Isaiah 44:21-28 WEB

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 44:21-28

In these verses we have, I. The duty which Jacob and Israel, now in captivity, were called to, that they might be qualified and prepared for the deliverance designed them. Our first care must be to get good by our afflictions, and then we may hope to get out of them. The duty is expressed in two words: Remember and return, as in the counsel to Ephesus, Rev. 2:4, 5. 1. ?Remember these, O Jacob! Remember what thou hast been told of the folly of idolatry, and let the convictions thou art now... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 44:21

Remember these, O Jacob, O Israel ,.... Remember these persons, these idolaters before spoken of; or these things, the gross idolatries they were guilty of, and loath and abhor them, shun and avoid them, and not imitate them, and do the same things: or remember that this was formerly your case, and admire the distinguishing grace of God, in turning you from idols to serve him: for by Jacob and Israel may be meant the spiritual Israel of God, or those from among the Gentiles called by the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 44:22

I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins ,.... Sins and transgressions are compared to clouds, for the number of them, they being many as the fleeting clouds of the air; and for the nature and quality of them: as clouds are vapours rising out of the earth and sea, so these arise out of the earthly and corrupt heart of man, which is as a troubled sea; and, like the clouds, they reach up to the heavens, and the cry of them calls aloud for vengeance from... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 44:23

Sing, O ye heavens, for the Lord hath done it ,.... Done what he promised, the forgiveness of the sins of his people, and the redemption of them. So the Targum, "because the Lord hath wrought redemption for his people.' The Vulgate Latin version adds, "mercy" F15 "Quia fecit misericordiam", V. L. ; and so the Septuagint version, "because God hath had mercy on Israel" F16 οτι ηλεησεν ο θεος τον ισραηλ , Sept. ; and therefore the heavens are called upon to sing on this... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 44:24

Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer ,.... These are the words of the Son of God, of Christ, the Redeemer of his people; and the following show him to be the mighty God, and so able to redeem them, and therefore was appointed to this work, and undertook it: and he that formed thee from the womb ; that formed thee in it, and brought thee out of it, separated thee from it, and called thee by his grace: I am the Lord that maketh all things ; that made all things out of nothing at first;... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 44:25

That frustrateth the tokens of the liars ,.... Struck dumb the oracles of the Heathens, disappointed their lying priests, and made void all the signs and tokens they gave the people, that such and such things would come to pass, which did not, and which proved them to be liars: and maketh diviners mad ; soothsayers, astrologers, and such sort of persons, who pretended to foretell future events; but these not answering to their predictions, they became mad, because their credit was... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 44:26

That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers ,.... Who, as he confirmed the word of Isaiah and other prophets, and fulfilled their predictions concerning the captivity of the Jews, and their deliverance from it; so he has confirmed and established the word preached by his servants, the Gospel, which is the counsel of God, delivered out by his messengers, the apostles, and first preachers of it; it being attended with the demonstration of the spirit,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 44:27

That saith to the deep, be dry ,.... The Targum is, "that saith to Babylon, be desolate;' and most interpreters, Jewish and Christian, understand it of Babylon, which was situated in a watery place, by rivers of water, particularly the river Euphrates, and in a low valley: and I will dry up thy rivers ; some think the allusion is to the stratagem of Cyrus, made use of, under a divine direction, to drain the river Euphrates, and make it passable for his army; by which means he... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 44:28

That saith of Cyrus, he is my shepherd ,.... Or Coresh, as his name in the Hebrew language is; and in the Persian tongue signifies the "sun"; from whence he had his name, as Ctesias F17 Excerpta, p. 648. Ed. Gronov. and Plutarch F18 In Vita Artaxerxis, say; to which the Hebrew word "cheres", which signifies the "sun", has some affinity; though Joseph Scaliger F19 Emendat. Temp. I. 6. would have the name of Cyrus to signify "food" in the Persian language, and which answers... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 44:22

I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins "I have made thy transgressions vanish away like a cloud, and thy sins like a vapor" - Longinus admired the sublimity of the sentiment, as well as the harmony of the numbers, in the following sentence of Demosthenes: Τουτο το ψηφισμα τον τοτε τῃ πολει τερισταντα κινδυνον παρελθειν εποιησεν ὡσπερ νεφος . "This decree made the danger then hanging over the city pass away like a cloud." Probably Isaiah... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 44:21-28

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 44:21

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 44:22

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 44:23

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 44:24

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 44:25

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 44:26

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 44:27

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 44:28

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 44:22

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