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Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 66:7

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Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child.

7 9. The sudden repopulation of the city by her children. The figure is taken from ch. Isa 49:17-21, Isa 54:1; the fact set forth being the instantaneous return of the exiled Israelites, by which, without effort, the poor and struggling Jewish community becomes at once a great nation.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Before she travailed, she brought forth – That is, Zion. The idea here is, that there would be a great and sudden increase of her numbers. Zion is here represented, as it often is, as a female (see Isa 1:8), and as the mother of spiritual children (compare Isa 54:1; Isa 49:20-21). The particular idea here is, that the increase would be sudden – as if a child were born without the usual delay and pain of parturition. If the interpretation given of Isa 66:6 be correct, then this refers probably to the sudden increase of the church when the Messiah came, and to the great revivals of religion which attended the first preaching of the gospel. Three thousand were converted on a single day Acts 2, and the gospel was speedily propagated almost all over the known world. Vitringa supposes that it refers to the sudden conversion of the Gentiles, and their accession to the church.

She was delivered of a man child – Jerome understands this of the Messiah. who was descended from the Jewish church. Grotius supposes that the whole verse refers to Judas Maccabeus, and to the liberation of Judea under him before anyone could have hoped for it! Calvin (Commentary in loc.) supposes that the word male here, or manchild, denotes the manly or generous nature of those who should be converted to the church; that they would be vigorous and active, not effeminate and delicate (generosam prolem, non mollem aut effeminatam). Vitringa refers it to the character and rank of those who should be converted, and applies it particularly to Constantine, and to the illustrious philosophers, orators, and senators, who were early brought under the influence of the gospel. The Hebrew word probably denotes a male, or a man-child, and it seems to me that it is applied here to denote the character of the early converts to the Christian faith. They would not be feeble and effeminate; but vigorous, active, energetic. It may, perhaps, also be suggested, that, among the Orientals, the birth of a son was deemed of much more importance, and was regarded as much more a subject of congratulation than the birth of a female. If an allusion be had to that fact, then the idea is, that the increase of the church would be such as would be altogether a subject of exultation and joy.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Isa 66:7-9

Before she travailed, she brought forth

The new Israel

The predictive message of our prophet is now so far advanced that the future promised is at the door; the Church of the future is already like a child ripe for birth, and about to separate from the womb of Zion hitherto barren.

The God, who has already prepared everything so far, will suddenly make Zion a mother; a man-child, i.e a whole nation after Jehovahs heart, will suddenly lie in her lap; and this new-born Israel, not the corrupt mass, will build Jehovah a Temple. (F. Delitzsch, D. D.)

The birth of the Gentile Church

It is perfectly sufficient to understand the parturition as a figure for the whole eventful crisis of the change of dispensations, and the consequent change in the condition of the Church. This indestructible ideal person, when she might have seemed to be reduced to nothing by the defection of the natural Israel, is vastly and suddenly augmented by the introduction of the Gentiles, a succession of events which is here most appropriately represented as the birth of a male child without the pains of child-birth. (J. A. Alexander.)

The birth of the Christian Church

The children born to Christ were so numerous, and so suddenly and easily produced, that they were rather like the dew from the mornings womb than like the son from the mothers womb (Psalm Exo 3:1-22). (M. Henry.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

The whole verse is expressive of a great and sudden salvation, which God would work for his church, like the delivery of a woman, and that of a

man child, before her travail, and without pain. The only doubt is, whether it referreth to the deliverance of the people out of Babylon, or the worlds surprisal with the Messiah, and the sudden and strange propagation of the gospel, and it is a question not easily determined. The delivery of the Jews out of Babylon, indeed, was without strugglings or any pain; not like their deliverance from Egypt, after the wasting of their enemies by ten successive plagues, but by the kind proclamation of Cyrus. But it seems not to have been sudden, only as to the day, and hour, and manner; for Daniel understood by books that the time was come, Dan 9:2, and the people had a prospect of it seventy years before, Jer 25:12; 29:10. The prophecy therefore seems rather to refer to the coming of Christ, and the sudden propagation of the gospel. The popish interpreters applying it to the Virgin Mary bringing forth Christ, is like other of their fond dreams.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

7. sheZion.

Before . . . travailed . . .brought forthThe accession of numbers, and of prosperity toher, shall be sudden beyond all expectation and unattendedwith painful effort (Isa 54:1;Isa 54:4; Isa 54:5).Contrast with this case of the future Jewish Church the travail-painsof the Christian Church in bringing forth “a man child”(Rev 12:2; Rev 12:5).A man child’s birth is in the East a matter of special joy, whilethat of a female is not so; therefore, it here means the manlysons of the restored Jewish Church, the singular being usedcollectively for the plural: or the many sons being regardedas one under Messiah, who shall then be manifested as theirone representative Head.

