Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 60:6
The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall show forth the praises of the LORD.
6. A multitude of camels ] Cf. Eze 26:10; Job 22:11. The word for “multitude” is used of Jehu’s small escort in 2Ki 9:17. Perhaps “train of camels.”
dromedaries ] properly “young camels.” The word does not occur in the O.T. elsewhere; amongst the Arabs it denotes, according to some of the native lexicographers, a camel less than nine years old (Lane’s Lexicon).
Ephah ] a Midianite tribe (Gen 25:4). The Midianites are often mentioned in the O.T., although nearly always (except Hab 3:7) in connexion with the early history. In Gen 37:28; Gen 37:36 they appear as traders between the desert and Egypt (in another source Gen 37:25; Gen 37:28 they are called Ishmaelites); in Exodus 2, 18 we find them occupying the Sinaitic peninsula; in Numbers 22, 25, 31 on the east of the Jordan; in Judges 6-8 their hordes invade Palestine. Their proper territory is said to have been east of the Gulf of Akaba, where Ptolemy and the Arabian geographers mention a city of Madian.
all they from Sheba ] i.e. (probably) all those of Sheba; although the Hebrew accentuation implies that the subject is the “dromedaries of Midian”; hence R.V. “they all shall come from Sheba.” The meaning would then be that the produce of Sheba was conveyed by Midianite caravans. Sheba (Gen 10:7 &c.) is a people and country in Arabia Felix (Yemen).
gold and incense ] See 1Ki 10:2; Eze 27:22; Psa 72:15; Jer 6:20.
shew forth the praises of the Lord ] Lit. “proclaim the glad tidings of” His praiseworthy deeds; cf. ch. Isa 63:7.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
6, 7. The promise of Isa 60:5 is expanded in two pictures, seen from Jerusalem’s commanding position between the desert and the sea. The first is a procession of camels and flocks representing the tribute of the East.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The multitude of camels – Lowth renders this, An inundation of camels. The Hebrew word properly denotes an inundation or overflowing of waters, but it is not improperly applied to a numerous caravan or company of animals. The camel is a well-known useful animal that constitutes the principal beast of burden in Arabia, and that may, indeed, be said to constitute its wealth. It is frequently spoken of as the ship of the desert. The description here is strictly applicable to Arabia; and, undoubtedly, the prophet meant to say, that that country would be blessed with the true religion, and that her merchandise and wealth would become tributary to the church of God.
Shall cover thee – Shall come in such multitudes as to fill thee. and to be spread out all over thee. Thus we speak of a land being covered with flocks and herds.
The dromedaries – The dromedary is a species of camel that is found principally in Arabia, with one bunch or protuberance on its back, in distinction from the Bactrian camel, which has two bunches (Webster). It is found, says Dr. Shaw, in Barbary, though much more rarely there than in the Levant. It is chiefly remarkable for its prodigious swiftness; the Arabs affirming that it will run over as much ground in one day as one of their best horses will perform in eight or ten. The Shiekh who conducted us to Mount Sinai rode upon a camel of this kind, and would frequently divert us with an instance of its great abilities. For he would depart from our caravan, reconnoitre another just in view, and return to us again in less than a quarter of an hour. It differeth from the common camel in being of a finer and rounder shape, and in having on its back a lesser bunch or protuberance. (Shaws Travels, p. 240.) Hence, in Jer 2:23, the prophet speaks of the swift dromedary. The idea here is, that these fleet animals, so valuable to the inhabitants of Arabia, would come bringing their merchandise for the service of the church of God; that is, the wealth of Midian and Ephah would be devoted to him.
Midian – Midian was the fourth son of Abraham and Keturah Gen 25:2, and was the father of the Midianites. The Midianites are frequently mentioned in the Scriptures (Gen 37:28-36; Num 25:17; Num 31:2; Jdg 6:7-16; Jdg 7:23, Jdg 7:25, et al.) As early as the time of Jacob they were employed in traffic, and were associated with the Ishmaelites in this business, for it was to a company of these people that Joseph was sold by his brethren Gen 37:28. The original and appropriate district of the Midianites seems to have been on the east side of the Elanitic branch of the Red Sea, where the Arabian geographers place the city of Madian. But they appear to have spread themselves northward, probably along the desert coast of Mount Seir, to the vicinity of the Moabites; and on the other side, also, they covered a territory extending to the neighborhood of Mount Sinai (Robinsons Calmet). Generally, the names Midianites and Ishmaelites seem to have been nearly synonymous.
Ephah – Ephah was the oldest son of Midian Gen 25:4, and dwelt in Arabia Petraea, and gave name to the city of Ephah, called here by the Septuagint, Gaipha (Goepha). This city, and the small extent of country around it, constituted a part of Midian on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea, to which the territories of Midian extended. It abounded in dromedaries and camels Jdg 6:6.
All they from Sheba shall come – Sheba is celebrated in the Scriptures chiefly as the place from where the Queen of that country came to visit Solomon 1Ki 10:1; 2Ch 9:1. That it abounded in wealth, may be inferred from the train which accompanied her, and from the presents with which she came to Solomon. And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and much fine gold, and precious stones 1Ki 10:2. Whether it was the same country as Seba has been a matter of uncertainty (compare the notes at Isa 43:3). It is elsewhere Psa 72:10 mentioned as a place from where presents should be brought to Solomon:
The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents;
The kings of Sheba and Seha shall offer gifts.
