Miles de Libros Cristianos Gratis. Accede a nuestra Biblioteca Virtual

Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 41:14

Para un estudio avanzado de: “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 41:14” utilice nuestra app.

Fear not, thou worm Jacob, [and] ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

14 16. Israel itself, in the might of Jehovah, shall be the means of crushing and scattering its foes. The idea, however, is not that of warlike conquest on the part of the Israelites, it is simply that in the contest Israel is as the threshing instrument to the corn, it is armed with an irresistible strength. Cheyne pointed out that in Isa 41:14-15 a, Israel is addressed in the fem., but that is in all probability a mere freak of the punctuators, suggested by the fem. “worm.”

thou worm Jacob ] Cf. Psa 22:6; Job 25:6. ye men of Israel ] supplies a very weak parallel. It is generally taken as an ellipsis for “ye few men of I.” (as if it were , Gen 34:30 &c.), but that would have to be expressed. We should probably read with Ewald “thou small worm Israel” ( for ); the two words for “worm” occur together in Job 25:6 and also in ch. Isa 14:11.

I will help ] Render, as before, I help.

and thy redeemer, the Holy One ] Read with R.V. and thy Redeemer is the Holy One. The word for “Redeemer” is G’l, the technical term for the person charged with the duty of buying back the alienated property of a kinsman, of avenging his death, and certain other obligations (see Lev 25:48 f.; Num 35:19 ff.; Rth 3:12 &c.). It is a standing title of Jehovah in the latter part of Isaiah, occurring in 12 passages (the corresponding verb in 6 others). The verb means originally to assert a right by purchase: hence fig. to reclaim, rescue &c.; Driver, Introduction 6 , p. 418.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Fear not – (See the note at Isa 41:10).

Thou worm – This word is properly applied as it is with us, to denote a worm, such as is generated in putrid substances Exo 16:20; Isa 14:11; Isa 66:24; or such as destroy plants Jon 4:7; Deu 28:39. It is used also to describe a person that is poor, afflicted, and an object of insignificance Job 25:5-6 :

Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not;

Yea, the stars are not pure in his sight.

How much less man, that is a worm;

And the son of man which is a worm?

And in Psa 22:6 :

But I am a worm, and no man;

A reproach of men, and despised of the people.

In the passage before us, it is applied to the Jews in Babylon as poor and afflicted, and as objects of contempt in view of their enemies. It implies that in themselves they were unable to defend or deliver themselves, and in this state of helplessness, God offers to aid them and assures them that they have nothing to fear.

And ye men of Israel – ( ys’era’el methey). Margin, Few men. There has been a great variety in the explanation of this phrase. Aquila renders it, Tethneotes, and Theodotion, Nekroi, dead. So the Vulgate, Qui mortui estis ex Israel. The Septuagint renders it, Fear not, Jacob, O diminutive Israel ( oligostos Israel). Chaldee, Fear not, O tribe of the house of Jacob, ye seed of Israel. Lowth renders it, Ye mortals of Israel. The Hebrew denotes properly, as in our translation, men of Israel; but there is evidently included the idea of fewness or feebleness. The parallelism requires us so to understand it; and the word men, or mortal men, may well express the idea of feebleness.

And thy Redeemer – On the meaning of this word, see the notes at Isa 35:9; Isa 43:1, Isa 43:3. It is applied here to the rescue from the captivity of Babylon, and is used in the general sense of deliverer. God would deliver, or rescue them as be had done in times past. He had done it so often, that this might be regarded as his appropriate appellation, that he was the redeemer of his people.

The Holy One of Israel – The Holy Being whom the Israelites adored, and who was their protector, and their friend (see the note at Isa 2:4). This appellation is often given to God (see Isa 5:19, Isa 5:24; Isa 10:20; Isa 12:6; Isa 17:7; Isa 29:19; Isa 30:11-12). We may remark in view of these verses:

1. That the people of God are in themselves feeble and defenseless. They have no strength on which they can rely. They are often so encompassed with difficulties which they feel they have no strength to overcome, that they are disposed to apply to themselves the appellation of worm, and by ethers they are looked on as objects of contempt, and are despised.

2. They have nothing to fear. Though they are feeble, their God and Redeemer is strong. He is their Redeemer, and their friend, and they may put their trust in him. Their enemies cannot ultimately triumph over them, but they will be scattered and become as nothing.

3. In times of trial, want, and persecution, the friends of God should put their trust alone in him. It is often the plan of God so to afflict and humble his people, that they shall feel their utter helplessness and dependence, and be led to him as the only source of strength.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Isa 41:14

Fear not, thou worm Jacob

Fear not

The first qualification for serving God with any amount of success, and for doing Gods work well, is a SENSE OF OUR OWN WEAKNESS. When Gods warrior marches forth to battle with plumed helmet, and with mail about his loins, strong in his own majesty–when he says, I know that I shall conquer, my own right arm and my mighty sword shall get unto me the victory, defeat is not far distant. God will not go forth with that man who goeth forth in his own strength. The text addresses us as worms. Now, the mere rationalist, the man who boasts of the dignity of human nature, will never subscribe his name to such a title as this. Not so, however, he who is wise and understandeth; he knows that he is a worm, and he knows it in this way–

1. By contemplation. Those who think, must think their pride down-if God is with them in their thinking. Lift up now your eyes, behold the heavens, the work of Gods fingers; and if ye be men of sense and your souls are attuned to the high music of the spheres, ye will say, What is man that Thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that Thou visitest him?

2. Again, if you want to know your own nothingness, consider what you are in suffering.

3. Try some great labour for Christ.

II. THERE SHOULD BE TRUST IN THE PROMISED STRENGTH. There is no saying what man can do when God is with him. Put God into a mans arm, and he may have only the jawbone of an ass to fight with, but he will lay the Philistines in heaps: put God into a mans hand, and he may have a giant to deal with, and nothing but a sling and a stone, but he will lodge the stone in the giants brow before long; put God into a mans eye, and he will flash defiance on kings and princes; put God into a mans lip, and he will speak right honestly, though his death should be the wages of his speech.

III. WE MUST LABOUR TO GET RID, AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, OF FEAR. The prophet says, Fear not; thou art a worm, but do not fear; God will help thee; why shouldest thou fear?

1. Get rid of fear, because fear is painful.

2. Fear is weakening.

3. Fear dishonours God.

4. Doubt not the Lord, oh, Christian, for in so doing thou dost lower thyself. The more thou believest, the greater thou art; but the more thou doubtest, the less thou becomest. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Thou worm Jacob!

I. JACOB WAS A WORM IN OTHER PEOPLES EYES. Is there not many a worm still under the same experience? I may be speaking to a clerk who gets laughed at by his fellow-clerks, with their masters permission, because he is a Christian. I may be speaking to some one who is despised and scoffed at, and called a Sabbatarian, because he keeps the Sabbath day. Take comfort! He who is now thy Redeemer was treated as a worm. I am a worm, and no man, sang the Messianic psalmist.

II. JACOB WAS ALSO A WORM IN HIS OWN EYES, which is far more to the purpose. Look at the Jews drawing together into some little sanctuary on a Sabbath morning or evening, amid the scoffs of the Babylonians. Look at the aged patriarch when the doors are shut, opening the roll of the prophet Isaiah, and reading, Fear not, thou worm Jacob. Ay, worms indeed: the hearers would reply from the bottom of their hearts; worms indeed! We may writhe under mens contempt; but there is no writhing like the writhing under a sense of personal sin. There is no nerve like the nerve that passes through the conscience. Job was perhaps the noblest man of his day; and yet we find him saying, I have said to corruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, Thou art my mother and my sister. None of you are so low as that! Our Lord called Himself a worm because He was treated as a worm; but Job uses the word in a very different sense; for Job knew he was a sinner, and it is almost an insult to a worm for a sinner to call himself by the name. The Septuagint has left out this word in the text. How that came about passes my comprehension. Were these proud translators of Alexandria too good for the Bible? Were they too high and holy to put in what Isaiah wrote? Coleridge says, Gods Word is Gods Word to me, because it finds me. Has it found us? Have we seen the sin and the misery of our own heart? Can we look back on that action we did yesterday, and say, It was the action of a worm, and not of a man?

