Hear ye these things, O house of Jacob, you that are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Juda, you who swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in justice.

“Hearken to this The two tribes destined to go in exile to Babylon. O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel That is the tribe of Benjamin, who are not called by the tribe of Judah, but by the general name of the tribes of Israel. and who emanated from the waters of Judah And the tribe of Judah who emanated and ran from the waters of Judah’s pail, as Scripture states (Num. 24: 7): “Water shall run out of his pails.” neither in truth As Jeremiah said, (5:2) “And if they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’ surely they swear falsely,” i.e., you were unworthy of being redeemed, but since they were called [as being] from the Holy City, and that caused them not to be exiled with the ten tribes in the time of Sennacherib, to Halah and Habor, for they have no redemption.”

“Hear this, O house of Jacob, etc. Here he promises the liberation of the people. And it is divided into two parts. In the first he promises the liberation; in the second he carries out the order of the liberation, below, chapter 49: Hear, O islands, etc. The first is divided into two. In the first he arouses attention, calling to mind three things in which they gloried: namely, the dignity of their lineage, because they were from holy fathers: "of the waters," that is, of the seed. Against which, Matthew 3: "Do not think to say," etc.; the privilege of the knowledge of God: "who swear" — calling upon his name — "and remember" — as to the knowledge of him — "in truth," of heart, "nor in justice," of work. Above, chapter 29: "This people, with their lips, me," etc.; the worship of sacred religion: "from the city" — namely Jerusalem, in which was the worship of sacrifices — "they are called" — men of Jerusalem — 2 Maccabees 5: "not for the sake of the place, the nation," etc. Secondly he promises the liberation: "the former things, from that time," and concerning this he does three things. First he shows the majesty of God who promises; secondly, the prosperity of Cyrus who carries it out: "Assemble yourselves, all of you," etc.; thirdly he promises the liberation: "Come near to me," etc. Concerning the first, two things. First he shows the majesty of God from the foretelling of future things; secondly from the creation of things: "Hearken to me, Jacob," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he assigns the reason for the foretelling of certain future things, setting down the foretelling itself: "the former things" — namely those which have already passed — "from that time," when they were still future, "suddenly," as regards others to whom they were not foretold. Ecclesiasticus 42: "declaring the things that have passed," etc.; setting down also the reason for this, which is taken from their condition — which he first states, "for I knew," from eternity. "That thou art hard" — hard to come to one's senses from evils; "thy neck" — that is, the stiffness of one's own judgment; "a sinew of iron," which cannot be bent; "thy forehead" — on account of shamelessness. Acts 5: "stiff-necked," etc.; Deuteronomy 31: "I know the contention," etc.; Jeremiah 3: "the forehead of a harlot," etc.; and then from this he draws out the reason, "I foretold," etc., as if to say: because thou wert prone to idolatry, I foretold it to thee, lest thou shouldst ascribe my benefits to idols. Hosea 2: "I will go after lovers," etc.; setting down also the manifestation of the things foretold: "which thou hast heard" — foretold to thee by me — "behold," fulfilled. Psalm 47: "As we have heard, so have we seen," etc. Secondly he assigns the reason for the concealment of certain future things, setting down first the concealment itself. As has been said, certain future things I foretold to thee; but certain future things have been kept in my foreknowledge, which thou dost not know, because I have not revealed them to thee. "Now" — that is, in time — "they are created," that is, brought forth in effect, and not from that time when I foreknew them; and "before the day" of their fulfillment, "thou hast not heard" of them, neither from me nor from the idols. 