PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible — Isaiah
Gill, John, 1697-1771 · 475,677 words · 701 reading sections
Isaiah 51:8
Isaiah 51:8 Ver. 8. For the moth shall eat them up like a garment,.... Either these reproaches, or the persons that reproach; as a garment is eaten by the moth, secretly, slowly, surely, and at last completely, so that it becomes utterly good for nothing; so secret, gradual, sure and certain, complete and perfect, wil…
329 wordsSECTION 542Isaiah 51:9
Isaiah 51:9 Ver. 9. Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord,.... The Septuagint and Arabic versions take the words to be an address to Jerusalem; and the Syriac version to Zion, as in Isa 51:17, but wrongly: they are, as Jarchi says, a prayer of the prophet, or it may be rather of the church represented by hi…
5,160 wordsSECTION 543Isaiah 52:1
Isaiah 52:1 INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 52 This chapter is a prophecy of the glorious state of the church in the latter day, typified by the deliverance of the Jews from Babylon. The church, under the names of Zion and Jerusalem, is exhorted to awake and clothe herself with strength, and with beautiful garments, to shake …
1,072 wordsSECTION 544Isaiah 52:2
Isaiah 52:2 Ver. 2. Shake thyself from the dust,.... Or "the dust from thee" {g}, in which she had sat, or rolled herself as a mourner; or where she had been trampled upon by her persecutors and oppressors; but now being delivered from them, as well as from all carnal professors and false teachers, she is called upon …
288 wordsSECTION 545Isaiah 52:3
Isaiah 52:3 Ver. 3. For thus saith the Lord, ye have sold yourselves for nought,.... As Ahab did to work wickedness; as men do freely, and get nothing by it; for there is nothing got in the service of sin, Satan, and antichrist, or by being slaves and vassals to them; not profit, but loss; not pleasure, but pain; not …
237 wordsSECTION 546Isaiah 52:4
Isaiah 52:4 Ver. 4. For thus saith the Lord God,.... The Lord confirms what he had before said of redeeming his people without money, who had been sold for nothing, by past instances of his deliverance of them: my people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; Jacob and his family went down there of their ow…
325 wordsSECTION 547Isaiah 52:5
Isaiah 52:5 Ver. 5. Now therefore what have I here, saith the Lord, that my people is taken away for nought?.... Or what do I get by it, that my people should be taken and held in captivity without cause? I am no gainer, but a loser by it, as it afterwards appears; and therefore why should I sit still, and delay the d…
320 wordsSECTION 548Isaiah 52:6
Isaiah 52:6 Ver. 6. Therefore my people shall know my name,.... His nature and perfections; his faithfulness in fulfilling his promises to them; his power in delivering them out of their bondage; and his justice in punishing their enemies. Therefore they shall know on that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it…
113 wordsSECTION 549Isaiah 52:7
Isaiah 52:7 Ver. 7. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings,.... Not of the messenger that brought the news of Cyrus's proclamation of liberty to the Jews; rather of John the Baptist, the forerunner of our Lord; best of Christ himself, the messenger of the covenant, who was anoi…
749 wordsSECTION 550Isaiah 52:8
Isaiah 52:8 Ver. 8. The watchmen shall lift up the voice,.... Not the Levites in the temple, nor the prophets of the Old Testament; rather the evangelists and apostles of Christ; best of all Gospel ministers in the latter day, so called in allusion to watch men on the walls of cities looking out, and giving notice of …
372 wordsSECTION 551Isaiah 52:9
Isaiah 52:9 Ver. 9. Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem,.... This is what the watchmen shall say when they lift up their voice; this will be one part of their song, and the intent of it; to observe to the members of the churches, which shall be constituted in those parts which were former…
322 wordsSECTION 552Isaiah 52:10
Isaiah 52:10 Ver. 10. The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations,.... Revealed his Gospel, which is a system of holy doctrines, and is the power of God unto salvation, openly, in the sight of all men, and given it a general spread all the world over; and with it has exerted his almighty power,…
