Chapter 51
51:1 Give ear to me, you that follow that which is just, and you that seek the Lord: look unto the rock whence you are hewn, and to the hole of the pit from which you are dug out.
51:2 Look unto Abraham your father, and to Sarah that bore you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and multiplied him.
51:3 The Lord therefore will comfort Zion, and will comfort all the ruins thereof: and he will make her desert as a place of pleasure, and her wilderness as the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of praise.
51:4 Hearken unto me, O my people, and give ear to me, O my tribes: for a law shall go forth from me, and my judgment shall rest to be a light of the nations.
51:5 My just one is near at hand, my savior is gone forth, and my arms shall judge the people: the islands shall look for me, and shall patiently wait for my arm.
51:6 Lift up your eyes to heaven, and look down to the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish like smoke, and the earth shall be worn away like a garment, and the inhabitants thereof shall perish in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my justice shall not fail.
51:7 Hearken to me, you that know what is just, my people who have my law in your heart: fear not the reproach of men, and be not afraid of their blasphemies.
51:8 For the worm shall eat them up as a garment: and the moth shall consume them as wool: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my justice from generation to generation.
51:9 Arise, arise, put on strength, O you arm of the Lord, arise as in the days of old, in the ancient generations. Hast not you struck the proud one, and wounded the dragon?
51:10 Hast not you dried up the sea, the water of the mighty deep, who made the depth of the sea a way, that the delivered might pass over?
51:11 And now they that are redeemed by the Lord, shall return, and shall come into Zion singing praises, and joy everlasting shall be upon their heads, they shall obtain joy and gladness, sorrow and mourning shall flee away.
51:12 I myself will comfort you: who are you, that you should be afraid of a mortal man, and of the son of man, who shall wither away like grass?
51:13 And you have forgotten the Lord your maker, who stretched out the heavens, and founded the earth: and you have been afraid continually all the day at the presence of his fury who afflicted you, and had prepared himself to destroy you: where is now the fury of the oppressor?
51:14 He shall quickly come that is going to open unto you, and he shall not kill unto utter destruction, neither shall his bread fail.
51:15 But I am the Lord your God, who trouble the sea, and the waves thereof swell: the Lord of hosts is my name.
51:16 I have put my words in your mouth, and have protected you in the shadow of my hand, that you might plant the heavens, and found the earth: and might say to Zion: you are my people.
51:17 Arise, arise, stand up, O Jerusalem, which have drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath; you have drunk even to the bottom of the cup of dead sleep, and you have drunk even to the dregs.
51:18 There is none that can uphold her among all the children that she has brought forth: and there is none that takes her by the hand among all the children that she has brought up.
51:19 There are two things that have happened to you: who shall be sorry for you? Desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword, who shall comfort you?
51:20 Your children are cast forth, they have slept at the head of all the ways, as the oryx that is snared: full of the indignation of the Lord, of the rebuke of your God.
51:21 Therefore hear this, you poor little one, and you that are drunk but not with wine.
51:22 Thus says your Sovereign the Lord, and your God, who has fought for his people: behold I have taken out of your hand the cup of dead sleep, the dregs of the cup of my indignation, you shall not drink it again any more.
51:23 And I will put it in the hand of them that have oppressed you, and have said to your soul: bow down, that we may go over: and you have laid your body as the ground, and as a way to them that went over.
921 . Give ear to me, you that follow . Here he excludes the second impediment to their liberation, which could be believed from the oppression and humiliation of the Jews. And this is divided into three parts:
in the first, the impediment of dejection from their fewness in number is excluded;
in the second, dejection from the power of their oppressors: hearken to me (Isa 51:7);
in the third, from the weight of their punishment: but I am the Lord your God, who trouble the sea (Isa 51:15).
922 . Concerning the first, he does three things.
First, he stirs up attention, setting out their fitness: you that follow , by good works, and you that seek , by right intention: the rich have wanted, and have suffered hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not be deprived of any good (Ps 33:11[34:10]).
Second, he excludes fear of fewness in number;
third, he sets out the firmness of the promise, lift up your eyes to heaven (Isa 51:6).
923 . Concerning the second, he does three things.