4 Kings 4: "the Lord hath hid it from me," etc. He also assigns the reason for this: "lest perhaps," as if to say: I did not reveal it for this reason, that thou mightest perceive thy own defect, and that of thy gods, in that thou canst not foreknow future things except those which I reveal to thee. "I have known" — by my own effort — "nor hast thou heard" — from the idols — the things opened by me. Psalm 63: "Man shall come to a deep heart," etc. He also sets down their condition, from which the aforesaid reason is drawn: "for I know." "From the womb" — that is, from the time when I carried thee through the desert as in a womb. Exodus 32: "I see that this people," etc.; above, chapter 24: "by the transgression of the transgressors," etc. Thirdly he excludes a certain objection: "for my name's sake." For someone could ask: since they are so hard, why then dost thou promise them good things, and hast done so? And to this objection he first sets down the response, recalling three benefits shown to them: "for my name's sake" — not on account of thy merit — "I will put far off," or have put far off, freeing them from punishments. Ezekiel 36: "Not for your sakes will I do this," etc., and "for my praise" — that is, I bound thee to my ceremonies and my praises, lest, offering sacrifices to idols, thou shouldst perish. Psalm 31: "with bit and bridle," etc. "I have refined," wishing to purge thee through tribulations, "but not as silver," which is purged. But thou hast not been corrected. Jeremiah 6: "in vain hath he melted," etc. "I have chosen," purging thee, namely, through poverty, punishing thee by the spoiling of goods. Gregory: "those whom the infirmity of their conduct wounds, the medicine of poverty heals." And this by correcting as a father. Secondly he sets down the exposition of the response: "for my own sake" — that I not be blasphemed, as though powerless to save the people whom I have chosen for myself; and "my glory" — namely, that the idols be judged stronger than I. Above, chapter 42: "my glory," etc. Hearken to me. Here he shows the divine majesty from the creation of things. "I will call," imposing upon each thing its proper work: "they shall stand," ready to obey. Above, chapter 40: "who hath weighed with three fingers," etc. Assemble yourselves, etc. Here he foretells the prosperity of Cyrus himself; and first he shows the concealment of this deed from others: "who among them?" — namely, among the idols — as if to say: none. Above, chapter 41: "who hath declared from the beginning," etc. Secondly he himself foretells his prosperity: "the Lord hath loved him" — namely Cyrus — advancing him into the kingdom; "in Babylon," capturing it; "his arm" — that is, by his own power slaying them. 1 Kings 27: "and indeed doing," etc. Thirdly he assigns the reason for his prosperity from divine aid: "I, I," etc.; "directed," not absolutely, but to this end, that he might destroy Babylon; otherwise it could not be expounded of Cyrus, but only of Christ, as Jerome says, because he was an idolater. Psalm 106: "he led them into the way," etc. Come near to me, etc. Here he promises liberation; and concerning this he does three things. First he arouses attention, setting down the divine authority: "in secret" — yet all the people saw the voices: Exodus 20. "From the beginning" — of the law given. "From the time," past, before they came to pass — the things which I foretell — "there I was," present to those future things, remaining, through the same "now" of eternity, throughout the whole succession of time. Or in the person of the Son, "there I was" — namely, in the Father according to his divinity — Proverbs 8: "when he weighed the foundations," etc.; setting down the truth of the prophet — who was sent by God — "and now, me": Isaiah, or me, Christ made man; "God," the Father; whence the three Persons are designated. Below, chapter 61: "the spirit of the Lord is upon me," etc. Secondly, there, "thus saith the Lord," he sets down the reason for the captivity, showing on God's part the help that was prepared. "Teaching" — against ignorance — and "governing in the way," of works, against weakness in acting. Psalm 31: "I will give thee understanding, and I will instruct," etc.; showing also the harm arising from the fault of the Jews. "O that thou hadst hearkened" — keeping them — "as an abundant river," "as the waves." The same, Psalm 80: "if my people had heard," etc. Thirdly, there, "go forth," he foretells the liberation; and concerning this he does three things. First he announces to them the departure from captivity, as certain of the liberation as if it were already present. "Go ye forth," etc.; Apocalypse 18: "go out from her," etc.; and he charges them to announce the benefit of God. "Declare ye," etc.; Jeremiah 50: "the voice of them that flee, and of them that have escaped," etc. Secondly he designates the benefit of consolation bestowed on those freed: "they thirsted not" — that is, the Lord will provide for them in