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Selected Verse: Isaiah 49:8 - Strong Concordance
Verse |
Translation |
Text |
Isa 49:8 |
Strong Concordance |
Thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068], In an acceptable [07522] time [06256] have I heard [06030] thee, and in a day [03117] of salvation [03444] have I helped [05826] thee: and I will preserve [05341] thee, and give [05414] thee for a covenant [01285] of the people [05971], to establish [06965] the earth [0776], to cause to inherit [05157] the desolate [08074] heritages [05159]; |
|
King James |
Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; |
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] |
Messiah is represented as having asked for the grace of God in behalf of sinners; this verse contains God the Father's favorable answer.
an acceptable time--"In a time of grace" [HENGSTENBERG]. A limited time (Isa 61:2; Co2 6:2). The time judged by God to be the best fitted for effecting the purposes of His grace by Messiah.
heard thee-- (Psa 2:8; Heb 5:7).
day of salvation--when "the fulness of time" (Gal 4:4) shall have come. The day of salvation is "to-day" (Heb 4:7).
helped--given Thee the help needed to enable Thee, as man, to accomplish man's salvation.
preserve--from the assaults and efforts of Satan, to divert Thee from Thy voluntary death to save man.
covenant of the people--(See on Isa 42:6). "The people," in the singular, is always applied exclusively to Israel.
establish the earth--rather, "to restore the land," namely, Canaan to Israel. Spiritually, the restoration of the Church (the spiritual Israel) to the heavenly land forfeited by man's sin is also included.
cause to inherit . . . desolate heritages--image from the desolate state of Judea during the Babylonish captivity. Spiritually, the Gentile world, a moral waste, shall become a garden of the Lord. Literally, Judea lying desolate for ages shall be possessed again by Israel (compare Isa 61:7, "in their land"). Jesus, the antitype of, and bearing the same name as Joshua (Heb 4:8), shall, like him, divide the land among its true heirs (Isa 54:3; Isa 61:4). |
Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
Thus saith the Lord - Still an address to the Messiah, and designed to give the assurance that he should extend the true religion, and repair the evils of sin on the earth. The Messiah is represented as having asked for the divine favor to attend his efforts, and this is the answer, and the assurance that his petition had not been offered in vain.
In an acceptable time - Hebrew, 'In a time of delight or will,' that is, a time when Yahweh was willing, or pleased to hear him. The word רצין râtsôn means properly delight, satisfaction, acceptance Pro 14:35; Isa 56:7; will, or pleasure Est 8:1; Psa 40:9; Dan 8:4-11; then also goodwill, favor, grace Pro 16:15; Pro 19:12. The Septuagint renders this, Καιρῷ δεκτῷ Kairō dektō - 'In an acceptable time.' So Jerome, Gesenius, and Hengstenberg render it, 'In a time of grace or mercy.' The main idea is plain, that Yahweh was well pleased to hear him when he called upon him, and would answer his prayers. In a time of favor; in a time that shall be adjudged to be the best fitted to the purposes of salvation, Yahweh will be pleased to exalt the Messiah to glory, and to make him the means of salvation to all mankind.
Have I heard thee - Have I heard thy petitions, and the desires of thy heart. The giving of the world to the Messiah is represented as in answer to his prayer in Psa 2:8 :
Ask of me, and I shall give time the pagan for thine inheritance,
And the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
And in a day of salvation - In a time when I am disposed to grant salvation; when the period for imparting salvation shall have arrived.
Have I helped thee - Have I imparted the assistance which is needful to accomplish the great purpose of salvation to the world. This passage is quoted by Paul in Co2 6:2, and is by him applied to the times of the Messiah. It means that the time would come, fixed by the purpose of God, which would be a period in which he would be disposed, that is, well pleased, to extend salvation to the world through the Messiah: and that in that time he would afford all the requisite aid and help by his grace, for the extension of the true religion among the nations.
I will preserve thee - That is, the cause of the Redeemer would be dear to the heart of God, and he would preserve that cause from being destroyed on the earth.
