King James Version
Isaiah 54
17 verses with commentary
The Future Glory of Zion
Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
The command to the 'barren' woman to 'sing' and 'break forth into singing' celebrates the impossible-made-possible through God's grace. The promise that 'more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife' reverses natural expectation - divine intervention produces greater fruitfulness than human effort. Paul applies this in Galatians 4:27 to show the Spirit-born church ex...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
LIV.
(1) **Sing, O barren . . .**—The words seem to carry on the jubilant strain of Isaiah 51, Isaiah 52:1-12, leaving the section Isaiah 52:13 to Isaiah 53:12, as a mysterious episode. inserted, it may be, by the prophet to show how it was that the restoration of Israel and the victory of righteousness had become possible. We note, as bearing on Isaiah’s studies, the parallelism with 1Samuel 2:5....
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5. For--**rather, "But."
**perfect--**perfected. When the enemy's plans are on the verge of completion.
**sour grape ... flower--**rather, "when the flower shall become the ripening grape" [Maurer].
**sprigs--**the shoots with the grapes on them. God will not only disconcert their present plans, but prevent them forming any future ones. Horsley takes the "harvest" and vintage here as refer...
Read full commentary →Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
The architectural imagery 'enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations' calls for expansion in anticipation of promised growth. The commands 'spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes' depict preparation for multitudes. This teaches faith that acts in advance of blessing, making room for what God promises before seeing fulfillment - Ab...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **Enlarge the place of thy tent.**—Interesting parallels are found in Isaiah 33:20; Jeremiah 10:20.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. birds ... beasts--**transition from the image "sprigs," "branches," to the thing meant: the Assyrian soldiers and leaders shall be the prey of birds and beasts, the whole year through, "winter" and "summer," so numerous shall be their carcasses. Horsley translates the Hebrew which is singular: "upon it," not "upon them"; the "it" refers to God's "dwelling-place" (Is 18:4) in the Holy Land, wh...
Read full commentary →For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.</strong> This verse promises explosive expansion in all directions—"right hand and left" represents totality, a Hebrew merism encompassing every direction. The verb "break forth" (<em>parats</em>, פָּרַץ) suggests bursting boundaries, overflow...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **On the right hand and on the** **left.**—Comp. Genesis 28:14. Strictly speaking, the words indicate specially the north and the south, in relation to one who stands looking towards the East. Here, of course, they mean “on every side.” The words that follow have, like others, a lower or material and a higher or spiritual meaning.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7. present ... people scattered and peeled--**For the right rendering, see on Is 18:2. The repetition of epithets enhances the honor paid to Jehovah by so mighty a nation. The Ethiopians, wonder-struck at such an interposition of Jehovah in behalf of His people, shall send gifts to Jerusalem in His honor (Is 16:1; Psa 68:31; 72:10). Thus translate: "a present ... from a people." Or translate, as...
Read full commentary →Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.
View commentary (2 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: yea, thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.</strong> The opening "Fear not" (<em>al tir'i</em>, אַל־תִּֽירְאִי) is God's frequent reassurance to His people facing overwhelming circumstances. The double promise—"not be ash...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **Thou shalt forget.**—The “shame of thy youth,” was the Egyptian bondage, from which Jehovah chose Israel to be His bride (Jeremiah 3:1-11; Ezekiel 16:1-14). The “reproach of widowhood” was the captivity in Babylon.
For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
The declaration 'thy Maker is thine husband' employs marriage imagery depicting covenant intimacy between God and people. The titles 'the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called' progress from particular (Israel's God) to universal (whole earth's God). This anticipates gospel going to all nations - Israel's covenant God beco...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **The Lord of Hosts . . . the Holy One of Israel.**—We note the combination of the two names so prominent in 1 Isaiah. The “Redeemer” in this context suggests the idea of the next of kin (such, *e.g., *as Boaz was to Ruth), taking on himself the kinsman’s duty of protection (Ruth 4:4-6).
