolaters is prophesied of, and an exhortation is given them to make use of the means of light and knowledge, Isa 42:17, and the blindness, ignorance, and stupidity of the Jews, are exposed, though there was a remnant among them with whom the Lord was well pleased, for the sake of the righteousness of his Son, Isa 42:19, but as for the body of the people, they were to be given up to the spoilers and robbers for their sins and disobedience, and be the butt of the divine wrath and vengeance, Isa 42:22.

I am the Lord, that is my name,.... Jehovah, a name expressive of his self-existence, eternity, and immutability; a name by which be made himself known to Israel of old, and which is peculiar to him, and does not belong to another, and so distinguishes him from all false gods; see Exo 3:14 or, "Hu is my name" (p); to which "he himself the same", answers; see Psa 102:27, compared with Heb 13:8 and this is one of the names of God with the Jews (q); as Hou is with the Turks to this day; which, in Arabic, signifies "him": that is, God, as Monsieur Thevenot (r) observes; see Isa 48:12, and my glory will I not give to another; that is, to another god, to a strange god, to an idol; as that has not the nature, it ought not to have the name of deity, nor divine worship given to it: this the Lord will not admit of, but will punish those, be they Heathens, or are called Christians, that give the glory to idols that is due unto his name. This is not to be understood to the exclusion of the Son and Spirit, who are with the Father the one Jehovah, and share in the same glory; the Son is the brightness of his Father's glory, and the Spirit is the Spirit of glory, Heb 1:3 nor will he suffer the glory of the justification, salvation, and conversion of men, to be given to their works, will, and power, which is entirely due to his own grace, to the blood and righteousness of his Son, and to the energy of the divine Spirit: neither my praise to graven images; which serves to explain the former clause, what is meant by his "glory", and who by "another", to whom he will not give it. Papists should observe this, for it respects not merely or only the graven images of the Heathens, but chiefly those among them that bear the Christian name; for this relates to New Testament times. The Targum is, "and my glory, in which I am revealed to you, I will not give to another people; nor my praise to worshippers of images.'' (p) (q) Seder Tephillot. fol. 1. 2. & 4, 1. Ed. Basil. (r) Travels. part 1. B. 1. c. 31. p. 41.

The same thing applies to the word Lord, which is also used as a name of God. “I am the Lord your God,” he says. “This is my name,” and “The Lord is his name.” But we are making deeper enquiries into a nature that has absolute existence, independent of anything else. The actual, personal being of God in its fullness is neither limited nor cut short by any prior or any subsequent reality—so it was, and so it will be.

[Eunomius says,] Receiving glory from the Father, not sharing glory with the Father, for the glory of the Almighty is incommunicable, as [the Lord] has said, “I will not give my glory to another.” Who is that “other” to whom God has said that he will not give his glory? The prophet is speaking of the adversary of God, yet Eunomius refers the prophecy to the only-begotten God himself! For when the prophet, speaking in the person of God, had said, “I will not give my glory to another,” he added, “neither my praise to graven images.”

(Verse 8) I am the Lord, this is my name; I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to idols. And He declares: I am the Lord, this is my name; I will not give my glory to another, nor does He exclude the Son, to whom He said in the Gospel: Father, glorify me with the glory which I had with You before the world was (John XVII, 5), He Himself answered; And I have glorified, and will glorify. For He did not say, 'I will not give My glory to anyone,' for if He had said this, He would have excluded the Son as well, but He said, 'I will not give My glory to another, except to You, to whom I have given it, and to whom I am going to give it.' Therefore, I greatly admire the uniqueness of the holy Scripture, that the phrase 'another' all interpreters have translated consistently, unlike the many other instances where they differ. And so that we may know that the Son is not excluded by this statement, but rather idols are, the following words testify: 'And My praise to carved images.' Pro quo LXX: nec virtutes meas simulacris. Cum enim Christus Dei virtus sit, Deique sapientia, omnes in se virtutes continet Patris.

Since he is the only God, in a proper and true sense, he is the Creator of all, and so he is confessed to be by us; as the most wise Paul says: “Even though there may be many so-called gods and lords in heaven or on earth, yet for us there is one God and Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we exist.” And since he presented himself to us as the author of great and marvelous things, he says that his glory, which is the virtues proper to God, is not to be given to lifeless idols or to any other created thing, but to be retained for himself alone. It follows, therefore, that the glory of the divinity cannot be attributed to any of the beings that differ from him in essence, but only to the ineffable and transcendent nature itself. Even though he says that his own glory is to be given to no one, he gave it to the Son who, of course, has been glorified in the same way as the Father who is worshiped in heaven and on earth. How, then, did [God] give [his glory] to someone who is not different from him, at least on the basis of consubstantiality, even though each is distinguished into his own hypostasis? For there is a single nature of the divinity on high in three distinct hypostases, and it is so understood and worshiped by right-minded people.

