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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 42:18-25

The prophet, having spoken by way of comfort and encouragement to the believing Jews who waited for the consolation of Israel, here turns to those among them who were unbelieving, for their conviction and humiliation. Among those who were in captivity in Babylon there were some who were as the evil figs in Jeremiah's vision, who were sent thither for their hurt, to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth, for a reproach and a proverb, Jer. 24:9. In them there was a type of the Jews who... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 42:18

Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see. Jarchi and Kimchi think these words are spoken to Israel, who, as Aben Ezra says, were deaf and blind in heart; but they are rather an exhortation to the Gentiles that remained impenitent and unbelieving, and who were deaf to the voice of the Gospel, and blind as to the knowledge of it; and the purport of the exhortation is, that they would make use of their external hearing and sight, which they had, that they might attain to a spiritual... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 42:19

Who is blind, but my servant ?.... Kimchi, taking the former words to be spoken to the Jews, thinks this is their reply; who will say in answer to it, why do ye call us blind and deaf? who so blind and deaf as Isaiah the prophet, the servant of the Lord, his messenger, and a perfect one as he is called? but as the preceding words are spoken to the Gentiles, here the Lord does as it were correct himself, as if he should say, why do I call the Gentiles blind and deaf, when the people of the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 42:20

Seeing many things, but thou observest not ,.... The Scribes and Pharisees, saw Christ in the flesh; they saw the miracles he did; they saw the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers cleansed, the deaf hear, and the dead raised; yet they did not give note to these things, and keep them in their minds, and regard them as clear proofs of his being the Messiah: opening the ears, but he heareth not ; they heard John Baptist preach, the forerunner of Christ, and the testimony he... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 42:21

The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness sake ,.... This may be either understood of what the Lord had done for these people in time past, and which is mentioned as an aggravation of their stupidity, disobedience, and ingratitude; he had delighted in them, and chose them above all people upon the earth, and distinguished them with his favours, which he did for the sake of his own righteousness or faithfulness to his promises made to their fathers: he magnified them with the law, and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 42:22

But this is a people robbed and spoiled ,.... The Jewish people, who shut their eyes against the clear light of the Gospel, and turned a deaf ear to Christ, and to his ministers, rejected him, and persecuted them; these were robbed and plundered by the Roman soldiers of all their riches and treasures, when the city of Jerusalem was taken: they are all of them snared in holes ; such of them as escaped and hid themselves in holes, and caverns, and dens of the earth, were laid in wait for... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 42:23

Who among you will give ear to this ?.... To this prophecy of your destruction, and to what follows concerning it: who will hearken and hear for the time to come ? and receive instruction from hence, and repent and reform? none at all; so blind, and deaf, and stupid, were they both before, and at their destruction, and even ever since; they take no notice of the hand of God upon them, nor hearken to the rod, any more than to the word of God; which seems to be what is meant by "the time... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 42:24

Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers ?.... To the Roman soldiers, to be spoiled and robbed by them? this was not owing to chance and fortune, or to the superior skill and power of the Roman army: did not the Lord, he against whom we have sinned ? he did, but not without cause; he was justly provoked to it by the sins of the Jews, which were the meritorious and procuring causes of it; yet the Roman army could not have taken their city and plundered it had it not been the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 42:25

Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger ,.... The Lord was angry with these people for their rejection of the Messiah, and contempt of his Gospel; and therefore his wrath came upon them to the uttermost, not in some small drops, but in great abundance, to the utter ruin of their nation, city, and temple. Josephus says F5 Josephus apud Forerium in loc. , "the Romans came to subdue Palestine, but their coming was the pouring out of the heat of the wrath of the Lord:' ... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 42:19

As my messenger that I sent "As he to whom I have sent my messengers" - אשלח כמלכי kemalachey eshlach , ut ad quem nuncios meos misi . The Vulgate and Chaldee are almost the only interpreters who render it rightly, in consistence with the rest of the sentence, and in perfect agreement with the Hebrew idiom; according to which the ellipsis is to be thus supplied: אשלח מלאכי כלאשר kelaasher malachey eshlach ; "As he to whom I have sent my messengers." As he that is perfect "As he... read more

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