III. JACOB WAS A WORM IN GODS EYES. God, says Calvin, here seems to speak disrespectfully of His people; but if you are to speak t? worms, you must speak in their language. Fine names would never suit Jacob in this case, and the Jacob-minded soul finds comfort in such words, knowing that they were used in love. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, I will help thee. Thee is an individualising, singularising word. The Lord places His finger upon the humble mans heart, and says, I will help thee. I, the Highest, will seek out the lowest, and let others, who think themselves better, help themselves. The Holy One of Israel–blessed name! name He will never lay aside!–is the Portion, the Helper, the Friend of worm Jacob. Oh worm Jacob, it doth not yet appear what thou shalt be; but when He shall appear whose thou art, thou shalt be like Him, for thou shalt see Him as He is. (A. Whyte, D. D.)

Fears dispelled

I. THE CHARACTER OF GODS PEOPLE.

1. The language employed refers to the Jews as the descendants of Jacob, afterwards called Israel.

2. The epithet which designates their character. Worm. This word describes a person–mean, weak, vile, and despised (Job 25:5-6). This epithet implies–

(1) Meanness. This meanness is frequently felt by Christians when they think of the grandeur and glory of God, as seen in His works and recorded in His Word (Psa 8:3-4). When they think of their sins and imperfections (1Co 15:9). When they think of their duties, trials, their ignorance, and their tendency to the grave.

(2) Pollution. A worm is regarded as unclean. Its element is putrescence. Man is now degraded from his original dignity. Every Christian feels his tendency to pollution.

(3) Danger. A worm is frequently exposed to danger. Every foot is ready to crush it. The body of man is liable to casualties. And the precious soul of man is surrounded by danger.

(4) Weakness. A worm is not able to make resistance. What resistance can a sinner make to God?

II. GODS PEOPLE ARE SUBJECT TO FEAR. Fear not, worm Jacob. The Israelites in Babylon were sadly depressed in mind, fearing that God would be gracious no more. The people of God are subject to fear.

1. Their character, as represented by meanness, pollution, danger, and weakness, causes them to fear.

2. The multitude of their enemies causes fear

3. They fear Divine chastisements. These are needful, but grievous Heb 12:11).

4. They sometimes fear the tests and trials of the future.

5. They fear death.

III. THE EXHORTATION AND PROMISE. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, I will help thee. Fear not! Look from earthly resources to the mighty God of Jacob. Fear not thy foes. He that is for thee is more than all that are against thee. I will help thee, for–

1. I have chosen thee.

2. I have redeemed thee.

3. I have adopted thee.

4. I have the ability as well as the will. By all means.

5. I will help thee with the ministration of My angels, by the events of providence.

6. I will guide thee in all perplexities.

7. I will not only help, but will glorify thee. Thou art a worm here. I will change thy vile body when the dead shall be raised, even as the chrysalis becomes a beautiful being after its temporary sleep, (Homilist.)

Biblical illustrations from the animal kingdom

It is not unusual to find the Bible writers borrowing names from the animal kingdom end applying them to men. Isaiah does so again and again. Bold in his calling, ha stands beside Jehovah in the circle of the heavens, and sees men like grasshoppers. But among the grass and the grasshoppers he sees a people over whom Jehovah rules, and he calls them sheep, and the little people he calls lambs. And then he sees his sheep and his lambs changing into eagles and eaglets–They shall mount up with wings as eagles. Prophets, psalmists, apostles, all employ the same method, and draw their illustrations from the same source. There is fine education in the Bible I No wonder that John Bunyan wrote the finest style in the English language, getting his vocabulary between its boards! (A. Whyte, D. D.)

Thou worm Jacob!:

The worm here indicated is elsewhere referred to as being injurious to vineyards (Deu 28:39). It was the destroyer of Jonahs gourd (Jon 4:7). It is said to be the coccus, a genus which includes the cochineal insect. Naturalists describe the coccus as living upon trees and plants, and as being very small. When collected in districts where these insects are cultivated for the dye which they yield, there are found to be about 70,000 of them in a pound. Two kinds of insect are designated worm in Isa 14:11. The worm (mite of corruption) is spread under thee, and worms (cocci) cover thee. This is also the case in Job 25:6. In the passage before us, then, the descendants of Jacob are compared with a creature that is despicable, because it is insignificant and noxious (Psa 22:6). Orelli, explaining that worm Jacob denotes here smallness, weakness, and helplessness, seems to have presented to his mind some such insignificant creature as the coccus; but the commentators generally have thought rather of the familiar earthworm, which they regard as a symbol of debasement and affliction, after the manner of Gloster in King Lear, when he says of the supposed idiot beggar–

I the last nights storm I such a fellow saw,

Which made me think a man a worm.

Gods people, says Henry, are as worms in humble thoughts of themselves, and in their enemies haughty thoughts of them: worms, but not vipers, or of the serpents seed. Other writers use the expressions despicable and trampled upon (Lowth); weak and despised, and trodden under foot (Wordsworth); creature of the dust, prostrate and helpless (Kay); abject, weak, and wretched of thyself (Diodati). We must turn to Mic 7:17 for a passage in which reference is expressly made to the earthworm. The comments supplied by Cornelius a Lapide show that expositors have not always been content to regard the epithet worm Jacob merely as a suggestion of lowliness and meanness. In the opinion of the more ancient among them it signifies, historically and typically, the Jews afflicted by the Assyrians, but antitypically the apostles and early Christians, turn ob paucitatem, turn ob contemptum et humilitatem. Allusion was made to Luk 12:32 and 1Co 4:9; while Eze 28:11-12 was referred to as a parallel passage. Jerome is quoted as saying, Sicut vermis terram penetrat, ita sermo Apostolicus penetravit Gentium civitates, et ingressus est corda prius durissima. On Luk 12:32 Bengel comments, Grex est non numerissimus, si ad mundum comparetur; and by applying the thought thus expressed to the phrase under discussion we get a slight, but useful, addition to the suggestions made elsewhere. (F. Jarratt.)

Thy Redeemer

And why does it say, and thy Redeemer? What was the use of appending the Redeemers name to this precious exhortation?

I. It was added FOR AMPLIFICATION. There are some preachers from whom you will never learn anything; not because they do not say much which is instructive, but because they just mention the instructive thought once, and immediately pass on to another thought, never expanding the second thought, but immediately passing on, almost without connection, to a third. Other preachers, on the other hand, follow a better method. Having given one idea, they endeavour to amplify it, so that their hearers, if they are not able to receive the idea in the abstract, at least are able to lay hold upon some of its points, when they come to the amplification of it. Now God, the great Author of the Book, the great Preacher of the truth by His prophets, when He would preach it, and when He would write it, so amplifies a fact, so extends a truth, and enlarges upon a doctrine. I will help thee, saith Jehovah-That means Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. All! but, said God, My people will forget that, unless I amplify the thought, so I will even break it up; I will remind them of My Trinity. They understand My Unity; I will bid them recollect that there are Three in One, though these Three be One; and He adds, Thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Jehovah–Redeemer–Holy One of Israel–three persons, all included, indeed, in the word Jehovah, but very likely to be forgotten unless they had been distinctly enumerated. Suffer your thoughts to enlarge upon the fact, that the promise contained in this verse, Fear not, I will help thee, is a promise from Three Divine Persons.

II. It is a SWEETENING OF THE PROMISE. All the promises are yea and amen in Christ Jesus; but when a promise mentions the name of the Redeemer, it imparts a peculiar blessedness to it. It is something like, if I may represent it by such a figure, the beautiful effect of certain decorations of stained glass. There are some persons whose eyes are so weak that the light seems to be injurious to them, especially the red rays of the sun, and a glass has been invented, which rejects the rays that are injurious, and allows only those to pass which are softened and modified to the weakness of the eye. It seems as if the Lord Jesus were some such a glass as this. The grace of God the Trinity, shining through the man Christ Jesus, becomes a mellow, soft light, so that mortal eye can bear it.

III. I think this is put in by way of CONFIRMATION. Read the promise, recollecting that it says, Thy Redeemer; and then, as you read it through, you will see how the word Redeemer seems to confirm it all. Now begin. I will help thee: lay, a stress on that word. If you read it so, there is one blow at your unbelief. I will help thee, saith the Redeemer. There is the Masters handwriting; it is His own autograph, it is written by Himself; behold the bloody signature! It is stamped with His Cross. And now let us read the promise again, and lay the stress on the will. Oh, the wills and the shalls: they are the sweetest words in the Bible. When God says I will, there is something in it. And now we lay stress on another word: I will help thee. That is very little for Me to do, to help thee. Consider what I have done already. What! not help thee? Why, I bought thee with My blood. And now, just take the last word, I will help thee. (C. H.Spurgeon.)