And give thee for a covenant of the people - The 'people' (עם 'âm) refers doubtless primarily to the Jews - the better portion of the Israelite people - the true Israel Rom 2:28-29. To them he was first sent, and his own personal work was with them (see the notes at Isa 49:6). On the meaning of the phrase 'for a covenant,' see the notes at Isa 42:6.
To establish the earth - Margin, as Hebrew, 'To raise up.' The language is derived from restoring the ruins of a land that has been overrun by an enemy, when the cities have been demolished, and the country laid waste. It is to be taken here in a spiritual sense, as meaning that the work of the Messiah would be like that which would be accomplished if a land lying waste should be restored to its former prosperity. In regard to the spiritual interests of the people, he would accomplish what would be accomplished if there should be such a restoration; that is, he would recover the true Israel from the ravages of sin, and would establish the church on a firm foundation.
To cause to inherit the desolate heritages - The image here is taken from the condition of the land of Israel during the Babylonian captivity. It was in ruins. The cities were all desolate. Such, spiritually, would be the condition of the nation when the Messiah should come; and his work would be like restoring the exiles to their own land, and causing them to re-enter on their former possessions. The one would be an appropriate emblem of the other; and the work of the Messiah would be like rebuilding dilapidated towns; restoring fertility to desolate fields; replanting vineyards and olive gardens; and diffusing smiling peace and plenty over a land that had been subjected to the ravages of fire and sword, and that had long been a scene of mournful desolation. |
The Scofield Bible Commentary, by Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, [1917] |
Verse Heading: Israel to be preserved and restored
The Lord Jesus and the believing remnant of Israel are here joined. What is said is true of both. |
Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
The next two vv. describe (though only with reference to Israel, the immediate circle) what is the glory of the vocation to which Jehovah, in accordance with His promise, exalts His chosen One. "Thus saith Jehovah, In a time of favour have I heard thee, and in the day of salvation have I helped thee: and I form thee, and set thee for a covenant of the people, to raise up the land, to apportion again desolate inheritances, saying to prisoners, Go ye out: to those who are in darkness, Come ye to the light." Jehovah heard His servant, and came to his help when he prayed to Him out of the condition of bondage to the world, which he shared with his people. He did it at the time for the active display of His good pleasure, and for the realizing of salvation, which had been foreseen by Him, and had now arrived. The futures which follow are to be taken as such. The fact that Jehovah makes His servant "a covenant of the people," i.e., the personal bond which unites Israel and its God in a new fellowship (see Isa 42:6), is the fruit of his being heard and helped. The infinitives with Lamed affirm in what way the new covenant relation will be made manifest. The land that has fallen into decay rises into prosperity again, and the desolate possessions return to their former owners. This manifestation of the covenant grace, that has been restored to the nation again, is effected through the medium of the servant of Jehovah. The rendering of the lxx is quite correct: τοῦ καταστῆσαι τὴν γῆν καὶ κληρονομῆσαι κληρονομίας ἐρήμους λέγοντα לאמר is a dicendo governed by both infinitives. The prisoners in the darkness of the prison and of affliction are the exiles (Isa 42:22). The mighty word of the servant of Jehovah brings to them the light of liberty, in connection with which (as has been already more than once observed) the fact should be noticed, that the redemption is viewed in connection with the termination of the captivity, and, in accordance with the peculiar character of the Old Testament, is regarded as possessing a national character, and therefore is purely external.
