About Isaiah

Isaiah proclaims both judgment and salvation, containing the most detailed messianic prophecies in the Old Testament.

Author: IsaiahWritten: c. 740-680 BCReading time: ~1 minVerses: 11
HolinessJudgmentSalvationMessiahServantRestoration

King James Version

Isaiah 50

11 verses with commentary

Israel's Sin

1

Thus saith the LORD, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.

View commentary (3 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

God's rhetorical question 'Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away?' asserts that He never broke covenant despite Israel's exile. The 'bill of divorcement' (Deuteronomy 24:1) was required for legal separation, but God produced none - the relationship suspension was discipline, not abandonment. The accusation 'for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves' shifts blame to...
Read full commentary →

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

L. (1) **Where is the bill . . .**?—The thought seems suggested by Isaiah 49:14, but expands in a different direction. Both questions imply a negative answer. Jehovah had not formally repudiated the wife (Judah) whom he had chosen (Deuteronomy 24:1) as he had done her sister Israel (Jeremiah 3:8;·Hosea 2:2). He had no creditors among the nations who could claim her children. On the law of debt whi...
Read full commentary →

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**17. opened not ... house ... prisoners--**But Maurer, as Margin, "Did not let his captives loose homewards."
2

Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst.

View commentary (3 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

The question 'Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer?' expresses God's surprise at finding no responsive faith. The assurance 'Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem?' defends divine omnipotence against doubts. The catalog of past deliverances (drying sea, making rivers wilderness) proves God's ability - the problem isn't His power but their u...
Read full commentary →

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(2) **Wherefore, when I came . . .?**—The “coming” of Jehovah must be taken in all its width of meaning. He came in the deliverance from Babylon, in a promise of still greater blessings, in the fullest sense, in and through His Servant, and yet none came to help in the work, or even to receive the message. (Comp. Isaiah 63:3.) Not that He needed human helpers. In words that remind us, in their seq...
Read full commentary →

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**18. All--**that is, This is the usual practice. **in glory--**in a grand mausoleum. **house--**that is, "sepulchre," as in Ec 12:5; "grave" (Is 14:19). To be excluded from the family sepulcher was a mark of infamy (Is 34:3; Jr 22:19; 1Ki 13:22; 2Ch 21:20; 24:25; 28:27).
3

I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.

View commentary (2 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

The statement 'I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering' depicts God's power over creation, turning light to darkness as judgment (Exodus 10:21-23). This imagery anticipates crucifixion darkness (Matthew 27:45) and cosmic signs preceding Christ's return (Matthew 24:29). God who controls creation's most powerful forces is certainly able to save His people.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**19. cast out of--**not that he had lain in the grave and was then cast out of it, but "cast out without a grave," such as might have been expected by thee ("thy"). **branch--**a useless sucker starting up from the root of a tree, and cut away by the husbandman. **raiment of those ... slain--**covered with gore, and regarded with abhorrence as unclean by the Jews. Rather, "clothed (that is, c...
Read full commentary →

The Servant's Obedience

4

The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.

View commentary (3 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

The Servant's claim 'The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned' describes His teaching ministry with divine authority. The purpose 'that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary' shows pastoral care for the exhausted. The daily empowerment 'he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned' depicts continual divine instruction, anticipating Jesus' practice of pre-dawn ...
Read full commentary →

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(4) **The Lord God . . .**—A new section begins in the form of an abruptly introduced soliloquy. As in Isaiah 49:4, the speaker is the Servant of Jehovah, not Isaiah, though we may legitimately trace in what follows some echoes of the prophet’s own experience. The union of the two names Adonai Jahveh (or Jehovah) indicates, as elsewhere, a special solemnity. **The tongue of the learned.**—Better, ...
Read full commentary →

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**20. not ... joined with them--**whereas the princes slain with thee shall be buried, thou shalt not. **thou ... destroyed ... land--**Belshazzar (or Naboned) oppressed his land with wars and tyranny, so that he was much hated [Xenophon, Cyropædia 4.6, 3; 7.5, 32]. **seed ... never be renowned--**rather, "shall not be named for ever"; the Babylonian dynasty shall end with Belshazzar; his fami...
Read full commentary →
5

The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.

View commentary (3 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

The confession 'The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious' depicts willing obedience in contrast to Israel's rebellion (48:8). The phrase 'neither turned away back' shows perseverance despite opposition. This anticipates Hebrews 5:8 - Christ 'learned obedience by the things which he suffered' - not that He was disobedient, but that His obedience was tested and proved perfect thro...
Read full commentary →

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(5, 6) **The Lord God.**—*Jehovah Adonai, *as before. The Servant continues his soliloquy. What has come to him in the morning communings with God is, as in the next verse, that he too is to bear reproach and shame, as other disciples had done before him. The writer of Psalm 22:7, the much-enduring Job (Job 30:10), the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 20:7), were but foreshadowings of the sufferings tha...
Read full commentary →

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Is 14:21-23. God's Determination to Destroy Babylon. **21. Prepare, &c.--**charge to the Medes and Persians, as if they were God's conscious instruments. **his children--**Belshazzar's (Ex 20:5). **rise--**to occupy the places of their fathers. **fill ... with cities--**Maurer translates, "enemies," as the Hebrew means in 1Sa 28:16; Psa 139:20; namely, lest they inundate the world with ...
Read full commentary →
6

I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.

