Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 41:27
The first [shall say] to Zion, Behold, behold them: and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings.
27. The first behold them ] A very perplexing sentence: lit. “A first one to Zion, Behold, behold them!” We may render (nearly as R.V.) (I) first (have said) to Zion, Behold, etc. Or we may supply the verb from the following line, thus: “I first will give to Zion (one saying) Behold,” etc.; or “I will give a first one (i.e. a forerunner) to Zion (saying), Behold, etc.” It is difficult to choose. In any case there appears (from the phrase “behold them”) to be a reference back to ch. Isa 40:9 ff.; and the general sense must be that that prediction was the first authoritative declaration of the meaning of the appearance of Cyrus. That Cyrus himself is the “forerunner” (Ngelsbach) is not a probable interpretation.
one that bringeth good tidings ] an evangelist (see ch. Isa 40:9).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The first shall say to Zion – This translation is unhappy. It does not convey any clear meaning, nor is it possible from the translation to conjecture what the word first refers to. The correct rendering undoubtedly is, I first said to Zion; and the sense is, I, Yahweh, first gave to Zion the announcement of these things. I predicted the restoration of the Jews to their own land, and the raising up of the man who should deliver them; and I only have uttered the prophecies respecting the time and circumstances in which these events would occur. The Septuagint renders it, I will first give notice to Zion, and I will comfort Jerusalem in the way. The Chaldee renders it The words of consolation which the prophets have uttered respecting Zion in the beginning, lo, they are about to come to pass. The sense of the passage is, that no one of the idol-gods, or their prophets, had predicted these events. The first intimation of them had been by Yahweh, and this had been made to Zion, and designed for its consolation.
Behold, behold them – Lo, these events are about to come to pass. Zion, or Jerusalem, was to behold them, for they were intended to effect its deliverance, and secure its welfare. The words Zion and Jerusalem here seem intended to denote the Jewish people in general, or to refer to Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish nation. The intimation had been given in the capital of the nation, and thence to the entire people.
And I will give – Or rather, I give, or I have given. The passage means, that the hearer of the good tidings of the raising up of a deliverer should be sent to the Jewish people. To them the joyful news was announced long before the event; the news of the raising up of such a man – an event of so much interest to them – was made to them long before the pagan had any intimation of it; and it would occur as the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy recorded among the Jews. The prophet refers here, doubtless, in the main, to his own prophecies uttered so long before the event would occur, and which would be distinctly known when they would be in exile in Babylon.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 41:27
One that bringeth good tidings
Divine ordination
I.
MINISTERS ARE DIVINELY ORDAINED. They come from God. f will give. The ministry is not one of the literary professions, nor a secular office. Colleges and seminaries do not make them.
II. THEY ARE A GIFT OF GODS GRACE. Neither the Churchs merit, wealth, or respectability has s claim to them, nor does a salary hire them, nor ordination commission them in the highest sense. They are a benefaction.
III. THE MINISTERS CHIEF WORK IS TO BE THE BEARER OF GOOD TIDINGS. It does not exclude other things that accompany salvation, but the Gospel proclamation is to be his specific, constant, cheerful, enthusiastic, confident employment. In season, out of season, in pulpit and private, his heart and lips are to overflow with the good tidings. Because–
1. They are what men, all men, all men everywhere and always need, and need most imperatively.
2. The more the good tidings are preached the more open is the way for everything else connected with the pastors work, and the more effective all departments of his ministry.
3. It, and it alone, is the power of God and the wisdom of God unto salvation and sanctification. (Homiletic Review.)
.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 27. The first shall say to Zion, Behold, behold them – “I first to Zion gave the word, Behold they are here”] This verse is somewhat obscure by the transposition of the parts of the sentence, and the peculiar manner in which it is divided into two parallel lines. The verb at the end of the sentence belongs to both parts; and the phrase, Behold, they are here! is parallel to the messenger of glad tidings; and stands like it, as the accusative case to the verb. The following paraphrase will explain the form and the sense of it. “I first, by my prophets, give notice of these events, saying, Behold, they are at hand! and I give to Jerusalem a messenger of glad tidings.”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The first; I who am the first, as I said before, Isa 41:4, and therefore capable of declaring or foretelling things to come from the beginning, which your idols cannot do, Isa 41:26.
Shall say to Zion; do and will foretell unto my people by my prophets things to come.
Behold, behold them; I represent things future as if they were present, and to be beheld with your eyes. By them he means either,
1. These things which are to come: or,
2. These men; either Cyrus and his forces, who came to deliver the Jews out of Babylon; or, which is the same thing in effect, the Jews returning from their captivity in Babylon.
