3<\/strong>. For from the beginning<\/em>, render beforehand<\/strong>, or (as R.V.) “from of old.”<\/p>\n they<\/em> (the predictions) went forth out of my mouth I did<\/em> them] brought the events to pass; the r’shnth<\/em> including both the predictions and their historical fulfilments (see on ch. Isa 41:22<\/span>).<\/p>\n I have declared the former things – <\/B>That is, in former times I have predicted future events by the prophets, which have come to pass as they were foretold. Though the fulfillment might have appeared to be long delayed, yet it came to pass at the very time, showing it to be an exact fulfillment of the prophecy. The design of thus referring to the former predictions is, to remind them of their proneness to disregard his declarations, and to recall to their attention the fact that all that he said would be certainly accomplished. As a people, they had been prone to disbelieve his word. He saw that the same thing would take place in Babylon, and that there also they would disbelieve his prophecies about raising up Cyrus, and restoring them to their own land. He therefore endeavors to anticipate this, by reminding them of their former unbelief, and of the fact that all that he had foretold in former times had come to pass.<\/P> From the beginning – <\/B>In regard to this, and the meaning of the phrase, the former things, see the notes at Isa 41:22<\/span>; Isa 43:9<\/span>. The phrase. former things, refers to the things which precede others; the series, or order of events.<\/P> I did them suddenly – <\/B>They came to pass at an unexpected time; when you were not looking for them, and when perhaps you were doubting whether they would occur, or were calling in question the divine veracity. The idea is, that God in like manner would, certainly, and suddenly, accomplish his predictions about Babylon, and their release from their captivity.<\/P> <\/p>\n Isa 48:3<\/span><\/p>\n I have declared the former things from the beginning<\/em><\/p>\n The probability and use of inspired predictions<\/strong><\/p>\n It is quite plain that ANY BEING THAT IS DISTINGUISHED ABOVE OTHERS MUST BE EXALTED EITHER BY KNOWLEDGE OR BY POWER, OR BY BOTH. If, then, God is to make Himself known to His creatures, it must be by some displays of this kind–by power, doing those things which they cannot do; or by intellect, making known those things which they cannot know. There is one advantage in these displays of God by means of knowledge, telling things that we could not know otherwise–that it addresses our judgment. Miracles seem to astound us; they may be supposed to throw us out of our calm self-possession, and to bewilder us by their wonders; but prophecies coolly address our judgment, without disturbing our passions, and enable us to exercise our reason in reflection upon these discoveries of the great superior Mind. Though we cannot tell exactly what preference we are to give to one or the other, some minds being most struck with the displays of power in miracles, others most with the displays of knowledge in predictions, yet we can easily see that these may concur and aid each other. Is it not probable that God will make Himself known to man? But is it not equally probable that if He tells us about a futurity and eternity, He will take some method of convincing us that what He thus tells us is true and will surely come to pass? <\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>A most important use of the inspired predictions of Scripture is, that you should study the Book that contains them. <\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>You should watch His providence, that you may see how it fulfils His Word. He that eyes providences shall never want providences to eye. <\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>You should learn from hence to admire and adore the omniscience and faithfulness and truth of God. <\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>Expect all that God has predicted both for time and eternity. (J. Bennett, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n I have declared the former things from the beginning; <\/B>those things which have formerly come to pass, which I punctually foretold from time to time before they came to pass; whereby I gave you full proof of my Godhead. <\/P> They came to pass; <\/B>what my mouth foretold my hand effected. <\/P> <\/p>\n 3. former<\/B>things which havehappened in time past to Israel (Isa 42:9<\/span>;Isa 44:7<\/span>; Isa 44:8<\/span>;Isa 45:21<\/span>; Isa 46:10<\/span>).<\/P> suddenly<\/B>They came topass so unexpectedly that the prophecy could not have resulted frommere human sagacity.<\/P><\/p>\n I have declared the former things from the beginning<\/strong>,…. From the time of their first ancestors, from the time of Abraham their father, to whom was declared what should befall his posterity; that they should sojourn in Egypt, be afflicted there, and come out from thence with great substance; that they be brought into the land of Canaan, and the inhabitants of it being driven out before them,<\/p>\n Ge 15:13<\/span>.