Thy Redeemer

The word Redeemer would suggest to a Hebrew reader the idea of a near kinsman (Lev 25:24-25), and of deliverance from bondage by the payment of a ransom. Its highest application occurs here and in Job 19:25. The reference to the Son of God, although it might not be perceptible of old, is now rendered necessary by the knowledge that this act, even under the old dispensation, is always referred to the same person of the Trinity. (J. A. Alexander.)

The Holy One thy Redeemer

Of the two names applied by Isaiah to the Saviour, which are nearly peculiar to him, Qudosh, or Holy One, is common to both sections of his book, while Goel, the Redeemer, though not confined to the second part, receives there its peculiar significance. Here it is that the Holy One thy Redeemer, becomes altogether merged in the Goel. (F. Sessions.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 14. Fear not, thou worm Jacob] In the rabbinical commentary on the five books of Moses, Yelamedenu, it is asked, Why are the Israelites called a worm? To signify, that as the worm does not smite, that is, gnaw the cedars, but with its mouth, which is very tender, yet it nevertheless destroys the hard wood; so all the strength of the Israelites is in prayer, by which they smite the wicked of this world, though strong like the cedars, to which they are compared, Eze 31:3.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Thou worm Jacob, who art weak in thyself, and despised and trodden under foot by thy proud and potent enemies.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

14. wormin a state ofcontempt and affliction, whom all loathe and tread on, the veryexpression which Messiah, on the cross, applies to Himself (Ps22:6), so completely are the Lord and His people identified andassimilated. God’s people are as ‘worms’ in humble thoughts ofthemselves, and in their enemies’ haughty thoughts of them; worms,but not vipers, or of the serpent’s seed.” [HENRY].

menThe parallelismrequires the word “men” here to have associated with it theidea of fewness or feebleness. LOWTHtranslates, “Ye mortals of Israel.” The Septuagint,“altogether diminutive.” MAURERsupports English Version, which the Hebrew text bestaccords with.

the Lordin general.

and thy redeemerinparticular; a still stronger reason why He should “help”them.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Fear not, thou worm Jacob,…. Being like a worm, exposed to danger, and liable to be trampled upon and crushed, mean and despicable in their own eyes, and in the esteem of others; and it may be Jacob, or the true Israelites, are so called, because of their impurity in themselves, of which they are sensible; and chiefly because of their weakness and impotence to defend themselves, and resist their enemies. It is an observation of Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech, that the strength of a worm lies in its mouth, which, though tender, can strike the strongest cedar, and penetrate into it; and the latter observes, that the strength of Israel lies in their prayers, as Jacob’s did, when, wrestling with the angel, and making supplication, he had power with God, and prevailed. Now, though the saints are such poor, weak, and contemptible things, yet the Lord bids them not fear any of their enemies, he would take their part, and protect them:

and ye men of Israel; the Vulgate Latin version renders it, “ye dead men of Israel” s; such as were accounted as dead men, and had no more respect shown them than the dead, that are remembered no more; or were exposed to death daily, for the sake of Christ and his Gospel; or that reckoned themselves dead to sin, and did die daily to it, and lived unto righteousness: or, “ye few men of Israel”, as others t render it; Christ’s flock is a little flock, his church is a little city, and few men in it, in comparison of the men of the world:

I will help thee, saith, the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; which is repeated for the confirmation of it, and is the more strongly assured by these characters of a Redeemer of his people out of the hands of all their enemies, and the holy and just God, and sanctifier of them, which he here takes to himself, and makes himself known by.

s “mortales Israeliae”, Castalio. t , Sept. “viri pauci Israel”, Munster, Montanus; “Israel, qui pauco es numero”, Tigurine version.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

The consolatory words, “Fear not,” are now repeated, for the purpose of once more adding the promise that Israel will not succumb to its foes, but will acquire power over its enemies. “Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and handful Israel: I will help thee, saith Jehovah; and thy Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I have made thee a threshing roller, a sharp new one, with double edges: thou wilt thresh mountains, and pound them; and hills thou wilt make like chaff. Thou wilt winnow them, and wind carries them away, and tempest scatters them: and thou wilt rejoice in Jehovah, and glory in the Holy One of Israel.” Israel, which is now helplessly oppressed, is called “worm of Jacob” ( gen. appos.) in compassion, i.e., Jacob that is like a worm, probably with some allusion to Psa 22:7; for the image of the Messiah enriches itself in these discourses, inasmuch as Israel itself is looked upon in a Messianic light, so that the second David does not stand by the side of Israel, but appears as Israel’s heart, or true and inmost essence. The people are then addressed as the “people of Israel,” with some allusion to the phrase (i.e., few men, easily numbered) in Gen 34:30; Deu 4:27 (lxx ; Luther, Ir armer hauffe Israel , ye poor crowd of Israel). They no longer formed the compact mass of a nation; the band of the commonwealth was broken: they were melted down into a few individuals, scattered about hither and thither. But it would not continue so. “I help thee” (perfect of certainty) is Jehovah’s solemn declaration; and the Redeemer ( redemtor, Lev 25:48-49) of His now enslaved people is the Holy One of Israel, with His love, which perpetually triumphs over wrath. Not only will He set it free, but He will also endow it with might over its oppressors; samtkh is a perfect of assurance (Ges. 126, 4); m orag (roller) signifies a threshing-sledge (Arab. naureg , noreg ), which has here the term (Isa 28:27) as a secondary name along with , and is described as furnished on the under part of the two arms of the sledge not only with sharp knives, but with two-edged knives ( a reduplication, like in Isa 27:8, whereas is a double plural). Just like such a threshing machine would Israel thresh and grind to powder from that time forth both mountains and hills. This is evidently a figurative expression for proud and mighty foes, just as wind and tempest denote the irresistible force of Jehovah’s aid. The might of the enemy would be broken down to the very last remnant, whereas Israel would be able to rejoice and glory in its God.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

14. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, ye dead Israel. He appears to speak of the Jews very disrespectfully when he calls them “a worm,” and afterwards “dead;” but this comparison agrees better with the distresses of the people, and is more adapted to console them than if he had called them an elect nation, a royal priesthood, a holy tree from a holy root, and adorned them with other titles of that kind. It would even have been absurd to call them by those high-sounding names while they were oppressed by the deepest wretchedness. Accordingly, by the word worm he may be viewed as bewailing the disgraceful condition of the people, and encouraging them to cherish better hope; for he shews that he keeps his eye upon them, though they are mean and despised. It is as if he had said, “Although thou art nobody, yet I will assist thee, and, by restoring thee to thy former freedom, will cause thee to come out of thy filth and pollution.”

Some translate מתים (methim) men, which does not at all agree with the context. We are therefore constrained by obvious argument to translate it dead, for it is an exposition of the former word by repetition, which is very customary among Jewish writers. On this account I agree with Jerome, who translates it in that manner, and attaches no importance to the circumstance that the first syllable of מתים (methim) is here written with Scheva (:) instead of Tzere (..); for points so closely allied might easily have been interchanged. (142) The subject ought also to be considered; for nothing could be more foolish than to put “men” instead of “worms,” unless perhaps it be thought preferable to render it “mortals.”

But, undoubtedly, God intended that this voice should be heard by persons most deeply afflicted, so as to reach even to the grave; for he promises, on the contrary, that he will be a Redeemer of “dead men.” Besides, while the Prophet had in view his own age, he extended this doctrine to all the ages of the world. Whenever, therefore, we shall see the Church oppressed by the cruelty of wicked men, it will be our duty to bring these things to remembrance, that we may believe that the children of God, who are trodden under foot by the pride of the world, and are not only reckoned contemptible, but oppressed by every kind of cruelty and reproaches so that they are scarcely allowed to breathe, are held by God in the highest honor and esteem, so that they will soon lift up their head; and let every one of us apply this to himself, so that we may not be terrified by reproaches, nor by our wretchedness, nor by anguish, nor by death itself. Though we resemble dead. men, and though all hope of salvation has been taken from us, yet the Lord will be present with us, and will at length raise up his Church even from the grave.

The Holy One of Israel. By adding these words, the Prophet again reminds believers, as he did a little before, of that covenant by which Israel had been separated to be God’s sacred heritage; and thus he imparts courage, that they may not faint or give way on account of their wretched condition, when they look upon themselves as “worms” and “dead men.”

(142) “As the parallelism, seems to require an analogous expression of contempt in the next clause, some either read מתי (methe) (dead men) with Aquila ( τεθνεῶτες), Theodotion ( νεκροί), and Jerome ( qui mortui estis in Israel), or regard מתי ( methe) as a modification of that word, denoting mortals. Vitringa and Hitzig gain the same end by explaining it as an ellipsis for מתי מספר, (methe mispar,) men of number, that is, few men, used in Psa 105:12.” — Alexander.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

THE WORM AND THE MOUNTAIN

Isa. 41:14-15. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, &c.

