Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 61:7
For your shame [ye shall have] double; and [for] confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.
7. The first half of the verse is harsh in construction; and the text as it stands is corrupt. The general sense, however, is sufficiently established by the second half: the prosperity of the future shall be a twofold recompense for the miseries of the past and the present.
the double ] in the same sense ( mutatis mutandis) as ch. Isa 40:2.
everlasting joy ] ch. Isa 35:10 (= Isa 51:11).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For your shame – That is, instead of the reproach and humiliation which you have been called to experience.
You shall have double – A double inheritance or reward (see the notes at Isa 40:2).
And for confusion – The word confusion here means the same as a blush of shame, and refers to the scenes of humiliation and sorrow which the nation had passed through on account of its sins.
They shall rejoice – There is here a change from the second to the third person – a change which is not unfrequent in Isaiah. The same persons, however, are intended.
In their portion – That is, you shall be permitted to rejoice in the augmented privileges which you shall enjoy. They will be more than a compensation for all the calamities which you have been called to endure.
Therefore in their land – This is to be regarded as addressed to the exiles in Babylon, and the promise is, that the people of God would be restored again to their own land, and to more than their former privileges and blessings there.
The double – Double of what they formerly possessed; that is, their blessings would be greatly increased and multiplied. Applied to the times of the Messiah, to which the prophet undoubtedly refers, it means that the privileges of the friends of God would be far greater than had been enjoyed even in the most favored times under the former dispensation.
Everlasting joy – (See the notes at Isa 35:10).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 61:7
Everlasting joy shall be unto them
The everlasting joy
We pore with intense earnestness over the words which picture the joys of the future.
Everlasting joy. What are its springs?
I. THE INWARD HARMONY, THE PERFECT ORDER OF THE BEING, THE CONCERT OF EVERY FACULTY AND FORCE IN THE FULFILMENT OF THE WILL OF GOD. That is the peace of God–the perfect peace. The redeemed man is the governed man; the man who has re-found the King who can evoke his loyal passions, and control and direct his manifold powers. This rule, the rule of his true King, has been lost to him through sin. This supreme, complete control of his being heaven will restore. An unsphered planet could be won back to the harmony of its sister planets only by the attraction of their common sun. The King has appeared and claimed His own. We know little of heavens occupations, the aspect of its homes, the modes of its speech, the forms of its life. We know only that the God-man is there, and reigns. He whom we can love with intensest passion, and serve with exulting joy, will meet us on its threshold, will sweep the flood of His attractions round every limb and organ of our being, and thrill us in one intense moment with the sense that we are one, that we are blessed.
II. THE FULL VISION OF THE GLORY OF GOD IN THE CREATION, the beholding of all that God has meant, and sin has marred, in the constitution of the worlds.
III. THE COMMUNION OF THE BLESSED–the joy of fellowship when the struggle and toil are ended for ever–the companionship of the elect and beloved–intercourse with the elder spirits who are before the throne. (J. R. Brown, B. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 7. For your shame – “Instead of your shame”] The translation of this verse, which is very confused, and probably corrupted in the Hebrew, is taken from the Syriac Version; except that the latter has not expressed the word mishneh, double, in the first place. Five MSS. add the conjunction vau to simchath. The Syriac reads taronnu, and tirashu, in the second person, “ye shall rejoice, ye shall inherit.” And for lahem, to them, two MSS., (one of them ancient,) three of De Rossi’s, and the Syriac, read lachem, to you, in the second person likewise.
The Version of the Septuagint is imperfect in this place; the first half of the verse is entirely omitted in all the printed copies. It is supplied by MSS. Pachom. and I. D. II. in the following manner: –
,
–
“Instead of your shame ye shall have double,
And instead of your confusion their portion shall rejoice;
Therefore, they shall possess their land a second time.”
