Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 37:35
For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.
35. I will defend this city ] Cf. ch. Isa 31:5, where the same verb is used.
for my servant David’s sake ] An expression of frequent occurrence in the books of Kings. See 1Ki 11:13; 1Ki 11:34; 1Ki 15:4 ; 2Ki 8:19.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For I will defend this city – Notwithstanding all that Hezekiah had done to put it in a posture of defense (2Ch 32:1, following) still it was Yahweh alone who could preserve it.
For mine own sake – God had been reproached and blasphemed by Sennacherib. As his name and power had been thus blasphemed, he says that he would vindicate himself, and for the honor of his own insulted majesty would save the city.
And for my servant Davids sake – On account of the promise which he had made to him that there should not fail a man to sit on his throne, and that the city and nation should not be destroyed until the Messiah should appear (see Psa 132:10-18).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
35. I will defendNotwithstandingHezekiah’s measures of defense (2Ch32:3-5), Jehovah was its true defender.
mine own sakesinceJehovah’s name was blasphemed by Sennacherib (Isa37:23).
David’s sakeon accountof His promise to David (Psa 132:17;Psa 132:18), and to Messiah, theheir of David’s throne (Isa 9:7;Isa 11:1).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For I will defend this city to save it,…. Or, “shield it”; and if God will be the shield and protection of any place or people, they must needs be safe; who can hurt them?
For my own sake, and for my servant David’s sake; not for the merits of the inhabitants of it, but for the sake of his own name and glory, who had been blasphemed by the Assyrian monarch, and his general; and for the sake of his servant David, in whose seed he had promised the kingdom should be established; see 2Sa 7:12 and chiefly for the sake of the Messiah, David’s son, and the Lord’s servant, who was to spring from Hezekiah’s race, and therefore must not be cut off.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
35. And I will be a protector. This is the reason of the preceding statement, why Sennacherib should not enter into the city; because the Lord will protect it. The Prophet therefore bids Hezekiah and the whole nation turn their eyes towards God, because the sight of that tyrant was so alarming that they might tremble at it. In like manner, if we now contemplate the power of our enemies, we shall be overpowered by fear, and there will scarcely be any room for hope; but we ought to look directly to God, and embrace his promises, by which we are defended as by a shield; and since God is sufficiently powerful to restrain a mortal man, to him ought we to turn our eyes; for this promise must not be limited to that time, but ought to be extended to all times. Yet the expression used by the Prophet is more extensive, and conveys fuller meaning; for God affirms that he will be the guardian and protector of the city; that is, because he had pledged himself to defend it. Hence he infers that it will be preserved, because God’s protection renders its preservation certain.
For my own sake. When he says that he will do this “for his own sake,” he calls on Hezekiah and all believers to remember his gracious covenant For the Jews, though often and severely chastised, had obstinately provoked the wrath of God against them, and therefore deserved not only that he should deprive them of all assistance, but that he should execute against them the highest examples of dreadful vengeance. In order therefore to prevent them from despairing, he shews that God will be their defender, not because he finds any cause in them, but rather because he looks to himself first, that he may adhere firmly to his purpose, not to cast away the posterity of Abraham which he adopted, not to abolish religious worship, not to blot out the remembrance of his name on the earth by destroying his sanctuary; and, secondly, not to expose his name to the jeers and blasphemies of the nations. And these words contain an implied reproof which that nation ought to have felt to be severe, and justly; because the good king had more difficulty in pacifying them than in repelling the enemy; for they distrusted, and stormed, and thought that no hope of safety was left for them. The Lord, therefore, did not look at the merits of the people or of any other person, but only had regard to his own glory; for the contrast which is expressed by Ezekiel must here be understood, “Not for your sakes, O house of Israel, will I do this, but for my own sake.” (70) (Eze 36:22.) Now, since we have the same argument to plead in the present day, let us not hesitate to make use of this shield against our sins, “Though we most highly deserve a thousand deaths, yet it is enough for God to look to his goodness and faithfulness, that he may fulfill what he hath promised.” Though it is of no advantage to hypocrites that God is the continual protector of his Church, yet the elect will always have this as a very safe refuge, that although they bring nothing of their own to appease the wrath of God, yet since God, moved by nothing else than his infinite goodness, built his Church and determined to defend it, he will never suffer it to perish.