One that bringeth good tidings; a messenger or messengers, the singular number being here put for the plural, as it is in many other places, to wit, my prophets, who shall foretell the good tidings of their deliverance from captivity.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
27. Rather, “I first willgive to Zion and to Jerusalem the messenger of good tidings, Behold,behold them!” The clause, “Behold . . . them” (thewished-for event is now present) is inserted in the middle of thesentence as a detached exclamation, by an elegant transposition, thelanguage being framed abruptly, as one would speak in putting vividlyas it were, before the eyes of others, some joyous event which he hadjust learned [LUDOVICUS DEDIEU] (compare Isa40:9). None of the idols had foretold these events. Jehovah wasthe “first” to do so (see Isa41:4).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The first shall say to Zion, behold, behold them,…. Or, “I the first say to Zion”; I who am the first and the last, Isa 41:4 which some ancient Jewish writers d observe is the name of the Messiah, and apply the passage to him; or, I am the “first” that say these things to Zion e,
behold, behold them; behold such and such things shall come to pass, and accordingly they have come to pass; or, “behold”, the promised Messiah, whom I have long spoken of, behold, he is come; see Isa 42:1, and behold them, his apostles and ministers, publishing the good tidings of salvation, as follows. The Targum is,
“the words of consolation which the prophets prophesied from the beginning concerning Sion, behold they come;”
they come to pass; which is such a proof of deity the idols and their worshippers cannot give:
and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings; which some interpret of Isaiah; others of Cyrus; others of Christ; and others of John the Baptist. I suppose the singular put for the plural, “one that bringeth good tidings”, or, “an evangelist for evangelists”; and may be understood of Gospel teachers, whom the Lord gave to his church and people, and by means of whom he spread his Gospel, not only in Judea, but in the Gentile world, to the overthrow of Paganism.
d T. Bab. Pesach. fol. 5. 1. Bereshit Rabba, sect. 63. fol. 55. 3. and Vajikra Rabba, sect. 30. fol. 171. 2. e “ego primus sum qui dico haec Sioni”, Tigurine version.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
27. The first to Zion. (149) In this verse God states more clearly that he predicts future events to the Jews, in order to encourage them to believe; because if prophecies had not their end and use, it would not in itself be of very great advantage to know future events. God therefore testifies that prophecies are intended by him to promote the faith and edification of the Church. It was necessary that this should be added to the former statements, that the people might know that those examples were exhibited, not only in order to magnify the power of God, but that all believers might reap advantage from it; for all the instances of the power and foreknowledge of God ought to be viewed by us in such a light as will enable us to know that he takes care of us, (1Pe 5:7,) and that he does everything for promoting our salvation. Zion is therefore commanded to acknowledge him as the true and only God, not merely because he has punished their crimes, but because they are restored from captivity, and thus learn that God is reconciled to them.
Behold! Behold! Here we must regard Mount Zion as desolate and uninhabited, and Jerusalem as reduced to a wilderness. Hence also Jeremiah represents Jerusalem as speaking in the manner that is usual with afflicted and distressed women. (Lam 1:20.) Thus the Lord now exhibits her as a widow and forsaken. Isaiah will afterwards arouse her to rejoice as a woman who had formerly been barren, and to whom the Lord had given new fertility for bearing offspring. (Isa 54:1.) At the same time he now declares that he will comfort Jerusalem, at a time when nothing was to be seen but what was melancholy and revolting in her hideous ruins. Now, the present message is, either that she shall give birth to children, though she was long a widow and desolate, or that they who had been scattered in distant captivity will return to her in vast numbers. With that desolation, therefore, we must contrast the restoration which was effected through Cyrus, when it is said, “Behold, they come;” and by the word “first,” is denoted not only the eternal essence of God, but likewise the antiquity of the prediction.
And I will send a messenger to Jerusalem. He now describes the manner in which God informs believers about future events, that is by the agency and ministry of the prophets. מבשר (mebashsher) is translated by Jerome “Evangelist,” or “a bringer of good tidings;” but it literally means a “messenger.” This makes little difference, however, as to the meaning; for it denotes the prophets who should bring the glad and cheering message of this deliverance, as God had formerly promised by Moses, that he would raise up, in uninterrupted succession, faithful ministers who should surpass all the magicians, and soothsayers, and diviners. (Deu 18:15.) For this reason also he formerly bestowed on the Church a remarkable appellation, calling her “a bearer of tidings,” (Isa 40:9,) because in the Church the word of God ought to sound aloud.