In which the two MSS. agree, except that I. D. II. has by mistake , day, for , the part. And Cod. Marchal., in the margin, has pretty nearly the same supplement as from Theodotion. – L.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
For your shame ye shall have double: See Poole “Isa 40:2“. Supply honour. Though you have been little accounted of among your enemies, yet now you shall be greatly in their esteem, Zec 9:12; you shall have double damages.
In their portion, viz. of honour that God will give them; the same thing with the former: or, in their inheritance which God shall restore to them; and that either,
1. For worth and value through Gods blessing upon it. Or,
2. For room and space, and that possibly by reason of the few that will return to inhabit there, viz. only a tenth part, Isa 6:13; or that which he shall give them out of their enemys land.
Therefore; or rather, because; being rendered as a reason of their rejoicing, because of the doubling of their portion, in which sense it is taken Isa 16:14.
Everlasting joy; of long continuance here, and everlasting hereafter; or to be perpetually remembered on their anniversary festivals: though this had its accomplishment in their return from Babylon, yet was it most signally made good in that great change for the better which they should find in the gospel state, in the enlargement of Christs kingdom and increase of his people, with whom they should ever rejoice together.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. doubleInstead of your pastshare, ye shall have not merely as much, but “double” asmuch reward (Isa 40:2; Zec 9:12;compare the third clause in this verse).
confusionrather,”humiliation,” or “contumely.”
rejoiceThey shallcelebrate with jubilation their portion [MAURER].Transition from the second to the third person.
in their landmarkingthe reference to literal Israel, not to the Church at large.
everlasting joy (Isa35:10).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For your shame you shall have double,…. Or, “for your double shame” b; instead of being a reproach, a proverb, a taunt, and a curse, as the Jews now are everywhere; being converted, they will have double honour, both in things civil and religious, be in great esteem with Christ, and all his people:
and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion; instead of the confusion and reproach they have long lain under; or of that they shall be thrown into, when first awakened and convinced of their sin, of unbelief and rejection of the Messiah; they shall rejoice in Christ their portion, and in all those spiritual blessings they will see themselves blessed with in him; they will now have the double portion of the firstborn, they once were, and to which there may be an allusion, as some think; or, as others, to the double portion of the spirit of Elijah on Elisha; they shall now have the spirit of grace and supplication poured upon them, and all the gifts and graces of the Spirit bestowed on them, all which will be cause of joy and rejoicing to them:
therefore in their land they shall possess the double; not only in the land of the Gentiles, where they have suffered reproach, shall they have double honour; but in their own land, the land of Israel, to which they shall be restored; they shall enjoy great plenty of all kind of blessings, temporal and spiritual:
everlasting joy shall be unto them; for after this they shall no more be carried captive, or be dispossessed either of their civil or religious privileges; see Isa 35:10.
b “pro pudore vestro duplici”, Gataker, Vitringa; “loco pudoris vestri duplicis”, Piscator.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The shame of banishment will then be changed into an excess of joy, and honourable distinction. “Instead of shame ye will have double, and ( instead) of insult they rejoice at their portion: thus in their land they will possess double; everlasting joy will they have. For I Jehovah love right, hate robbery in wickedness; and give them their reward in faithfulness, and conclude an everlasting covenant with them. And their family will be known among the nations, and their offspring in the midst of the nations: all who see them will recognise them, for they are a family that Jehovah hath blessed.” The enigmatical first half of Isa 61:7 is explained in Isa 61:2, where m ishneh is shown to consist of double possession in the land of their inheritance, which has not only been restored to them, but extended far beyond the borders of their former possession; and yaronnu c helqam (cf., Isa 65:14) denotes excessive rejoicing in the ground and soil belonging to them (according to the appointment of Jehovah): c helqam as in Mic 2:4; and mishneh as equivalent not to , but to . Taking this to be the relation between Isa 61:7 and Isa 61:7, the meaning of lakhen is not, “therefore, because they have hitherto suffered shame and reproach;” but what is promised in Isa 61:7 is unfolded