Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 50:2
Wherefore, when I came, [was there] no man? when I called, [was there] none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because [there is] no water, and dieth for thirst.
2. Jehovah expresses surprise that His message of redemption (delivered through the prophet) has been received with so little enthusiasm by the people.
was there no man? ] The expression occurs again in Isa 59:16; in both places the indefinite “man” is explained by the second member of the parallelism; here, therefore, it means “no man to answer.”
Is my hand shortened at all &c. ] Is it the case that my hand is too short to redeem? (cf. Isa 59:1). And the unreasonableness of such doubts as to Jehovah’s power is then proved by an appeal to His mighty works in the natural sphere, probably with a special allusion to the miracles of the Exodus period.
at ( by) my rebuke ] Cf. ch. Isa 17:13; esp. Psa 104:7; Psa 106:9.
I make [ the ] rivers a wilderness ] Psa 107:33.
their fish stinketh &c. ] Exo 7:18.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? – That is, when I came to call you to repentance, why was there no man of the nation to yield obedience? The sense is, that they had not been punished without warning. He had called them to repentance, but no one heard his voice. The Chaldee renders this, Wherefore did I send my prophets, and they did not turn? They prophesied, but they did not attend.
When I called, was there none to answer? – None obeyed, or regarded my voice. It was not, therefore, by his fault that they had been punished, but it was because they did not listen to the messengers which he had sent unto them.
Is my hand shortened at all? – The meaning of this is, that it was not because God was unable to save, that they had been thus punished. The hand, in the Scriptures, is an emblem of strength, as it is the instrument by which we accomplish our purposes. To shorten the hand, that is, to cut it off, is an emblem of diminishing, or destroying our ability to execute any purpose (see Isa 59:1). So in Num 11:23 : Is the Lords hand waxed short?
That it cannot redeem? – That it cannot rescue or deliver you. The idea is, that it was not because he was less able to save them than he had been in former times, that they were sold into captivity, and sighed in bondage.
Behold, at my rebuke – At my chiding – as a father rebukes a disobedient child, or as a man would rebuke an excited multitude. Similar language is used of the Saviour when he stilled the tempest on the sea of Gennesareth: Then he arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm Mat 8:26. The reference here is, undoubtedly, to the fact that God dried up the Red Sea, or made a way for the children of Israel to pass through it. The idea is, that he who had power to perform such a stupendous miracle as that, had power also to deliver his people at any time, and that, therefore, it was for no want of power in him that the Jews were suffering in exile.
I make the rivers a wilderness – I dry up streams at pleasure, and have power even to make the bed of rivers, and all the country watered by them, a pathless, and an unfruitful desert.
Their fish stinketh – The waters leave them, and the fish die, and putrify. It is not uncommon in the East for large streams and even rivers thus to be dried up by the intense heat of the sun, and by being lost in the sand. Thus the river Barrady which flows through the fertile plain on which Damascus is situated, and which is divided into innumerable streams and canals to water the city and the gardens adjacent to it, after flowing to a short distance from the city is wholly lost – partly absorbed in the sands, and partly dried up by the intense rays of the sun (see Jones Excursions to Jerusalem, Egypt, etc. ) The idea here is, that it was God who had power to dry up those streams, and that he who could do that, could save and vindicate his people.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 50:2-6
Wherefore, when I came, was there no man?
—
The Mediator: Divine and human
These words could have been spoken only by the Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus They place before our thoughts–
I. His DIVINE POWER AND GLORY. Power is naturally calm. The power that sustains the universe is, in fact, most wonderful when, unseen, unfelt, with its Divine silence and infinite ease, it moves on in its ordinary course; but we are often most impressed by it when it strikes against obstructions, and startles the senses by its violence. Knowing our frame, and dealing with us as with children, our Teacher seeks to impress us with a sense of His Divine power, by bidding us think of Him as working by inexorable force certain awful changes and displacements in nature. I dry up the sea, etc.