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

Before she travailed, she brought forth,…. That is, Zion, as appears from the following verse: lest it should be thought that the interest of Christ would be swallowed up and lost in the destruction of the Jews, this, and what follows, are said concerning the conversion of many of that people, both in the first times of the Gospel, and in the latter day, as well as concerning the calling of the Gentiles, and the uniting of both in one church state. Zion, or the church of God, is here compared to a pregnant woman, that brings forth suddenly and easily, without feeling any pain, or going through any travail, or having any birth throes; at least, feeling very little pain and travail, and having very few pangs, and those, as soon as they come, are gone, and an immediate delivery ensues:

before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child; like a woman before she is scarcely sensible of any pain; as soon as ever she perceives the least uneasiness of this kind, is delivered of a son, to her great joy, and the joy of all about her. This is to be understood, not of the sudden and easy deliverance of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, by the proclamation of Cyrus, which occasioned great joy; much less of the birth of Christ, of the Virgin Mary at the inn, and in the stable, which is the sense of some Popish interpreters; much better do some Jewish writers interpret it of the birth and appearance of Christ, before the troubles of their nation came on; so the Targum,

“before distress comes to her, she shall be redeemed; and before trembling comes upon her, her King shall be revealed;”

that is, the King Messiah; and so some copies have it, according to Galatinus r; who also makes mention of another exposition of this passage, by R. Moses Haddarsan, if it may be depended on,

“before he should be born that should bring Israel into the last captivity, the Redeemer should be born;”

that is, as he explains it, before the birth of Titus, who destroyed the temple and city of Jerusalem, the Messiah should be born; but the passage refers not to his natural but mystical birth, or the regeneration of a spiritual seed in his church; or of the conversion of the first Christians both in Judea and in the Gentile world; who were like a man child, strong and robust, able to bear and did endure great hardships for the sake of Christ, and do him much work and service, in which they persevered to the end; see Ga 4:26, as the first Christians did through various persecutions, until the times of Constantine, by whom they were delivered from them, and who is prophesied of as the church’s man child, as in Re 12:2.

r De Arcan. Cathol. Ver. I. 4. c. 11. p. 219.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

All of these fall victims to the judgment; and yet Zion is not left either childless or without population. “Before she travailed she brought forth; before pains came upon her, she was delivered of a boy. Who hath heard such a thing? Who hath seen anything like it? Are men delivered of a land in one day? or is a nation begotten at once? For Zion hath travailed, yea, hath brought forth her children. Should I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith Jehovah: or should I, who cause to bring forth, shut it? saith thy God.” Before Zion travaileth, before any labour pains come upon her ( c hebhel with tzere), she has already given birth, or brought with ease into the world a male child ( hmlit like m illet , in Isa 34:15, to cause to glide out). This boy, of whom she is delivered with such marvellous rapidity, is a whole land full of men, an entire nation. The seer exclaims with amazement, like Zion herself in Isa 49:21, “who hath heard such a thing, or seen anything like it? is a land brought to the birth ( hayuchal followed by ‘erets for hathuchal , as in Gen 13:6; Isa 9:18; Ges. 147), i.e., the population of a whole land (as in Jdg 18:30), and that in one day, or a nation born all at once ( yivvaled , with m unach attached to the kametz, and m etheg to the tzere)? This unheard-of event has taken place now, for Zion has travailed, yea, has also brought forth her children,” – not one child, but her children, a whole people that calls her mother.

(Note: There is a certain similarity in the saying, with which a talmud ic teacher roused up the sleepy scholars of the Beth ha-Midrash: “There was once a woman, who was delivered of 600,000 children in one day,” viz., Jochebed, who, when she gave birth to Moses, brought 600,000 to the light of freedom (Exo 12:37).)

