I am the Lord - יהוה אני 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. read more
Ye that go down to the sea - This seems not to belong to this place; it does not well consist with what follows, "and the fullness thereof." They that go down upon the sea means navigators, sailors, traders, such as do business in great waters; an idea much too confined for the prophet, who means the sea in general, as it is used by the Hebrews, for the distant nations, the islands, the dwellers on the sea-coasts all over the world. I suspect that some transcriber had the Psalm 107:23 ;... read more
Let the wilderness - The most uncultivated countries, and the most rude and uncivilized people, shall confess and celebrate with thanksgiving the blessing of the knowledge of God graciously imparted to them. By the desert is meant Arabia Deserta; by the rocky country, Arabia Petraea; by the mountains, probably those celebrated ones, Paran, Horeb, Sinai, in the same country; to which also belonged Kedar, a clan of Arabians, dwelling for the most part in tents; but there were others of them... read more
The servants of God, and the one true Servant. It must be admitted By all that the expression "Servant of God" or "Servant of Jehovah," is used in Scripture in various senses. All who work out God's purposes, however unconsciously or even unwillingly, are called by the sacred writers "God's servants," in respect of the service, albeit unconscious or unwilling, which they render him. Thus Jeremiah calls Nebuchadnezzar "God's servant" ( Jeremiah 25:9 ; Jeremiah 27:6 , etc.), and Ezekiel... read more
The Servant of Jehovah. "Behold!" Let all the world hearken and attend to the new revelation. It is admitted that the conception is substantially that of Christ in the Gospels. According to one critic, indeed, the prophetic passage springs from the time of Herod II . Let us think, then, of Jesus and his mission. I. THE ELECT OF GOD . Six times does the word occur in this portion of Isaiah; it is found also in Psalms 89:3 ; Psalms 105:6 , Psalms 105:43 ; Psalms 106:5 , ... read more
ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE SERVANT OF THE LORD , AND THE WORK WHICH HE WILL PERFORM . There are comparatively few who deny that, in this place at any rate, the "Servant of the Lord" is the Messiah. (So the Targum on the passage; so Abar-barnel; so, among moderns, Oehler, Delitzsch, and Mr. Cheyne.) The portraiture has "so strong an individuality and such marked personal features, that it cannot possibly be a mere personified collective;" and it goes so "infinitely ... read more
Thus saith God the Lord ; literally, thus saith the ( One ) God , Jehovah. The entire utterance, Isaiah 42:1-4 , is the utterance of God; but, as that fact is gathered by inference, not asserted, the prophet suddenly stops, and makes a new beginning. It must be made perfectly clear that the announcement of the "Servant of the Lord" and his mission are from the Almighty; and so we have the solemn announcement of the present verse. He that created the heavens , etc. (comp. Isaiah... read more
God and man: refusal, retribution, restoration. I. THE DIVINE COMMAND . God demands the glory which is his due ( Isaiah 42:8 ). His claim is based on: 1 . What he is in himself. "I am the Lord (Jehovah); that is my Name." As the Eternal One, who only hath immortality, the Underived and Everlasting One, who in the very fullest, deepest, and highest sense is God over all, he rightly demands our reverence, our homage, our worship. 2 . What he has done for our race. He... read more
Mission of Jehovah's Servant. "A new revelation defines the mission of the Servant with greater precision. The plan of the mission requires an exhibition of the Divine wisdom and power on as large a scale as in creation and preservation (cf. Zechariah 12:1 )" (Cheyne). I. THE RELATION OF GOD To THE WORLD . He is the God—the only God (cf. Psalms 85:9 ). He can admit no rival; he stands in a unique relation to the world—is alone to be worshipped. He is the Creator: his... read more
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Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 42:7
To open the blind eyes - In this verse the prophet seems to set forth the spiritual redemption, under images borrowed from the temporal deliverance. Out of the prison house "And from the dungeon" - The Septuagint, Syriac, and four MSS., one ancient, add the conjunction ו vau , ומבית umibbeith , and from the house. read more