51:1 Hearken to me, a ye that follow after righteousness, ye
that seek the LORD: look to the b rock [from which] ye
are hewn, and to the hole of the pit [from which] ye were
dug.
(a) He comforts the Church, that they would not be
discouraged for their small number.
(b) That is, to Abraham, of whom you were begotten, and to
Sarah of whom we were born.
51:3 For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her
waste places; and he will make her wilderness c like
Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and
gladness shall be found in it, thanksgiving, and the voice
of melody.
51:4 Hearken to me, my people; and give ear to me, O my nation:
for a d law shall proceed from me, and I will make my
judgment to rest for a light of the people.
(d) I will rule and govern my Church by my word and
doctrine.
51:5 My e righteousness [is] near; my salvation is gone forth,
and my f arms shall judge the people; the isles shall
wait upon me, and on my arm shall they trust.
(e) The time that I will accomplish my promise.
(f) My power and strength.
51:6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth
beneath: for the g heavens shall vanish away like smoke,
and the earth shall become old like a garment, and its
inhabitants shall die in like manner: but my salvation
shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be
abolished.
(g) Forewarns them of the horrible changes and mutations of
all things, and how he will preserve his church in the
midst of all these dangers.
51:9 Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O arm of the LORD;
awake, as in the ancient days, h in the generations of
old. [Art] thou not that which hath cut i Rahab, [and]
wounded the k dragon?
(h) He puts them in remembrance of his great benefit for
their deliverance out of Egypt, that by it they might
learn to trust in him constantly.
(i) Meaning, Egypt, (Ps 87:4).
(k) That is, Pharaoh, (Eze 29:3).
51:11 Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall l return, and
come with singing to Zion; and everlasting joy [shall be]
upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy;
sorrow and mourning shall flee away.
(l) From Babylon.
51:14 The captive exile m hasteneth that he may be loosed, and
that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread
should fail.
(m) He comforts them by the short time of their
banishment: for in seventy years they were restored
and the greatest empire of the world destroyed.
51:16 And I have put my words in thy n mouth, and have covered
thee in the shadow of my hand, that I may plant the o
heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say to
Zion, Thou [art] my people.
(n) Meaning, of Isaiah and of all true ministers who are
defended by his protection.
(o) That all things may be restored in heaven and earth,
(Eph 1:10).
51:17 Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drank at
the hand of the LORD the p cup of his fury; thou hast
drank the dregs of the cup of trembling, [and] wrung
[them] out.
(p) You have been justly punished and sufficiently as
(Isa 40:2) and this punishment in the elect is by
measure, and according as God gives grace to hear it:
but in the reprobate it is the just vengeance of God
to drive them to an insensibleness and madness, as
(Jer 25:15,16).
51:19 These two q [things] have come to thee; who shall be
sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and famine,
and the sword: by whom shall I comfort thee?
(q) Of which the one is outward as of the things that come
to the body, as war, and famine and the other is
inward, and belongs to the mind: that is, to be
without comfort: therefore he says "How will you be
comforted?"
51:21 Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunk, but
r not with wine:
