Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 65:16
That he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes.
16. That ] R.V., So that (as Gen 11:7; Psa 95:11; Mal 4:1, &c.).
he who blesseth himself in the land ] i.e. “who invokes a blessing on himself”; cf. Gen 22:18; Gen 26:4; Gen 48:20; Jer 4:2.
shall bless himself by the God of truth ] using such expressions as, “May the God of truth bless me.” By the fulfilment both of His threatenings and His promises Jehovah will have shewn Himself to be the God of truth, so that a blessing uttered in His name is certainly effective. God of truth is strictly “God of the Amen” (cf. 2Co 1:20; Rev 3:14), but this is a too artificial phrase for so early a period. Read ’men (= “truth,” “fidelity”).
swear by the God of truth ] Cf. ch. Isa 48:1.
the former troubles are forgotten ] See Rev 21:4. hid from
mine eyes
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
That he who blesseth himself in the earth – That is, he who shall invoke blessings on himself.
Shall bless himself in the God of truth – Or by the true God. He shall not seek a blessing from a false god; but he shall come before the true God, and seek a blessing at his hand.
And he that sweareth – Every oath that is taken in the land shall be by the true God. There shall be no swearing by idols; but the true God shall be everywhere acknowledged.
Because the former troubles are forgotten – The former punishments and calamities shall be passed away. The favor of God shall be restored. His pure worship shall be re-established, and his name shall be celebrated again in the land. The image here is one of returning prosperity and favor; a state when the happiness will be so great that all the former trials will be regarded as not worthy of recollection.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
I will bring it to pass, that over all the world, if any man bless himself, or bless another, it shall be in God Amen. So the Hebrew (we translate it the God of truth). Amen is a name given to Christ, Rev 3:14, These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness; being here applied to God, many think it makes a great proof of the Godhead of Christ, and judge the sense of this text to be, that under the times of the gospel men should not bless themselves (as before) in the names of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, but in the name of Christ, in the God Amen; nor is this an improbable sense. Others taking it more appellatively, by Elohim Amen, here understand that God who shows himself true and faithful in his promises. In like manner it is prophesied, that those that swear (by which some understand worship God, others, calling God to be a witness) should swear by the
God of truth, or in the God of truth; either worshipping God in Christ the Amen, or calling the faithful God to attest their sincerity, or swearing by that God who hath approved his truth and faithfulness by saving and delivering his people.
Because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes; because they shall see what God promised is fulfilled, the troubles of his people are at an end, and they are hid from Gods eyes, that is, they are at an end.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16. That herather, “hewho,” c.
blesseth, &c.(Psa 72:17 Jer 4:2).
God of truthvery God,as opposed to false gods; Hebrew, Amen: the very nameof Messiah (2Co 1:20; Rev 3:14),faithful to His promises (Joh 1:17;Joh 6:32). Real, substantial,spiritual, eternal, as opposed to the shadowy types of the law.
sweareth, c.God aloneshall be appealed to as God (Isa 19:18Deu 6:13; Psa 63:11).
troublesthat is, sins,provocations [LOWTH].Rather, calamities caused by your sins; so far from thesevisiting you again, the very remembrance of them is “hidfrom Mine eyes” by the magnitude of the blessings I will conferon you (Isa 65:17, &c.).[MAURER].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
That he who blesseth himself in the earth,…. That is sensible he stands in need of blessings, and wishes for them, and prays he might have them; or that takes notice that he is blessed with them, and acknowledges them, and is thankful for them:
shall bless himself in the God of truth; shall pray to him for blessings he wants, and ascribe what he has unto him, and give him the praise and glory of them; by whom is meant, either God the Father, in opposition to idols, the fictitious deities of the Gentiles, those lying vanities, which were not gods by nature, and to whom the God of truth, or the true God, is often opposed, and whom the Targum here calls the living God; or rather the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ: for the words may be rendered, “shall bless himself in God Amen” f; that is, in God, who is the “Amen”, which is one of the names of Christ, Re 3:14 in whom believers are blessed with all spiritual blessings, and reckon themselves blessed in him, and ascribe blessing to him for them; in whom all the promises of God are yea and amen, and who is the true God, and eternal life, 2Co 1:20:
and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth; when an oath is necessary on any account, and it is proper to appeal to the supreme Being for the truth of anything, this, in Gospel times, should be done in the name of Christ; he, who is the Amen and faithful witness, is to be appealed unto, who is God omniscient, the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Of forms of swearing by Christ, see Ro 9:1. Besides, swearing, as it is a part of religious worship, may here be put for the whole; so it signifies, that as all blessings come from Christ, so all worship and duty should be performed unto him, and in his name.
