The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 45:2
I will … make the crooked places straight ; rather, I will make the rugged places level. No doubt intended generally, "I will smooth his way before him." The gates of brass … the bars of iron . According to Herodotus, the gates of Babylon were of solid bronze, and one hundred in number (1.179). Solid bronze gates have, however, nowhere been found, and would have been inconvenient from their enormous weight. It is probable that the "gates of brass," or "bronze," whereof we read, were... read more
The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 45:1-8
Cyrus the anointed of Jehovah. I. THE REASON OF THE DIVINE FAVOR TO CYRUS . Cyrus is the only king out of Israel who bears the title of Jehovah's anointed. He is solemnly set apart as an instrument to perform an important public service in the cause of Jehovah. It does not necessarily imply the piety of Cyrus. For the purposes of Jehovah he is upheld, "grasped by the right hand," that he may subdue nations before him—from the Euxine to Egypt, from the Indian Ocean to the... read more