Albert Barnes Commentary Isaiah 43

But now - This expression shows that this chapter is connected with the preceding one. The sense is, “Though God has punished the nation, and shown them His displeasure (Isaiah 42:24–25), yet now He will have mercy, and will deliver them.”

That created you - The word ‘you’ is used here clearly in a collective sense, denoting the Jewish people. It is used because the names ‘Jacob’ and ‘Israel’ in the singular number are applied to the people. The word ‘created’ is used here to denote the idea that, as the special people of God, they owed their origin to Him, as the universe owed its origin to His creative power. It means that, as a people, their institutions, laws, customs, and privileges, and whatever they had that was valuable, were all to be traced to Him. The same word occurs in Isaiah 43:7, and again in Isaiah 43:15, I am Yahweh—the Creator of Israel, your king .

Fear not - This is to be understood as addressed to them when suffering the evils of the captivity of Babylon. Though they were captives and had suffered long, yet they had nothing to fear regarding their final extinction as a people. They would be redeemed from captivity and restored again to the land of their fathers. The argument here is that they were the chosen people of God, that He had organized them as His people for great and important purposes, and that those purposes must be accomplished. It would follow from that, that they must be redeemed from their captivity and be restored again to their land.

For I have redeemed you - The word גאל gā'al means properly “to redeem,” to ransom by means of a price, or a valuable consideration, as of captives taken in war; or to redeem a farm that was sold, by paying back the price. It is sometimes used, however, to denote deliverance from danger or bondage without specifying any price that was paid as a ransom. Thus the deliverance of the Jews from Egyptian bondage is sometimes spoken of as a redemption (Exodus 6:6; Exodus 15:13; Isaiah 29:22; Isaiah 44:23; Jeremiah 31:11; see the note at Isaiah 1:27). It is not improbable, however, that wherever redemption is spoken of in the Scriptures—even in the most general manner, denoting deliverance from danger, oppression, or captivity—the idea of a ransom is still retained in some form. This ransom could be a price paid, a valuable consideration, or something given in place of that which was redeemed, serving as a valuable consideration or a public reason for the deliverance.

Thus, in regard to the deliverance from Egypt—Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba are mentioned as the ransom (see the note at Isaiah 43:3); and similarly, in the deliverance from the captivity, Babylon was given in the place of the ransomed captives, or was destroyed in order that they might be redeemed. So in all notions of redemption; for example, God allowed the life of the great Redeemer to be taken, or caused Him to be put to death, in order that His chosen people might be saved.

I have called you by your name - ‘To call by name’ denotes intimacy of friendship. Here it means that God had particularly designated them to be His people. His call had not been general, addressed to the nations at large, but had been addressed to them in particular. Compare Exodus 31:2, where God says that He had designated ‘by name’ Bezaleel to the work of constructing the tabernacle.

You are mine - They were His because He had formed them as a people and had originated their institutions; because He had redeemed them, and because He had particularly designated them as His. The same thing may be said of His church now; and in a still more important sense, that church is His. He has organized it; He has appointed its special institutions; He has redeemed it with precious blood; and He has called His people by name and designated them as His own.

When you pass through the waters—This is a general promise and means that whenever and wherever they pass through water or fire, He would protect them. It had been true in their past history as a people, and the assurance is here given so that they might be comforted in view of the calamities which they were then suffering in Babylon. Fire and water are often used in the Scriptures to denote calamity—the latter because it overwhelms, the former because it consumes. See Psalm 69:1: The waters are come into my soul; also Psalm 73:10; Psalms 124:4–5; and Psalm 66:12: We went through fire and through water.

I will be with you—(Compare the note at Isaiah 41:10.)

And through the rivers—Also expressive of calamity and danger, like attempting to ford deep and rapid streams.

They shall not overflow you—As was the case with the Jordan when they crossed it under the guidance of Joshua, and a pathway was made for the armies of Israel.

When you walk through the fire—This is expressive of calamity and danger in general, like passing through fire. Yet it had a literal fulfillment in the case of the three pious Jews who were cast by Nebuchadnezzar into the burning furnace (Daniel 3:25, 27).

Neither shall the flame kindle upon you—It shall not only not consume you, but it shall not even burn or injure you .

The Chaldee Paraphrase refers this verse to the passage through the Red Sea and to the protection which God gave His people there. It is rendered, ‘In the beginning, when you passed through the Red Sea, My word was your aid. Pharaoh and Egypt, who were mighty like the waters of a river, were not able to prevail against you. And when you went among a people who were formidable like fire, they could not prevail against you, and the kingdoms which were strong like flame could not consume you.’