The person of the servant of Jehovah now falls into the background again, and the prophecy proceeds with a description of the return of the redeemed. "They shall feed by the ways, and there is pasture for them upon all field-hills. They shall not hunger nor thirst, and the mirage and sun shall not blind them: for He that hath mercy on them shall lead them, and guide them by bubbling water-springs. And I make all my mountains ways, and my roads are exalted. Behold these, they come from afar; and, behold, these from the north and from the sea; and these from the land of the Sinese." The people returning home are represented as a flock. By the roads that they take to their homes, they are able to obtain sufficient pasture, without being obliged to go a long way round in order to find a sufficient supply; and even upon bare sandy hills (Isa 41:18) there is pasture found for them. Nothing is wanting; even the shârâb (see Isa 35:7) and the sun do not hurt them, the former by deceiving and leading astray, the latter by wearying them with its oppressive heat: for He whose compassion has been excited by their long pining misery (Isa 41:17-20) is leading them, and bringing them along in comfort by bubbling springs of real and refreshing water (ינחל, as Petrarch once says of shepherds, Move la schira sua soavemente). Jehovah also makes all the mountains into roads for those who are returning home, and the paths of the desert are lifted up, as it were, into well-made roads (yerumūn, Ges. 47, Anm. 4). They are called my mountains and my highways (differently from Isa 14:25), because they are His creation; and therefore He is also able to change them, and now really does change them for the good of His people, who are returning to the land of their forefathers out of every quarter of the globe. Although in Psa 107:3 yâm (the sea) appears to stand for the south, as referring to the southern part of the Mediterranean, which washes the coast of Egypt, there is no ground at all in the present instance for regarding it as employed in any other than its usual sense, namely the west; mērâchōq (from far) is therefore either the south (cf., Isa 43:6) or the east, according to the interpretation that we give to 'erets Sı̄nı̄m, as signifying a land to the east or to the south.
The Phoenician Sinim (Ges. Isa 10:17), the inhabitants of a fortified town in the neighbourhood of Area, which has now disappeared, but which was seen not only by Jerome, but also by Mariono Sanuto (de castro Arachas ad dimidiam leucam est oppidum Sin), cannot be thought of, for the simple reason that this Sin was too near, and was situated to the west of Babylon and to the north of Jerusalem; whilst Sin (= Pelusium) in Egypt, to which Ewald refers, did not give its name to either a tribe or a land. Arias Montanus was among the first to suggest that the Sinim are the Sinese (Chinese); and since the question has been so thoroughly discussed by Gesenius (in his Commentary and Thesaursu), most of the commentators, and also such Orientalists as Langles (in his Recherches asiatiques), Movers (in his Phoenicians), Lassen (in his Indische Alterthumskunde, i. 856-7), have decided in favour of this opinion. The objection brought against the supposition, that the name of the Chinese was known to the nations of the west at so early a period as this, viz., that this could not have been the case till after the reign of the emperor Shi-hoang-ti, of the dynasty of Thsin, who restored the empire that had been broken up into seven smaller kingdoms (in the year 247 b.c.), and through whose celebrated reign the name of his dynasty came to be employed in the western nations as the name of China generally, is met by Lassen with the simple fact that the name occurs at a much earlier period than this, and in many different forms, as the name of smaller states into which the empire was broken up after the reign of Wu-wang (1122-1115 b.c.). "The name Θῖναι (Strabo), Σῖναι (Ptol.), Τζίνιτζα (Kosmas), says the Sinologist Neumann, did not obtain currency for the first time from the founder of the great dynasty of Tsin; but long before this, Tsin was the name of a feudal kingdom of some importance in Shen-si, one of the western provinces of the Sinese land, and Fei-tse, the first feudal king of Tsin, began to reign as early as 897 b.c." It is quite possible, therefore, that the prophet, whether he were Isaiah or any other, may have heard of the land of the Sinese in the far east, and this is all that we need assume; not that Sinese merchants visited the market of the world on the Euphrates (Movers and Lassen), but only that information concerning the strange people who were so wealthy in rare productions, had reached the remote parts of the East through the medium of commerce, possibly from Ophir, and through the Phoenicians. But Egli replies: "The seer on the streams of Babel certainly could not have described any exiles as returning home from China, if he had not known that some of his countrymen were pining there in misery, and I most positively affirm that this was not the case." What is here assumed - namely, that there must have been a Chinese diaspora in the prophet's own time - is overthrown by what has been already observed in Isa 11:11; and we may also see that it is to purely by accident that the land of the Sinese is given as the farthest point to the east, from my communications concerning the Jews of China in the History of the Post-biblical Poetry of the Jews (1836, pp. 58-62, cf., p. 21). I have not yet seen Sionnet's work, which has appeared since, viz., Essai sur les Juifs de la Chine et sur l'influence, qu'ils ont eue sur la litrature de ce vaste empire, avant l're chrtienne; but I have read the Mission of Enquiry to the Jews in China in the Jewish Intelligence, May 1851, where a facsimile of their thorah is given. The immigration took place from Persia (cf., ‛Elâm, Isa 11:11), at the latest, under the Han dynasty (205 b.c.-220 a.d.), and certainly before the Christian era. |
Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
The Lord - God the Father unto Christ. Heard thee - Though not so as to deliver thee from death; yet so as to crown thee with glory and honour. For a covenant - To be the Mediator and surety of that covenant, which is made between me and them. To establish - To establish truth and righteousness upon earth, and subdue those lusts and passions, which are the great disturbers of human society. Desolate heritages - That desolate places may be repaired and repossessed. That Christ may possess the Heathen, who were in a spiritual sense in a most desolate condition. |
4 And they shall build [01129] the old [05769] wastes [02723], they shall raise up [06965] the former [07223] desolations [08074], and they shall repair [02318] the waste [02721] cities [05892], the desolations [08074] of many [01755] generations [01755].