And for my servant David’s sake. This is highly worthy of observation; for although God needed not to seek in any one but in himself the reason why he embraced that nation with a gracious regard, yet it is not without good reason that he brings forward, as a very sure pledge of his love, David, by whose hand he had made a covenant, and to whom he, had promised to be a Father. (2Sa 7:12.) The Prophet does not speak of David as a private individual, but as a holy king whose throne was established by the hand of God, under whose guidance the Church would continue to be safe, and, in short, who would be the mediator between God and the Church; for in this capacity he surpassed even the angels themselves, so far as he represented the person of Christ. His throne was, indeed, soon afterwards cast down, and his crown torn in pieces, yet this was no unmeaning confirmation, that God intended to protect the city for a time, because he determined not to make void what he had testified to David concerning the eternity of his kingdom. And we know that the captivity of the people did not wholly set aside the kingly power in the posterity of David till at length Christ came, who on this account is called David in other passages. (Jer 30:9; Eze 37:24; Hos 3:5.)
This shews the great absurdity of the Papists in alleging that it is through the merits of the saints that God pardons us; for here the case of David is widely different from that of other saints, on account of the promise which had been made to him. He might have named Abraham, or any other person, who possessed no small authority in the Church; but since he was now speaking of the preservation of the Church, and of the eternity of the kingdom of Christ, he named in a peculiar manner him who expressly, along with others, received that promise, “This is my rest, here will I dwell.” (Psa 132:14.) Since therefore this passage has regard to the promise, and not to the person, the Papists are doubly foolish in thinking that it affords support to the intercession of the saints, which is of their own contrivance. On the contrary, what they plead in their own behalf absolutely contradicts their error; because David is here represented as the type of the only Mediator, who sets aside the intercessions which they have invented.
(70) “ Pour l’amour de mon sainct nom,” “For the love of my holy name.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(35) For mine own sake . . .The words set forth, as it were, the two motives of Jehovahs action: for His own sake, as asserting His majesty against the blasphemy of the Assyrians; for Davids sake, as mindful of the promise made to him, showing, in the spirit of the second commandment, that the good as well as the evil influences of men survive, and that a later generation may profit by the good that was in its predecessor, as well as suffer for its guilt.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 37:35. For my servant David’s sake All the promises made to David were made to him in Christ; he and his kingdom were types of the kingdom of Christ. It is to this, and not to the personal merits of David, that the sacred writer here alludes.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
defend = shield. See note on Isa 31:5.
My servant. Three are so called in this book: David (here); Israel or Jacob (the nation) (Isa 41:8; Isa 42:19; Isa 43:10; Isa 44:1; Isa 45:4; Isa 48:20; Isa 49:3 and whole chapter); and Messiah (Isa 42:1; Isa 65:8).
David’s sake. Note how Hezekiah refers to these words in his “Songs of the Degrees” (Psa 132:1, Psa 132:10).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
I will: Isa 31:5, Isa 38:6, 2Ki 20:6
for mine: Isa 43:25, Isa 48:9-11, Deu 32:27, Eze 20:9, Eze 36:22, Eph 1:6, Eph 1:14
and for: 1Ki 11:12, 1Ki 11:13, 1Ki 11:36, 1Ki 15:4, Jer 23:5, Jer 23:6, Jer 30:9, Jer 33:15, Jer 33:16, Eze 37:24, Eze 37:25
Reciprocal: Deu 33:12 – The beloved 1Sa 12:22 – for his great 2Sa 7:15 – as I took 1Ki 20:28 – therefore will 2Ki 8:19 – for David 2Ki 11:2 – they hid him 1Ch 17:19 – thy servant’s Psa 20:2 – out Psa 25:2 – let not Psa 46:4 – city Psa 76:3 – There Psa 129:5 – be confounded Isa 4:5 – all the glory Isa 7:2 – the house Isa 10:27 – because Isa 31:4 – so shall Isa 31:8 – shall the Isa 43:12 – declared Jer 4:10 – Ye shall have Eze 36:21 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
37:35 For I will defend this city to save it for my own sake, and for my servant {b} David’s sake.
(b) For my promise sake made to David.