Though I have read to you only these verses, the treasury of truth upon which I intend to draw now is the whole paragraph in which they occur (Isa. 41:10-16). In it the prophet comforts the Church by the promises wherewith he had been comforted by God. Before the captivity of Gods people commences, he furnishes them with that which will cheer them while it lasts. In his prophetic vision he sees them in a prostrate and most depressed conditionlike a worm trodden under foot in Babylon. But he puts before them the support of their expiring hope, in the assurance of Gods favour. His argument is, that He who redeemed their fathers from Egyptian slavery would redeem them from Chaldean bondage. Mighty as their oppressors were, let them not fear; fast as their chains were riveted, let them not be dismayed; weak and defenceless as they were, let them not despair; for though the mountain threatened to crush the worm, the worm should be strengthened to thresh the mountain. The truths and promises in this paragraph are the heritage of Gods people in all ages, and on them they may, and should, lay hold in every season of threatening and trouble.

I. A VERY UNEQUAL CONTEST.
The worm is called upon to thresh the mountain! Yea, not one mountain only, but many of themmountains. A hopeless encounter, a mad attempt! But the suggestions of sense and the reasonings of faith are widely different; to do the greatest things and to suffer the hardest is all one to true faith. We may apply this representation variously

1. To the efforts needful to establish the kingdom of God in the world. The agency intrusted with the task often seems altogether inadequate. Was it not so when Moses stood before Pharaoh, and when the power and despotism of ancient Egypt seemed ready to destroy the infant Church; when Elijah stood on Carmel, all the power of Ahab and Jezebel, their court, and the priests of Baal against himone man against a world in arms; when the first disciples went forth to proclaim a crucified Saviour, with all the power of Judaism and all the arms and wealth of the ancient Roman empire against them; when Luther, a poor monk, challenged the Vatican, and stood solitary before the emperor and cardinals, saying, Here stand I alone for the truth; God help me! In each case, who would not have expected that the mountain would crush the worm? But in each case the worm prevailed. If we look at the obstacles still in the wayHeathenism, Mahometanism, Popery, Infidelity, and all the forms of vicethey seem most formidable; but the worm shall thresh all the mountains! The corn of the Jews was threshed by drawing over it a sharp instrumenta cart with wheels encircled with iron spikes, thus cutting the straw very small, while the corn escaped through interstices left for the purpose. As complete shall be the breaking down of all the obstacles to the Saviours glory by the Christian Church, weak as she is in herself.

2. To the cares and calamities of life. We are here in a state of exile, like that of the Jews in Babylon; and we often need encouragement. The frequent repetition of the charge, Fear not, implies that there is much to fear. The greatness of the consolation offered proves the greatness of the impending danger. Fear is incident to our nature, for we are weak creatures; to our character, for we are guilty creatures; to our condition and circumstances, for we are the suffering inhabitants of a guilty world. And though it is true that our hopes are greater than our fears, it is equally true that our faith is never so firm as not to be exposed to waverings, and our hope is never so strong as to be altogether above distrust. The path to heaven lies through an enemys country; it is strait, narrow, and intricate; there are many turnings, windings, and bypaths in which pilgrims may be drawn aside, and, like Christian in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, we are not always favoured with daylight. We pursue it beset by trials and afflictions, and we are often confronted by mountains of care and sorrow, of disappointment and danger. But we need not fear any of them. The worm shall thresh the mountains. See also another great promise in which great perils are implied (Isa. 43:2).

3. To the Christian conflictthe struggle which the Christian has to sustain against the evil of his own heart, the seductive influences of the world, and the artifices and wiles of the powers of darkness (Eph. 6:12; H. E. I. 10591062).

II. AN ANIMATING PROMISE.
Fear not, thou worm Jacob. True, thou art a wormweak and low in thine own eyes, small and contemptible in the eyes of others; but thou shalt be strengthened for the warfare and successful in the conflict; for I, the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, engage myself on thy side, and will be answerable for the result. In view of this promise there can be no doubt that grace, though weak, shall be victorious.
Great consolation is to be derived

1. From the near relation which God sustains to His people. Thy Redeemer, &c.

2. From the perpetual presence of God with His Church. I will hold thee, &c.

3. From the manner in which He adapts the instrumentality He employs to the end He proposes. I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth.

4. From the way in which He identifies His glory with our success.

In order to enjoy the consolation of this promise

1. There must be in us a well-founded hope of acceptance and reconciliation with God.
2. We must seek to possess the character to which this and all such promises are made.
3. We must be much in the exercise of that faith which honours God in all His attributes.
4. We must cultivate the expectation of nothing less than final triumph for the cause of God, and for the individual believer, the recipient of His mercy. The history of the past proves that this expectation is reasonable. How often the worm has threshed the mountain! The captives were delivered from their captivity. The Apostles triumphed over the Roman empire. Luther and his associates did accomplish the Reformation. That which has been is that which shall be; in the future there will be still greater victories for the Church of God.Samuel Thodey.

CHEER FOR THE CHURCH OF GOD

Isa. 41:14-16. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, &c.

The first reference of these words may be to the dejected feeling of the Jews in the captivity of Babylon, and they were recorded in order to encourage them in their low condition; but to understand them as referring only to the temporal state of the Jews in Babylon and their deliverance from their captivity would be nothing better than to reduce this sublime inspired record to the level of the writings of Josephus or any other uninspired Jewish historian. The chief and the ultimate reference of the words is evidently to the condition of the spiritual Church in the various ages of the world. Taking the verses in this sense, we are led to consider
I. THE WEAKNESS OF THE CHURCH.
Thou worm Jacob. A worm is a weak and despised thing.

1. The Church of God in itself is weak and helpless. Its most useful and godly members have described themselves as worms (Psa. 22:6). It has generally been made up of such persons as the world looked upon with contempt (1Co. 1:26-28.)

2. It has always been despised by the ungodly. The apostles of Christ were regarded by the world as the filth of the world and the off-scouring of all things, and eminently godly people have been treated thus in every age.

II. THE STRENGTH OF THE CHURCH. The weak and despised worm is to be converted into a new, sharp, threshing instrument having teeth. The Orientals used to thresh their corn with heavy rollers with sharp iron teeth, which separated the corn from the ears, and cut the straw to be fodder for the cattle. The Church is compared here to such a powerful machine.

1. The holiness of Gods people makes them strong and effective to do good (Mat. 5:16; Php. 2:15).

2. Their activity and devotedness make them like sharp threshing instruments.
3. Their prayers also have in all ages produced wonderful effects.

III. THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE CHURCH. Thou shalt thresh the mountains, &c. By the mountains and the hills we are to understand the sinful habits of mankind, such as their commercial frauds, their warlike dispositions, their drunkenness, their lasciviousness, &c., and all the false religions which prevail throughout the world. All these formidable obstructions are to be removed through the instrumentality of Gods people.
IV. THE JOY OF THE CHURCH.
Thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, when all the mountains and the hills shall be removed and made as chaff.

1. The temporal condition of the world will be happy and glorious.
2. Its spiritual condition will be heavenly. It will then be the days of heaven upon earth.
3. And the Church will attribute all the glory to the Holy One of Israel, and not to itself.Thomas Rees, D.D.

Supposed to be an interval of twelve or fourteen years between the first part of the book and that part beginning at chap. 40. The prophet is fast growing an old man. In mind he throws himself into the future, and places himself in the midst of the Jews in Babylon. He supposes their captivity to be nearing its end; but, to the heart yearning so painfully after Jerusalem, it seems without termination. To cheer them, this and the preceding chapter ring with rallying-cries, repeated again and again: Fear not; Be not dismayed. The text is a remarkable assurance that though their difficulties be as mountains, Jacob should rise and beat them small.
I. GODS OWN RECOGNITION OF THE FEEBLENESS OF HIS PEOPLE.
Fear not, thou worm Jacob and ye men of Israel, or few men of Israel. It is His epithet, as well as flung at them by their conquerors; but it is not used in their spirit. It is only when the insect of a man struggles defiantly against his Maker that God says in ineffable contempt, Let the potsherds, &c. This is a pitiful remembrance of their weakness. Illustrates His infinite condescension. In deigning to ally Himself to men, in inviting us to share His thoughts and counsels, He has not overrated the worth of the creature He receives to such high dignity. Marvellous that He who has in His majesty and glory from everlasting stood alone, and must be for ever the solitary God, without an equal in His universe, welcomes to His heart those who are impotent as a worm (Job. 25:5-6).

