Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 49:21
Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where [had] they [been]?
21. Zion is bewildered at finding herself once more “a joyful mother of children” (Psa 113:9).
Who hath begotten ] Rather, Who hath borne (in spite of the masculine gender of the verb). The peculiar figure is probably to be explained by the custom illustrated in Gen 16:1 ff; Gen 30:1 ff., &c. The exile was the time of Zion’s barrenness; the generation of Israelites that had grown up in a foreign land are regarded as not her natural children, although legally they belong to her, having been borne for her by a stranger.
seeing I have lost &c. ] seeing I am childless and unfruitful. The clause immediately following (which must be rendered exiled and put away) introduces a conception alien to the image of the verse. Zion herself was not “exiled” but “left alone,” when her children were taken from her. The words are wanting in the LXX. and may be a gloss.
these, where had they been?] If this were the sense intended, the verb “had been” (or “were”) would probably require to have been expressed. But the question that Zion broods over is not where her children had been, but how she comes to have children at all, who are strangers to her. Render, therefore (with Dillmann), these, how (is it) with them? of what description are they? (cf. Jdg 8:18).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Then shalt thou say in thine heart – Thou shalt wonder at the multitude, and shalt ask with astonishment from where they all come. This verse is designed to describe the great increase of the true people of God under the image of a mother who had been deprived of her children, who should suddenly see herself surrounded with more than had been lost, and should ask in astonishment from where they all came.
Who hath begotten me these – The idea here is, that the increase would be from other nations. They would not be the natural increase of Zion or Jerusalem, but they would come in from abroad – as if a family that had been bereaved should be increased by an accession from other families.
I have lost my children – Jerusalem had been desolated by wars, and had become like a widow that was bereft of all her sons (compare the notes at Isa 47:8-9).
A captive, and removing to and fro – A captive in Babylon, and compelled to wander from my own land, and to live in a strange and distant country.
These, where had they been? – The image in this entire verse is one of great beauty. It represents a mother who had been suddenly deprived of all her children, who had been made a widow, and conveyed as a captive from land to land. She had seen ruin spread all around her dwelling, and regarded herself as alone. Suddenly she finds herself restored to her home, and surrounded with a happy family. She sees it increased beyond its former numbers, and herself blessed with more than her former prosperity. She looks with surprise on this accession, and asks with wonder from where all these have come, and where they have been. The language in this verse is beautifully expressive of the agitation of such a state of mind, and of the effect which would be thus produced. The idea is plain. Jerusalem had been desolate. Her inhabitants had been carried captive, or had been put to death. But she should be restored, and the church of God would be increased by a vast accession from the Gentile world, so much that the narrow limits which had been formerly occupied – the territory of Palestine – would now be too small for the vast numbers that would be united to those who professed to love and worship God.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 21. These, where had they been – “These then, where were they?”] The conjunction is added before elleh, that is, veelleh. in thirty-two MSS. (nine ancient) of Kennicott’s, and fifty-four of De Rossi’s, and so the Septuagint, Chaldee, and Vulgate. See on Isa 49:12.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Then shalt thou say, not without admiration,
Who hath begotten me these? whence or by whom have I this numberless issue?
Seeing I have lost my children; seeing it is not long since that I was in a manner left childless. Am desolate; without a husband, being forsaken by God, who formerly owned himself for my Husband, Isa 54:5; Jer 31:32, and elsewhere.
A captive, and removing to and fro; which condition is in many respects a great impediment to the procreation of children. Who hath brought up these? the same thing repeated again to express the miraculousness of this work, and the great surprisal of the Jews at it; which showeth that he speaks of the conversion of the Gentiles.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
21. Who, c.Zion’s joyfulwonder at the unexpected restoration of the ten tribes.Secondarily, the accession of spiritual Israelites to the motherchurch of Jerusalem from the Gentiles is meant. This created surpriseat first (Act 10:45 Act 14:27;Act 15:3; Act 15:4).
