Sing ye to the Lora a new song, his praise is from the ends of the earth: you that go down to the sea, and all that are therein: ye islands, and ye inhabitants of them.

“Well, in as much as the Word was from the first, He was and is the divine source of all things; but in as much as He has now assumed the name Christ, consecrated of old, and worthy of power, he has been called by me the New Song. This Word, then, the Christ, the cause of both our being at first (for He was in God) and of our well-being, this very Word has now appeared as man, He alone being both, both God and man-the Author of all blessings to us; by whom we, being taught to live well, are sent on our way to life eternal. This is the New Song, the manifestation of the Word that was in the beginning, and before the beginning. The Saviour, who existed before, has in recent days appeared.”

“His praise from the end of the earth Perforce, when they see My mighty deeds for Israel, all the heathens (nations [Parshandatha, K’li Paz]) will admit that I am God. those who go down to the sea Those who embark in ships. and those therein Those whose permanent residence is in the sea and not in the islands, but in the midst of the water, they spill earth, each one of them, enough for a house, and go from house to house by boat, like the city of Venice. [As in Warsaw ed. and Parshandatha.]”

“Sing unto the Lord, etc. The prophet addresses the people in these words. They that go down to the sea, etc. For all the people of the earth will praise God at the return of Israel from the Babylonian exile (Kedar is therefore mentioned together with the inhabitants of the isles, and those that go down to the sea), when they hear of this extraordinary event.”