II. GODS RECOGNITION OF THE HUGE DIFFICULTIES IN THE WAY OF HIS PEOPLE.
He speaks of them as mountains, hills. Babylon, with its strong walls, vast army, the desert reaching away weary miles between His people and their country; all is gauged exactly. For them to try and overcome would be like a worm attempting to attack the mountains.

III. CONSIDER THE WORM AS THE MOUNTAIN THRESHER.

Thou shalt thresh the mountains, &c. In the previous chapter God is represented leading His people in their victorious march through the wilderness. A way was to be prepared that He might march right royally before His people (Isa. 40:3-5). See the instance of Semiramis on her march to Ecbatan.

Behold the worm attempting the impossible and accomplishing it! The handful of Israelites were omnipotent with Jehovah at their back. Invested with Gods strength, the worm should conquer all difficulties.
The main idea is the completeness of the conquest of hindrances. No words better convey a conception of the thoroughness with which the work should be done: Mountains threshed small and hills made as chaff.

1. The application of this promise to the followers of Christ personally. The Christian is to be a mountain thresher in his own heart and life. Sin shall not have dominion over you.

2. Its application to Christian labour in general. This promise is the inspiration of the Church in what the world deems idiotic tasks affecting the conversion of the heathen. Sin is not always to be the mountain. A new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness are to arise. You cannot crush goodness out of the world now. (See the failure of Julian, Voltaire, and others.)

3. The application of this promise to any particular neighbourhood. God is jealous of the mountain Sin rising everywhere. If there is any piety in any given locality, though it is as insignificant as a worm, it is strong enough with God to save that neighbourhood.S. Shrimpton.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

c. GLORY TO GOD

TEXT: Isa. 41:14-20

Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith Jehovah, and thy Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

Behold, I have made thee to be a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth; thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.

Thou shalt winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them; and thou shalt rejoice in Jehovah, thou shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.

The poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst; I Jehovah will answer them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.

I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, and the myrtle, and the oil-tree; I will set in the desert the fir-tree, the pine, and the box-tree together:

that they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of Jehovah hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.

QUERIES

Why is Jacob called a worm?

Did God ever make such physical changes to Palestine as are described in Isa. 41:18-19?

PARAPHRASE

Do not be afraid Israel. Although you are as despised as a worm, I will help you, says Jehovah. Your Savior is the Eternal Holy One of Israel. I am going to make you grind your enemies into pieces like a new threshing sledge grinds wheat into chaff. Even though those who oppose you may be as formidable as great mountains, you will grind them down and blow them away into nothingness. Then you will give praise and glory to Jehovah and be filled with joy because the Holy One of Israel has delivered you. Right now you are spiritually destitute and in need of the living water and there is none. But I, Jehovah, will answer those who recognize their need and call upon Me. I will not forsake any of My faithful ones. In the midst of the thirst of My people for life I will open a river. I will completely reverse these conditions of spiritual aridness. The change will be miraculous. Those who remain faithful to Me will partake of life-giving water everywhere and will grow and produce fruit and will be like an oasis of trees and pools in a desert wilderness. The objective is that man may see, know, consider, and understand together that the Lord, not man, created this miraculous change.

COMMENTS

Isa. 41:14-16 WORM WINS: The Hebrew word tolaath is translated worm and is the name of the coccus worm which was the worm used in making scarlet dye. It is the same word used in Psa. 22:6 in reference to the scorn and despite men will show the Messiah. Jacob (Israel) is called a worm by Isaiah to describe the scorn with which the nation is looked upon by its enemies. Assyria considers Judah with contempt (see comments Isa. 36:8-9). It is interesting that Gods covenant people are called worm and the Messiah calls Himself worm (Psa. 22:6). God is going to give the covenant people victory over their adversaries. They may go into captivity but eventually they will return, by the Spirit of God, to resume their service of messianic destiny. Their enemies will, one by one (Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome) be ground to chaff (cf. Dan. 2:31-45, esp. Dan. 2:35), and blown away. A threshing sledge was a flat plank or planks of wood with rollers underneath studded with metal spikes for thrashing wheat. They were sometimes put to use by armies to torture and execute prisoners of war. This prediction of covenant victory over enemies ultimately was fulfilled in the Messiah. The Messiahs victory will usher in a universal kingdom of God (the church) and men of all nations will rejoice and give glory to the Holy One of Israel who accomplished it all (cf. Isa. 2:1-5; Isa. 19:16-25; Zec. 14:16-21, etc.).

Isa. 41:17-20 WATER IN THE WILDERNESS: Isaiah describes the destitution of the covenant people under another figure. They are poor and needy seeking water and there is none. They appear to be helpless and hopeless. We think this applies to their spiritual destitution. At no time has God ever physically watered all the wastelands of Palestine. This passage undoubtedly refers to the spiritual water of life to be supplied by the Messiah (cf. John 4 and John 7). This passage is parallel to Isaiah, chapter 35 (see our comments there). The point is that God is going to completely reverse their spiritual situation from destitution to abundance. Edward J. Young comments: The emphasis upon water and trees had also been found in the account of Eden in Genesis 3. Through the entrance of sin into the world, however, the garden was forfeited, and man entered a world where thorns and thistles would grow and he would labor by the sweat of his brow. In picturing the future age of blessing, the eschatological period when the restoration will occur, Isaiah uses the combined figures of water and trees. It is as though a bit of heaven had come down to earth; and indeed, those who one day will be blessed of these rivers and these trees are in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. And the objective for all this spiritual regeneration is to bring glory to the Holy One of Israel who shall do it. Israel, the worm, the poor and needy, is incapable of changing its despicable condition. God will, by His grace, send His Servant the Messiah to create the new order. Isaiahs contemporaries are called upon to believe the Lords promise and wait upon Him in faith.

QUIZ

What connection does worm have with the Messiah?

Who will rejoice in the victory of Gods people over their enemies?

Why call Israel poor and needy?

What parallel passage in Isaiah helps understand the figures of water and trees?

What is the object of this great reversal of Israels circumstances?

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(14) Fear not, thou worm Jacob.The servant of Jehovah is reminded that he has no strength of his own, but is as a worm, and no man (Psa. 22:6). He had not been chosen because he was a great and mighty nation, for Israel was the fewest of all people (Deu. 7:7). As if to emphasise this, the prophet in addressing Israel passes from the masculine to the feminine, resuming the former in the second clause of Isa. 41:15, where he speaks of its God-given strength.

Thy redeemer . . .i.e., the Goel of Lev. 25:48-49, the next of kin, who was the protector, the deliverer, of his brethren (Lev. 25:43-49). Looking to the numerous traces of the influence of the Book of Job in 2 Isaiah, it seems not improbable that we have in these words an echo of the hope, I know that my Redeemer liveth (Job. 19:25).

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

14. Thou worm Jacob The term “worm” expresses feebleness, and is applied to give the hint that Israel’s predicted deliverance is not to be a thing of their own achievement.

Thy Redeemer See Lev 25:25-27. Jehovah is to stand in the relation of near kinsman to Israel, especially to the remnant in Babylon, to pay ransom, as it were, for their deliverance; a typical conception, somehow, of Him who is to be the coming incarnate Redeemer, the Messiah. Nearly universal is the argument with evangelical interpreters that Jehovah of the Old Testament becomes, “in the fulness of times,” the Lord Jesus of the New.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Isa 41:14-16. Fear not, thou worm Jacob We have here a new consolatory exhortation; which I refer, says Vitringa, to the people of Christ, mean, afflicted, despised, such as they were at the very commencement of the kingdom of Christ among the Jews. The disposition of the prophet’s discourse leads us to this; for he begins with a new title, and promises a new blessing to the afflicted people. The prophet passes from the afflicted church of the Maccabees to the apostolic; between which there is often so close a connection, that what is said of the Maccabees in the letter, is to be understood of the apostles and evangelists in the spirit. Our Lord, in his discourse to his disciples, Luk 12:32 seems to refer to this passage: which contains an address to the afflicted church, agreeable to its state, with an exhortation to confidence, Isa 41:14. The reason of that exhortation, drawn first from the present help of God, as the redeemer of his church,middle of Isa 41:14. Secondly, from a certain remarkable effect of the divine aid, which should exceed all human expectation, Isa 41:15-16.where the ideas are taken from the threshing instruments, and the mode of threshing made use of in the east, whereof we have already spoken; and the meaning is, that this afflicted and despised people should not only stand against their adversaries supported by the strength of the world; should not only sustain their violence, but, assisted by the divine grace, should obtain the inheritance of the world; should subject great and mighty nations to their King and Lord; and in that very way and respect wherein they were enemies to the kingdom of God, should beat them down, and reduce them to nothing. See 2Co 10:4-5. This prophesy, we think, has not yet obtained its FULL completion.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

3. THE SERVANT OF GOD, WEAK AND LOWLY, YET IN GOD THE STRONG PEOPLE OF ISRAEL, RICHLY BLESSED WITH SALVATION AND DIVINE KNOWLEDGE

Isa 41:14-20

14Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye 24men of Israel;

I 25will help thee, saith the Lord,

And thy redeemer, 26the Holy One of Israel.

15Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument

Having 27teeth:

Thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small,

And shalt make the hills as chaff.

16Thou shalt 28fan them, and the wind shall carry them away,

And the whirlwind shall scatter them:
And thou shalt rejoice in the Lord,

And shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.

1729When the poor and needy 30seek water, and there is none,

And their tongue faileth for thirst,

I the Lord will hear them,

I the God of Israel will not forsake them.

18I will open rivers in 31high places,

And fountains in the midst of the valleys:
I will make the wilderness a pool of water,
And the dry land springs of water.

19I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the 32shittah tree,

And the myrtle and 33the oil tree;

I will set in the desert the 34fir tree,

And the 35pine, and the 36box tree together:

20That they may see, and know,

And consider, and understand together,
That the hand of the Lord hath done this,
And the Holy One of Israel hath created it.

TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL

See the List for the recurrence of the words: Isa 41:14. . Isa 41:16 Isa 41:18 . Isa 41:19. . Isa 41:20. .

Isa 41:14. It is to be noted that the Lord addresses Israel as a weak woman, Isa 41:14-15 a in the second pers. fem.; whereas Isa 41:15 b, 16, the one dashing down the enemies is right away addressed in the masculine as a man. [This seems over-refinement. The fern, form of the verb and suffixes are prompted by the principal noun ; in the masculine forms following, the idea of the person addressed is resumed, according to common usage.Tr.].

Isa 41:17. put first shows that they are to be regarded as casus absoluti. It is still uncertain whether is derived from , or from . The latter seems to me the least likely, since it means ponere, fundare, stabilire, from which the meaning defecit, exaruit can be got only by straining. We must comp. Isa 19:5; Jer 51:30. I had rather, with Olshausen, assume a root =exaruit, defecit, kindred to . Then would be third person fern. Kal, in pausal form, with Dagesch affectuosum.In the second clause of Isa 41:17, is the common subject of the two clauses, with both and in apposition, and it is to be noted that the latter stands in parallelism for the former, as indeed the God of Israel is actually called Jehovah.

Isa 41:20. After is to be supplied, not only (comp. Isa 41:22), but (Isa 42:25; Isa 47:7; Isa 57:1; Isa 57:11; comp. Isa 44:19). Thus the proper order of thought is restored: that they see, know, take to heart and gain an insight into. Moreover this form of expression occurs in Isaiah only in the places cited. The omission of occurs in various senses, Psa 50:23; Job 4:20; Job 23:6; Job 34:23; Job 37:15; Jdg 19:30.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

1. The Servant of God is here still the people Israel; but what is properly characteristic of this notion is made prominent, viz.: the suffering and lowliness. But at the same time the Prophet does not omit to say very emphatically that this poor servant of God will be also a mighty and irresistible instrument of judgment in the hand of Jehovah. Thus Israel is addressed worm Jacob, little people Israel, and that with the use of a feminine verbal form, whom, however, the Lord will help to rid itself of its enemies (Isa 41:14-16), and will bless with abundance of good things (Isa 41:17-19), in order that all may know that He alone is God (Isa 41:20).

2. Fear notof Israel.

Isa 41:14-16. The expressions little worm, little people are evidently intended to paint the wretchedness and weakness of Israel. The former recalls Psa 22:6 I am a worm, and no man, and also the description of the suffering servant of God, Isa 53:2 sqq. Comp. too, Job 25:6. Yet one cannot but see in this worm Jacob the transition of the servant of God to the form of a servant, and thus recognize an intimation that the suffering people of God is also a type of the suffering Saviour. The expression also, which recalls , i.e., a few people, that may be counted (Gen 34:30; Deu 4:27; Psa 105:12; 1Ch 16:19, comp. Job 11:11 : Psa 26:4), involves the meaning of weakness, inconsiderableness, lowliness. is the antithesis of (comp. Lev 25:25; Lev 25:48). The word frequently occurs in a juristic sense; but frequently, too, of Jehovah, who as next of kindred, so to speak, redeems His people that has been sold into the hand of their enemies.

Yet what a contrast! The Lord makes this worm Jacob a mighty instrument of judgment against the nations. , that occurs Isa 10:22 in a figurative sense, and Isa 28:27 as designation of the threshing roller itself, signifies here a quality of the latter, viz.: the being sharp. Sharp, new, and double-edged ( only here in Isaiah, comp. Psa 149:6) shall the roller be. As such a roller lacerates the bundles of grain, and as the similarly formed harrow crushes the clods, so shall Israel rend and crush mountains and make hills like chaff, etc. This prophecy has not been fulfilled by the fleshly Israel, or at least only in a meager way, the best example being the Maccabees. But by the spiritual Israel it has had glorious fulfilment in spiritual victories.

3. The poorcreated it.

Isa 41:17-20. From the preceding Isa 41:14-16, which are parallel with these, it appears that these verses do not promise to the returning exiles merely the needful refreshment through the desert, thus connecting say with Isa 40:10-11. Isa 41:14-16 do not describe something that the exiles are to effect before they can betake themselves home; and just as little do Isa 41:17 sqq., speak of something relating only to the return. Isa 41:14-20 describe the condition of salvation in general, which Israel shall experience after the exile. Isa 41:17 sqq., can only refer to the return from exile so far as that belongs to that condition. Taking the wretched that seek water, etc., as parallel with worm Jacob, etc., we understand Isa 41:17-20 to describe all the conditions that caused the existence of Israel before its redemption to appear like a life in the desert. As in Isa 41:14 sq. the worm is suddenly transformed into a mighty threshing sled, so here dry places are suddenly transformed into richly watered places, covered with glorious vegetation.

Isa 41:18-19 say how the Lord will hear the prayers of the languishing. He will open the earth (comp. Psa 105:41) (, by metonomy, the cause instead of the effect, as often, comp. Isa 14:17; Jer 40:4) to let streams burst forth even on bald hills, and in valleys, etc. place of issue Isa 58:11, comp. Psa 107:35 and Isa 35:1; Isa 35:7.