“For” ( k ) presupposes the suppressed thought, that this unexampled event has now occurred: yal e dah follows c halah with gam , because c hl signifies strictly parturire ; yal , parere . Zion, the mother, is no other than the woman of the sun in Rev 12; but the child born of her there is the shepherd of the nations, who proceeds from her at the end of the days, whereas here it is the new Israel of the last days; for the church, which is saved through all her tribulations, is both the mother of the Lord, by whom Babel is overthrown, and the mother of that Israel which inherits the promises, that the unbelieving mass have failed to obtain. Isa 66:9 follows with an emphatic confirmation of the things promised. Jehovah inquires: “Should I create the delivery (cause the child to break through the matrix) and not the birth (both hiphil, causative), so that although the child makes an effort to pass the opening of the womb, it never comes to the light of day? Or should I be one to bring it to the birth, and then to have closed, viz., the womb, so that the word of bringing forth should remain ineffectual, when all that is required is the last effort to bring to the light the fruit of the womb?” From the expression “thy God,” we see that the questions are addressed to Zion, whose faith they are intended to strengthen. According to Hofmann ( Schriftbeweis, ii. 1, 149, 150), the future affirms what Jehovah will say, when the time for bringing forth arrives, and the perfect what He is saying now: “Should I who create the bringing forth have shut up?” And He comforts the now barren daughter Zion (Isa 54:1) with the assurance, that her barrenness is not meant to continue for ever. “The prediction,” says Hofmann, “which is contained in , of the ultimate issue of the fate of Zion, is so far connected with the consolation administered for the time present, that she who is barren now is exhorted to anticipate the time when the former promise shall be fulfilled.” But this change in the standpoint is artificial, and contrary to the general use of the expression elsewhere (see at Isa 40:1). Moreover, the meaning of the two clauses, which constitute here as elsewhere a disjunctive double question in form more than in sense, really runs into one. The first member affirms that Jehovah will complete the bringing to the birth; the second, that He will not ultimately frustrate what He has almost brought to completion: an ego sum is qui parere faciat et ( uterum ) occluserim ( occludam )? There is no other difference between and , than that the former signifies the word of God which is sounding at the present moment, the latter the word that has been uttered and is resounding still. The prophetic announcement of our prophet has advanced so far, that the promised future is before the door. The church of the future is already like the fruit of the body ripe for the birth, and about to separate itself from the womb of Zion, which has been barren until now. The God by whom everything has been already so far prepared, will suddenly cause Zion to become a mother – a boy, viz., a whole people after Jehovah’s own heart, will suddenly lie in her lap, and this new-born Israel, not the corrupt mass, will build a temple for Jehovah.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

Vs. 7-9: RESURRECTION AND RENEWAL VIEWED AS A BIRTH

1. I submit that this prophecy may NOT have been fulfilled in Israel’s becoming a sovereign state on May 14, 1948!

2. The earth (not Israel, or the church) is here seen “bringing forth” in connection with the Lord’s coming, a time of vengeance and the ushering in of the millennial glory.

3. Anyone who will carefully follow the scriptural usage of the figure here employed will find the “birth”, “begetting”, or “regeneration” here described as representative of: resurrection, quickening, renewal, ransom, and redemption from the grave, (Psa 2:7; Act 13:33; Heb 1:5-6; Rom 8:29; Col 1:18; Mat 19:28; Php_3:20-21; Eph 1:13; comp. Luk 22:53; Joh 12:27; Col 1:12-13; Hos 13:14; Isa 51:11; Isa 35:10; Rom 8:23; Psa 111:9).

4. Here is, indeed, a NEW NATION (a new race) – composed of resurrected saints from every age and people-that will truly walk in the light of the Lord and show forth His praise!

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

7. Before she travailed, she brought forth. Having formerly comforted believers, that they might not be discouraged by the insolence and contempt of brethren, whom he would at length punish, and having thus commanded them to wait for the coming of the Lord with a steady and resolute heart, the Lord at the same time adds, that he will punish them in such a manner that, by their destruction, he will provide for the safety of believers. Nor does he speak of one or two men, but of the whole Church, which he compares to a woman. The same metaphor has already been sometimes employed by him; for God chiefly aims at gathering us into one body, that we may have in it a testimony of our adoption, and may acknowledge him to be a father, and may be nourished in the womb of the Church as our mother. This metaphor of a mother is therefore highly appropriate. It means that the Church shall be restored in such a manner that she shall obtain a large and numerous offspring, though she appear for a time to be childless and barren.

Before her pain came upon her. He repeats the same statement which he has already employed on other occasions; but he expresses something more, namely, that this work of God shall be sudden and unexpected; for he guards believers against carnal views, that they may not judge of the restoration of the Church according to their own opinion. Women carry a child in the womb for nine months, and at length give birth to it with great pain. But the Lord has a very different manner of bringing forth children; for he says that he will cause the child to see the light, before it be possible to perceive or discern it by any feeling of pain. On this account he likewise claims the whole praise for himself, because a miracle sets aside the industry of men.

She brought forth a male. He expressly mentions “a male,” in order to describe the manly and courageous heart of these children; for he means that they shall be a noble offspring, and not soft or effeminate. In like manner we know that believers are regenerated by the Spirit of Christ, that they may finish, with unshaken fortitude, the course of their warfare; and in this sense Paul says that they “have not the spirit of timidity.” (Rom 8:15.)

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

2. BIRTH OF NEW ZION

TEXT: Isa. 66:7-14

Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a manchild.

Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen Such things? Shall a land be born in one day? shall a nation be brought forth at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.

Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith Jehovah: shall I that cause to bring forth shut the womb? saith thy God.

Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn over her;

that ye may suck and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.

For thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream: and ye shall suck thereof; ye shall be borne upon the side, and shall be dandled upon the knees.

As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

And ye shall see it, and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like the tender grass: and the hand of Jehovah shall be known toward his servants; and he will have indignation against his enemies.

QUERIES

Who is she and who is the manchild of verse seven?

How will Jehovah extend the glory of the nations to Jerusalem?

How will the Lord combine comfort to Jerusalem and indignation against his enemies?