according to its practical results, the effects consequent upon its fulfilment being placed in the foreground; so that there is less to astonish us in the elliptically brief form of Isa 61:7 which needed explanation. The transition from the form of address to that of declaration is the same as in Isa 1:29; Isa 31:6; Isa 52:14-15. is a concise expression for , just as in Isa 48:9 is for . Chelqam is either the accusative of the object, according to the construction of , which occurs in Psa 51:16; or what I prefer, looking at in Isa 42:25, and in Isa 43:23, an adverbial accusative = . The lxx, Jerome, and Saad. render the clause, in opposition to the accents, “instead of your double shame and reproach;” but in that case the principal words of the clause would read . The explanation adopted by the Targum, Saad., and Jerome, “shame on the part of those who rejoice in their portion,” is absolutely impossible. The great majority of the modern commentators adopt essentially the same explanation of Isa 61:7 as we have done, and even A. E. Kimchi does the same. Hahn’s modification, “instead of your shame is the double their portion, and (instead) of the insult this, that they will rejoice,” forces a meaning upon the syntax which is absolutely impossible. The reason for the gracious recompense for the wrong endured is given in Isa 61:8, “Jehovah loves the right,” which the enemies of Israel have so shamefully abused. “He hates , i.e., not rapinam in holocausto (as Jerome, Talmud b. Succa 30 a, Luther, and others render it; Eng. ver. “robbery for burnt-offering”) – for what object would there be in mentioning sacrifices here, seeing that only heathen sacrifices could be intended, and there would be something worse than gazel to condemn in them? – but robbery, or, strictly speaking, “something robbed in or with knavery” (lxx, Targ., Syr., Saad.), which calls to mind at once the cruel robbery or spoiling that Israel had sustained from the Chaldeans, its boz e zm (Isa 42:24) – a robbery which passed all bounds. is softened from (from , ), like in Job 5:16, and in Psa 58:3 and Psa 64:7; though it is doubtful whether the punctuation assumes the latter, as the Targum does, and not rather the meaning holocaustum supported by the Talmud. For the very reason, therefore, that Israel had been so grievously ill-treated by the instruments of punishment employed by Jehovah, He would give those who had been ill-treated their due reward, after He had made the evil, which He had not approved, subservient to His own salutary purposes. is the reward of work in Lev 19:13, of hardship in Eze 29:20; here it is the reward of suffering. This reward He would give , exactly as He had promised, without the slightest deduction. The posterity of those who have been ill-treated and insulted will be honourably known ( as in Pro 31:23) in the world of nations, and men will need only to catch sight of them to recognise them (by prominent marks of blessing), for they are a family blessed of God. , not quod (because), although it might have this meaning, but nam (for), as in Gen 27:23, since hikkr includes the meaning agnoscere (to recognise).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
7. Instead of your shame. He confirms the former statement, in which he said that believers who, clothed with sackcloth and covered with ashes, mourned, shall be sprinkled with the oil of gladness. This change of mourning into joy is again promised.
There shall be a double reward. Some interpret the word double as meaning that they who have been redeemed by God shall be happy both before God and before men. But I do not know that there are solid grounds for that interpretation. I choose rather to adopt a more simple view; as if the Prophet had said, “The prosperity of the Church shall be so great as togo far beyond all the calamities and afflictions by which she is now oppressed.” If, therefore, she is now weary of her condition, she ought to look to that day when she shall be most happy, as Paul contrasts “an eternal weight of glory” with “the momentary lightness of afflictions.” (2Co 4:17)
And instead of disgrace they shall rejoice in their portion. Wicked men vaunt over us and indulge in wantonness, because they think that they have the superiority; but the Lord promises that ere long he will cause good men, rescued from their tyranny, to obtain their portion. This began to be done, indeed, when the people returned from captivity; but a clearer proof has been exhibited in Christ, and is exhibited every day, and will at length be completed at his last coming, when all things shall be fully renewed, and the wicked shall be thrown down, that we may obtain the inheritance of the world. This is the reason why he says, by way of acknowledgment, that the earth is the portion of those wicked men; for they now boast that they are the lords of the world, but they shall at length feel that it belongs peculiarly and specially to the children of God.