In describing the vegetation seven trees in all are named, which perhaps is not accidental. , cedar is generic: (from , to be pointed, to prick Arabic sant, Egyptian schonte, comp. Herz. R.-Encycl. XV p. 95, and Jerome on our passage) the acacia; only here in Isa. the myrtle, that grows as a tree in Anterior-Asia, and in Greece (see Victor Hehn, Kulturplanzen u. Hausthiere, p. 143 sqq.: Herz. R.-Encycl. X. 142). By , in contrast with (Deu 8:8), is commonly understood the wild olive, oleaster, (Rom 11:17; Rom 11:24). The LXX. translates ; Celsus supposes resinous trees in general. This last would be a good way of getting over the difficulty, seeing the expression is strange for the wild olive. For it gives no oil, being partly without fruit (see Hehn, l. c. p. 45) partly yields fruit that is applicable for making salve and not oil (Herz. B.-Encycl. X p. 547). But as in Neh 8:15 and are mentioned together as needful for constructing the leafy booths, one must suppose the wild olive is meant. The expression occurs only 1Ki 6:23; 1Ki 6:31-33, where the are mentioned as material for the cherub-figures, and the doors and posts of the Holiest. The following words the fir, etc., occur verbatim Isa 60:13. the cypress (according to MoversPhoen. I. p. 575 sqq. Berot, Berut is the name of the divinity of nature that was supposed to dwell in trees). Comp. Hehn, l. c. p.192 sqq. The words and remain to the present unexplained. They occur again only 60. 13 which is to be regarded as a repetition of the present passage, is a Hebrew word. We read the galloping horse, Nah 3:2, and Jdg 5:22 paints almost like quadrupedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum. But dahr in Arabic means tempus, seculum. It is the Hebrew (comp. and , and , and , etc.). However one may mediate the notions currere, cursus and tempus, seculum, whether by the notion of haste or that of circuit, still the meaning of lasting, continuance, longevity seems also to belong to the sphere of the root . And perhaps this is still more the case in the dialects than in Hebrew itself; comp. the Chaldee circuitus, perpetuitas=, with which it would agree that , which does not elsewhere occur in Hebrew, is probably a cognate foreign word, i.e., belonging to a kindred dialect. The plane-tree appears not to be indigenous in Palestine, for it is no where mentioned among trees that grow there. If is really the plane-tree, it signifies a tree not growing in Palestine as appears from the context of the two places of its occurrence (Gen 30:37; Eze 31:8). might thus, in the Prophets day, be a name for the plane-tree borrowed from some kindred dialect, and that was given to it because of its longevity. Descriptions of giant specimens of the plane-tree such as that of Hehn, l. c. p.198 sqq., prove that it attains a great age, and prodigious size. Hehn says: The praise of the plane-tree fills all antiquity. Again: Greece received the plane-tree and the fashion of esteeming it from Asia, where the plane-tree like the cypress from ancient times was regarded with religious veneration by the tree-loving Iranians and the Iranian races of Asia-Minor. According to this, one might almost think it strange if the plane-tree were omitted from mention with the cypress in an enumeration of the glorious trees that were to adorn the desert road of Israel returning from the Iranian territory (for that we may include also the idea of the return was mentioned above). Hence I am inclined, until better instructed, to regard the , with Saadia, Gesenius, Delitzsch and others, as the planetree. , from rectus, erectus fuit, is held by the ancients to be either the box-tree or the sherbin cedar. Hehn, against the meaning box-tree, appeals to Theophrast who ranks the among the , i.e., among the vegetation that cannot endure a warm climate. A designation like recta, erecta suits the cedar admirably, and as the name sherbin undoubtedly stands for the cypressus oxycedrus (see Gesen. Comm.; Niebuhr, Description of Arabia, p. 149; Delitzschin loc.), we may for the present be content with the meaning Sherbin.

All these glorious acts will the Lord accomplish for the purpose of bringing His people to the full, deep and abiding knowledge that He has effected such things, and that thus He alone is to be revered as God. The Lord had often before wonderfully delivered His people, and they had often returned to Him then as their God. But this knowledge had never been right comprehensive and thorough. They had always in a little while turned again to idols. When the Lord terminates the great Babylonian captivity, then the nation will renounce idols forever and serve the Lord alone. This also came to pass. (comp. Isa 40:5) relates to the subject: all shall know it. But if the Prophet means by these all primarily the redeemed, those poor and wretched (Isa 41:17) that needed these wonders of God, still in this emphatic there seems to be also a reference to all in the widest sense to whom this knowledge would be proper. comp. Isa 45:8.

Footnotes:

[24]Or, few men.

[25]omit will.

[26]supply is.

[27]Heb. mouths.

[28]scatter.

[29]omit When.

[30]seeking.

[31]bare hills.

[32]acacia.

[33]wild olive.

[34]cypress.

[35]plane-tree.

[36]sherbin-cedar.

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

DISCOURSE: 926
THE WORM JACOB THRESHING THE MOUNTAINS

Isa 41:14-16. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument, having teeth; thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff; thou shall fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them; and thou shall rejoice in the Lord, and shall glory in the Holy One of Israel.

TO comfort and encourage the weak is among the first duties of a minister. The command of God to all his servants is, to strengthen the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees, and dispel the fears of the desponding, with an assurance, that their God will come and save them [Note: Isa 35:3-4.]. This is an office executed by our blessed Lord, who carries the lambs in his bosom, and gently leads them that are with young [Note: Isa 40:11.]. The delight which the Father himself also takes in raising up the drooping minds of his people, appears eminently in this, that he frequently addresses them in terms which they, through despondency, would use to characterize themselves; and then under those very characters assures them of his most favourable regards. This is particularly conspicuous in the passage before us, where, addressing his people, he declares,

Their character

[The name of a worm as applied to our blessed Lord, denotes his low and abject condition during his abode on earth [Note: Psa 22:6.]: but, as applied to us, it rather represents our weakness and insufficiency for any thing that is good. In this sense it does indeed most justly mark our character: for there is no creature less capable of active exertion than a worm, or less able to effect any material good: and certainly our inability to perform that which is good is extreme; for we not only cannot of ourselves do a good action [Note: Joh 15:5.], but we cannot even speak a good word [Note: Mat 12:34.], or think a good thought [Note: 2Co 3:5.]. God himself must give us both to will and to do [Note: Php 2:13.], and must work all our good works in us. As rational beings we have yet a considerable portion of the Divine image upon us; but as moral agents, we are very far gone from original righteousness, and are altogether dead in trespasses and sins; nor have we any more power to renovate ourselves, than an Ethiopian has to change his complexion, or a leopard his spots [Note: Jer 13:23.].]

II.

Their labours

[Notwithstanding our utter impotence, we have an immensely difficult work to perform: the worm Jacob is required to thresh mountains, and to reduce them all to dust: though himself liable to be crushed beneath the smallest clod, he must address himself to this mighty task. There were to all human appearance insurmountable obstacles to the progress of the Christian Church, which yet it was destined to overcome: so are there mountains in the way of every individual, which yet he must remove, before he can arrive at the Promised Land. What almost insuperable difficulties does the world present to him! its pleasures, its maxims, its habits, its company, its friendship, its hatred, its fiercest opposition, must all be regarded as a thing of nought The flesh too, with all its affections and lusts, must be mortified and subdued Yea, Satan himself, with all the principalities and powers of hell, must be encountered and overcome [Note: Eph 6:12.] Alas! who is sufficient for these things? Who that is informed of Demas turning aside through love of this present evil world, and of the great Apostle himself crying O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me? must not tremble for himself? But such is the work assigned us; and the weakest amongst us must undertake and execute it, ere he can receive from God the the promised recompence of reward.]

III.

Their successes

[Weak as they are, they all prevail at last. As the Jews, notwithstanding all the obstructions of the Red Sea, the wilderness, and the warlike inhabitants of Canaan, obtained at last the full possession of the promised land, and as the Christian Church triumphed at last over all the power of the Roman empire, so is every believer crowned with victory at last [Note: Compare Dan 2:34-35. with the text.] The hills and mountains are levelled through his unwearied exertions [Note: Isa 40:3-5.]: and he is made more than conqueror through Christ who loveth him. Through faith he overcomes the world [Note: 1Jn 5:4.]; by the aid of the Holy Spirit he mortifies the deeds of the body [Note: Rom 8:13. Gal 5:24.]; and by a steady and uniform resistance, he overcomes Satan, so that that wicked fiend is constrained to flee from him, and to yield him the palm of victory [Note: Jam 4:7. 1Jn 2:14; 1Jn 5:18.]. The full extent of the triumphs described in our text has never yet indeed been realized in the Church of Christ: we look to a period yet future, when the mountains shall be as dust, and be scattered as by a whirlwind; and possibly at that period the triumphs of individuals will be more complete: but even now, by a firm reliance on the promises, we may be enabled to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit, and to perfect holiness in the fear of God [Note: 2Co 7:1.]. If we had but faith as a grain of mustard-seed, we might say to every mountain that is in our way, Be thou removed; and it should immediately be cast into the depths of the sea [Note: Mat 21:21.].]

IV.

Their triumphs

[With such weakness, and such labours, we might well expect the worm Jacob to sink in dejection and despair: but behold he triumphs and exults, rejoicing in the Lord, and glorying in the Holy One of Israel. Here it must be remarked, that ho does not ascribe his successes to his own arm; he does not sacrifice to his own net, or burn incense to his own drag; he gives the glory to Him, to whom alone it is due, even to Jesus, who is the author and the finisher of his faith [Note: Heb 12:2.]. The language of David in reference to his victories exactly suits the Christian in reference to his spiritual triumphs [Note: Psa 18:29; Psa 18:32-34; Psa 18:37; Psa 18:42.]. He readily acknowledges whence it is that the weapons of his warfare have accomplished such mighty things, namely, that they have been mighty through God [Note: 2Co 10:4-5 and 1Co 15:10.], who has wrought all his works in him [Note: Isa 26:12.], and of whom all his fruit has been found [Note: Hos 14:8.]. Hence, whilst he acknowledges that he who hath wrought him to the self-same thing is God [Note: 2Co 5:5.], he shouts with devoutest gratitude, Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ [Note: 1Co 15:57 and 2Co 2:14.]!]

Let us learn from hence,
1.