There was no other way to honor the slave [i.e., humanity] except by making the characteristics of the slave his very own so that they could be illumined from his own glory. What is preeminent will always conquer, and the shame of the slavery is thus borne away from us. He who was above us became as we are. He who is naturally free took on the limitations of our life. This was why honors passed even to us, for we too are called the children of God, and we regard his own true Father as our Father also. All that is human has become his own. And so, to say that he assumed the form of a slave expresses the whole mystery of the economy in the flesh. So, if [my opponents] confess one Lord and Son, the Word of God the Father, but say that a simple man of the line of David was conjoined as a companion of his sonship and his glory, then it is time for you to speak to people who choose to think like this.… It seems that they argue as though there are two sons unequal in nature and that a slave is crowned with the glory that is proper to God, that some bastard son is decked out with the selfsame dignities as the one who is really God’s natural Son, even though God says quite clearly, “I will not give my glory to another.” How can someone who has only been honored with a mere conjunction fail to be “other” to the true and natural Son when he has just been assumed for the office of servant, given the honor of sonship, just like us, and sharing in another’s glory that he attains by grace and favor?So the Emmanuel must not be separated out into a man, considered as distinct from God the Word? On no account. I say that we must call him God made man, and that both the one and the other are this same reality, for he did not cease to be God when he became man, nor did he regard the economy as unacceptable by disdaining the limitations involved in the self-emptying.

It is the Son who possesses the glory of the Father, and it is in the glory of the Father that he will manifest himself, for the divinity of the Son and of the Father is one. Thus, if God says that he will not give his glory to another and if the Son manifestly possesses the glory of the Father, it is evident that he is not another according to the essence but that [the Son] has the same nature as the Father.

Third, from the sending he deduces the singularity of the divine majesty as to power: I the Lord: make a way for him who ascends upon the west: the Lord is his name (Ps 67:5[68:4]); my name Adonai (Exod 6:3); my glory, by which I am called Lord: glory to God in the highest (Luke 2:14).

Johanan and the remnant of the people desire Jeremiah to ask counsel of God what they should do, Jer 42:1-3. The prophet assures them of safety in Judea, but destruction in Egypt, Jer 42:4-18; and reproves their hypocrisy in asking counsel with which they had no intention to comply, Jer 42:19-22.

I am the Lord - אני יהוה ani Yehovah. This is the famous tetragrammaton, or name of four letters, which we write Jehovah Yehovah, Yehveh, Yeveh, Jhuh, Javah, etc. The letters are Y H U H. The Jews never pronounce it, and the true pronunciation is utterly unknown. That is my name - A name peculiar to myself.

MESSIAH THE ANTITYPE OF CYRUS. (Isa. 42:1-25) my servant--The law of prophetic suggestion leads Isaiah from Cyrus to the far greater Deliverer, behind whom the former is lost sight of. The express quotation in Mat 12:18-20, and the description can apply to Messiah alone (Psa 40:6; with which compare Exo 21:6; Joh 6:38; Phi 2:7). Israel, also, in its highest ideal, is called the "servant" of God (Isa 49:3). But this ideal is realized only in the antitypical Israel, its representative-man and Head, Messiah (compare Mat 2:15, with Hos 11:1). "Servant" was the position assumed by the Son of God throughout His humiliation. elect--chosen by God before the foundation of the world for an atonement (Pe1 1:20; Rev 13:8). Redemption was no afterthought to remedy an unforeseen evil (Rom 16:25-26; Eph 3:9, Eph 3:11; Ti2 1:9-10; Tit 1:2-3). In Mat 12:18 it is rendered "My beloved"; the only beloved Son, beloved in a sense distinct from all others. Election and the love of God are inseparably joined. soul--a human phrase applied to God, because of the intended union of humanity with the Divinity: "I Myself." delighteth--is well pleased with, and accepts, as a propitiation. God could have "delighted" in no created being as a mediator (compare Isa 42:21; Isa 63:5; Mat 3:17). spirit upon him-- (Isa 11:2; Isa 61:1; Luk 4:18; Joh 3:34). judgment--the gospel dispensation, founded on justice, the canon of the divine rule and principle of judgment called "the law" (Isa 2:3; compare Isa 42:4; Isa 51:4; Isa 49:6). The Gospel has a discriminating judicial effect: saving to penitents; condemnatory to Satan, the enemy (Joh 12:31; Joh 16:11), and the wilfully impenitent (Joh 9:39). Mat 12:18 has, "He shall show," for "He shall bring forth," or "cause to go forth." Christ both produced and announced His "judgment." The Hebrew dwells most on His producing it; Matthew on His announcement of it: the two are joined in Him.

