Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne [by me] from the belly, which are carried from the womb:
3. all the remnant of the house of Israel ] It is doubtful whether there is a reference here to the scattered survivors of the Ten Tribes. More probably, the clause is a rhetorical variation of the previous “house of Jacob.” The participles borne and carried are repeated from Isa 46:1, although in inverse order (“carried things” and “made a load”). The words “by me” are better omitted.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
3, 4. In the scene which he has just described the prophet sees an emblem of the inherent weakness of heathenism. There man carries his gods, and the result is that gods and worshippers are involved in common ruin. Israel has had a far different experience of its relation to its God, having known Jehovah as One who has carried it from the beginning of its history (Exo 19:4; Deu 1:31; Deu 32:11; Hos 11:3; cf. ch. Isa 40:11, Isa 63:9), and is able to bear it on to final salvation. The profound insight into the nature of religion which is characteristic of the writer is nowhere more clearly exhibited than in this striking and original contrast.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Hearken unto me – From this view of the captive gods, the address is now turned to the Jews. The utter vanity of the idols had been set before them; and in view of that, God now addresses his own people, and entreats them to put their trust in him. The address he commences with words of great tenderness and endearment, designed to lead them to confide in him as their Father and friend.
And all the remnant – All who were left from slaughter, and all who were borne into captivity to Babylon. The language here is all full of tenderness, and is suited to inspire them with confidence in God. The idols of the pagan, so far from being able to protect their worshippers, were themselves carried away into ignoble bondage, but Yahweh was himself able to carry his people, and to sustain them.
Which are borne by me – Like an indulgent father, or a tender nurse, he had carried them from the very infancy of their nation. The same image occurs in Deu 1:31 : And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the Lord thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into thins place. A similar figure occurs in Exo 19:4 : Ye have seen, how I bare you on eagles wings, and brought you unto myself (so Deu 32:11-12; compare Num 11:12; Isa 63:9). All this here stands opposed to the idols of the Babylonians. They were unable to protect their people. They were themselves made captive. But God had shown the part of a father and a protector to his people in all times. He had sustained and guided them; he had never forsaken them; he had never, like the idol-gods, been compelled to leave them in the power of their enemies. From the fact that he had always, even from the infancy of their nation, thus protected them, they are called on to put their trust in him.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 3. Which are borne by me from the belly – “Ye that have been borne by me from the birth”] The prophet very ingeniously, and with great force, contrasts the power of God, and his tender goodness effectually exerted towards his people, with the inability of the false gods of the heathen. He like an indulgent father had carried his people in his arms, “as a man carrieth his son,” De 1:31. He had protected them, and delivered them from their distresses: whereas the idols of the heathen are forced to be carried about themselves and removed from place to place, with great labour and fatigue, by their worshippers; nor can they answer, or deliver their votaries, when they cry unto them.
Moses, expostulating with God on the weight of the charge laid upon him as leader of his people, expresses that charge under the same image of a parent’s carrying his children, in very strong terms: “Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them? that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father beareth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swarest unto their fathers;” Nu 11:12.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
