Isaiah
Isaiah 62
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5 commentators · 38 notes on this chapter
Matthew Henry3
Writes as a pastor rather than a critic. Expect devotional and practical application over historical or linguistic analysis, read through a Reformed covenantal frame — and expect the Old Testament to be read forward toward Christ throughout.
Why this voice is here: The most widely read English commentary for three centuries. Included as a baseline: where Henry and a modern voice diverge, the divergence itself is usually the interesting part.
The prophet here tells us, I. What he will do for the church. A prophet, as he is a seer, so he is a spokesman. This prophet resolves to perform that office faithfully, Isa 62:1. He will not hold his peace; he will not rest; he will mind his business, will…
Two things are here promised to Jerusalem: - I. Plenty of the means of grace - abundance of good preaching and good praying (Isa 62:6, Isa 62:7), and this shows the method God takes when he designs mercy for a people; he first brings them to their duty and…
This, as many like passages before, refers to the deliverance of the Jews out of Babylon, and, under the type and figure of that, to the great redemption wrought out by Jesus Christ, and the proclaiming of gospel grace and liberty through him. 1. Way shall be…
John Gill12
The most exhaustive and the most doctrinally committed here. Expect high — even supralapsarian — Calvinism applied consistently, and unusually heavy use of rabbinic and Talmudic sources for Jewish context. Where a passage bears on election or the will, Gill will read it in one direction, and knowing that in advance is the point.
Why this voice is here: The strongest Calvinist reading available in the public domain, and the best on Jewish background. Read alongside Clarke, not instead of him — between them you get both sides of the argument.
For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest,.... By Zion and Jerusalem, the church in Gospel times is meant, as it often is in this book, and elsewhere; see Hebrews 12:22, for whose glory, prosperity, and safety, a…
And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness,.... The innocence of her case, and the justness of her cause, and the vengeance took on her enemies, all being so clear as before declared; as well as her justifying righteousness, which being published in the…
Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord,.... The church and her members are glorious in themselves, through the righteousness of Christ put upon them; through the grace of Christ wrought in them; and through the honour they are raised…
Adam Clarke8
The linguist of this set. Expect Hebrew and Greek word study, oriental custom, and geography — and an Arminian reading of grace and free will where Gill or Henry would read election. Note one real divergence: Clarke denied the eternal sonship of Christ, a position most of the tradition rejects, so read him closely on the person of Christ.
Why this voice is here: Where you want to know what a word actually says, Clarke is the one who will tell you — with the caveat above on Christ’s sonship.
For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace - These are the words of Jehovah declaring his purpose relative to the events predicted in the preceding chapter. Thou shalt be called by a new name - Viz., Christian - or, as in the fourth verse, חפצי בה chephtsi bah…
Thy land Beulah - בעולה beulah, married. In the prophets, a desolate land is represented under the notion of a widow; an inhabited land, under that of a married woman, who has both a husband and children.
For as a young man - so - The particles of comparison are not at present in the Hebrew Text: but the Septuagint, Syriac, and Chaldee seem to have read in their copies כ caph prefixed to the verb, כי כיבעל ki keyibal which seems to have been omitted by mistake…
Keil & Delitzsch4
The technical one, and Old Testament only. Expect Hebrew grammar, textual argument, and direct engagement with nineteenth-century critical scholarship — closer to a scholarly apparatus than a devotional read. Where a modern critic claims a text is late or composite, this is where the conservative counter-argument was made.
Why this voice is here: Old Testament only, and heavy going — but the place to look when someone asserts a passage cannot mean what it appears to.
Zion will be once more the beloved of God, and her home the bride of her children. "Men will no more call thee 'Forsaken one;' and thy land they will no more call 'Desert:' but men will name thee 'My delight in her,' and thy home 'Married one:' for Jehovah…
Watchmen stationed upon the walls of Zion (says the third strophe) do not forsake Jehovah till He has fulfilled all His promise. "Upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, have I stationed watchmen; all the day and all the night continually they are not silent. O ye who…
The following strophe expresses one side of the divine promise, on which the hope of that lofty and universally acknowledged glory of Jerusalem, for whose completion the watchers upon its walls so ceaselessly exert themselves, is founded. "Jehovah hath sworn…
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown11
The concise option. Three authors split the canon, so the voice shifts between sections. Expect brief, sober, conservative notes that resolve difficulties rather than dwelling on them — useful for orientation, thinner than Gill or Clarke where a passage is genuinely contested.
Why this voice is here: The quickest way to see what the mainstream Reformed reading of a passage is. Start here, then go to Gill or Clarke when it matters.
(Isa 11:10; Isa 42:1-6; Isa 49:7, Isa 49:22-23; Isa 60:3, Isa 60:5, Isa 60:16). new name--expression of thy new and improved condition (Isa 62:4), the more valuable and lasting as being conferred by Jehovah Himself (Isa 62:12; Isa 65:15; Rev 2:17; Rev 3:12).
(Zac 9:16) in . . . hand of . . . Lord--As a crown is worn on the head, not "in the hand," hand must here be figurative for "under the Lord's protection" (compare Deu 33:3). "All His saints are in thy hand." His people are in His hand at the same time that…
be termed--be "forsaken," so as that that term could be applicable to thee. Hephzi-bah-- (Kg2 21:1), the name of Hezekiah's wife, a type of Jerusalem, as Hezekiah was of Messiah (Isa 32:1): "my delight is in her." Beulah--"Thou art married." See the same…
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