3 For thou shalt break forth [06555] on the right hand [03225] and on the left [08040]; and thy seed [02233] shall inherit [03423] the Gentiles [01471], and make the desolate [08074] cities [05892] to be inhabited [03427].
8 For [1063] if [1487] Jesus [2424] had given [2664] them [846] rest [2664], then would he [302] not [3756] afterward [3326] [5023] have spoken [2980] of [4012] another [243] day [2250].
7 For your shame [01322] ye shall have double [04932]; and for confusion [03639] they shall rejoice [07442] in their portion [02506]: therefore in their land [0776] they shall possess [03423] the double [04932]: everlasting [05769] joy [08057] shall be unto them.
6 I the LORD [03068] have called [07121] thee in righteousness [06664], and will hold [02388] thine hand [03027], and will keep [05341] thee, and give [05414] thee for a covenant [01285] of the people [05971], for a light [0216] of the Gentiles [01471];
7 Again [3825], he limiteth [3724] a certain [5100] day [2250], saying [3004] in [1722] David [1138], To day [4594], after [3326] so long [5118] a time [5550]; as [2531] it is said [2046], To day [4594] if [1437] ye will hear [191] his [846] voice [5456], harden [4645] not [3361] your [5216] hearts [2588].
4 But [1161] when [3753] the fulness [4138] of the time [5550] was come [2064], God [2316] sent forth [1821] his [846] Son [5207], made [1096] of [1537] a woman [1135], made [1096] under [5259] the law [3551],
7 Who [3739] in [1722] the days [2250] of his [846] flesh [4561], when he had offered up [4374] prayers [1162] and [5037] [2532] supplications [2428] with [3326] strong [2478] crying [2906] and [2532] tears [1144] unto [4314] him that was able [1410] to save [4982] him [846] from [1537] death [2288], and [2532] was heard [1522] in that [575] he feared [2124];
8 Ask [07592] of me, and I shall give [05414] thee the heathen [01471] for thine inheritance [05159], and the uttermost parts [0657] of the earth [0776] for thy possession [0272].
2 (For [1063] he saith [3004], I have heard [1873] thee [4675] in a time [2540] accepted [1184], and [2532] in [1722] the day [2250] of salvation [4991] have I succoured [997] thee [4671]: behold [2400], now [3568] is the accepted [2144] time [2540]; behold [2400], now [3568] is the day [2250] of salvation [4991].)
2 To proclaim [07121] the acceptable [07522] year [08141] of the LORD [03068], and the day [03117] of vengeance [05359] of our God [0430]; to comfort [05162] all that mourn [057];
6 I the LORD [03068] have called [07121] thee in righteousness [06664], and will hold [02388] thine hand [03027], and will keep [05341] thee, and give [05414] thee for a covenant [01285] of the people [05971], for a light [0216] of the Gentiles [01471];
6 And he said [0559], It is a light thing [07043] that thou shouldest be my servant [05650] to raise up [06965] the tribes [07626] of Jacob [03290], and to restore [07725] the preserved [05341] [05336] of Israel [03478]: I will also give [05414] thee for a light [0216] to the Gentiles [01471], that thou mayest be my salvation [03444] unto the end [07097] of the earth [0776].