All the remnant of the house of Israel; fitly so called, with respect either,
1. To all the tribes of Israel, ten of which were now lost and gone; or,
2. To the state of the Jews at their return from Babylon, there being only a remnant of the two tribes which did return.
Which are carried from the womb; whom I have nourished and cared for from time to time, ever since you were a people, and carne out of Egypt, and that as affectionately and tenderly as parents bring up their own children.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. in contrast to what precedes:Babylon’s idols, so far from bearing its people safely arethemselves borne off, a burden to the laden beast; but Jehovahbears His people in safety even from the womb to old age(Isa 63:9; Deu 32:11;Psa 71:6; Psa 71:18).God compares Himself to a nurse tenderly carrying a child; contrastMoses’ language (Nu 11:12).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob,…. The Jews, the descendants of Jacob:
and all the remnant of the house of Israel; those that remained of the ten tribes that had been carried captive long ago. These may, in a spiritual sense, design those who are Israelites indeed; the household of the God of Jacob; the chosen of God, and called; the remnant according to the election of grace:
which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb: here the Lord distinguishes himself from the idols of the Babylonians; they were laid as burdens upon beasts, and bore and carried by them; but the Lord is born and carried by none, but bears and carries his people. The allusion is to tender parents that have compassion on their children as soon as born, and take care of them, and bear them in their bosoms, and carry them in their arms; and may have respect, in the literal sense, to the infant state of the Jews, both as a church and commonwealth, when the Lord took pity on them, and care of them, and bore them as a father bears his son; and bore with their manners too, and carried them all the days of old through the wilderness to Canaan’s land; see Nu 11:12. It may be applied to the care of God in the preservation of men by his providence, especially his own people, whose God he is from their mother’s belly; who takes them under his protection as soon as born, and carries them through every state of infancy, youth, manhood, and old age, and never leaves nor forsakes them; see Ps 22:10, and with great propriety may be applied to regenerate persons, who, as soon as born again, are regarded by the Lord in a very visible, tender, and compassionate manner; he “bears” them in his bosom, and on his heart; he bears them in his arms; he puts his everlasting arms underneath them; he bears with them, with all their weakness and infirmities, their peevishness and frowardness; he bears them up under all their afflictions, and sustains all their burdens; he bears them through and out of all their troubles and difficulties: he “carries” them, in like manner, in his bosom, and in his arms; he “carries” them into his house, the church, which is the nursery for them, where they are nursed and fed, and have the breasts of consolation drawn out to them; he carries on the good work of grace in them; he carries them through all their trials and exercises safe to heaven and eternal happiness; for they are poor, weak, helpless creatures, like newly born babes, cannot go alone, but must be bore up and carried.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
From this approaching reduction of the gods of Babylon to their original nothingness, several admonitions are now derived. The first admonition is addressed to all Israel. “Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel: ye, lifted up from the womb; ye, carried from the mother’s lap! And till old age it is I, and to grey hair I shall bear you on my shoulder: I have done it, and I shall carry; and I put upon my shoulder, and deliver. To whom can ye compare me, and liken, and place side by side, that we should be equal?” The house of Jacob is Judah here, as in Oba 1:18 (see Caspari on the passage), Nah 2:3, and the house of Israel the same as the house of Joseph in Obadiah; whereas in Amo 3:13; Amo 6:8; Amo 7:2, Jacob stands for Israel, in distinction from Judah. The Assyrian exile was earlier than the Babylonian, and had already naturalized the greater part of the exiles in a heathen land, and robbed them of their natural character, so that there was only a remnant left by whom there was any hope that the prophet’s message would be received. What the exiles of both houses were to hear was the question in Isa 46:5, which called upon them to consider the incomparable nature of their God, as deduced from what Jehovah could say of Himself in relation to all Israel, and what He does say from onwards. Babylon carried its idols, but all in vain: they were carried forth, without being able to save themselves; but Jehovah carried His people, and saved them. The expressions, “from the womb, and from the mother’s lap,” point back to the time when the nation which had been in process of formation from the time of Abraham onwards came out of Egypt, and was born, as it were, into the light of the world. From this time forward it had lain upon Jehovah like a willingly adopted burden, and He had carried it as a nurse carries a suckling (Num 11:12), and an eagle its young (Deu 32:11). In Isa 46:4 the attributes of the people are carried on in direct (not relative) self-assertions on the part of Jehovah. The senectus and canities are obviously those of the people – not, however, as though it was already in a state of dotage (as Hitzig maintains, appealing erroneously to Isa 47:6), but as denoting the future and latest periods of its history. Even till then Jehovah is He, i.e., the Absolute, and always the same (see Isa 41:4). As He has acted in the past, so will He act at all times – supporting and saving His people. Hence He could properly ask, Whom could you place by the side of me, so that we should be equal? ( Vav consec. as in Isa 40:25).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Vs. 3-4: CONTRASTING JEHOVAH’S PERPETUAL CARE OF ISRAEL
1. The house of Jacob, and remnant of Israel, are called to bear what God has done for them, (vs. 3; 12; Isa 45:19; Isa 10:21-22).
