Isaiah 62:10 Коментар

The business of prophets was both to preach and pray. In this chapter, I. The prophet determines to apply closely and constantly to this business (Isa 62:1). II. God appoints him and others of his prophets to continue to do so, for the encouragement of his people during the delays of their deliverance (Isa 62:6, Isa 62:7). III. The promises are here repeated and ratified of the great things God would do for his church, for the Jews after their return out of captivity and for the Christian church when it shall be set up in the world. 1. The church shall be made honourable in the eyes of the world (Isa 62:2). 2. It shall appear to be very dear to God, precious and honourable in his sight (Isa 62:3-5). 3. It shall enjoy great plenty (Isa 62:8, Isa 62:9). 4. It shall be released out of captivity and grow up again into a considerable nation, particularly owned and favoured by heaven (Isa 62:10-12).

This, as many like passages before, refers to the deliverance of the Jews out of Babylon, and, under the type and figure of that, to the great redemption wrought out by Jesus Christ, and the proclaiming of gospel grace and liberty through him. 1. Way shall be made for this salvation; all difficulties shall be removed, and whatever might obstruct it shall be taken out of the way, Isa 62:10. The gates of Babylon shall be thrown open, that they may with freedom go through them; the way from Babylon to the land of Israel shall be prepared; causeways shall be made and cast up through wet and miry places, and the stones gathered out from places rough and rocky; in the convenient places appointed for their rendezvous standards shall be set up for their direction and encouragement, that they may embody for their greater safety. Thus John Baptist was sent to prepare the way of the Lord, Mat 3:3. And, before Christ by his graces and comforts comes to any for salvation, preparation is made for him by repentance, which is called the preparation of the gospel of peace, Eph 6:15. Here the way is levelled by it, there the feet are shod with it, which comes all to one, for both are in order to a journey. 2. Notice shall be given of this salvation, Isa 62:11, Isa 62:12. It shall be proclaimed to the captives that they are set at liberty and may go if they please; it shall be proclaimed to their neighbours, to all about them, to the end of the world, that God has pleaded Zion's just, injured, and despised cause. Let is be said to Zion, for her comfort, Behold, thy salvation comes (that is, thy Saviour, who brings salvation); he will bring such a work, such a reward, in this salvation, as shall be admired by all, a reward of comfort and peace with him; but a work of humiliation and reformation before him, to prepare his people for that recompence of their sufferings; and then, with reference to each, it follows, they shall be called, The holy people, and the redeemed of the Lord. The work before him, which shall be wrought in them and upon them, shall denominate them a holy people, cured of their inclination to idolatry and consecrated to God only; and the reward with him, the deliverance wrought for them, shall denominate them the redeemed of the Lord, so redeemed as none but God could redeem them, and redeemed to be his, their bonds loosed, that they might be his servants. Jerusalem shall then be called, Sought out, a city not forsaken. She had been forsaken for many years; there were neither traders nor worshippers that enquired the way to Jerusalem as formerly, when it was frequented by both. But now God will again make her considerable. She shall be sought out, visited, resorted to, and court made to her, as much as ever. When Jerusalem is called a holy city, then it is called sought out; for holiness puts an honour and beauty upon any place or person, which draws respect, and makes them to be admired, beloved, and enquired after. But this being proclaimed to the end of the world must have a reference to the gospel of Christ, which was to be preached to every creature; and it intimates, (1.) The glory of Christ. It is published immediately to the church, but is thence echoed to every nation: Behold, thy salvation cometh. Christ is not only the Saviour, but the salvation itself; for the happiness of believers is not only from him, but in him, Isa 12:2. His salvation consists both in the work and in the reward which he brings with him; for those that are his shall neither be idle nor lose their labour. (2.) The beauty of the church. Christians shall be called saints (Co1 1:2), the holy people, for they are chosen and called to salvation through sanctification. They shall be called the redeemed of the Lord; to him they owe their liberty, and therefore to him they owe their service, and they shall not be ashamed to own both. None are to be called the redeemed of the Lord but those that are the holy people; the people of God's purchase are a holy nation. And they shall be called, Sought out. God shall seek them out, and find them, wherever they are dispersed, eclipsed, or lost in a crowd; men shall seek them out, that they may join themselves to them, and not forsake them. It is good to associate with the holy people, that we may learn their ways, and with the redeemed of the Lord, that we may share in the blessings of the redemption.