lost . . . am desolate, acaptive, and removing to and frorather, “bereaved of . .. have been barren, an exile and outcast” [HORSLEY].She had been “put away” by Jehovah, her husband (Isa50:1); hence her wonder at the children begotten to her.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then shalt thou say in thine heart,…. In, a way of admiration, secretly within herself, astonished at the numerous crowds flocking in;
who hath begotten me these? not their natural parents, nor they themselves;
for they are not born of blood, nor of the will of man, nor of the will of the flesh; nor ministers of the Gospel, though they are instruments, yet not the cause; but God only, Father, Son, and Spirit, to whom regeneration is only ascribed: regeneration is a wonderful work of God; it is unaccountable to the natural man; it is amazing to the saints themselves; and it is matter of astonishment to the church of God; especially when on a sudden, and without means, and in great numbers, men are born again; and particularly when these come from among the Gentiles, which seems to be the case here:
seeing I have lost my children; by captivity and the sword, by the tyranny and cruelty of the man of sin:
and am desolate; or alone, as if without a husband, or any to take care of her: this represents the church in the wilderness, during the reign of antichrist, Re 12:14, while she seems to be forsaken of the Lord her husband, though she is not:
and a captive; to the Romish antichrist; see Re 13:10:
and removing to and fro; being forced to flee from place to place, by reason of persecution: there is, no doubt, an allusion in all this to the case of the Jews in the Babylonish captivity:
and who hath brought up these? the same that begot them, even the Lord himself; who nourishes and brings up his children with the milk of the Gospel, and the breasts of Gospel ordinances; so that they are brought up from children to young men, from young men to fathers, till they become perfect men; even the church in the wilderness, with her children, are nourished by him, for a time, and times, and half a time,
Re 12:14 which is wonderful:
behold, I was left alone; seemingly without husband or children, in a desolate and wilderness state:
these, where had they been? in the ruins of Adam’s fall; in a state of darkness; in the graves of sin; in a pit wherein is no water; in the hands of Satan, and among wicked men; even in Babylon itself, but now called out; see Re 18:4.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The words that sound in the ears of Zion are now followed by the thought of astonishment and surprise, that rises up in her heart. “And thou wilt say in thy heart, Who hath borne me these, seeing I was robbed of children, and barren, banished, and thrust away; and these, who hath brought them up? Behold, I was left alone; these, where were they?” She sees herself suddenly surrounded by a great multitude of children, and yet she was robbed of children, and galmudah (lit. hard, stony, Arab. ‘galmad , ‘ gulmud , e.g., es – sachr el’ gulmud , the hardest stone, mostly as a sugstantive, stone or rock, from galam , from which comes the Syriac g e lomo , stony ground, related to c halam , whence c hallamsh , gravel, root gal , gam , to press together, or heap up in a lump or mass), i.e., one who seemed utterly incapacitated for bearing children any more. She therefore asks, Who hath borne me these (not, who hath begotten, and which is an absurd question)? She cannot believe that they are the children of her body, and her children’s children. As a tree, whose foliage is all faded away, is called nobheleth itself in Isa 1:30, so she calls herself golah v e surah , extorris et remota ( sur = m usar , like sug in Pro 14:14 = nasog or m ussag ), because her children have been carried away into exile. In the second question, the thought has dawned upon her mind, that those by whom she finds herself surrounded are her own children; but as she was left alone, whilst they went forth, as she thought to die in a foreign land, she cannot comprehend where they have been hitherto concealed, or where they have grown up into so numerous a people.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
21. And thou shalt say in thy heart. By these words he declares that the restoration of the Church, of which he now speaks, will be wonderful; and therefore he represents her as wondering and amazed on account of having been restored in a strange and unexpected manner. And truly a description of this sort is not superfluous; for, as a new offspring grows up among men every day, by which the human race is propagated, so the children of God and of the Church are born, who, “not from flesh and blood,” (Joh 1:13,) but by the secret power of God, are formed again to be new creatures. By nature we have no share in the kingdom of God; (10) and therefore, if any man contemplate this new and uncommon work, and in what manner the Church is increased and maintained, he will be constrained to wonder.
