John Gill Commentary Isaiah 60

Arise, shine
The Targum adds, "O Jerusalem"; and so the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions; and no doubt but the church of God is here addressed: and by what follows it seems to be the Jewish church, as distinct from the Gentiles, since they are said to come to it, the Jews, now converted, and brought into a church state; and who are called upon to arise out of their low dejected state and condition, in which they have long lain, and "shine": or to "awake", as some ^F16 render it, out of that sleep and lethargy they have been so long in, and to shine forth in the exercise of grace and discharge of duty: or to be "enlightened" ^F17 ; with the light of Christ and of the Gospel, now come to them; and to diffuse this light to others, to hold it forth in profession and conversation; see (Matthew 5:16)

for your light is come :
the Targum,

and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you ;
or the glorious Lord; he, whose glory is to be seen, as the glory of the only begotten, who is the brightness of his Father's glory, the sun of righteousness; who shall now, rise upon these, and, leave a glory upon them that shall be visible.

FOOTNOTES:

• F16: (yrwa) "expergiscere", Grotius.
• F17: (yrwa) "illuminare", Pagninus, Montanus Piscator.

For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross
darkness the people

Like that which covered the land of Egypt, when there was light in Goshen: and this may be meant either of the darkness of ignorance, idolatry, superstition, false doctrine, and false worship, that should cover the far greater part of the nations of the world, before this light and glory should break out, as it does at this day; some parts of it being covered with Pagan darkness, others with Mahometan darkness, and others with Papal darkness; and a very small spot it is where the light of the Gospel is, and that clear, but among a very few; for the most part it is not clear nor dark, it is not day nor night; and this is the evening time, in which, before long, it shall be light; see (Zechariah 14:6Zechariah 14:7) or else this may design the distress that the antichristian states will be in, when this light shall break forth; the kingdom of the beast will be full of darkness, distress, and confusion, (Revelation 16:10) :

but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon
thee :
as on the tabernacle of old, (Leviticus 9:23) to which the allusion is, (Isaiah 4:5) this shows that the light and glory of the Lord, in the preceding verse, design the Lord himself, and his gracious purpose, and the display of his glory in the Gospel now preached; and that it will be visible in the church, and taken notice of by others, and induce them, and even great personages, to come unto it, as follows: or "he shall be seen", or "appear", in "his glory upon thee"; so Ben Melech renders it, supposing that (b) "in", is wanting; and so the sense is, that Christ shall appear in the glory of his person and of his offices, and especially his kingly office; and in the glory of his grace and righteousness, in the ministration of his word among his people. The Jews ^F18 apply this to the first coming of Christ, which belongs to his spiritual reign.

FOOTNOTES:

• F18: T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 99. 1.

And the Gentiles shall come to your light
To the Gospel, preached in the midst of her; and to Christ, who is her light and into her church state, and partake of the prosperity and happiness of it. The Targum is, ``and nations shall walk in your light;'' and so in (Revelation 21:24) , where it is interpreted of the nations of them that are saved, truly regenerated and converted persons: and kings to the brightness of your rising ;
Christ, the sun of righteousness, will rise upon her; and this being the morning of the latter day glory, the church will rise as a bright morning star; and such be the evidence and lustre of Gospel truths and ordinances, that kings shall be enlightened by them, and come and join themselves unto her, and walk with her in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord. Some of this high rank and dignity have been called, and but a few; but in those times the instances will be many, even all kings shall serve and worship the Lord, (Psalms 72:11) .

Lift up your eyes round about, and see The Gentiles and kings coming to Christ and his church; the vast number of converts flocking from all parts of the world to join themselves to the church of Christ, and to behold the wonderful work of God among the Jews now converted. The Targum is, "lift up your eyes O Jerusalem, round about, and see all the children of the people of your captivity:"

all they gather themselves, and come to you : this seems to have respect not to the Gentiles, as before; but to the Jews themselves, who are scattered up and down in the world; but now, being in a wonderful manner converted, shall gather together in a body, and go up to Jerusalem, where a Christian church of them will be formed, and to which they will join themselves; or this may respect the kings, (Isaiah 60:2) :

your sons shall come from far ; such as are of the seed of Abraham, children of the Jews, and now born again, and so Zion's sons; these shall come from the furthest parts of the earth, where they are, and incorporate themselves with their brethren:

and your daughters shall be nursed at your side ; by the ministers of the word, and with the sincere milk of it, and the breasts of Gospel ordinances; see (1 Thessalonians 2:7) . The Targum is, "shall be carried at their sides" ^F19 : and the Septuagint and Arabic versions, on their shoulders; and so refers to the manner of their being brought, and not to their bringing up; see (Isaiah 49:22) , but the former sense is best. Ben Melech interprets it of their being nursed up at the side of great personages, kings and queens, according to (Isaiah 49:23) . The word "thy" is not in the original. It may be as well rendered "at their side," as is supplied by some ^F20 .

FOOTNOTES:

• F19: "Ad latus portabuntur", Vitringa.
• F20: (du le) "ad latus illorum", Gataker.

Then you shall see, and flow together
That is, when you see your sons and daughters flocking to you from all parts, there will be a flow of joy in you, like the stream of a river; or your heart will beat and flutter within you, through surprise and joy, when you see such a numerous company gathered to you. Some render it, "then you shall fear", as Aben Ezra ^F21 , or be surprised at the sight; and others the next clause, "you shall be enlightened" ^F23 ; that is, shall see, being enlightened, and shall increase in light and knowledge more and more; or "shine" ^F24 , in great splendour and glory:

and your heart shall fear, and be enlarged ;
shall fear the Lord and his goodness, and be enlarged with love to him, his truths and ordinances, and his people; and particularly shall be enlarged to receive in the most cordial manner those that flock to her: because the abundance of the Sea shall be converted to you :
by which some understand the riches of the sea, that which is got out of it, or got upon it, in trading by it, this shall be converted to the use of the church and people of God; but rather an abundance of seafaring men is here meant, who shall be converted at this time, in which the grace of God will the more appear, as they are generally a very wicked and profligate set of men; or the inhabitants of the islands of the sea, such as Great Britain and others; or the sea may intend the several nations of the world, as waters do many people, nations, and kindreds, (Revelation 17:15) and so it may denote a large abundance of converted persons everywhere, and more especially in the western parts of the world, in the European parts; since it is very common in Scripture to describe the western part of the world by the sea, the Mediterranean sea lying west of Judea.

The forces of the Gentiles shall come to you ;
or their armies, every army of them; the soldiery will be converted, as well as the seafaring men, who are for the most part also exceeding wicked; not only kings will become real Christians, but their armies will be so too, their generals, officers, and common soldiers; and when this is once the case, woe to the whore of Rome! these will hate her, and burn her flesh with fire; these are the seven angels that shall come out of the temple, the church of God, to whom they have joined themselves, with the vials of God's wrath, and shall pour them upon the antichristian states; see (Revelation 15:7) (16:1) (17:16) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F21: "Tum timebis", Vitringa.
• F23: (trhn) "iiluminaberis", Vatablus.
• F24: "Splendebis", Munster, Montanus, Calvin; "et lucebis", Cocceius, So Ben Melech interprets the word.