Isaiah 50:1-11

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 50:1-3

Those who have professed to be the people of God, and yet seem to be dealt severely with, are apt to complain of God, and to lay the fault upon him, as if he had been hard with them. But, in answer to their murmurings, we have here, I. A challenge given them to prove, or produce any evidence, that the quarrel began on God's side, Isa. 50:1. They could not say that he had done them any wrong or had acted arbitrarily. 1. He had been a husband to them; and husbands were then allowed a power to... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 50:4-9

Our Lord Jesus, having proved himself able to save, here shows himself as willing as he is able to save, here shows himself as willing as he is able. We suppose the prophet Isaiah to say something of himself in these verses, engaging and encouraging himself to go on in his work as a prophet, notwithstanding the many hardships he met with, not doubting but that God would stand by him and strengthen him; but, like David, he speaks of himself as a type of Christ, who is here prophesied of and... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 50:10-11

The prophet, having the tongue of the learned given him, that he might give to every one his portion, here makes use of it, rightly dividing the word of truth. It is the summary of the gospel. He that believes shall be saved (he that trusts in the name of the Lord shall be comforted, though for a while he walk in darkness and have no light), but he that believes not shall be damned; though for a while he walk in the light of his own fire, yet he shall lie down in sorrow. I. Comfort is here... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 50:1

Thus saith the Lord ,.... Here begins a new discourse or prophecy, and therefore thus prefaced, and is continued in the following chapter: where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away ? these words are directed to the Jews, who stood in the same relation to the Jewish church, or synagogue, as children to a mother; and so the Targum interprets "your mother" by "your congregation", or synagogue; who were rejected from being a church and people; had a "loammi"... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 50:2

Wherefore, when I came, was there no man ?.... The Targum is, "why have I sent my prophets, and they are not converted?' And so Aben Ezra and Kimchi interpret it of the prophets that prophesied unto them, to bring them to repentance: the Lord might be said to come by his prophets, his messengers; but they did not receive them, nor their messages, but despised and rejected them, and therefore were carried captive, 2 Chronicles 36:15 , but it is best to understand it of the coming of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 50:3

I clothe the heavens with blackness ,.... With gross and thick darkness; perhaps referring to the three days' darkness the Egyptians were in, Exodus 10:12 , or with thick and black clouds, as in tempestuous weather frequently; or by eclipses of the sun; there was an extraordinary instance of great darkness at the time of Christ's crucifixion, Matthew 27:45 . and I make sackcloth their covering ; that being black, and used in times of mourning; the allusion may be to the tents of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 50:4

The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned ,.... These are not the words of the prophet, as Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and others think; though what is here said is applicable to ministers of the word, who have to do with weary souls, and it is their work to comfort and refresh them; and which work requires knowledge and experience of their case, a good degree of elocution to speak aptly and with propriety, even to have the tongue of the learned, especially in a spiritual sense; as such... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 50:5

The Lord God hath opened mine ear ,.... To hear most freely, and receive most fully, what is said by him, and to observe and do it: the allusion seems to be to the servant that had his ears bored, being willing to serve his master for ever, Exodus 21:5 which phrase of boring or opening the ear is used of Christ, Psalm 40:6 . It is expressive of his voluntary obedience, as Mediator, to his divine Father, engaging in, and performing with the greatest readiness and cheerfulness, the great... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 50:6

I gave my back to the smiters ,.... To Pontius Pilate, and those he ordered to scourge him, Matthew 27:26 . and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair ; of the beard; which, is painful, so a great indignity and affront. The Septuagint renders it, "and my cheeks to blows"; εις ραπισματα , a word used by the evangelists when they speak of Christ being smitten and stricken with the palms of men's hands, and seem to refer to this passage, Mark 14:65 , I hid not my face from... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 50:7

For the Lord God will help me ,.... As he promised he would, and did, Psalm 89:21 , which is no contradiction to the deity of Christ, nor any suggestion of weakness in him; for he is the true God, and has all divine perfections in him; is equal to his Father in power, as well as in glory, and therefore equal to the work of redemption, as his other works show him to be; but this is to be understood of him as man, and expresses his strong faith and confidence in God, and in his promises as... read more

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