Isaiah 50:1-3. The third oracle meets another doubt which must have occurred to the exiles, viz., that the covenant relation between Jehovah and Israel has been broken beyond possibility of renewal. In Isaiah 50:1 this fear is dispelled by the help of two analogies from common life.

Where is the bill … whom I have put away?] (better, as R.V., wherewith I have put her away). No such document exists. Although Jehovah has had good reason to adopt this extreme measure (Jeremiah 3:8), He has not done it, but has left the way open for a reconciliation. The effect of the “bill of divorcement” was to make the separation absolute and final; the woman was free to marry another, but could not after that be received back by her former husband (Deuteronomy 24:1-4). (A specimen of the form of words used by later Jews is given in Dalman’s Aramäische Dialektproben, p. 5.) In Mohammedan law a man may divorce his wife twice and take her back without any ceremony, but a third divorce (or a triple divorce conveyed in one sentence) is final, unless the woman have contracted a fresh marriage in the interval and been released from it either by divorce or the death of the husband (Koran, Sura 2:229 f.; see Lane, Modern Egyptians, chap. 3). Both the Mosaic and the Mohammedan laws accord to a husband the unrestricted right of divorce, and for this reason the Jewish custom was pronounced by our Lord to be inconsistent with the true idea of marriage and a concession to the weakness of human nature (Matthew 19:3 ff.; Mark 10:2 ff.).

which of my creditors is it &c.] i.e. “what creditor of mine is there to whom” &c.? The selling of children into slavery in payment of a debt is another practice tolerated, though hardly approved, by the Law (Exodus 21:7; cf. 2 Kings 4:1; Nehemiah 5:5). Since it is inconceivable that Jehovah should have a creditor, so it is impossible that He should have surrendered His rights over His own children.

Behold, for your iniquities &c.] This is the true explanation of the slavery of the children and the divorce of the mother, and this cause is removed by the offer of forgiveness (Isaiah 40:2). It is remarkable that the prophet does not, like Hosea and Ezekiel, directly attribute sin to the ideal mother of the nation, but only to the individual Israelites, to whom this whole expostulation is addressed (cf. Hosea 2:2).

For have you sold yourselves render with R.V. were ye sold (so again ch. Isaiah 52:3). The phrase is frequently used in the Book of Judges of the delivering of Israel into the power of its enemies (Jdg 2:14 &c.).

2. Jehovah expresses surprise that His message of redemption (delivered through the prophet) has been received with so little enthusiasm by the people.

was there no man?] The expression occurs again in Isaiah 59:16; in both places the indefinite “man” is explained by the second member of the parallelism; here, therefore, it means “no man to answer.”

Is my hand shortened at all &c.] Is it the case that my hand is too short to redeem? (cf. Isaiah 59:1). And the unreasonableness of such doubts as to Jehovah’s power is then proved by an appeal to His mighty works in the natural sphere, probably with a special allusion to the miracles of the Exodus period.

at (by) my rebuke] Cf. ch. Isaiah 17:13; esp. Psalm 104:7; Psalm 106:9.

I make [the] rivers a wilderness] Psalm 107:33.

their fish stinketh &c.] Exodus 7:18.

3. Comp. Exodus 10:21 with blackness] with murky storm-clouds. The word, which occurs only here, denotes (like sackcloth in the next clause) the garb of mourning. Cf. Revelation 6:12.

The strophe ends somewhat abruptly, and the thought is perhaps incomplete.

4, 5. The relation of the Servant to Jehovah is that of a favourite disciple to his master; from Him he had learned the art of persuasive and consoling speech, and to Him he daily looks for the substance of his message. Comp. Isaiah 49:2 (the Servant’s endowment with prophetic eloquence), and Isaiah 42:3 (the gentleness of his ministry).

the tongue of the learned] a disciples’ tongue (see ch. Isaiah 8:16), i.e. a disciplined tongue (R.V. “of them that are taught”). The stress laid on the Divine education of the Servant is connected with the fact that his ministry of consolation was almost a new departure in prophecy. In the hands of the earlier prophets the word of Jehovah had been like a hammer breaking the rock in pieces (Jeremiah 23:29) rather than a dew reviving the spirit of the humble.