386 wordsSECTION 553Isaiah 52:11
Isaiah 52:11 Ver. 11. Depart ye, depart ye,.... Not from Jerusalem, as some, for that is now said to be redeemed, and its waste places made joyful; but Babylon, even mystical Babylon. The Targum is, "be ye separated, be ye separated": and so the apostle, 2Co 6:17. It denotes a separation from the idolatrous church of …
2,307 wordsSECTION 554Isaiah 53:1
Isaiah 53:1 INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 53 This chapter treats of the mean appearance of Christ in human nature, his sufferings in it, and the glory that should follow. It begins with a complaint of the small number of those that believed the report concerning him, the power of God not being exerted, Isa 53:1, the reason …
665 wordsSECTION 555Isaiah 53:2
Isaiah 53:2 Ver. 2. For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant,.... Which springs out of the earth without notice; low in its beginning, slow in its growth, liable to be crushed with the foot, or destroyed with the frost, and no great probability of its coming to any perfection; or rather as a little "sucker", …
870 wordsSECTION 556Isaiah 53:3
Isaiah 53:3 Ver. 3. He is despised, and rejected of men,.... Or, "ceaseth from men" {f}; was not admitted into the company and conversation of men, especially of figure; or ceased from the class of men, in the opinion of others; he was not reckoned among men, was accounted a worm, and no man; or, if a man, yet not in …
624 wordsSECTION 557Isaiah 53:4
Isaiah 53:4 Ver. 4. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows,.... Or "nevertheless", as Gussetius {k}; notwithstanding the above usage of him; though it is a certain and undoubted truth, that Christ not only assumed a true human nature, capable of sorrow and grief, but he took all the natural sinless i…
612 wordsSECTION 558Isaiah 53:5
Isaiah 53:5 Ver. 5. But he was wounded for our transgressions,.... Not for any sins of his own, but for ours, for our rebellions against God, and transgressions of his law, in order to make atonement and satisfaction for them; these were the procuring and meritorious causes of his sufferings and death, as they were ta…
611 wordsSECTION 559Isaiah 53:6
Isaiah 53:6 Ver. 6. All we like sheep have gone astray,.... Here the prophet represents all the elect of God, whether Jews or Gentiles; whom he compares to "sheep", not for their good qualities, but for their foolishness and stupidity; and particularly for their being subject to go astray from the shepherd, and the fo…
754 wordsSECTION 560Isaiah 53:7
Isaiah 53:7 Ver. 7. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,.... He was injuriously treated by the Jews; they used him very ill, and handled him very roughly; he was oppressed and afflicted, both in body and mind, with their blows, and with their reproaches; he was afflicted, indeed, both by God and men: or rather it m…
548 wordsSECTION 561Isaiah 53:8
Isaiah 53:8 Ver. 8. He was taken from prison, and from judgment,.... After he had suffered and died, and made satisfaction to divine justice; or after he had been arrested by the justice of God, and was laid in prison, and under a sentence of condemnation, had judgment passed upon him, and that executed too; he was ta…
568 wordsSECTION 562Isaiah 53:9
Isaiah 53:9 Ver. 9. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death,.... These words are generally supposed to refer to a fact that was afterwards done; that Christ, who died with wicked men, as if he himself had been one, was buried in a rich man's grave. Could the words admit of the following t…
530 wordsSECTION 563Isaiah 53:10
Isaiah 53:10 Ver. 10. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him,.... The sufferings of Christ are signified by his being "bruised"; See Gill on "Isa 53:5", and as it was foretold he should have his heel bruised by the serpent, Ge 3:15, but here it is ascribed to the Lord: he was bruised in body, when buffeted and scourged…
2,706 wordsSECTION 564Isaiah 54:1
Isaiah 54:1 INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 54 As the former chapter is a prophecy of the humiliation and exaltation of Christ, of his sufferings and death, and the glory that should follow; this is a prophecy of that part of his glory which relates to the flourishing estate of his church, as the fruit of his death, and expla…