PARAPHRASE

But a marvelous thing shall happen with Jerusalem. She will fall and this nation will be cast off by God and dispersed all over the world. She will be like a woman pregnant with child but she will miraculously give birth before the travail of labor pains come upon her. Before her time of judgment she shall deliver the predicted Son! At one stroke the nation that is destined for destruction shall produce a new nation. Such a miracle has never occurred beforeno one has ever seen such an instantaneous birth of a nation! The reason such a miracle will occur is that Jehovah started this work. Will the Lord, having begun this new nation in its germinal form, not be able to bring it to completion? Rest assured that when I decide to bring something into existence, I will certainly do so, says God. Therefore, be jubilant with this news concerning new Jerusalem all you who love the place where God dwells and mourn over old Jerusalems sin. Rejoice that you will be cuddled to her breast and drink deeply of her sustenance and find security, satisfaction and pleasure. This is what Jehovah says, I will fill her up and running over with goodness and glory from the best people of all the nations of the world and she will be nourished and cared for like a mother cares for her baby. Those who will be citizens of this miraculously-born new Jerusalem shall acknowledge this when it happens and they shall praise Jehovah for having brought them forth and causing them to grow and for manifesting Himself to them. The birth of Gods new nation will become His pronouncement of judgment upon all human attempts to usurp His sovereignty over man and the world. When God forms His new kingdom on the earth, it will, in fact, become a judgment upon all other kingdoms.

COMMENTS

Isa. 66:7-9 MIRACULOUS: That the pain and travail of verse six predicts the Roman destruction of Jerusalem is evident from what follows in these verses (Isa. 66:7-14). Isaiahs prediction here of the birth of a new nation on the ruins of the old closely parallels the predictions of Daniel (see our comments on Dan. 9:24-27) who also looks forward to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem.

The point of verses seven through nine is to emphasize the miraculous nature of what God is going to do before He casts off old Zion finally and completely (at the Roman destruction). Before the Old covenant nation is destroyed, the manchild and the New covenant nation will be born. The manchild can be none other than the son and child of Isa. 9:6 and Immanuel of Isa. 7:14. He is the Messiah (the anointed prince of Dan. 9:25). The manchild of Isa. 66:7 is the same, we believe, as the manchild born of the woman in Rev. 12:1-6. In the Revelation John sees the O.T. woman (faithful members of the Old covenant people) give birth to the manchild, the great red dragon (the devil) attempting to devour the manchild, and God catching the manchild up to heaven safe and secure. Just as in Isa. 66:8, so in Revelation 12, the woman has a plurality of offspring or children. Of course, these children are joint-heirs with the only-unique Son (manchild) by adoption. He is the seed (singular, Gal. 3:16) and they are offspring (plural, Gal. 3:23-29, by adoption).

Old Jerusalem will produce the manchild and the offspring before her travail comes upon her. By a series of rhetorical questions Isaiah emphasizes the uniqueness of the predicted birth of the new nation. Who ever heard of a new nation from an old nation before the old nation passes away? But even more unknown is the birth of a nation in one day! The Hebrew word paam is translated at once but means literally, at one stroke, as with one stroke of a hammer. A land and a nation was brought forth with one stroke of God on the Day of Pentecost, June, A.D. 30. Isaiahs figurative use of land should help us understand that much of what he (and other prophets, especially, Ezekiel) says about the future of Gods land refers to the messianic land (or church), (cf. Eze. 37:15-28; ch. 4548, etc.).

The guarantee of all this is that Jehovah started it (with Abraham) and He will most certainly carry it through. When God promises, He fulfills. God does not lie; He is not a man that He repents or changes His mind or will. Gods new nation (the Church) will be born; nothing will stop it (cf. our comments on Dan. 2:44-45, Daniel, College Press, pgs. 9194). Not even the gates of Hades (death) shall prevail against the birth of Gods church (cf. Mat. 16:18). Gods new nation will be like no other nation ever on the face of the earth. Governments and cultures of human origin come and go, but Gods nation (kingdom) will incorporate all races, tongues, cultures and classes, and will last forever. His kingdom is supernatural!