28 For [1063] he is [2076] not [3756] a Jew [2453], which is one outwardly [1722] [5318]; neither [3761] is that circumcision [4061], which is outward [1722] [5318] in [1722] the flesh [4561]:
29 But [235] he is a Jew [2453], which is one inwardly [1722] [2927]; and [2532] circumcision [4061] is that of the heart [2588], in [1722] the spirit [4151], and not [3756] in the letter [1121]; whose [3739] praise [1868] is not [3756] of [1537] men [444], but [235] of [1537] God [2316].
2 (For [1063] he saith [3004], I have heard [1873] thee [4675] in a time [2540] accepted [1184], and [2532] in [1722] the day [2250] of salvation [4991] have I succoured [997] thee [4671]: behold [2400], now [3568] is the accepted [2144] time [2540]; behold [2400], now [3568] is the day [2250] of salvation [4991].)
8 Ask [07592] of me, and I shall give [05414] thee the heathen [01471] for thine inheritance [05159], and the uttermost parts [0657] of the earth [0776] for thy possession [0272].
12 The king's [04428] wrath [02197] is as the roaring [05099] of a lion [03715]; but his favour [07522] is as dew [02919] upon the grass [06212].
15 In the light [0216] of the king's [04428] countenance [06440] is life [02416]; and his favour [07522] is as a cloud [05645] of the latter rain [04456].
4 I saw [07200] the ram [0352] pushing [05055] westward [03220], and northward [06828], and southward [05045]; so that no beasts [02416] might stand [05975] before [06440] him, neither was there any that could deliver [05337] out of his hand [03027]; but he did [06213] according to his will [07522], and became great [01431].
5 And as I was considering [0995], behold, an he [05795] goat [06842] came [0935] from the west [04628] on the face [06440] of the whole earth [0776], and touched [05060] not the ground [0776]: and the goat [06842] had a notable [02380] horn [07161] between his eyes [05869].
6 And he came [0935] to the ram [0352] that had [01167] two horns [07161], which I had seen [07200] standing [05975] before [06440] the river [0180], and ran [07323] unto him in the fury [02534] of his power [03581].
7 And I saw [07200] him come [05060] close unto [0681] the ram [0352], and he was moved with choler [04843] against him, and smote [05221] the ram [0352], and brake [07665] his two [08147] horns [07161]: and there was no power [03581] in the ram [0352] to stand [05975] before [06440] him, but he cast him down [07993] to the ground [0776], and stamped [07429] upon him: and there was none that could deliver [05337] the ram [0352] out of his hand [03027].
8 Therefore the he [06842] goat [05795] waxed very [03966] great [01431]: and when he was strong [06105], the great [01419] horn [07161] was broken [07665]; and for it came up [05927] four [0702] notable ones [02380] toward the four [0702] winds [07307] of heaven [08064].
9 And out of one [0259] of them came forth [03318] a little [04704] horn [07161], which waxed exceeding [03499] great [01431], toward the south [05045], and toward the east [04217], and toward the pleasant [06643] land.
10 And it waxed great [01431], even to the host [06635] of heaven [08064]; and it cast down [05307] some of the host [06635] and of the stars [03556] to the ground [0776], and stamped [07429] upon them.
11 Yea, he magnified [01431] himself even to the prince [08269] of the host [06635], and by him the daily [08548] sacrifice was taken away [07311] [07311], and the place [04349] of his sanctuary [04720] was cast down [07993].
9 I have preached [01319] righteousness [06664] in the great [07227] congregation [06951]: lo, I have not refrained [03607] my lips [08193], O LORD [03068], thou knowest [03045].
1 On that day [03117] did the king [04428] Ahasuerus [0325] give [05414] the house [01004] of Haman [02001] the Jews [03064]' enemy [06887] unto Esther [0635] the queen [04436]. And Mordecai [04782] came [0935] before [06440] the king [04428]; for Esther [0635] had told [05046] what he was unto her.