It is usually mentioned as a place in which gold and incense abounded. To him shall be given the gold of Sheba Psa 72:15; To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba Jer 6:20; The merchants of Sheba were thy merchants Eze 27:22. According to Bruce, it was situated in Abyssinia in Ethiopa, and this has been the common opinion. It was south of Egypt, and the contact between Sheba and Jerusalem was not difficult; and probably a constant traffic was maintained between the two countries. In the time of the Mamclukes, before the conquest of Egypt and Arabia by Selim, a caravan constantly set out from Abyssinia for Jerusalem (compare the notes at Isa 45:14).
They shall bring gold and incense – That this country abounded in incense, see the passages of Scripture referred to above. On the meaning of the wood incense, see the notes at Isa 1:13. The idea is, that they would bring the most valuable productions of their country and devote them to God – perhaps designed to show that the wealth of Africa should yet be consecrated to the cause of the true religion.
And they shall show forth – These distant lands shall join in the worship of Yahweh.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 60:6-9
The multitude of camels shall cover thee
Commercial nations and nomad tribes aiding the Church
The nations engaged in commerce bring their wares to the Church; the tribe of Midian, descended from Abraham and Keturah (Gen 25:2), and of which the Ephaens formed a branch, dwelling on the east coast of the Elanitic Gulf in the town of Madyan, lying five days journey south from Aria (according to the Arabic geographers)–these come in caravans so numerous and so long that the country round Jerusalem swarms with camels.
All these, Midianites and Ephaens, come from Sheba, of which Viral says, solis est turea virga Sabaeis, and which, according to Strabo, was a populous country of ample resources, producing myrrh, incense and cinnamon. There (viz in Yemen), where spices, precious stones and gold are found, they have brought gold and incense; and these valuable gifts they now bring to Jerusalem, not as unwilling tribute, but with cheerful proclamation of the glorious doings and attributes of Jehovah, the God of Israel. As the trading nations come, so also do the nomad tribes: Kedar, i.e the Kedarenes, armed with bows (Isa 21:17), and dwelling infortified settlements (Isa 42:11) in the desert between Babylon and Syria; and Nebaioth (likewise of Ishmaelitish origin, according to Gen 25:23), a nomad tribe which, though still of no importance during the Israelitish monarchy, rose in the first century B.C. to eminence as a civilized nation, whose territory extended from the Elanitic Gulf to the country lying east of the Jordan, across Belka and as far as Hauran–for the monumental inscriptions they have left behind reach from Egypt to Babylon, though Arabia Petrcea is the chief place where they are found. The Kedarenes drive their flocks of small cattle, when collected, to Jerusalem, and the rams of the Naboteans, brought by this nation, ere placed at the service of the Church, and ascend, for good pleasure, the altar of Jehovah. (F. Delitzsch, D. D.)
Dromedaries
Properly young camels. The word does not occur in the Old Testament elsewhere; amongst the Arabs it denotes, according to some of the native lexicographers, a camel less than nine years old. (Prof. J. Skinner, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 6. The praises of the Lord – “And the praise of JEHOVAH.”] Thirty-three MSS. and three editions have uthehillath, in the singular number; and so read the ancient versions, and one of my own MSS.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The multitude of camels, i.e. the abundance of wealth and treasure that is brought upon camels; this being the creature the Eastern people used for carriage of their gold and spice, and other rich treasure, which are said to cover them; the like phrase with that Jdg 6:5; or whereby is understood those people that did use to ride on camels, as the Arabians and the bordering countries; for by these and such-like figurative and borrowed expressions in several verses, of this chapter is particularized several nations, and by them is implied the coming in of all nations unto Christ; and therefore they are brought in as presenting the choicest commodities of their respective countries, so that we may be the better excused from speaking particularly to them in their respective places.
The dromedaries; or, also or even the dromedaries, which are a lesser sort of camel, so called from their swiftness in running, to which they are the better enabled, because, as Pliny observes, they can endure thirst four days together: q.d. They shall make all the haste imaginable in bringing their riches to thee. Of Midian and Ephah: both these Midianites and Ephaites descended from Abraham by Keturah, Gen 25:2,4; they dwelt beyond Arabia; and camels are mentioned coming from hence, because of all places they were the most numerous here, Jdg 7:12.
Sheba: this Sheba descended from Cush, the son of cursed Ham, the son of Noah, Gen 10:6,7, from whom a certain country in Arabia Felix took its name, whose queen it was that came to visit Solomon 1Ki 10:1; and her bringing gifts might be a type of this, Solomon being a type of Christ, of which the wise men might be the first-fruits, Mt 2.
Shall bring gold and incense; the principal commodities with which this country abounded, and by which we are to understand whatever is precious; and frankincense is only peculiar to Arabia.
They shall show forth the praises of the Lord; the motive drawing them thither being more for religion than trade.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
6. camelsladen withmerchandise; the camel is “the ship of the desert” (compareIsa 30:6).
cover theeso many ofthem shall there be.
dromedariesThey haveone hunch on the back, whereas the camel has two:distinguished for swiftness (Jer2:23).
Midianeast of theElanitic branch of the Red Sea, and stretching northward along MountSeir. Associated with the Ishmaelites in traffic (Gen 37:25;Gen 37:28).
Ephahpart of Midian,east of the Dead Sea. It abounded in camels (Jud6:5).
Shebain Arabia-Felix,famed for frankincense and gold (Psa 72:15;Jer 6:20), which they traded in(Isa 45:14; Job 6:19;Eze 27:22).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The multitudes of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah,…. That is, multitudes of people riding on these creatures from the parts mentioned, which, abounded with them, should come and cover or fill Jerusalem, and the places about it. Midian was a son of Abraham by Keturah, and a son of Midian, Ge 25:4 these and their posterity inhabit Arabia; and so this is a prophecy of the conversion of the Arabians that dwell in Arabia Felix, Petraea, and Deserts; and so the Targum,
“a multitude of Arabians shall cover thee round about.”
