Isaiah 59:20

And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(20) And the Redeemer shall come . . .—The picture of the Theophany is continued—Jehovah comes as a Redeemer (Goel, as in Isaiah 41:14; Isaiah 43:1, Job 19:25) to the true Zion, to those who have turned from their transgression. The verse is noticeable as being quoted, with variations, by St. Paul in Romans 11:26.

Benson Commentary

Isaiah 59:20-21. And, or, moreover, the Redeemer shall come to Zion — To Jerusalem, or to his church, often signified by Zion, namely, Christ shall come, of whom the apostle expounds it, Romans 11:26; the prophets usually concluding their promises of temporal deliverances with the promises of spiritual, especially such, of which the temporal were evident types. And unto them that turn from transgression, &c. — As he will come in the flesh, and tabernacle among his people; so he will come, by his Spirit, to those of them who turn from their sins unto God, (see John 14:15-23,) and will dwell in their hearts, (Ephesians 3:17,) so that they shall have Christ in them, the hope of glory, Colossians 1:27; Christ living in them, Galatians 2:20. This is my covenant with them — What I have promised to them that turn from their iniquities. My Spirit that is upon thee — Namely, upon Christ: see Isaiah 11:1-3. The Spirit promised to the church was first upon him, and from him, the head, that precious ointment descends to the skirts of his garments. And my word that I have put into thy mouth — Which thou hast uttered by virtue of my Spirit; shall not depart out of thy mouth — But thou shalt continue to be the Word made flesh, the wisdom of God incarnate, the great teacher of thy people, and the light of the world, till the consummation of all things. Nor out of the mouth of thy seed, &c. — But it shall dwell richly in them in all wisdom, capacitating them to teach, admonish, reprove, rebuke, exhort, and comfort one another, speaking with grace in their hearts: from henceforth and for ever — Always, even unto the end of the world; for the world being permitted to stand for the sake of the church, we may be sure that as long as it doth stand, Christ will have a church in it. Upon the whole, the meaning of this promise is, that God will give and continue his word and Spirit to his people, throughout all generations. 1st, There shall be some in every age, in whose hearts he will work, and in whom he will dwell, and thus the Comforter shall abide with the church for ever, John 14:16. 2d, The word of Christ shall always continue in the mouths of the faithful, that is, there shall be some in every age who, believing with the heart unto righteousness, shall, with the tongue, make confession unto salvation: and there shall still be a seed to speak Christ’s holy language, and profess his holy religion. Observe well, reader, the Spirit and the word go together, and by them the church is upheld. The word in the mouths of our ministers, nay, in our own mouths, will not profit us, unless the Spirit work with the word, and give it efficacy to enlighten, quicken, renew, and comfort us. The Spirit, however, doth his work by the word, and in concurrence with it; and whatever is pretended to be a dictate of the Spirit must be tried by the Scriptures. On this foundation the church is built, stands firm, and shall stand for ever; Christ himself being the chief corner- stone.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

59:16-21 This passage is connected with the following chapters. It is generally thought to describe the coming of the Messiah, as the Avenger and Deliverer of his church. There was none to intercede with God to turn away his wrath; none to interpose for the support of justice and truth. Yet He engaged his own strength and righteousness for his people. God will make his justice upon the enemies of his church and people plainly appear. When the enemy threatens to bear down all without control, then the Spirit of the Lord shall stop him, put him to flight. He that has delivered, will still deliver. A far more glorious salvation is promised to be wrought out by the Messiah in the fulness of time, which all the prophets had in view. The Son of God shall come to us to be our Redeemer; the Spirit of God shall come to be our Sanctifier: thus the Comforter shall abide with the church for ever, Joh 14:16. The word of Christ will always continue in the mouths of the faithful; and whatever is pretended to be the mind of the Spirit, must be tried by the Scriptures. We must lament the progress of infidelity and impiety. But the cause of the Redeemer shall gain a complete victory even on earth, and the believer will be more than conqueror when the Lord receives him to his glory in heaven.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And the Redeemer shall come - On the meaning of the word rendered here 'Redeemer,' see the notes at Isaiah 43:1. This passage is applied by the apostle Paul to the Messiah Romans 11:26; and Aben Ezra and Kimchi, among the Jews, and Christians generally, suppose that it refers to him.

