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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 48:9-15

The deliverance of God's people out of their captivity in Babylon was a thing upon many accounts so improbable that there was need of line upon line for the encouragement of the faith and hope of God's people concerning it. Two things were discouraging to them?their own unworthiness that God should do it for them and the many difficulties in the thing itself; now, in these verses, both these discouragements are removed, for here is, I. A reason why God would do it for them, though they were... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 48:12

Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called ,.... Called before out of Egypt, and now out of Babylon, and who had the name of God called upon them, and who called upon the name of the Lord; so such who are called with a holy calling, according to the purpose and grace of God, by the Spirit and grace of Christ, unto fellowship with him, to partake of his grace here, and glory hereafter, are styled "the called of Jesus Christ", Romans 1:6 and who seems to be the person here speaking, as... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 48:12

O Jacob "O Jacob, my servant" - After יעקב yaakob , a MS. of Kennicott's, two of De Rossi's, and the two old editions of 1486 and 1488, add the word עבדי abdi , "my servant," which is lost out of the present text; and there is a rasure in its place in another ancient MS. The Jerusalem Talmud has the same word. I also am the last "I am the last" - For אני אף aph ani , "even I," two ancient MSS. and the ancient Versions, read ואני veani , "and I;" more properly. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 48:12

O Jacob and Israel (comp. Isaiah 40:27 ; Isaiah 41:8 , Isaiah 41:14 ; Isaiah 43:1 , Isaiah 43:22 ; Isaiah 44:1 , Isaiah 44:21 ; Isaiah 46:3 ; Isaiah 48:1 ). The figure is used which rhetoricians call hendiadys. The two names designate one and the same object. My called . "Called" and "chosen" from of old, out of all the nations of the earth (comp. Isaiah 41:9 ; Isaiah 44:1 , Isaiah 44:2 , etc.); therefore bound to " hear " and to attend. Still more bound,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 48:12

God the First and the Last. It is readily intelligible, though not by finite minds conceivable, that "God is the First." Something must have existed from all eternity, or nothing could ever have existed. The first existence must either have been matter or spirit, or both. But it could not have been matter alone, since matter could never have produced spirit; and it was not matter and spirit, since the "things that are seen were not made of things that do appear" ( Hebrews 11:3 ). It was... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 48:12-15

THE SECOND ADDRESS . The tone of complaint is now dropped. Israel is invited to reflect seriously on the chief points urged in the preceding chapters. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 48:12-22

The new revelation. The verses contain a summary of the contents of Isaiah 40-47. God is the First and the Last—the sole Creator. Prophecy is an evidence of his claims; and so is the mission of Cyrus. I. THE REVELATION CONCERNING GOD . First Jacob and Israel, the chosen people, are called to listen. Jehovah is the Alpha and the Omega of the universe. The First Cause and Reason of things; he gave the first impulse to their course, the goal of which will still be himself. Before... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 48:12

Hearken unto me - This is a solemn call on the Jews in Babylon to attend to what he was now about to say. It is the commencement of a new part of the argument, containing the assurance that he would deliver them, and utterly destroy the Chaldeans. He begins, therefore, by asserting that he is the only true God, and that he is able to accomplish all his purposes.My called - The people whom I have chosen, or called.I am he - I am the same; or I am the true and only God.I am the first - (See the... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Isaiah 48:12-13

Isaiah 48:12-13. Hearken unto me, Israel, my called Whom I have called out of the world to be my peculiar people, to serve, and glorify, and enjoy me; and therefore you, of all others, have least cause to forsake me, or to follow after idols. My right hand hath spanned, or doth span, the heavens Or, hath meted them out with a span, as the phrase is, Isaiah 40:12; hath stretched them out by an exact measure, as the workman sometimes metes out his work by spans. See also the margin. ... read more

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