Isa. 66:10-14 MATERNAL: Isaiah continues the figure of a mother and her child. He pictures the citizens of the new Zion as hungry children contentedly nursing from the breasts of their mother. Zions children drink deeply (milk out) until they are completely satisfied. In contrast to those who rebel against God, who can never be satisfied (cf. Isa. 65:13-14; Isa. 9:20; Mic. 6:14-15), new Zion will be satisfied (cf. Jer. 31:14; Isa. 25:6-9; Isa. 55:1-3; Isa. 58:11, etc.). Citizens of new Zion learn to be content (cf. Php. 4:10-13; 1Ti. 6:6-8); they have the peace which passes all understanding (cf. Php. 4:4-7). It is interesting that this contentment, satisfaction, glory and peace which shall belong to new Zion comes to those in her who rejoice and mourn. It seems incongruous to talk of rejoicing and mourning at the same time. Yet the Lord pronounced those blessed who mourned (cf. Mat. 5:4). Only those who believe in the Lord can comprehend this. Those who think that rejoicing can only come when there is nothing over which to mourn do not understand the meaning of joy as Jesus taught it (cf. Joh. 15:1-11; Joh. 16:20-24; Joh. 16:33; Joh. 17:13-19, etc.). It is possible for the citizens of Zion to mourn over sin and all that results from it and at the same time rejoice in the salvation and future vindication of the Lord. When the citizen of Zion is able to do this he is at peace. Peace means wholeness (cf. comments Isa. 58:9) and Jehovah is going to fill new Zions land up and running over with wholeness, prosperity and goodness like a river fills up and runs over its banks. Zions wholeness will come as a result of the best of goiym (nations) being brought to her, (cf. our comments Isa. 61:5-7). Is there anything more tender and helpful than the comfort a mother gives a distressed child? Nothing except the comfort of God! But our God helps us understand His feeling toward us and His ability to comfort us in the highest experience of comfort we knowthat of our mothers (cf. Isa. 49:15-16; Isa. 60:4, etc.). Jesus expressed His tenderness toward Jerusalem often (cf. Mat. 23:37-39; Luk. 19:41-44, etc.).

Those addressed in Isa. 66:14 as those who shall see these things are those who shall actually experience them, i.e., those who became the nation brought forth at one stroke (verses seven-nine). That generation alive when the Messiah was born (the manchild) and when the nation was brought forth (at Pentecost, A.D. 30), experienced the miracle of God and the maternalness of God (cf. Luk. 1:67-79; Luk. 2:29-38; Luk. 24:13-53; Act. 2:43-47; Act. 3:17 to Act. 4:4; Act. 4:32-37, etc.). The hand of Jehovah was seen and acknowledged in all this, not only by those who believed and became followers of the Way, but also by some who did not follow (cf. Act. 5:27-42; Act. 26:28; Act. 28:1 ff, etc.). Not only will the redemptive hand and the providential hand of Jehovah be manifested in the birth of new Zion, but His judgmental hand will also be made known. It is the double-emphasis theme that runs throughout the biblical record of redemption. Whenever God redeems the faithful, He necessarily judges the unfaithful. God cannot reward righteousness without condemning unrighteousness. When He delivered Noah, He destroyed the world; when He saved Lot, He destroyed Sodom; when He delivered the Hebrews under Moses, He destroyed Pharaoh; when He delivered Israel from captivity, He did so by destroying Babylon. The redemption provided in the atonement of Christ and the establishment of the kingdom, pronounces and gives unequivocal evidence of the final judgment of all who will not surrender to His sovereign rule by becoming covenant members of His church, (cf. Joh. 12:31; Joh. 16:11; Jn. 17:31; Eph. 4:8; Col. 2:15; Heb. 2:14-15; 1Jn. 3:8; Rev. 19:15-16, etc.). God allowed His enemies (Satan and his kingdom) to gather all the power at their disposal and meet Him at Calvary and do battle there. It was at Calvary and the empty tomb that God redeemed the world and judged the worldpotentially. Those who wish the redemption He won for them there must appropriate it by accepting His new covenant terms. Those who do not wish it must accept His judgment. The final execution of His redemption and judgment is yet future, but just as certain as the cross and the empty tomb! (see our comments Minor Prophets, College Press, pgs. 184201).

QUIZ

Where else in the O.T. and the N.T. are the woman and the manchild referred to?

Why is the birth of the new nation of God so unique?

How can the citizens of the new nation rejoice and mourn at the same time?

How did God choose to illustrate His desire to comfort His people?

Where did God demonstrate with finality His redemption and judgment of the world?

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(7) Before she travailed . . .The mother, as the next verse shows, is Zion; the man-child, born at last without the travail-pangs of sorrow, is the new Israel, the true Israel of God. The same figure has met us in Isa. 49:17-21; Isa. 54:1, and is implied in Mat. 24:8. Its antithesis is found in Isa. 37:3.

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

7-9. Before she That is, Zion. Before she came to such throes as described above, she brought forth a man child. Some suppose the birth of Jesus Christ is here intended. Others, more consistently, hold, in accordance with Isa 49:18-23, where the thought is substantially the same as here, that Zion already is beginning to be the joyful mother of a strong host of converts from Jews and Gentiles.

Who hath heard such a thing Such an increase of Zion’s children is a marvel.

Shall a nation be born at once It has never before so occurred. In the prophet’s eye the world, according to the divine order, is soon to be ready for such an event.

Bring to the birth On his part God has conducted human history so as to fully inaugurate the gospel age through and among all peoples.

Man child Every one of the human kind now entitled to the benefits of Christ’s salvation. The new dispensation takes in all mankind collectively as the one “man child.” Faithful co-operation between man and Messiah shall now be fruitful of grandest ingatherings to Jehovah, and of universal joy through earth and heaven.