Who hath begotten me these? He shews that this astonishment will not be pretended, like expressions of this kind which frequently proceed from flatterers, but that it will come from “the heart;” for there will be good ground for wondering, that the Lord has preserved the Church amidst so great dangers, and has multiplied it by a new and unexpected offspring. Who would have thought that, at the time when the Jews were held in the greatest contempt, and were overwhelmed by every kind of reproaches and distresses, there would be any of the Gentiles who of their own accord desired to be associated with them? It was also in the highest degree improbable that the dispositions of men should be so suddenly changed as to adopt a religion which they had detested. Besides, the partition-wall which had been erected between them hindered all foreigners and uncircumcised persons from entering.
For I was bereaved (or barren) and solitary. She now explains what was the chief ground of that astonishment; namely, that formerly she brought forth no children, and was altogether destitute. Doctrine, which is the seed of spiritual life, by which the children of the Church are begotten, (1Pe 1:23,) had ceased; even the worship enjoined by the Law had been broken off; and, in short, everything that usually contributes to upholding the order of government had been taken away. Now, the Church is called bereaved or barren, not because God hath forsaken her, but because his presence is not always visible. We ourselves saw an image of that barrenness, when the Lord, in order to punish the ingratitude of men, took away his doctrine, and allowed them to wander in darkness. The Church might truly be said to be “bereaved” and “barren,” when none of her children were seen. Hence we ought to conclude how foolish the Papists are, who wish that Christ would always govern his Church so that it may never be “bereaved” or “barren;” seeing that the Lord, thougit he does not forsake the Church, yet very frequently, on account of the ingratitude of men, withdraws the tokens of his presence.
Who then hath brought up those? It is no easy matter for those who are led into captivity, and who often change their place and habitation, to “bring up” children; and when the law and the doctrine of piety no longer resounded in the temple, spiritual nourishment had almost entirely failed. But the Lord, who has no need of human aid, begets his children in an extraordinary manner, and by the astonishing power of his Spirit, and “brings them up” wherever he thinks proper; and in the fulfillment of this prediction, the Lord supplied them with nurses contrary to the expectation of all, so that it is not without reason that the Church wonders how they were reared. When we read this prophecy we are reminded that we ought not to be distressed beyond measure, if at any time we see the Church resemble a “bereaved” woman, and that we ought not to doubt that he can suddenly, or in a moment, raise up and restore her, though we perceive no means by which she can be restored.
(10) “ Nous n’avons aucune part au royaume de Dieu.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(21) Who hath begotten me these . . .?Better, who hath borne . . .? The widowed daughter of Zion cannot believe that these crowding children are her own, and asks, Who then is their mother? She, the widowed one, the prisoner, dragged hither and thither, could not claim them.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
21. Thou Zion.
Shalt say Namely, to herself, in absolute wonderment.
Who hath begotten me these The bereft, wondering captive has become the spiritual mother of a vast throng, and she inquires in ecstasy, Where had they been? This paraphrase is not fanciful, but touches the text at every point. It well describes the astonishment of the hitherto desolate Zion.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 49:21 Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where [had] they [been]?
Ver. 21. Then shalt thou say in thine heart. ] Est artificiosa fictio, et color rhetoricus.
A captive, and removing to and fro.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Then = And.
Who . . . where? Figure of speech Erotesis.
Behold. Figure of speech Asterismos.
these. Some codices, with Septuagint and Vulgate, read “and these”, or “these therefore”.
had they been = were they?
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
seeing: Jer 31:15-17, Rom 11:11-17, Rom 11:24, Gal 3:29, Gal 4:26-29
am desolate: Isa 3:26, Isa 51:17-20, Isa 52:2, Isa 54:3-8, Isa 60:15, Isa 62:4, Isa 64:10, Lam 1:1-3, Mat 24:29, Mat 24:30, Luk 21:24, Rom 11:26-31
Reciprocal: Gen 21:6 – God Gen 21:7 – Who Deu 7:17 – thou shalt Rth 1:5 – and the woman Psa 22:31 – They Psa 45:16 – children Psa 137:4 – strange land Isa 51:18 – none Eze 37:26 – multiply Mic 4:7 – I will Gal 4:27 – desolate 1Ti 5:5 – and desolate
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Zion would then say to herself: "Where in the world did all these children of mine come from? I thought all my children were dead and gone and that I was an old, forsaken widow. But now my children surround me." Her many children will not simply be the product of her own fertility, but a supernatural gift from God (cf. Gen 18:12-14; Rth 4:13-17).