826 wordsSECTION 565Isaiah 54:2
Isaiah 54:2 Ver. 2. Enlarge the place of thy tent,.... To which the church is compared, because of its uncertain and movable condition, being sometimes in one place, and sometimes in another; and because of its outward meanness and weakness, as well as its small extent; but now it is signified that it should be enlarg…
436 wordsSECTION 566Isaiah 54:3
Isaiah 54:3 Ver. 3. For thou shall break forth on the right hand and on the left,.... To the south, and to the north, as the Targum, like an inundation of water, that breaks through and overflows the banks of the river, and spreads itself in the adjacent countries; or like a warehouse overstocked with goods, bursts th…
298 wordsSECTION 567Isaiah 54:4
Isaiah 54:4 Ver. 4. Fear not,.... The fulfilment of these things; however unlikely and unpromising they might seem, yet God was able to perform them; and therefore way should not be given to a fearful, distrustful, and unbelieving heart: for thou shall not be ashamed; as men are, when disappointed of what they have b…
324 wordsSECTION 568Isaiah 54:5
Isaiah 54:5 Ver. 5. For thy Maker [is] thine Husband,.... That is, Christ, the Husband of the church, and of every true believer; who secretly betrothed them to himself in eternity, having asked him of his father; and, being given to him, openly espouses them in conversion, one by one, as a chaste virgin; which he wil…
491 wordsSECTION 569Isaiah 54:6
Isaiah 54:6 Ver. 6. For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit,.... That has lost her husband by death, is solitary upon it, is like one forsaken, and mourns for the loss of him; or is forsaken by a living husband, rejected by him, having a bill of divorce from him, and so she grieves at h…
429 wordsSECTION 570Isaiah 54:7
Isaiah 54:7 Ver. 7. For a small moment have I forsaken thee,.... The people of God seem to be forsaken by him when he hides his face from them, as it is afterwards explained; when they are in distress, and he does not immediately appear for them; when they are afflicted in body and mind, though these afflictions are b…
337 wordsSECTION 571Isaiah 54:8
Isaiah 54:8 Ver. 8. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment,.... This signifies much the same as before, when God hides his face from his people, withdraws his gracious presence, and does not grant the discoveries of his love; or they are under the frowns of his providence, and have not the smiles of hi…
370 wordsSECTION 572Isaiah 54:9
Isaiah 54:9 Ver. 9. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me,.... Some copies, as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe, read these two words, ym yk, as one, thus, ymyk, "as the days of Noah"; and this is followed by the Targum, Vulgate Latin, and Syriac versions; both readings may be kept, and joined in one, and the sense b…
336 wordsSECTION 573Isaiah 54:10
Isaiah 54:10 Ver. 10. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed,.... As sometimes by earthquakes, and as they will at the last day, when the earth shall be dissolved, and all in it, things the most solid, firm, and durable: it may be understood comparatively; sooner shall these depart and be removed tha…
520 wordsSECTION 574Isaiah 54:11
Isaiah 54:11 Ver. 11. O thou afflicted, tossed with tempests, and not comforted,.... Or, "O thou poor" {s} church; for the first Christian churches chiefly consisted of poor persons, not many mighty and noble being called; and which were greatly "afflicted" with false teachers, who broached errors and heresies, and ma…
554 wordsSECTION 575Isaiah 54:12
Isaiah 54:12 Ver. 12. And I will make thy windows of agates,.... Some sort of which stones, Pliny {x} says, were valued for their clearness like glass; but the stone which bears this name with us is not clear and lucid enough to make windows of. The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions, render it, "o…
2,675 wordsSECTION 576Isaiah 55:1
Isaiah 55:1 INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 55 As the two preceding chapters are prophecies of Christ and his church, this treats of his word and ordinances, and of the nature, use, and efficacy of them. It begins with an invitation of thirsty souls to them, Isa 55:1, an expostulation with them for taking wrong methods, and a…