A dromedary is a lesser camel, and swifter than the others; and both are very frequent in these countries, and used in travelling. Strabo y calls the Arabian Scenites feeders of camels.
All they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; Sheba was another of the posterity of Abraham by Keturah, Ge 25:3 and lived near the others; the queen of this country came to hear the wisdom of Solomon; but the people of it in the latter, day will come to a greater than he; even to Christ and to his church, and bring their gold and incense, as the wise men did to Christ, and shall honour the Lord with their substance; see Ps 72:10:
and they shall show forth the praises of the Lord; who has called them by his grace out of Mahometan darkness, into the marvellous light of the Gospel. These were the things the Sabaeans abounded with. Strabo z says, that frankincense, myrrh, and cinnamon, grew with them; and that they have such an abundance of spices, that they use the branches of cinnamon, cassia, and other things, for fuel; and that some of them are so rich through merchandise, that they have very sumptuous houses, and much furniture of gold and silver, as vessels, beds, tripods, cups with covers; and even that their gates, and walls, and roofs, are adorned with ivory, gold and silver, and precious stones. And so Pliny a observes: that the Sabaeans are very rich in fruitful and odoriferous woods, and in mines of gold, and other things; see
Eze 27:22. Vitringa understands both these clauses of the camels bringing gold and incense, and praising the Lord in their way, or being the occasion of it.
y Geograph. l. 16. p. 528. Ed. Casaub. z Geograph. I. 16. p. 535. a Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 28.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The nations engaged in commerce, and those possessing cattle, vie with one another in enriching the church. “A swarm of camels will cover thee, the foals of Midian and Ephah: they come all together from Saba; they bring gold and incense, and they joyfully make known the praises of Jehovah. All the flocks, of Kedar gather together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth will serve thee: they will come up with acceptance upon mine altar, and I will adorn the house of my adorning.” The trading nations bring their wares to the church. The tribe of Midian, which sprang from Abraham and Keturah (Gen 25:2), and of which Ephah (Targ. Holad , the Hutheilites?) formed one of the several branches (Gen 25:4), had its seat on the eastern coast of the Elanitic Gulf, which is still indicated by the town of Madyan, situated, according to the geographers of Arabia, five days’ journey to the south of Aila. These come in such long and numerous caravans, that all the country round Jerusalem swarms with camels. as in Job 22:11; and (parallel to ) from = Arabic bakr or bikr , a young male camel, or generally a camel’s foal (up to the age of not more than nine years; see Lane’s Lexicon, i. 240). All of these, both Midianites and Ephaeans, come out of Sheba, which Strabo (xvi. 4, 10) describes as “the highly blessed land of the Sabaeans, in which myrrh, frankincense, and cinnamon grow.” There, viz., in Yemen,
(Note: Seba ( , Isa 43:3; Isa 45:14) is Meroe generally, or (according to Strabo and Steph. Byz.) more especially a port in northern Ethiopia; Sheba ( ), the principal tribe of southern Arabia, more especially its capital Marib ( Mariaba ), which, according to an Arabian legend, contained the palace of Bilkis, the (see Exc. iv. in Krger’s Feldzug von Aelius Gallus, 1862). It is true that the following passage of Strabo (xvi. 14, 21) is apparently at variance with the opinion that the seat of the Sabaeans was in southern Arabia. “First of all,” he says, “above Syria, Arabia Felix is inhabited by the Nabataeans and Sabaeans, who frequently marched through the former before it belonged to the Romans.” But as, according to every other account given by Strabo, the Sabaeans had their home in Arabia Felix, and the Nabataeans at the northern extremity of the Red Sea, in Arabia Petraea, all that this passage can imply is, that at that part of Arabia which stretches towards the Syrian boundary, the expeditions of the Sabaeans came upon the Nabataeans.))
where spices, jewels, and gold abound, they have purchased gold and frankincense, and these valuable gifts they now bring to Jerusalem, not as unwilling tribute, but with the joyful proclamation of the glorious deeds and attributes of Jehovah, the God of Israel.
And not only do the trading nations come, but the nomad tribes also: viz., Kedar, the Kedarenes, with their bows (Isa 21:17), who lived in the desert, between Babylonia and Syria, in (Isa 42:11), i.e., fixed settlements; and Nebaitoh, also in Ishmaelitish tribe (according to the incontrovertible account of Gen 25:13), a nomad tribe, which was still of no note even in the time of the kings of Israel, but which rose into a highly cultivated nation in the centuries just before Christ, and had a kingdom extending from the Elanitic Gulf to the land on the east of the Jordan, and across Belka as far as Hauran; for the monuments reach from Egypt to Babylonia, though Arabia Petraea is the place where they chiefly abound.
(Note: Quatremre rejects the identity of the Nabataeans and the Ishmaelitish Nebaioth; but it has been justly defended by Winer, Kless, Knobel, and Krehl ( Religion der vorisl. Araber, p. 51).)