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 62 This chapter is a continuation of the prophecy of the glory of the church in the latter day. The prophet expresses his earnest desire for it, and his full assurance of it, Isa 62:1 which should lie in a new name, by which she should be called, and in her being a glorious crown and diadem in the hand of the Lord, Isa 62:3, in having her sons with her, and the Lord rejoicing over her, Isa 62:5, in having watchmen on her walls, and such as are the Lord's remembrancers in the midst of her, Isa 62:6, in plenty of food, Isa 62:8, in the coming of the Saviour, and in the gathering of elect Gentiles both to him and her, Isa 62:10.

Go through, go through the gates,.... Open them, and keep them open for persons to enter in; meaning not the gates of Jerusalem, which those in it should open for the reception of the Jews returning from Babylon, though there may be an allusion to it; but the gates of the church in the latter day, which shall stand open night and day, that converts, who shall flock unto it, may enter in thereat, whether Jews or Gentiles; see Isa 26:1, prepare you the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; for the people of the Jews, or the Gentiles, by the destruction of the eastern and western antichrist, and by the preaching of the Gospel; by which means way will be made for the kings of the east, and for the eastern kingdoms being converted, and becoming the kingdoms of our Lord, and his Christ; see Rev 16:12, gather out the stones; all things that offend, that are a stumblingblock to Jews, Pagans, and Mahometans, and hinder them embracing the Christian religion; as errors, heresies, schisms, false doctrines, false worship, idolatry, and superstition. Jarchi thinks there is a respect to the corruption of nature; and so the Targum interprets it, the thought of the evil imagination, which is as a stone: or, "pitch" or "strow it with stones" (k); that is, the highway; pave it with them, because of the clay, that so it may be a good way for passengers: lift up a standard for the people; that they may know where to come or go; this is to be understood of the preaching of the Gospel, and of lifting up Christ as a standard or ensign in it, to whom the people might be directed, invited, and encouraged to come; see Isa 11:10. The Targum is, "the prophet said, pass by, and return through the gates; turn the heart of the people to the right way; publish good things and comforts to the righteous, who remove the thought of the evil imagination, which was as a stone of stumbling; lift up a sign to the people.'' (k) "sternite eam lapidibus", Vatablus, Forerius, Gataker. So many Jewish writers, R. Jonah, R. Joseph Kimchi, and Ben Melech; but is disliked by Gussetius, Ebr. Comment. p. 569.

“And salvation, along the way of his steps.” Note the exact words, “his steps,” where there are no rocks, where there are no thorns or thistles, where the path is even, where he may walk, where he cannot stumble. Let us, therefore, make way for the Lord in our heart, that way for which John [the Baptist] was giving his life’s effort.… Although formerly we faced obstacles of thorns and thistles, although we had stones, he declares to us in Isaiah, “clear the highway of stones.” He proclaims this, furthermore, lest he stumble on them when he is ready to walk in the way of our heart. Now the stones that he bids us to throw out from our way are our sins. Christ does not walk in our heart if there is any sin there. He stumbles at once against these stones. “And salvation along the way of his steps.” Let us prepare the way, and Jesus will set his steps in it.