1,000 wordsSECTION 577Isaiah 55:2
Isaiah 55:2 Ver. 2. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread?.... Lavish away time, opportunities, and strength, in reading and hearing false doctrine, which is not bread, but chaff; is not wholesome, does not nourish, but is harmful and destructive; eats as does a canker, instead of feeding and refresh…
271 wordsSECTION 578Isaiah 55:3
Isaiah 55:3 Ver. 3. Incline your ear, and come unto me,.... The exhortations are repeated, to show the importance of them, how welcome these persons were to the Lord, and to his house, and his earnest and tender care and concern for them: hear, and your soul shall live; or, "that your soul may live {f}"; spiritually …
567 wordsSECTION 579Isaiah 55:4
Isaiah 55:4 Ver. 4. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people,.... That is, the Messiah, as Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melech rightly interpret it. This respects an act past in eternity, in God's eternal purposes and decrees, when he appointed Christ to the office of a Mediator; and this was an act of his g…
517 wordsSECTION 580Isaiah 55:5
Isaiah 55:5 Ver. 5. Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not,.... And even nations, as in the next clause; not all the individuals of them, though the Gospel is sent to all nations; and in the latter day the kingdoms of this world shall be the Lord's, and all nations shall serve him. It denotes a great c…
939 wordsSECTION 581Isaiah 55:6
Isaiah 55:6 Ver. 6. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found,.... The Lord is to be sought unto at all times, whenever the people of God meet together, especially on sabbath days, and while the external ministry of the word lasts, and life itself; so the Targum, "seek the fear of the Lord, while ye are alive.'' Kimchi…
401 wordsSECTION 582Isaiah 55:7
Isaiah 55:7 Ver. 7. Let the wicked forsake his way,.... His evil way, as the Targum paraphrases it, his wicked course of life; and which is his own way, of his own choosing, and in which he delights, and a very dangerous one it is; and yet he is bent upon it, and nothing can turn him from it but efficacious grace; nor…
656 wordsSECTION 583Isaiah 55:8
Isaiah 55:8 Ver. 8. For my thoughts are not your thoughts,.... In some things there may be a likeness between the thoughts of God and the thoughts of men, as to the nature of them: thoughts are natural and essential to them both; they are within them, are internal acts, and unknown to others, till made known; but then…
498 wordsSECTION 584Isaiah 55:9
Isaiah 55:9 Ver. 9. For as the heavens, are higher than the earth,.... Than which there cannot be conceived a greater distance: so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts; which may denote the heavenliness of the ways and thoughts of God, the eternity and unsearchableness of them, and th…
80 wordsSECTION 585Isaiah 55:10
Isaiah 55:10 Ver. 10. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither,.... Rain and snow come down from the clouds in the heavens, and do not return again until they have done what they are sent to do, or have produced the following effects; otherwise they may be exhaled into vapours, …
167 wordsSECTION 586Isaiah 55:11
Isaiah 55:11 Ver. 11. So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth,.... My good word, as the Targum; this may either be understood of Christ, the eternal Word, who is called the Word of God, and may be said to go forth out of his mouth, being spoken of by all his holy prophets, since the world began, whose com…
529 wordsSECTION 587Isaiah 55:12
Isaiah 55:12 Ver. 12. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace,.... Though these words may literally respect the Jews' return from captivity to their own land, attended with joy and peace; as the preceding verse may respect the word of promise concerning it; as it is interpreted by the Targum, "for w…
480 wordsSECTION 588Isaiah 55:13
Isaiah 55:13 Ver. 13. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree,.... The meaning of which either is, that instead of wicked men, comparable to briers and thorns for their being fruitless and useless, harmful and pernicious, under a curse, and their end to b…
344 wordsSECTION 589Isaiah 56:1