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 19
Is 19:1-25.
The nineteenth and twentieth chapters are connected, but with an interval between. Egypt had been held by an Ethiopian dynasty, Sabacho, Sevechus, or Sabacho II, and Tirhakah, for forty or fifty years. Sevechus (called So, the ally of Hoshea, 2Ki 17:4), retired from Lower Egypt on account of the resistance of the priests; and perhaps also, as the Assyrians threatened Lo...
Read full commentary →For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.</strong> This verse employs marital imagery to describe Israel's relationship with God. The threefold description—"forsaken" (<em>'azuvah</em>, עֲזוּבָה), "grieved in spirit" (<em>va'atzuvat ruach</em>, וַעֲצוּבַת רוּחַ), "refused" (<em>me'usah</em>, מְאוּסָה...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **For the** **Lord hath called thee.**—The words find their explanation, perhaps their starting-point, in the history of Hosea and Gomer (Hosea 1-3). The husband has punished the faithless wife by what seemed a divorce, but his heart yearns after her, and he takes her back again.
**When thou wast refused.**—Some critics render *Can she be rejected ***. . .**? with the implied answer. “No, that...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2. set--**stir up. Gesenius translates, "arm."
**Egyptians against the Egyptians--**Lower against Upper: and Saitic against both. (See Is 3:10). Newton refers it to the civil wars between Apries and Amasis at the time of Nebuchadnezzar's invasion; also between Tachos, Nectanebus, and the Mendesians, just before Ochus subdued Egypt.
**kingdom against kingdom--**The Septuagint has "nome agains...
Read full commentary →For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.</strong> This verse employs comparative language to juxtapose judgment's brevity against mercy's magnitude. "Small moment" (<em>rega qaton</em>, רֶגַע קָטֹן) suggests a brief instant, while "great mercies" (<em>berachamim gedolim</em>, בְּרַחֲמִים גְּדֹלִים) emphasizes abundant, overflowing compassion. The ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **For a small moment.**—Historically the words point to the seventy years of exile, as being but a transient interruption of the manifestation of the everlasting mercies. Spiritually they have wider and manifold fulfilments in the history of individuals, of the Church, of mankind.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**3. spirit--**wisdom, for which Egypt was famed (Is 31:2; 1Ki 4:30; Ac 7:22); answering to "counsel" in the parallel clause.
**fail--**literally, "be poured out," that is, be made void (Jr 19:7). They shall "seek" help from sources that can afford none, "charmers," &c. (Is 8:19).
**charmers--**literally, "those making a faint sound"; the soothsayers imitated the faint sound which was attr...
Read full commentary →In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.</strong> This verse presents one of Scripture's most beautiful contrasts between God's temporary discipline and His eternal love. The Hebrew <em>be-shetseph qatseph</em> (בְּשֶׁצֶף קֶצֶף, "in a little wrath") uses an unusual word <em>shetseph</em>, m...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **In a little wrath.**—The Hebrew has the rhetorical emphasis of rhyme, *bĕshetsheph, guetseph, *literally, *in a gush or burst, of wrath, *which, however terrible at the time, endured but for a moment.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4. cruel lord--**"Sargon," in Hebrew it is lords; but plural is often used to express greatness, where, one alone is meant (Ge 39:2). The parallel word "king" (singular) proves it. Newton makes the general reference to be to Nebuchadnezzar, and a particular reference to Cambyses, son of Cyrus (who killed the Egyptian god, Apis), and Ochus, Persian conquerors of Egypt, noted for their "fierce cru...