This tends greatly to the commendation of preaching; for the Lord does not descend from heaven to instruct us, but employs the ministry of his servants, and declares that he speaks to us by their mouth; and this distinguished blessing of God ought to be embraced with our whole heart. He had promised in the Law, as I mentioned a little before,
“
I will raise up to you a prophet from the midst of you.” (Deu 18:15.)
He now confirms that promise, by saying that there shall never be wanting “messengers” to soothe the people amidst their griefs, and to comfort them amidst their severest afflictions. Hence also we ought to conclude, that there is no condition of the Church in which prophecies cease; that is, in which the word of God brings no alleviation of our distresses.
(149) “I, saith Jehovah, am the first that has foretold by my prophets to the Jews those things which none of the false gods, and none of their prophets could foretell, the destruction of Babylon and the return of the banished Jews into their native country.” — Rosenmuller.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(27) The first shall say to Zion.The italics show the difficulty and abruptness of the originals. A preferable rendering is, (1) I was the first that said to Zion, &c. No oracle or soothsayer anticipated that message of deliverance (Ewald, Del.); or (2) a forerunner shall say . . . The words Behold them point to the returning exiles. The second clause fits in better with (2), and explains it. Jehovah sends a herald of good news (not Cyrus himself, but a messenger reporting his victories, or possibly Isaiah himself, as a more distant herald) to Jerusalem, to say that the exiles are returning.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
27. The first shall say to Zion This verse is severely difficult. Who, or what is meant by , first? One explanation refers back to Isa 41:4, where “I the Lord, the first” is found, and reads in this verse, “I, the Lord, will say to Zion,” I, the first and only great Being, am alone competent to make this prediction.
Behold them Behold it, that is, there it is, namely, the fulfilled prediction. Others, making “the first” the first fruits (as in Septuagint, and Syriac Version) of Zion, consider Cyrus as meant and personified in the word “first,” and as such he becomes the fulfilled prediction; he is the evangelist to Jerusalem. Nagelsbach, apparently, adopts this view, and finds some support for it in Isa 45:1, where Cyrus is called “the anointed” of Jehovah, that is, the Messiah: not the true Messiah, indeed, yet in an important sense the beginning of the redemption of the restoration of God’s people from exile, and so a pre-eminent type of the true Messiah, and civilly the first fruits of the prediction.
I will give to Jerusalem one A publisher of good tidings; in other words, an evangelist. See Isa 40:9.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 41:27 The first [shall say] to Zion, Behold, behold them: and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings.
Ver. 27. The first shall say to Zion. ] Or, I first said to Zion. I first brought her that good tidings by my prophets.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
The first shall say = From the first [I have said].
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
first: Isa 41:4, Isa 43:10, Isa 44:6, Isa 48:12, Rev 2:8
I will give: Isa 40:9, Isa 44:28, Isa 52:7, Ezr 1:1, Ezr 1:2, Nah 1:15, Luk 2:10, Luk 2:11, Rom 10:15
Reciprocal: 2Ki 7:9 – this day Job 11:10 – If he cut off Isa 40:1 – comfort Isa 65:1 – Behold Act 13:32 – we
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 41:27. The first shall say, &c. Hebrew, , literally, first, or the first to Zion; which words some interpret thus: I, who am the first, (Isa 41:4,) do and will foretel to my people things to come. Behold, behold them I represent things future (namely, the rise of Cyrus, and the deliverance of my people from Babylon by him) as if they were present, and to be beheld with mens bodily eyes. Behold the wonderful works which God hath wrought for you: or, Behold my people returning to their ancient habitations. Bishop Lowth, who observes, The verse is somewhat obscure by the transposition of the parts of the sentence, translates it thus: I first to Zion, (gave the word,) Behold, they are here; And to Jerusalem I give the messenger of good tidings. The sense of which he says is, I first, by my prophets, give notice of these events, saying, Behold, they are at hand! I give to Jerusalem, &c.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
41:27 The first [shall say] to Zion, Behold, behold {z} them: and I will give to Jerusalem {a} one that bringeth good tidings.
(z) That is, the Israelites who return from the captivity.
(a) That is, a continual succession of prophets and ministers.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Yahweh had announced to His people that Cyrus’ invaders would come. Cyrus would be a messenger of good news in two senses: his coming would validate the truthfulness of Isaiah’s prediction of his coming, and his coming would mean return from captivity for the Jewish exiles (cf. Ezr 1:2-4).