The Kedarenes drive their collected flocks to Jerusalem, and the rams ( , arietes , not principes ) of the Nabataeans, being brought by them, are at the service of the church ( a verbal form with a toneless contracted suffix, as in Isa 47:10), and ascend , according to good pleasure = acceptably (with the used to form adverbs, Ewald, 217, i; cf., l e ratson in Isa 66:7), the altar of Jehovah ( alah with the local object in the accusative, as in Gen 49:4; Num 13:17). The meaning is, that Jehovah will graciously accept the sacrifices which the church offers from the gifts of the Nabataeans (and Kedarenes) upon His altar. It would be quite wrong to follow Antistes Hess and Baumgarten, and draw the conclusion from such prophecies as these, that animal sacrifices will be revived again. The sacrifice of animals has been abolished once for all by the self-sacrifice of the “Servant of Jehovah;” and by the spiritual revolution which Christianity, i.e., the Messianic religion, as produced, so far as the consciousness of modern times is concerned, even in Israel itself, it is once for all condemned (see Holdheim’s Schrift ber das Ceremonial-gesetz im Messiasreich, 1845). The prophet, indeed, cannot describe even what belongs to the New Testament in any other than Old Testament colours, because he is still within the Old Testament limits. But from the standpoint of the New Testament fulfilment, that which was merely educational and preparatory, and of which there will be no revival, is naturally transformed into the truly essential purpose at which the former aimed; so that all that was real in the prophecy remains unaffected and pure, after the dedication of what was merely the unessential medium employed to depict it. The very same Paul who preaches Christ as the end of the law, predicts the conversion of Israel as the topstone of the gracious counsels of God as they unfold themselves in the history of salvation, and describes the restoration of Israel as “the riches of the Gentiles;” and the very same John who wrote the Gospel was also the apocalyptist, by whom the distinction between Israel and the Gentiles was seen in vision as still maintained even in the New Jerusalem. It must therefore be possible (though we cannot form any clear idea of the manner in which it will be carried out), that the Israel of the future may have a very prominent position in the perfect church, and be, as it were, the central leader of its worship, though without the restoration of the party-wall of particularism and ceremonial shadows, which the blood of the crucified One has entirely washed away. The house of God in Jerusalem, as the prophet has already stated in Isa 56:7, will be a house of prayer ( beth t e phillah ) for all nations. Here Jehovah calls the house built in His honour, and filled with His gracious presence, “the house of my glory.” He will make its inward glory like the outward, by adorning it with the gifts presented by the converted Gentile world.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
6. A multitude of camels shall cover thee. The Prophet describes figuratively the glory of the Church, and accommodates his discourse to the time, and to the persons with whom he had to do. We must keep in remembrance what we have often said, that the prophets took into account the people whom they taught, and therefore mentioned customary transactions and wellknown ceremonies, that, under the figures of them, they might describe the spiritual worship of God. The Jews must be first instructed, and afterwards the Gentiles, to whom the truth of those things has come; as if he had said, that nations far distant shall come, with their wealth, into the power of God; for, when he foretells that the Church shall be enriched, this must not be understood as referring to the persons of men; but, on account of the unity of the Head and the members, what belongs to God and to Christ is transferred to the Church. Foolishly, therefore, do the Jews, under the pretense of this prophecy, devour with their insatiable avarice all the riches of the earth; and not less absurdly do the Papists torture these words to support their luxuries, wealth, and magnificence.
He mentions “camels, frankincense, gold., and sheep,” because he has in his eye what each country produces, in order to show that all will consecrate to God whatever they shall have in their power, and will offer themselves and all that they have as a sacrifice. Hence it ought to be inferred, that we cannot be truly converted to the Lord, without offering to him all our faculties; for these are “spiritual sacrifices,” (1Pe 2:5) which he demands, and which cannot be refused to him, if our hearts be dedicated and consecrated to him in sincerity. (Rom 12:1) Wicked men abuse the gifts of God for luxury and intemperance, and corrupt them, as far as lies in their power, by unworthy profanation; but good men, by using them with a pure conscience, dedicate them to the Lord. No one, therefore, can belong to God without dedicating and devoting to him all that he has.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE GLORY OF THE GOSPEL CHURCH
(Missionary Sermon.)
Isa. 60:6. The multitude of camels shall cover thee, &c.
The primary reference is to the change in Jerusalem after the captivity. Instead of desolation there would be return of the life of a prosperous capital. The merchandise which had deserted it because there was no market would find its way back from all quarters. Arabia would again send its swift camels and dromedaries laden with spices and other products, &c. But glorious as this primary reference to material prosperity, it is surpassed by the secondary. Many of the terms can only be understood as contemplating the glory of the Gospel Church, which was to arise in consequence of the appearance of the Messiah and the accomplishment of His long-predicted work. View the text in this light, and observe some circumstances respecting the converts of the Gospel.
I. THEY SHALL BE DRAWN FROM AN EXTENDED AREA.
Keeping in view the wide geographical sweep of this chapter, it cannot be regarded as saying less than that the converts of the Gospel shall be derived from all the ends of the earth. Christianity is the true gospel of humanity.
1. It is needed by man universally.
2. It is adequate to man.
3. It is adapted to man.
4. It is intended for man.
II. THEY SHALL COME NUMEROUSL TO ITS ATTRACTION.
The prophet sees in vision these multitudes coming from various quarters. What is the centre to which they are attracted by an invisible but irresistible power? It is Christ (Joh. 12:32). Already, to a large extent, has this declaration been fulfilled. What multitudes have come to Him during many ages! In connection with the modern missionary enterprise, there is no quarter of the world from which representatives are not, in growing numbers, coming to the cross.
III. THEY SHALL BRING THEIR OF FERINGS TO His FEET.
They receive, indeed, a free salvation. But it is not intended to minister to their selfishness. It aims to destroy the old selfishness by the excitement of gratitude and love. Love wishes to requite the benefactor. Moreover, the experience of Christs salvation, contact with His love, begets a corresponding benevolence, which looks forth to the needs of others. They shall bring gold and incense. Each country and each man brings his own proper production and possession, and lays it at the feet of Him who emptied Himself of His riches for us. In the light of His redeeming love let each ask, How much owest thou unto my Lord?