Because the former troubles are forgotten, they are hid from mine eyes; which is to be understood not of afflictions and persecutions for the sake of Christ and his Gospel, for these, especially in the first times of it, were very great; though in the latter day they will cease, to which indeed this prophecy extends: but rather either of the idolatry and superstition of the Gentile world, which were troublesome and offensive to God, but now removed by the clear light of the Gospel, and so forgotten by him, and hid from his eyes; or the carnal ordinances of the legal dispensation, which gave great trouble to the worshippers then, and could not cleanse their consciences, and through the fear of death, on the breach of them, were all their lifetime subject to bondage; but now these are all done away by Christ, and in Gospel times forgotten by men, and hid from the sight of God, who regards them no more; see Jer 3:16, which sense suits with what follows.
f “benedicet sibi in Deo Amen”, Pagninus, Montanus, Vitringa; “benedicturus sit in Deo Amen”, Cocceius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
16. He who blesseth himself in the earth. Here the whole world is contrasted with a corner of Judea, in which the worship of God might be said to be shut up. Since the time when God has been manifested everywhere, he is not now worshipped in one particular district, but in all places without distinction; as Christ also teacheth, (Joh 4:21,) “The hour cometh, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall ye worship the Father;” and Paul also saith,
“
I wish that men in every place may lift up clean hands, without wrath and disputing.” (1Ti 2:8.)
Thus the word “earth,” by which he denotes, in this passage, the whole world, is employed by him in an indirect contrast with Judea.
Shall bless himself in the true God. Shall swear by the true God. By “blessing” and “swearing” he denotes the whole of the worship of God. “Swearing,” as we have formerly seen, (213) is a kind of worship of God; for by it we declare that all judgment belongs to God, and acknowledge that he is perfectly acquainted with all that we do. We “bless,” when we wish to obtain from him all prosperity, and render thanksgiving to him alone; and, in short, when we acknowledge that our prosperity comes from no other source than from his undeserved kindness. By “the true God” is meant that he is faithful to his promises and steadfast to his purpose; though perhaps there is an implied and indirect contrast between “the true God” and the false gods of the Gentiles.
For the former afflictions are surrendered to forgetfulness. This promise relates to believers only. God declares that he will put an end to their afflictions and distresses, that the calamity of the Church may not be perpetual. This began to be accomplished when the people were brought out of Babylon; for, although they were afflicted in various ways both during the journey and at home, yet the severity of the punishments was mitigated; because the return to their native country, the rebuilding of the temple, the restoration of regular government, soothed their griefs, and supported their hearts by good hope till the coming of Christ.
(213) Commentary on Isaiah, Vol. 2, p. 70; Vol. 3, p. 467.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(16) Shall bless himself in the God of truth . . .Literally, the God of the Amen. In Rev. 3:14 we have an echo of the Hebrew; in Joh. 17:3 we have as distinct an echo of the LXX. rendering, . The words seem to imply that the prophet had entered into the inner meaning of what was to most men only a liturgical formula.
Because the former troubles . . .The addition of the clause emphasises the thought that it is the truth or faithfulness of God, who keepeth His promise for over, that will lead men to use that new Name as a formula of benediction.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 65:16 That he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes.
Ver. 16. That he who blesseth himself in the earth, &c. ] Or, That blesseth, either himself or any other.
Shall bless himself in the God of truth.
Shall swear by the God of truth.
Because the former troubles are forgotten.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isaiah
‘THE GOD OF THE AMEN’
Isa 65:16
The full beauty and significance of these remarkable words are only reached when we attend to the literal rendering of a part of them which is obscured in our version. As they stand in the original they have, in both cases, instead of the vague expression, ‘The God of truth,’ the singularly picturesque one, ‘The God of the Amen.’
