25 I have raifed up x one y from the north, and he ſhall come : from the riſing of the Sun ſhall he |[call up- on my name z, and he ſhall come «por: princes as »pon morter 4, and as the potter treadeth clay, _ |
, x You neither foreknow nor can do ary thing. ButI do now forete), and vill certaily eff:& a great Revolution and change inthe World, which you ſhall not be able. ro hinder. y Which word though not expreſſed in the Hebrew muſt neceſſarily be underſtood, as being oft deſizned in the following words by the Pronoun #e. He underſtands one people : Or, rather one perton, Prince or Ge- eral together with his people or Forces, as appears from the latter part of the Verſe. Some conceive that the Prophet in this place ſpeaks of two ſeveral Perſons ; in the firſt clauſe of Nebuchagnezzar, who in Scripture is commonly ſaid to come from the North, as Jer- x. 13, 15. and 4.6. and the next clauſe of Cyrus who came from the Kaſt, Iſa. 46. 11. And then the words may be thus rendred, one
135 Ta
he ſpake before, ver. 2, &c- who might well be ſail ro come, both from rhe North, and from the Eaft; from the N,rth rather, becauſe he was a Mede by his Mother, as.he was a Perſian by his Father ; or be= cauſe a great part of his Army was gathered out of Media, which was, and-1n Scripture is ſaid to be Northward in reference to Tuadea, Jer. 50-9, 41+ and 51+ 48. and becauſe Darius the Mede was joyaed with him in this expedition : and from the Eaſt, becauſe P.rſis was direAly eaſtward from Judea. And peradventure this work of calling upen or proclaiming Gods Name, 1s here aſcribed to him as he came from the Eaft, rather than as he came from theN .rth, becauſe that work was not done by Darius the Mede, but by Cyrusthe Perſian. 2 Or rather, as others render ir, who jhallcall upon: Or rather proclaim my Name,which Cyrus did in expreſs and emphatical rerms, Ezr2 1. 1, 2, a Treading them down; as eaſily as a man tread:ch-down morter.
26 Who hath declared from the beginning 6b, that
He is righteouse? yea, there is none f that ſhewerh, yea, there is none that declareth, yea, there is none thar heareth your words g»
6 Which of all your Idols did or could forete] ſuch thingsas this from the beginning of the World unto this day ? They never yec did nor can foretel any ſuch things, furcher than I think fit to re veal it to them. c Either in time paſt : Or,before the things come to paſs. d That we may be convinced and forced to acknowledge. e His Cauſe now pleaded is juſt and good. : He isa God indeed as
Surely there 1s none of your gods that hath done or can do this, and therefore their claim to the Diety is falſe and fooliſh. g None of your Worſhippers ever heard any ſuch thing either from you or-
are dumb and cannot ſpeak.
them &, and I will give to Jeruſalem One that bringeth good tidings /, | *'s
h T who am the firſt, as I aid before, wer. 4. and therefore capable of declaring or foretelling things to come from the beginning, which your Tdol8tannort do, ver. 26. i Do znd will foretel unto my people by my* Prophets things to come. & I repreſent things future as if they were preſent, and to be beheſd wirh your eyes. By them he means either, 1. Theſe things which are to come : Or, 2: Theſemen: either Cyrus and his Forces who came to deliver the Jews out of Babylon; Or, which is theſame thing in eff-&, the Jews returning from their Caprivity in Bayblon. I A Meſſ-nger or Meſ-
good tidings of their deliverance from Captivity.
I asked of them, could + anſwer a word p»
m Heb. 4nd 7 beheld, T looked about me to ſee if I could find any man of them that could certainly, and of themſelves forete} ſuch tu- ture events. » Not any, to wit, of the Idols ; for the word Man is ſometimes uſed by the Hebrews of brute creatures, and even of life» leſs things, as 1/#. 34, 15. and 40. 26. and elſewhere. o Though theſe Idols were oft conſulted, and by the help of the Devildid ſome times deliver Oracles, yet none of them were able to give any folid and certain advice concerning future things. p When I tryed their divinity by this ChataQter, they had nothing to ſay for themſelves.
29 Behold, they are all vanity q, their works areno-
thing 7; their molten images s are wind z, and confu- lion #. |
. 9 Thisisthe Concluſion of the whole diſpute,and the juſt Sentence.
which God paſſeth upon Idols after a fair tryal ; they are vain things,
and are falfly called gods. r See ver. 24. 5 Which he mentions, becauſe their materials were moſt precious, and more Coſt and Art
was commonly beſtowed upon them, for after they had been mol. theſe he Synecdochically comprehends all Images whatſoever. ly paſs away and come to nothing
on, of which this very word is uled, Gen. 1. 2.
eas,
y
ſong to God for his Goſpel among the Gentiles, 10
16. - The idolatry of the Heathen : and obſtinacy of the Jews, 17
25,
-
ele&t d in whom my ſoul * delighteth e: T * have
ment + to the Gentiles 5.
more emi: ent and remote exampleof it, and foretelleth the comin:
of the Meſſiah, and ſeveral great effe&ts or confequences thereof, which
he rather doth becauſe this was the Perſon by whom the Idols were to be utterly aboliſhed, as was forerold, 1a... 2. 18. compared with ver. 2. 3, 4. andas itfell our in the event: This having bzen obſer- ved not only by Chriſtians, bur every by the learned Heathens, not without aſtoniſhment, thar at that time, wken Chriſt cameinto the World, Idols were generally ſtruck dumb, and the Oracics ceaſed. 6b The Perſon of whom he here fpeaketh; is by ſome fuppoſed to be Cyrus, and by others 1/aiah himſelf, and by others the people of the* Jews. But the moſt and beft Interpreters underftand this place of- Chriſt: And although I am ſenſible, that ſome learned Men have' done wrong to the ſacred Text, & to theChriftian cauſe,by expounds +
Fxom the North, and he ſhall come: and one from the riſing of the Sun, he. ſhall call, &c. But it {tems more natural and gaſis rg underſtand the
ing ſome places of Chriſt without ſufficient evidence, yet this 1s
| ons gt the many places in this TEOPRCcY, which cannot. withous-s
5 A 3 maniteſt
Chap. XLIL
| whole context of one and the ſame Perſon, - even of Cyrus, of whom
we may know? and before-time c, that we may ſay 4,
he pretends to be, he claims his Divinity by a good Title. f Heb.
of you : yor indeed doth any man hear your words, becaule you .
27 * The firſt þ ſhall ſay to Zion 3, Behold, behold. * ver. 4.