To Zion - On the word 'Zion,' see the notes at Isaiah 1:8. The Septuagint renders this, Ἔνεκεν Σιὼν Heneken Siōn - 'On account of Zion.' The apostle Paul Romans 11:26, renders this, 'There shall come out of Zion (ἐκ Σιὼν ek Siōn) the Deliverer,' meaning that he would arise among that people, or would not be a foreigner. The idea in Isaiah, though substantially the same, is rather that he would come as a deliverer from abroad; that is, he would come from heaven, or be commissioned by God. When it is said that he would come to Zion, it is not meant that he would come exclusively to the Jews, but that his mission would be primarily to them.

And unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob - There is much variety in the interpretation of this passage. Paul Romans 11:26 quotes it thus, 'and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob;' and in this he has literally followed the Septuagint. The Vulgate renders it as in our translation. The Chaldee, 'And shall turn transgressors of the house of Jacob to the law.' The Syriac, 'To those who turn iniquity from Jacob.' Lowth has adopted the rendering of the Septuagint, and supposes that an error has crept into the Hebrew text. But there is no good authority for this supposition. The Septuagint and the apostle Paul have retained substantially, as Vitringa has remarked, the sense of the text. The main idea of the prophet is, that the effect of the coming of the Messiah would be to turn people from their sins. He would enter into covenant only with those who forsook their transgressions, and the only benefit to be derived from his coming would be that many would be thus turned from their iniquities.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

20. to Zion—Ro 11:26 quotes it, "out of Zion." Thus Paul, by inspiration, supplements the sense from Ps 14:7: He was, and is come to Zion, first with redemption, being sprung as man out of Zion. The Septuagint translates "for the sake of Zion." Paul applies this verse to the coming restoration of Israel spiritually.

them that turn from—(Ro 11:26). "shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob"; so the Septuagint, Paul herein gives the full sense under inspiration. They turn from transgression, because He first turns them from it, and it from them (Ps 130:4; La 5:21).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

And, moreover, or to wit; and being here not so much copulative as expositive.

The Redeemer: the word notes a redemption with power, viz.

1. Cyrus, the instrument for the efficient, viz. God the Redeemer, Isaiah 43:14 45:13. Or,

2. Christ, of whom the apostle expounds it, Romans 11:26; the prophets usually concluding their promises of temporal deliverances with the promises of spiritual, especially such of which the temporal were evident types.

To Zion, viz. Jerusalem, to which though Cyrus came not in person, yet his favours, and the good effects of his conquest over Babylon, reached it, setting free the citizens of Zion, as Christ also his church, which is often called by the name of Zion, and Jacob, and Israel, &c. In Jacob, viz. among the Jews, who were the children of Jacob; and he describes to whom of these, namely, to them, and none else, that

