My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust. Jump to: Barnes • Benson • BI • Calvin • Cambridge • Clarke • Darby • Ellicott • Expositor's • Exp Dct • Gaebelein • GSB • Gill • Gray • Guzik • Haydock • Hastings • Homiletics • JFB • KD • Kelly • King • Lange • MacLaren • MHC • MHCW • Parker • Poole • Pulpit • Sermon • SCO • Teed • TTB • WES • TSK EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE) (5) Mine arms shall judge the people.—Literally, the peoples, including Israel and the heathen. The work of judgment thus, as ever, comes first; after it the isles (i.e., far-off countries), as representing the heathen, shall be converted, and trust the very Arm that smote them.51:4-8 The gospel of Christ shall be preached and published. How shall we escape if we neglect it? There is no salvation without righteousness. The soul shall, as to this world, vanish like smoke, and the body be thrown by like a worn-out garment. But those whose happiness is in Christ's righteousness and salvation, will have the comfort of it when time and days shall be no more. Clouds darken the sun, but do not stop its course. The believer will enjoy his portion, while revilers of Christ are in darknessMy righteousness is near - The word 'righteousness' is used in a great variety of significations. Here it means, probably, the faithful completion of his promises to his people (Lowth).My salvation is gone forth - The promise of salvation is gone forth, and already the execution of that purpose is commenced. He would soon deliver his people; he would at no distant period extend salvation to all nations. And mine arm shall judge the people - That is, shall dispense judgment to them. The 'arm' here is put for himself, as the arm is the instrument by which we execute our purposes (see the notes at Isaiah 51:9). The isles shall wait upon me - The distant nations; the pagan lands (see the note at Isaiah 41:1). The idea is, that distant lands would become interested in the true religion, and acknowledge and worship the true God. 5. righteousness … near—that is, faithful fulfilment of the promised deliverance, answering to "salvation" in the parallel clause (Isa 46:13; 56:1; Ro 10:8, 9). Ye follow after "righteousness"; seek it therefore, from Me, and you will not have far to go for it (Isa 51:1).arms—put for Himself; I by My might. judge—(Isa 2:3, 4; Ps 98:9). isles, &c.—(Isa 60:9). arm—(Ro 1:16), "the power of God unto (the Gentiles as well as the Jews) salvation." My righteousness; my salvation, as it is expounded in the next clause, the redemption of all my people, both Jews and Gentiles, which is the effect of his righteousness; either his justice, or his faithfulness, or his mercy and goodness; for all these are called by the name of righteousness in Scripture, and all these contributed to the work of man’s redemption.My salvation is gone forth; shall shortly go forth; my secret and eternal purpose of saving my people shall speedily be fulfilled. Mine arms shall judge the people; either, 1. Shall destroy those people who obstruct or oppose this work. Or rather, 2. Shall subdue the Gentiles to mine authority, and rule them by my word and Spirit; which agrees best with the following clause. The isles; the remote countries of the Gentiles, as Isaiah 41:1 42:4, and elsewhere. Shall wait upon me; shall confidently expect and hope for this promised righteousness and salvation from me, and from me only, and not from idols, as they have done, nor by any other way. My righteousness is near,.... These are either the words of God the Father, and to be understood not of his essential righteousness, nor of his vindictive justice; but of the righteousness of his Son, which he calls his own, because he approves and accepts of it, imputes and reckons it to his people, and with it justifies them. The words may be rendered, "my righteous One", as in the Vulgate Latin version; not Cyrus, as Grotius; but Christ, God's righteous servant, who was near to come in the flesh, in order to work righteousness. Or these are the words of Christ, speaking of his own righteousness, which was near being wrought out by him, as it was when he became the end of the law for it, by obeying its precept, and bearing its penalty; and near being revealed in the Gospel, where it is revealed from faith to faith; and near being applied by the blessed Spirit, as it is to all that believe; and is near to be come at, and laid hold on, by faith: my salvation is gone forth: the "salvation" appointed by the Lord; provided in covenant; wrought out by Christ; applied by the Spirit; and fully enjoyed in heaven: this is "gone forth" in the purpose and decree of God, in prophecy and promise, and in the declaration of the Gospel: or, "my Saviour", as the Vulgate Latin version; the Saviour of God's appointing, providing, and sending. Or these are the words of the Saviour himself, who has wrought it out, in whom it is, and of whom it is to be had; it is done, and ready for sinners to look unto and embrace; it is ready to be revealed, and to be fully enjoyed: and mine arms shall judge the people; to whom the arm of the Lord is revealed, and the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation; both the arms of Christ are ready to receive them, and these protect and defend them, and judge, condemn, and destroy those that despise it: the isles shall wait upon me; upon Christ, for his coming; for his salvation and righteousness; for his Gospel, the truths, promises, and blessings of it; and in his house and ordinances, for his presence. This is a prophecy of the conversion of the Gentiles, even in the isles of the sea, those afar off, as ours of Great Britain and Ireland, in which there have been and are many waiting upon him: and on mine arm shall they trust; as on Christ, the arm of the Lord, for salvation; so on the power of Christ for protection and preservation; and on his promises in the Gospel, for their support; which is the arm of the Lord revealed unto them, and yields much support and comfort, and makes known that which is a proper object of trust. 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. EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES) 5. My righteousness is near] See the last note and cf. ch. Isaiah 46:13. For people read peoples (as R.V.).the isles shall wait upon me] Cf. Isaiah 42:4. on mine arm] i.e. “on my strength,” my protection (Isaiah 33:2). Verse 5. - My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth. "One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and. a thousand years as one day" (2 Peter 3:8). Isaiah always speaks as if the Messianic kingdom was to supervene almost immediately on the return of the exiles to Palestine. It was not revealed to him that there would be an interval of from five hundred to six hundred years between the two events. By God's "righteousness" here we must understand his righteous plans for the redemption of his people through Christ, and for the punishment of those who resist his will and remain impenitent. The salvation and the judgment are the two parts of the "righteousness." The isles shall wait upon me (comp. Isaiah 41:1, 5; Isaiah 42:4, 10, 12; Isaiah 49:1; Isaiah 60:9, etc.; and the comment on Isaiah 42:4). On mine arm shall they trust. God's "arm" is his executive power - that might by which he effects his purposes. The "isles" or "countries" that have been expecting the coming of a Deliverer will have faith in his power to redeem and save them. Christianity was received with more readiness by the Gentiles than by the "peculiar people" (Acts 11:21; Acts 13:42, 46; Acts 14:1, 2; Acts 17:4, 5; Acts 18:6, etc.). Isaiah 51:5But the great work of the future extends far beyond the restoration of Israel, which becomes the source of salvation to all the world. "Hearken unto me, my people, and give ear unto me, O my congregation! for instruction will go forth from me, and I make a place for my right, to be a light of the nations. My righteousness is near, my salvation is drawn out, and my arms will judge nations: the hoping of the islands looks to me, and for mine arm is their waiting." It is Israel which is here summoned to hearken to the promise introduced with kı̄. לאוּמּי is only used here of Israel, like גּוי in Zephaniah 2:9; and the lxx (καὶ οἱ βασιλεῖς) have quite misunderstood it. An address to the heathen would be quite out of harmony with the character of the whole prophecy, which is carried out quite consistently throughout. עמי and לאומי, therefore, are not plurals, as the Syriac supposes, although it cannot be disputed that it is a rare thing to meet with the plural form apocopated thus, after the form of the talmudic Aramaean; and see also at Psalm 45:9). What Isaiah 42:1. describes as the calling of the servant of Jehovah, viz., to carry out justice among the nations, and to plant it on the earth, appears here as the act of Jehovah; but, as a comparison of מאתּי with מצּיּון (Isaiah 2:3) clearly shows, as the act of the God who is present in Israel, and works from Israel outwards. Out of Israel sprang the Saviour; out of Israel the apostleship; and when God shall have mercy upon Israel again, it will become to the whole world of nations "life from the dead." The thorâh referred to here is that of Sion, as distinguished from that of Sinai, the gospel of redemption, and mishpât the new order of life in which Israel and the nations are united. Jehovah makes for this a place of rest, a firm standing-place, from which its light to lighten the nations streams forth in all directions. הרגּיע as in Jeremiah 31:2; Jeremiah 50:34, from רגע, in the sense of the Arabic rj‛, to return, to procure return, entrance, and rest; a different word from רגע in Isaiah 51:15, which signifies the very opposite, viz., to disturb, literally to throw into trembling. צדק and ישע, which occur in Isaiah 51:5, are synonyms throughout these prophecies. The meaning of the former is determined by the character of the thorah, which gives "the knowledge of salvation" (Luke 1:77), and with that "the righteousness of God" (Romans 1:17; cf., Isaiah 53:11). This righteousness is now upon the point of being revealed; this salvation has started on the way towards the fullest realization. The great mass of the nations fall under the judgment which the arms of Jehovah inflict, as they cast down to the ground on the right hand and on the left. When it is stated of the islands, therefore, that they hope for Jehovah, and wait for His arm, the reference is evidently to the remnant of the heathen nations, which outlives the judgment, and not only desires salvation, and is susceptible of it, but which actually receives salvation (compare the view given in John 11:52, which agrees with that of Isaiah, and which, in fact, is the biblical view generally, e.g., Joel 3:5). To these the saving arm (the singular only was suitable here; cf., Psalm 16:11) now brings that salvation, towards which their longing was more or less consciously directed, and which satisfied their inmost need. Observe in Isaiah 51:5 the majestic and self-conscious movement of the rhythm, with the effective tone of yeyachēlûn. Links Isaiah 51:5 InterlinearIsaiah 51:5 Parallel Texts Isaiah 51:5 NIV Isaiah 51:5 NLT Isaiah 51:5 ESV Isaiah 51:5 NASB Isaiah 51:5 KJV Isaiah 51:5 Bible Apps Isaiah 51:5 Parallel Isaiah 51:5 Biblia Paralela Isaiah 51:5 Chinese Bible Isaiah 51:5 French Bible Isaiah 51:5 German Bible Bible Hub |
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