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

Isa 66:7. Before she travailed, &c. Another consolatory argument is here urged, to those who reverence the word of Jehovah, who form the true Sion, taken from the sudden and wonderful increase of the church among the Gentiles, superior to all human thoughts and expectation; for from the 9th and 11th verses it appears abundantly, that these words are thus connected with the context. Isaiah in the former section had done two things; first, predicted the call of the Gentiles; and then the punishment of those who rejected the Gospel. In this section, after he had repeated the indignation conceived by God against the hypocrites and rejectors of the Gospel, he in the same manner consoles the pious Jews, from the unexpected event of the wonderful success of the calling of the Gentiles, who, joined with them in one body, should form one church, and inherit the earth. The metaphor here used, is very frequent in the Scripture, and very easily understood in the present passage; which is illustrated sufficiently by the following verses.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

7. THE WONDERFUL PRODUCTIVE POWER OF THE NEW PRINCIPAL OF LIFE.

Isa 66:7-9

7Before she travailed, she brought forth;

Before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child.

8Who hath heard such a thing?

Who hath seen such things?

14Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day?

Or shall a nation be born at once?

For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.

9Shall I bring to the birth, and not 15cause to bring forth? saith the Lord:

16Shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

1. With wonderful rapidity Zion will be surrounded by the blessing of numerous children (Isa 66:7). In other cases a long time is needed for a land to be peopled, for a family to expand into a nation. But in the case of Zion this will happen with incredible quickness (Isa 66:8). Such is the power inherent in that new principle of life which Jehovah cannot possibly in a forced and artificial way restrain (Isa 66:9).[Our author speaks of a new principle of life and its wonderful power. The Prophet, however, makes no mention of this new principle of life, but of the working of Jehovah Himself.D. M.]

2. Before she travailedsaith thy God, Isa 66:7-9.[While the immediately preceding verses speak of judgment falling on the disobedient and rebellious mass of the people, we learn here how the Israel of God shall receive a sudden and unexampled enlargement. Vitringa sees here a prophecy of the vocation of the Gentiles and of their accession to the Church, while the unbelieving Jews are cast off.D. M.]We have here in the main the same thought which the Prophet had expressed, Isa 49:18 sqq.; Isa 54:1 sqq.; Isa 60:4 sqq. Here he makes specially prominent the rapidity and suddenness with which, contrary to the ordinary Jaws of nature, Zion will be enlarged, and this he does most ingeniously and in a manner characteristic of Isaiah. , to let slip away, is used as Piel Isa 34:15 (comp. Job 21:10). must in this connection be primarily chosen to intimate that the birth takes place easily and quickly, though the child is a male. For male children are wont to be larger and stronger; hence their birth is attended with more difficulty. But it is just as certain that the Prophet does not think of the birth of a single child in a literal sense. In Isa 66:8 he puts for . He means, therefore, that should be taken collectively, and at the same time wishes to indicate that this collective birth is a male child strong and vigorous. This seems to be the meaning put upon our place in Rev 12:5, which latter passage evidently refers to the one before us. However erroneous it would be to apply this solely to the birth of Christ, it would in my opinion be equally one-sided to exclude the latter. For does not the whole New Testament blessing of abundance of children begirt with the birth of Christ? Without the birth of Christ this blessing could not be realized. Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, the Prophet had said Isa 9:5. And to this child is promised increase of government, consequently, a populous and mighty kingdom,this child, with what belongs to it, is it not a male, strong child? I look upon it as possible that the Prophet had here before him his earlier utterance Isa 9:5. [This view is in accordance with the Targum: Before distress cometh upon her, she shall be redeemed: and before trembling cometh upon her, as travail upon a woman with child, her king shall be revealed.D. M.]. Such a case never before occurred that a land ( must denote here both land and people, the idea of the people being predominant, and hence the word is used as a masculine, comp. on Isa 14:17) or nation suddenly, all at once arose. [The causative sense given to in the English and some other versions is not approved by the later lexicographers, who make it a simple passive. Alexander.]. How comes it that in the case of Zion, travailing and bringing forth her children coincided? Everything was well arranged beforehand for the birth. The time was fulfilled. The proper moment had come. Peters speech on the day of Pentecost and the conversion of the three thousand are facts in which the rapidity of that process of bringing forth is mirrored. And when such an astonishing and rapid success is founded in the nature of the case, can the Lord interfere to check and restrain? This is the meaning of Isa 66:8. [Dr. Naegelsbach interprets the first part of Isa 66:9 by describing the process of parturition with a particularity which some would think hardly in accordance with good taste. It is sufficient to give the explanation of Gesenius in his Lexicon: Shall I cause to break open (the womb), and not cause to bring forth? D. M.]. The second hemistich of Isa 66:9 repeats according to the law of the Parallelismus membrorum the same thought in another form. is often used of the closing of the uterus, i. e., of the barrenness of a woman. But here it is not the making unfruitful, but the hindering of the birth that is spoken of. It is, therefore, better to take in the sense of cohibere, retinere, in which it occurs frequently elsewhere (comp. e.g., Jdg 13:15-16). [The words of Hezekiah are here almost taken up Isa 37:3. Shall that long and painful national history not have for its issue the birth of a true Israel? Kay. The meaning of the whole is, that God designed the great and sudden increase of His Church; that the plan was long laid; and that having done this, He would not abandon it, but would certainly effect His designs. Barnes. D. M.]. In regard to the alternating and in Isa 66:9, I refer in general to the remarks on Isa 40:1. In the place before us, the Prophet has certainly no other reason for the change than a rhetorical one.