I. Note the meaning of the name. Now, Amen is an adjective, which means literally firm, true, reliable, or the like. And, as we know, its liturgical use is that, in the olden time, and to some extent in the present time, it was the habit of the listening people to utter it at the close of prayer or praise. But besides this use at the end of some one else’s statement, which the sayer of the ‘Amen’ confirms by its utterance, we also find it used at the beginning of a statement, by the speaker, in order to confirm his own utterance by it.
And these two uses of the expression reposing on its plain meaning, in the first instance signifying, ‘I tell you that it is so’; and in the second instance signifying, ‘So may it be!’ or, ‘So we believe it is,’ underlie this grand title which God takes to Himself here, ‘the God of the Amen,’ both His Amen and ours. So that the thought opens up very beautifully and simply into these two, His truth and our faith.
First, it emphasises the absolute truthfulness of every word that comes from His lips. There is implied in the title that He really has spoken, and declared to man something of His will, something of His nature, something of His purposes, something of our destiny. And now He puts, as it were, the broad seal upon the charter and says, ‘Amen! Verily it is so, and My word of Revelation is no man’s imagination, and My word of command is the absolute unveiling of human duty and human perfectness, and My word of promise is that upon which a man may rest all his weight and be safe for ever.’ God’s word is ‘Amen!’ man’s word is ‘perhaps.’ For in regard to the foundation truths of man’s belief and experience and need, no human tongue can venture to utter its own asseverations with nothing behind them but itself, and expect men to accept them; but that is exactly what God does, and alone has the right to do. His word absolutely, and through and through, in every fibre of it, is reliable and true.
Now do not forget that there was one who came to us and said, ‘Amen! Amen! I say unto you.’ Jesus Christ, in all His deep and wonderful utterances, arrogated to Himself the right which God here declares to be exclusively His, and He said, ‘I too have, and I too exercise, the right and the authority to lay My utterances down before you, and expect you to take them because of nothing else than because I say them.’ God is the God of the Amen! The last book of Scripture, when it draws back the curtain from the mysteries of the glorified session of Jesus Christ at the right hand of God, makes Him say to us, ‘These things saith the Amen!’ And if you want to know what that means, its explanation follows in the next clause, ‘the faithful and true witness.’
But then, on the other hand, necessarily involved in this title, though capable of being separately considered, is not only the absolute truthfulness of the divine word, but also the thorough-going reliance, on our parts, which that word expects and demands. God’s ‘Amen,’ and ‘Verily,’ of confirmation, should ever cause the ‘Amen’ of acceptance and assent to leap from our lips. If He begins with that mighty word, so soon as the solemn voice has ceased its echo should rise from our hearts. The city that cares for the charter which its King has given it will prepare a fitting, golden receptacle in which to treasure it. And the men who believe that God in very deed has spoken laws that illuminate, and commandments that guide, and promises that calm and strengthen and fulfil themselves, will surely prepare in their hearts an appropriate receptacle for those precious and infallible words. God’s truth has corresponding to it our trust. God’s faithfulness demands, and is only adequately met by, our faith. If He gives us the sure foundation to build upon, it will be a shame for us to bring wood, hay, stubble, and build these upon the Rock of Ages. The building should correspond with its foundation, and the faith which grasps the sure word should have in it something of the unchangeableness and certainty and absoluteness of that word which it grasps. If His revelation of Himself is certain, you and I ought to be certain of His revelation of Himself. Our certitude should correspond to its certainty.
Ah! my friend, what a miserable contrast there is between the firm, unshaken, solid security of the divine word upon which we say that we trust, and the poor, feeble, broken trust which we build upon it. ‘Let not that man think that He shall receive anything of the Lord’; but let us expect, as well as ‘ask, in faith, nothing wavering’; and let our ‘Amen!’ ring out in answer to God’s.
The Apostle Paul has a striking echo of the words of my text in the second Epistle to the Corinthians: ‘All the promises of God in Him are yea! and through Him also is the Amen!’ The assent, full, swift, frank -the assent of the believing heart to the great word of God comes through the same channel, and reaches God by the same way, as God’s word on which it builds comes to us. The ‘God of the Amen,’ in both senses of the word, is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the seal as well as the substance of the divine promises, and whose voice in us is the answer to, and the grasp of, the promises of which He is the substance and soul.