The folly of unbelief

[We are apt to be discouraged by reason of our weakness. But, what if we be as weak as the meanest worm? is God therefore weak, or unable to effect the purposes of his grace? He characterises us as worms, on purpose that, when weak in ourselves, we may be strong in him, and expect him to perfect his strength in our weakness. Instead therefore of being discouraged on account of our weakness, we should rather rejoice and glory in it, that the power of Christ may rest upon us, and be glorified in us [Note: 2Co 12:9-10.]. We should not, like the unbelieving spies, contemplate the power of our enemies, but should, with believing Joshua, regard them all as bread for us [Note: Num 14:3; Num 14:9.]: and, hurling defiance at them all, we should say, Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: his hands shall surely finish the work he has begun [Note: Zec 4:7-8. with Php 1:6.].]

The need of constant exertions

[Our weakness is no excuse for inactivity; nor does Gods promised aid supersede the necessity of our own exertions. On the contrary, it is that very promise that encourages our exertions [Note: Php 2:12-13.]. The mountains must be threshed by our arm: the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent must take it by force [Note: Mat 11:12.]. We must run our race, and fight our fight, and endure unto the end! for it is to him only that overcometh, that the crown of glory will be given. Give not way then to dejection or sloth, but go forth in the strength of the Lord Jesus: and when difficulties appear to be absolutely insurmountable, then go to him, and remind him of his promise, I will strengthen thee, yea I will help thee, yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness [Note: ver. 10. with the text; and Amo 5:9.]. Then you shall find, that you can do all things through him strengthening you, and that Satan with all his train shall be shortly and eternally bruised under your feet.]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

If the Reader will observe, he will find that all these blessed promises are made to one individual person; and, to whom could these things be said, but to the person of our Lord? As Christ himself is the great promise of the Bible, so every promise is first made to Him, and then to his people in Him. Without an union with him, there can be no pretension to a single promise. The charter of grace is: Men shall be blessed in Him; Psa 72:17 . The Reader will not see any objection to this doctrine, from Christ’s being called Jacob. That difficulty will be at once removed, from what was offered in the observations on the preceding verses: Christ not only condescends to call himself by his Church’s name; but God the Father (graciously to his people) beholds him; and speaks to him, under this same name; Isa 49:3 . And the Reader will find a farther confirmation of this blessed doctrine, if he will consult what Christ said of himself, under the spirit of prophecy, by his servant David: I am a worm (said that holy and lowly Lamb of God) and no man, a reproach of men, and despised of the people; Psa 22:6 . Oh! how truly refreshing to my soul is it, in the moment of writing, to trace Jesus in these most blessed scriptures, under such precious views, as tend to endear Him more and more, to the heart. And, Reader! be not hurt, nor let your faith stagger, that such promises were needful for Christ to receive, and to have fulfilled. For the human nature of Christ, though united to the Godhead, continued human nature still, and, as such, required communications of strength, for the work of redemption, from Jehovah. And hence it was one part of the covenant, that what the Father called him to undertake, he would enable him to perform. See Psa 89:19-24Psa 89:19-24 ; Isa 11:1-2Isa 11:1-2 ; Joh 3:34 . I detain the Reader one moment longer on this most beautiful and interesting passage, just to remark the very great loveliness of the similitude chosen by the Lord, to represent the lowliness of our Jesus, and the almightiness of his victories. The worm Jacob threshing the mountains, is one of the strongest figures, to set forth how Jesus, in his apparent weakness, overcame strength; for on his cross were all his triumphs accomplished. He was, as his servant, the Apostle, expresseth it, crucified through weakness, yet he liveth through the power of God; 2Co 13:4 . Never, surely, was Jesus more glorious than in the humiliation of the cross, never more triumphant, than when, in that memorable day, he threshed the mountains of leopards; when spoiling principalities, and powers, and nailing all that was against his redeemed to his cross; Col 2:14-15 . And how the Lord Christ gloried in his Father at that hour, the Reader will discover by consulting those scriptures of his agony in the garden, and on the cross, Joh 13:31-32Joh 13:31-32 . Now read the garden scene, Luk 22:39-44 ; then either of the Evangelists’ account of the crucifixion; and say, did not our glorious Head rejoice in Jehovah, and glory in the Holy One of Israel?

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Isa 41:14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, [and] ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

Ver. 14. Fear not. ] This is oft inculcated, for better confirmation and comfort. Our Saviour may seem to have hence his “Fear not little flock.” It is no easy matter to cheer up afflicted consciences. Luther saith it is as hard a matter as to raise the dead. Hence this frequent “Fear not.”

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

thou worm. To emphasize the weakness of Israel; marked also by the Figure of speech Asterismos, “Behold”.

men. Hebrew. methim. App-14.

thy Redeemer. Reference to Pentateuch (Gen 48:16. Exo 6:6; Exo 15:13).

the Holy One of Israel See note on Isa 1:4.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

redeemed

Heb. “goel,” Redemp. (Kinsman type). (See Scofield “Isa 59:20”).

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

thou worm: Job 25:6, Psa 22:6

men: or, few men, Deu 7:7, Mat 7:14, Luk 12:32, Rom 9:27

saith: Isa 43:14, Isa 44:6, Isa 44:24, Isa 47:4, Isa 48:17, Isa 49:7, Isa 49:26, Isa 54:5, Isa 54:8, Isa 59:20, Isa 60:16, Isa 63:16, Job 19:25, Psa 19:14, Jer 50:34, Gal 3:13, Tit 2:14, Rev 5:9

Reciprocal: Gen 15:1 – Fear Gen 21:17 – fear Gen 32:25 – that he Gen 42:36 – all these things are against me Num 14:9 – fear them not Jdg 1:19 – the Lord Jdg 6:16 – General Jdg 7:7 – General Jdg 7:13 – a cake 1Sa 23:17 – Fear not 1Ch 11:9 – for Ezr 3:12 – when the foundation Psa 44:5 – Through thee Psa 78:35 – their redeemer Psa 105:6 – ye seed Isa 1:4 – the Holy Isa 7:4 – fear not Isa 12:6 – great Isa 29:22 – who redeemed Isa 37:23 – the Holy One Isa 41:10 – Fear Isa 43:2 – I will be Isa 43:3 – the Holy One Isa 43:5 – Fear not Isa 43:15 – the Lord Isa 54:4 – Fear not Jer 20:11 – the Lord Jer 46:27 – fear Lam 3:57 – thou saidst Eze 3:9 – fear Dan 10:12 – Fear not Dan 10:19 – fear not Hos 7:13 – though Zep 3:16 – be said Zec 10:4 – of him came forth Mat 10:26 – Fear Mat 14:27 – it Mat 28:5 – Fear Luk 1:30 – General Joh 6:20 – It is Joh 12:15 – Fear Joh 14:27 – afraid Act 2:22 – men Act 23:11 – the Lord 2Co 10:4 – mighty 2Ti 3:11 – but 2Ti 4:17 – strengthened Heb 11:23 – and they Heb 13:6 – The Lord Rev 3:7 – he that is holy

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Isa 41:14-16. Fear not, thou worm Jacob Who art weak in thyself, despised and trodden under foot by thy proud and potent enemies. I will make thee a new sharp thrashing instrument Such as were usual in those times and places. Thou shall thrash the mountains and hills The great and lofty potentates of the world, which set themselves against thee: or, the greater or lesser kingdoms or countries which were enemies to Gods truth and people; so the phrase signifies, Isa 2:14, and Psa 72:3. The expressions of this and the following verse allude to the custom of the eastern countries, of having their thrashing-floors upon the tops of hills and mountains. Thou shalt fan them When thou hast beaten them as small as chaff; and the wind shall carry them away They shall no more molest thee; they shall be scattered and lost. And thou shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel For to him, and not to thyself, thou shalt ascribe thy victory over thine enemies.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

41:14 Fear not, thou {m} worm Jacob, [and] ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

(m) Thus he calls them because they were contemned of all the world, and that they considering their own poor estate should seek him for help.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

The Lord employed a second picture to comfort the Israelites. He would enable what was essentially weak to become strong (cf. 2Co 12:10). Israel was like a worm in that she was insignificant, despised, weak, and vulnerable. However, she had a next of kin (Heb. go’el, redeemer)-the Holy One of Israel-who would take on her care and provide all that she, His family, needed-and more. This is the third time in this passage that Yahweh explicitly said He would help His people (cf. Isa 41:10; Isa 41:13).

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Disfruta de miles de canciones cristianas en exclusiva sólo en Bibles