<\/p>\n And they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them<\/strong>; they were told to Abraham by word of mouth; they were shown to him in prophecy:<\/p>\n I did them suddenly, and they came to pass<\/strong>; for very quickly these things began to take place, even in Abraham’s time; for his seed being a stranger in a land not theirs, and afflicted near four hundred years, must be reckoned from the birth of Isaac; and all which exactly came to pass as was foretold; not one thing which the Lord had spoken of failed; all was punctually fulfilled, Jos 21:45<\/span>.<\/p>\n After this summons, and description of those who are summoned, the address of Jehovah begins. “The first I have long ago proclaimed, and it has gone forth out of my mouth, and I caused it to be heard. I carried it out suddenly, and it came to pass. Because I knew that thou art hard, and thy neck an iron clasp, and thy brow of brass; I proclaimed it to thee long ago; before it came to pass, I caused thee to hear it, that thou mightest not say, My idol has done it, and my graven image and molten image commanded it.”<\/em> The word in itself signifies simply priora <\/em>; and then, according to the context, it signifies prius facta <\/em> (Isa 46:9<\/span>), or prius praedicta <\/em> (Isa 43:9<\/span>), or prius eventura <\/em> (Isa 41:22<\/span>; Isa 42:9<\/span>). In the present passage it refers to earlier occurrences, which Jehovah had foretold, and, when the time fixed for their accomplishment arrived, which He had immediately brought to pass. With a retrospective glance at this, we find plural masc. suffixes (cf., Isa 41:27<\/span>) used interchangeably with plural fem. (cf., Isa 48:7<\/span> and Isa 38:16<\/span>); the prophet more frequently uses the sing. fem. in this neuter sense (Isa 41:20<\/span>; Isa 42:23<\/span>, etc.), and also, though very rarely, the sing. masc. (Isa 45:8<\/span>). On gd <\/em>, a band, a sinew, but here a clasp (cf., Arab. kaid <\/em>, a fetter), see Psychology<\/em>, p. 233. N e chushah <\/em> is a poetical equivalent for n e chosheth <\/em>, as in Isa 45:2<\/span>. The heathen cravings of Israel, which reached into the captivity, are here presupposed. Hengstenberg is mistaken in his supposition, that the prophet’s standpoint is always anterior to the captivity when he speaks in condemnation of idolatry. We cannot draw any conclusion from the character of the community that returned, with regard to that of the people of the captivity generally. The great mass even of Judah, and still more of Israel, remained behind, and became absorbed into the heathen, to whom they became more and more assimilated. And does not Ezekiel expressly state in Eze 20:30<\/span>., that the golah <\/em> by the Chaboras defiled themselves with the same abominations of idolatry as their fathers, and that the prevailing disposition was to combine the worship of Jehovah with heathenism, or else to exchange the former altogether for the latter? And we know that it was just the same with the exiles in Egypt, among whom the life and labours of Jeremiah terminated. Wherever the prophet speaks of and , these names invariably include a tendency or falling away to Babylonian idolatry, to which he describes the exiles as having been addicted, both in Isa 66:17<\/span> and elsewhere.<\/p>\n Vs. 3-8: THE PRECAUTION OF DIVINE WISDOM AND FOREKNOWLEDGE<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. God understood well the undeveloped character of Jacob, (vs. 3-4).<\/p>\n a. He was obstinate.<\/p>\n b. His neck was stiff as iron; his forehead as brass!<\/p>\n 2. For this reason God foretold, from ancient times, what He would do for His people – which He fulfilled at the proper time, (vs. 5-6a).<\/p>\n a. Otherwise, they would have attributed His works to their idols!<\/p>\n b. They ought to acknowledge their transgression – even from the earliest times.<\/p>\n c. Henceforth, they should declare the wonderful works of Jehovah their Redeemer!<\/p>\n 3. God will show them “new things” – emphasizing that it will be something they could not have known, or even anticipated, from the past – lest they should claim to have known it already, (vs. 6b-7).<\/p>\n 4. Jacob did not hear (understand, or comprehend) the ancient prophecies because the ears of the nation were dull of hearing, (vs. 8).<\/p>\n a. From the very beginning he dealt treacherously – even with his own family.<\/p>\n b. He was called a “transgressor” from the womb! (Isa 44:2<\/span><\/strong>; Psa 51:5<\/span><\/strong>; Deu 31:27-29<\/span><\/strong>; Deu 32:16-18<\/span><\/strong>; Deu 32:28-29<\/span><\/strong>).