II. Now notice, next, how this God of the Amen is, by reason of that very characteristic, the source of all blessing.
Of course it is so. For only on Him can I lean all my weight and be sure that the stay will not give. All other bridges across the great abysses which we have to traverse or be lost in them, are like those snow-cornices upon some Alp, which may break when the climber is on the very middle of them, and let him down into blackness out of which he will never struggle. There is only one path clear across the deepest gulf, which we poor pilgrims can tread with absolute safety that it will never yield beneath our feet. My brother! there is one support that is safe, and one stay upon which a man can lean his whole weight and be sure that the staff will never either break or pierce his palm, and that is the faithful God, in whose realm are no disappointments, amongst whose trusters are no heart-broken and deceived men, but who gives bountifully, and over and above all that we are able to ask or think. They who have made experience, as we have all made experience, of the insufficiency of earthly utterances, of the doubtfulness of the clearest words of men, of the possible incapacity of the most loving, to be what they pledge themselves to be, and of the certainty that even if they are so for a while they cannot be so always-have surely learned one half, at least, of the lesson that life is meant to teach us; and it is our own fault if we have not bettered it with the better half, having uncoiled the tendrils of our hearts from the rotten props round which they have been too apt to twine themselves, and wreathed them about the pillars of the eternal throne, which can never shake nor fail. ‘He that blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself’-unless he is a fool-’in the God of the Amen!’ and not in the man of the ‘peradventure.’
III. Lastly, note how the God of the Amen should be the pattern of His servants.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
That = So that.
he who blesseth, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Gen 22:18; Gen 26:4).
truth = faithfulness. Compare 2Co 1:20.
shall swear, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Deu 6:13).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
he who: Psa 72:17, Jer 4:2
in the God: Deu 32:4, Psa 31:5, Psa 86:15, Jer 10:10, Joh 1:14, Joh 1:17, Joh 14:6, Heb 6:17, Heb 6:18
he that: Isa 19:18, Isa 45:23-25, Isa 48:1, Deu 6:13, Deu 10:20, Psa 63:11, Jer 12:16, Zep 1:5, Rom 14:11, Phi 2:11
because: Isa 65:19, Isa 11:16, Isa 12:1, Isa 35:10, Isa 54:4, Jer 31:12, Eze 36:25-27, Dan 12:1, Dan 12:11, Zep 3:14-20, Rev 20:4
Reciprocal: Gen 24:3 – swear Gen 41:30 – shall be Gen 41:51 – forget 1Sa 29:6 – the Lord Job 11:16 – Because Psa 69:28 – blotted Zec 8:13 – a curse Rom 3:3 – shall 2Co 1:20 – Amen 2Co 10:17 – General Rev 3:14 – the Amen
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 65:16. That he who blesseth himself in the earth In any part of the world, for God shall have servants out of all nations, that shall be dignified with this new name; shall bless himself in the God of truth That is, in his name; shall renounce every species of idolatry, and invoke and praise the true God alone. They shall have recourse to, and trust in, him alone, for blessing and happiness, and for a supply of all their wants. Observe, reader, it is of great consequence what that is which we bless ourselves in, and which we most please ourselves with. Worldly people bless themselves in the abundance which they have of this worlds goods, Psa 49:18; Luk 12:19; but Gods servants bless themselves in him, as a God all- sufficient for them. And he that sweareth, &c. By him also they shall swear, and not by any creature, or any false god. To his judgment they shall refer themselves, from whom every mans judgment proceeds. Both in prayer and praise, and in every act of homage and worship, they shall give honour to him as the God of truth Hebrew, Amen, which some understand of Christ, who is himself the Amen, the faithful and true witness, and in whom all the promises are yea and amen. In him we must bless ourselves, and by him we must swear unto the Lord, and covenant with him. Some read it, He that is blessed in the earth shall be blessed in the true God; for Christ is the true God and eternal life, 1Jn 5:20. And it was promised of old, that in him should all families of the earth be blessed. Because the former troubles are forgotten Namely, the troubles of the church. They shall see that what God hath promised he hath also fulfilled, and that he hath put an end to the troubles of his people, the remembrance of which shall be swallowed up in their present comforts. The chief reason of this is assigned in the next verse.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
65:16 That he who blesseth himself in the {u} earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth; because the former {x} troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from my eyes.
(u) By blessing, and by swearing is meant the praising of God for his benefits, and the true worshipping of him, who will not be only in Judea, but through all the world.
(x) I will no longer permit my Church to be desolate as in times past.