Albert Barnes Commentary Isaiah 50

Thus says the Lord – This was addressed to the Jews in Babylon, who were suffering under his hand. They might have been inclined to complain that God had treated them with as much caprice and cruelty as a man did his wife when he gave her a certificate of divorce and sent her away without any just cause.

Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement? God here speaks of himself as the husband of his people, having married the church to himself, denoting the tender affection he had for his people. This figure is frequently used in the Bible. Thus in Isaiah 62:5: ‘As the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee;’ ‘For thy Maker is thy husband’ (Isaiah 54:5); ‘Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord, for I am married unto you’ (Jeremiah 3:14). Thus in Revelation 21:9, the church is called ‘the bride, the Lamb’s wife.’ (Compare to Ezekiel 16): See Lowth on Hebrew poetry, Lec. xxxi.

The phrase ‘bill of divorcement’ refers to the written document or instrument that a husband was legally obliged to give his wife when he chose to send her away. Moses probably found this custom of divorce already existing among the Jews and in surrounding nations. Since it was difficult, if not impossible, to remove it at once, he permitted it because of the hardness of the Jews’ hearts (Deuteronomy 24:1).

It probably originated from the erroneous views that then prevailed about the nature of the marriage compact. It was widely regarded as substantially like any other compact, where the wife was purchased from her father. Consequently, because she had been purchased, the husband claimed the right to dismiss her whenever he pleased. Moses nowhere defines the causes for which a man might send away his wife but left these to be judged by the people themselves. However, he regulated the way it could be done. He ordained a law designed to act as a significant check on the husband's hasty feelings, caprice, and passions.

He intended that, if this right were exercised, it should not be a matter of mere excited feeling for the husband; instead, he should take time to deliberate on it. Therefore, he ordained that in all cases a formal written document should be executed, releasing the wife from the marriage bond and leaving her free to follow her own inclinations regarding future marriages (Deuteronomy 24:2).

It is evident that this would work significantly in the wife's favor, and in checking and restraining the husband's excited passions (see Jahn’s Bib. Antiq. Section 160; Michaelis’ Commentary on the Laws of Moses, vol. i. pp. 450-478; ii. 127-40. Ed. Lond. 1814, 8vo.).

In the passage before us, God says that he had not rejected his people. He had not been governed by the caprice, sudden passion, or cruelty that husbands often showed. There was a just cause for why he had treated them as he had, and he did not regard them as the children of a divorced wife. The phrase ‘your mother’ here is used to denote the ancestry from whom they were descended. They were not regarded as the children of a disgraced mother.

Or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Among the Hebrews, a father had the right, by the Law of Moses, if he was oppressed with debt, to sell his children (Exodus 21:7; Nehemiah 5:5). Similarly, if a man had stolen anything and had nothing to make restitution, he could be sold for the theft (Exodus 22:3). Also, if a man was poor and unable to pay his debts, he could be sold (Leviticus 25:39; 2 Kings 4:1; Matthew 18:25). On the subject of slavery among the Hebrews and the Mosaic laws regarding it, see Michaelis’ Commentary on the Laws of Moses, vol. ii. pp. 155 and following.

In this passage, God says that he had not been governed by any such motives in his dealings with his people.

He had not dealt with them as a poor parent sometimes felt compelled to do when selling his children, or as a creditor did when a man was unable to pay him. He had been governed by different motives and had punished them only because of their transgressions.

Ye have sold yourselves – That is, you have gone into captivity only because of your sins. It has been your own act, and you have thus become slaves to a foreign power only by your own choice.

Is your mother put away? – This retains the figure of speech concerning divorce. The nation has been rejected and allowed to go into exile only because of its transgressions.

Why, when I came, was there no one? - That is, when I came to call you to repentance, why was there no one from the nation to yield obedience? The sense is that they had not been punished without warning. He had called them to repentance, but no one heard His voice. The Chaldee renders this, ‘Why did I send my prophets, and they did not turn? They prophesied, but they did not pay attention.’

When I called, was there no one to answer? - No one obeyed or regarded My voice. It was not, therefore, His fault that they had been punished, but it was because they did not listen to the messengers whom He had sent to them.

Is My hand shortened at all? - The meaning of this is that it was not because God was unable to save that they had been punished in this way. The hand, in the Scriptures, is an emblem of strength, as it is the instrument by which we accomplish our purposes. To shorten the hand, that is, to cut it off, is an emblem of diminishing or destroying our ability to execute any purpose . So in Numbers 11:23: Is the LORD’s hand waxed short?

That it cannot redeem? - That it cannot rescue or deliver you. The idea is that it was not because He was less able to save them than He had been in former times that they were sold into captivity and sighed in bondage.

Behold, at My rebuke - At My chiding—as a father rebukes a disobedient child, or as a man would rebuke an excited multitude. Similar language is used of the Savior when He stilled the tempest on the Sea of Gennesaret: Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm (Matthew 8:26).

The reference here is undoubtedly to the fact that God dried up the Red Sea or made a way for the children of Israel to pass through it. The idea is that He who had power to perform such a stupendous miracle as that also had power to deliver His people at any time. Therefore, it was for no lack of power in Him that the Jews were suffering in exile.