First, he gives an example: look unto the rock , namely, Abraham, because of his old age, whence you are hewn , as though violently, not according to the course of nature; and to the hole of the pit , namely, Sarah, to whom it had ceased to be after the manner of women (Gen 18:11): neither did he consider his own body, when it was already dead (Rom 4:19), in which is shown that God has power to make fertile; for I called him alone (cf. Gen 12:1): Abraham was one (Ezek 33:24).
924 . [Second,] he deduces the benefit of divine comfort: the Lord therefore will comfort , as to the rebuilding of cities, all the ruins : you are comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, in all things (Ezek 14:22); as to the cultivation of fields: and he will make her desert , that is, your land, which formerly was desert: their soul shall be as a watered garden (Jer 31:12); and as to the gladness of men: joy , above: you shall have a song (Isa 30:29).
925 . Third, he sets out the manner of execution: hearken unto me .
And first, he sets out the divine intention: a law , the precept of Cyrus concerning the liberation of the people; my judgment , promulgated from the justice of the Lord; to be a light , comfort, above: to them that dwelt in the region of the shadow of death, light is risen (Isa 9:2).
Second, he sets out the nearness of the judgment: my just one is near at hand , namely, Cyrus, or Christ; my savior is gone forth , already in my foreknowledge, above: I have brought my justice near (Isa 46:13).
Third, he sets out the usefulness of the judgment: arms , powerful men, by my power, Cyrus and Darius; the islands shall look for me , various peoples will hope in me, seeing the liberation of the people, above: he will set judgment in the earth (Isa 42:4).
926 . Lift up your eyes to heaven . Here he shows the firmness of the divine promise by comparison to the changing of creatures.
Hence he first sets out the changeableness of creation: the earth shall vanish , as to shape and as to substance (1 Cor 7:31); and the same thing is to be said concerning the others: in the beginning, O Lord, you founded the earth: and the heavens are the works of your hands (Ps 101:26[102:25]).
Second, the firmness of the divine promise: but my salvation shall be for ever , because I promise it, or because I will never lack, so as to not be prepared to save and do justice: heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away (Luke 21:33).
927 . Hearken to me . Here he excludes the impediment which could be feared from oppression, so far as pertains to the power of their oppressors. And concerning this, he does two things:
first, the consolation of the Lord is set out;
second, the discussion of the prophet: arise (Isa 51:9).
Concerning the first, he does four things.
First, he stirs up attention: you that know what is just , that is, the justice which I have revealed in my judgments: he has not done in like manner to every nation: and his judgments he has not made manifest to them (Ps 147:20); in your heart , in your understanding: let them not depart from your eyes, keep them in the midst of your heart (Prov 4:21).
Second, he excludes fear: fear not the reproach of men , who hold you in contempt, glorying in their own power: but I am a worm, and no man: the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people (Ps 21:7[22:6]).
Third, he shows their fragility: for the worm shall eat them up as a garment : who am as a garment that is moth-eaten (Job 13:28).
Fourth, the firmness of divine help: but my salvation shall be for ever , above: Israel is saved in the Lord with an eternal salvation (Isa 45:17 ) .
928 . Note on the words, he will make her desert as a place of pleasure (Isa 51:3), that the saints have twofold pleasures.
First, those of glory, which consist
first, in the full vision of God: then shall you abound in delights in the Almighty (Job 22:66);
second, in perfect love;
third, in abundant refreshment;
fourth, in eminent authority.
Second, those of grace, which consist
first, in the perception of divine light: night shall be my light in my pleasures (Ps 138:11);
second, in the intention or the solicitude for good works: he shall not much remember the days of his life (Eccl 5:19);
third, in the adornment of the virtues: how beautiful are you, and how comely, my dearest, in delights (Song 7:6);
fourth, in peace of heart, below: you will call the sabbath delightful (Isa 58:13).
929 . Arise . Here the discussion of the prophet with God is set out, as if to say: I have not contended that the enemies of the people are confounded or consumed otherwise than by divine strength.
Thus, first, the petition of the prophet is set out;
second, the response of the Lord: I myself (Isa 51:12).
930 . Concerning the first, he does two things.