II. HIS HUMAN LIFE AND EDUCATION. The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, etc. Gradually, it seems, the Divine Spirit, like a mysterious voice, woke up within Him the consciousness of what He was, and of what He had come on earth to fulfil. Morning by morning, through all the days of His childhood, the voice was ever awakening Him to higher consciousness and more awful knowledge.
III. THE MEDIATORIAL TEACHING FOR WHICH HE HAD BEEN THUS PREPARED.
1. It is personal. If His own personal teaching had not been in view, there would have been no need for all this personal preparation. The Lord hath given Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak. This is His own testimony to the great fact that He Himself personally teaches every soul that is saved.
2. It is suitable. Suitable to our weariness.
(1) While we are yet in a state of unregeneracy.
(2) When we are sinking under the burden of guilt.
(3) When fainting under the burden of care.
(4) When burdened under the intellectual mysteries of theology.
(5) When under the burden of mortal infirmity.
3. The teaching of Christ is minutely direct and particular. When I read that He is ordained to speak to him that is weary, I understand that He does not speak in a general, impersonal, unrecognizing way to the forlorn crowd of sufferers, but to every man in particular, and to every man apart. (C. Stanford, D. D.)
The Redeemer described by Himself
In my opinion, these verses (2-6) run on without any break, so that you are not to separate them, and ascribe one to the prophet, another to the Messiah, and another to Jehovah Himself; but you must take the whole as the utterance of one Divine Person. That Jehovah-Jesus is the One who is speaking here, is very clear from the last verse of the previous chapter: I the Lord (I, Jehovah, it is,) am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.
I. BEHOLD THE MESSIAH AS GOD. Link Isa 50:3; Isa 6:1-13 : I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering . . . I gave my back to the smiters, etc. He, then, who suffered thus, and whom we regard as redeeming us by His death, and as saving us by His life, is no less than the Almighty God. I think the first reference, in these words, is to the miracles which were wrought by the plagues in Egypt. It was Jehovah-Jesus who was then plaguing His adversaries. In a later chapter, Isaiah says that the Angel of His presence saved them; and who is that great Angel of His presence but the Angel of the covenant in whom we delight, even Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour? But we must not restrict the text to that which happened in the land of Egypt, for it has a far wider reference. All the great wonders of nature are to be ascribed to Him upon whom we build all our hopes for time and for eternity. The last miracle recorded here, namely, that of covering the heavens with sackcloth, was performed by our Lord even when He was in His death agony. You are not depending for your salvation upon a mere man. He is man, but He is just as truly Divine.
II. BEHOLD THE MESSIAH AS THE INSTRUCTED TEACHER (verse 4). I call your special attention to the condescension of our Lord in coming here on purpose to care for the weak–to speak consoling and sustaining words to them; and also to the fact that, before He performed that service, He learned the sacred art from His Father. For thirty years was He learning much in Josephs carpenters shop. Little do we know how much He learned there; but this much we do know, Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man. And afterwards, when He entered upon His public work among men, He spake with the tongue of the learned, saying to His disciples, All things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you. All through His time of teaching, He was still listening and learning.
III. BEHOLD JESUS CHRIST AS THE SERVANT OF THE LORD (verse 5).
1. He speaks of Himself as being prepared by grace. The Lord God hath opened Mine ear, as if there had been a work wrought upon Him to prepare Him for His service. And the same Spirit, which rested upon Christ, must also open our ears.
2. Being thus prepared by grace, He was consecrated in due form, so that He could say to Himself, The Lord God hath opened Mine ear. He heard the faintest whispers of His Fathers voice.
3. He not only heard His Fathers voice, but He was obedient to it in all things. I was not rebellious. From the day when, as a child, He said to His parents, Wist ye not that I must be about My Fathers business? till the hour when, on the cross, He cried, It is finished, He was always obedient to the will of God.