that I should know … weary] A difficult clause. The verb rendered “speak in season” (‘ûth) is unknown in Hebrew. The A.V., following the Jewish interpreters, takes it to be a denominative from the word for “time” (‘çth), but that is an impossible etymology. The LXX. gives a similar sense (τοῦ γνῶναι ἡνίκα δεῖ εἰπεῖν λόγον) but based on a different text. Of the traditional interpretations the most suitable is perhaps that of the Vulg. and Aquila (which is followed by the R.V.): that I should know how to sustain the weary with a word. Modern authorities who adopt this rendering support it by an Arabic verb meaning “to help,” which however is not an exact philological equivalent. Another Arabic analogy has suggested the translation “water” (i.e. “refresh”). It is impossible to get beyond conjecture, although the general sense is clear.

he wakeneth (sc. my ear) morning by morning] (cf. Isaiah 28:19). A far simpler sentence results if we omit with Cheyne the first word of the Heb. (or with Duhm the first two words) as an uncorrected slip of a copyist, reading the adverbial expression with the following verb; thus: “morning by morning (or “in the morning”) he wakeneth my ear to hear” &c.

as the learned] after the manner of disciples.

Ch. Isaiah 50:4-11. The Lord’s Servant made perfect through Sufferings

In Isaiah 50:4-9 the Servant is again introduced, speaking of himself and his work, as in Isaiah 49:1-6. He describes in the first place the close and intimate and continuous communion with God through which he has learned the ministry of comfort by the Divine word, and his own complete self-surrender to the voice that guides him (Isaiah 50:4-5); next, his acceptance of the persecution and obloquy which he had to encounter in the discharge of his commission (6); and lastly he expresses his unwavering confidence in the help of Jehovah and the victory of his righteous cause and the discomfiture of all his enemies (7–9).

Isaiah 50:10-11 are an appendix to the preceding description, drawing lessons for the encouragement of believers (Isaiah 50:10) and the warning of unbelievers (Isaiah 50:11). They contain expressions and even thoughts which are unlike those of the second Isaiah; and are possibly (with Duhm and Cheyne) to be regarded as a later insertion in the prophecy.

Although the word “Servant” never occurs in this passage, its resemblance to the three other “servant-passages” makes it certain that the speaker is none other than the ideal character who comes before us in Isaiah 42:1-4, Isaiah 49:1-6, and Isa 52:13–53:15. The passage, indeed, forms an almost indispensable link of connexion between the first two and the last of these. Whilst it takes up and developes certain ideas thrown out in the earlier sections, and in its dramatic form most resembles the second of them, its closest affinities are with Isaiah 52:13 ff. Common to both is the new conception of the Servant as a sufferer, here at the hands of men, there at the hands of men and God alike. In the present passage we have the Servant’s own consciousness with regard to his sufferings, these being regarded from an ethical point of view as brought on him by fidelity to his Divine mission. In ch. Isaiah 52:13 ff. it is the religious aspect of them that is mainly dwelt upon: their value in the sight of God, and their efficacy for the salvation of men.—The view, therefore, that the prophet here speaks in his own name cannot be maintained, although it is no doubt the one that would be most readily suggested if the verses stood alone. So also the further question whether the Servant be the ideal Israel must be considered with due regard to the other places where the same idea is presented (see Appendix, Note I). Here it is only necessary to observe that the conception cannot in any case be applied to Israel as a whole and its sufferings from other nations. We have seen from ch. Isaiah 49:6-7 that the Servant has two spheres of activity, one within Israel, and the other directed to the world at large; and there can be no reasonable doubt that the persecutions referred to belong to the narrower sphere, representing the experience of the godly minority in whom the true ideal of Israel was partly realised, in conflict with their unregenerate fellow-countrymen.

5. hath opened mine ear] The phrase used of the imparting of a prophetic communication in 1 Samuel 9:15 (cf. Psalm 40:6, different verbs).

and I was not rebellious &c.] a circumstantial clause (“I being not rebellious” &c.). Comp. Jonah 1:3 and Jeremiah 20:9. The character and history of Jeremiah seem to have contributed many traits to the portrait of the “Servant of Jehovah.”