First, he sets out his petition, in which he calls upon the arm of divine power: O you arm of the Lord , that is, the power of God, arise , as if from sleep: arise, why sleep you, O Lord? (Ps 43[44]:23); put on strength , like soldiers put on arms of war, to fight our enemies: the Lord is clothed with strength, and has girded himself with power (Ps 92[93]:1); and have you an arm like God? (Job 40:4). He also alleges a sign of divine strength in the killing of Pharaoh: have not you struck the proud one, and wounded the dragon? , Pharaoh, about whom it says in Ezekiel 29:3: behold, I come against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, you great dragon ; and in the division of the sea: have not you dried up the sea : by his power the seas are suddenly gathered together (Job 26:12).
931 . Second, he announces to his people that the Lord has heard his petition: and now , as it was when they came forth from Egypt, they that are redeemed , from captivity in Babylon: for the Lord will lead them back (Bar 4:23).
932 . I myself . Here is set out the response of the Lord speaking to the people.
And first, he promises comfort: I will comfort : blessed be the God and Father of our Lord , and below this, and the God of all comfort: who comforts us in all our tribulation (2 Cor 1:3–4).
933 . Second, he excludes fear of their enemies, setting out their fragility: who are you, that you should be afraid of a mortal man, and of the son of man, who shall wither away like grass , above: all flesh is grass, and all the glory thereof as the flower of the field (Isa 40:6); and the power of God protecting them: and you have forgotten the Lord your maker? You have forsaken the God that begot you, and have forgotten the Lord that created you (Deut 32:18); and the mockery of the enemy: where is now the fury of the oppressor? , Nabuchodonosor or Sennacherib: if your pride mount up even to heaven (Job 20:6).
934 . Third, he shows the order of comfort: he shall quickly come , namely, Cyrus, that is going to open , the prison for the captives, and he shall not kill you, like the other kings of the Chaldeans, neither shall the bread of his sustenance fail you, above: bread is given him (Isa 33:16), above: and I have given you for a covenant of my people (Isa 42:6).
935 . But I . Here he excludes the impediment which could be believed to come from their dejection as pertains to the magnitude of their punishment.
And first, he sets out the power of God strengthening them: I am the Lord your God, who trouble the sea , against various sinners sending tribulation against you: they know that the Lord is just, and has loved justice (Ps 10:8[11:7]).
Second, the authority granted to the prophet: I have put my words in your mouth , O Isaiah; that you might plant the heavens , that is, that you might foretell that the great of the people are to be planted, and found the earth , the lowly; or that you might plant , by your teachings.
Third, he promises liberation from punishments: arise ; and concerning this, he does two things:
first, he shows their past affliction;
second, he promises liberation.
936 . Concerning the first, he does three things.
First, he shows the sum of their punishment: you have drunk even to the bottom , as if to say, you have endured unto the last of your punishments; sleep , that is, death: in the hand of the Lord there is a cup of strong wine full of mixture (Ps 74:9[74:8]).
937 . Second, he excludes every human remedy, namely, of defense: there is none that can uphold her ; of liberation: there is none that takes her . Of compassion: there are two things ; in goods, desolation , the effect of which is famine; in persons, destruction , the end of which is the killing sword: such as are for the sword, to the sword (Jer 15:2); and of comfort, who shall comfort you? There is none to comfort her among all them that were dear to her (Lam 1:2); I saw the oppressions that are done under the sun, and the tears of the innocent, and they had no comforter (Eccl 4:1).
938 . Third, he shows the reason for this: your children are cast forth , from their land, they have slept at the head of all the ways , resting on the way, when they were led in captivity. As the oryx , “orix, oricis,” an unclean animal, the water mouse, or an animal that sleeps a lot, namely, the lira, or a certain bird which is in Africa; or “orix, origis,” a clean animal similar to a goat, about which, see Deuteronomy 14:5; according to the Septuagint: the beta , which is a certain plant that fades quickly in the heat of the sun, or a kind of common vegetable: her young children were dashed in pieces (Nah 3:10).
939 . Therefore . Here he promises liberation; and concerning this, he sets out two things:
first, their liberation: you that are drunk but not with wine , but with the bitterness of your punishments: he has filled me with bitterness, he has inebriated me with wormwood (Lam 3:15). Who has fought for his people , in their escape from Egypt: for the Lord will fight for you (Exod 14:14).
Second, the punishment of their enemies: and I will put it in the hand of them that have oppressed you, and have said to your soul: bow down , under our power, treating you so basely, as mud that is trod upon: your people, O Lord, they have brought low: and they have afflicted your inheritance (Ps 93[94]:5); behold they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup, shall certainly drink (Jer 49:12).