“Behold my servant, etc. Here he shows the divine love from the Son whom he promised. John 3: so God loved the world, etc. And first, from so great a benefit, he shows the love of God; second, the perversity of the Jews, "these words I did to them," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he foretells the coming of the Son of God; second, the fall of the wicked, "the Lord like a strong man," etc. Third, the resurrection of the good, "and I will lead forth the blind," etc., Luke 2: "behold, this one is set," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he describes the condition of the one being sent; second he foretells the mission, "thus says the Lord," etc.; third he invites to thanksgiving, "sing to the Lord," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he shows the fullness of grace as regards the grace of union, "I will uphold him." "Servant," according to human nature. Luke 1: "he has upheld Israel," etc.; as regards the grace of headship, "elect," that he might be the head of the Church. "Out of thousands": Canticles 5. Psalm 64: "blessed is he whom you have chosen and taken up," etc., "he was well-pleasing." Matthew 3: "this is my son," etc.; as regards habitual grace, which was singular in him, "I have given my spirit." Above 11: "the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him," etc. Second he shows the equity of judgment, as regards three things: namely the authority of judging, "judgment to the nations," etc., Psalm 71: "God, your judgment," etc., John 5: "he has given all judgment," etc., to which he joins gentleness, "he will not cry out." Ecclesiastes 9: "the words of the wise are heard," etc.; he shows, second, the equality of the judge: "nor will he accept a person." Acts 10: "God is not a respecter of persons." To which he joins piety in coming to aid: "nor shall his voice be heard outside," Judea, the voice of his preaching, that he might first come to the aid of those to whom he was sent. "I was not sent," etc. Matthew 15, Psalm 94: "today if his voice," etc., and in overlooking, "the reed," namely the kingdom of the Jews, "the flax," the priesthood. Ezekiel 34: "that which was broken," etc.; he shows also, third, the truth of judgment, "in truth," etc., Psalm 95: "he shall judge the world," etc., to which he joins joyfulness: "he shall not be sad," in heart; "troubled," in face: he was always cheerful and joyful, preserving an equality of mind, even though as regards the sensitive part there was a propassion of sadness — not indeed of necessity, but of will. Whence Matthew 26: "my soul is sorrowful," etc., Ecclesiasticus 30: "joy of heart," etc. Third he shows the power of dominion: "until he sets" the last judgment, or his precept, through the apostles preaching; "the law," the Gospel. Genesis 49: "he shall be the expectation," etc., below 60: "for the islands wait for me," etc. Others expound this of Darius, king of the Persians, who was gentle, just, and quiet, whom the Lord chose to free the Jews. "Thus says the Lord God," etc. Here he foretells the mission: and first he shows the power of the sender as regards the creation of heavenly things, "creating the heavens"; as regards the disposition of earthly things, "establishing the earth"; as regards the animation of living things, "giving breath," of natural life, "spirit," gratuitously. Zechariah 12: "the Lord stretching out the heaven," etc. Second he foretells the mission, setting forth the exaltation of the one sent: "I the Lord have called you," my son from eternity, by predestining to the unity of the divine person, "in justice," that is, that I may be just, fulfilling the promises. Romans 1: "who was predestined," etc. "I have taken the hand," as regards operation: John 14: "the Father remaining in me," etc., "and I have kept," lest you be held by death. Psalm 15: "you will not give your holy one," etc., below 49: "I called him and led him," etc.; he also sets forth the enjoining of office: "I have given you as a covenant," as a mediator, as it were. Genesis 9: "I will set my bow," etc. "For a light," etc., as an illuminator, as it were. Above 9: "to those dwelling in the region," etc., John 1: "he was the true light," etc.; he also shows the usefulness of this office against unbelief, "that you might open," etc., John 9: "I have come for judgment," etc., against the servitude of sin. "That you might lead forth," etc., Zechariah 9: "but you, in the blood of the covenant," etc. Third, from the mission, he concludes to the singularity of the divine majesty: as regards power, "I the Lord," etc., Psalm 67: "make a way for him," etc., Exodus 6: "my name Adonai," etc., "glory," by which I am called Lord. Luke 2: "glory in the highest," etc., and as regards knowledge, "the things which were first," etc., below 49: "I told you from then," etc. This too they refer to Darius. "Sing to the Lord," etc. Here he invites to thanksgiving: and first he enjoins praise, and especially upon country-dwellers, either on account of the distance of their dwelling: "from the ends," above 24: "from the ends of the earth, praises," etc., or on account of being enclosed by the sea, "you who go down" — namely sailors — "the fullness of it," namely of the sea, that is, let all that by which it is filled praise God. Psalm 106: "those who go down to the sea," etc., or on account of dwelling in deserts. "Let it lift up," its voice in praise of God, "the desert," that is, its inhabitants, especially as regards the Ishmaelites, "in the houses," after the manner of other nations, who before were wandering through the desert. "Kedar," son of Ishmael. Above 35: "the deserts shall rejoice," etc.; or on account of dwelling in the mountains: "praise, you inhabitants of the rock," of that city in Palestine which is set among the rocks. Or of any mountain whatever. Below 55: "the mountains and the hills shall sing," etc., and he invites those of whom it seems less that they are given to praising God. Second he foretells the spreading abroad of divine praise: "they shall give glory to the Lord," in others, not only in themselves. Below, the last chapter: "I will send from among them those who are saved," etc. Mystically, all this concerns the conversion of the Gentiles to the faith. "The Lord like a strong man." Here he foretells, through the coming of Christ, the future fall: and concerning this he sets down four things. First, power: "the Lord like a strong man," for attacking the Jews through the Romans. Exodus 15: "the Lord like a man of war," etc., "zeal," of vengeance. Proverbs 6: "the zeal and fury of a man," etc. Second he sets down wrath, "he shall cry out," through the tribulations which he will send upon them; against that which was said above, "he will not cry out" — for at first, coming, he showed gentleness. But to those who despise him he shows indignation. Job 37: "he shall thunder with his voice," etc. Third he sets down justice: because it is just that, since he has long waited for the impenitent, he should swallow them all up together at once: "I have kept silent," always, etc., Job 3: "did I not dissemble," etc., "I was patient." Above 30: "therefore the Lord waits," etc., "like a woman in labor," I will bring forth the pain that was dissembled, as a woman brings forth the child conceived. Or: because, like a woman in travail, I will grieve over so grave a punishment. Fourth he sets down the punishment as regards men: "I will make the mountains desolate" — the greater ones; "the hills" — the middling; "the sprout" — the common people. Ezekiel 35: "mount Seir a desert," etc., and as regards the withdrawal of all doctrine or consolation, "I will make the rivers," etc., Psalm 106: "he turned rivers into a desert," etc. This too can be referred to the destruction of the enemies of the Jews through Darius. "And I will lead forth." Here he sets forth (the resurrection) of the good, as regards three things. First, as regards the restoration of act: "I will lead forth the blind," namely the Gentiles, "into the way," Christ, or the precept of the law; or also the Jews, according to another exposition. Proverbs 4: "I will lead you through the paths," etc.; second, as regards the illumination of the intellect: "I will turn darkness," etc., Luke 1: "to give light to those who are in darkness," etc.; third, as regards the direction of the affections. "The crooked things," namely hearts, above 40: "the crooked things shall become straight," etc. "These words I did to them," etc. Here he shows the perversity of the Jews: and first he shows them ungrateful for benefits; second, hard toward the precepts, "hear, you deaf," third, obstinate amid scourges, "who is there among you," etc. Concerning the first, two things. First he shows ingratitude, "these words," namely the aforesaid benefits. "They are turned back," from me, Jeremiah 5: "you have forsaken me," etc. Second he calls down upon them confusion, "let them be confounded," etc., Psalm 118: "let all be confounded," etc. "Hear, you deaf." Here he shows them hard, or disobedient, toward the precepts. And first he shows their hardness, calling them deaf, and blind together. (For their malice blinded them: Wisdom 2), although they have eyes, and ears, of the body — which he proves because those who see keep watch, and those having the ears of the heart open obey. "Sold," into the servant of sin, for the delight of temporal good, 3 Kings 21: "you have been sold to do," etc. "You who have open," etc., Jeremiah 5: "hear, O foolish people," etc., above 6: "blind the heart of this people," etc. Second he shows the folly of the hardened, by this: that in the precepts the Lord intended their benefit. Whence he sets forth the Lord's intention: "and the Lord willed him," the people; and that the people itself might magnify the law of God, by keeping it in their heart; and that the Lord might extol, that is, exalt, the people. 1 Thessalonians 4: "this is the will of God," etc.; and he also shows their contradiction, because they sinned in themselves: "but he himself, plundered," by demons through various sins, and therefore "laid waste," by enemies — above 18: "from a people torn apart," etc.; they also offered others an occasion of sinning, "a snare," that is, an occasion for sinning, "of the young," of the foolish. Hosea 5: "you have become a snare," etc., and because they hid their sins, "in houses of prison," that is, in the secret place of the heart. "With heart and heart," etc. Third he sets down the punishment: "they have become for a prey," etc. "Nor is there one to deliver," by the power of wars; "nor is there one to say," by the urgency of prayer. Ecclesiasticus, the last chapter: "they surrounded me on every side," etc.; or there the punishment begins, "in houses of prison," so that it be expounded according to the letter. "Who is there among you." Here he shows them incorrigible through scourges, because they do not even recognize the cause of the scourges: and concerning this he does three things. First he inquires after one who thinks rightly, hinting at their fewness. "The things to come," which I foretell concerning your punishments. Hosea, the last chapter: "who is wise," etc. Second he determines the truth as regards the author of the punishment: "who gave," etc., 1 Kings 2: "the Lord puts to death," etc.; as regards the fault: "he it is against whom," etc., Baruch 4. "They did not know his justices," etc.; and as regards the punishment, "and he poured out," etc., Psalm 68: "pour out your wrath upon them," etc. — "pouring out" signifies abundance. Third he excludes the recognition of the truth: "and it burned him," namely with material fire through the devastation of enemies; "he did not know," that he was punished by God for his sins. Psalm 81: "they did not know nor understand," etc. (Collationes, chapter 42.) "Cry" — of devout prayer, Hebrews 5: "with a strong cry," etc.; of attentive preaching, John 7: "on the last day of the feast," etc.; of strife and contention, above 5: "he waited that it should do," etc. Christ is given "for a covenant" of preserving salvation, Genesis 9: "my bow," etc., of fulfilling promise, II Corinthians 1: "as many as are the promises," etc., of divine love, John 3: "so God loved," etc., of the law that is to cease, Psalm: "holocausts for sin," etc.”

