Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 49:26
And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD [am] thy Savior and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.
26. I will feed them that? &c. ] Better: I will cause thine oppressors (the Chaldans) to eat their own flesh (cf. ch. Isa 9:20; Zec 11:9). The enemies of Zion shall be consumed by internecine war a common eschatological representation (Eze 38:21; Hag 2:22; Zec 14:13).
and all flesh shall know ] Comp. “And thou shalt know” at the end of the previous oracle ( Isa 49:23).
the mighty One of Jacob ] See on ch. Isa 1:24, and cf. Isa 60:16.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh – The language used here is that which appropriately describes the distresses resuiting from discord and internal strifes. Similar language occurs in Isa 9:20 (see the note on that verse). Their rage shall be excited against each other; and there shall be anarchy, internal discord, and the desire of mutual revenge. They shall destroy themselves by mutual conflicts, until they are gorged with slaughter, and drunk with blood.
And they shall be drunken with their own blood – A similar expression occurs in Rev 16:6 : For they have shed the blood of the prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink. This expression describes a state of internal strife, where blood would be profusely shed, and where it would be, as it were, the drink of those who were contending with each other. Grotius supposes that it refers to the conflicts between the Persians and the Medes, and those of the Medes and Persians with the Babylonians. Vitringa supposes it received its fulfillment in the contests which took place in the Roman empire, particularly during the reign of Diocletian, when so many rivals contended for the sovereignty. Perhaps, however, it is in vain to attempt to refer this to any single conflict, or state of anarchy. The language is general; and it may mean in general that God would guard and protect his people; and that in doing this, he would fill the ranks of his foes with confusion, and suffer them to be torn and distracted with internal strifes; and amidst those strifes, and by means of them, would secure the deliverance and safety of his own people. It has not unfrequently happened that he has suffered or caused discord to spring up among the enemies of his people, and distracted their counsels, and thus secured the safety and welfare of those whom they were opposing and persecuting.
As with sweet wine – Margin, New. The Hebrew word ( asiys) means must, or new wine Joe 1:5; Joe 3:18; Amo 9:13. The Septuagint renders it, Oinon neon – New wine. The must, or new wine, was the pure juice which ran first after the grapes had been laid in a heap preparatory to pressure. The ancients had the art of preserving this for a long time, so as to retain its special flavor, and were in the habit of drinking it in the morning (see Hor. Sat. ii. 4). This had the intoxicating property very slightly, if at all; and Harmer (Obs. vol. ii. p. 151) supposes that the kind here meant was rather such as was used in royal palaces for its gratefulness, which was capable of being kept to a great age. It is possible, I think, that there may be an allusion here to the fact that it required a large quantity of the must or new wine to produce intoxication, and that the idea here is that a large quantity of blood would be shed.
And all flesh – The effect of all this shall be to diffuse the true religion throughout the world. The result of the contentions that shall be excited among the enemies of the people of God; of their civil wars and mutual slaughter; and of the consequent protection and defense of the people whom they were endeavoring to destroy, shall be to diffuse the true religion among the nations, and to bring all people to acknowledge that he who thus protects his church is the true and only God. It would be easy to show the fulfillment of this prediction from the records of the past, and from the efforts which have been made to destroy the church of God. But that would be foreign to the design of these notes. A very slight acquaintance with the repeated efforts to destroy the ancient people of God in Egypt, in the wilderness, in Babylon, and under Antiochus Epiphanes; with the early persecution of the Christians in Judea; with the successive persecutions in the Roman empire from the time of Nero to Diocletian; with the persecution of the Waldenses in Switserland; of the Huguenots in France; and of the Reformers in England, will be sufficient to convince anyone that God is the protector of the church, and that no weapons formed against her shall prosper. Her enemies shall be distracted in their counsels, and left to anarchy and overthrow; and the church shall rise resplendent from all their persecutions, and shall prosper ultimately just in proportion to their efforts to destroy it.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 49:26
And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh.
Self-destruction
Here is a terrible picture of retributive justice. But the words represent a general principle, which is universal, in the punishment of sin. The sinner is his own avenger.
I. TAKE THE DRUNKARD. He is drinking the poison, but is he not at the same time drinking his own life, and consuming his own happiness and peace?
II. TAKE THE SPENDTHRIFT. He spends his money, but at the same time eats and drinks his existence, his fortune, his home, his happiness.
III. TAKE THE TYRANT. He who wins his throne with blood shall lose it in blood. No one who fights can be without foes, and if he has conquered them at first they will only await their opportunity and in turn conquer him. How few who have raised themselves by the sword have not died by the sword!
IV. TAKE THE OPPRESSORS OF THE CHRISTIAN. They think they injure God’s people. How does God avenge His elect? By causing them to feed on their own selves–the bitterness of conscience, the remorse of evil doing. These are the portion of the oppressors. (Homilist.)
