Charles Ellicott Commentary Isaiah 45:1

"Thus saith Jehovah to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him, and I will loose the loins of kings; to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut:" — Isaiah 45:1 (ASV)

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).