“Sing unto the Lord a new song,.... On account of the new things before prophesied of, and now done; on account of redemption and salvation by Christ, and the conversion of the Gentiles through the light of the Gospel brought among them; the song of redeeming love, and for the Gospel, and regenerating grace; and not the Jews only, but the Gentiles also, are called upon to sing this song, as having a special share in the blessings, the subject of it: hence it follows, and his praise from the end of the earth; thither the Gospel being sent, and there made effectual to the conversion of many, these are exhorted to sing and show forth the praises of him who had called them out of Heathenish blindness and darkness into the marvellous light of the Gospel and grace of God: ye that go down into the sea; in ships, that trade by sea; such as the Phoenicians, Tyrians, and Sidonians, to whom the Gospel came, and where it was preached with success, to the conversion of many of them, and therefore had reason to join in this new song; see Act 11:19 or such that went by sea to distant parts, on purpose to publish the Gospel, as Paul, Barnabas, Silas, and Timothy; and who, succeeding in their work, had reason to rejoice; see Act 13:4, and all that is therein: or "the fulness of it" (s); meaning not the fishes in it, but the islands of it, as next explained: the isles, and the inhabitants thereof; as Cyprus, Crete, and other isles, which heard the joyful sound of the Gospel, and embraced it, Act 13:4, and, as the sea often denotes the western part of the world from Judea, this may design the European parts of it, and the islands in it, particularly ours of Great Britain and Ireland, whither the Gospel came very early. (s) "et plenitudo ejus", Munster, Pagainus, Montanus.”