4. In that obedience, He was persevering through all trials. He says that He did not turn away back. Having commenced the work of saving men, He went through with it.
IV. BEHOLD THE MESSIAH AS THE PEERLESS SUFFERER (verse 6). It has been asked, Did God really die? No; for God cannot die, yet He who died was God; so, if there be a confusion in your mind, it is the confusion of Holy Scripture itself, for we read, Feed the Church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood. In addition to the pain, we are asked, in this verse, to notice particularly the contempt which the Saviour endured. The plucking of His hair was a proof of the malicious contempt of His enemies, yet they went still further, and did spit in His face. Spitting was regarded by Orientals, and, I suppose, by all of us, as the most contemptuous thing which one man could do to another; yet the vile soldiers gathered round Him, and spat upon Him. I must point out the beautiful touch of voluntariness here: I hid not my face. Our Saviour did not turn away, or seek to escape. If He had wished to do so, He could readily have done it. Conclusion: Notice three combinations which the verses of my text will make.
(1) Verses 2 and 6. Those verses together show the full ability of Christ to save. Here we have God and the Sufferer.
(2) Verses 4 and 5. Here you have the Teacher and the Servant, and the two together make up this truth–that Christ teaches us, not with words only, but with His life. What a wonderful Teacher He is, who Himself learned the lessons which He would have us learn!
(3) Now put the whole text together, and I think the result will be–at least to Gods people–that they will say, This God shall be our God for ever and ever; and it shall be our delight to do His bidding at all times. It is a high honour to serve God; and Christ is God. It is a great thing to be the servant of a wise teacher; and Christ has the tongue of the learned. It is a very sweet thing to walk in the steps of a perfect Exemplar; and Christ is that. And, last and best of all, it is delightful to live for Him who suffered and died on our behalf. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 2. Their fish stinketh – “Their fish is dried up”] For tibaosh, stinketh, read tibash, is dried up; so it stands in the Bodl. MS., and it is confirmed by the Septuagint, , they shall be dried up.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The general accusation delivered in the last words he now proveth by particular instances. When I came; when I, first by my prophets, and at last by my Son, came unto them, to call them to repentance, and to redeem and deliver them, as it is explained in the following clauses of this verse. No man that regarded and received me, that complied with my call and offer of grace, as it follows; whereby he implies that the generality of the Jews were guilty of gross infidelity and obstinate disobedience, and therefore might justly be rejected.
When I called; called them to repentance, or to come unto me, or to do my will, as masters call their servants.
None to answer; to come at my call, to obey my commands. Have I no power to deliver? what is the reason of this horrible contempt and rebellion? Is it because you expect no good from me, but think that I am either unwilling or unable to save you? Because you see no miracles wrought for you to save you from the Babylonians; and because my Son, your Messiah, cometh not with pomp and power, as you expect, but in the form of a servant, poor, and exposed to contempt and death; do you therefore believe that my power to deliver you is less than it was?
At my rebuke: this phrase is borrowed from Psa 106:9, and it is used Mat 8:26. At my word or command, whereby I rebuke and check its proud waves.
I dry up, Heb. I will dry up; or, I can dry up; the future verb being put potentially. As I did it once, so I can and will do it again, when occasion requires it. I make the rivers a wilderness; as dry and fit for travel as a wilderness.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2. IMessiah.
no manwilling tobelieve in and obey Me (Isa 52:1;Isa 52:3). The same Divine Personhad “come” by His prophets in the Old Testament (appealingto them, but in vain, Jer 7:25;Jer 7:26), who was about to comeunder the New Testament.
hand shortenedtheOriental emblem of weakness, as the long stretched-out hand isof power (Isa 59:1).Notwithstanding your sins, I can still “redeem” you fromyour bondage and dispersion.
dry up . . . sea (Ex14:21). The second exodus shall exceed, while it resembles inwonders, the first (Isa 11:11;Isa 11:15; Isa 51:15).
make . . . rivers . . .wildernessturn the prosperity of Israel’s foes into adversity.
fish stinkeththe veryjudgment inflicted on their Egyptian enemies at the first exodus(Exo 7:18; Exo 7:21).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Wherefore, when I came, was there no man?…. The Targum is,
“why have I sent my prophets, and they are not converted?”