God turns from addressing Messiah to the people. Lord--JEHOVAH: God's distinguishing and incommunicable name, indicating essential being and immutable faithfulness (compare Exo 6:3; Psa 83:18; Psa 96:5; Hos 12:5). my--that is due to Me, and to Me alone.

The hēn (behold) in Isa 41:29 is now followed by a second hēn. With the former, Jehovah pronounced sentence upon the idolaters and their idols; with the latter, He introduces His "servant." In Isa 41:8 this epithet was applied to the nation, which had been chosen as the servant and for the service of Jehovah. But the servant of Jehovah who is presented to us here is distinct from Israel, and has so strong an individuality and such marked personal features, that the expression cannot possibly be merely a personified collective. Nor can the prophet himself be intended; for what is here affirmed of this servant of Jehovah goes infinitely beyond anything to which a prophet was ever called, or of which a man was ever capable. It must therefore be the future Christ; and this is the view taken in the Targum, where the translation of our prophecy commences thus: "Hâ' ‛abhdı̄ Meshı̄châ." Still there must be a connection between the national sense, in which the expression "servant of Jehovah" was used in Isa 41:8, and the personal sense in which it is used here. The coming Saviour is not depicted as the Son of David, as in chapters 7-12, and elsewhere, but appears as the embodied idea of Israel, i.e., as its truth and reality embodied in one person. The idea of "the servant of Jehovah" assumed, to speak figuratively, the from of a pyramid. The base was Israel as a whole; the central section was that Israel, which was not merely Israel according to the flesh, but according to the spirit also; the apex is the person of the Mediator of salvation springing out of Israel. And the last of the three is regarded (1.) as the centre of the circle of the promised kingdom - the second David; (2.) the centre of the circle of the people of salvation - the second Israel; (3.) the centre of the circle of the human race - the second Adam. Throughout the whole of these prophecies in chapters 40-66 the knowledge of salvation is still in its second stage, and about to pass into the third. Israel's true nature as a servant of God, which had its roots in the election and calling of Jehovah, and manifested itself in conduct and action in harmony with this calling, is all concentrated in Him, the One, as its ripest fruit. The gracious purposes of God towards the whole human race, which were manifested even in the election of Israel, are brought by Him to their full completion. Whilst judgments are inflicted upon the heathen by the oppressor of the nations, and display the nothingness of idolatry, the servant of Jehovah brings to them in a peaceful way the greatest of all blessings. "Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, whom my soul loveth: I have laid my Spirit upon Him; He will bring out right to the Gentiles." We must not render the first clause "by whom I hold." Tâmakh b' means to lay firm hold of and keep upright (sustinere). נפשׁי רצתה (supply בו or אתו, Job 33:26) is an attributive clause. The amplified subject extends as far as naphshii; then follows the predicate: I have endowed Him with my Spirit, and by virtue of this Spirit He will carry out mishpât, i.e., absolute and therefore divine right, beyond the circle in which He Himself is to be found, even far away to the Gentiles. Mishpât is the term employed here to denote true religion regarded on its practical side, as the rule and authority for life in all its relations, i.e., religion as the law of life, νομός.

Jehovah pledges His name and honour that this work of the Servant of Jehovah will be carried into effect. "I am Jehovah; that is my name, and my glory I give not to another, nor my renown to idols." That is His name, which affirms how truly He stands alone in His nature, and recals to mind the manifestations of His life, His power, and His grace from the very earliest times (cf., Exo 3:15). He to whom this name belongs cannot permit the honour due to Him to be permanently transferred to sham gods. He has therefore made preparations for putting an end to idolatry. Cyrus does this provisionally by the tempestuous force of arms; and the Servant of Jehovah completes it by the spiritual force of His simple word, and of His gentle, unselfish love.