IV. THEY SHALL CONTRIBUTE TO THE CELEBRATION OF HIS PRAISE.
Is not praise the expression of joyfulness? Is not joyfulness the experience of the Church when most fully consecrated to Christ? They shall show it
1. By their songs. The first love of the Church expressed itself in songs of praise. So did the Reformation. So does every revival. Missionary converts speedily develop a love of sacred Song of Solomon 2. By their lives. The changed life of every convert that walks consistently with his new profession is a perpetual showing forth of Gods praise. The worldling, the impure, the indifferent, the idolater changed.
3. By their testimony. In their turn testify for God and the Gospel. From personal experience speak confidently. Every separate convert a fresh seed of salvation.
By coming to Christ, consecration to Christ, living to His praise, will this be fulfilled.J. Rawlinson.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(6) The multitude of camels . . .The verse paints the commerce of the East, as Isa. 60:5 had described that of the West. For the camels and riches of Midian, see Jdg. 6:5; Jdg. 8:26. Ephah appears in Gen. 25:4 among the sons of Midian. Sheba keeps up its traditional fame for gold and incense (Psa. 72:10; Strabo xvi. 4, 19).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
6, 7. Multitude That is, a stream of camels, bearing presents to enrich Zion.
Dromedaries The camel is used for burden-bearing; the dromedary for fast travelling. Here presents are brought in reward for spiritual hospitalities, and glad tidings thereof are promptly sent afar.
Midian Ephah Sheba The two first named are thought to represent Northern and Central Arabia, and the latter Arabia Felix. Here the descendants of Abraham and Keturah were settled. Midian was their son, and Ephah their grandson. (Gen 25:2; Gen 25:4; Gen 38:28.)
Kedar Nebaioth (See Smith’s Bible Dictionary on these names.) These bring altar-victims, instead of seeking gain as formerly; and they all now volunteer themselves as spiritual tributaries. Their gifts, therefore, are received with acceptance With gladness, because unselfishly offered.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘The multitude of camels will cover you,
The dromedaries of Midian and Ephah,
They will all come from Sheba,
They will bring gold and frankincense,
And will bring good tidings of the praises of Yahweh.
All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered together to you,
The rams of Nebaioth will serve you,
They will come up with acceptance on my altar,
And I will glorify the house of my glory.
This is but the beginning of the list of those who are seen as responding to the people of God and the new Temple of God. It first looks to the east, to the fabled wealth of Arab and related nations, the travellers of the highway who trade and bring prosperity. Midian are regularly found south and east of Palestine, and were infamous for their subjugation of Israel in the days of Gideon, something of which Isaiah was very much aware (Isa 9:4; Isa 10:26; Judges 6). Now they themselves will come in subjection and worship, bringing their wealth with them. Ephah were east of the Persian Gulf, north east of Palestine. The combination with Midian would suggest inter-reaction between them as fellow trading nations. Sheba in the south east was famous as the place from which the Queen of Sheba came to Solomon in all his splendour, and was fabled for its wealth (1 Kings 10). Kedar in the east was renowned for wealth (Isa 21:16-17; Isa 42:11). Nebaioth are named together with Kedar in Assyrian records and may be the ancestors of the later Nabataeans.
And these will flock on their camels to ‘Zion’ in all its mysterious splendour bringing their riches there so as to present them before Yahweh, and telling of the triumphs of Yahweh as they speak of the wonderful things He is doing in men’s lives, ‘good news of the praises of Yahweh’. These travelling men were regularly those who carried good news (and bad news) from nation to nation. And they will bring of the abundance of their flocks and rams for offerings to Yahweh in His temple, and there those offerings will be acceptable to Him, a sign of the acceptability of those who brought them. And thus the house that contains His glory will be glorified and beautified.
The picture is one of triumph for Yahweh’s new Temple, seen as now standing, and therefore of triumph for Yahweh, and compares with Isa 2:2-4 as the nations stream to His house. It should certainly be seen in that context, as depicting something beyond present reality, and the same may be seen as applying here.
How then is this to be fulfilled? Firstly, as we have already seen, it was fulfilled through the returnees from the Exile loaded with Babylonian and Persian gold (Ezr 1:4-11; Ezr 6:3-5; Ezr 6:8-9; Ezr 7:15-22; Ezr 8:25-30; Ezr 8:33-34) and what they were to receive out of the tribute of the nations (Ezr 6:8; Ezr 7:21-22) and through wealth that flowed in during the more successful times of the Maccabees, to say nothing of what flowed in when Herod built his massive Temple. Many Jews, remembering this, saw it as something that would be fulfilled when the Messiah came and defeated their enemies and brought them in subjection to Israel. But they had not noted the nuances of Isaiah. For this was being brought to the everlasting kingdom, that kingdom whose light is the light of God Himself.
Many Christians see it as to be literally fulfilled in what they call a Millennium. But no millennium is in mind here. It is something which is eternal (Isa 60:20-21). Besides the thought of such an abundance of animal sacrifices (Isa 60:7), if taken literally, hardly accords with the picture of the non-bloody world described in Isa 11:6-9, and as we have already seen, the idea of ‘Zion’ in Isaiah regularly goes beyond the earthly. These sacrifices surely rather represent the Holy Spirit’s way of indicating the spiritual sacrifices of the New Testament Christian church brought to the feet of Christ (Rom 12:1-2; 1Pe 2:5; Heb 13:15), being here represented in Old Testament terms, (compare swords into ploughshares which we would have to modernise into tanks into tractors), together with their appropriating of the One great Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, made once for all, as the word of God went out to the Arab nations and many flocked to Christ in the centuries prior to their engulfment by Islam (after the light came the darkness), so that they gave their response to the heavenly temple as true worshippers of God. And finally it points to our eternal worship in heaven, and in the new heaven and the new earth, as we offer up to God our worship. The point being made is that they will make provision for the full worship of God in accordance with all that He requires. (It should be noted that in Isa 65:25 the non-bloodiness of Zion is specifically referred to).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Isa 60:6 The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD.