2. In contrast to the impotence of idols; their God has carried them – even from the womb, (Isa 49:1; Deu 1:30-33; Deu 32:11; Psa 76:5-6).
3. He has ever cared for them – hearing their burdens, (Isa 63:9); their sufficiency has ever been in Jehovah, the great “I AM”, (Isa 41:4; Isa 43:13; Isa 48:12; comp. Joh 4:26; Joh 6:35; Joh 8:23; Joh 9:5; Joh 10:7; Joh 10:36; Joh 11:25; Joh 13:13; Joh 14:6; Joh 15:1; Rev 1:8; Rev 1:17).
4. And He will continue to care for them – even to their old age, (Psa 71:17-18).
5. Furthermore, He will deliver them – restoring them to that from whence they have fallen.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
3. Hear me. Here the Prophet beautifully points out the vast difference between the true God and idols. Having formerly said that the Babylonian gods must be drawn on waggons and carts, because they consist of dead matter, he now ascribes a widely different office to the God of Israel, namely, that he “carries” his people, like a mother, who carries the child in her womb, and afterwards carries it in her bosom. He addresses the Jews, that they may return an answer from their experience; for this ought to have powerfully affected them, when they actually felt that he bore them and their burdens. He, therefore, makes use of a highly appropriate contrast, and concludes from the preceding statements: “Acknowledge that I am the true God, and that I differ widely from idols, which are useless and dead weights; for you have known and experienced my power by constant benefits, which I have not ceased to confer upon you from the womb.” God is not only powerful in himself, but diffuses his power through all the creatures; so that we feel his strength and energy.
Who are carried from the womb. This is a very expressive metaphor, by which God compares himself to a mother who carries a child in her womb. He speaks of the past time, when he began to give them testimonies of his grace. Yet the words might be taken as meaning simply that God kindly nourished that people, like an infant taken from its mother’s womb, and carried it in his bosom, as the Psalmist says,
“
I was cast upon thee from the womb, thou art my God from my mother’s belly.” (Psa 22:10.)
But as God did not only begin to act as the father and nurse of his people from the time when they were born, but also “begat them” (Jas 1:18) spiritually, I do not object to extending the words so far as to mean, that they were brought, as it were, out of the bowels of God into a new life and the hope of an eternal inheritance.
If it be objected, that God is everywhere called “a Father,” (Jer 31:9; Mal 1:6,) and that this title is more appropriate to him, I reply, that no figures of speech can describe God’s extraordinary affection towards us; for it is infinite and various; so that, if all that can be said or imagined about love were brought together into one, yet it would be surpassed by the greatness of the love of God. By no metaphor, therefore, can his incomparable goodness be described. If you understand it, simply to mean that God, from the time that he begat them, gently carried and nourished them in his bosom, this will agree admirably with what we find in the Song of Moses,
“
He bore them, and carried them, as an eagle carrieth her young on her wings.” (Deu 32:11.)
In a word, the intention of the Prophet is to shew, that the Jews, if they do not choose to forget their descent, cannot arrive at any other conclusion than that they were not begotten in vain, and that God, who has manifested himself to be both their Father and their Mother, will always assist them; and likewise, that they have known his power by uninterrupted experience, so that they ought not to pay homage to idols.
All the remnant of the house of Israel. By calling them a “remnant” he means, as we formerly remarked, that the greater part had been alienated from the Church by their revolt, so that the hope of deliverance belonged only to a very small number. On this account he demands from them a hearing; for unbelievers, not less than heathen nations, were utterly deaf to his voice. Now, although the people were so far from being in their unbroken strength, that the dispersion of them had left but a small number behind, yet God bids them consider how wonderfully they have been hitherto preserved, that they may not doubt that he will henceforth act towards them, as he has hitherto acted, the part of both father and mother. And when he demands that they shall listen to him, he shews that the true and indeed the only remedy for our distresses and calamities is, to hang on his mouth, and to be attentive to the promises of grace; for then shall we have sufficient courage to bear every affliction; but if not, the way is opened for despair, and we ought not to expect anything else than destruction.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(3) Hearken unto me.The prophets choice of words is singularly emphatic. The false gods are borne away as a burden. The true God bears, i.e., supports, His people. He is able to bear that burden. Every I is emphasised in the Hebrew.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3, 4. I will carry, and will deliver The prophet shows the nation very differently cared for by its Lord Jehovah, who attended “its birth at the exodus, its infancy in the desert, its manhood under David and Solomon, its old age under the later prophets, when the first covenant was ready to decay.” Idols do no such thing to their adherents and worshippers. See Num 11:12.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
While The Gods Of The Nations Have To Be Borne By Man And Beast, Yahweh Himself In Contrast Bears His People ( Isa 46:3-7 ).