all things just as when they went out from Egypt. Psalm 77: "he struck the rock, and they flowed," etc.; Numbers 21. Thirdly he takes away from the wicked the solace of peace: "there is no peace," below, chapter 57; 4 Kings 9: "what hast thou to do with peace," etc. (Collations, chapter 48) Poverty confers: the recognition of sins: "if they shall be bound," etc.; the preservation of virtues, Ecclesiasticus 10: "the poor man glorieth," etc.; quiet of heart, Tobit 5: "it was enough for us," etc.; the fulfillment of desire, Psalm: "the desire of the poor," etc.; participation in the divine sweetness, Psalm: "thou hast prepared in sweetness," etc.; exaltation, 1 Kings 2: "raising up from the dust," etc.; the heavenly inheritance, Matthew 5: "blessed are the poor," etc. The words of God are useful: for the illumination of the understanding, Proverbs 6: "the commandment is a lamp," etc.; for the delight of the affections, Psalm: "how sweet to the jaws," etc.; for the kindling of love, Jeremiah 20: "it came to be in the heart," etc.; Psalm: "the word of the Lord"; for the rightness of work, Psalm: "direct me in truth," etc.; for the attainment of glory, Proverbs 3: "keep the law"; for the instruction of others, 2 Timothy 3: "all doctrine divinely," etc.”

“We may observe here, I. The hypocritical profession which many of the Jews made of religion and relation to God. To those who made such a profession the prophet is here ordered to address himself, for their conviction and humiliation, that they might own God's justice in what he had brought upon them. Now observe here, 1. How high their profession of religion soared, what a fair show they made in the flesh and how far they went towards heaven, what a good livery they wore and what a good face they put upon a very bad heart. (1.) They were the house of Jacob; they had a place and a name in the visible church. Jacob have I loved. Jacob is God's chosen; and they are not only retainers to his family, but descendants from him. (2.) They were called by the name of Israel, an honourable name; they were of that people to whom pertained both the giving of the law and the promises. Israel signifies a prince with God; and they prided themselves in being of that princely race. (3.) They came forth out of the waters of Judah, and thence were called Jews; they were of the royal tribe, the tribe of which Shiloh was to come, the tribe that adhered to God when the rest revolted. (4.) They swore by the name of the Lord, and thereby owned him to be the true God, and their God, and gave glory to him as the righteous Judge of all. They swore to the name of the Lord (so it may be read); they took an oath of allegiance to him as their King and joined themselves to him in covenant. (5.) They made mention of the God of Israel in their prayers and praises; they often spoke of him, observed his memorials, and pretended to be very mindful of him. (6.) They called themselves of the holy city, and, when they were captives in Babylon, purely from a principle of honour, and jealousy for their native country, they valued themselves upon their interest in it. Many, who are themselves unholy, are proud of their relation to the church, the holy city. (7.) They stayed themselves upon the God of Israel, and boasted of his promises and his covenant with them; they leaned on the Lord, Mic 3:11. And, if they were asked concerning their God, they could say, "The Lord of hosts is his name, the Lord of all;" happy are we therefore, and very great, who have relation to him! 2. How low their profession of religion sunk, notwithstanding all this. It was all in vain; for it was all a jest; it was not in truth and righteousness. Their hearts were not true nor right in these professions. Note, All our religious professions avail nothing further than they are made in truth and righteousness. If we be not sincere in them, we do but take the name of the Lord our God in vain. II. The means God used, and the method he took, to keep them close to himself, and to prevent their turning aside to idolatry. The many excellent laws he gave them, with their sanctions, and the hedges about them, it seems, would not serve to restrain them from that sin which did most easily beset them, and therefore to those God added remarkable prophecies, and remarkable providences in pursuance of those prophecies, which were all designed to convince them that their God was the only true God and that it was therefore both their duty and interest to adhere to him. 1. He both dignified and favoured them with remarkable prophecies (Isa 48:3): I have declared the former things from the beginning. Nothing