turn from transgression; such only whose hearts God touched, and turned to righteousness; and so to come to Zion here by the prophet, and out of Zion by the apostle, is one and the same thing; See Poole "Deu 33:2"; for the Hebrew lamed is not only an article of the dative case, but put often for mim, of or from, so that letsion is out of Zion; and for Christ to be given a Redeemer to Zion is the same thing as his coming to take iniquity from Jacob. And so the apostle doth by this expound that, taking an apostolical liberty not only to quote, but to expound this text; and so by laying them together, and making them one, would teach us that God must do for us what he requireth of us, Acts 3:26: or else, which is the opinion of some, he takes the last clause from some other text, or texts, as Isaiah 4:4. I incline to the former, partly because there is no need of searching for any other text, and partly because, as the apostle quoteth it, it is agreeable to the LXX., which he frequently makes use of; and this the apostle improves as an allegory to prove that the Jews toward the end of the world shall he converted and saved, when the fulness of the Gentiles shall be brought in: q.d. As this people of old were delivered out of a dark and dolesome estate, when they seemed as it were extinct; so toward the end of the world the remnant of the Jews, that seem to be rejected, God will again bring home unto himself. Saith the Lord; or, thus it is decreed and determined by the Lord: the prophets are wont to set down these words as a sacred seal of certainty, security, or confirmation of such signal promises as this is of the Redeemer, like to that of the apostle, 1 Timothy 1:15.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And the Redeemer shall come to Zion,.... Not Cyrus, as some; but the Messiah, as it is applied in the Talmud (m) and in other Jewish writers (n), and as Aben Ezra rightly interprets it; and so Kimchi, who also understands by the enemy, in the preceding verse, Gog and Magog; and this must be understood not of the first coming of Christ to redeem his people by his blood from sin, Satan, and the law; but of his spiritual coming to Zion to the church of God in the latter day, at the time of the conversion of the Jews, as appears from the quotation, and application of it by the apostle, Romans 11:25 and with it compare Revelation 14:1,

and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord; that is, to such among the Jews, the posterity of Jacob, who repent of their sins, and turn from them; and particularly their sin of the rejection of the Messiah, and the disbelief of him, and turn to him, and believe in him as their Saviour and King. The Targum is,

"and the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and to turn the transgressors of the house of Jacob to the law;''

but rather the turn will be to the Gospel of Christ.

(m) T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 98. l. & Yoma, fol. 86. 2.((n) Echa Rabbati, fol. 47. 2.

Geneva Study Bible

And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and to {t} them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.

(t) By which he declares that the true deliverance from sin and Satan belongs to none but to the children of God, whom he justifies.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

20. The consequences for Israel.

And the redeemer shall come] Rather And he shall come as a redeemer (ch. Isaiah 41:14).

and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob] LXX. has “and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob,”—a different and more expressive text. So also in the quotation, Romans 11:26, where the words are applied in a Messianic sense.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 20. - And the Redeemer shall come to Zion; rather, and there shall come a Redeemer for Zion, and for those who turn, etc. When the "adversaries "and the "enemies" shall have been punished, repentant Israel shall be saved by the coming of Messiah. As usual, the prophet does not note, or perhaps see, intervals of time, but blends events of various periods into one glorious vision of triumphant deliverance, redemption, and prolonged spiritual life in the Redeemer's kingdom. Isaiah 59:20

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The prophet now proceeds to depict the ישׁוּעה, the symbol of which is the helmet upon Jehovah's head. "And they will fear the name of Jehovah from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun: for He will come like a stream dammed up, which a tempest of Jehovah drives away. And a Redeemer comes for Zion, and for those who turn from apostasy in Jacob, saith Jehovah." Instead of ויראוּ, Knobel would strike out the metheg, and read ויראוּ, "and they will see;" but "seeing the name of Jehovah" (the usual expression is "seeing His glory") is a phrase that cannot be met with, though it is certainly a passable one; and the relation in which Isaiah 59:19 stands to Isaiah 59:19 does not recommend the alteration, since Isaiah 59:19 attributes that general fear of the name of Jehovah (cf., Deuteronomy 28:58) and of His glory (see the parallel overlooked by Knobel, Psalm 102:16), which follows the manifestation of judgment on the part of Jehovah, to the manner in which this manifestation occurs. Moreover, the true Masoretic reading in this passage is not ויראו (as in Micah 7:17), but וייראו (see Norzi). The two מן in ממּערב (with the indispensable metheg before the chateph, and a second to ensure clearness of pronunciation)

(Note: See the law in Br's Metheg-Setzung, 29.)

and וּממּזרח־שׁמשׁ (also with the so-called strong metheg)

(Note: See idem, 28.)