Ver. 6. The multitude of camels shall cover thee, ] i.e., Of such peoples as usually ride upon camels, viz., the Arabians and the adjacent countries; these shall come flocking and flowing to the Church with their precious and pleasant riches.
The dromedaries.
They shall bring gold and incense.
And they shall shew forth the praises of the Lord.
a Gratanti animo.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
The multitude = A stream.
Sheba. Compare Psa 72:10. Both descended from Abraham and Keturah.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
multitude: Isa 30:6, Jdg 6:5, Jdg 7:12, 1Ki 10:2, 2Ki 8:9
Midian: Gen 25:4, Gen 25:13
all: Isa 45:14, Gen 10:7, Gen 25:3, 2Ch 9:1, Psa 72:10, Psa 72:15
bring: Isa 61:6, Mal 1:11, Mat 2:11
they shall show: Rom 15:9, Phi 2:17, 1Pe 2:5, 1Pe 2:9, Rev 5:9, Rev 5:10, Rev 7:9-12
Reciprocal: Gen 37:28 – Midianites Num 7:84 – the dedication Deu 16:16 – and they shall 1Ki 10:1 – Sheba 1Ch 1:32 – Sheba 1Ch 1:33 – Ephah 1Ch 16:29 – bring Ezr 6:4 – the expenses Ezr 7:15 – the silver Est 8:10 – young dromedaries Psa 9:1 – show Psa 45:12 – with Psa 68:29 – shall Psa 68:31 – Princes Psa 96:8 – bring Psa 120:5 – the tents Son 7:13 – I have Isa 18:7 – to the Isa 23:18 – her merchandise Jer 6:20 – Sheba Eze 27:22 – Sheba Mic 4:13 – I will consecrate Zec 14:16 – that every Act 8:27 – a man Jam 3:13 – let
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
The abundance of things, in the form of earthly blessings, that will be poured into Israel, is given in much detail from verse Isa 60:6 of Isa 60:1-22. In that verse Sheba is mentioned, the land from which came the Queen, who visited Solomon with much gold and spices. When she arrived, as related in 1Ki 10:1-29, she showed forth the praises of Solomon. In the day contemplated in our chapter, “they shall show forth the praises of the Lord.”
This will come to pass in the way that is intimated in verse Isa 60:7. Not only will the altar of God be once more established, but the house of the Lord be in their midst. A century or two after Isaiah, the prophet Haggai predicted that, “the glory of this latter house” (Hag 2:9), or, “the latter glory of this house” (New Trans.), should be greater than the former in the days of Solomon; and so it will be. It is designated here as “the house of my glory,” and even as such the Lord Himself will glorify it. In the glorified house of His glory His praises will be seen and heard.
We pass from the house to the people in verses Isa 60:8-9. Today the Jews are returning to their ancestral home in their hundreds and thousands without faith in Christ. When God re-gathers His people it will be a quick and effectual work. They will “fly,” – a speedy work. It will be “to their windows” – like a bird returning to its home. And this they will do as “doves” – a bird noted for its meek and quiet spirit. The unconverted Jew of today may still be just as Paul described his own nation in 1Th 2:15, but the born-again Israelites, who will fly to their millennial home in the coming day, will be a repentant and meek people. The ships too of Gentile nations will carry them and their riches, acknowledging the name of Jehovah as “the Holy One of Israel.” Inasmuch as He has been glorified, He can now glorify Israel.
In result, the nations, instead of being antagonistic, will be the helpers of their fame and prosperity, as we see in verses Isa 60:10-12. As things stand today, nothing would seem more unlikely than what is here predicted; but we must remember that not only will there be a work of God in Israel, but among the nations also. In Rev 7:1-17, we have not only a vision of the “sealed” among the tribes of Israel, but of a great company of the elect, drawn out of all nations; and in Rev 21:1-27 we read of, “the nations of them which are saved.” Those who rebel among the nations will perish.
In result, Jerusalem will be acknowledged as, “the city of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.” It will have become what God intended it to be – “an eternal excellency” and “a joy.” But again the basis on which this will be accomplished is made very plain. All will see that it is not something produced by Israel but rather by the One who is their Saviour and Redeemer. Jacob, the schemer, and his posterity have nothing in which to boast. The Mighty One of Jacob alone has done it on the basis of redemption.
We read of the Redeemer coming to Zion in verse Isa 60:20 of the previous chapter, and noticed how the Apostle referred to this in Rom 11:1-36. We now see that the Redeemer is Jehovah. And in the New Testament it is equally clear that the Redeemer is Jesus. He who is the Arm of Jehovah is Jehovah.
In our chapter this is stated in verse Isa 60:16, and it is the fact that explains what otherwise would be a mystery; namely, the wealth and the glory, that will be poured into and upon Israel from the Gentile nations, as we see detailed in the verses that precede and that follow. We read that, “The nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish.” Why should such severe judgment fall? Because the Divine plan for the coming millennial age is that Israel shall be the central nation, surrounding His glorious temple, as a nation of priests, and that the other nations should be grouped around them, and expressing through them their submission and devotion to the King of kings. Should a nation in that day defy the Divine plan, they will perish. It will be the age of Divine government. We live at present in the age of grace.
In the latter part of Rev 21:1-27, we have described the new and heavenly Jerusalem, which is “the Lamb’s wife” – a symbolic description; of the church in its heavenly position during the millennial age, and if we compare with it the details of our chapter concerning the earthly Jerusalem, we notice certain similarities, and yet striking contrasts. The presence of the Lord is the glory of both cities. The gates of both are open continually to receive the wealth and honour of the nations. Both have an abundance of “gold,” and find their everlasting “light” in the Lord.