“new song--such as has never before been sung, called for by a new manifestation of God's grace, to express which no hymn for former mercies would be appropriate. The new song shall be sung when the Lord shall reign in Jerusalem, and all "nations shall flow unto it" (Isa 2:2; Isa 26:1; Rev 5:9; Rev 14:3). ye that go down to the sea--whose conversion will be the means of diffusing the Gospel to distant lands. all . . . therein--all the living creatures that fill the sea (Psa 96:11) [MAURER]. Or, all sailors and voyagers [GESENIUS]. But these were already mentioned in the previous clause: there he called on all who go upon the sea; in this clause all animals in the sea; so in Isa 42:11, he calls on the inanimate wilderness to lift up its voice. External nature shall be so renovated as to be in unison with the moral renovation.”

“The prediction of these "new things," which now follows, looks away from all human mediation. They are manifestly the work of Jehovah Himself, and consist primarily in the subjugation of His enemies, who are holding His people in captivity. "Sing ye to Jehovah a new song, His praise from the end of the earth, ye navigators of the sea, and its fulness; ye islands, and their inhabitants. Let the desert and the cities thereof strike up, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit; the inhabitants of the rock-city may rejoice, shout from the summits of the mountains. Let them give glory to Jehovah, and proclaim His praise in the islands. Jehovah, like a hero will He go forth, kindle jealousy like a man of war; He will breath forth into a war-cry, a yelling war-cry, prove Himself a hero upon His enemies." The "new things" furnish the impulse and materials of "a new song," such as had never been heard in the heathen world before. This whole group of vv. is like a variation of Isa 24:14-15. The standing-place, whence the summons is uttered, is apparently Ezion-geber, at the head of the Elanitic Gulf, that seaport town from which in the time of the kings the news of the nations reached the Holy Land through the extensive commerce of Israel. From this point the eye stretches to the utmost circle of the earth, and then returns from the point where it meets with those who "go down to the sea," i.e., who navigate the ocean which lies lower than the solid ground. These are to sing, and everything that lives and moves in the sea is to join in the sailors' song. The islands and coast lands, that are washed by the sea, are likewise to sing together with their inhabitants. After the summons has drawn these into the net of the song of praise, it moves into the heart of the land. The desert and its cities are to lift up (viz., "their voice"), the villages which Kedar inhabits. The reference to Sela', the rock-city of Edomitish Nabataea, which is also mentioned in Isa 16:1 (the Wadi Musa, which is still celebrated for its splendid ruins), shows by way of example what cities are intended. Their inhabitants are to ascend the steep mountains by which the city is surrounded, and to raise a joyful cry (yitsvâchū, to cry out with a loud noise; cf., Isa 24:11). Along with the inhabitants of cities, the stationary Arabs, who are still called Hadariye in distinction from Wabariye, the Arabs of the tents, are also summoned; hadar (châtsēr) is a fixed abode, in contrast to bedû, the steppe, where the tents are pitched for a short time, now in one place and now in another. In Isa 42:12 the summons becomes more general. The subject is the heathen universally and in every place; they are to give Jehovah the glory (Psa 56:2), and declare His praise upon the islands, i.e., to the remotest ends of the whole world of nations. In Isa 42:13 there follows the reason for this summons, and the theme of the new song in honour of the God of Israel, viz., His victory over His enemies, the enemies of His people. The description is anthropomorphically dazzling and bold, such as the self-assurance and vividness of the Israelitish idea of God permitted, without any danger of misunderstanding. Jehovah goes out into the conflict like a hero; and like a "man of war," i.e., like one who has already fought many battles, and is therefore ready for war, and well versed in warfare, He stirs up jealousy (see at Isa 9:6). His jealousy has slumbered as it were for a long time, as if smouldering under the ashes; but now He stirs it up, i.e., makes it burn up into a bright flame. Going forward to the attack, יריע, "He breaks out into a cry," אף־יצריח, "yea, a yelling cry" (kal Zep 1:14, to cry with a yell; hiphil, to utter a yelling cry). In the words, "He will show Himself as a hero upon His enemies," we see Him already engaged in the battle itself, in which He proves Himself to possess the strength and boldness of a hero (hithgabbar only occurs again in the book of Job). The overthrow which heathenism here suffers at the hand of Jehovah is, according to our prophet's view, the final and decisive one. The redemption of Israel, which is thus about to appear, is redemption from the punishment of captivity, and at the same time from all the troubles that arise from sin. The period following the captivity and the New Testament times here flow into one.”