John Gill Commentary Isaiah 49

Listen, O isles, unto me These are not the words of Cyrus, as Lyra mentions; nor of the Prophet Isaiah, as Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and other Jewish writers think; but of Christ, calling upon the inhabitants of the isles to hearken to him; by whom are meant the inhabitants of islands properly so called, as ours of Great Britain, and may be chiefly designed, being a place where the Gospel of Christ came early, and has been long; or all such that dwell in countries beyond the sea, it being usual with the Jews to call all such countries isles that were beyond sea to them; Christ is the great Prophet of his church, and is alone to be hearkened unto, and in all things, (Matthew 17:5) (Hebrews 3:7) : and hearken, you people, from far ; that were afar off from the land of Judea, as well as afar off from God and Christ, and the knowledge of him, and of righteousness and salvation by him; the Gentile nations are meant; see (Ephesians 2:12Ephesians 2:13) , for this is to be understood of kingdoms afar off, as the Targum paraphrases it; and not of distant and future things, to be accomplished hereafter, as Aben Ezra; taking this to be the subject they are required to hearken to, and not as descriptive of persons that are to hearken.

the Lord has called me from the womb ; to the office of a Mediator; to be Prophet, Priest, and King; to be the Saviour and Redeemer of men; he did not assume this to himself, but was called of God his Father, (Hebrews 5:4Hebrews 5:5Hebrews 5:10) , and that not only from the womb of his mother Mary, or as soon as he was conceived and born of her; but from the womb of eternity, from the womb of eternal purposes and decrees; for he was set forth, or foreordained in the purposes of God, to be the propitiation for sin; and was predestinated to be the Redeemer before the foundation of the world, even before he had a being in this world as man. So the Targum, ``the Lord, before I was, appointed me;'' he prepared a body for him, and appointed him to be his salvation. The Syriac version join, the words "from far" to this clause, as do the Septuagint and Arabic versions, contrary to the accents, and renders them, "of a long time the Lord has called me, from the womb"; even from eternity:

from the bowels of my mother has he made mention of my name ; Jarchi interprets this of Isaiah, whose name was fixed and given him by the Lord, while he was in his mother's bowels, signifying that he should prophesy of salvation and comfort; but it is much better to understand it of Christ, whose name Jesus, a Saviour, was made mention of by the Lord, while he was in his mother's womb, and before he was born, (Matthew 1:20Matthew 1:21) (Luke 1:31Luke 1:35) (Luke 2:10Luke 2:11) , for the words may be rendered, "before the womb, and before the bowels of my mother" ^F18 ; that is, before he was in them.

FOOTNOTES:

• F18: (yma yemm-Njbm) "ante uterum----ante viscera matris meae", h. e. "antequam essem in utero, et in visceribus matris meae", Vitringa.

And he has made my mouth like a sharp sword
Or, "he has put his words in my mouth as a sharp sword," as the Targum; namely, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, and is sharper than a twoedged sword, and is said to come out of the mouth of Christ, (Ephesians 6:17) (Hebrews 4:12) (Revelation 1:16), with which he pierces into and cuts the hearts of men, and lays open all their sin and unrighteousness, and cuts down the worst and best in men, and slays all his enemies; so his mouth was as a sharp sword in the days of his flesh, to inveigh against the sins and to refute the errors of the Scribes and Pharisees; as it will be, in the latter day, to smite the nations of the earth, (Revelation 19:15Revelation 19:21):

in the shadow of his hand has he hid me; in his counsels and purposes of old, and in his providence; "in the shadow of his power has he protected me," as the Targum; thus he hid, and protected him from Herod's cruelty in his infancy; and from the rage and malice of the Scribes and Pharisees, who sought often to lay hands on him, and take away his life before his time. The Jews talk very much of the Messiah's being hid under the throne of glory. Aben Ezra's remark, that the phrase, "he has hid me", answers to the scabbard of a sword, before mentioned, is not amiss:

and made me a polished shaft;
or, "choice arrow" ^F19; which being polished at the point, or well oiled, and shining, pierces the deeper, So the doctrines of Christ, the words of his mouth, are compared to bright and sharp arrows, which make cutting work, and give great pain where they come; as they sometimes do like arrows, swiftly, suddenly, and with great force and power, (Psalms 45:5). Kimchi observes, that he speaks of a sharp sword with respect to the Jews that were near, where a sword could reach them; and of a polished shaft or arrow with respect to the Gentiles afar off, which must be cast after them:

in his quiver has he hid me,
meaning his secret purposes, and his powerful protection, as before; which he compares to a quiver, a case in which arrows are put, because mention has been made of a polished shaft or arrow before.

FOOTNOTES:

• F19: (rwrb Ux) (belov eklekton) Sept. "sagittam electam", V. L. "telum electum", Cocceius; "sagittam nitidam vel electam", Vitringa.

And said unto me
Both in the everlasting council, and when he made a covenant with him in eternity; when he found him and anointed him, and laid help on him; and also when he brought him, his first begotten, into the world, at his incarnation: thou art my servant ;
of his choosing, appointing, calling, sending, bringing forth, and supporting; so he was as Mediator, especially in his estate of humiliation, when he appeared in the form of a servant, and came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and give his life a ransom for many; thereby to obtain redemption, which was the great work and service he was appointed to; which he readily undertook, and willingly and cheerfully engaged in, and diligently and faithfully performed; to whom justly belong the characters of an obedient, diligent, prudent, and faithful servant; in answering which he showed his regard to his Father's will, his love to his people, and his great humility and condescension.