All flesh shall know that I, the Lord, am thy Saviour
An all-sufficient Deliverer
I. A WORLD-WIDE NEED.
II. AN ALL-SUFFICIENT DELIVERER. (J. Smith, D.D.)
The safety of the Church
1. God is the Protector of the Church, and no weapon formed against her shall prosper.
2. The Churchs enemies shall be distracted in their counsels, and left to anarchy and overthrow.
3. The Church shall rise resplendent from all her persecutions, and shall prosper ultimately, just in proportion to their efforts to destroy it. (A. Barnes, D.D)
.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; I will make them eat their own flesh, either through hunger, as Lev 26:29; Isa 9:20, or through rage and madness. Or, I will make thine enemies to destroy one another, and that greedily and with delight, as the next clause implies. All their enemies are here represented as one body; and so when one part of them devoured another, it was their
own flesh that was destroyed.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
26. feed . . . own fleshaphrase for internal strifes (Isa9:20).
own blooda justretribution for their having shed the blood of God’s servants (Re16:6).
sweet winethat is,must, or new wine, the pure juice which flows from the heap of grapesbefore they are pressed; the ancients could preserve it for a longtime, so as to retain its flavor. It was so mild that it required alarge quantity to intoxicate; thus the idea here is that very muchblood would be shed (Rev 14:10;Rev 14:20).
all flesh shall, c.theeffect on the world of God’s judgments (Isa 66:15Isa 66:16; Isa 66:18;Isa 66:19; Rev 15:3;Rev 15:4).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh,…. Not that they should feed upon their own flesh, because of famine, for this was not the case of Babylon when taken; but that they should destroy one another, as the Midianites did; and which was true of some of the Babylonians, who assisted Cyrus in taking the city, and destroying the inhabitants of it; and will be verified in the Popish party killing one another:
and they shall be drunken with their own blood as with sweet wine; which denotes the abundance of blood that shall be shed, and the pleasure in shedding of it. It will be a righteous thing with God to give the whore of Rome her own blood to drink, even so as to be made drunk with it as with wine, who has been drunk already with the blood of the saints, Re 16:6. The Targum is,
“I will give the flesh of them that oppress thee for food to every fowl of the heavens; and as they are drunken with wine, so the beasts of the field shall be drunken with their blood;”
see Re 19:17:
and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob; it shall be notorious to all the world, that Jehovah, the “Lord” of lords, the Lord of the whole earth, is the “Saviour and Redeemer” of his church and people out of all their afflictions, oppressions, and persecutions, by the Romish antichrist; this will be apparently seen, and publicly owned and acknowledged, when antichrist shall be destroyed, and the church saved; by which it will be manifest, it being the Lord’s work, and wondrous in the eyes of men, that he is “the mighty One of Jacob”, able to help and save them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
26. And I will feed thy oppressors with their own flesh. First, he declares what is the nature of that end which awaits the enemies of the Church, and threatens that they shall not only be inflamed with mutual hatred, but shall likewise slay each other by mutual slaughter. And indeed it is God who drives them headlong, and rouses them to rage, so that they tum against themselves that strength which they formerly exerted against the Church, fight with each other, as the Midianites did, and bring destruction on themselves. (Jud 7:22.) The meaning amounts to this, that there will be no need of outward aid or of any preparations, when God shall determine to overtum and destroy the reprobate; because, having been struck by him with giddiness, they shall wear themselves out in mutual conflict by the insatiable rage with which they shall attack each other.
And all flesh shall know. He repeats that statement which we have formerly seen, namely, that he will be acknowledged by all to be the God of Israel and the true and only God, when he shall have delivered his people from destruction; for he intended it to be a demonstration of his Divinity, that he openly manifested himself to be the Redeemer and Savior of his people.
The Mighty One of Jacob. Some read the word Jacob in the vocative case: “O mighty Jacob;” but I read it in the genitive case, “of Jacob.” The Lord testifies that he is the Savior, Redeemer, and Mighty One of Israel, that they may rely with their whole heart on his defense and protection.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(26) I will feed them that oppress thee . . .The words are, of course, symbolical of the utter collapse, the self-destructive struggles of the enemies of Zion, i.e., of the company, or Ecclesia, of the redeemed.
The mighty One of Jacob.Same word, and that a rare one, as in Isa. 1:24.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
REFLECTIONS
READER! I charge it upon you, as I desire to feel the full impression upon my own mind, that the subject, as well as the contents, of this most precious Chapter, be not dismissed, before all its blessed truths, under the divine teaching, be properly received and enjoyed in both our souls. The solemn transactions here recorded, of what passed, between our God and Father in Christ Jesus, and our most blessed Lord, concerning the recovery of our poor lost and fallen nature, are, in fact, the bottom and foundation of all grace and mercy, given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. All that we receive in pardon, in the regeneration of our nature, our adoption and high calling in Christ Jesus, our assurance of salvation in grace here, and glory to all eternity; all are the result of those covenant engagements, which this most blessed Chapter records, and which took place between the high contracting parties, before the fall of man, yea, before the foundation of the earth was laid. Pause then, and trace the wonderful subject through all its parts. Behold God the Father, in his love to our poor nature; who so loved us, as to give his only begotten Son, to the end that all that believe in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Behold God the Son, who so loved us, as to give himself for us. Behold God the Holy Ghost, as testifying the same, in bringing the Church acquainted with her mercies, and not only revealing the glad tidings of salvation, but inclining the hearts of the children to the belief of the truth of Jesus, and making them willing in the day of his power. Oh! what everlasting praise, love, and adoration, have we now to offer, and shall have eternally to present, to the holy, undivided, Three in One, Jehovah, for these unspeakable mercies of God in Christ!