It is, however, to be understood rather as a promise pertaining to the future, though the language is mainly derived, undoubtedly, from God’s protecting them in their perils in former times.

For I am the Lord your God - This verse continues the statement of the reasons why He would protect them. He was Yahweh their God. He was not only the true God, but He was the God who had entered into a solemn covenant with them, and who would therefore protect and defend them.

The Holy One of Israel - It was one of His characteristics that He was the God of Israel. Other nations worshipped other gods. He was the God of Israel; and as it was presumed that a god would protect his own people, so He bound Himself to deliver them.

Your Saviour - This was another characteristic. He had saved them in days of peril; and He had assumed toward them the relation of a Saviour; and He would maintain that character.

I gave Egypt for your ransom - This is a very important passage regarding the meaning of the word ‘ransom.’ The word נתתי (nâthattı̂y) – ‘I gave’ – is rendered by Gesenius (Commentary on this passage), and by Noyes, in the future, ‘I will give.’ Gesenius supposes that it refers to the fact that the countries specified would be made desolate to effect the deliverance of the Jews. He observes that although Cyrus did not conquer them, it was done by his successors. In particular, he refers to the fact that Cambyses invaded and subdued Egypt (Herodotus iii. 15); and that he then entered into, and subdued Ethiopia and Meroe (Strabo xvii; Josephus, Antiquities ii. 10. 2).

But the word properly refers to past time, and the scope of the passage requires us to understand it as referring to past events. For God is giving a reason why His people might expect protection, and the reason here is that He had been their deliverer. His purpose to protect them was so fixed and determined that He had even brought ruin on nations more mighty and numerous than themselves, in order to effect their deliverance.

The argument is that if He had allowed Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba to be desolated and ruined instead of them, or to effect their deliverance, they had nothing to fear from Babylon or any other hostile nation. Instead, He would bring about their deliverance even at the expense of overthrowing the mightiest kingdoms.

The word rendered ‘ransom’ here is כפר (kôpher). It is derived from כפר (kâphar) – from which come the Latin cooperio; the Italian coprire; the French couvrir; the Norman coverer, and converer; and the English cover – and means literally to cover, to cover over, or to overlay with anything, such as pitch, as in Genesis 6:14.

Hence, it means to cover over sins; to overlook; to forgive; and hence, to make an expiation for sins, or to atone for transgression so that it may be forgiven (Genesis 32:21; Exodus 30:15; Leviticus 4:20; Leviticus 5:26; Leviticus 11:24; Leviticus 16:6; Psalms 65:4; Psalms 78:38; Proverbs 16:14; Jeremiah 18:25; Ezekiel 45:20; Daniel 9:24). The noun (כפר (kôpher)) means:

1. A village or hamlet, as providing a cover or shelter to the inhabitants (1 Samuel 6:18; compare the word כפר (kâphâr) in 1 Chronicles 27:25; Nehemiah 6:2; Song of Solomon 6:12).
2. Pitch, as a material for overlaying (Genesis 6:14).
3. The cypress flower, the alhenna of the Arabs, so called because the powder of the leaves was used to cover over or besmear the nails to produce the reddish color which women in the Orient regarded as an ornament (Simonis; Song of Solomon 1:14; Song of Solomon 4:13, margin).
4. A ransom; a price of redemption, or an expiation; so called because by it sins were covered over, concealed, or removed (Exodus 29:36; Exodus 30:10, 16). In such an expiation, that which was offered as the ransom was supposed to take the place of that for which the expiation was made, and this idea is distinctly retained in the versions of this passage.

Thus the Septuagint, Ἐποίησα ἄλλαγμά σου Αἴγυπτον, κ.τ.λ. (Epoiēsa allagma sou Aigupton, etc.) – ‘I made Egypt, etc., your ἄλλαγμα (allagma) – a commutation for you; a change for you; I put it in your place, and it was destroyed instead of you.’

So the Chaldee, ‘I gave the Egyptians as a commutation for you’ (חליפך (chălı̂ypâk)).

So the Syriac, ‘I gave Egypt in your place.’ The true interpretation, therefore, is that Egypt was regarded as having been given up to desolation and destruction instead of the Israelites.

One of them had to perish; and God chose that Egypt, though so much more mighty and powerful, should be reduced to desolation in order to deliver His people. They took their place and were destroyed instead of the Hebrews, so that they might be delivered from the bondage under which they groaned.

This may be used as a striking illustration of the atonement made for sin, when the Lord Jesus, the expiatory offering, was made to suffer in the stead – ἄλλαγμα (allagma) – of His people, and so that sinners might live.