O Israel ;
a name of Christ, and which properly belongs to him, being the antitype of Jacob or Israel; the Head and representative of the whole Israel of God; who was of Israel according to the flesh, and an Israelite indeed in a spiritual sense, and was only sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Israel is a name of the church, often given to it in this prophecy; Christ and his church, by virtue of the union between them, have the same names; as she is sometimes called by his names, Christ, and the Lord our righteousness, so he is here called by her name Israel, (1 Corinthians 12:12) (Jeremiah 23:6) (33:16).

in whom I will be glorified ;
this is Jehovah's end in all he does in nature or grace; and is what Christ had in view in working out our salvation; and all the divine perfections are glorified in it by him, the wisdom, power, faithfulness, holiness, justice, love, grace, and mercy of God. Some render the words actively, "in thee" or "in whom I will glory" ^F20 ; as his own Son, in whom he is well pleased, being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person; and in whom also all the seed of Israel glory, as well as are justified. Or, as others, Israel is he, of "whom by thee I will glory", or "glorify" ^F21 ; meaning, that it was the spiritual and mystical Israel, the church, whom he would save by his Son and servant, the Messiah, and bring to glory.

FOOTNOTES:

• F20: (rapta Kb rva) "in quo gloriabor", Munster, Tigurine version, De Dieu; "quia in te gloriabor", V. L.
• F21: "Israel est is de quo, per te gloriaturus sum", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "vel glorificaturus", Gal.

Then I said
The Messiah said, by way of objection, in a view of what treatment he should meet with, or when entered on his work, and which he found by experience, what follows: I have laboured in vain ;

This is not to be understood of the travail of his soul, or of his sufferings and death, which were not in vain, but issued in the redemption and salvation of his people; but of his ministry and miracles, and fatiguing journeys among the Jews; which, with respect to them, were in vain, as to their conversion and reformation; they rejecting the Messiah, slighting his doctrines and miracles, refusing to be gathered by him, being a faithless and perverse generation:

I have spent my strength for naught, and in vain ;
by frequent preaching and working of miracles, and travelling from place to place: the same thing is designed as before, repeated in other words, to express the certainty of it, to chew the ingratitude and wickedness of the people, and to utter the complaints of his mind:

yet surely my judgment is with the Lord ;
or is manifest before the Lord, as the Targum; the Lord knew that he had called him to his office; how prudently, diligently, and faithfully he had executed it; and what was his right and due, and which would be given him; and with this he corrects his former complaint, and makes himself easy, and quiets and satisfies his mind:

and my work with my God ;
or the reward of my works is before my God, as the Targum; and before himself also, (Isaiah 40:10) as his work was assigned him by the Lord, so his reward was promised him, and which he knew he should have; and having done his work, be asked for his reward, and had it, (John 17:4John 17:5) (Philippians 2:9Philippians 2:10) .

And now, says the Lord
Jehovah the Father, in confirmation of the call, office, and work of Christ, which he has declared, (Isaiah 49:1Isaiah 49:3) : that formed me from the womb to be his servant ;
who preordained him to this service before the world began, and prepared him for it from the womb of his mother Mary, by filling him with grace and wisdom and with the Spirit without measure; anointing him with the oil of gladness above his fellows, and so fitting him as man and Mediator for the preaching of the Gospel, and every other service he called him.

to bring Jacob again, to him ;
the lost sheep of the house of Israel, God's elect among the Jews, which were as straying sheep; or all his chosen people, whether Jews or Gentiles, which were scattered abroad, and were afar off from God, whom Christ was to bring back again, and bring nigh unto God, and did: though Israel be not gathered :
in general, only a remnant, according to the election of grace, the greater part refusing to be gathered ministerially by him; and the rulers not suffering the common people to attend on his ministry. (Matthew 23:37) .

It may be observed that there is a marginal reading of the Hebrew, different from the written text; instead of (al) , "not" it is (wl) , "to him"; and may be rendered thus, "and Israel shall be gathered unto him"; and then the sense entirely agrees with the preceding clause, with which the words are connected, and not with the following, as the accent "athnach" shows, thus; the Lord appointed and formed me to be his servant to bring back Jacob, and that Israel might be gathered to him; as all the Israel of God, all the elect of God were by the sufferings and death of Christ; see (Ephesians 1:10) .

The marginal reading, and the writing, may be both retained, as in some other places, thus, "and shall not Israel be gathered to him?" since he has formed me to bring back Jacob to him? verily he shall. The marginal reading is followed by the Targum, and the passage paraphrased thus,

``to return the house of Jacob to his service, and Israel shall be brought nigh, to his fear.'' And so it is by Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Kimchi, and by the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, and by Aquila.

"yet shall I be glorious" in the eyes of the Lord; or "I shall be glorious"; as he was at his baptism and transfiguration on the mount; by the wonderful things done in heaven and on earth at the time of his death, at his resurrection from the dead, his ascension to heaven, and exaltation at the right hand of God, far above all principalities and powers, angels, authorities, and powers, being subject to him; and by the ministration of the Gospel in the Gentile world, and particularly when he shall reign gloriously in the latter day, and in the New Jerusalem church state.

and my God shall be my strength ;
to keep up his spirits under all discouragements; to protect him from his enemies; to support him in his work as man; to carry him through it, and enable him completely to perform it, as he promised he would, and as he did, (Isaiah 49:8) (Psalms 89:21) (Psalms 80:17) .