The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 2 — Section 304

promise that she shall never be forsaken strayed, and Jerusalem wa.s a desolation, (vers. 6-10). and the people captil'Cs in a fAr ln.nd. The Ver. 1.--Sing, 0 barren, Israel in eap- special "reproMh of her widowhood" was ti,itY is addres~ed as "barren," b~oause, in the Bahylonin.n captivity, with the sins thitt the "time of suffering, her numbers rather had brought it itbout. This too would be diminished than increased. Still, she is forgotten in the good time to come, nmid bidden to "sing" on account of the pros- the glories of the Messianic kingdom. ped that is opening upon her. She that is Ver. 5.-For thy Maker is thine Husband; now desolate and solitary will soon haYe rather,for thy Hmband is thy Maker. The more ohildren than she formerly bad, when verse is exegetical of the tnms, "married she was a married wife, enjoying the wife" in ver. I, and "widowhood" in ver. 4. fellowship of Jehovah, her Husband (ver. 5). "I," says the prophet, "have called thee 'lne "children" spoken of are in part those married and widowed, thereoy yoking thee ~·ho gathered themselves together in Jeru- to a husband, for thou hast a Husband, salem anci the acijacent territory after the namely, thy Maker." (Tbe Hebrew has issue of the decree of Cyrns (1 Chron. ix. both words in the plural, to accord with the 2-34; Ezra ii. 1-65; viii. 1-20; Neh. following Elohim.) This relationship of ,ii. 6-72; xi. 3-36), but mainly such 88 God to his Church is often asserted bv the flocked in from the Gentiles, both before prophets (Jer. iii. 14; xxxi. 32; Hos. il. 19; and after Ch1·ist's coming (see ver. 3). Cant. i. 4, eto. ), and lies at the root of the Ver. 2.-Enlarge the plaoe of thy tent oft-recurring metaphor by which idolatry (comp. ell. xxxiii. 20 and Jer. L 20). The is called "lewdnes~," "adultery,'' or" play- memory of the old nomadic life caused the ing the whore." Thy Redeemer the Holy "font" to be the symbol and representative One; rather, thy Redeemer is the Holy One. of the dwellinir-place (comp. 1 Kings xii. (On the title itself, see the comment on eh. 16). Israel will have so many more children i. 4.) The God of the whole earth (comp. that her "tent" will need enlarging. The Ps. xxiv. 1; xlvii. 2, 7; lxxxiii. 18, etc.). c11.,.-tainB ; i.e. the tent-cloth ( comp. Exod. Materially, he was always this. Now, from xxvi. and xxxvi., where the word nsed occurs this time, be will be " Goel of the whole repeatedly). Thy cords . . . thy stakes earth" morally; not God of the Jews only, (con:p. Exod. xxxv. 18; xxxix. 40, etc.). but also of the Gentiles (see Rom. iii. 29). The rnpes and tent-pegs, which kept the Ver. 6.-For the Lord hath oalled thee ; tent-cloth in place, a.re intended. The en- i.e. recalled thee to bimself-snmmonerl thee largement of the tent would make longer to return, and once more resume the office ropes and larger pega necessary. of a wife. As a woman forsaken and grieved Ver. 3.-For thou shalt break forth; or, in spirit; i.e. 88 one whom her husha1vl has thou shalt inerease (see Gen. xxx. 30, 43; cast off, and whose spirit is grieved by the Exod. i. 12). .A.n overflow, like that of the repudiation. No doubt a large number of bursting out of water, is pointed at. On the the captives had the same spirit of penitence right hand and on the left ; i.e. " on all as Daniel (Dan. ix. 5-19). A wife of sides" (comp. Gen. xxviii. 14). Thy seed youth. One wooed and won in youth, there- shall inherit the Gentiles. The Chrietian fore more dearly loved, more regretfully Church is viewed as a continuation of the repudiated, more joyfully restored when Jewieh Chnrcb; and the convereion of seen to be penitent. When thou wast nation after nation to the gospel is regarded refused; rather, when she has been cast off. as tbe extension of Jewish dominion over Jehovah takes back Israel iuto the old fresh lands. The cities of these lands-- relationship, as 11 man takes back " the wife desolate hitherto, i.e. without godly in- of his youth," when elie bas been for a long Labitants-will under these circumetances time " cast off." come to be iilhabited; i.e. will be peopled Vers. 7, 8.-For a small moment ha.ve I by fa\thful men. forsaken thee. The sixty or seventy years Ver. 4.-Thou shalt forget the shame of of the Captivity were but ns 11. moment of thy youth; rather. of thy maidenhood; i.e. time compared with the long ages during of the time when thou wert a maiden, before which God had tenderly watched over nr.d by tl.e covenant of Sinai Jehovah became protected his Church, and, still more, com- thy Husband (ver. 5). The "FLame" of pared with the eternity during which he this period was the Eeyptian bondage. was now about to show himself her constant Israel'e later condition would be such that Guardian and Protector. There had been a tl,e very recollection of this bondage would little wrath ; or rather, one burst of wrath ; fade away and ceaee. The reproaoh of thy and then Mercy had resumed her sway. widowhood. Israel became a. " widow " The face hid for a moment had lieen allowed wLen Jehovah withdrew his presence from once more to shine upon the nfflicted people; her, when the Shechinah disappeared from an<I the momentary indignati,,n would be the kmple, and the temple itself was de- followed by, and swallowed up in, ever. 011. LIV, 1-17.] THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 315