Charles Ellicott Commentary Isaiah 48

Are come forth out of the waters of Judah. —The words limit the wider terms of Jacob and Israel to the Judæan exiles. For the phrase, compare ye that are of the fountains of Israel (Psalms 68:26). The ideal attributes of Israel, swearing by the name of Jehovah ... are emphasized in contrast with their actual state of hypocrisy and unrighteousness.

They call themselves of the holy city ... —The words of praise are spoken, as the preceding words show, with a touch of irony. Those who so boasted were not true citizens of Zion (Psalms 15:1; Matthew 3:9). They did not enter into all that was implied in their confession of Jehovah Sabaoth.

I have declared ... —Once more, for the seventh time, the prophet presses the fact of Divine foreknowledge, not, as before, against the “no-faith” of the Gentiles, but against the “little faith” of Judah.

Because I knew that you are obstinate ... —The point is that Jehovah foresees not only the conquests of Cyrus, but the obstinacy of His own people. In Egypt (Jeremiah 44) and in Babylon, as in the past, they were still a stiff-necked people, inclined (Isaiah 48:5) to ascribe their deliverance to another god, and to worship that god in the form of a graven image.

Thou hast heard ... —The appeal is to the conscience of the exiles. They had heard the prediction. They are urged to consider it all. Should they not declare the impression it had made on them?

I have shewed thee. —Better, I show you, as a present incipient act.

New things. —The “new things” are those that lie in a more distant future than the conquests of Cyrus, which are referred to as “former things.”