Isa 46:3-4
“Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
And all the remnant of the house of Israel,
Who have been borne by me from the belly,
Who have been carried from the womb.
And even to old age, I am He,
And even to grey hairs will I carry you,
I have made and I will bear,
Yes, I will carry and will deliver.”
In contrast with the ignominious situation of the gods of Babylon who have to be borne away on the backs of beasts or on carts, for His own people, God is the One Who Himself does the bearing. Those who have survived of Jacob/Israel after the Assyrian transportation of Israel and the subsequent massacres in Judah, and who are true to Him, have been ‘borne’ by Him from belly to birth, and through life until old age. He has made them and He will bear them, and what is more, in carrying them He will deliver them (as the Babylonian gods were even unable to do for the beasts who bore them). So Yahweh is the great Bearer of His people, and Himself never has to be carried. And He both carries and delivers His people.
Isa 46:5-7
“To whom will you liken me, and make me equal,
And compare me that we may be similar?
Such as lavish gold out of the bag,
And weigh silver in the balance,
They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god,
They fall down, yes, they worship.
They bear him on the shoulder, they carry him,
And set him in his place and he stands there,
He will not remove from his place,
Yes, one will cry to him, yet he cannot answer,
Nor save him out of his trouble.”
God wants all idols to be put firmly in their place. He asks contemptuously to whom they will liken Him and whom they will count as His equal, and put on a par with Him. Surely not the silver and gold image, made into a god by the goldsmith, who has to be carried everywhere and when set down stays exactly where he is put. And when someone cries to him he can neither answer nor deliver them out of trouble. For whatever they may claim, that is the fact of the matter. Will they really compare Him to Babylon and its idols, when all they are is a burden to their worshippers?
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Isa 46:3-4. Hearken unto me The Almighty introduces the reproof that he was about to urge with a preface, in these words, assuring the exiles, in the strongest manner, of the singular and constant care of his providence towards them. The words are very strong and expressive, but the fourth verse will be better understood from the following version: And even, &c.will I support you: I have done, and I will bear you; I will support and will deliver you. But this whole passage certainly refers in its spiritual sense to the people of God of all ages.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 945
GODS CARE FOR HIS PEOPLE
Isa 46:3-5. Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb: and even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, end I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you. To whom will you liken me?
THAT men who know nothing of the One true God should form to themselves idols to represent imaginary gods, is not so much to be wondered at: because every child of man feels himself dependent on some superior Being, though of the nature or character of that being he has no distinct conception. But that persons who have been instructed in the knowledge of Jehovah, and been themselves eye-witnesses of his mighty works, should have any disposition to renounce him, and to place their dependence on idols of wood and stone, is utterly unaccountable, on any other principle than that of mans total depravity, and radical alienation of heart from God. But such is the fact: man is prone to idolatry: his carnal mind is enmity against God: and from the time of the departure of the Israelites out of Egypt to the time of their captivity in Babylon, not all the judgments or mercies with which they were visited from time to time could keep them from indulging their favourite propensity. One would have thought that the very things which they had seen, even the deportation of the Babylonish idols by the hands of their enemies, should have been sufficient to convince them, that nothing formed by mortal hands could save a man. The prophet, in Jehovahs name, here appeals to them respecting this: See, says he, what helpless things those idols are! Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth: their idols (unable to move themselves) were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle; your carriages were heavy loaden with them; they were a burthen to the weary beast; and are themselves gone into captivity [Note: ver. 1, 2.]. But how different from them am I! says Jehovah: They are carried by their votaries, yea, and by their enemies too, incapable of resistance or of motion: whereas I carry my people: I have carried them from the very womb; and I will carry them to hoar hairs, even to the latest hour of their lives.
That we may enter more fully into this description which Jehovah gives of himself, let us consider,
I.
What he has done for his people
Jehovah addresses his people here as his children; and brings to their minds what he had done for that whole nation in the wilderness. He had borne them in his arms as a father does his child
[In the wilderness, when the people were required to march, it must of necessity happen that many females were not in a condition to carry their new-born infants, and more especially as the journeys were often of long continuance. Hence the fathers are represented as carrying their children [Note: Num 11:12.]: and under this character God represents himself as having carried them [Note: Deu 1:31.]. Now the whole nation at that time were precisely in the state of little infants; as ignorant of the way which they were to go; as incapable of providing sustenance for themselves; as unable to protect themselves from enemies, or from a variety of dangers to which they were exposed. They needed in every respect Jehovahs care, as much as a new-born infant the attention of its parents. And all this care did God bestow upon them. From the first moment of their departure from Egypt, he went before them in the pillar and the cloud: he sought out for them the places where they should encamp; he regulated all their motions; he supplied them with bread from heaven, and with water from the rock; he delivered them from every enemy; and carried them in perfect safety for the space of forty years. They were cast upon him, as it were, from the womb; and from the womb he thus Administered to them with parental care and tenderness.]
And in this way he still carries in his arms the true Israel
[The nation of Israel typically represented those, who, as Believers in Christ, are in a spiritual sense the children of Abraham. And these, who are Israelites indeed, are precisely in the state of the Jews in the wilderness, or of infants in their parents arms. Their incapacity to guide or support themselves is quite as great, and their need of succour from on high as urgent. But God has taken the charge of them, and administered to them whatsoever their necessities required. Look ye back, ye remnant of the house of Israel, and say, whether God has not incessantly watched over you for good; whether he has not borne with your weaknesses, supplied your wants, directed your ways, upheld you in your goings, and kept you from ten thousand snares, into which you must have inevitably fallen, and by which you must long since have perished, if he had for one hour intermitted his tender care? You cannot but acknowledge, that to you, as well as to the Jewish nation, is that description applicable: He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness: he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings; so the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him [Note: Deu 22:10-12.].]
But God further intimates,
II.
What he has engaged to do for them
To the Jews he promised a continuance of his care
[The individuals whom he brought forth out of Egypt he suffered to die in the wilderness, on account of their multiplied iniquities: but the nation, as a nation, he preserved; and those children, whom their unbelieving parents supposed to be doomed to inevitable destruction, he brought in safety to the Promised Land. And though, by their innumerable transgressions, the nation has brought down his displeasure upon them, insomuch that they are scattered over the face of the whole earth, yet are they preserved in a way that no other nation under heaven ever has been, in order that they may ultimately enjoy all the blessings prepared for them. They are at this day living witnesses for him, that he changeth not, but is still the same gracious and compassionate God as ever [Note: This is the import of I am he. See Psa 102:27.].]
To the spiritual Israel also he engages that he will keep them, even to the end
[His gifts and calling are without repentance [Note: Rom 11:29.]. Where he has begun a good work, he will carry it on, and perfect it, unto the day of Christ [Note: Php 1:6.]. If he has laid in our hearts the foundation of his spiritual temple, he will complete it [Note: Zec 4:9.]; and be the finisher of that faith of which he has been the author [Note: Heb 12:2.]. His ways in this respect are not like the ways of men: they, either from impotence or versatility, often relinquish their plans: he never does. In his own mind he considers the blessings which he bestows, not merely as a benefit conferred, but as a pledge of future blessings: He will not forsake his people, because it hath pleased him to make them his people [Note: 1Sa 12:22.]. Hence we are justified in founding on the experience of past benefits an assured expectation of future: Thou hast delivered my soul from death: Wilt thou not deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living [Note: Psa 56:13.]? The very repetitions in our text strongly confirm this important truth: Even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you. And to the same effect the Apostle Paul assuring us that God will keep his engagements with us, uses in one short sentence no less than five negatives; He will never, never leave thee; he will never, never, never forsake thee [Note: Heb 13:5-6.].]
From this statement of his own ways, he teaches us to infer,
III.
His unrivalled title to our regard
To whom will ye liken me? says he to his people of old: Are any of the gods of the heathen able to effect for their worshippers what I have wrought for you? So will I say to those who have received spiritual blessings at his hands: To whom will ye liken him? Who in the whole universe has such a title,
1.
To your confidence?
[Are there any of the sons of man that could have brought you out of darkness into light, as he has done; or turned you from the power of Satan unto God? Could any of them have preserved you from the snares which Satan has spread for your feet? Who amongst them is able to keep you in future? or have you any sufficiency in yourselves, so as to direct your own paths [Note: Jer 10:23.], and to maintain your own steadfastness? No, verily: and nothing but a curse awaits the man who trusteth in man, or who maketh flesh his arm [Note: Jer 17:5-6.]. God alone is equal to this task [Note: 2Co 1:21; 2Co 3:5.]: in him alone therefore must be all our hope, and all our trust ]
2.
To your love
[Amongst your fellow-creatures you may have many who, both for their personal qualities and their kindness to you, are entitled to your esteem. But to whom are you indebted, as you are to your Redeeming God? He has come down from heaven for you: he has died upon the cross for you: he has wrought out a salvation for you: he has by his Holy Spirit imparted that salvation to your souls: HE has given you that measure of stability which you have already evinced; and has engaged his almighty power to keep you even to the end. Where have you ever found such a Benefactor as he? where, one who can vie with him in any one particular? Truly in comparison of him the whole creation is but as the dust upon the balance: and therefore you should love him infinitely above all, and say, Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee [Note: Psa 73:25.] ]
Let me then, in conclusion, address myself,
1.
To those who entertain a rival in their hearts
[You can easily see how just Gods indignation was against those who worshipped graven images, in preference to him: but know, that he is no less offended with those who provoke him to jealousy by setting up idols in their hearts. He says, and well may say, My son, give me thine heart [Note: Pro 23:26.]. This is his exclusive right: and if you withhold it from him, it matters not what else you give: it is all hateful in his eyes, and never will come before him with acceptance: your very prayers will be an abomination in his sight [Note: Pro 15:8.], and your best sacrifices only as the cutting off a dogs neck, or offering swines blood [Note: Isa 66:3.] ]
2.
To those who profess themselves to have experienced Gods tender care
[What gratitude becomes those who are so indebted to their God! Was Israel highly favoured above the heathen? Their obligations were nothing in comparison of yours. Their blessings, though great, were temporal: yours are spiritual and eternal But look around you and see, how many even of your own friends and relatives are yet in bondage to their sins; whilst you have been delivered with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Look also to those who have been brought out of the world for a season, and yet been again entangled with it and overcome [Note: 2Pe 2:20.]; whilst you are yet holding on your way. And who is it that has made the difference between you? Must you not say, By the grace of God I am what I am? Stir up then your souls to thankfulness, and say, By Thee have I been holden up from the womb: thou art He that took me out of my mothers bowels: my praise shall be continually of thee [Note: Psa 7:6.].
And let your confidence in him for the future be entire. Lie in his hands precisely as a little infant in its parents arms; and look to him, exactly as the Israelites in the wilderness did, to direct your every way, and to supply your every want. It is not possible for your reliance on God to be too simple or too entire. In this respect also is David an excellent pattern for you to follow: Thou art He that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope, when I was upon my mothers breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mothers belly. Be not far from me! for trouble is near: for there is none to help. Be not thou far from me, O Lord! O my strength, haste thee to help me [Note: Psa 22:9-11; Psa 22:19.]!