I make the rivers a wilderness - I dry up streams at will and have power even to make the beds of rivers, and all the country watered by them, a pathless and unfruitful desert.

Their fish stink - The waters leave them, and the fish die and putrefy. It is not uncommon in the East for large streams and even rivers to be dried up in this way by the intense heat of the sun and by being lost in the sand.

Thus the river Barrady, which flows through the fertile plain on which Damascus is situated and which is divided into innumerable streams and canals to water the city and the gardens adjacent to it, after flowing a short distance from the city is wholly lost—partly absorbed in the sands and partly dried up by the intense rays of the sun (see Jones’ ‘Excursions to Jerusalem, Egypt, etc.’). The idea here is that it was God who had power to dry up those streams, and He who could do that could save and vindicate His people.

I clothe the heavens with blackness — With the dark clouds of a tempest, perhaps with an allusion to the remarkable clouds and tempests that encircled the brow of Sinai when he gave the law. Or possibly alluding to the thick darkness which he brought over the land of Egypt (Exodus 10:21; Grotius). In the previous verse, he had stated what he did on the earth, and referred to the exhibitions of his great power there. He here refers to the exhibition of his power in the sky; and the argument is, that he who had thus the power to spread darkness over the face of the sky, had power also to deliver his people.

I make sackcloth their covering — Alluding to the clouds. Sackcloth was a coarse and dark cloth which was usually worn as an emblem of mourning (see the note at Isaiah 3:24). The same image is used in Revelation 6:12: And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair. To say, therefore, that the heavens were clothed with sackcloth, is one of the most striking and impressive figures which can be conceived.

The Lord God has given me - This verse begins a new subject, and the deliverer is directly introduced as speaking himself. The reasons why this is supposed to refer to the Messiah were given in the analysis of the chapter. Those reasons will be strengthened by the examination of the particular expressions in the passage, and by showing, as we proceed in the exposition, in what way they are applicable to him. It will be assumed that the reference is to the Messiah; and we will find that it is a most beautiful description of his character, and of some of the principal events of his life.

This verse is designed to state how he was suited for the special work to which he was called. The whole endowment is traced to Yahweh. It was he who had called him; he who had given him the tongue of the learned, and he who had carefully and attentively qualified him for his work.

The tongue of the learned - Hebrew, ‘The tongue of those who are instructed;’ that is, of the eloquent; or the tongue of instruction (παιδείας paideias — Septuagint); that is, he has qualified me to instruct others. It does not mean human science or learning; nor does it mean that any other had been qualified as he was, or that there were any others who were learned like him. But it means that on the subject of religion he was eminently endowed with intelligence, and with eloquence. In regard to the Redeemer’s power of instruction, the discourses which he delivered, as recorded in the New Testament, and especially his sermon on the mount, may be referred to. None on the subject of religion ever spoke like him; none was ever so well qualified to instruct mankind .

That I should know how to speak a word in season - The Hebrew here is, ‘That I might know how to strengthen with a word the weary;’ that is, that he might sustain, comfort, and refresh them by his promises and his counsels. How eminently he was suited to alleviate those who were heavy laden with sin and to comfort those who were burdened with calamities and trials, may be seen by the slightest reference to the New Testament, and the most partial acquaintance with his instructions and his life. The weary here are those who are burdened with a sense of guilt; who feel that they have no strength to bear up under the mighty load, and who therefore seek relief .

He wakens morning by morning - That is, he wakens me every morning early. The language is taken from an instructor who awakens his pupils early, so that they may receive instruction. The idea is, that the Redeemer would be eminently endowed, under the divine instruction and guidance, for his work. He would be one who was, so to speak, in the school of God; and who would be qualified to impart instruction to others.

He wakens my ear - To awaken the ear is to prepare one to receive instruction. The expressions, to open the ear, to uncover the ear, to awaken the ear, often occur in the Scriptures, in the sense of preparing to receive instruction, or of disposing to receive divine communications. The sense here is plain. The Messiah would be taught of God, and would be inclined to receive all that he imparted.

To hear as the learned - Many translate the phrase here ‘as disciples,’ that is, as those who are learning. So Lowth; ‘With the attention of a learner.’ So Noyes; ‘In the manner of a disciple.’ The Septuagint renders it, ‘He has given me an ear to hear.’ The idea is, probably, that he was attentive as they are who wish to learn; that is, as docile disciples.

The figure is taken from a master who in the morning summons his pupils around him, and imparts instruction to them. And the doctrine which is taught is, that the Messiah would be eminently qualified, by divine teaching, to be the instructor of mankind. The Chaldee paraphrases this, ‘Morning by morning, he anticipates (the dawn), that he may send his prophets, if perhaps they may open the ears of sinners, and receive instruction.’

The Lord God has opened my ear — This is another expression denoting that he was attentive to the import of the divine commission .

And I was not rebellious — I willingly undertook the task of communicating the divine will to mankind. The statement here is in accordance with all that is said of the Messiah, that he was willing to come and do the will of God, and that whatever trials the work involved he was prepared to meet them .