And so Aben Ezra and Kimchi interpret it of the prophets that prophesied unto them, to bring them to repentance: the Lord might be said to come by his prophets, his messengers; but they did not receive them, nor their messages, but despised and rejected them, and therefore were carried captive, 2Ch 36:15, but it is best to understand it of the coming of Christ in the flesh; when there were none that would receive, nor even come to him, but hid their faces from him, nor suffer others to be gathered unto him, or attend his ministry; they would neither go in themselves into the kingdom of the Messiah, nor let others go in that were entering, Joh 1:11,
when I called, was there none to answer? he called them to the marriage feast, to his word and ordinances, but they made light of it, and went about their worldly business; many were called externally in his ministry, but few were chosen, and effectually wrought upon; he called, but there was no answer given; for there was no internal principle in them, no grace to answer to the call; he stretched out his hands to a rebellious and gainsaying people, Mt 22:2,
is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? they did not know him to be the mighty God; they took him to be a mere man; and being descended from such mean parents, and making such a mean appearance, they could not think he was able to be their Redeemer and Saviour; but that he had sufficient ability appears by what follows:
behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea; he was able to do it, and did do it for the children of Israel, and made a passage through the Red sea for them, as on dry land; which was done by a strong east wind he caused to blow, here called his “rebuke”, Ex 14:20, of Christ’s rebuking the sea, see Mt 8:26.
I make the rivers a wilderness; as dry as the wilderness, and parched ground; in which persons may pass as on dry ground, and as travellers pass through a wilderness; so Jordan was made for the Israelites, Jos 3:17, and may be here particularly meant; called “rivers” because of the excellency of it, and the abundance of water in it, which sometimes overflowed its banks; and because other rivers fall into it, as Kimchi observes:
their flesh stinketh because there is no water, and dieth for thirst; as they did when the rivers of Egypt were turned into blood, Ex 7:21.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The radical sin, however, which has lasted from the time of the captivity down to the present time, is disobedience to the word of God. This sin brought upon Zion and her children the judgment of banishment, and it was this which made it last so long. “Why did I come, and there was no one there? Why did I call, and there was no one who answered? Is my hand too short to redeem? or is there no strength in me to deliver? Behold, through my threatening I dry up the sea; turn streams into a plain: their fish rot, because there is no water, and die for thirst. I clothe the heavens in mourning, and make sackcloth their covering.” Jehovah has come, and with what? It follows, from the fact of His bidding them consider, that His hand is not too short to set Israel loose and at liberty, that He is not so powerless as to be unable to draw it out; that He is the Almighty, who by His mere threatening word (Psa 106:9; Psa 104:7) can dry up the sea, and turn streams into a hard and barren soil, so that the fishes putrefy for want of water (Exo 7:18, etc.), and die from thirst ( thamoth a voluntative used as an indicative, as in Isa 12:1, and very frequently in poetical composition); who can clothe the heavens in mourning, and make sackcloth their (dull, dark) covering (for the expression itself, compare Isa 37:1-2); who therefore, fiat applicatio , can annihilate the girdle of waters behind which Babylon fancies herself concealed (see Isa 42:15; Isa 44:27), and cover the empire, which is now enslaving and torturing Israel, with a sunless and starless night of destruction (Isa 13:10). It follows from all this, that He has come with a gospel of deliverance from sin and punishment; but Israel has given no answer, has not received this message of salvation with faith, since faith is assent to the word of God. And in whom did Jehovah come? Knobel and most of the commentators reply, “in His prophets.” This answer is not wrong, but it does not suffice to show the connection between what follows and what goes before. For there it is one person who speaks; and who is that, but the servant of Jehovah, who is introduced in these prophecies with dramatic directness, as speaking in his own name? Jehovah has come to His people in His servant. We know who was the servant of Jehovah in the historical fulfilment. It was He whom even the New