<\/p>\n 3. Long ago have I declared the former things. He accuses the Jews of ingratitude, because they distrust God, who has given every possible proof of his goodness, in order to establish them in sincere confidence; and therefore he takes away from them every excuse, by saying, that “he declared the former things.” He appears to speak not of their deliverance from Babylon, but of other benefits which the Lord had bestowed on that nation; as if he had said that God began, long before this, to foretell to his people what would happen, and never promised anything which he did not perform, and yet that his people, after having received so many proofs, did not place confidence in his certain and infallible truth. <\/p>\n It may also be said, that the Prophet did not merely address those who lived at that time, but those who should afterwards live during the captivity, in order that, when this certainty arrived, they might consider that it had been already foretold. God intended that this prediction should be widely known, in order that, during their captivity, they might know that these things did not happen by chance, and that they might obtain some consolation. Isaiah therefore rebukes them, because, after having learned the truth of this matter from the event itself, still they cannot acknowledge the work of God, or place confidence in him. <\/p>\n And justly does he severely reprove and accuse them of obstinacy; for they resisted God, who stretched out his hand to them, and rejected his grace; they did not believe that they would have liberty to return to Judea, and, when the way was opened up, there were very few who had courage to return. Some thought that it would be better to remain in Babylon than to undergo the annoyances and dangers of the joumey. Others suspected that Cyrus had made a crafty proclamation of liberty to return, in order that, having ascertained their dispositions, he might oppress them or treat them with severity; and they did not take into account that God had foretold these things, and that they must unavoidably happen, and that no power of men could prevent them. Accordingly, I understand those predictions of which the Prophet speaks so as to include, indeed, the ancient prophecies by which God foretold to Abraham (Gen 15:13<\/span>) that his seed would be held captive, and would afterwards be restored to their former freedom, but that afterwards, in their due order, other predictions are added, which also followed at different times; for this also was frequently fulfilled, partly at one time, and partly at another. He shews, therefore, that the Lord predicted nothing which was not justified by the event. <\/p>\n (3) I have declared . . .<\/strong>Once more, for the seventh time, the prophet presses the fact of the Divine foreknowledge, not, as before, against the no-faith of the heathen, but against the little faith of Judah.<\/p>\n 3-5<\/strong>. <\/strong> I have declared <\/strong> Or, have announced. <\/p>\n Former things <\/strong> Former events, before they came to pass; or, as some suppose, “and they have come to pass” Isa 42:9<\/span>; Isa 44:7-8<\/span>. <\/p>\n Suddenly <\/strong> They came to pass so unexpectedly that the prophecy could not have been fulfilled through human means; at least, human sagacity could not have foretold them. The argument runs thus: Through my prophet I announced in former times a certain prediction for example, the destruction of the Assyrian army and it suddenly took place. Isa 37:36<\/span>. Human sagacity could not have foretold that event, nor could human means have brought it about. Not long past I predicted, not an ideal <\/em> fact namely, the raising up of a deliverer, Cyrus, for my people at Babylon it shall prove an actual fact. Other instances of prediction and fulfilment could be given. No idol system is equal to this. The facts of the past cannot be disputed. Because I knew<\/strong>, etc. I made former predictions and fulfilled them, because I knew that thou art obstinate<\/strong>, unbelieving, not easily convinced, with neck stiff as if made of sinews of iron. <\/p>\n Thy brow brass <\/strong> As hard and insensible to spiritual influence as brass. The fifth verse recapitulates, in order to confirm, the argument of Isa 48:3<\/span>.<\/p>\n Isa 48:3-6<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>I have declared the former things<\/em><\/strong><\/strong> The proof is here again drawn from the prediction of casual future events; either because this argument is unanswerable, and adapted to every capacity, or because Isaiah, while he proves the truth of the God of Israel by this argument, at the same time establishes his own authority as a prophet. See Jer 28:9<\/span>. The<\/em> former things, <\/em>mean such events as had been predicted, and were already come to pass; see chap. Isa 42:9<\/span> and more particularly those prophesies of Isaiah respecting the Jewish state, delivered in the former part of this book. The meaning of the last clause of this period, Isa 48:6<\/span> is, “Thou hast heard, <\/em>saith God, the whole of what 1 speak clearly foretold; which I would have thee diligently consider, <\/em>carefully