material happened to their nation from its original which was not prophesied of before - their bondage in Egypt, their deliverance thence, the situation of their tribes in Canaan, etc. All these things went forth out of God's mouth and he showed them. Herein they were honoured above any nation, and even their curiosity was gratified. Their prophecies were such as they could rely upon, and such as concerned themselves and their own nation; and they were all verified by the accomplishment of them. I did them suddenly, when they were least expected by themselves or others, and therefore could not be foreseen by any but a divine prescience. I did them and they came to pass; for what God does he does effectually. The very calamities they were now groaning under in Babylon God did from the beginning declare to them by Moses, as the certain consequences of their apostasy from God, Lev 26:31, etc.; Deu 28:36, etc.; Deu 29:28. He also declared to them their return to God, and to their own land again, Deu 30:4, etc.; Lev 26:44, Lev 26:45. Thus he showed them how he would deal with them long before it came to pass. Let them compare their present state together with the deliverance they had now in prospect with what was written in the law, and they would find the scripture exactly fulfilled. 2. He both dignified and favoured them with remarkable providence (Isa 48:6): I have shown thee new things from this time. Besides the general view given from the beginning of God's proceedings with them, he showed them new things by the prophets of their own day, and created them. They were hidden things, which they could not otherwise know, as the prophecy concerning Cyrus and the exact time of their release out of Babylon. These things God created now, Isa 48:7. Their restoration was in effect their creation, and they had a promise of it not from the beginning, but of late; for to prevent their apostasy from God, or to recover them, prophecy was kept up among them. Yet it was told them when they could not come to the knowledge of it in any other way than by divine revelation. "Consider," says God, "how much soever it is talked of now among you and expected, it was told you by the prophets, when it was the furthest thing from your thoughts, when you had not heard it, when you had not known it, nor had any reason to expect it, and when your ear was not opened concerning it (Isa 48:7, Isa 48:8), when the thing seemed utterly impossible, and you would scarcely have given any one the hearing who should have told you of it." God had shown them hidden things which were out of the reach of their knowledge, and done for them great things, out of the reach of their power: "Now," says he (Isa 48:6), "thou hast heard; see all this. Thou hast heard the prophecy; see the accomplishment of it, and observe whether the word and works of God do not exactly agree; and will you not declare it, that as you have heard so you have seen? Will you not own that the Lord is the true God, the only true God, that he has the knowledge and power which no creature has and which none of the gods of the nations can pretend to? Will you not own that your God has been a good God to you? Declare this to his honour, and your own shame, who have dealt so deceitfully with him and preferred others before him." III. The reasons why God would take this method with them. 1. Because he would anticipate their boastings of themselves and their idols. (1.) God by his prophets told them beforehand of their deliverance, lest they should attribute the accomplishment of it to their idols. Thus he saw it necessary to secure the glory of it to himself, which otherwise would have been given by some of them to their graven images: "I spoke of it," says God, "lest thou shouldst say, My idol has done it or has commanded it to be done," Isa 48:5. There were those that would be apt to say so, and so would be confirmed in their idolatry by that which was intended to cure them of it. But they would now be for ever precluded from saying this; for, if the idols had done it, the prophets of the idols would have foretold it; but, the prophets of the Lord having foretold it, it was no doubt the power of the Lord that effected it. (2.) God foretold it by his prophets, lest they should assume the foresight of it to themselves. Those that were not so profane as to have ascribed the thing itself to an idol were yet so proud as to have pretended that by their own sagacity they foresaw it, if God had not been beforehand with them and spoken first: Lest thou shouldst say, Behold, I knew them, Isa 48:7. Thus vain men, who would be thought wise, commonly