Testament Scriptures describe as , especially in the Acts (Act 3:13, Act 3:26; Act 4:27, Act 4:30). It was not indeed during the Babylonian captivity that the servant of Jehovah appeared in Israel with the gospel of redemption; but, as we shall never be tired of repeating, this is the human element in these prophecies, that they regard the appearance of the “servant of Jehovah,” the Saviour of Israel and the heathen, as connected with the captivity: the punishment of Israel terminating, according to the law of the perspective foreshortening of prophetic vision, with the termination of the captivity – a connection which we regard as one of the strongest confirmations of the composition of these addresses before the captivity, as well as of Isaiah’s authorship. But this does not destroy the in them, inasmuch as the time at which Jesus appeared was not only similar to that of the Babylonian captivity, but stood in a causal connection with it, since the Roman empire was the continuation of the Babylonian, and the moral state of the people under the iron arm of the Roman rule resembled that of the Babylonian exiles (Eze 2:6-7). At the same time, whatever our opinion on this point may be, it is perfectly certain that it is to the servant of Jehovah, who was seen by the prophet in connection with the Babylonian captivity, that the words “wherefore did I come” refer.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
2. Why did I come? This might be a reason assigned, that the people have not only brought upon themselves all immense mass of evils by provoking God’s anger, but have likewise, by their obstinacy, cut off the hope of obtaining pardon and salvation. But I think that God proceeds still further. After having explained that he had good reason for divorcing the people, because they had of their own accord given themselves up to bondage, when they might have been free, he adds that still it is not he who prevents them from being immediately set at liberty. As he shewed, in the former verse, that the whole blame rests with the Jews, so now he declares that it arises from their own fault that they grow old and rot in their distresses; for the Lord was ready to assist them, if they had not rejected his grace and kindness. In a word, he shows that both the beginning and the progress of the evil arise from the fault of the people, in order that he may free God from all blame, and may shew that the Jews act wickedly in accusing him as the author of evil, or in complaining that he will not assist them.
First, then, the Lord says that he “came;” and why, but that he might stretch out his hand to the Jews? Whence it follows that they are justly deprived; for they would not receive his grace. Now, the Lord is said to “come,” when he gives any token of his presence. He approaches by the preaching of the Word, and he approaches also by various benefits which he bestows on us, and by the tokens which he employs for manifesting his fatherly kindness toward us.
“
Was there ever any people,” as Moses says, “that saw so many signs, and heard the voice of God speaking, like this people?” (Deu 4:33.)
Constant invitation having been of no advantage to them, when he held out the hope of pardon and exhorted them to repentance, it is with good reason that he speaks of it as a monstrous thing, and asks why there was no man to meet him. They are therefore held to be convicted of ingratitude, because, while they ought to have sought God, they did not even choose to meet him when he came; for it is an instance of extreme ingratitude to refuse to accept the grace of God which is freely offered.
Why did I call, and no one answered? In the word call there is a repetition of the same statement in different words. When God “calls,” we ought to be ready and submissive; for this is the “answer” which, he complains, was refused to him; that is, we ought to yield implicitly to his word. But this expression applies strictly to the matter now in hand; because God, when he offered a termination to their distresses, was obstinately despised, as if he had spoken to the deaf and dumb. Hence he infers that on themselves lies the blame of not having been sooner delivered; and he supports this by former proofs, because he had formerly shewn to the fathers that he possessed abundance of power to assist them. Again, that they may not cavil and excuse themselves by saying that they had not obtained salvation, though they heartily desired it, he maintains, on the other hand, that the cause of the change ought to be sought somewhere else than in him, (for his power was not at all diminished,) and therefore that he would not have delayed to stretch out his hand to them in distress, if they had not wickedly refused his aid.