And if God’s giving up the Egyptians to destruction – themselves so guilty and deserving of death – in order to save His people, was a proof of His love for them, how much greater is the demonstration of His love when He gives His own holy Son to the bitter pains of death on a cross, so that His church may be redeemed!

There has been much variety, as has already been intimated, in the interpretation of this passage, and regarding the time and events to which it refers.

It has, by many, been supposed to refer to the invasion by Sennacherib, who, when he was about to fall upon Jerusalem, turned his arms against the Egyptians and their allies, by which means Jerusalem was saved by devoting those nations to desolation. Vitringa explains it of Shalmaneser’s design upon the kingdom of Judah, after he had destroyed that of Samaria, from which he was diverted by carrying the war against the Egyptians, Cushites, and Sabeans. But of this, Lowth says, there is no clear proof in history.

Secker supposes that it refers to the fact that Cyrus overcame those nations, and that they were given to him for releasing the Jews. Lowth says, ‘Perhaps it may mean, generally, that God had often saved His people at the expense of other nations, whom He had, as it were, given up to destruction in their place.’

The exact historical facts in this case cannot be clearly established; and it is not surprising that many things of this nature should remain obscure due to the lack of historical information, which regarding those times is extremely deficient. In regard to Egypt, however, I think the case is clear.

Nothing is more evident than that the prophet refers to that great and wonderful fact – the commonplace illustration of the sacred writers – that the Egyptians were destroyed in order to effect the deliverance of the Jews, and were thus given as a ransom for them.

Ethiopia - Hebrew, ‘Cush.’ In regard to this country, see the note at Isaiah 18:1. It is not improbable that the prophet here refers to the facts mentioned in that chapter, and the destruction which it is there said would come upon that land.

And Seba - This was the name of a people descended from Cush (Genesis 10:7), and thus the name of the country they occupied. According to Josephus (Antiquities ii. 10. 2), it seems to have been Meroe, a province of Ethiopia, distinguished for its wealth and commerce, surrounded by the two arms or branches of the Nile.

Ruins of a metropolis of the same name still remain, not far from the town of Shandy (Keppel’s Travels in Nubia and Arabia, 1829). Meroe is a large island or peninsula in the north of Ethiopia, formed by the Nile and the Astaboras, which unites with the Nile.

It was probably anciently called Seba, and was conquered by Cambyses, the successor of Cyrus, and by him called Meroe, after his sister. That it was near to Ethiopia is apparent from the fact that it is mentioned in connection with it (Isaiah 45:14; Herodotus iii. 20). They would naturally ally themselves with the Ethiopians and share the same fate.

Since thou wast precious in my sight - This verse contains another reason why God would defend and deliver them. That reason was, that he had loved them as his people; and he was willing, therefore, that other people should be overcome in order that they might be saved.

Thou hast been honorable - This does not refer so much to their personal character, as to the fact that they had been honored by him with being the depository of the precious truths of his religion. It means that he had made them honorable by the favors bestowed on them; not that they were honorable in reference to their own personal character and worth.

Therefore will I give men for thee - As in the case of Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba (Isaiah 43:3). He would cause other nations to be destroyed, if it were necessary, in order to effect their deliverance, and to restore them to their own land. We learn here:

1. That nations and armies are in the hand of God, and at his disposal.
2. That his people are dear to his heart, and that it is his purpose to defend them.
3. That the revolutions among nations, the rise of one empire, and the fall of another, are often in order to promote the welfare of his church, to defend it in danger, and deliver it in time of calamity.
4. That his people should put the utmost confidence in God as being able to defend them, and as having formed a purpose to preserve and save them.

Expressions similar to those used in this verse occur frequently among the Arabians (see Rosenmuller in loc.).

For thy life - Margin, ‘Person.’ Hebrew, ‘For your soul;’ that is, on account of you; or in your place (see the notes at Isaiah 43:3).

Fear not—(see the note at Isaiah 41:10, Isaiah 41:14).

I will bring thy seed—Your children; your descendants. The sense is, I will re-collect my scattered people from all parts of the world. The passage appears to have been taken from Deuteronomy 30:3, where God promises to gather his people together again if they should be scattered among the nations and should then repent.

Vitringa understands this of the spiritual descendants of the Jews, or of those who should believe on the Messiah among the Gentiles, and who would become the people of God. But the more natural interpretation is to refer it to the Jews who were scattered abroad during the exile at Babylon, and as a promise to re-collect them again in their own land.

From the east ...—From all parts of the earth; from all lands where they were scattered. That they were driven to other places than Babylon on the invasion of their land by the Chaldeans is abundantly manifest in the historical records (Jeremiah 9:16; Ezekiel 5:12; Ezekiel 17:21; Amos 9:9; Zechariah 2:6).