(Vers. 10-12.) Go through, go through the gates, prepare the way for the people, make the road smooth, and choose stones, raise a signal for the people. Behold, the Lord has made his message heard to the ends of the earth: say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your Savior comes: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. And they shall call them the holy people, redeemed by the Lord. But you shall be called a sought-after city, and not forsaken. LXX: Go through my gates and make a way for my people. Cast stones out of the way. Lift up a sign among the nations. For behold, the Lord has made his hearing reach to the ends of the earth. Say to the daughters of Zion: Behold, your Savior comes, having his reward with him, and his work before his face. And he will call them a holy people, redeemed by the Lord. But you will be called a sought-after city, and not forsaken. He commanded the keepers of the walls of Jerusalem, to whom he had previously commanded not to keep silent, not to cease praying, so that they may pass through the gates of Jerusalem and make a way for the people. The statement argues that in the last days, when Israel is to be saved after the fullness of the Gentiles, the semi-Jews believe that they will return to the Lord. However, others think that it will be fulfilled in the kingdom of heaven, when there will be true joy and each person will receive according to their merit. They will not see the Lord in humility, but will feel His judgment when He comes on the clouds with a multitude of angels to render to each person according to their works. But according to the explanation given, we can understand these things at the first coming, so that we may say that the Apostles and the men who succeeded them, should enter and pass through the gates which hell cannot prevail against, and remove all obstacles from the path, so that the people may enter the Church of the Savior without any stumbling block. Therefore, John cried out in the wilderness: I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, as Isaiah said: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths: every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be brought low (John 1:23, Isaiah 40:3-4). And in other words, the man of the Church has chosen stones that soften the hardness of the hearts of the believers. Of these stones, John the Baptist said: God is able to raise up children of Abraham from these stones (Matthew 3:9). Or according to the Septuagint, he throws stones from the path that separate the unbelievers from the believers. So that the Jews would not think that this is about them, it is added: Raise a sign to the nations, and to the peoples of the nations, so that the narrowness of salvation is not provoked only in the land of Judea, but let it be heard in the ends of the earth, so that the whole world may hear the passion of the Creator. Say, he says, to the daughter of Zion. She is called the daughter of Zion because she was first born from the Jews, as it says in the Song of Songs: The sons of my mother fought against me (Song of Songs 1:5); or certainly because she received the name of daughter from God through adoption. For as many as received him, he gave them power to become children of God (John 1). But what is it that the teachers and doctors of the daughter of Zion are commanded to announce? Behold, your Savior comes, who is called Jesus in Hebrew. Thus Gabriel said to Joseph: And you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins (Matt. 1:21). This Savior is the judge of all believers, to render to each according to their works: rewards to the righteous, and eternal punishments to the sinners (Matt. 16). And he shall call them Lord and Savior himself. Or, according to the Hebrew, the Apostles and Apostolic men shall call them, the holy and redeemed people of the Lord, who are redeemed by the blood of Christ. Moreover, the city itself will not be called abandoned, as it had been previously, either among the Jews due to commerce, or among the Gentiles due to idolatry, but rather sought after, as it is said in Hebrew, Drusa (); so that for the increase and variety of virtues, they always receive new names.

Second, as to the liberation of captives, as to the preparation of the way: go through, you messengers of Cyrus and Darius; pick out the stones, impediments: take the stones out of the way (Jer 50:26); or you, watchmen of the walls: preachers. As to the granting of joy: lift up the sign, the decree of Cyrus that all the captives could return, or the sign, of the cross, above: he shall set up a sign unto the nations (Isa 11:12).

The prophet opens this chapter with ardent prayers that the happy period of reconciliation just now promised, and here again foretold, may be hastened, Isa 62:1-5. He then calls upon the faithful, particularly the priests and Levites, to join him, urging the promises, and even the oath, of Jehovah, as the foundation of their request, Isa 62:6-9. And, relying on this oath, he goes on to speak of the general restoration promised, as already performing; and calls to the people to march forth, and to the various nations among whom they are dispersed to prepare the way for them, as God had caused the order for their return to be universally proclaimed, Isa 62:10-12.