Isaiah 56:1 INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 56 This chapter contains a prophecy of the conversion of the Gentiles, and their accession to the church, and of the corrupt state of the church afterwards, especially of its rulers, which brought in men comparable to wild beasts to devour. It begins with an exhortation to the dutie…
758 wordsSECTION 590Isaiah 56:2
Isaiah 56:2 Ver. 2. Blessed is the man that doth this,.... That does justice, and keeps judgment; he hereby exercises a good conscience both towards God and men; he enjoys communion with God in his ways, worship, and ordinances, he attends unto, and has an evidence of his right to eternal happiness: and the son of ma…
194 wordsSECTION 591Isaiah 56:3
Isaiah 56:3 Ver. 3. Neither let the son of the stranger,.... A Gentile, that is so by birth, the son of one that is an alien from the commonwealth of Israel, a stranger from the covenants of promise, and so had no right to come into the congregation of the Lord under the former dispensation; but now the middle wall of…
319 wordsSECTION 592Isaiah 56:4
Isaiah 56:4 Ver. 4. For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths,.... That fear and serve the Lord; religiously observe all times of divine worship, and walk in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord; show regard to all the institutions of the Gospel, and perform all religious exercises, pri…
253 wordsSECTION 593Isaiah 56:5
Isaiah 56:5 Ver. 5. Even to them will I give in mine house and within my walls,.... The Targum is, "in the house of my sanctuary, and in the land of the house of my Shechinah;'' meaning the temple at Jerusalem, in the land of Judea; but a Gospel church state is here meant, which is the house of God; the materials of…
644 wordsSECTION 594Isaiah 56:6
Isaiah 56:6 Ver. 6. Also the sons of the stranger that join themselves to the Lord,.... Having answered the objection and removed the discouragement of the eunuch, he now returns to the sons of the stranger, who also join themselves to the Lord, as the eunuch had done; see Isa 56:4 and who do this, to serve him, and …
138 wordsSECTION 595Isaiah 56:7
Isaiah 56:7 Ver. 7. Even them will I bring to my holy mountain,.... The church, called a "mountain" for its height, visibility, and immovableness; see Isa 2:2, especially for the latter; the true members of it being such who are interested in the unchangeable love of God, in the immovable grace of election, in the una…
640 wordsSECTION 596Isaiah 56:8
Isaiah 56:8 Ver. 8. The Lord God, which gathereth the outcasts of Israel, saith,.... Not the outcasts of literal Israel, the captives in Babylon, and elsewhere; but of spiritual Israel, and who are cast out, not by the Lord, but by the men of the world; who cast out their names as evil, who call them outcasts, and acc…
811 wordsSECTION 597Isaiah 56:9
Isaiah 56:9 Ver. 9. All ye beasts of the field, come to devour,.... Which may be understood either literally of savage beasts being called to devour the slain, signifying a great slaughter that should be made, like that in Re 19:17 to which the fowls of the heaven are invited, as to a supper; and so Kimchi interprets …
528 wordsSECTION 598Isaiah 56:10
Isaiah 56:10 Ver. 10. His watchmen are blind,.... A sad character of watchmen; who, of all men, ought to have good sight, to see who is coming, to discover an enemy, to discern approaching danger, and so be capable of giving notice thereof. This some apply to the Scribes and Pharisees, who are often called blind guide…
523 wordsSECTION 599Isaiah 56:11
Isaiah 56:11 Ver. 11. Yea, they [are] greedy dogs,.... Or "strong of soul" {y}; of great appetites, and are never satisfied: or "strong of body"; the soul is sometimes put for the body; large bodied, fat bellied men, such as the priests, monks, and friars, that live upon the fat of the land; gluttons, epicures, men of…
577 wordsSECTION 600Isaiah 57:1
Isaiah 57:1 INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 57 This chapter contains complaints of the stupidity and idolatry of the people, described in the latter part of the preceding chapter; and some promises of grace to the people of God. The stupidity of the former is observed, Isa 57:1 they not taking notice of the death of good men,…
701 wordsSource & rights
Public domain; John Gill (1697–1771). Source item is marked Public Domain on Internet Archive.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.