By shortening hath my hand been shortened? By this interrogation he expresses greater boldness, as if he were affirming what could not be called in question; for who would venture to plead against God that his power was diminished? He therefore relates how powerfully he rescued his people out of Egypt, that they may not now imagine that he is less powerful, but may acknowledge that their sins were the hinderance. (14) He says that by his reproof he “dried up the sea,” as if he had struck terror by a threatening word; for by his authority, and at his command, the seas were divided, so that a passage was opened up, (Exo 14:21,) and Jordan was driven back. (Jos 3:16.) The consequence was, that “the fishes,” being deprived of water, died and putrified.
(14) “ Ains recognoissent que leurs vices empeschent que ceste puissance ne se monstre;” “But may acknowledge that their sins hinder that power from being manifested.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(2) Wherefore, when I came . . .?The coming of Jehovah must be taken in all its width of meaning. He came in the deliverance from Babylon, in a promise of still greater blessings, in the fullest sense, in and through His Servant, and yet none came to help in the work, or even to receive the message. (Comp. Isa. 63:3.) Not that He needed human helpers. In words that remind us, in their sequence, of the phenomena of the plagues of Egypt, the prophet piles up the mighty works of which He is capable. The words are echoed in Rev. 6:12; Rev. 8:9; Rev. 8:12.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2. Wherefore, when I came no man No man of you answers to my call when I come to my people. Guilt is timid, and shrinks out of sight. It feels condemnation, not confidence. Is this your case?
Is my hand shortened That is, cut off, and thus disabled.
That it cannot redeem Cannot rescue and redeem my own when they stray and get enslaved.
Behold, at my rebuke God’s kindly providence is always over his people, as against others hostile to them. Instances: the Red Sea deliverance; the retention of waters in desert wady-trunks, when winter is gone and summer drought has come; such as Wady Feiran, near Sinai; but other wadies become all dry, yet new founts are opened where not known before.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 50:2 Wherefore, when I came, [was there] no man? when I called, [was there] none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because [there is] no water, and dieth for thirst.
Ver. 2. Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? ] Christ “came unto his own, but his own received him not.” Joh 1:11 This was condemnation, Joh 3:19 their rebelling against the light of the gospel; this was the great offence, the damning sin, the very cause of their utter rejection.
Is my hand shortened at all?
Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Wherefore . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis.
when I came. Messiah speaks.
no man. See Joh 1:11. Compare Jer 5:1. Act 13:46; Act 18:6; Act 28:28.
Is My hand shortened . . . ? Reference to Pentateuch (Num 11:23). Compare Isa 59:1. See App-92.
redeem. Hebrew. padah. See note on Exo 13:13.
I dry up the sea. Reference to Pentateuch (Exo 14:21). App-92.
rivers. Plural of majesty: i.e. the great river, the Jordan. Reference to Pentateuch (Jos 4:7, Jos 4:18). App-92. Compare Psa 107:33.
