Isaiah 48:12-15

3.THE CONTENTS OF THE NEW THINGS IS REPEATED

Isaiah 48:12-15

12          Hearken unto me, O Jacob

And Israel, my called;I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.

13     Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth,

And 8my right hand hath spanned the heavens:

When I call unto them, they stand up together.

14     All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear;

Which among them hath declared these things?

The Lord hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon,And his arm shall be on the Chaldeans.

15      I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him:

I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.

TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL

On Isaiah 48:14. Expositors have made difficulty about construing זְרֹעוֹ as accusative, because “to perform Jehovah’s or His own arm “is an incomprehensible mode of speech even taken as zeugmatic (Delitzsch), Klostermann, too, (l. c., pp. 7,19) is of the opinion that to translate “He will accomplish his will on Babylon and his punitive work on the Chaldeans” needs a dispensation from Hebrew usus loquendi. זְרוֹעַ does, indeed, not mean “punitive work,” and this is not an instance of mere zeugma, but zeugma and metonymy. It is surely one of the most usual metonymical forms of expression in the Old Testament to put the arm for what is manifested by the arm, i.e., for the power or the might. Comp. Isaiah 33:2; Jeremiah 17:5; Ezekiel 31:17; Psalms 83:9, etc Moreover Isaiah 44:12 proves that the Prophet conceives of the arm, as also in Isaiah 45:9 of the hand, as the seat of power. Might not our passage read: יַעֲֽשֶׂה בְּבָבֶל וּנְבוּרָתוֹ כַּשְׂדִּים (or כֹּחוֹ חֵילוֹ חֶפְצוֹ? For one may very well say עָשָׂה נְכוּרָה for “to display strength, power” (1 Kings 16:27). Accordingly, if taken strictly, one need not even assume a zeugma, if the slight difference be not urged that exists between עשׂה in עָשָׂה חֵפֵץ and עשׂה in עָשָׂה נְבוּרָה.—There can be no doubt that the prefix בּ should be repeated before כַּשְׂדִּים.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

1. Hearken unto me——up together, Isaiah 48:12-13. The verses of this section are almost wholly a compilation of the chief elements of chapts. 40–47. The words שׁמע as far as מקראי are only a solemn introductory formula, containing an emphatic summons to give attention, in order to intimate the importance of the subject. Comp. Isaiah 48:1; Isaiah 44:1; Isaiah 46:3.—מְקֹרָא, “the called,” as regards the word, occurs only here; but as regards the sense it is essentially one with what we read Isaiah 41:9; Isaiah 43:1. A double calling is spoken of here: Of the ancient and original one which Israel received in the person of its ancestor (Isaiah 41:9), and of the future one when the Lord calls back His people from the Exile (Isaiah 43:1; comp. Isaiah 48:5 sqq.; Isaiah 44:22). Thus Israel is named מְקֹרָא as the doubly called people. In what follows the Prophet calls to mind first those fundamental facts that are a guaranty that Jehovah can foretell and fulfil the deliverance by Cyrus. They are 1) His absoluteness and uniqueness. As such He is הוּא, the He par excellence, the absolute subject. As such the Prophet has already named Him, Isaiah 43:10; Isaiah 43:13; Isaiah 43:25; Isaiah 41:4; Isaiah 46:4. Isaiah 46:2) His eternity, by virtue of which He is the first and the last. He has already been so called Isaiah 41:4; Isaiah 44:6; comp. Isaiah 43:13. Isaiah 43:3) The creation of heaven and earth, which also has been spoken of in what precedes, in the same sense, viz. that He who created the world can also foretell and fulfil Israel’s deliverance: Isaiah 40:12 sqq., Isaiah 40:28; Isaiah 40:28; Isaiah 42:5; Isaiah 44:24; Isaiah 45:12; Isaiah 45:18.

2. All ye, assemble——his way prosperous, Isaiah 48:14-15. The words הקבצו as far as אֵלֶּה(“All ye assemble——these things”) represent here all those passages in which the Prophet has variously uttered the thought, that Jehovah, the Creator of heaven and earth, has challenged all idols to a contest in prophesying in order, by exposing their impotency, to prove their nothingness and His divinity. The passages are Isaiah 41:1 sqq., Isaiah 41:21 sqq., Isaiah 41:26 sqq.; Isaiah 43:9; Isaiah 44:7 sqq., Isaiah 44:24 sqq.; Isaiah 45:20 sqq.; Isaiah 46:9 sqq. Especially our passage recalls Isaiah 43:9 and Isaiah 45:20. In Isaiah 43:9 the interrogatory clause occurs almost verbatim, except the Niph. of קבץ. For there it reads מִי בָהֶם יַגִּיד זֹאת. In Isaiah 45:20, as here, the first word is הקבצו. It is self-evident that בָּהֶם in our passage, as in Isaiah 43:9, is to be referred to the idols, as that אֵלֶּה refers to the things concerning Cyrus. This appears from what immediately follows. For there again we have a collective citation, if I may so express myself. For there all that has been previously said of Cyrus is recalled by the brief words, Isaiah 48:14 b, Isaiah 48:15, that emphasize the chief particulars. Jehovah hath loved him is said first. It is true this statement has not occurred literally before; but it has as to sense. For that the Lord loves Cyrus underlies all those passages that speak of him; Isaiah 41:2 sq., 25; Isaiah 44:28; Isaiah 45:1-7; Isaiah 45:13 sq.; Isaiah 46:11. Moreover the words: He will do His pleasure on Babylon, and His arm on the Chaldeans, though not literally, occur as to sense in what precedes (comp. Isaiah 41:25; Isaiah 43:14; Isaiah 44:28, where, moreover, the words כֹּל חֶפְצִי יַשְׁלִים occur; Isaiah 45:1 sqq.; Isaiah 46:1 sq., Isaiah 46:10; Isaiah 47:0 entire).—In Isaiah 48:15 the Lord Himself speaks, confirming the word of His Prophet. He, the Lord, has foretold that which concerns Cyrus (Isaiah 45:21); He called him (Isaiah 45:4), He brings him on, taking him by the hand (Isaiah 45:1), and sees to it that he completes his way (Isaiah 41:3).

Footnotes:

[8]Or, the palm of my right hand hath spread, out.