Of the people "For the people" - Before the word העם haam, the people, two MSS. insert יהוה Yehovah; one MS. adds the same word after; and eight MSS., three ancient, instead of העם haam, have יהוה Yehovah, and so likewise one edition. But though it makes a good sense either way, I believe it to be an interpolation, as the ancient Versions do not favor it. The Septuagint indeed read עמי ammi, my people. - L.

INTERCESSORY PRAYERS FOR ZION'S RESTORATION, ACCOMPANYING GOD'S PROMISES OF IT, AS THE APPOINTED MEANS OF ACCOMPLISHING IT. (Isa 62:1-12) I--the prophet, as representative of all the praying people of God who love and intercede for Zion (compare Isa 62:6-7; Psa 102:13-17), or else Messiah (compare Isa 62:6). So Messiah is represented as unfainting in His efforts for His people (Isa 42:4; Isa 50:7). righteousness thereof--not its own inherently, but imputed to it, for its restoration to God's favor: hence "salvation" answers to it in the parallelism. "Judah" is to be "saved" through "the Lord our (Judah's and the Church's) righteousness" (Jer 23:6). as brightness--properly the bright shining of the rising sun (Isa 60:19; Isa 4:5; Sa2 23:4; Pro 4:18). lamp--blazing torch.

What Isaiah in the person of Messiah had engaged in (Isa 62:1) unrestingly to seek, and what the watchmen were unrestingly to pray for (Isa 62:7), and what Jehovah solemnly promised (Isa 62:8-9), is now to be fulfilled; the Gentile nations are commanded to "go through the gates" (either of their own cities [ROSENMULLER] or of Jerusalem [MAURER]), in order to remove all obstacles out of "the way of the people (Israel)" (see on Isa 7:14; Isa 40:3; Isa 52:10-12). standard--for the dispersed Jews to rally round, with a view to their return (Isa 49:22; Isa 11:12).

Nearly all the more recent commentators regard the prophet himself as speaking here. Having given himself up to praying to Jehovah and preaching to the people, he will not rest or hold his peace till the salvation, which has begun to be realized, has been brought fully out to the light of day. It is, however, really Jehovah who commences thus: "For Zion's sake I shall not be silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I shall not rest, till her righteousness breaks forth like morning brightness, and her salvation like a blazing torch. And nations will see they righteousness, and all kings thy glory; and men will call thee by a new name, which the mouth of Jehovah will determine. And thou wilt be an adorning coronet in the hand of Jehovah, and a royal diadem in the lap of thy God." It is evident that Jehovah is the speaker here, both from Isa 62:6 and also from the expression used; for châshâh is the word commonly employed in such utterances of Jehovah concerning Himself, to denote His leaving things in their existing state without interposing (Isa 65:6; Isa 57:11; Isa 64:11). Moreover, the arguments which may be adduced to prove that the author of chapters 40-66 is not the speaker in Isa 61:1-11, also prove that it is not he who is continuing to speak of himself in Isa 62:1-12 Jehovah, having now begun to speak and move on behalf of Zion, will "for Zion's sake," i.e., just because it is Zion, His own church, neither be silent nor give Himself rest, till He has gloriously executed His work of grace. Zion is now in the shade, but the time will come when her righteousness will go forth as nōgah, the light which bursts through the night (Isa 60:19; Isa 59:9; here the morning sunlight, Pro 4:18; compare shachar, the morning red, Isa 58:8); or till her salvation is like a torch which blazes. יבער belongs to כלפּיד (mercha) in the form of an attributive clause = בּער, although it might also be assumed that יבער stands by attraction for תבער (cf., Isa 2:11; Ewald, 317, c). The verb בּער, which is generally applied to wrath (e.g., Isa 30:27), is here used in connection with salvation, which has wrath towards the enemies of Zion as its obverse side: Zion's tsedeq (righteousness) shall become like the morning sunlight, before which even the last twilight has vanished; and Zion's yeshū‛âh is like a nightly torch, which sets fire to its own material, and everything that comes near it. The force of the conjunction עד (until) does not extend beyond Isa 62:1. From Isa 62:2 onwards, the condition of things in the object indicated by עד is more fully described. The eyes of the nations will be directed to the righteousness of Zion, the impress of which is now their common property; the eyes of all kings to her glory, with which the glory of none of them, nor even of all together, can possibly compare. And because this state of Zion is a new one, which has never existed before, her old name is not sufficient to indicate her nature. She is called by a new name; and who could determine this new name? He who makes the church righteous and glorious, He, and He alone, is able to utter a name answering to her new nature, just as it was He who called Abram Abraham, and Jacob Israel. The mouth of Jehovah will determine it (נקב, to pierce, to mark, to designate in a signal and distinguishing manner, nuncupare; cf., Amo 6:1; Num 1:17). It is only in imagery that prophecy here sees what Zion will be in the future: she will be "a crown of glory," "a diadem," or rather a tiara (tsenı̄ph; Chethib tsenūph = mitsnepheth, the head-dress of the high priest, Exo 28:4; Zac 3:5; and that of the king, Eze 21:31) "of regal dignity," in the hand of her God (for want of a synonym of "hand," we have adopted the rendering "in the lap" the second time that it occurs). Meier renders יהוה בּיד (בּכף) Jovae sub praesidio, as though it did not form part of the figure. But it is a main feature in the figure, that Jehovah holds the crown in His hand. Zion is not the ancient crown which the Eternal wears upon His head, but the crown wrought out in time, which He holds in His hand, because He is seen in Zion by all creation. The whole history of salvation is the history of the taking of the kingdom, and the perfecting of the kingdom by Jehovah; in other words, the history of the working out of this crown.

