John Gill Commentary Isaiah 45

Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus
Cyrus is called the Lord's anointed, not because he was anointed with material oil, as the kings of Israel and Judah were; but because he was appointed by the Lord to be a king, and was qualified by him for that office; and was raised up by him to be an instrument of doing great things in the world, and particularly of delivering the Jews from their captivity, and restoring them to their own land:

whose right hand I have held ;
whom he raised up, supported, strengthened, guided, and directed to do what he did:

to subdue nations before him ;
which was accordingly done. Xenophon ^F25 relates, that he subdued the Syrians, Assyrians, Arabians, Cappadocians, both the countries of Phrygia, the Lydians, Carians, Phoenicians, and Babylonians; also the Bactrians, Indians, Cilicians, the Sacae, Paphlagonians, and Megadinians; likewise the Greeks that inhabit Asia, Cyprians and Egyptians. Herodotus ^F26 says, that he ruled over all Asia: all which the Lord subdued under him; for it was he that did it rather than Cyrus; it was he that clothed him with strength and courage, gave him skill in military affairs, and success and victory:

I will loose the loins of kings ;
as Croesus king of Lydia, and Belshazzar king of Babylon, by divesting them of their dignity, power, and government; and particularly this was true of the latter, when, by the handwriting on the wall, he was thrown into a panic; "and the joints of his loins were loosed", (Daniel 5:6),

"to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut"; the gates of cities and palaces wherever he came, which were opened to receive him as their conqueror and sovereign; this was very remarkably true of the gates of the palace of the king of Babylon, when the army of Cyrus by a stratagem had got into the city, and were come up to the king's palace, they found the gates shut; but a clamour and noise being made, the king ordered to see what was the matter; the gates being opened for that purpose, the soldiers of Cyrus rushed in to the king, and slew him ^F1 ; but, what is more remarkable, the gates of brass, which shut up the descents from the keys to the river, were left open that night Babylon was taken, while the inhabitants were feasting and revelling; which, had they been shut {b}, would have defeated the enterprise of Cyrus; but God in his providence ordered it to be so.

FOOTNOTES:

• F25: Cyropaedia, l. 1. p. 2.
• F26: Clio, sive l. 1. c. 130.
• F1: Cyropaedia, l. 7. c. 22, 23.

I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight , &c.] Or, "level the hilly places" ^F3 ; as pioneers do. The sense is, that he would remove all impediments and obstructions out of his way, and cause him to surmount all difficulties:

I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron ; with which the brazen gates were barred: in the wall that surrounded Babylon there were a hundred gates, all made of solid brass, twenty five on each side of the square; which, no doubt, are here referred to; which could not hinder the entrance of Cyrus into the city, and the taking of it;

though they were not then destroyed by him, but by Darius afterwards ^F4 these gates of brass are mentioned by Abydenus ^F5 , as made by Nebuchadnezzar, and as continuing till the empire of the Macedonians.

FOOTNOTES:

• F3: The Septuagint render the word by (orh) , mountains; Gussetius by eminences, high places, such as stood in the way of passage into countries. The Vulgate Latin interprets it of glorious persons; and Abendana says it is right to understand it in this way; and applies it to Zerubbabel, and those that went up with him to Jerusalem, with the leave of Cyrus, who were good men, and honourable in their works, whom the Lord directed in their way right, and prospered them in the building of the temple.
• F4: Herodot. l. 1. c. 179. l. 3. c. 159.
• F5: Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 41. p. 457.

And I will give you treasures of darkness, and hidden riches
of secret places
What had been laid up in private places, and had not seen the light for many years.

The Jewish Rabbins say ^F6, that Nebuchadnezzar having amassed together all the riches of the world, when he drew near his end, considered with himself to whom he should leave it; and being unwilling to leave it to Evilmerodach, he ordered ships of brass to be built, and filled them with it, and dug a place in Euphrates, and hid them in it, and turned the river upon them; and that day that Cyrus ordered the temple to be built, the Lord revealed them to him.

The riches of Croesus king of Lydia, taken by Cyrus, are meant; especially what he found in Babylon, which abounded in riches, (Jeremiah 51:13) . Pliny ^F7 says, when he conquered Asia, he brought away thirty four thousand pounds of gold, besides golden vessels, and five hundred thousand talents of silver, and the cup of Semiramis, which weighed fifteen talents.

Xenophon ^F8 makes mention of great riches and treasures which Cyrus received from Armenius, Gobryas, and Croesus.

that you may know that I the Lord, which call you by your name, am
the God of Israel ;
to call him by name two hundred years, or near it, before he was born, was a proof that he was God omniscient, and knew things before they were, and could call things that were not, as though they were; and this Cyrus was made acquainted with; for, as Josephus^F9 says, he read this prophecy in Isaiah concerning him; and all this being exactly fulfilled in him, obliged him to acknowledge him the Lord, to be the Lord God of heaven, and the Lord God of Israel, (Ezra 1:2Ezra 1:3) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F6: Vide Abendana in Miclol Yophi in Ioc.
• F7: Nat. Hist. l. 33. c. 3.
• F8: Cyropaedia, l. 3. c. 3. l. 5. c. 4. l. 7. c. 14.
• F9: says, he read this prophecy in Isaiah concerning him; and all this being exactly fulfilled in him, obliged him to acknowledge him the Lord, to be the Lord God of heaven, and the Lord God of Israel, (Ezra 1:2Ezra 1:3) .

For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even
called you by your name

Not so much for the sake of Cyrus, and to do honour to him, was it that he so long before he was born calledhim by his name; but to assure the people of the Jews, the Lord's chosen people, and who were his servants,of the certainty of their deliverance, their deliverer being mentioned by name; and it was for their sakes,and not his, that he called him, and raised him up to do such great things as he did, that he might deliverthem from their captivity:

and it is for the sake of God's elect, whom he has chosen to holiness andhappiness, to serve him, and be with him for ever, that he has called Christ, of whom Cyrus was a type, andsent him into the world, to be the Saviour and Redeemer of them:

I have surnamedyou ;
not only called him by his name, Cyrus, but surnamed him his "shepherd", and "his anointed", (Isaiah 44:28)(45:1):

though you have not known me ;
as yet not being born; and when he was, and was grown up, he was ignorant of the true God; and though, uponsight of the above prophecy, and under an immediate influence and impression, he acknowledged the God ofIsrael to be the God of heaven yet it does not appear that he left the Pagan idolatry; for Xenophon^F11

FOOTNOTES:

• F11: relates, that when he found his end was near, he took sacrifices, and offered them to Jupiter, and the sun, and the rest of the gods; and gave them thanks for the care they had taken of him; and prayed them to grant happiness to his wife, children, friends, and country.Cyropaedia, l. 8. c. 45.

I am the Lord, and there is none else Whom you, O Cyrus, for the words are directed to him, ought to own, serve, and worship: there is no God besides me; in heaven or earth, in any of the countries conquered by you, and you rule over; for though there were gods and lords many, so called, these were only nominal fictitious deities; not gods by nature, as he was; of which the following, as well as what is before said, is a proof.

I girded you, though you have not known me; the Lord girded him with a royal girdle, a symbol of kingly power; he made him king over many nations; he girded him with strength, courage, and valour for war; and made him so expeditious, successful, and victorious, as he was, though a Heathen prince, and ignorant of him, in order to answer some valuable ends of his own glory, and the good of his people, and particularly for what follows.