undervalue a thing which is really great and surprising with this suggestion, that it was no more than they expected and they knew it would come to this. To anticipate this, and that this boasting might for ever be excluded, God told them of it before the day, when as yet they dreamed not of it. God has said and done enough to prevent men's boastings of themselves, and that no flesh may glory in his presence, and, if it have not the intended effect, it will aggravate the sin and ruin of the proud; and, sooner, or later, every mouth shall be stopped, and all flesh shall become silent before God. 2. Because he would leave them inexcusable in their obstinacy. Therefore he took this pains with them, because he knew they were obstinate, Isa 48:4. He knew they were so obstinate and perverse that, if he had not supported the doctrine of providence by prophecy, they would have had the impudence to deny it, and would have said that their idol had done that which God did. He knew very well, (1.) How wilful they would be, and how fully bent they would be upon that which is evil: I knew that thou wast hard; so the word is. There were prophecies as well as precepts which God gave them because of the hardness of their hearts: "Thy neck is an iron sinew, unapt to yield and submit to the yoke of God' commandments, unapt to turn and look back upon his dealings with thee or look up to his displeasure against thee; not flexible to the will of God, nor pliable to his intentions, nor manageable by his word or providence. Thy brow is brass; thou art impudent and canst not blush, insolent and wilt not fear or give back, but wilt thrust on in the way of thy heart." God uses means to bring sinners to comply with him, though he knows they are obstinate. (2.) How deceitful they would be and how insincere in that which is good, Isa 48:8. God sent his prophets to them, but they did not hear, they would not know, and it was no more than was expected, considering what they had been. Thou wast called, and not miscalled, a transgressor from the womb. Ever since they were first formed into a people they were prone to idolatry; they brought with them out of Egypt a strange addictedness to that sin; and they were murmurers as soon as ever they began their march to Canaan. They were justly upbraided with it then, Deu 9:7, Deu 9:24. Therefore I knew that thou wouldst deal very treacherously. God foresaw their apostasy, and gave this reason for it, that he had always found them false and fickle, Deu 31:16, Deu 31:27, Deu 31:29. This is applicable to particular persons. We are all born children of disobedience; we were called transgressors from the womb, and therefore it is easy to foresee that we shall deal treacherously, very treacherously. Where original sin is actual sin will follow of course. God knows it, and yet deals not with us according to our deserts.”

“Hear ye this, O house of Jacob,.... Who were of the house and family of Jacob, his descendants and posterity; and who were of the house of the God of Jacob, had a name and a place there, at least in profession: which are called by the name of Israel; a name given to Jacob, because of his prevalence with God in prayer; but these had only the name, not the thing, however not as yet; they were neither praying Jacobs, nor prevailing Israels; they were not Israelites indeed: and are come forth out of the waters of Judah; that is, were of the seed of Judah, as the Targum, Aben Ezra, and Kimchi interpret it; these were waters out of his buckets, as Jarchi observes from Num 24:7, so we read of the fountain of Jacob, Deu 33:28. These were streams from thence; they were of the tribe of Judah, to whom the kingdom belonged; from whence was the chief ruler, the Shiloh, the King Messiah; they were of these waters, though not born again of water and of the Spirit: which swear by the name of the Lord God; own him for their God, acknowledge him their Lord and King, and solemnly promise to serve him, and yield obedience to him: and make mention of the God of Israel; or "remember" him (z) in their religious exercises; invoke his name, sing his praises, ask of him the ordinances of righteousness, honour him with their lips, speak honourably of him, and profess to remember his works of old at their solemn feasts: but not in truth, nor in righteousness; not according to the will of God, nor truth of things; nor in the integrity of their hearts, but in an hypocritical way, and not in sincerity and uprightness; in word and tongue only, not in deed and in truth; worshippers of God they were externally, but not in spirit and truth. (z) "recordantur", Munster, Vatablus.”