Click
here to show/hide instructions.
Instructions on how to use the page:
The commentary for the selected verse is is displayed below.
All commentary was produced against the King James, so the same verse from that translation may appear as well. Hovering your mouse over a commentary's scripture reference attempts to show those verses.
Use the browser's back button to return to the previous page.
Or you can also select a feature from the Just Verses menu appearing at the top of the page.
Selected Verse: Isaiah 44:23 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Isa 44:23 |
King James |
Sing, O ye heavens; for the LORD hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
Call to inanimate nature to praise God; for it also shall share in the coming deliverance from "the bondage of corruption" (Rom 8:20-21).
done it--effected redemption for both the literal and spiritual Israel.
lower parts, &c.--antithetical to "heavens"; "mountains," "forest," and "tree," are the intermediate objects in a descending gradation (see Psa 96:11-12). |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
Sing, O ye heavens - (see Isa 42:10). It is common in the sacred writings to call on the heavens, the earth, and all created things, to join in the praise of God on any great and glorious event (see Psa 96:1, Psa 96:11-12; Psa 148:1-14) The occasion of the joy here was the fact that God had redeemed his people - a fact, in the joy of which the heavens and earth were called to participate. An apostrophe such as the prophet here uses is common in all writings, where inanimate objects are addressed as having life, and as capable of sharing in the emotions of the speaker. Vitringa has endeavored to show that the various objects here enumerated are emblematic, and that by the heavens are meant the angels which are in heaven; by the lower parts of the earth, the more humble and obscure republics of the pagan; by the mountains, the greater and more mighty kingdoms; by the forest, and the trees, large and spacious cities, with their nobles. So Grotius also interprets the passage. But the passage is a highly-wrought expression of elevated feeling; the language of poetry, where the prophet calls on all objects to exult; - an apostrophe to the highest heavens and the lowest part of the earth - the mountains and the forests - the most sublime objects in nature - to exult in the fact that the Jewish people were delivered from their long and painful captivity, and restored again to their own land.
The Lord hath done it - Has delivered his people from their captivity in Babylon. There is, however, no impropriety in supposing that the eye of the prophet also rested on the glorious deliverance of his people by the Messiah; and that he regarded one event as emblematic of, and introductory to the other. The language used here will certainly appropriately express the feelings which should be manifested in view of the plan of redemption under the Messiah.
Shout, ye lower parts of the earth - The foundations of the earth; the parts remote from the high heavens. Let the highest and the lowest objects shout; the highest heavens, and the depths of the earth. The Septuagint renders it, Τὰ Θεμέλια τῆς γῆς Ta Themelia tēs gēs - 'The foundations of the earth.' So the Chaldee.
Ye mountains - So in Psa 148:9, Psa 148:13 : 'Mountains and all hills; fruitful trees and all cedars - let them praise the name of the Lord.'
O forest, and every tree therein - Referring either to Lebanon, as being the most magnificent forest known to the prophet; or to any forest as a great and sublime object. |
| The Scofield Bible Commentary, by Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, [1917] |
redeemed
Hebrew, "goel," Redemption (Kinsman type).
(See Scofield) - (Isa 59:20). |
| Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
There is already good ground, therefore, for exuberant rejoicing; and the reply of the church to these words of divine consolation is as follows: "Exult, O heavens; for Jehovah hath accomplished it: shout, ye depths of the earth; break out, ye mountains, into exulting; thou forest, and all the wood therein: for Jehovah hath redeemed Jacob, and He showeth Himself glorious upon Israel." All creation is to rejoice in the fact that Jehovah has completed what He purposed, that He has redeemed His people, and henceforth will show Himself glorious in them. The heavens on high are to exult; also the depths of the earth, i.e., not Hades, which would be opposed to the prevailing view of the Old Testament (Ps 66, cf., Psa 88:13), but the interior of the earth, with its caves, its pits, and its deep abysses (see Psa 139:15); and the mountains and woods which rise up from the earth towards heaven - all are to unite in the exultation of the redeemed: for the redemption that is being accomplished in man will extend its effects in all directions, even to the utmost limits of the natural world.
This exulting finale is a safe boundary-stone of this fifth prophecy. It opened with "Thus saith the Lord," and the sixth opens with the same. |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| Sing - By such invitations to the senseless creatures, he signifies the transcendent greatness of this mercy, sufficient to make even the stones, if it were possible, to break forth into God's praises. |
11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof.
12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice
20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
13 Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven.
9 Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars:
1 Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the LORD from the heavens: praise him in the heights.
2 Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.
3 Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.
4 Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.
5 Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created.
6 He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass.
7 Praise the LORD from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps:
8 Fire, and hail; snow, and vapour; stormy wind fulfilling his word:
9 Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars:
10 Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl:
11 Kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth:
12 Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children:
13 Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven.
14 He also exalteth the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints; even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye the LORD.
11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof.
12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice
1 O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth.
10 Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof.
20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.
15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
13 But unto thee have I cried, O LORD; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee.