Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 49:2
And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;
2. The Servant is described as one prepared in secret for his great work. He compares himself to a weapon fashioned by Jehovah for His own use, but kept in reserve till the fulness of time. As the ideal prophet, he speaks of his mouth, the organ of prophetic utterance (see Jer 1:9; Isa 6:7), as made like a sharp sword in virtue of the “word” which Jehovah puts in it (ch. Isa 51:16; cf. Heb 4:12).
in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me ] (ch. Isa 51:16). The metaphor perhaps denotes protection rather than secrecy.
a polished arrow ] see Jer 51:16.
There is nothing in the verse inconsistent with the idea that the speaker is Israel personified. The fundamental thought, translated into modern language, would be that prophecy is the highest expression of the genius of Israel; and the idealised nation is naturally identified with what is best and most characteristic in its history, and invested with the character of the ideal prophet. And again, Jehovah’s hiding of His Servant may express the truth that Israel had been providentially preserved through long ages for the sake of the spiritual endowments which made it the mouthpiece of revelation. The further idea that the real mission of Israel was concealed both from the world and from the nation itself is no doubt true, but is perhaps hardly contained in the figure.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And he hath made my mouth – The idea here is, that he had qualified him for a convincing and powerful eloquence – for the utterance of words which would penetrate the heart like a sharp sword. The mouth here, by an obvious figure, stands for discourse. The comparison of words that are pungent, penetrating, powerful, to a sword, is common. Indeed the very terms that I have incidentally used, pungent, penetrating, are instances of the same kind of figure, and are drawn from a needle, or anything sharp and pointed, that penetrates. Instances of this occur in the following places in the Scriptures: The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies Ecc 12:11. The word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow Heb 4:12. In Rev 1:16, probably in reference to this passage, the Redeemer is represented as seen by John as having a sharp two-edged sword proceeding out of his mouth. So in Isa 19:15 : And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword. The bold and striking metaphor of the sword and arrow applied to powerful discourse, has been used also by pagan writers with great elegance and force. In the passages quoted by Lowth, it is said of Pericles by Aristophanes:
His powerful speech
Pierced the hearers soul, and left behind
Deep in his bosom its keen point infixt.
So Pindar, Olym. ii. 160:
Come on! thy brighest shafts prepare,
And bend, O Muse, thy sounding bow:
Say, through what paths of liquid air
Our arrows shall we throw?
West
A similar expression occurs in a fragment of Eupolis, in Diod. Sic. xii. 40, when speaking of Pericles:
–
.
– kai monos ton retoron
to kentron egkateleipe tois akroomenois.
A similar metaphor occurs frequently in Arabic poetry. As arrows his words enter into the heart?
In the shadow of his hand hath he hid me – This passage has been very variously interpreted. Many have understood it as meaning that the shadow of the hand of God would cover or defend him – as a shade or shadow protects from heat. The word shadow is used for protection in Isa 25:4; Psa 17:8; Psa 36:8. This is the interpretation which Gesenius adopts. Piscator says that it means that God protected him from the snares of the Scribes and Pharisees. Others suppose that it means that he was hidden or protected, as the sword is in the sheath, which is under the left hand, so that it can be easily drawn by the right hand. But Vitringa remarks that the figure here is that of a drawn sword, and he supposes that the meaning is, that the shadow of the hand of God is what covers and defends it, and serves, as it were, for a scabbard. Hengstenberg coincides with this opinion, and supposes that the image is taken from a dirk which a man carries in his hand, and which he suddenly draws forth in the moment of attack. In the parallel member of the sentence, the Redeemer is represented as an arrow that is laid up in a quiver, ready to be drawn forth at any moment. Here, the image is that of a sword under the divine protection, and the idea is, that the shadow of the hand of God constitutes the protection, the covering of the sword. He is the defender of the Messiah, and of his words; and his hand shall guard him as the scabbard does the sword, or as the quiver does the arrow. The Messiah, like the sword, and the polished arrow, was suited for the execution of the plans of God, and was ready at any moment to be engaged in his cause. His words, his doctrines, would be like the sharp sword and polished arrow. They would penetrate the heart of his foes, and by his doctrines, and the truths which he would teach, he would carry his conquests around the world.
And made me a polished shaft – The word rendered polished ( barur), may mean either chosen, or polished. It properly means that which is separated, or severed from others; then select, chosen. Then it may mean anything which is cleansed, or purified, and here may denote an arrow that is cleansed from rust; that is, polished, or made bright. The word shaft ( chets), means properly an arrow; and the sense here is, that the Messiah pierced the hearts of people like a pointed and polished arrow that is sped from the bow. In his quiver. The word quiver means the covering that was made for arrows, and which was so slung over the shoulder that they could be readily reached by the hand as they should be needed.
Hath he hid me – Before his appearing, says Hengstenberg, the Messiah was concealed with God like a sword kept in its sheath, or like an arrow lying in the quiver. But perhaps this is too much refined and forced. The meaning is, probably, simply that he had protected him. God, by his own power, says Calvin, protected Christ and his doctrine, so that nothing could hinder its course. Yet there is, undoubtedly, the idea that he was adapted to produce rapid and mighty execution; that he was fitted, like an arrow, to overcome the foes of God; and that he was kept in the quiver for that purpose.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 49:2
And He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword
A sharp sword
1.
God does not undo, in His relationship to us as Re-creator, the work which He has already performed as Creator. He does not strip us of our natural faculties, and endow us with others altogether distinct from these. Our natural faculties are in themselves neither good nor bad, but in every case are capable of development, either in the direction of good or of evil. When first the grace of God finds us, the powers of evil have more or less infected our nature, and most of our faculties (if not all of them) have exhibited a downward inclination; our members have become instruments of unrighteousness, the weapons which Satan has used to do his own fell work. It is upon these dishonoured faculties that God lays His hand when He enters and takes possession of the new-created soul. What He demands on our part is, that these members should be surrendered to Him, as they formerly were to the powers of darkness.
2. The prophet here speaks of one important faculty which exercises an influence for good or evil second to none that affects society–the tongue. The faculty of speech is one of the noblest endowments of humanity, distinguishing us, as it does, from all the lower animals, rendering social life possible, and binding humanity into one. How much of evil originates with the tongue! And yet what a mighty engine for good language may be! Surely God has put no small honour on human speech when He permits His own Son to be described as the Word of God.
3. How many of us have endeavoured to use our tongues in the service of God, and yet our efforts have been singularly weak and unsuccessful. Let us not be discouraged, but listen to this word of power: I have made thy mouth a sharp sword–sharp no longer for sarcasm and cutting scorn. The withering scoff, the poisoned slander, the bitter reproach, are no longer to proceed, like a sharp two-edged sword, from those consecrated lips of thine; but, if thou wouldst but believe it, a new power has been communicated, in virtue of which that very member, which was of old so keen-edged a weapon in the hands of the destroyer, is now to be equally sharp and pointed in the grasp of its Divine Master. But have we yet begun to be discontented with our want of sharpness? Are we ready to be used by God as a sharp sword? Have we counted the cost? Are we prepared for the consequences? If we are, our weakness matters not. God can use us. Fear not, thou worm Jacob; I will make thee a sharp threshing instrument, having teeth, and thou shalt break in pieces the mountains. How many of our well-meant efforts fail for want of teeth!
4. What is required in order to render us efficient instruments in the hands of God?
(1) Definiteness of purpose. The man whose mouth is a sharp sword will speak, not for speakings sake, nor to ease his conscience, but to reach the heart.
(2) Incisiveness of language. Our words need not be ungentle nor severe, and yet they may be pointed.
(3) Earnestness.
(4) One other characteristic will be embodied in the word now. The man who speaks for God will ever remember that the Kings business requires haste. The Holy Ghost saith, To-day; and he who speaks in the Spirit will speak as the Spirit. (W. Hay Aitken, M. A.)
A sharp sword in Gods hand
Two young men were educated together in an American university. The one was possessed of very considerable talents, and subsequently became the popular minister of a large and fashionable congregation; the other was a man of humble abilities, but possessed by an ardent desire to win souls, and therefore ready to adapt his means to the attainment of this end. Years rolled on, and the popular preacher had occasion to pay a visit to the parish of his old acquaintance. After witnessing all that was going forward in connection with his friends congregation, he could no longer repress his astonishment. I cannot understand how it is, he said, that everything in your district and congregation seems to flourish. Your church seems full of really converted souls. The number of your communicants is astonishing, and the amount of work that seems to be going on all round fills me with amazement. How can it be that I, preaching the same truth, yet see scarcely any definite result of my labours? I can scarcely point to any who have been turned from darkness to light as the result of my ministry. After much conversation, his friend requested him to try an experiment. Will you, he said, take one of my sermons (which in style and composition are by no means to be compared to your own), and deliver it to your own flock? Make it a matter of prayer beforehand that God will make use of it, not only for their good, but as a lesson to you in your own ministry, if it is intended to be so. Then watch the results. He agreed to do so, and on returning to his flock, delivered with much feeling one of his friends fervid discourses. The effect was evident, and to him astonishing. It was clear that many in the congregation were deeply stirred by what they had been listening to. At the conclusion of the service he was sent for by a lady, whom he found remaining behind in the church, in a state of considerable agitation. If, she exclaimed, my dear sir, what I have heard from you to-day is true, then I am all wrong! My dear madam, he replied, with great consternation, what is the matter? I hope I have said nothing that has hurt your feelings! (W. Hay Aiken, M. A.)
The Word of God as a sword
1. Because it pierceth the very heart (Act 2:37; Act 7:54).
2. Because it separateth between virtue and vice, by teaching what is good and what is evil.
3. Because it cutteth off sin, by the threats which are therein contained against sinners, and by the promises which are thereby made to those who forsake sin.
4. Because it cuts off error and heresy by teaching the truth. (W. Day, M. A.)
In the shadow of His hand hath He hid Me
Seclusions
These words refer in the first place to Him who is the central figure of all prophecy, the coming Messiah. Perhaps they point to His pre-existent state, and denote the concealment of the Eternal Word before it was made flesh. Or the words may contain an allusion to certain aspects and experiences of Christs earthly history, and notably the first thirty years of it. What holds good with regard to the Master, holds good also with regard to the servants. As He was in this world, so are they. It is not so much the expression of a general and abiding relationship we have here, as of a special and occasional experience. Every believer lies locked in the closed hand of God, nor shall any pluck him out of it. But it is not of a hiding such as this that the text speaks. It is rather of what is temporary and repeated. What, then, are some of the ideas involved in the special figure of the text?
I. We have Gods love brought before us as an influence to PRESERVE AND PROTECT. And it preserves us in a special way, it protects us through a special process–by withdrawal. That, of course, is not always Gods plan. He has other ways of arranging in providence for the safety of His people, than by removing them from the sphere of their danger. When opposition threatens or temptation assails, He may keep men face to face with the foes that encompass, and seek to educate and to strengthen them by the process. At such times as these they are called to comport themselves as good soldiers of Christ. But at other times it is not incitement that the Christian needs, nor the strength that enables him to do and to dare. It is shelter, screening, quiet, and removal. And when such seasons are needed, they are given. And what a hand it is to retreat to! Think of all that the Scripture reveals to us of its power.
II. The text leads us to think of Gods care as a PREPARING influence. It trains, as well as protects. He quenches not the smoking flax; on the contrary, He fosters and fans it. And for this end He covers it with the shadow of His arched hand, till it brightens from a smouldering spark to a clear and steady flame. Sometimes these seasons of concealment take place at the beginning of a mans life-work. Take Paul, the newly-converted. When the due time came, and study and seclusion, meditation and silence, had accomplished their work, the hand was unclosed, the shadow was withdrawn. God drew the shaft He had polished from its quiver, and Paul came forth from his retreat, ready to do and to speak, to suffer and to dare for the cause of Christ. And what happens at the outset of a believers life, happens often in its course; and many an active Christian life has been cleft in twain by the silence and the pause it imposes. There is a special illustration in the history of Luther. The man had attained the very climax of his immense activities. The nations had wakened from the sleep of ages at the thunder of his lips. Hither and thither he had been moving; here attacking, there defending, yonder restraining. And now every nerve was strung to tenseness by the strain, every faculty wrought to fever in the whirl. And what does God do with him? He suddenly bears him off out of view, takes him from pulpit and from councils, hushes and encloses him in the Wartburg, and leaves him there in imprisonment and isolation for a time. Had God no purpose in view, in thus plunging His servant into the darkness awhile–apart from the work that he loved so well? Assuredly He had. The Church of Christ was all the better of this temporary withdrawal of its one outstanding defender. It was reminded thereby that the cause was Gods and not mans. And it was taught that the cause could go on, though the man who was its agent was removed. Luther himself was all the better of the discipline too. And when Luther emerged from the shadow, in Gods good time, to achieve and withstand, to struggle and to conquer, once more, he did so as a stronger, because a wiser and a calmer man. And a years or a months time spent in quiet waiting in the shadow of His hand, may do more to ripen the soul for its future existence with Himself than half-a-century of busy labour amidst the outward activities of life. The believer passes from the sphere of active work to the sphere of quiet waiting, that the discipline of service may be supplemented by the discipline of submission, and the God of peace be enabled through the training to sanctify him wholly. The shadow where the life disappears is only the shadow of the hand. And when the hand is unclosed on the other side death, the light it has covered will be found to be all the more steady and brilliant for the discipline, and shall shine in Gods holy place, as the stars in the firmament, for ever and for ever.
III. Pass from the protecting and preparing influences of Gods hand, to its CHASTENING. For you have the idea here not only of isolation, but of pressure; pressure and pain. It does not always lie gently round about us, this hand of God. There are times when it contracts more tightly, darkens more deeply, impinges more closely. And it does so in many ways–does so even when we are least ready to realise the source whence the pressure arises. If ever a Christian is tempted to think his trials come from another source than the wise and tender Fatherhood of God, it is when they shape themselves in the words and deeds of sinful men. Yet the shadow which they cast on the life is only the shadow of the hand, and the pain the experience gives us only its contracting pressure. And of other trials than these, it is still the same. There are complications of adversity at times so persistent and perplexing that they almost seem to argue the operation of some malignant fate. You are in dark places, But it is only the shadow of the hand. Lie quiet, and bear it as well as you can. And He who at present contracts His hand will in due time open it, and set you in a large room once more.
IV. The text speaks of the INDIVIDUALISING influence of Gods care. While I rest in the shadow of the hand, God of course has the whole of me; but there is another side to the relationship: I have the whole of God.
V. The text reminds us of the hand of God in its REMOVING influences. When lover and friend are put far away from us, and our acquaintance are hid in darkness, they are only removed by the same loving hand, and covered awhile in its shadow, but blessed and safe where they rest, awaiting the adoption, to wit, the redemption of the body. And what of the body itself? (W. A. Gray.)
A polished shaft
A polished shaft
I. The prophet speaks of the servant of the Lord under the figure of A POLISHED SHAFT. There are not wanting some who, in their eagerness to deliver their souls, and to be faithful to their responsibilities, outstep the limits of Christian courtesy. They have their own blunt way of working for God, and they are disposed to flatter themselves that it is the best way, because it is most in accordance with their own natural dispositions; but the Lord seeks polished shafts for His quiver. No sword was ever so sharpened as were the words of Jesus; and yet how gentle He was, how considerate! But, you say, we have all our natural peculiarities, and we must continue to be what nature has made us. Not so, my dear brother. Thou art to be perfected by grace, not by nature. Cut a rough stick from a hedge: if it be tolerably straight, and a spike be stuck in the end of it, it may serve, on an emergency, in the place of an arrow at a short range. But every little notch, every distinguishing peculiarity, of that rough stick is an impediment to its flight. We need not fear for the skill of the Great Archer who keeps His saints in His quiver; but we must remember that when we assert our natural peculiarities of disposition, instead of surrendering ourselves to Him to be polished according to His will, the fault is ours, not His, if we miss the mark. We have no right to be content with doing the Lords work in a rough and ready, bungling, clumsy fashion, effecting perhaps a little good and a great deal of harm. He that wins souls is wise; he that seeks merely to relieve his own conscience can afford to do things in a blundering way. What does it matter to him, so long as it is done? But surely if the work is to produce its proper effect, we need much tact, much delicacy of feeling, much tenderness of sympathy; we need to learn when to hold our tongues, and when to speak. It is quite true that God may bless our very blunders when He sees they are committed with true sincerity of purpose, and arise rather from ignorance and bad taste than from wilful carelessness; but that does not warrant us in continuing to blunder, still less in regarding our blunders as almost meritorious, and reflecting self-complacently that it is our way of working. We shrink from the polishing process; but He who desires to see us so polished that we shall reflect His own glory, not exhibit our own peculiarities, will take care that the means for our polishing are forthcoming. It is by friction that the arrow is polished, and it is by friction that our idiosyncrasies are to be worn away. This friction is provided in different ways. Perhaps it will be supplied by failures and disappointments, until, like Gideon of old, we are ready to say, If the Lord be with us, why is it thus with us? Perhaps it will be supplied by the violent and bitter antagonism which our inconsiderate roughness and unwisdom has stirred in the hearts of those whom we seek to benefit. Sometimes it is provided in our common intercourse with others, not unfrequently in our intercourse with fellow-Christians. Possibly He may subject us to the severest discipline of trial before the work of polishing is complete; but polished in one way or another the shafts must be which He is to use for His own glory.
II. THE SHAFT IS POLISHED ONLY TO BE HIDDEN. It might seem that when once the process of polishing had been completed, the arrow would be a proper object for display, and here is a peril which even polished shafts are exposed to. There is so much of the beauty of the Lord impressed upon some of His servants, that men cannot withhold their admiration. Christians are lavish of their love, and there are hidden perils concealed under this favourable esteem. Sharpened and polished, how apt are we to display ourselves, even as the Assyrian axe of old boasted against him who hewed there with. But, says the great apostle (himself a polished and sharpened arrow), we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord. And so it is that the polished shaft has to be hidden. Your attention is not directed to the arrow while it is waiting to be used; it is concealed within the quiver.
The eye is not caught by it when it is in the hand; it is hidden under the shadow of the hand. Another moment, it rests on the bow; another moment, and it speeds to the mark. Neither in the quiver, nor in the hand, nor on the bow, nor in its flight, is the arrow conspicuous. The more swiftly it flies, the more invisible it is. Thus the archer wins all the applause, and the arrow is nothing; yet it is by the arrow that he has done his work. And while man is not attracted to the arrow, the great Archer Himself is. It is upon it that He bends His eye. It is to it that He gives the credit of the victory: Thou art My servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. Yes, there is a special joy in His heart when He can truly say of us, Thou art My servant. How near we are to His sacred Person when we are thus hidden in Gods hand, concealed in His quiver! And how much truer and deeper the joy of such service than the momentary excitement of human applause! And then the thought that it is possible for God to be glorified in us as the archer is glorified in the arrow, that the intelligences of heaven shall gaze down and admire the work that God hath wrought by instruments once so unpromising, and shall praise Him for it; that men on earth shall be constrained to admit that this is the finger of God, and to take knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus; that the devils in hell shall recognise in our lives the presence of Omnipotence, and tremble as they see the mighty Archer draw us from the hiding-place within the quiver! Hidden in Gods hand! Hidden from the grasp of Satan. He fain would snatch us out of Gods keeping; but his hostile hand can never touch those who are concealed in Gods quiver. Hidden from the desecrating touch of the world to which we no longer belong. Hidden above all from ourselves–our morbid self-consciousness, our inflated self-esteem, our gloomy self-depression. (W. Hay Aitken, M. A.)
The pride that apes humility
I remember once overhearing the remark from the lips of one whom long experience and keen observation had taught more of the subtlety of the human heart than most men ever discern: Ah, my dear brother, the truth is that we are all full of self; only some of us have the good taste not to show it, and some have not. The words may appear almost cynical, but a little reflection will show us how true they are. (W. HayAiken, M. A.)
A polished arrow
Mark Guy Pearse says that the crest for the Lords worker is an arrow polished and feathered, content to be in the quiver until the Master uses it; lying on the string for His unerring fingers to send it forth, then going strong, swift, sure, smiting through the heart of the Kings enemies, and with this for the motto, I fly where I am sent.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 2. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword – “And he hath made my mouth a sharp sword”] The servant of God, who speaks in the former part of this chapter, must be the Messiah. If any part of this character can in any sense belong to the prophet, yet in some parts it must belong exclusively to Christ; and in all parts to him in a much fuller and more proper sense. Isaiah’s mission was to the Jews, not to the distant nations, to whom the speaker in this place addresses himself. “He hath made my mouth a sharp sword;” “to reprove the wicked, and to denounce unto them punishment,” says Jarchi, understanding it of Isaiah. But how much better does it suit him who is represented as having “a sharp two-edged sword going out of his mouth,” Re 1:16; who is himself the Word of God; which word is “quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart;” Heb 4:12. This mighty Agent and Instrument of God, “long laid up in store with him, and sealed up among his treasures,” is at last revealed and produced by his power, and under his protection, to execute his great and holy purposes. He is compared to a polished shaft stored in his quiver for use in his due time. The polished shaft denotes the same efficacious word which is before represented by the sharp sword. The doctrine of the Gospel pierced the hearts of its hearers, “bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” The metaphor of the sword and the arrow, applied to powerful speech, is bold, yet just. It has been employed by the most ingenious heathen writers, if with equal elegance, not with equal force. It is said of Pericles by Aristophanes, (see Cicero, Epist. ad Atticum, xii. 6:) –
,
.
Apud. Diod. lib. xii.
His powerful speech
Pierced the hearer’s soul, and left behind
Deep in his bosom its keen point infixed.
Pindar is particularly fond of this metaphor, and frequently applies it to his own poetry: –
,
, .
–
– ;
Olymp. ii. 160.
“Come on! thy brightest shafts prepare,
And bend, O Muse, thy sounding bow;
Say, through what paths of liquid air
Our arrows shall we throw?”
WEST.
See also ver. 149 of the same ode, and Olymp. ix. 17, on the former of which places the Scholiast says, , . “He calls his verses shafts, by a metaphor, signifying the acuteness and the apposite application of his panegyric.”
This person, who is (Isa 49:3) called Israel, cannot in any sense be Isaiah. That name, in its original design and full import, can only belong to him who contended powerfully with God in behalf of mankind, and prevailed, Ge 32:28. After all that Vitringa, Bp. Lowth, and others have said in proof of this chapter speaking of the Messiah, and of him alone, I have my doubts whether sometimes Isaiah, sometimes Cyrus, and sometimes the Messiah, be not intended; the former shadowing out the latter, of whom, in certain respects, they may be considered the types. The literal sense should be sought out first; this is of the utmost importance both in reading and interpreting the oracles of God.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; as he made me the great Teacher of his church and of the world, so he assisted me by his Spirit, and made my word or doctrine quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, &c., as it is said to be, Heb 4:12, killing mens lusts, convincing, humbling, and converting their souls; and mighty to the pulling down of strong holds, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ, as we read, 2Co 10:4,5.
In the shadow of his hand hath he hid me; he will protect me by his power from all mine enemies, until I have finished the work for which he sent me.
Made me a polished shaft; like an arrow, whose point is bright and polished; which therefore pierceth deeper. This metaphor signifies the same thing with the former, Christs piercing of mens hearts by his word and Spirit.
Quiver; where arrows are hid and kept. The quiver signifies the same thing with the shadow in the foregoing clause, even Gods powerful and gracious protection of him from dangers and mischiefs.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2. my mouth . . . sword(Isa 11:4; Rev 19:15).The double office of the Word of God, saving and damnatory, isimplied (Isa 50:4; Joh 12:48;Heb 4:12).
shaft (Ps45:5). “Polished,” that is, free from all rust, impliesHis unsullied purity.
in . . . quiver . . . hidmeLike a sword in its scabbard, or a shaft in the quiver,Messiah, before His appearing, was hid with God, ready to bedrawn forth at the moment God saw fit [HENGSTENBERG];also always protected by God, as the arrow by the quiver (Isa51:16).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword,…. Or,
“he hath put his words in my mouth as a sharp sword,”
as the Targum; namely, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, and is sharper than a twoedged sword, and is said to come out of the mouth of Christ, Eph 6:17, with which he pierces into and cuts the hearts of men, and lays open all their sin and unrighteousness, and cuts down the worst and best in men, and slays all his enemies; so his mouth was as a sharp sword in the days of his flesh, to inveigh against the sins and to refute the errors of the Scribes and Pharisees; as it will be, in the latter day, to smite the nations of the earth, Re 19:15: “in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me”; in his counsels and purposes of old, and in his providence;
“in the shadow of his power hath he protected me,”
as the Targum; thus he hid, and protected him from Herod’s cruelty in his infancy; and from the rage and malice of the Scribes and Pharisees, who sought often to lay hands on him, and take away his life before his time. The Jews talk very much of the Messiah’s being hid under the throne of glory. Aben Ezra’s remark, that the phrase, “he hath hid me”, answers to the scabbard of a sword, before mentioned, is not amiss:
and made me a polished shaft; or, “choice arrow” s; which being polished at the point, or well oiled, and shining, pierces the deeper, So the doctrines of Christ, the words of his mouth, are compared to bright and sharp arrows, which make cutting work, and give great pain where they come; as they sometimes do like arrows, swiftly, suddenly, and with great force and power, Ps 45:5. Kimchi observes, that he speaks of a sharp sword with respect to the Jews that were near, where a sword could reach them; and of a polished shaft or arrow with respect to the Gentiles afar off, which must be cast after them:
in his quiver hath he hid me, meaning his secret purposes, and his powerful protection, as before; which he compares to a quiver, a case in which arrows are put, because mention had been made of a polished shaft or arrow before.
s Sept. “sagittam electam”, V. L. “telum electum”, Cocceius; “sagittam nitidam vel electam”, Vitringa.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
2. And he hath placed my mouth as a sharp sword, he employs a twofold comparison, that of “a sword” and of “a quiver,” in order to denote the power and energy of the doctrine; and he shews why he was called, and why he was honored by a name so excellent and illustrious, namely, that he may teach; for this is what he means by the word “mouth.” Christ hath therefore been appointed by the Father, not to rule, after the manner of princes, by the force of arms, and by surrounding himself with other external defences, to make himself an object of terror to his people; but his whole authority consists in doctrine, in the preaching of which he wishes to be sought and acknowledged; for nowhere else will he be found. He asserts the power of his “mouth,” that is, of the doctrine which proceeds from his mouth, by comparing it to “a sword;” for
“
the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of the soul and the spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Heb 4:12.)
And hath made me as a polished arrow. He now compares his mouth to “an arrow,” because it strikes not only close at hand, but likewise at a distance, and reaches even those who appear to be far off.
In his quiver hath he hid me. After having spoken of the efficacy of doctrine, Isaiah adds, that God, by his power, protects Christ and his doctrine, so that nothing can stop his course. And this was very necessary to be added; for, as soon as the mouth of Christ is opened, that is, as soon as his Gospel is preached, adversaries rise up on all sides, and innumerable enemies league together in order to crush it; so that the efficacy which he ascribes to doctrine would not be sufficient, if there were not added his protection, in order to drive away adversaries.
Besides, the present question is not about the person of Christ, but about the whole body of the Church. We must indeed begin with the Head, but we must next come down to the members; and to all the ministers of the Word must be applied what is here affirmed concerning Christ; for to them is given such efficacy of the Word, that they may not idly beat the air with their voices, but may reach the hearts and touch them to the quick. The Lord also causes the voice of the Gospel to resound not; only in one place, but far and wide throughout the whole world. In short, because he faithfully keeps them under his protection, though they are exposed to many attacks, and are assaulted on every side by Satan and the world, yet they do not swerve from their course. We ought to have abundant knowledge of this from experience; for they would all to a man have been long ago ruined by the conspiracies and snares of adversaries, if the Lord had not defended them by his protection. And indeed, amidst so many dangers, it is almost miraculous that a single preacher of the Gospel is permitted to remain. The reason of this is, that the Lord guards them by his shadow, and “hides them as arrows in his quiver,” that they may not be laid open to the assaults of enemies and be destroyed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE SHARP SWORD
Isa. 49:2. And He hath made My mouth like a sharp sword.
The prophet having, in the foregoing chapters, comforted the Church by promises of deliverance from captivity, goes on, in this and the following chapters, to comfort it with promises of its restoration by Christ, of which all outward deliverances were but as types. The text brings before us the furnishing of Christ for the work to which He is separated, together with Gods protecting of Him in it. Christs fitness for the work is set out metaphorically by a double resemblance. In considering the first part of it, let us inquire
I. What resemblance is there between Christs mouth and a sword? By Christs mouth we are to understand here the words or doctrine of His mouth. It is frequent in Scripture for the mouth to be put for the doctrine or words of the mouth (Gen. 45:21; Lev. 24:12; Num. 3:16). In the vision of Christ which the evangelist saw in Patmos, it is said, that out of His mouth went a sharp sword (so Rev. 19:15); the word of God in the mouths of ministers is compared to a two-edged sword (Heb. 4:12); much more is it so in the mouth of Christ.
1. A sword is a killing weapon. And the mouth of Christ has a killing power; by it is sin killed in the hearts of His people; by it is the head of pride cut off, and the heart-blood of unbelief let out; by it are all the noisome lusts which fight against the soul put to death (Hos. 6:5; Isa. 11:4). There is a twofold killing of men about which the sword of Christs mouth is employed; the one is a killing of sin in them,this killing is a making of the soul alive; the other is a killing of them for sin,to the wicked, it becomes a soul-destroying sword.
2. A sword is a conquering weapon. By the power of the sword did Alexander conquer the world. Christ did not use the material weapon; but from conquering to conquer He used, and uses, the sword of His mouth (Psa. 110:2; 2Co. 10:4-5; Rev. 6:2). The sinner yields himself up when this sword reaches his conscience; it subdues him, and reveals to him Christs right to exercise dominion, to dethrone usurpers, and to introduce men to the delights of His kingdom.
3. A sword is a weapon of defence. It is offensive to the enemy, defensive to him who has skill to manage it (Pro. 6:22).
(1.) In case of sin. By it is the soul preserved from falling into sin (Psa. 17:4).
(2.) In case of temptation (Eph. 6:17). As Christ did, so Christians may preserve themselves by the word of Christs mouth (Mat. 4:4; Mat. 4:7; Mat. 4:10).
II. In what respects does this sword differ from others?
1. It reaches not only to the outward, but to the inward man. No sword can prick the heart but the sword of Christs mouth (Heb. 4:12; Act. 2:37).
2. There is no defence against it. There is hardly any harness but is sword-proof. What is said of the behemoth and the leviathan may be said of the unconverted hearts of men (Job. 40:18; Job. 41:24); and yet also, He that made them can make His sword approach to them (Job. 40:19).
3. It is a healing as well as a wounding sword. What the prophet says of God, He hath smitten, and He will heal, may be said of the sword of Christs mouth. When the 3000 were pricked in their hearts, nothing but the sword of Christs mouth could cure them again.
4. It can do execution on many at once. It can as easily pierce a thousand as one man (Joh. 8:30; Act. 2:37).
5. It is never the worse for the using. It contracts no rust, it never loses its edge (Isa. 40:6-8).
6. It is all edge (Rev. 2:12). His precepts have a sharpness to direct, inform, command the conscience; His promises are acute to revive, comfort, raise up; His threatenings are sharp to affright, terrify, cast down, and wound the guilty.
7. It has no dross in it. The purest metal is not without some coarse mixture; but this sword is all pure metal (Pro. 8:8). A pure heart sees nothing but purity in the word of Christ (Pro. 30:5).
8. It is of Gods own framing. God has made the sword of the word for Christs mouth, and filled His mouth to manage it for our good.Ralph Robinson: Sermons, pp. 429436.
THE POLISHED SHAFT
Isa. 49:2. And He hath made me a polished shaft.
The mouth of Jesus Christ is like a polished shaft. A shaft or arrow is a military weapon used to wound the enemy; formerly it was held in high esteem. As great victories have been obtained by the bow and shaft as by the sword. The old Latin and the Greek read a choice shaft, and the word sometimes signifies chief or choice (Son. 5:10). Others read a bright shaft, which our translators have well rendered a polished shaft. We find in Scripture the word of Christs mouth compared to the shaft, as well as to the sword (Psa. 45:5); and Jesus Christ, as He manages the Gospel, is said to have a bow in His hand (Rev. 6:2). Let us inquire
I. Why is the word of Christs mouth compared to a shaft?
1. The shaft does execution at a farther distance than the sword. When the enemy is fled from the reach of the sword, the shaft can follow him. There is no heart at such a distance from Christ but His word can easily reach it; though men be far off in place, or in state and condition, yet they are not out of the command of the polished shaft (Eph. 2:13).
2. The arrow comes with greater force than the sword. The word of Christs mouth pierceth, like the shaft, into the very bowels of the soul (Heb. 4:12).
3. The shaft is not so discernible as the sword. It goes so silently and swiftly to its mark, that it is often lodged in the heart before it is perceived. So with the word of Christs mouth; the heart is pierced often before it is aware (Joh. 8:30).
4. The arrow can enter where the sword cannot. The shaft can screw itself in at the least hole (1Ki. 22:34). The word of Christs mouth is compared to light (Psa. 119:105).
II. Why is it called a polished shaft?
1. To show its fitness for the work for which it is designed. A shaft that is untrimmed is unfit for service. When God calls His archers against Babylon, He commands them to gather the shields and make bright the arrows. The mouth of Christ is always fit for holy service.
2. To show the constancy with which it is used. Things that are often used are bright and shining. Christ does not keep His arrows in their quiver, but makes daily use of them as the people stand in need.
3. To show the glory of it. The best refined gold is but dark compared with the word of glory (1Ti. 1:11).
III. In what respects does this shaft differ from others?
1. In the swiftness of its flight (Psa. 147:15). We read of the immediate effects of the word of Christ (Mat. 8:3; Mar. 10:52). No sooner does Christ say to the soul, Be enlightened, be quickened, be comforted, than the work is done.
2. In the certainty of its execution. This arrow never misses its mark. E.g., the eunuch under the ministry of Philip; Christ and Zacchus; the Philippian jailer; Saul, when Christ forced him to cry, Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?
CONCLUSION.
1. How dangerous it must be to oppose Jesus Christ! (Act. 9:5).
2. Christ is able by His own power to defend His people against the strength and rage of all their enemies. He hath both sword and shaft which He can use for the defence of His Church.Ralph Robinson: Sermons, pp. 436442.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(2) He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword.The words indicate at once the spiritual nature of the Servants victories. It is his speech that wounds and heals, his words that go like winged arrows to their mark. The description finds an echo in Heb. 4:12; Rev. 1:16; Rev. 19:15; Eph. 6:17. The shaft is polished, as piercing without impediment. It is hid in the quiver, reserved, in the drama of the worlds history, and in each crisis of the Servants life, till the hour was come, the appointed fulness of time (Joh. 2:4; Joh. 7:6; Gal. 4:4).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2. My mouth That is, my words, cutting, penetrating, because they pierce and cause pain to guilty souls: represented in Heb 4:12, as “sharper than any two-edged sword,” and in Rev 1:16, as “a sharp two-edged sword” going “out of his mouth.”
In the shadow of his hand hath he hid me Ages were required to prepare mankind for the complete coming of the Christ; meanwhile the process of development was the “shading of God’s hand;” rendering obscure the full expression of Messiah’s meaning till the intelligible “fulness of times” should come; when his words became not merely a cutting sword at both edges, but a polished shaft or dart from Jehovah’s quiver, piercing into men’s hearts.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 49:2 And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;
Ver. 2. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword. ] He hath added efficacy to my doctrine, and will protect my person till I have finished the work that he gave me to do.
And made me a polished shaft.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
mouth . . . the shadow . . . band. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia.
sword. Compare Rev 1:16; Rev 2:12, Rev 2:16; Rev 19:15.
polished: or, pointed.
shaft = arrow.
hid Me. Thirty years at Nazareth.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
he hath made: Isa 11:4, Psa 45:2-5, Hos 6:5, Heb 4:12, Rev 1:16, Rev 2:12, Rev 19:15
in the: Isa 42:1, Isa 51:16, Psa 91:1, Luk 23:46
made me: The polished shaft, says Bp. Lowth, denotes the same efficacious word which is before represented by the sharp sword. The doctrine of the gospel pierced the hearts of its hearers, “bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” Isa 50:4, Isa 61:1-3, Psa 45:5, Jer 1:18, Jer 15:19, Jer 15:20
Reciprocal: Exo 4:12 – General Psa 22:9 – that took Psa 45:3 – Gird Isa 46:3 – borne Jer 1:9 – and touched Zec 9:13 – made Zec 10:4 – of him came forth Luk 2:46 – both Eph 6:17 – the sword Rev 2:16 – will fight
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
GODS SPOKESMAN
He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand hath He hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in His quiver hath He hid me.
Isa 49:2
I. These words were addressed to Israel, and must be applied to Him Who alone hath expressed the true genius and spirit of the Hebrew people, that Prince of the House of David Whom we call Master and Lord.And in so far as we belong to and resemble Him we may claim that God should make these words true of us.
The mouth, like the sharp sword, recalls the portrait of the Son of Man, out of Whose mouth a sharp two-edged sword proceeded. We may well ask that our words should partake of the nature of the Word of God, which is quick and powerful, and sharper than a two-edged sword (Rev 1:16).
II. Hidden in the shadow of Gods hand is a safe and strong position for the Christian worker.We all need more of the shadow, and we need not fear it when it is cast by His hand. Our life must be hidden with Christ in God, if we shall come forth largely to influence men. Do not be afraid of the shadow, Christian worker.
III. The polished shaft is the one that is free from rust.Nothing removes rust like friction, whether by the file or sandpaper. We have often to submit to the chafe of tiny irritants in order to keep us polished.
IV. In His quiver hath He hid me.Always ready for use, within reach of Gods hand, waiting to be adjusted to the bowstring, and launched through the air to some joint in the harness; such should be our attitude. But again it is impressed upon us that we must be hidden through long periods of cessation from active use, content with the darkness of the quiver until the moment of our mission has arrived. Then forward with the might of Gods hand thrilling through our souls.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Isa 49:2-3. He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword As he hath made me the great Teacher of his church and of the world, so he hath assisted me by his Spirit, and made my word or doctrine quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, killing mens lusts, convincing, humbling, and converting their souls, and mighty to pull down strong holds, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, 2Co 10:4-5. In the shadow of his hand hath he hid me He will protect me by his power from all mine enemies, until I have finished the work for which he sent me. And made me a polished shaft Like an arrow, whose point is bright and polished, and therefore pierces deeper. And said, Thou art my servant, O Israel The person who is here called Israel, cannot, in any sense, be Isaiah. But, as the name of David is sometimes given to his successors, and particularly to Christ, Jer 30:9; Eze 34:23; Hos 3:5, and the name of Isaac is given to his posterity, Amo 7:9; so here the name of Israel may not unfitly be given to Christ, not only because he descended from his loins, but also, because he was the true and the great Israel, who, in a more eminent manner, prevailed with God, as that name signifies; of whom Jacob, who was first called Israel, was but a type. And as the name of Christ, the head, is sometimes given to his body, the church, as 1Co 12:12, so it is not strange if, on the contrary, the name of Israel, which properly belongs to the church, be given to Christ, the head of it. The words, however, may be rendered, Thou art my servant, unto, in, or for Israel, that is, to bring them back unto me, from whom they have revolted; or Israel is he in whom I will be glorified by thee.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
49:2 And he hath made my mouth like a sharp {c} sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he {d} hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;
(c) By the sword and shaft, he signifies the virtue and efficacy of Christ’s doctrine.
(d) God has taken me to his protection and defence: this chiefly is meant of Christ, and may also be applied to the ministers of his word.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Cyrus’ calling was to liberate Israel with the sword, but this speaker’s calling was to announce words from God, piercing, incisive words that would cut like a sword (cf. Isa 1:20; Heb 4:12; Rev 1:16; Rev 19:15).
"His is an office of the mouth, his task a declaration of the Truth; for he is a prophet par excellence, and his word is the Gospel . . ." [Note: Ibid.]
The Servant would be available for His Master’s use whenever needed. He would not be prominent at all times but would be protected and hidden until summoned into use. Both the sword and the arrow were offensive weapons, the former used at short range and the latter at longer range. Likewise this Servant’s words would be instruments that would defeat enemies. Jesus Christ was the embodiment of this word from God (cf. Joh 1:1-4; Joh 1:14-15).