But the contrasts are more numerous. The gates of the earthly will not be shut day or night of the heavenly not shut by day – but the day is an eternal one, for there is no night there. The glory of the earthly will be the temple, described in verse Isa 60:13 as “the place of My feet.” Jehovah will have His feet On the earth; but in the heavenly there is no temple, for “the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.” It is the place of His presence rather than the place of His feet. The earthly will know a glory brighter than the sun; but the heavenly will have no need of the sun for the Lamb is the light thereof. Gold will be brought plentifully into the earthly; but in the heavenly it forms the street, and they walk on it. We think we may say that the difference is accounted for by the introduction, in Revelation, of THE LAMB.
But we can indeed rejoice in the description given us by Isaiah of millennial blessedness and glory, when righteousness and peace will mark the scene and violence will have disappeared, when the real walls of Jerusalem shall be salvation, and out of its gates shall issue praise. This will only come to pass when, as verse Isa 60:2 says, “Thy people also shall be all righteous.” That will only come to pass when the new birth, of which Eze 36:1-38 speaks, takes place. Then God will “sprinkle clean water” upon them, and give them “a new heart,” and put within them “a new spirit.” Then, “born of water and of the Spirit,” as the Lord Jesus put it to Nicodemus, they will see and enter into the kingdom of God.
When the children of Israel are thus born again and righteous before their God, through the grace of their Redeemer, they will be multiplied as the last verse of our chapter tells us. At last God is able to make of them “a strong nation.” When the time arrives God will do it speedily. It will not be a long drawn-out process, a kind of evolution, such as men love but a swift action, of a sort that manifestly is a work of God.
This attractive description of millennial blessedness is continued in chapter 61, but before it is resumed, the first three verses, forming a paragraph by themselves, instruct us further how all will be brought to pass. Here we have the passage that our Lord found in the synagogue at Nazareth, as recorded in Luk 4:1-44, and which He read, stopping in the middle of verse Isa 60:2, because there the prediction of His first advent ends. The fact is, of course, that for Israel, as for us, everything depends on His two advents.
The words that were read by our Lord all indicate grace, without any allusion to the law of Moses. There is a veiled allusion to the three Persons of the Godhead. In our Bibles GOD is printed thus in capitals because it is really the great name, Jehovah. So the opening words mention the Spirit of Jehovah, the Lord Jehovah Himself, and the “Me,” who is the Anointed One, or the Christ, who is sent to be the Proclaimer and the Minister of the grace. It is perfectly clear from Exo 19:1-25 that the words of the law were not “glad tidings.” There was, “the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.” The tragedy was that when a voice of exceeding grace was heard in the synagogue at Nazareth the people neither trembled nor rejoiced, but rose up with anger to kill the One who proclaimed “the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Hence the necessity of those words which our Lord did not read. The second advent of Christ in power and glory, and in judgment, is foreseen to be a necessity by the prophet here. The glorious state of things predicted will never be established till Christ comes again. He laid the foundations for it in the redemption accomplished at His first advent. He will bring it to pass in power, and with vengeance, at His second advent.
Vengeance is truly a terrible word when it comes from the mouth of God, and if we turn to verse Isa 60:4 of Isa 63:1-19 we shall find it referred to again. It means retribution exacted for wrongs committed, and all the wrongs that men have committed are primarily against God. A day is coming when God Himself will bring retribution on the heads of sinful men; judging “the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained,” as Paul told the Athenians, recorded in Act 17:1-34. When that comes to pass, it will “comfort all that mourn,” because their mourning will be not for their own personal troubles, but rather for the evil and chaos that will fill the earth, the sinfulness of men having then reached its climax. When men have filled the cup of their iniquity to the brim, God will strike by the advent of Christ. And to those who mourn, though few in number, what a comfort that will be!
Verse Isa 60:3 shows us what comfort it will bring such. Their previous state is described by the words, “ashes,” “mourning,” “the spirit of heaviness.” All will be changed for them. They will have “beauty,” “the oil of joy,” and “the garment of praise. “They will be planted as “trees of righteousness,” the trees of lawlessness and evil having been cut down, and in all this, and in them, the Lord will be glorified.
From verse Isa 60:4 the description of Israel’s blessings is resumed. Not only will the land be renovated, the desolate cities be built up afresh, and strangers who formerly despised them be their servants but the crown of all be their spiritual blessing. They will be the “Priests of Jehovah” and “Ministers of God” in the coming age, and as under the law the priests were supported by the offerings of the common people, so it will be for them, and that in abundant measure, for they are going to “eat the riches of the Gentiles.” In that day even the Gentiles will have abundance, and out of their riches will flow abundance to the priestly nation.
This is indeed a remarkable prophecy as to the end God is going to reach in His dealings with His earthly people. Verse Isa 60:7 speaks of shame and confusion, and these things have been their portion under the strong hand of their God, in holy government because of their manifold sins, but now all is to be reversed. Other passages have shown us how their whole condition spiritually will have been reversed, under “the everlasting covenant,” of which verse Isa 60:8 speaks. Based on the everlasting covenant will be the everlasting joy, predicted in verse Isa 60:7. All will have to acknowledge that now, as a born again people, they are “the seed which the Lord hath blessed.”
In the two verses that close this chapter the prophet himself speaks, as voicing the glad response that will spring from the redeemed and restored Israel of the millennial day. At last Jehovah their God will be known and gloried in with joyfulness. At Sinai and under the law, their ancestors feared and trembled before Him, since all depended on what they could do. Now they are joyfully alive to what God has done for them and with them. Notice how at this point the prophetic strain drops down to the personal and individual. It is not, “clothed us,” but, “clothed me.” Not, “covered us,” but, “covered me.” The language is figurative, but the meaning is clear. The individual Israelite of that glad day will be clothed with salvation, as the fruit of standing before his God in a robe of righteousness.