look into, <\/em>and observe. <\/em>Thou hast also seen the remarkable completion of these predictions. Can there be then so great a perversity of mind in thee, as to deny either of these things, or to refuse to declare <\/em>and proclaim <\/em>them. But if you declare <\/em>and confess <\/em>them, as your conscience must compel you, you cannot but give to me, and me alone, the due praise of true divinity.” Our translation published in the reign of Henry VIII. reads this clause; Thou heardest, and behold, it came to pass;<\/em> and shall not you yourselves confess the same? <\/em>See Vitringa. <\/p>\n 2. THE FORMER THINGS AS FOUNDATIONS OF THE NEW<\/p>\n Isa 48:3-11<\/span><\/p>\n 3I have declared the former things 1<\/span> from the beginning;<\/p>\n And they went forth out of my mouth, and I 2<\/span> shewed them;<\/p>\n I did them<\/em> suddenly, and they came to pass.<\/p>\n 4Because I knew that thou art<\/em> 3<\/span> obstinate,<\/p>\n And thy neck is<\/em> an iron sinew,<\/p>\n And thy brow brass;<\/p>\n 5I have even from the beginning declared it<\/em> to thee;<\/p>\n Before it came to pass I 4<\/span>shewed it<\/em> thee:<\/p>\n Lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, 6Thou hast heard, see all this;<\/p>\n And will not ye declare it<\/em>?<\/p>\n I have cshewed thee new things from this time,<\/p>\n Even hidden things, and thou didst not know them.<\/p>\n 7They are created now, and not afrom the beginning;<\/p>\n Even before the day 5<\/span>when thou heardest them not;<\/p>\n Lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them.<\/p>\n 8Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not;<\/p>\n Yea, afrom that time 6<\/span>that<\/em> thine ear was not opened:<\/p>\n For I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, 9For my names sake will I defer mine anger,<\/p>\n And for my praise will I refrain for thee, 10Behold, I have refined thee, but not 7<\/span>with silver;<\/p>\n I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.<\/p>\n 11For mine own sake, even<\/em> for mine own sake, will I do it<\/em>:<\/p>\n For how should my name<\/em> be polluted?<\/p>\n And I will not give my glory unto another.<\/p>\n TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL<\/strong><\/p>\n See List<\/em> for the recurrence of the words: Isa 48:3<\/span>. . Isa 48:5<\/span>. . Isa 48:9<\/span>. . Isa 48:10<\/span>..<\/p>\n Isa 48:1<\/span>. is properly=from that time hitherto. But stands here, according to Hebrew usage, as designation of the term, a quo<\/em>. We may therefore boldly translate by then, at that time, as a reference to time long past.<\/p>\n Isa 48:7<\/span>. is = ante hunc diem<\/em>, comp. Isa 43:13<\/span>. before is demonstrative.<\/p>\n Isa 48:8<\/span>. is causative Piel=to make an opening, i.e<\/em>., to open ones-self to the report, to hear the report, comp. for the causative use Isa 60:11<\/span>; Psa 116:6<\/span>.The expression as in Isa 58:12<\/span>; Isa 61:3<\/span>; Isa 62:2<\/span>.<\/p>\n Isa 48:9<\/span>. only Pro 19:11<\/span>; comp. Job 6:11<\/span> and the expression in the Pentateuch Exo 34:6<\/span>; Num 14:18<\/span>, etc<\/em>. Is to be supplied before , Isa 44:28<\/span>; Isa 46:5<\/span>., Arab, chatama<\/em>, Aram. , coercere<\/em>, frenum<\/em>, nose-ring. dat. Commodi<\/em>; Isa 40:10<\/span>.<\/p>\n Isa 48:10<\/span>. It is plain that the can neither be pretii<\/em>, nor that of accompaniment. It is (Hitzig, Delitzsch) the essentiae = in qualitate argenti<\/em>, in the quality of silver, i.e<\/em>., as silver. The only peculiarity here is the placing of the with the object (comp. Eze 20:41<\/span>; Psa 78:55<\/span>, Del.). properly means to choose. But as to choose presupposes a testing and confirmation, so in the Aram. stands directly for (Syr. bochuro<\/em> = explorator<\/em>). In Latin, too, probare<\/em> means not only to hold something to be good, but also to investigate whether it is good. So also here is used in the sense of (comp. Job 34:4<\/span>).<\/p>\n EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. I have declaredcommanded them<\/strong>. Isa 48:3-5<\/span>. These three verses express the thought, that from ancient times on, and before He gave this new prophecy that culminates in the name of Cyrus, the Lord had by prophecy and fulfilment proved Himself to be the true God. This is the seventh time the Prophet presents this argument. By , therefore, I understand priora, ante facta<\/em>. The Prophet, as it were, divides history into two parts: the old and the new. The new begins with the first prophetic announcements of events relative to Cyrus. The matter is important to the Lord hence he divides , I have announced, into two natural component parts: 1) the prophecy went out of His mouth, 2) it entered into Israels ear. Thus the fact of the prophecy is proved. And also the fulfilment. For suddenly ( is wont to stand for the initiation of the fulfilment, because the inward connection is