7 Even them will I bring [0935] to my holy [06944] mountain [02022], and make them joyful [08055] in my house [01004] of prayer [08605]: their burnt offerings [05930] and their sacrifices [02077] shall be accepted [07522] upon mine altar [04196]; for mine house [01004] shall be called [07121] an house [01004] of prayer [08605] for all people [05971].
35 The king's [04428] favour [07522] is toward a wise [07919] servant [05650]: but his wrath [05678] is against him that causeth shame [0954].
11 And it shall come to pass in that day [03117], that the Lord [0136] shall set [03254] his hand [03027] again [03254] the second time [08145] to recover [07069] the remnant [07605] of his people [05971], which shall be left [07604], from Assyria [0804], and from Egypt [04714], and from Pathros [06624], and from Cush [03568], and from Elam [05867], and from Shinar [08152], and from Hamath [02574], and from the islands [0339] of the sea [03220].
11 And it shall come to pass in that day [03117], that the Lord [0136] shall set [03254] his hand [03027] again [03254] the second time [08145] to recover [07069] the remnant [07605] of his people [05971], which shall be left [07604], from Assyria [0804], and from Egypt [04714], and from Pathros [06624], and from Cush [03568], and from Elam [05867], and from Shinar [08152], and from Hamath [02574], and from the islands [0339] of the sea [03220].
17 And the light [0216] of Israel [03478] shall be for a fire [0784], and his Holy One [06918] for a flame [03852]: and it shall burn [01197] and devour [0398] his thorns [07898] and his briers [08068] in one [0259] day [03117];
6 I will say [0559] to the north [06828], Give up [05414]; and to the south [08486], Keep not back [03607]: bring [0935] my sons [01121] from far [07350], and my daughters [01323] from the ends [07097] of the earth [0776];
3 And gathered [06908] them out of the lands [0776], from the east [04217], and from the west [04628], from the north [06828], and from the south [03220].
25 That I will break [07665] the Assyrian [0804] in my land [0776], and upon my mountains [02022] tread him under foot [0947]: then shall his yoke [05923] depart [05493] from off them, and his burden [05448] depart [05493] from off their shoulders [07926].
17 When the poor [06041] and needy [034] seek [01245] water [04325], and there is none, and their tongue [03956] faileth [05405] for thirst [06772], I the LORD [03068] will hear [06030] them, I the God [0430] of Israel [03478] will not forsake [05800] them.
18 I will open [06605] rivers [05104] in high places [08205], and fountains [04599] in the midst [08432] of the valleys [01237]: I will make [07760] the wilderness [04057] a pool [098] of water [04325], and the dry [06723] land [0776] springs [04161] of water [04325].
19 I will plant [05414] in the wilderness [04057] the cedar [0730], the shittah tree [07848], and the myrtle [01918], and the oil [08081] tree [06086]; I will set [07760] in the desert [06160] the fir tree [01265], and the pine [08410], and the box tree [08391] together [03162]:
20 That they may see [07200], and know [03045], and consider [07760], and understand [07919] together [03162], that the hand [03027] of the LORD [03068] hath done [06213] this, and the Holy One [06918] of Israel [03478] hath created [01254] it.
7 And the parched ground [08273] shall become a pool [098], and the thirsty land [06774] springs [04002] of water [04325]: in the habitation [05116] of dragons [08577], where each lay [07258], shall be grass [02682] with reeds [07070] and rushes [01573].
18 I will open [06605] rivers [05104] in high places [08205], and fountains [04599] in the midst [08432] of the valleys [01237]: I will make [07760] the wilderness [04057] a pool [098] of water [04325], and the dry [06723] land [0776] springs [04161] of water [04325].
22 But this is a people [05971] robbed [0962] and spoiled [08154]; they are all of them snared [06351] in holes [02352] [0970], and they are hid [02244] in prison [03608] houses [01004]: they are for a prey [0957], and none delivereth [05337]; for a spoil [04933], and none saith [0559], Restore [07725].
6 I the LORD [03068] have called [07121] thee in righteousness [06664], and will hold [02388] thine hand [03027], and will keep [05341] thee, and give [05414] thee for a covenant [01285] of the people [05971], for a light [0216] of the Gentiles [01471];