Though there is so wide a difference between the character of Israel’s earthly blessing and that of the church’s heavenly portion, the basis on which both rest is evidently the same. For them salvation is to be founded on righteousness, and so it is for us today, as is made so plain in Rom 1:16, Rom 1:17. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation because in it the righteousness of God is revealed, not acting against us but on our behalf by the sacrificial death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. It is revealed, “on the principle of faith to faith” (New Trans.). It is brought to us, not on the principle of works, which we have to perform, but of faith as opposed to works. And it is revealed, not to our sight, but to faith, where faith exists.
The believer today stands before God in righteousness divinely wrought, and his faith apprehends this, though there may be nothing of an outward sort visible to sight, save the new kind of life he lives as the fruit of his conversion. But in this connection too there is contrast, for outward and visible things will be clearly manifested, as the robe of righteousness and garments of salvation envelop the sons and daughters of Israel in that day. There will not only be the transformation in the land and cities, mentioned in verse Isa 60:4, but the righteousness will blossom forth in a way that will be visible to the eyes of all the nations to the praise of the Lord, who has brought it to pass.
So whether it be for the saint of today, called by the Gospel to a heavenly portion, or whether for the renewed Israelites of the future – salvation stands securely based upon righteousness. And because righteousness will be established praise also will “spring forth before all the nations.” It will be so obviously the work of God that the glory of it and the praise will be His.
In the first verse of Isa 62:1-12, we have the prophet speaking in the name of the Lord; or, perhaps we might say, it was the Spirit of Christ which was in him, speaking through him, in keeping with what we read in 1Pe 1:11. If the result of God’s work in Israel, and on behalf of Zion and Jerusalem, will bring such good to them and such praises to God, then there must be no rest until all is accomplished. Before the eyes of all the nations Israel will stand in a righteous salvation, which God Himself has wrought, and hence they will display His glory, and not their own. The figures used in verse Isa 60:3, are very expressive of this. Previously, how different the situation! The Apostle Paul had to write concerning them, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you” (Rom 2:24). Now they will be, “a crown of glory,” and “a royal diadem,” in God’s hand.
We, who today are called for a portion not only spiritual but also heavenly, may well rejoice as we contemplate what God will yet do for and with His earthly people; and at the same time we may yet more rejoice as we think of what is purposed for us. If we scan the first two chapters of Ephesians, what remarkable expressions we find. The blessing purposed for us will be, “to the praise of the glory of His grace,” inasmuch as it is bestowed, “according to the riches of His grace.” And further we discover that “in the ages to come” God is going to display “the exceeding [or, surpassing] riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”
When Israel is blessed, as Isaiah foretells, it will be a work of grace and bring much glory to God. But when the church shines forth in the heavenly glory of Christ, her Head, there will be a yet brighter display of grace. Those embraced in the church have been gathered out of the nations through the centuries; not a few of them human beings of the most degraded type.
Holy angels have witnessed the whole tragedy of human sin. When a saint is shining in the glory of Christ, that, they recognize, was once a naked, vicious, savage cannibal what will they say? They will surely confess that here is a display of SURPASSING grace.
And we, the saints of today, have the privilege of taking our part in God’s present work by the Gospel. Do we realize this? If we do, we shall not fail to take our place, under the Lord’s direction – whether to go, or to give, to speak or to pray, – while waiting for the glorious consummation.
Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary
Isa 60:6-7. The multitude of camels The treasure that is brought upon camels. By these, and such like figurative expressions in several verses of this chapter, is implied the coming in of all nations to Christ, and therefore they are brought in as presenting the chief commodities of their respective countries. The dromedaries Or, also, or, even the dromedaries; which are a sort of lesser camel, so called from their swiftness in running. For it is said by the Arabs that they will run as far in one day as their best horses will do in nine; and therefore they are chiefly used for riding: for which they are the more fit, because, as Pliny observes, they can endure the want of water four days together. Of Midian and Ephah The Midianites and Ephahites were descended from Abraham, by Keturah, and dwelt beyond Arabia, where camels were very numerous, Jdg 7:12. All they from Sheba A country in Arabia Felix, whose queen it was that came to visit Solomon, and her bringing gifts might be a type of this. They shall bring gold and incense The principal commodities with which this country abounded, by which we are to understand whatever is precious. All the flocks of Kedar Arabia Petrea, or stony Arabia, the people inhabiting which being principally shepherds. They shall come up with acceptance They shall not now, as heretofore, be rejected. I will glorify the house of my glory He alludes to the temple, but must be understood as intending the gospel church, built of living stones, of which the temple at Jerusalem, with all the splendour of its ornaments, and the whole multitude of its sacrifices and oblations, was but a typical or shadowy representation.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
60:6 The {f} multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall show forth the praises of the LORD.
(f) Meaning, that everyone will honour the Lord with that with which he is able: Signifying that it is no true serving of God unless we offer ourselves to serve his glory, and all that we have.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Gentiles will also come from other parts of the world bringing treasure to honor Israel. The visit of the wise men at Jesus’ birth suggests a fulfillment (cf. Mat 2:11). The visit of the Magi should have alerted Israel to the identity of Jesus. But again, the visit of the Magi to Bethlehem was only a foretaste of what Isaiah predicted would come to all Israel. Isaiah saw camels as thick as flies on meat covering the land around Jerusalem. These Gentiles will express thanks that Israel has brought the Word of God to them, in its written, spoken, and incarnate forms.