Who hath raised up the just one from the east, hath called him to follow him? he shall give the nations in his sight, and he shall rule over kings: he shall give them as the dust to his sword, as stubble driven by the wind, to his bow.

“Who aroused from the East one whom righteousness accompanied? Who aroused Abraham to bring him from Aram which is in the East and the righteousness that he would perform that was opposite his feet wherever he went. He placed nations before him He, Who aroused him to leave his place to cause him to move, He placed before him four kings and their hosts. He gave him dominion Heb. יַרְדְּ, like יַרָדֶּה. He made his sword like dust [Jonathan paraphrases:] He cast slain ones before his sword like dust. He suffered his sword to take its toll of casualties as [numerous as] grains of dust, and his bow He suffered to take its toll of casualties who would fall like wind blown stubble.”

“ממזרח The man from the east. The ancients refer this expression to Abraham, who defeated the kings (Gen. xiv.), and broke the idols; especially because of the words the seed of Abraham, my friend, (ver. 8). This is not impossible, but I refer it rather to Cyrus; because all these chapters are connected by their contents; comp. calling a ravenous bird from the east (46:11) and I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come; from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name (41:25); besides, the name of Cyrus is distinctly mentioned 44:28 and 45:1. From the east, Elam was north-east of Babylon. יקראהו He shall meet it or it shall meet him. לרגלו To his foot. Wherever he goes. ומלכים ירד He will appoint rulers over hings. יַרְדְּ is Hiphil; he will cause to rule; comp. (the Kal) וירר and he shall have dominion (Num. 24:19) יתן כעפר חרבו he will turn his sword into dust, that is, the sword of every other king. Others explain it: he will make his swords as numerous as the dust, and his arrows shall fly about as thickly as stubble driven by the wind.”

“"Let them be silent before me," etc. Here he begins to strengthen them toward a firm expectation, from the love of the God who promises. And it is divided into three parts. In the first he shows divine love from the benefits which he showed to the fathers; in the second, from the son whom he promised them, chapter 42: "Behold my servant," etc.; in the third, through the consolations which he foretells amid various distresses, chapter 43: "And now thus says the Lord," etc. Now by the benefits previously bestowed he intends the strengthening of the Jews and the refutation of the idols, which did not show such things to their worshippers; and therefore the first part is divided into two. In the first he disputes against the worshippers of idols; in the second against the idols themselves, at "Come near," etc.; the first into two: for first, by the benefits bestowed on the Jews, he convicts the adversaries; second, by the same he strengthens the Jews, "And you, Israel, my servant," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he summons the nations to judgment, pursuing the order of judgment, that being silent they may hear, and thus respond. "Let them renew their strength," that is, let them strengthen themselves as if renewed in strength to dispute with me. Micah 6: "Let the mountains hear the judgment," etc. Second he recounts the benefit that was shown, "who called," where he recounts the multitude of benefits: as to the divine election, "from the east," namely Chaldea; "the just one," Abraham. Genesis 12, Job 23: "he has followed his steps," etc., Jeremiah 13: "as a girdle cleaves," etc., Hosea 9: "like the first fruits of the fig tree," etc.; as to the power granted, "he will give in his sight," namely when he freed Lot, fighting against four kings: Genesis 14. Psalm 1: "not so the wicked, not so," etc.; as to the ease of carrying it out, "he will pass in peace," that is, without labor; "the path," etc., as one who walks lightly, as it were leaving no trace of the way; or because the labor is in the feet, no sign of the way is left behind. Above, 40: "they shall run, and not labor," etc.; he seeks the author: "who has wrought this," and "who," calling, by eternal foreknowledge, below, 49: "the Lord from the womb," etc.; and he gives the response: "I the Lord," etc., Apocalypse 1: "I am Alpha," etc. Otherwise, according to the letter, it is expounded of Cyrus; mystically, of Christ. Third, he sets forth, as it were, the response of the Gentiles, in which they believed they could defend themselves by means of idols. And first he touches on their astonishment at the things alleged or the wonders seen, "the islands saw," etc., Psalm 76: "the waters saw you, O God," etc.; "they drew near," to resist. Second, he sets forth their mutual encouragement, "each one," etc., Job 40: "one shall cleave to another," etc. Third, he sets forth the fabrication of idols: "the one striking will strengthen," the iron with the hammer, he was forging, he