hid from the eyes of men, comp. Isa 29:5<\/span>; Isa 47:11<\/span>) the Lord performed what was announced and the thing prophesied came about (comp. Isa 44:7<\/span>; Isa 47:9<\/span>). This course was necessary from the very first. It had always an eminently practical object. Because I know<\/strong>, says the Lord, that thou art hard<\/strong>, i.e<\/em>., stiff-necked, hard to convince and that thy neck is an iron sinew (, nervus, tendo<\/em>, spring, resort<\/em>), therefore hard to bend, and thy brow brass<\/strong>, thus impenetrable, obstinate,for this reason I announced to the at that time, long ago, so that thou mightest not say my idol (, general word, deus ficticius<\/em> in general, Psa 139:24<\/span>) did it, my graven image and my molten image (, Isa 41:29<\/span>) commanded it here (made it come, Isa 45:11<\/span>). Therefore the Lord here declares that in the past<\/em> even, thus in what has been indicated as the first period of history, by reason of Israels hardness of heart, and its being unimpressible by purely inward, spiritual proofs, and because of its desire for arguments that may be seized outwardly, He had found Himself obliged to establish His claim to be the only true God, by prophesying the future, and bringing to pass what was prophesied. In this the Prophet says nothing new. He only repeats what he has before set forth in various places (Isa 41:4<\/span>; Isa 41:21<\/span> sqq., Isa 41:26<\/span>; Isa 43:9<\/span> sqq.; Isa 44:7<\/span> sqq.; Isa 46:9<\/span> sq.).<\/p>\n 2. Thou hast heardfrom the womb<\/strong>. Isa 48:6-8<\/span>. With these words, too, the Prophet repeats essentially only something said before, viz<\/em>., what he had announced in reference to the new period of salvation to be inaugurated by Cyrus. The words to , Isa 48:6<\/span>, form the transition. manifestly refers to , Isa 48:3<\/span>, and , Isa 48:5<\/span>. It must be established that not only did the Lord bring those old prophecies to a hearing, but that they were actually heard. And would express that all relating to that, therefore the fulfilment also, has been heard. The emphatic (comp. Isa 33:20<\/span>; Isa 30:10<\/span>) would warn Israel not to treat the matter lightly. Only let it look narrowly, and it must confess that all in the previous period of history relative to prophecy and fulfilment was fully known. Will they not on their part feel impelled to declare and proclaim aloud what they have undoubtedly heard? In the entire section, Isa 48:3-11<\/span>, the Prophet steadily addresses Israel in the second pers. masc. sing. Suddenly in the single clause, , he passes to the second pers. masc. plur. The reason for this seems to me to be, that he has in mind here, no longer the ideal total Israel, but the concrete persons of his contemporaries and immediate hearers or first readers.<\/p>\n This appears to me to be one of the passages where the Prophet, who else lives wholly in the Exile, cannot help casting a glance at the actual present. If we might assume that chapters 4066 were to remain a sealed-up prophecy until the time of the Exile, then we would be warranted in saying that the words and will ye not declare it<\/strong> applied only to the exiles. But the numerous citations from chapters 4066, that occur in prophets after Isaiah but before the Exile, show that our prophecy even before the Exile must have been publici juris<\/em>. Hence I can only see in these words an exhortation that Isaiah gives to his actual contemporaries, viz<\/em>., to confess openly that the history of Israel hitherto is a proof that Jehovah can prophesy and fulfil. [And ye<\/em> (idolaters or idols), will not ye declare<\/em>, the same word used above for the prediction of events, and therefore no doubt meaning here, will not ye predict something? This is Hitzigs explanation of the words. In favor of this view is its taking in the sense which it has in the preceding verse, and also the analogy of Isa 41:22-23<\/span>, where the very same challenge is given in nearly the same form; to which may be added the sudden change to the plural form, and the emphatic introduction of the pronoun, implying a new object of address, and not a mere enallage, because he immediately resumes the address to the people in the singular J. A. Alex.]. As Israel itself must confess that it has learned to know its God as a prophesier and fulfiller, the Lord bases on that the further demand that they believe also the present new prophecy, and infer from it the proper consequences. Manifestly the , Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
I.<\/strong><\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>THE USES OF INSPIRED PREDICTIONS. These are various; many of them we have yet to discover. <\/p>\nFuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
And my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them.<\/p>\n
And wast called a transgressor from the womb.<\/p>\n
That I cut thee not off.<\/p>\n