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

Isa 66:7 Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child.

Ver. 7. Before she travailed, she brought forth. ] Quum nondum parturiret peperit; understand it of Zion, or of the Church Christian, which receiveth her children, that is, converts, suddenly on a cluster before she thought to have done, and in far greater numbers than she could ever have believed. a That lady that brought forth as many at a birth as are days in the year b was nothing to her: nor those Hebrew women. Exo 1:10

She was delivered of a man child. ] For the which there is so great joy, Joh 16:21 and which is usually more able and active than a woman child. So, good and bold Christians, strong in faith; unless he meaneth Christ himself, saith Diodat, who is formed by faith in every believer’s heart. Gal 4:19

a Subito ac simul. Suddenly and at the same time.

b Margaret, Countess of Henneburg.

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

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Isa 66:7-9

7Before she travailed, she brought forth;

Before her pain came, she gave birth to a boy.

8Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things?

Can a land be born in one day?

Can a nation be brought forth all at once?

As soon as Zion travailed, she also brought forth her sons.

9Shall I bring to the point of birth and not give delivery? says the LORD.

Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb? says your God.

Isa 66:7-13 This context refers to Zion bringing forth a nation in one day which includes Gentiles. Some see this as the return from exile, but in this event no Gentiles were included. Therefore, it must be eschatological (i.e., NT).

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

she brought forth. This is the birth of the new nation. These are the “birth pangs” (or “sorrows”) of Mat 24:8. In Rev 12:1, Rev 12:2 we have one part of the type in the person of Messiah. Here is the other part of the type

a man child = a male, as in Rev 12:5.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Isa 66:7-9

“Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man-child. Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? shall a nation be brought forth at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith Jehovah: shall I that cause to bring forth shut the womb? saith God.”

The student should not be confused with the profusion of Old Testament terminology throughout the remainder of this chapter. Such things as the temple, animal sacrifices, new moons, sabbaths, etc., clearly concerned the Old dispensation; but, “Isa 66:7-9 clearly concern the end-time.” Such expressions as “Who hath heard such a thing”? stress the newness of what is being revealed here.

The rapidity of the rise and expansion of Christianity “Will mock the slow processes of history.” This is prophesied by the metaphor of birth without travail. This was fulfilled, “By the far-flung commonwealth of the Christian Church springing up all over the Roman empire in a single generation.”

“She was delivered of a man-child …” (Isa 66:7). The oldest Christian understanding of this passage identifies it with the birth of the Christ. “This was the position of Jerome”; and we have never seen any improvement on that view. The New Testament quotation of the word man-child (Rev 12:5) from Isa 66:7 requires our understanding of this as a reference to this designation; but the New Testament references have a double emphasis on the masculinity of the child, “a son, a man child.” Alexander Campbell translated it, “She bore a masculine son.” Albertus Pieters rendered the words, “A son, a he-man, a fierce assertion of the virility of Christ.” The words give the lie to the pretended artistic representations of Jesus Christ, always showing our Lord as a weak, effeminate-looking homosexual! The mother in this analogy is the Jewish race, fulfilling God’s promise to Abraham (Gen 12:3), as proved by Mat 1:1.

Isa 66:7-9 MIRACULOUS: That the pain and travail of verse six predicts the Roman destruction of Jerusalem is evident from what follows in these verses (Isa 66:7-14). Isaiahs prediction here of the birth of a new nation on the ruins of the old closely parallels the predictions of Daniel (see our comments on Dan 9:24-27) who also looks forward to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem.

The point of verses seven through nine is to emphasize the miraculous nature of what God is going to do before He casts off old Zion finally and completely (at the Roman destruction). Before the Old covenant nation is destroyed, the manchild and the New covenant nation will be born. The manchild can be none other than the son and child of Isa 9:6 and Immanuel of Isa 7:14. He is the Messiah (the anointed prince of Dan 9:25). The manchild of Isa 66:7 is the same, we believe, as the manchild born of the woman in Rev 12:1-6. In the Revelation John sees the O.T. woman (faithful members of the Old covenant people) give birth to the manchild, the great red dragon (the devil) attempting to devour the manchild, and God catching the manchild up to heaven safe and secure. Just as in Isa 66:8, so in Revelation 12, the woman has a plurality of offspring or children. Of course, these children are joint-heirs with the only-unique Son (manchild) by adoption. He is the seed (singular, Gal 3:16) and they are offspring (plural, Gal 3:23-29, by adoption).