The concluding strophe goes back to the standpoint of the captivity. "Go forth, go forth through the gates, clear the way of the people. Cast up, cast up the road, clear it of stones; lift up a banner above the nations! Behold, Jehovah hath caused tidings to sound to the end of the earth. Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him. And men will call them the holy people, the redeemed of Jehovah; and men will call thee, Striven after, A city that will not be forsaken." We cannot adopt the rendering proposed by Gesenius, "Go ye into the gates," whether of Jerusalem or of the temple, since the reading would then be שׁערים בּאוּ (Gen 23:10) or בשּׁערים (Jer 7:2). For although בּ עבר may under certain circumstances be applied to entrance into a city (Jdg 9:26), yet it generally denotes either passing through a land (Isa 8:21; Isa 34:10; Gen 41:46; Lev 26:6, etc.), or through a nation (Sa2 20:14), or through a certain place (Isa 10:28); so that the phrase בּשּׁער עבר, which does not occur anywhere else (for in Mic 2:13, which refers, however, to the exodus of the people out of the gates of the cities of the captivity, שׁער ויּעברוּ do not belong together), must refer to passing through the gate; and the cry בשׁערים עברוּ means just the same as מבּבל צאוּ ("Go ye forth from Babylon") in Isa 48:20; Isa 52:11. The call to go out of Babylon forms the conclusion of the prophecy here, just as it does in Isa 48:20-21; Isa 52:11-12. It is addressed to the exiles; but who are they to whom the command is given, "Throw up a way," - a summons repeatedly found in all the three books of these prophecies (Isa 40:3; Isa 57:14)? They cannot be the heathen, for this is contradicted by the conclusion of the charge, "Lift ye up a banner above the nations;" nor can we adopt what seems to us a useless fancy on the part of Stier, viz., that Isa 62:10 is addressed to the watchmen on the walls of Zion. We have no hesitation, therefore, in concluding that they are the very same persons who are to march through the gates of Babylon. The vanguard (or pioneers) of those who are coming out are here summoned to open the way by which the people are to march, to throw up the road (viz., by casting up an embankment, hamsillâh, as in Isa 11:16; Isa 49:11; maslūl, Isa 35:8), to clear it of stones (siqqēl, as in Isa 5:2; cf., Hos 9:12, shikkēl mē'âdâm), and lift up a banner above the nations (one rising so high as to be visible far and wide), that the diaspora of all places may join those who are returning home with the friendly help of the nations (Isa 11:12; Isa 49:22). For Jehovah hath caused tidings to be heard to the end of the earth, i.e., as we may see from what follows, the tidings of their liberation; in other words, looking at the historical fulfilment, the proclamation of Cyrus, which he caused to be issued throughout his empire at the instigation of Jehovah (Ezr 1:1). Hitzig regards השׁמיע as expressing what had actually occurred at the time when the prophet uttered his predictions; and in reality the standpoint of the prophets was so far a variable one, that the fulfilment of what was predicted did draw nearer and nearer to it ἐν πνεύματι. But as hinnēh throughout the book of Isaiah, even when followed by a perfect, invariably points to something future, all