Read full commentary →For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.</strong> This verse invokes the Noahic covenant (Genesis 9:11-17) as guarantee of God's promise never again to destroy Israel completely. The comparison "as the waters of Noah" recalls God's post-flood...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **This is as the waters of Noah.**—Interesting (1) as showing the writer’s knowledge of the book of Genesis (see Isaiah 51:2); (2) as one of the few references to the Deluge, outside that book, in the Old Testament. Strictly speaking, Genesis 9:11 speaks of a “covenant,” not an “oath,” but it would be idle to find a difficulty in the use of words which, as referring to a Divine act, are almost...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5. the sea--**the Nile. Physical calamities, it is observed in history, often accompany political convulsions (Eze 30:12). The Nile shall "fail" to rise to its wonted height, the result of which will be barrenness and famine. Its "waters" at the time of the overflow resemble "a sea" [Pliny, Natural History, 85.11]; and it is still called El-Bahr," "the sea," by the Egyptians (Is 18:2; Jr 51:36)....
Read full commentary →For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
The promise that 'the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed' depicts cosmic upheaval, yet 'my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed' establishes that God's love is more stable than creation itself. The oath 'saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee' grounds assurance in divine character. This anticipates eternal security - even if creation ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **For the mountains shall depart.**—Better, “*may *depart.” The same bold hyperbole is found in Psalm 46:3; Jeremiah 31:36; Matthew 24:35.
**The covenant of my peace.**—The phrase is taken from Numbers 25:12, and re-appears in Ezekiel 34:25; Ezekiel 37:26. “Peace,” as elsewhere in the Old Testament, includes well-nigh all that is wrapped up in the “salvation” of the New.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. they shall turn the rivers--**rather, "the streams shall become putrid"; that is, the artificial streams made for irrigation shall become stagnant and offensive when the waters fail [Maurer]. Horsley, with the Septuagint, translates, "And waters from the sea shall be drunk"; by the failure of the river water they shall be reduced to sea water.
**brooks of defence--**rather, "canals of Egypt...
Read full commentary →O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.</strong> The opening address—"thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted"—recalls 51:21 and 54:6, acknowledging Israel's suffering. Three terms emphasize misery: <em>'aniyah</em> (עֲנִיָּה, afflicted/humiliated), <em>so'arah</em> (סֹ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **I will lay thy stones with fair colours.**—The first germ of the idealising symbolism of the new Jerusalem. The language of Tobit 13:16-17, shows the impression which it made on the Jews of the captivity. It takes its highest form, excluding all thoughts of a literal fulfilment, in Revelation 21:19-21. The Hebrew word for “fair colours” indicates the *kohl, *the black powder of antimony, or...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7. paper-reeds--**rather, pastures, literally, "places naked" of wood, and famed for rich herbage, on the banks of the Nile [Gesenius]. Compare Ge 13:10; De 11:10. Horsley translates, "nakedness upon the river," descriptive of the appearance of a river when its bottom is bare and its banks stripped of verdure by long drought: so Vulgate.
**the brooks--**the river.
**mouth--**rather, "the sou...
Read full commentary →And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles , and all thy borders of pleasant stones.
View commentary (2 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.</strong> This verse continues the precious-stone building metaphor, detailing Jerusalem's glorious reconstruction. "Windows" (<em>shimshoth</em>, שִׁמְשֹׁת) or "pinnacles" of "agates" (<em>kadkod</em>, כַּדְכֹּד, possibly rubies or crystals); "gates" (<em>she'arayikh</em>, שְׁעָרַיִך...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8. fishers--**The Nile was famed for fish (Nu 11:5); many would be thrown out of employment by the failure of fishes.
**angle--**a hook. Used in the "brooks" or canals, as the "net" was in "the waters" of the river itself.
And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.</strong> This verse shifts from physical beauty (vv. 11-12) to spiritual blessing—education and peace. "All thy children taught of the LORD" (<em>kol-banayikh limude YHWH</em>, כָּל־בָּנַיִךְ לִמּוּדֵי יְהוָה) emphasizes universal, direct divine instruction. Not some elite but all covenant child...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **All thy children shall be taught of the Lord . . .**—More accurately, *shall be the disciples of Jehovah; *quoted by our Lord as fulfilled in His disciples (John 6:45).