The guarantee of all this is that Jehovah started it (with Abraham) and He will most certainly carry it through. When God promises, He fulfills. God does not lie; He is not a man that He repents or changes His mind or will. Gods new nation (the Church) will be born; nothing will stop it (cf. Dan 2:44-45). Not even the gates of Hades (death) shall prevail against the birth of Gods church (cf. Mat 16:18). Gods new nation will be like no other nation ever on the face of the earth. Governments and cultures of human origin come and go, but Gods nation (kingdom) will incorporate all races, tongues, cultures and classes, and will last forever. His kingdom is supernatural!

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

travailed

Isa 66:7; Isa 66:8. (See Scofield “Mic 5:1”)

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

Isa 54:1, Gal 4:26, Rev 12:1-5

Reciprocal: Psa 22:31 – They Eze 16:61 – I will Mic 4:10 – and labour Mic 5:3 – she Joh 3:10 – and knowest Rev 12:2 – travailing

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Isa 66:7-8. Here begins a new paragraph of the prophets discourse, containing a description of the sudden and great increase of the Christian Church, upon Gods rejecting the Jews, and destroying their temple and worship: the very destruction of the Jewish polity making way for the reception and spread of the gospel, inasmuch as it abated that opposition which the Jewish zealots all along made to its progress; and the abolishing the Jewish worship contributed very much to the abrogating the law of Moses, and burying it with silence and decency. See Rom 11:11, and Lowth. This paragraph, however, is not unconnected with what precedes. It is, as Vitringa observes, another consolatory argument, directed to those who reverenced the word of Jehovah, and formed the true Zion, taken from the rapid and wonderful increase of the church among the Gentiles, superior to all human thought, all expectation. For when in the former section Isaiah had done two things; first, had predicted the calling of the Gentiles, (chap. 65:1,) and then the punishment of the ungodly, and such as rejected the gospel; in this section, after he had repeated the indignation conceived by God against the hypocrites and those who did not obey the gospel, he in the same manner comforts the pious Jews, from the unexpected event of the most wished-for success of the calling of the Gentiles, who, joined with them in one body, should form one church, and inherit the earth. Before she travailed she brought forth The church is represented here as a travailing woman, the mother of all true believers: see Isa 54:1; Gal 4:26. The whole verse is expressive of a great and sudden salvation which God would work for his church, like the delivery of a woman, and that before her travail, and without pain, of a man-child. It undoubtedly refers to the introduction of the gospel, and its rapid and unexpected progress. Who hath heard such a thing? The prophet here calls either to the whole world, or to such as feared God among the Jews, to admire his stupendous work of providence and grace, in the sudden erection and wonderful enlargement of the gospel church. Who hath seen such things? Who hath witnessed such an extraordinary event? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day, or shall a nation, &c. The suddenness of this event is as surprising as if the fruits of the earth, which are brought to perfection by slow degrees, should blossom and ripen all in one day. And the fruitfulness of this spiritual increase is as wonderful as if a whole nation were born at once, or by one woman. For as soon as Zion travailed As soon as the fulness of time came for erecting the gospel church; she brought forth her children In great multitudes, without pain or difficulty, no inauspicious circumstance occurring to prevent their birth: see Act 2:41; and Act 4:4.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

66:7 Before {h} she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a male child.

(h) Meaning, that the restoration of the church would be so sudden and contrary to all men’s opinions as when a woman is delivered before she looked for it, and without pain in travail.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

The future glories of Jerusalem 66:7-14

The mood now reverts back to hope (cf. Isa 65:17-25). In contrast to all the bereavement and deprivation that Jerusalem had experienced and would yet experience (cf. Isa 26:16-18; Isa 37:3; Isa 51:18-20), the ultimate future of the city and its inhabitants remained bright.

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

The subject of this prophecy is Zion (Isa 66:8). Isaiah pictured Zion as a pregnant woman giving birth to a baby, without any pain. She would give birth to a boy before she began experiencing labor pains. This is, of course, the opposite of what usually happens. This may be a prophecy of Messiah’s appearing (the Rapture) before the Tribulation (the pain), the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jer 30:7; cf. Gen 3:16). [Note: The New Scofield . . ., p. 768.] It may also be a prediction of joy and delight coming to Zion in the future. However, in light of the next verse, it seems that the boy is the nation of Israel (cf. Rev 12:1-2).

"Israel’s return to the land will be so remarkably quick that it will be like a woman giving birth to a son before (Isa 66:7) or as soon as (Isa 66:8) she has any labor . . . pains." [Note: J. Martin, p. 1120.]

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

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