that can be said is, that the divine announcement of the time of redemption, as having now arrived, stands out before the soul of the prophet with all the certainty of a historical fact. The conclusion which Knobel draws from the expression "to the end of the earth," as to the Babylonian standpoint of the prophet, is a false one. In his opinion, "the end of the earth" in such passages as Psa 72:8; Zac 9:10 ('aphsē-'ârets), and Isa 24:16 (kenaph hâ'ârets), signifies the western extremity of the orbis orientalis, that is to say, the region of the Mediterranean, more especially Palestine; whereas it was rather a term applied to the remotest lands which bounded the geographical horizon (compare Isa 42:10; Isa 48:20, with Psa 2:8; Psa 22:28, and other passages). The words that follow ("Say ye," etc.) might be taken as a command issued on the ground of the divine hishimiă‛ ("the Lord hath proclaimed"); but hishimiă‛ itself is a word that needs to be supplemented, so that what follows is the divine proclamation: Men everywhere, i.e., as far as the earth or the dispersion of Israel extends, are to say to the daughter of Zion - that is to say, to the church which has its home in Zion, but is now in foreign lands - that "its salvation cometh," i.e., that Jehovah, its Saviour, is coming to bestow a rich reward upon His church, which has passed through sever punishment, but has been so salutarily refined. Those to whom the words "Say ye," etc., are addressed, are not only the prophets of Israel, but all the mourners of Zion, who become mebhasserı̄m, just because they respond to this appeal (compare the meaning of this "Say ye to the daughter of Zion" with Zac 9:9 in Mat 21:5). The whole of the next clause, "Behold, His reward," etc., is a repetition of the prophet's own words in Isa 40:10. It is a question whether the words "and they shall call thee," etc., contain the gospel which is to be proclaimed according to the will of Jehovah to the end of the earth (see Isa 48:20), or whether they are a continuation of the prophecy which commences with "Behold, Jehovah hath proclaimed." The latter is the more probable, as the address here passes again into an objective promise. The realization of the gospel, which Jehovah causes to be preached, leads men to call those who are now still in exile "the holy people," "the redeemed" (lit. ransomed, Isa 51:10; like pedūyē in Isa 35:10). "And thee" - thus does the prophecy close by returning to a direct address to Zion-Jerusalem - "thee will men call derūshâh," sought assiduously, i.e., one whose welfare men, and still more Jehovah, are zealously concerned to promote (compare the opposite in Jer 30:17) - "a city that will not be forsaken," i.e., in which men gladly settle, and which will never be without inhabitants again (the antithesis to ‛ăzūbhâh in Isa 60:15), possibly also in the sense that the gracious presence of God will never be withdrawn from it again (the antithesis to ‛ăzūbhâh in Isa 62:4). נעזבה is the third pers. pr., like nuchâmâh in Isa 54:11 : the perfect as expressing the abstract present (Ges. 126, 3). The following prophecy anticipates the question, how Israel can possibly rejoice in the recovered possession of its inheritance, if it is still to be surrounded by such malicious neighbours as the Edomites.