Let your devotion to him also be unreserved. You are not your own, but his; and therefore you should glorify him with your bodies and your spirits, which are his [Note: 1Co 6:20.]. This is what God expects at your hands: Ye have seen, says he, how I bare you on eagles wings, and brought you unto myself. Now, therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then shall ye be a peculiar treasure unto me, above all people: for all the earth is mine. And ye shall be unto me a Kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel [Note: Exo 19:4-6.]. Yes, these words I do speak to you in Gods name. Your privileges are all a delusion, if they be not productive of this effect: but if they lead to this issue, then is God glorified in you, and ye shall ere long be glorified with him in the realms of bliss [Note: 2Th 1:11-12.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
The Lord having, in the preceding verses, shown the wretchedness of idols, utterly unable to help themselves, and consequently incapable of helping others; in these blessed words, calls upon his people to behold him; and most blessedly sets forth the tokens and evidences of his Godhead, in grace and love, from the womb to the grave. Reader! do not hastily pass away from the meditation of what this sweet scripture teacheth, as it concerns yourself, and the Lord’s! dealings towards you, both in a way of nature and of grace. Did not the Lord carry you from the womb, yea, did he not form you there, and make all your members to be written before your creation? And when coming forth from the belly, was it not he that preserved you alive, and sustained the life he had formed; yea, and hath preserved it to the present hour? Think in how many providences, through how many dispensations, and how many dangers, he hath brought you? And, if you are able to trace the wonderful subject in grace; as well as in nature, think who it was that formed thee in the new creation in Christ Jesus, and now maintains and keeps alive, and will keep alive, the incorruptible seed, unto ripeness in glory, by Christ Jesus! Oh! who that knows the whole, in nature and grace, but will be ready to ascribe all to Him, to whom alone the glory is due; and thankfully make Jesus, what he is, the Alpha and Omega of all; in creation and redemption And oh! how sure it is, that the same Lord who has carried from the womb, both of nature and of grace, will carry on to old age and hoary hairs; and when heart, and strength, and powers, all fail, he will be the strength of his people’s heart, and their portion forever! Psa 73:26 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 46:3 Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne [by me] from the belly, which are carried from the womb:
Ver. 3. Which are borne by me from the belly. ] You do not bear me, as they do their idols in procession and otherwise; but I bear you, and so have done from the first, and shall do the last; like as the tender mother doth her beloved babe, or as the eagle doth her young upon her wings. Exo 19:4 Deu 32:11
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Isa 46:3-4
3Listen to Me, O house of Jacob,
And all the remnant of the house of Israel,
You who have been borne by Me from birth
And have been carried from the womb;
4Even to your old age I will be the same,
And even to your graying years I will bear you!
I have done it, and I will carry you;
And I will bear you and I will deliver you.
Isa 46:3 Listen This, like Isa 46:12, is a Qal IMPERATIVE (BDB 1033, KB 1570). See note at Isa 44:1.
the remnant See Special Topic below.
SPECIAL TOPIC: THE REMNANT, THREE SENSES
have been carried from the womb This primarily is a reference to God as parent and Israel as child. However, it also refers to the formation of the nation of Israel beginning with the Exodus (cf. Deu 1:31; Isa 63:9).
Isa 46:4 Even to your old age God not only created Israel but will sustain her (i.e., carry or bear them, cf. Exo 19:4; Deu 1:31; Deu 32:11).
I shall be the same This (lit. I Am He, cf. NKJV) is the concept that God does not change (cf. NJB, cf. Mal 3:6). Even though Israel has been unfaithful to the covenant, God remains faithful. He is the God of covenant loyalty. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever!
And I will bear you and I will deliver you This is a reference to the nation of Israel, but it is individualized also to every believer (SINGULAR VERBS). Notice the VERBS in Isa 46:4.
