Charles Ellicott Commentary Isaiah 51
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Isaiah 51
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Isaiah 51
"Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek Jehovah: look unto the rock whence ye were hewn, and to the hold of the pit whence ye were digged." — Isaiah 51:1 (ASV)
Look unto the rock. —The implied argument is that the wonder involved in Israel's origin is a ground of faith in its restoration and perpetuity. The rock is, of course, Abraham; the pit, Sarah.
"Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you; for when he was but one I called him, and I blessed him, and made him many." — Isaiah 51:2 (ASV)
I called him alone. —Literally, as one. If so great a nation had sprung from one man (Hebrews 11:12), so would God out of the faithful remnant once more create a people. (Compare to Ezekiel 33:24, where the exiles are represented as boastfully inverting the argument: “Abraham was one, and we are many; therefore we shall prosper, the chances are in our favour.”)
"For Jehovah hath comforted Zion; he hath comforted all her waste places, and hath made her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Jehovah; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody." — Isaiah 51:3 (ASV)
He will make her wilderness like Eden. —Interesting as showing Isaiah’s acquaintance with Genesis 1–3. (Ezekiel 31:16; Ezekiel 36:35; Joel 2:3.) Paradise has already entered into the idea of future restoration (Revelation 2:7).
"Attend unto me, O my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall go forth from me, and I will establish my justice for a light of the peoples." — Isaiah 51:4 (ASV)
A law shall proceed. — “Law” and “judgment” include all forms of divine revelation, and especially the “glad tidings” which are the groundwork of the highest law (Romans 1:17).
"My righteousness is near, my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the peoples; the isles shall wait for me, and on mine arm shall they trust." — Isaiah 51:5 (ASV)
Mine arms shall judge the people. —Literally, the peoples, including Israel and the heathen. The work of judgment thus, as ever, comes first; after it the isles (i.e., far-off countries), as representing the heathen, shall be converted, and trust the very Arm that smote them.
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