6. That persecutions were to be incurred in the performance of his work is already indicated in the last words of Isaiah 50:5; now the speaker declares his voluntary acquiescence in the hardships of his appointed lot.

I gave my back to the smiters] In Psalm 129:3 the same figure is applied to the sufferings of Israel as a nation.

to them that plucked off the hair] of the beard (cf. Ezra 9:3; Nehemiah 13:25); an extreme insult to an Oriental, to whom the beard is the symbol of dignity (see on ch. Isaiah 7:20).

from shame and spitting] Numbers 12:14; Deuteronomy 25:9; Matthew 26:67; Matthew 27:30.

7. The verse is better rendered thus: But the Lord Jehovah helps me, therefore I was not ashamed (i.e. felt no shame); therefore I made my face like flint (figure for determination, cf. Ezekiel 3:9), and knew that I should not be put to shame. For the thought cf. ch. Isaiah 42:4.

8. He is near that justifieth me] Cf. ch. Isaiah 49:4 (“my judgement is with Jehovah”); Isaiah 51:5. To “justify” is, as nearly always, to declare in the right; so “condemn” in Isaiah 50:9 is to pronounce in the wrong.

who will contend with me?] cf. Job 13:19.

stand together] stand forth together (as Isaiah 47:12-13).

who is mine adversary?] lit. “the master of my cause” (dominus litis). A similar expression is used in Exodus 24:14.

8, 9. The consciousness of innocence is expressed (as often in the Book of Job) under the conception of a legal process.

9. who is he that shall condemn me?] Comp. Romans 8:33 f.

wax old (better, be worn out) as a garment; the moth &c.] Common images of gradual but inevitable destruction (cf. ch. Isaiah 51:6; Isaiah 51:8; Psalm 39:11; Psalm 102:26; Job 13:28 &c.).

Two striking parallels to the latter part of this discourse occur in the Book of Jeremiah. See ch. Jeremiah 17:17 f.; “Thou art my refuge in the day of evil. Let them be ashamed that persecute me, but let not me be ashamed … bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction”: and Jeremiah 20:7; Jeremiah 20:11 ff.: “I am become a laughingstock all the day, every one mocketh me.…” “But the Lord is with me as a mighty one and a terrible; therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail; they shall be greatly ashamed” &c. Cf. also Jeremiah 22:6-21.

10. Those who fear the Lord are exhorted to imitate the Servant’s trust in God.

that obeyeth the voice of his servant] (lit. “that hearkeneth to” &c.). The LXX. reads “let him hearken,” which certainly gives a better balanced verse: “Whoso among you feareth Jehovah, let him hearken” &c. The reference is not merely to the words just spoken (Isaiah 50:4-9), but to the whole revelation of which the Servant is the organ.

that walketh] Better, as R.V., he that walketh—commencing a new sentence.

in darkness] lit. “in dark places”; i.e. in trouble.

let him trust &c.] Cf. ch. Isaiah 26:4; Habakkuk 2:4.

10, 11. A double message of encouragement and warning based on the preceding soliloquy of the Servant. It seems evident that the Servant here is regarded as the nucleus of the godly party who are addressed in Isaiah 50:10; in other words, as a personification of the true Israel which is in process of being separated from the unbelieving part of the nation. These last are addressed in Isaiah 50:11 as opponents and persecutors of the faithful Israelites.

11. that compass yourselves about with sparks] Lit. as R.V., that gird yourselves about with firebrands (cf. Proverbs 26:18). The verb “gird” hardly suits the metaphor; hence it is better with many authorities to change מאזרי into מאירי (“that kindle”). “Fire” and “firebrands” are both images for the machinations of the ungodly party against the true servants of Jehovah (cf. Psalm 7:13; Ephesians 6:16).

walk in the light &c.] Rather: walk into the flame of your fire &c. Their mischievous designs shall recoil on themselves (Psalm 7:15 f.).

this shall ye have of mine hand] Better: from my hand is this (appointed) for you.

ye shall lie down in sorrow] perhaps: in the place of torment; see on ch. Isaiah 66:24.