Isaiah 49 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Isaiah 49

The Servant of the Lord

49:1   Listen to me, O coastlands,
    and give attention, you peoples from afar.
  The LORD called me from the womb,
    from the body of my mother he named my name.
2   He made my mouth like a sharp sword;
    in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
  he made me a polished arrow;
    in his quiver he hid me away.
3   And he said to me, “You are my servant,
    Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”¹
4   But I said, “I have labored in vain;
    I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
  yet surely my right is with the LORD,
    and my recompense with my God.”
5   And now the LORD says,
    he who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
  to bring Jacob back to him;
    and that Israel might be gathered to him—
  for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD,
    and my God has become my strength—
6   he says:
  “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
    to raise up the tribes of Jacob
    and to bring back the preserved of Israel;
  I will make you as a light for the nations,
    that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
7   Thus says the LORD,
    the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
  to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation,
    the servant of rulers:
  “Kings shall see and arise;
    princes, and they shall prostrate themselves;
  because of the LORD, who is faithful,
    the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

The Restoration of Israel

8   Thus says the LORD:
  “In a time of favor I have answered you;
    in a day of salvation I have helped you;
  I will keep you and give you
    as a covenant to the people,
  to establish the land,
    to apportion the desolate heritages,
9   saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’
    to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’
  They shall feed along the ways;
    on all bare heights shall be their pasture;
10   they shall not hunger or thirst,
    neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them,
  for he who has pity on them will lead them,
    and by springs of water will guide them.
11   And I will make all my mountains a road,
    and my highways shall be raised up.
12   Behold, these shall come from afar,
    and behold, these from the north and from the west,²
    and these from the land of Syene.”³
13   Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
    break forth, O mountains, into singing!
  For the LORD has comforted his people
    and will have compassion on his afflicted.
14   But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me;
    my Lord has forgotten me.”
15   “Can a woman forget her nursing child,
    that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
  Even these may forget,
    yet I will not forget you.
16   Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
    your walls are continually before me.
17   Your builders make haste;⁴
    your destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from you.
18   Lift up your eyes around and see;
    they all gather, they come to you.
  As I live, declares the LORD,
    you shall put them all on as an ornament;
    you shall bind them on as a bride does.
19   “Surely your waste and your desolate places
    and your devastated land—
  surely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants,
    and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
20   The children of your bereavement
    will yet say in your ears:
  ‘The place is too narrow for me;
    make room for me to dwell in.’
21   Then you will say in your heart:
    ‘Who has borne me these?
  I was bereaved and barren,
    exiled and put away,
    but who has brought up these?
  Behold, I was left alone;
    from where have these come?’”
22   Thus says the Lord GOD:
  “Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations,
    and raise my signal to the peoples;
  and they shall bring your sons in their arms,⁵
    and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.
23   Kings shall be your foster fathers,
    and their queens your nursing mothers.
  With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you,
    and lick the dust of your feet.
  Then you will know that I am the LORD;
    those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.”
24   Can the prey be taken from the mighty,
    or the captives of a tyrant⁶ be rescued?
25   For thus says the LORD:
  “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken,
    and the prey of the tyrant be rescued,
  for I will contend with those who contend with you,
    and I will save your children.
26   I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,
    and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine.
  Then all flesh shall know
    that I am the LORD your Savior,
    and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

Footnotes

[1] 49:3 Or I will display my beauty
[2] 49:12 Hebrew from the sea
[3] 49:12 Dead Sea Scroll; Masoretic Text Sinim
[4] 49:17 Dead Sea Scroll; Masoretic Text Your children make haste
[5] 49:22 Hebrew in their bosom
[6] 49:24 Dead Sea Scroll, Syriac, Vulgate (see also verse 25); Masoretic Text of a righteous man

Commentary

Chapters 49-57 are about the servant of God, the light to the Gentiles. Initially this was Israel, but later Christ, fulfilling these prophecies.

v1: Islands, distant nations, coastlands, Gentiles; the servant of God was called and chosen before his birth to be a witness.

v2: The powerful word, Heb 4.12, piercing even to the heart; he was to be effective in his ministry. Israel was called to be the servant, even the prophet, of God. This role was perfectly fulfilled in Christ. For us, who are "in Christ," we continue His work to declare the word of God to all nations.

v3: The original plan of God, that Israel be His servant, displaying His splendour, the light to the Gentiles.

v4: Israel's disappointment, the apparent lack of fruit; yet God remains faithful, and will bring His reward. God sees fruit that we do not see. This verse indicates a national grief at having not fulfilled God's call.

v5-6: The words of Christ, God's 'new' servant, and His greater work; to restore Jacob and to be the light to the Gentiles. These words foretell the church age, but not the church itself, see Eph 3.9-11; the as yet hidden purpose of God, now made manifest in the church.

v7: The servant is despised, the chief cornerstone rejected by men, and abhorred by the nation of Israel. Yet there is the promise of God that all nations will submit to Him.

v8-13: The restoration of Israel, and creation rejoices as a result. The picture here is of many journeying to Zion, with constant refreshment (v9-10). v8 is quoted in 2 Cor 6.2; the day of salvation is today, the blessings of God are not unreachable, but immediate.

Many will come from afar, declares the prophet, again looking forward to the day when the Spirit of God is poured out on all flesh, and the gospel goes out to all nations.

v14: Zion's attempt to justify his own unfaithfulness, accusing the Lord Himself of unfaithfulness. The Lord answers, v15-18.

v15: Tender concern and mercy; He does not forget His own, nor will He forsake those to whom He is committed. Whilst God is addressed as 'He,' there is a 'feminine' aspect to His character, as the nursing mother of His people, whose compassion never fails. The commitment to bringing in people of all nations cannot negate the blessing upon His own people.

v16: Engraved, inscribed; a permanent remembrance.

v17: Those who had destroyed, or tried to destroy Israel, will depart.

v18: The promise of future riches.

The prophet describes other nations are Israel's sons.

v19-21: More children; future blessing on the world through Israel; protection from enemies, numerical growth, the barren becoming fruitful.

v22-23: Israel will become the chief nation, honoured by all.

v24: These words may be Israel's amazed response to God's words. If the nation will be taken into captivity, dispersed among many nations, how can there be a regathering? Yet God's words will be fulfilled.

v25-26: The intervention of the Lord on behalf of Israel. Israel had been taken captive, had become the prey of a powerful nation; but the Lord would surely deliver, 1 Sam 17.35,37. There will also be a testimony to the world, as those who oppressed Israel will publicly suffer.