Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 41:16
Thou shalt fan 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.
Thou shalt fan them – Keeping up the figure commenced in the previous verse. To fan here means to winnow, an operation which was performed by throwing the threshed grain up with a shovel into the air, so that the wind drove the chaff away. So all their enemies, and all the obstacles which were in their way should be scattered.
And the whirlwind shall scatter them – The ancients believed that people might be swept away by a storm or whirlwind. See Job 27:
The cast wind carrieth him away and he departeth;
And as a storm hurleth him out of his place.
Compare Homer, Odys. xx. 63ff, thus rendered by Pope:
Snatch me, ye whirlwinds! far from human race,
Tost through the void illimitable space;
Or if dismounted from the rapid cloud,
Me with his whelming wave let ocean shroud!
See the notes at Job 30:22.
And thou shalt rejoice in the Lord – In view of the aid which he has vouchsafed, and the deliverance which he has performed for you.
Shalt glory – Shalt boast, or shalt exult. You will regard God as the author of your deliverance, and joy in the proofs of his interposition, and of his gracious protection and care.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Thou shalt fan them, when thou hast beaten them as small as dust or chaff.
Shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel; for to him, and not to thyself, thou shalt ascribe thy victory over thine enemies.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16. fanwinnowed (compare Mt3:12).
whirlwind . . . scatter them(Job 27:21; Job 30:22).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them,…. In illusion to the custom of the Jews, who had their threshingfloors on the tops of hills and mountains, where they took the opportunity and advantage of the wind in winnowing their corn, which fanned it, and carried away the chaff, and scattered it abroad; in like manner, it is suggested, the enemies of the church and people of God should be dealt with, which are like the chaff the wind driveth away, and is found no more, Ps 1:5, and so Rome Pagan was no more as such when subdued by Constantine, nor will the Papal antichristian states, Da 2:35. Compare with this what is said of literal Babylon, which will have its accomplishment in mystical Babylon, Jer 51:33:
and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord: the Targum is,
“in the word of the Lord;”
and so it paraphrases the preceding clause,
“his word shall scatter them as the whirlwind chaff;”
and therefore in him the saints shall rejoice, because it is he that destroys their enemies; so when Rome Pagan was abolished, and the devil and his angels, or the Heathen emperors, were drove out of it and destroyed, there was great joy among the people of God, saying, “now is come salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ”, Re 12:10 there will be great rejoicing in the Lord likewise when Rome Papal falls, and the saints have got the victory over the beast, Re 15:2
and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel; whose arm alone has done the above things, and to whom the glory is to be given: it is the true character of believers to rejoice in Christ, in his person, offices, and grace, and to glory in his being made unto them wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Php 3:3.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
16. Thou shalt winnow them. The meaning is the same as in the former verse, but by a different metaphor; for he compares the Church to a sieve, and wicked men to the chaff which is driven away by the sieve and scattered in every direction. As if he had said, “Though for a time the Gentiles bruise and winnow you, yet a severer judgment awaits them; for by their destruction they shall be bruised and driven away like chaff.” But we ought to observe the difference, because here believers are bruised for their good, for they suffer themselves to be subdued and placed under the authority of God; while others, who obstinately resist and do not suffer themselves to be brought into subjection, are scattered by the wind like chaff or stubble, as the Prophet tells us. Thus God had struck them with his flails, had bruised and trodden them, had winnowed and tossed them about, in order that, when the wheat had been well cleansed, he might gather them to himself; but the heathen nations he assigns as chaff to the dunghill.
To this is added, that the victorious Church bruises some unbelievers, so that, being purified from their pollution, they obtain a place in God’s barn; and thus was this prediction fulfilled, whenever by the agency of believers some of the Gentiles were subdued, so as to yield obedience to the authority of Christ; for they were never invested with any earthly power, so as to rule over all his enemies, but on the contrary they found it necessary to “possess their souls in patience.” (Luk 21:19.) But the Lord raised them up like palm-trees bent down by so many burdens, so that they not only were safe and sound, but also, with unshaken firmness of mind, trod their enemies under their feet.