And they shall have everlasting joy. This may relate to the outward condition of the Church; ibr he daily supplies his people with ground of thanksgiving; but as they must also devour many griefs, and are surrounded by manifold sorrow, this prediction is not fulfilled but when joy of spirit reigns and holds the pre-eminence in our hearts, accompanied by that “peace which (as Paul says) surpasses all understanding,” (Phi 4:7,) which the children of God alone enjoy when they have the testimony of adoption, He calls it everlasting, in order to shew how greatly it differs from the joy of wicked men, which is momentary and quickly passes away, and is even changed into “gnashing of teeth.” (Mat 8:12.)
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(7) For your shame ye shall have double . . .i.e., double compensation for the suffering of years (comp. Zec. 9:12), the general idea passing in the next clause into a double inheritance of territory. See Note on Isa. 40:2.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. For your shame double The Hebrew is perplexing. Clearly another promise is here given, possibly pursuant to Isa 40:2. Instead of shame for past sin and punishment, ye shall have abundant recompense. The promise in its largeness of meaning is: Instead of the former meagerness of the dispensation out of which you have emerged, you shall have the ever-expanding glory of Messiah’s new and final order of things in this world.
Their portion they shall possess An enallage common to Isaiah, or a change from “your” to “their” occurs here. The same persons are intended. “Their portion” is the same as your “portion;” “they shall possess,” the same as you shall possess. The “double” means the far larger measure.
Confusion This refers to the disorders in general of the old state all the judgments of God on Israel’s sin.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 61:7. For your shame, &c. Instead of your shame, ye shall receive a double inheritance; and of your ignominy, ye shall rejoice in their portion: for in their land a double share shall ye inherit; and everlasting gladness shall ye possess. Lowth. See on the next verse.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Isa 61:7 For your shame [ye shall have] double; and [for] confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.
Ver. 7. For your shame ye shall have double, ] i.e., Plentiful reparation, double damages, as Job had. Isa 42:10 ; Isa 42:12
And for confusion they shall rejoice.
Everlasting joy shall be unto them.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
shame . . . double. Note the Alternation:
double = “double [honour]”. Not as in Isa 40:2. See note there.
confusion = reproach, or disgrace. everlasting joy. See note on Isa 44:7.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
your shame: Isa 40:2, Deu 21:17, 2Ki 2:9, Job 42:10, Zec 9:12, 2Co 4:17
everlasting: Isa 35:10, Isa 51:11, Isa 60:19, Isa 60:20, Psa 16:11, Mat 25:46, 2Th 2:16
Reciprocal: Isa 9:3 – they joy Isa 25:8 – rebuke Isa 29:22 – Jacob shall Isa 54:4 – Fear not Isa 60:15 – a joy Isa 65:13 – my servants shall rejoice Jer 16:18 – first Zep 3:11 – shalt thou Zep 3:19 – and I will Zec 8:12 – to possess Rev 18:6 – double unto
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
61:7 For your shame [ye shall have] {m} double; and [for] confusion {n} they shall rejoice in {o} their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the {p} double: everlasting joy shall be to them.
(m) Abundant recompence as this word is used, Isa 40:2 .
(n) That is, the Jews.
(o) That is, of the Gentiles.
(p) While the Gentiles had dominion over the Jews in times past, now they will have double authority over them and possess twice as much.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Instead of the shame that Israel suffered formerly because of God’s judgments on her, she would enjoy the double portion of blessing bestowed on the favored firstborn son in Israelite society (cf. Deu 21:17). As God’s firstborn son, Israel would enter into her promised bountiful and joyful inheritance (Exo 4:22).