their fish stinketh. Reference to Pentateuch (Exo 7:18, Exo 7:21).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
redeem
(See Scofield “Isa 59:20”) See Scofield “Exo 14:30”.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
when I came: Isa 59:16, Isa 65:12, Isa 66:4, Pro 1:24, Jer 5:1, Jer 7:13, Jer 8:6, Jer 35:15, Hos 11:2, Hos 11:7, Joh 1:11, Joh 3:19
Is my: Isa 59:1, Gen 18:14, Num 11:23
have I: Isa 36:20, 2Ch 32:15, Dan 3:15, Dan 3:29, Dan 6:20, Dan 6:27
at my: Psa 106:9, Nah 1:4, Mar 4:39
I dry: Isa 42:15, Isa 43:16, Isa 51:10, Isa 63:13, Exo 14:21, Exo 14:29, Jos 3:16, Psa 107:33, Psa 114:3-7
their fish: Exo 7:18, Exo 7:21
Reciprocal: Jos 7:11 – transgressed Jdg 6:39 – dry 1Sa 12:9 – he sold 2Sa 14:14 – he devise 2Ch 6:26 – there is no rain Ezr 7:6 – according to Psa 31:5 – thou Psa 105:29 – General Son 5:6 – but my Isa 11:15 – utterly Isa 42:24 – General Isa 63:5 – looked Isa 64:7 – there is Jer 5:22 – placed Jer 7:27 – also Jer 14:9 – cannot Jer 35:14 – but ye Jer 35:17 – because Jon 2:10 – General Mic 1:5 – the transgression of Jacob Mic 2:7 – is Hab 3:8 – the Lord Zec 7:13 – as Mat 8:26 – and rebuked Mat 22:46 – no Mat 23:37 – and ye Luk 8:24 – he arose Luk 13:34 – how Luk 24:44 – in the prophets Joh 3:11 – ye Joh 3:32 – and no Joh 5:40 – ye will not Rev 16:4 – and they
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 50:2-3. Wherefore, &c. The general accusation, delivered in the last words, he now proves by particular instances: When I came was there no man. How comes it to pass, that, when I sent to you by my servants the prophets, there was no man that regarded my message and offer of grace, and complied with my will? Whereby he implies that the generality of the Jews were guilty of gross infidelity and obstinate disobedience, and therefore might justly be rejected. When I called them to repentance and reformation, there was none to come None to come at my call, or to obey my commands. Is my hand shortened at all, &c. What is the reason of this contempt and rebellion? Is it because you expect no good from me, but think I am either unwilling or unable to save you? Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea At my word or command I can not only check its proud waves, but make its channel dry. Here, for a proof of his power, God appeals to the miracles he wrought in Egypt, at the Red sea, and at Jordan. I make the rivers a wilderness As dry and fit for travelling over as a wilderness. I clothe the heavens with blackness Or, I will, or can clothe, &c. What I once did in Egypt when I drew thick curtains before all the heavenly lights, and caused an unparalleled and amazing darkness to take place for three successive days, to the great terror of my enemies, so I can and will do still, when it is necessary to save my people. And therefore you have no reason to distrust me. And I make sackcloth their covering I cover them with clouds as black as sackcloth.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
50:2 {d} Why, when I came, [was there] no man? when I called, [was there] none to answer? Is my hand {e} shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish smelleth rotten, because [there is] no water, and dieth for thirst.
(d) He came by his prophets and ministers, but they would not believe their doctrine and convert.
(e) Am I not able to help you, as I have helped your fathers of old, when I dried up the Red sea, and killed the fish in the rivers, and also afterward in Jordan?
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The proof of God’s strength is His control over nature. The nature miracles of Jesus proved His deity (cf. Mat 8:27; Mat 14:33). In spite of the vast amount of water in the sea, God can dry up the sea. Even though the sky above is apparently limitless, He can make it dark. The images here recall the Creation and the Exodus (cf. Exo 15:16; Deu 26:8, Psa 77:15), but the point is that God has the power to change anything as He chooses.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The Lord asked two more questions of His people that amount to one. Note the prominence of questions as a teaching device in this chapter (Isa 50:1-2; Isa 50:8-11). Why had they not responded to His calls for repentance and faith (which came through the prophets)? Had they done so, He implied, He would not have sold them into captivity. Was His lack of deliverance when they called to Him for help the result of His inability to save them? No, He could reach them, and He was strong enough to save them. The figure of God’s hand saving shows that God Himself saves. This is the first of several references to the Lord’s hand or arm in Isaiah, a common figure in the Old Testament for strength (cf. Isa 51:5; Isa 51:9; Isa 52:10; Isa 53:1). As Isaiah would reveal, the Lord’s power was great enough not only to rescue the Israelites from captivity, but to provide salvation from sin.