It ought also to be observed, that Scripture is frequently accustomed to apply to the Church what strictly belongs to God alone. Since, therefore, God afflicted the ungodly Gentiles for the sake of his Church, he is said to have given them to be trodden under the feet of believers, who reaped the advantage. Whenever we read those prophecies, our minds ought to be raised to the kingdom of Christ, that, free from every wicked disposition, we may observe becoming moderation, and may not desire that this bruising should take place before the proper time; for it ought to be abundantly sufficient for us, if our Head shall at length prostrate his enemies under his feet, that we may share in the triumph of his victory.
But thou shalt rejoice in Jehovah. When he adds that the Jews will have cause to rejoice in the Lord, though by this confidence he intends to alleviate their grief, yet at the same time he admonishes the godly to be modest, that they may not exult with fierceness of mind, if at any time it happen that they are raised up by the hand of God, and exalted in such a manner as to reduce their enemies under their power; for there is nothing to which men are more prone than to become proud and insolent when everything happens to their wish. They forget that they are men, and blot out the remembrance of God, whom they ought to have acknowledged as the author of all blessings. In order, therefore, to restrain that immoderate exultation in which the flesh always indulges, and by which we often suffer ourselves to be carried away, the Prophet adds, “in the Lord,” because on him all our glory and all our joy ought to rest. In a word, the Prophet exhorts to gratitude, that, the more highly God exalts us, the more carefully ought we to repress all the vanity of ambition, and rejoice and glory in him alone.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
Isa 41:16 Thou shalt fan 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.
Ver. 16. Thou shalt fan them. ] But find nothing in them of any solidity. The heart of the wicked is little worth.
And thou shalt rejoice in the Lord.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
wind. Hebrew. ruach. App-9.
glory. See note on Isa 13:10.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
shalt fan: Isa 17:13, Psa 1:4, Jer 15:7, Jer 51:2, Mat 3:12
thou shalt rejoice: Isa 12:6, Isa 25:1-3, Isa 45:24, Isa 45:25, Isa 61:10, Isa 61:11, 1Sa 2:1, 1Sa 2:2, Jer 9:23, Jer 9:24, Hab 3:18, Luk 1:46, Luk 1:47, Rom 5:11, 1Co 1:30, 1Co 1:31, Phi 3:3,*Gr.
Reciprocal: Deu 2:36 – not Jdg 5:13 – he made 2Ki 13:7 – like the dust Job 14:18 – the mountain Job 21:18 – as stubble Psa 18:42 – beat Psa 25:2 – O Psa 68:1 – be scattered Isa 1:4 – the Holy Isa 21:10 – my threshing Isa 25:10 – trodden down Isa 28:5 – shall the Isa 29:19 – rejoice Isa 37:23 – the Holy One Isa 40:24 – and the Isa 41:2 – as the Isa 43:15 – the Lord Isa 57:13 – but the Jer 4:11 – not Jer 13:24 – as Jer 51:20 – art Jer 51:33 – is like Dan 2:35 – like Hos 13:3 – as the chaff Hos 13:15 – an east Joe 2:23 – rejoice Mic 4:13 – and thresh Mic 5:8 – as a lion Mic 7:10 – now Zep 2:2 – as Zec 9:13 – made Zec 12:6 – they 2Co 10:17 – General Phi 3:1 – rejoice Rev 3:7 – he that is holy
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Yet this sledge would do more. It would winnow the nations as well as threshing them. The strong wind that God would provide would drive Israel’s enemies away, as the wind separated the wheat from the chaff and blew the chaff away.
". . . every hindrance to God’s ultimate purposes in the international scene is overcome through a judgment executed through Israel [cf. Mic 4:10-13]." [Note: Grogan, p. 251.]
Israel would then rejoice and make her boast in her great God, who had both empowered her and removed her enemies.