Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 19:25
Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed [be] Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.
25. whom the Lord of hosts shall bless ] R.V. for that the Lord of hosts hath blessed him (Israel). A better sense than either is given by the LXX. “(the earth;) which Jehovah hath blessed.” But the masculine suffix is opposed to this.
my people and the work of my hands are titles elsewhere confined to Israel, but here accorded to Egypt and Assyria, the still dearer epithet mine inheritance being reserved for Israel, as it were the ancestral estate of the one true God.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
whom the Lord of hosts shall bless – That is, which united country he shall acknowledge as truly worshipping him, and on which he shall bestow his favors as his favored people.
Assyria the work of my hands – This is synonymous with the expression my people. It means that the arrangements by which the true religion would be established among them, were the work of God. Conversion to God is everywhere in the Scriptures spoken of as his work, or creation; see Eph 2:10 : For we are his workmanship; created in Christ Jesus unto good works (compare 2Co 5:17; Psa 100:3).
Israel mine inheritance – The land and people which is especially my own – a name not unfrequently given to Israel. For a learned examination of the various hypotheses in regard to the fulfillment of this prophecy, see Vitringa. He himself applies it to the times succeeding Alexander the Great. Alexander he regards as the saviour mentioned in Isa 19:20; and the establishment of the true religion referred to by the prophet as that which would take place under the Ptolemies. Vitringa has proved – what indeed is known to all who have the slightest knowledge of history that there were large numbers of Jews under the Ptolemies in Egypt, and that multitudes became proselytes to the Jewish faith.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 25. Blessed be Egypt – Assyria – and Israel] All these countries shall be converted to the Lord. Concerning Egypt, it was said, Isa 18:7, that it should bring gifts to the Lord at Jerusalem. Here it is predicted, Isa 19:19, that there shall be an altar to the Lord in Egypt itself; and that they, with the Assyrians shall become the people of God with the Israelites. This remains partly to be fulfilled. These countries shall be all, and perhaps at no very distant time from this, converted to the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless; whom, i.e. which people, to wit, Israel, Egypt, and Assyria, expressed both in the foregoing verse, and in the following clause of this verse; of whom he speaks as of one people, in the singular number, because they are all united into one body and church. Or, For or because (as this particle is taken, 1Sa 15:15, and elsewhere) the Lord of hosts shall bless him or them. So this is added as a reason why he said Israel should be a blessing to them all. My people: this title, and those which follow, that were peculiar to the people of Israel, shall now be given to these and all other nations of the world.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
25. Whomrather, “Which,”namely, “the land,” or “earth,” that is, thepeople of it [MAURER].
my peoplethe peculiardesignation of Israel, the elect people, here applied to Egypt toexpress its entire admission to religious privileges (Rom 9:24-26;1Pe 2:9; 1Pe 2:10).
work of my handsspiritually(Hos 2:23; Eph 2:10).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless,…. Not only Israel, but Egypt and Assyria, even all his chosen ones, whether among Jews or Gentiles:
saying, blessed [be] Egypt my people; as they must needs be blessed who are the Lord’s covenant people; for he being their covenant God, his blessing is upon them, even life for evermore; they are blessed with all the blessings of the covenant, even all the spiritual blessings which are in Christ; they are secure of his love, and may depend upon his power and protection; they are happy here, and will be so hereafter:
and Assyria the work of my hands; not as creatures only, but new creatures, having the good work of grace wrought in their hearts, of which God is the author; and therefore are called his workmanship, Eph 2:10 and who must be blessed, because, by this work of grace upon them, they appear to be the chosen of God, and precious, to be his children, and dear unto him, whom he will not forsake, and who are formed for himself, and for heaven, and happiness:
and Israel mine inheritance; chosen by him to be so, and given to Christ as such; and who must be happy, because, as they are the Lord’s inheritance, portion, and peculiar treasure, so he has provided an inheritance for them, incorruptible, undefiled, which fades not away, reserved in the heavens. The Targum interprets all this of Israel, thus,
“blessed be my people, whom I brought out of Egypt; and because they sinned before me, I carried them captive into Assyria; and when they are turned, they are called my people, and mine inheritance, Israel.”
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
25. Because the Lord of hosts will bless him. (58) He assigns a reason, and explains the former statement; for he shews that, through the undeserved goodness of God, the Assyrians and Egyptians shall be admitted to fellowship with the chosen people of God. As if he had said, “Though these titles belonged exclusively to Israel, they shall likewise be conferred on other nations, which the Lord hath adopted to be his own.” There is a mutual relation between God and his people, so that they who are called by his mouth “a holy people,” (Exo 19:6,) may justly, in return, call him their God. Yet this designation is bestowed indiscriminately on Egyptians and Assyrians.
Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands. Though the Prophet intended to describe foreign nations as associated with the Jews who had belonged to God’s household, yet he employs most appropriate marks to describe the degrees. By calling the Egyptians “the people of God,” he means that they will share in the honor which God deigned to bestow in a peculiar manner on the Jews alone. When he calls Assyrians the work of his hands, he distinguishes them by the title peculiar to his Church. We have elsewhere remarked (59) that the Church is called “the workmanship” ( τὸ ποίημα) of God, (Eph 2:10,) because by the spirit of regeneration believers are created anew, so as to bear the image of God. Thus, he means that we are “the work of God’s hands,” not so far as we are created to be men, but so far as they who are separated from the world, and become new creatures, are created anew to a new life. Hence we acknowledge that in “newness of life” nothing ought to be claimed as our own, for we are wholly “the work of God.”
And Israel my inheritance. When he comes to Israel, he invests him with his prerogative, which is, that he is the inheritance of God, so that among the new brethren he still holds the rank and honor of the first-born. The word inheritance suggests the idea of some kind of superiority; and indeed that covenant which the Lord first made with them, bestowed on them the privilege which cannot be made void by their ingratitude; for “the gifts and calling of God are without repentance,” as Paul declares, (Rom 11:29,) who shews that in the house of God they are the first-born. (Eph 2:12.) Although therefore the grace of God is now more widely spread, yet they still hold the highest rank, not by their own merit, but by the firmness of the promises.
(58) Bogus footnote
(59) Bogus footnote
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(25) Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless . . .In this tripartite holy alliance Israel is to retain the spiritual supremacy. Egypt, once alien, becomes the people of the Lord. (Comp. Hos. 1:9-10.) Assyria is recognised as the instrument which He has made to do His work (comp. Isa. 10:15; Isa. 37:26); but Israel has the proud pre-eminence of being His inheritance.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
REFLECTIONS
PAUSE, my soul, over this Chapter, and, gather up the several interesting contents of it into one view: pray over it, and beg of God the Holy Ghost to make it truly blessed to thy meditation.
In the afflictions or Egypt, behold the sure afflictions which arise out of a fallen sinful state. Burdens, like those the Egyptians felt and groaned under, must and will make every sinner groan, when once the heart is broken for sin, and truly brought acquainted with the miseries of it. But when, from under the galling load of a guilty conscience, the poor sinner cries unto the Lord, because of the oppressors; then the Lord sends them a Saviour, and a great one, and he delivers them. Yea, before they called, before they felt their misery, before the evil of sin was known in the earth, God the Father hath sent Jesus his dear and ever blessed Son; a Saviour, indeed, and a great One, mighty to save, to save his people from their sins.
Reader! what saith your experience to these things? The day is come; the highway is cast up; the gospel door is open, when Egypt and the multitude of the isles are called to join the true Israel of God, in the salvation of the Lord Jesus. Oh! for that rich blessing of God in Christ here recorded, to be every day fulfilled, that Jehovah the Lord of Hosts may bless with all spiritual blessings in Christ, Egypt, his people, and Assyria the work of his hands, and Israel his inheritance. Amen.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 19:25 Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed [be] Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.
Ver. 25. Whom the Lord af hosts shall bless. ] Or, For the Lord of hosts shall bless, and then he shall be blessed, a as Isaac said of Jacob. Gen 27:33
Blessed be Egypt, my people.
And Assyria, the work of my hands.
And Israel mine inheritance.
a Jun.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the Lord: Isa 61:9, Isa 65:23, Num 6:24, Num 6:27, Num 24:1, Psa 67:6, Psa 67:7, Psa 115:15, Eph 1:3
Blessed: Isa 29:23, Psa 100:3, Psa 138:8, Hos 2:23, Rom 3:29, Rom 9:24, Rom 9:25, Gal 6:15, Eph 2:10, Phi 1:6, Col 3:10, Col 3:11, 1Pe 2:10
and Israel: Deu 32:9
Reciprocal: Deu 32:43 – Rejoice Isa 14:1 – the strangers Jer 9:26 – Judah Eze 16:53 – in the midst Zec 2:11 – many Zec 8:13 – ye shall Luk 14:23 – Go Eph 2:14 – both