View commentary (2 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

This verse from the third Servant Song (50:4-9) prophetically describes the physical abuse Christ would endure. 'I gave my back to the smiters' depicts voluntary submission to scourging—the Servant doesn't resist or retaliate but willingly accepts beating. Roman scourging was brutally efficient: leather whips embedded with bone or metal shredded flesh from victims' backs. Jesus endured this before...
Read full commentary →

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**22. against them--**the family of the king of Babylon. **name--**all the male representatives, so that the name shall become extinct (Is 56:5; Ru 4:5). **remnant--**all that is left of them. The dynasty shall cease (Da 5:28-31). Compare as to Babylon in general, Jr 51:62.
7

For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.

View commentary (3 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

The confidence 'the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded' grounds perseverance in divine assistance despite human opposition. The metaphor 'I have set my face like a flint' depicts immovable determination, which Luke 9:51 directly applies to Jesus resolutely going to Jerusalem for crucifixion. The assurance 'I know that I shall not be ashamed' anticipates vindication - tempor...
Read full commentary →

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(7) **The Lord God will help me.**—That one stay gives to the suffering Servant an indomitable strength. (Comp for the phrase Jeremiah 1:18; Ezekiel 3:9.)

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**23. bittern--**rather, "the hedgehog" [Maurer and Gesenius]. Strabo (16:1) states that enormous hedgehogs were found in the islands of the Euphrates. **pools--**owing to Cyrus turning the waters of the Euphrates over the country. **besom--**sweep-net [Maurer], (1Ki 14:10; 2Ki 21:13). Is 14:24-27. A Fragment as to the Destruction of the Assyrians under Sennacherib. This would comfort the J...
Read full commentary →
8

He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary ? let him come near to me. mine: Heb. the master of my cause?

View commentary (3 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

The rhetorical question 'Who will contend with me?' challenges any to accuse the Servant whom God justifies. The legal imagery ('let us stand together...mine adversary') depicts a courtroom where God as judge acquits. Paul directly quotes this in Romans 8:33-34, establishing that Christ's justified status extends to believers - if God justifies, no accusation stands.

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(8) **He** **is near that justifieth**—*i.e., *declares innocent and righteous. Appealing from the unrighteous judges of the earth, the Servant commits himself to Him who judges righteously (Luke 23:46). With that Judge to declare his innocence, what does he care for the accuser? (Comp. Romans 8:33-34.) **Who is mine adversary?**—Literally, *the master of a law-suit, i.e., *the prosecutor.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

24. In this verse the Lord's thought (purpose) stands in antithesis to the Assyrians' thoughts (Is 10:7). (See Is 46:10, 11; 1Sa 15:29; Mal 3:6).
9

Behold, the Lord GOD will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.

View commentary (3 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

The assurance 'the Lord GOD will help me; who is he that shall condemn me?' repeats for emphasis the impossibility of successful accusation against God's justified servant. The imagery 'they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up' depicts enemies' decay versus God's eternal vindication. Accusers are temporary; God's approval is permanent.

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(9) **They all shall wax old as a garment.**—An echo of Job 13:28; Psalm 102:26; reproduced in Isaiah 51:6.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**25. That--**My purpose, namely, "that." **break ... yoke--**(Is 10:27). **my mountains--**Sennacherib's army was destroyed on the mountains near Jerusalem (Is 10:33, 34). God regarded Judah as peculiarly His.
10

Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God.

View commentary (3 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

The question 'Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant?' identifies the believing remnant. The condition 'that walketh in darkness, and hath no light' describes times when faith persists despite visible evidence. The command 'let him trust in the name of the LORD' prescribes response - not sight but faith. This establishes that genuine belief perseveres through...
Read full commentary →

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(10) **That obeyeth the voice of his servant.**—The question may be asked of *any *servant of Jehovah, such as was Isaiah himself, but receives its highest application in *the *Servant who has appeared as speaking in the preceding verses. **That walketh in darkness.**—The words grow at once out of the prophet’s own experience and that of the ideal Servant. All true servants know what it is to feel...
Read full commentary →

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**26. This is ... purpose ... whole earth--**A hint that the prophecy embraces the present world of all ages in its scope, of which the purpose concerning Babylon and Assyria, the then representatives of the world power, is but a part. **hand ... stretched out upon--**namely, in punishment (Is 5:25).
11

Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.

View commentary (3 sources)

KJV Study Commentary

The warning to those who 'kindle a fire' and 'compass yourselves about with sparks' describes self-reliance - creating own light rather than trusting God. The judgment 'ye shall lie down in sorrow' shows that human-generated solutions lead to misery. This contrasts with verse 10's trust in darkness - those who rest in God's will find peace; those who create own alternatives find sorrow.

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(11) **All ye that kindle a fire.**—The words obviously point to any human substitute for the Divine light, and thus include the two meanings which commentators have given them: (1) Man’s fiery wrath, that worketh not the righteousness of God; and (2) man’s attempt to rest in earthly comforts or enjoyments instead of in the light and joy that comes from God. **That compass yourselves about with sp...
Read full commentary →

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

27. (Da 4:35). Is 14:28-32. Prophecy against Philistia. To comfort the Jews, lest they should fear that people; not in order to call the Philistines to repentance, since the prophecy was probably never circulated among them. They had been subdued by Uzziah or Azariah (2Ch 26:6); but in the reign of Ahaz (2Ch 28:18), they took several towns in south Judea. Now Isaiah denounces their final subjug...
Read full commentary →

Test Your Knowledge

Isaiah 50 QuizTest your knowledge of this chapter
Isaiah Book QuizComprehensive quiz for the entire book

Continue Your Study

Read Isaiah 51All Isaiah ChaptersIsaiah 50 QuizComplete Isaiah QuizAll Bible QuizzesBible CharactersBible TopicsNave's Topical Bible