Charles Ellicott Commentary Isaiah 45

To his anointed ... —The name is none other than the Messiah, the Christ, with which we are familiar. Here, and only here, it is applied to a heathen king.

It must be remembered that these words had not yet received the special application given to them in Daniel 9:26. They had previously been used for the theocratic kings, such as Saul (1 Samuel 26:9; 1 Samuel 26:11; 1 Samuel 26:16), for the house of David (2 Samuel 22:51; 2 Samuel 23:1), and even for the patriarch Abraham (Psalms 105:15).

What is meant, therefore, is that Cyrus, the future deliverer, would be as truly a king “by the grace of God” as David had been. He was not only, like Nebuchadnezzar, a servant of Jehovah (Jeremiah 27:6; Jeremiah 43:10), but also one fulfilling all his pleasure, whom He grasps by the right hand and guides.

I will loose the loins. —Literally, I will ungird, either as a general symbol of weakening, or specifically for disarming, as the sword was suspended from the girdle. The “two-leaved gates” are those of kingly palaces; the “gates,” those of cities, which will have to open to him. These words here, and in the next verse, may have been used with a special reference to the “hundred brazen gates” of Babylon (Herodotus 1.179).

Make the crooked places straight. — More accurately, make the dwelling-places smooth — that is, remove all obstacles (compare to Isaiah 40:4, Isaiah 42:16).

The treasures of darkness ... —The heaped-up wealth of “gold-abounding” Babylon. The capture of Sardis, with all the riches of Crœsus, must have been almost as fruitful in plunder. (Herod. i. 84). The conqueror was to see in his victories the token of the protection of Jehovah, and so accept his vocation as the redeemer of His people.

For Jacob my servant ... —The words “servant” and “elect” show that the prophet speaks of the ideal Israel, the true Ecclesia, rather than of the nation as such outwardly, though this also, as including the other, shared in the outward blessings of the election. Essentially, the words declare that the world’s history is ordered with a view to the true Ecclesia.

Called you by your name. —Either as predicting the actual name of Koresh, or as giving the titles of “Messiah” and “shepherd.” This descriptive title clearly refers to these.

Though you have not known me. —Better, when you did not know me, either as referring to a time prior to the recognition by Cyrus of Jehovah as the God of heaven (Ezra 1:1–2), or, possibly, prior to his birth (Jeremiah 1:5).

There is no God beside me. — Commonly, the formula is used in antithesis to polytheism. Possibly we may think of it here as in contrast with the dualism of Persia, or, if that is assigned to a later date, of Babylonia.

I girded thee. — The opposite of the “loosing,” or “ungirding,” of Isaiah 45:1, and so implying the idea of giving strength.