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9. fine flax--**Gesenius, for "fine," translates, "combed"; fine "linen" was worn by the rich only (Lu 16:19). Egypt was famous for it (Ex 9:31; 1Ki 10:28; Pr 7:16; Eze 27:7). The processes of its manufacture are represented on the Egyptian tombs. Israel learned the art in Egypt (Ex 26:36). The cloth now found on the mummies was linen, as is shown by the microscope. Wilkinson mentions linen from...
Read full commentary →In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.</strong> This verse promises secure establishment based on righteousness (<em>tsedaqah</em>, צְדָקָה). "Established" (<em>tikonani</em>, תִּכּוֹנָנִי) suggests firm foundation, stability, permanence. The righteousness that establishes is ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **Thou shalt be far from oppression . . .**—On the assumption of Isaiah’s authorship the words stand out in contrast with his own experience of the “oppression” of Ahaz, of the “fear” and “terror” caused by Sargon and Sennacherib.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10. in the purposes--**rather, "the foundations," that is, "the nobles shall be broken" or brought low: so Is 3:1; Psa 11:3; compare Is 19:13, "The princes--the stay of the tribes. The Arabs call a prince "a pillar of the people" [Maurer]. "Their weaving-frames" [Horsley]. "Dykes" [Barnes].
**all that make sluices, &c.--**"makers of dams," made to confine the waters which overflow from the...
Read full commentary →Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.</strong> This verse acknowledges that enemies will still gather against God's people, but crucially qualifies: "not by me" (<em>lo me'itti</em>, לֹא מֵאִתִּי). God doesn't send these enemies; they act independently, even against His purposes. Yet the outcome is ce...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **But not by me . . .**—Another contrast with Isaiah’s experience. The power of Sargon and Sennacherib rested on the fact that they were instruments in God’s hands (Isaiah 10:15; Isaiah 37:26). Against the new Jerusalem no command would be given such as had been given to them.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11. Zoan--**The Greeks called it Tanis, a city of Lower Egypt, east of the Tanitic arms of the Nile, now San; it was one the Egyptian towns nearest to Palestine (Nu 13:22), the scene of Moses' miracles (Psa 78:12, 43). It, or else Memphis, was the capital under Sethos.
**I am ... son of the wise ... kings--**Ye have no advice to suggest to Pharaoh in the crisis, notwithstanding that ye boast o...
Read full commentary →Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work: and I have created the waster to destroy.</strong> This verse grounds God's sovereignty in creation: He made both the weaponsmith (<em>charash</em>, חָרָשׁ) who forges weapons and the "waster" (<em>mashchit</em>, מַשְׁחִית, destroyer) who wields them. The smith "bloweth ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) **Behold, I have created the smith . . .**—The words assert the same thought. The “axe,” the “hammer,” the “sword,” of the great ravagers of the earth are formed by the great Work-Master, and He would fashion no such weapon against the new Jerusalem.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**12. let them know--**that is, How is it that, with all their boast of knowing the future [Diodorus, 1.81], they do not know what Jehovah of hosts ...
No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
The promise 'No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper' doesn't guarantee no attacks, but guarantees ultimate victory over all opposition. The assurance 'every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn' promises vindication against accusers. The declaration 'This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD' establishes these promises as covenant inheritance for a...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **Every tongue that shall rise . . .**—The thought implied is that war comes as the punishment of guilt, and that it is preceded by the “cry” of accusation. Many such cries had risen up against the old Jerusalem (Isaiah 5:7). There should be none such heard against the new.
**This is the heritage.**—The solemn asseveration indicates the close of a distinct section.
**Ellicott's Commentary for...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13. Noph--**called also Moph; Greek, Memphis (Ho 9:6); on the western bank of the Nile, capital of Lower Egypt, second only to Thebes in all Egypt: residence of the kings, until the Ptolemies removed to Alexandria; the word means the "port of the good" [Plutarch]. The military caste probably ruled in it: "they also are deceived," in fancying their country secure from Assyrian invasion.
**stay ...
Read full commentary →