Reader! let us seek grace to receive the blessed truths contained in this Chapter, to live up to the faith, and in the enjoyment of them, during our whole continuance upon earth, until we come to realize the full possession of them in everlasting glory. Precious Jesus! may we behold thee as the whole of the covenant. All the obligations of it have been wrought by thee; all its blessings are from thee; and all the concerns of it, and of thy people’s happiness, are entrusted to thee. Help me then, O Lord, to look more to thee in every blessing, as the author and procurer of it! There is more of thee in the most common mercies, than thy people are conscious of: thy death hath secured our life, thy cross hath purchased our crown! To he be glory in the Church throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 49:26 And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD [am] thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.
Ver. 26. And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh. ] Which yet “no man ever hated, but nourisheth and cherisheth it.” Eph 5:29 But Zion’s enemies should one destroy another, and be put to such straits as the Jews were in the siege of their city by Titus, that they fed upon their own flesh, and the flesh of their children. a So hard a thing it is “to kick against the pricks”; quae in coelum expuunt, in faciem ipsorum recidunt.
And they shall be drunk with their own blood.
“ Naribus, ore, oculis, atque auribus undique, et ano,
Et pene, erumpit qui tibi, Carle, cruor,
Non tuus iste cruor, sanctorum at caede cruorem
Quem ferns hausisti, concoquere haud poteras. ”
a
b Flac. Illyr.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
sweet wine. Heb ‘asis = new wine, the product of the same year. App-27.
all flesh shall know. Compare Isa 40:5; Isa 52:10.
am thy Saviour: or, am saving thee.
the mighty One of Jacob. Reference to Pentateuch (Gen 49:24): only here and Isa 60:16. Nowhere else except Psa 132:2, Psa 132:5.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
redeemer
Heb. goel, Redemp. (Kinsman type). (See Scofield “Isa 59:20”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
I will feed: Isa 9:20, Jdg 7:22
drunken: Rev 14:20, Rev 16:6, Rev 17:6
sweet wine: or, new wine
and all: Isa 41:14-20, Isa 45:6, Isa 60:16, Psa 9:16, Psa 58:10, Psa 58:11, Psa 83:18, Eze 39:7, Rev 15:3, Rev 15:4
Reciprocal: Exo 11:8 – And all Job 13:14 – I take Isa 1:24 – the mighty Isa 14:4 – How Isa 25:5 – shalt bring Isa 29:9 – they are Isa 34:8 – General Isa 41:11 – all they Isa 43:3 – the Holy One Isa 44:24 – thy redeemer Isa 47:4 – our redeemer Isa 49:19 – they that Isa 51:20 – full Isa 51:23 – I will Isa 54:8 – the Lord Isa 59:18 – fury Isa 63:6 – make Jer 13:13 – I will Jer 30:20 – and I Jer 51:36 – I will plead Eze 5:10 – the fathers Eze 34:16 – I will feed Oba 1:16 – as ye Nah 3:11 – shalt be drunken Hab 2:16 – drink Zep 3:19 – I will undo Act 2:17 – all Act 5:31 – a Saviour 2Th 1:6 – General 1Ti 1:1 – God 2Ti 2:26 – who are Rev 16:19 – in
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
49:26 And I will feed them that oppress thee with {f} their own flesh; and they shall be drunk with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD [am] thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.
(f) I will cause them to destroy one another as in Jud 7:22, 2Ch 20:22, Isa 19:2 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The Lord would cause these Gentile oppressors to consume one another, "reduced to their last extremity." [Note: Michael Dahood, "Textual Problems in Isaiah," Catholic Biblical Quarterly 22 (1960):404-5.] This will happen when the nations fight one another at Armageddon. Jesus Christ will return from heaven, the assembled armies will turn on Him, and He will defeat them with a word from His mouth. This will open the way for Israel to return to her land as the honored of the earth in the Millennium (cf. Dan 11:40-45; Rev 16:14; Rev 19:19-21). These events will demonstrate to everyone that Yahweh is Israel’s Savior, Redeemer, and the Mighty God of Jacob.
Are these descriptions just impressionistic pictures of Gentiles coming to Christ for salvation, or should we look for a more literal fulfillment of these promises? Amillennialists say they are figurative descriptions of Gentiles coming to salvation through Christ. Premillennialists say they describe a literal return of Israelites to their land with an accompanying exaltation of the physical descendants of Jacob in the earth. One of the cardinal rules of hermeneutics is that if the interpreter can understand something literally it should be taken that way unless other indications in the text or context point to a non-literal interpretation. Amillennialists concede that it is possible to take these prophecies literally, and that if one does, he or she will come out a premillennialist. But they say that a literal fulfillment was not intended, and that these predictions are being fulfilled spiritually through the church. Premillennialists view this chapter, and most of chapters 50-57, as revealing Messiah’s restoration of Israel to her land at the beginning of the Millennium.