was shaping the figure of the idol; saying of the glue, "it is good," for consolidating the idol: Wisdom 13: "setting it on the wall," etc. "And you, Israel," etc. In this part he strengthens the Jews from these same benefits: and first there is set forth the repetition of the past benefit in the election of the fathers Jacob and Abraham, by which they were universally distinguished from others: "Jacob whom," etc., Psalm 104: "the seed of Abraham his servant," etc., Romans 11: "but according to the election," etc. Second, there is set forth the promise of future things: and first as to immunity from evils, excluding fear: both on account of God's presence, "do not fear, because," etc., Jeremiah 1: "do not fear before the face," etc.; and on account of the justice of the fathers, "he has taken you up," as the promised seed, "of my just one," Abraham. Or "he has taken up," to defend, "the just one," Cyrus. Psalm 90: "in their hands they shall bear," etc.; setting forth also the removal of enemies as to their confusion, "behold they shall be confounded." Jeremiah 17: "let them be confounded who persecute me," etc.; as to destruction, "they shall be as if they were not." Above, 30: "to bring the nations to nothing," etc.; and the impossibility of restoration, "you shall seek them," etc., Psalm 36: "I saw the wicked, above," etc.; showing also the reason for the destruction, "because I the Lord," etc., Psalm 143: "send forth your hand," etc. Second, as to the abundance of goods: and first against servitude, setting forth the very yoke of servitude: "fear not, worm"; as one who is held vile and trodden upon like a worm, and reckoned as dead. Psalm 21: "I am a worm," etc.; setting forth also the divine help. Below, 41: "I have helped," etc.; setting forth also the benefit of exaltation, as to the subjugation of enemies, "I have set you," etc., above, 25: "and Moab shall be threshed," etc., which perhaps refers to the time of the Maccabees. And as to their exultation, "and you shall exult," etc., Canticle 1: "we shall rejoice and exult," etc. Second, against poverty, setting forth first the hardship of poverty, "the needy and the poor," etc., above, 5: "her nobles have perished," etc.; second, the divine purpose: "I the Lord," etc., Psalm: "he shall call upon me and I," etc.; third, he sets forth the benefit as to the abundance of waters in mountainous places: "I will open on the heights," etc., above, 30: "there shall be upon the mountain," etc.; and in desert places, "I will make a desert," that is, your land, previously deserted. Psalm 106: "he has turned the desert into pools," etc.; and as to the beauty of the trees, "I will give in the wilderness," etc., Ezekiel 30: "the plantations have multiplied," etc.; fourth, he sets forth the fruit of the benefit, "that they may see," etc., Ecclesiasticus 36: "let them know that there is no God," etc. "Come near," etc. Here he sets forth the dispute against the idols themselves: and first he sets forth the dispute; second, the determination of the sentence, "and I saw, and there was not," etc. Concerning the first, two things. First he disputes against the idols with universal arguments; second, by an argument taken from a certain particular deed, "I have raised up," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he summons them to judgment: "come near," that is, draw near to me, that we may be judged together — you idols, or idolaters; "bring forth," that is, allege, if you have anything, that you may prove yourselves gods; "if you have something to say," etc., Psalm 81: "God has stood in the assembly," etc. Second, he proposes a twofold argument. One taken from divine knowledge, which fully knows all things, past and future, which the idols do not have: "the former things, what they were," etc. Ecclesiasticus 23: "to the Lord God before they were created," etc.; the other is taken from divine power, which can punish and do good: "also do good," etc., Baruch, last chapter: "nor if they suffer any evil," etc. Third, he concludes their defect: as to the material cause, "behold you," idols, are from nothing, from created matter; as to the formal cause, "a work," that is, an artificial form, which fashions in you a divinity that is not; and as to the efficient cause, "an abomination," that is, abominable — or: "you," the craftsmen; "your work," namely the idols; "who chose," the worshippers. 1 Corinthians 8: "we know that an idol," etc., Jeremiah 10: "every craftsman is confounded," etc. "I have raised up." Here he takes up a certain special deed to argue against the idols, and first he foretells a certain future thing: "from the north," the Chaldean; "from the east," the Persian, who subjugated to themselves various lands and princes. "Plastes," that is, the potter; "plasma," the thing formed. Mystically: by him who is from the north, the Gentile; by him who is from the east, Christ. Psalm 17: "as the mire of the streets," etc. Second, from this, under a question, he proposes the argument: that he who can foretell this is justly to be called God; and he who cannot, is not. "Who has announced it?" Below, 48: "assemble yourselves and hear," etc. Third, he excludes from the idols any indication of divinity: "there is none announcing," any among you gods; nor, any of the worshippers, "hearing," etc., Psalm 113: "they have eyes, and shall not see," etc. Fourth, he shows in the true God the sign of divinity. "The first," that is, our singular God. "Behold I am present," in help, the Evangelists, announcing future things. Daniel 2: "truly your God is God," etc.; or "the first," the prophet of the Lord, in the person of God; or "the first": the firstborn Son of God. Ephesians 4: "and he gave some indeed," etc. "And I saw." Here, from the dispute set forth above, he concludes the determination of the sentence: and it is evident of itself. Jeremiah 10 and 11: "they are vain, and a work worthy of laughter," etc. (Collationes, chapter 41.) Christ passed over in the peace of flesh to spirit, which he had — Job 5: "you shall know that it has peace," etc.; of man to neighbor, which he taught — below, 52: "how beautiful upon the mountains," etc.; of the world to God, which he made — Ephesians 2: "he made peace," etc. There moves one to preach: the instinct of faith — Psalm: "I believed, therefore," etc., 2 Corinthians 4, Apocalypse, last chapter; the goad of zeal — Jeremiah 20: "and it became in my heart," etc.; the greatness of the reward — Matthew 5: "whoever shall do and teach," etc. Christ took us up as a victor a captive, to set free — Genesis, last chapter: "to the prey, my son," etc.; Psalm: "lead out of custody"; as a physician the sick, to heal — Psalm: "who is merciful to all," etc.; as an advocate the accused, to excuse — 1 John 1: "we have an advocate," etc.; as the strong the weak, to defend — below, 63: "I who speak justice," etc., Exodus: "the Lord will fight," etc.; as a bridegroom the bride, to rejoice together — Hosea 2: "I will espouse you to me," etc. Water: tears poured out — Jeremiah 9: "who will give to my head," etc.; the cleanness of baptism — John 3: "unless one be born again," etc.; spiritual grace — John 7: "he who believes in me, rivers," etc.; divine wisdom — Ecclesiasticus 24: "I, wisdom, have poured forth," etc.; inner joy — Proverbs 5: "drink water," etc.”

“Who raised up the righteous man from the east,.... The Targum interprets this of Abraham; and so the Talmud (h); and this way go most Jewish and Christian commentators, and to him the characters agree; he was a righteous man, believed in Christ for righteousness, had the righteousness of faith when circumcised, did justice, and wrought righteousness himself, and required his children and servants to do the same, Gen 15:6, he was raised up out of an idolatrous family, from Ur of the Chaldees, on the other side the river Euphrates, which lay east of Judea; he was called by the Lord to his foot, as it follows, and was obedient to him; he went forth at his command, not knowing whither he went, Heb 11:8. God gave him by promise the land of Canaan, possessed by several "nations", and which his seed afterwards inherited; yea, he made him, in a spiritual sense, "the father of many nations", even of all believers, in all nations of the world, Gen 15:18, he made him a conqueror "over" the "kings" that had vanquished the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, and plundered their cities; who were no more able to stand before him, though he had no more than three hundred and eighteen servants of his household, than "dust and stubble" can resist the force of a mighty wind; he "pursued them" in an unknown tract, got an entire victory over them, without being hurt or losing a man; which was so extraordinary an affair, that Melchizedek, priest of the most high God, and a type of Christ, went forth to meet him, and blessed him, Gen 14:14, and who but the mighty God could or did raise up this man, and make him what he was, and do the things he did? some, as Aben Ezra, and several Christian writers also, think that Cyrus is meant, spoken of as raised up already, though to come, in the manner of prophetic language, called the ravenous bird from the east, Isa 46:11, who came from Persia, which lay east of Judea; whom God called to his foot, and who performed his pleasure, and executed his counsel, and so said to be a "righteous man" in that respect; and is expressly said to be "raised up in righteousness"; before whom the Lord subdued "nations", and loosed the loins of "kings"; see Isa 44:28, some understand it of him as a type of Christ, who is the righteous One, or "righteousness" itself, as the word properly signifies, the Lord our righteousness; whose name is "Oriens", or the east, the rising sun in the east, Zac 3:8, the angel ascending from the east, Rev 7:2, born in the eastern part of the world; called to be the servant of the Lord, and was; to whom he has given the Heathen for his inheritance, and made him his firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth, and whom he will overcome and slay with his twoedged sword: but since rather Christ is the person speaking, and concerning whom the controversy is, therefore some person distinct from him must be meant; and I am inclined to think, with Coeceius, that the Apostle Paul is intended, that wonderful man; though this sense is rejected by Vitringa: he was a "righteous" one, made so by the righteousness of Christ; he believed in it, and was a preacher of it, and lived a holy and righteous life and conversation; whom the Lord raised up for uncommon service and usefulness, and to whom he appeared personally to make him a minister, and send him out to do his work; he was raised up in the eastern part of the world, in Judea, being a Hebrew of the Hebrews, and from thence sent forth into various parts; see Act 26:16, called him to his foot; and though he was like a furious lion, raging against his saints, breathing out slaughter and threatenings against them, and in the height of his rage and fury; yet was at once, at the call of Christ, made as tame as a lamb, and said, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" he was willing to do anything and everything he pleased, Act 9:1 and when he signified it as his will that he should preach his Gospel, he was not disobedient, he did not confer with flesh and blood, but at once set about it with the greatest zeal and readiness: gave the nations before him; made him an apostle of the Gentiles, or of the nations, and made those Gentiles or nations obedient by word and deed; he triumphed in Christ everywhere, and diffused the savour of his knowledge in every place, Rom 11:13, and made him rule over kings? governors, princes, potentates, and kings of the earth; he had power over their spirits, being an instrument either of converting them, as Sergius Paulus the Roman deputy, from whence some think he had his name; or to make them to tremble at his discourses, as Felix the Roman governor; and of bringing them at least to own there was something in the Christian religion, as Agrippa, a crowned head, who was obliged to confess he had almost persuaded him to be a Christian, Act 13:7, and of bringing their kingdoms, and the inhabitants of them, into subjection to Christ: he gave them as dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow; whose weapons were not carnal, but spiritual, and mighty through God; his sword was the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; his bow and arrows were the Gospel, and the truths of it, in whose ministry Christ went forth conquering, and to conquer: and this being attended with the power of God, men could no more stand against them than dust and stubble before the wind. (h) T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 156. 2. Bava Bathra, fol. 15. 1. Sanhedrin, fol. 108. 2. and Taanith, fol. 21. 1.”

“Who--else but God? The fact that God "raiseth up" Cyrus and qualifies him for becoming the conqueror of the nations and deliverer of God's people, is a strong argument why they should trust in Him. The future is here prophetically represented as present or past. the righteous man--Cyrus; as Isa 44:28; Isa 45:1-4, Isa 45:13; Isa 46:11, "from the East," prove. Called "righteous," not so much on account of his own equity [HERODOTUS, 3.89], as because he fulfilled God's righteous will in restoring the Jews from their unjust captivity. Raised him up in righteousness. The Septuagint takes the Hebrew as a noun "righteousness." MAURER translates, "Who raised up him whom salvation (national and temporal, the gift of God's 'righteousness' to the good, Isa 32:17; compare Isa 45:8; Isa 51:5) meets at his foot" (that is, wherever he goes). Cyrus is said to come from the East, because Persia is east of Babylon; but in Isa 41:25, from the north, in reference to Media. At the same time the full sense of righteousness, or righteous, and of the whole passage, is realized only in Messiah, Cyrus' antitype (Cyrus knew not God, Isa 45:4). He goes forth as the Universal Conqueror of the "nations," in righteousness making war (Psa 2:8-9; Rev 19:11-15; Rev 6:2; Rev 2:26-27). "The idols He shall utterly abolish" (compare Isa 7:23, with Isa 2:18). Righteousness was always raised up from the East. Paradise was east of Eden. The cherubim were at the east of the garden. Abraham was called from the East. Judea, the birthplace of Messiah, was in the East. called . . . to . . . foot--called him to attend His (God's) steps, that is, follow His guidance. In Ezr 1:2, Cyrus acknowledges Jehovah as the Giver of his victories. He subdued the nations from the Euxine to the Red Sea, and even Egypt (says XENOPHON). dust-- (Isa 17:13; Isa 29:5; Psa 18:42). Persia, Cyrus' country, was famed for the use of the "bow" (Isa 22:6). "Before him" means "gave them into his power" (Jos 10:12). MAURER translates, "Gave his (the enemy's) sword to be dust, and his (the enemy's) bow to be as stubble" (Job 41:26, Job 41:29).”

“The parties invited are now to be thought of as present, and Jehovah commences in Isa 41:2 : "Who hath raised up the man from the rising of the sun, whom justice meets at his foot, He giveth up nations before him, and kings He subdues, giveth men like the dust to his sword, and like driven stubble to his bow?" The sentence governed by "who" (mı̄) ends at leraglō (at his foot); at the same time, all that follows is spoken with the echo of the interrogative accent. The person raised up is Cyrus, who is afterwards mentioned by name. The coming one (if, that is to say, we adhere to the belief in Isaiah's authorship of these addresses) first approaches gradually within the horizon of the prophet's ideal present; and it is only little by little that the prophet becomes more intimately acquainted with a phenomenon which belongs to so distant a future, and has been brought so close to his own eyes. Jehovah has raised up the new great hero "from the east" (mimmizrâch), and, according to Isa 41:25, "from the north" also. Both of these were fulfilled; for Cyrus was a Persian belonging to the clan of Achaemenes (Hakhâmanis), which stood at the head of the tribe, or of the Pasargadae. He was the son of Cambyses; and even if the Median princess Mandane were not his mother, yet, according to nearly all the ancient accounts, he was connected with the royal house of Media; at any rate, after Astyages was dethroned, he became head and chief of the Medes as well as of the Persians (hence the name of "Mule" which was give to him by the oracle, and that given by Jerome, "agitator bigae"). Now Media was to the north of Babylonia, and Persia to the east; so that his victorious march, in which, even before the conquest of Babylon, he subjugated all the lands from the heights of Hinduku to the shores of the Aegean Sea, had for its starting-point both the east and north. (Note: See Pahl'es Geschichte des Oriental. Alterthums. (1864), p. 170ff.) The clause לרגלו יקראהוּ צדק is an attributive clause, and as such a virtual object: "him whom (supply עת־אשׁר) justice comes to meet (קרא) = קרה, Ges. 75, vi.) on his track" (cf., Gen 30:30; Job 18:11; Hab 3:5). The idea of tsedeq is determined by what follows: Jehovah gives up nations before him, and causes kings to be trodden down (causative of râdâh). Accordingly, tsedeq is either to be understood here in an attributive sense, as denoting the justice exercised by a person (viz., the justice executed successfully by Cyrus, as the instrument of Jehovah, by the force of arms); or objectively of the justice awarded to a person (to which the idea of "meeting" is more appropriate), viz., the favourable result, the victory which procures justice for the just cause of the combatant. Rosenmller, Knobel, and others, are wrong in maintaining that tsedeq (tsedâqâh) in chapters 40-66 signifies primarily justice, and the prosperity and salvation as its reward. The word means straightness, justice, righteousness, and nothing more (from tsâdaq, to be hard, firm, extended, straight, e.g., rumh-un-tsadq, a hard, firm, and straight lance); but it has a double aspect, because justice consists, according to circumstances, of either wrath of favour, and therefore has sometimes the idea of the strict execution of justice, as in this instance, sometimes of a manifestation of justice in fidelity to promises, as in Isa 41:10. יתּן is repeated here in Isa 41:2 (just like וילמדהו in Isa 40:14) with the same subject, but in a different sense. To make sword and bow the subject, in the sense of "his sword gives (sc., 'the foe')," is a doubtful thing in itself; and as cherebh and qesheth are feminines, it is by no means advisable. Moreover, in other instances, the comparative כ leaves it to the reader to carry out the figure indicated according to his own fancy. And this is the case here: He (Jehovah) makes his sword as if there were dust, his bow as if there were hunted stubble (Bttcher), i.e., pounding the enemy like dust, and hunting it like flying stubble. Our text has כּעפר, but in certain codices we find כּעפר with tzere; and this reading, which is contrary to rule, has in its favour the express testimony of Moses the punctuator. (Note: In his הנקוד דרכי (rules of pointing), with which the Masora finalis is surrounded.)”