1. God had created Israel (Qal PERFECT, BDB 793, KB 889)
2. God will continue to provide and protect
a. bear you – Qal IMPERFECT, BDB 687, KB 741 (twice)
b. carry you – Qal IMPERFECT, BDB 669, KB 724 (twice)
c. deliver you – Qal IMPERFECT, BDB 572, KB 589
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Hearken. Note the two calls to hear: here, and Isa 46:12. See App-82.
house of Jacob. See note on Isa 2:5.
house of Israel. See note on Isa 5:7.
which = who are borne. Reference to Pentateuch (Exo 19:4. Deu 1:31; Deu 32:11). App-92.
which. Some codices, with two early printed editions, Aramaean, and Septuagint, read “and who”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Hearken: Isa 44:1, Isa 44:21, Isa 48:1, Isa 48:17, Isa 48:18, Isa 51:1, Isa 51:7, Psa 81:8-13
the remnant: Isa 1:9, Isa 10:22, Isa 11:11, Isa 37:4
borne: Isa 44:1, Isa 44:2, Isa 49:1, Isa 49:2, Isa 63:9, Exo 19:4, Deu 1:31, Deu 32:11, Deu 32:12, Psa 22:9, Psa 22:10, Psa 71:6, Eze 16:6-16
Reciprocal: Exo 2:8 – Go 1Sa 7:12 – Hitherto 1Sa 12:2 – I am old Job 3:11 – when I came Psa 9:10 – hast Psa 27:9 – thou Psa 58:3 – as soon Psa 61:3 – thou Psa 91:12 – They Psa 139:13 – covered me Son 7:2 – thy belly Isa 1:2 – I have Isa 29:22 – Jacob shall Isa 41:4 – with the Isa 44:24 – and he Isa 46:12 – Hearken Isa 48:12 – Hearken Hos 11:3 – taught Amo 3:1 – Hear Mar 4:3 – Hearken Luk 1:54 – General Luk 15:5 – he layeth Rom 9:4 – are Israelites 2Co 1:10 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 46:3-4. Hearken, &c., all the remnant of the house of Israel All that remain of the twelve tribes. He terms them a remnant, either because the ten tribes were already carried into captivity by Shalmaneser, or because he addresses that remnant of the two tribes, which he foresaw would return from Babylon; which are borne by me, &c. Whom I have nourished and cared for from time to time, ever since you were a people, and came out of Egypt, and that as affectionately and tenderly as parents bring up their own children. Even to hoar hairs will I carry you That kindness which I have shown you, and that care which I have taken of you, I will continue to you to the end, never forsaking you, unless you wilfully and obstinately cast me off; which the Jews did when their Messiah came. I have made you, and will carry, and deliver you You are my workmanship, both as you are men, and as you are my peculiar people; and therefore I will preserve and deliver you. The reader will observe, that the prophet here very ingeniously, and with great force, contrasts the power of God, and his tender goodness effectually exerted toward his people with the inability of the false gods of the heathen: he, like an indulgent father, had carried his people, in his arms, as a man carrieth his son,
Deu 1:31; he had protected them and delivered them in their distresses; whereas the idols of the heathen were forced to be carried about themselves, and removed from place to place, with a great labour and fatigue to their worshippers; nor could they answer, or deliver their votaries, when they cried unto them. See Num 11:12.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
46:3 Hearken to me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are {e} borne [by me] from the birth, which are carried from the womb:
(e) He shows the difference between the idols and the true God; for they must be carried by others, but God himself carries his, as in De 32:11 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Addressing the remnant (house) of His people, Yahweh reminded the Judahites that He had carried Israel (as a burden sometimes) throughout her history (cf. Isa 63:9; Exo 19:4; Deu 1:31; Deu 32:11; Psa 28:9), and He would continue to do so. This, of course, is the opposite of what the Babylonians had to do to their idols (Isa 46:1-2). The Israelites had never carried Him, but it was He, and only He, who had always carried them.
"Normally, we expect that as children reach maturity, they do not need to be carried any longer. Furthermore, there usually comes a time when the child must begin to carry the aged parent. This is where God transcends the imagery. There will never come a time when we outgrow our dependence on God. . . . Nor will there ever be a time when a doddering old grandfather-God will somehow need to lean on us, and we will need to find a young, virile god for a new age." [Note: Oswalt, The Book . . . 40-66, p. 230.]