indicate the terminus a quo. From all quarters of the globe will fear of the name and of the glory of Jehovah become naturalized among the nations of the world. For when God has withdrawn His name and His glory from the world's history, as during the Babylonian captivity (and also at the present time), the return of both is all the more intense and extraordinary; and this is represented here in a figure which recals Isaiah 30:27-28; Isaiah 10:22-23 (cf., Ezekiel 43:2). The accentuation, which gives pashta to כנּהר, does indeed appear to make צר the subject, either in the sense of oppressor or adversary, as in Lamentations 4:12, or in that of oppression, as in Isaiah 25:4; Isaiah 26:16; Isaiah 30:20. The former is quite out of the question, since no such transition to a human instrument of the retributive judgment could well take place after the לצריו חמה in Isaiah 59:18. In support of the latter, it would be possible to quote Isaiah 48:18 and Isaiah 66:12, since צר is the antithesis to shâlōm. But according to such parallels as Isaiah 30:27-28, it is incomparably more natural to take Jehovah (His name, His glory) as the subject. Moreover, בּו, which must in any case refer to כנהר, is opposed to the idea that צר is the subject, to which בו would have the most natural claim to be referred - an explanation indeed which Stier and Hahn have really tried, taking נוססח as in Psalm 60:4, and rendering it "The Spirit of Jehovah holds up a banner against him, viz., the enemy." If, however, Jehovah is the subject to יבא, צר כנּהר must be taken together (like מכסּים ... כּמּים, Isaiah 11:9; טובה רוּחך, Psalm 143:10; Ges. 111, 2, b), either in the sense of "a hemming stream," one causing as it were a state of siege (from tsūr, Isaiah 21:2; Isaiah 29:3), or, better still, according to the adjective use of the noun צר (here with tzakeph, צר from צרר) in Isaiah 28:20; Job 41:7; 2 Kings 6:1, a closely confined stream, to whose waters the banks form a compressing dam, which it bursts through when agitated by a tempest, carrying everything away with it.

Accordingly, the explanation we adopt is this: Jehovah will come like the stream, a stream hemmed in, which a wind of Jehovah, i.e., (like "the mountains of God," "cedars of God," "garden of Jehovah," Isaiah 51:3, cf., Numbers 24:6) a strong tempestuous wind, sweeps away (בּו נססה, nōsesa-b-bô, with the tone drawn back and dagesh forte conj. in the monosyllable, the pilel of nūs with Beth: to hunt into, to press upon and put to flight) - a figure which also indicates that the Spirit of Jehovah is the driving force in this His judicially gracious revelation of Himself. Then, when the name of Jehovah makes itself legible once more as with letters of fire, when His glory comes like a sea of fire within the horizon of the world's history, all the world form west to east, from east to west, will begin to fear Him. But the true object of the love, which bursts forth through this revelation of wrath, is His church, which includes not only those who have retained their faith, but all who have been truly converted to Him. And He comes (וּבא) a continuation of יבא) for Zion a Redeemer, i.e., as a Redeemer (a closer definition of the predicate), and for those who turn away from apostasy (פשׁע שׁבי, compare Isaiah 1:27, and for the genitive connection Micah 2:8, מלחמה שׁוּבי, those who have turned away form the war). The Vav here does not signify "and indeed," as in Isaiah 57:18, but "more especially." He comes as a Redeemer for Zion, i.e., His church which has remained true, including those who turn again to Jehovah from their previous apostasy. In Romans 11:26 the apostle quotes this word of God, which is sealed with "Thus saith Jehovah," as a proof of the final restoration of all Israel; for יהוה (according to the Apocalypse, ὁ ὤν καὶ ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος) is to him the God who moves on through the Old Testament towards the goal of His incarnation, and through the New Testament towards that of His parousia in Christ, which will bring the world's history to a close. But this final close does not take place without its having become apparent at the same time that God "has concluded all in unbelief that He may have compassion upon all" (Romans 11:32).