For my name’s sake I will remove my wrath far off: and for my praise I will bridle thee, lest thou shouldst perish.

“I defer My anger Heb. (אַאֲרִיךְ אַפִּי). Despite the future form, it is an expression of the present. and My praise is that I restrain My wrath Heb. אֶחֱטָם. And this is My praise, that I restrain My wrath for you. אֶחֱטָם is an expression of חֹטֶם, a nose. I will close My nose not to allow the smoke of My nostrils to go out and not to be angry with you, for, when one is angry, smoke comes out of his nostrils, as Scripture states (Ps. 18:9): “Smoke rose in His nose.” Likewise, every expression of ‘kindling of anger’ (חֲרוֹן אַף) is an expression of the heating of the nose, (Job. 42:7) “My anger was kindled (חָרָה אַפִּי).” Comp. also (ibid. 30:30) “And my bones were burnt (חָרָה) from heat.” My nose was heated (נִחַר) from much heat.””

“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.”

“The deliverance of God's people out of their captivity in Babylon was a thing upon many accounts so improbable that there was need of line upon line for the encouragement of the faith and hope of God's people concerning it. Two things were discouraging to them - their own unworthiness that God should do it for them and the many difficulties in the thing itself; now, in these verses, both these discouragements are removed, for here is, I. A reason why God would do it for them, though they were unworthy; not for their sake, be it known to them, but for his name's sake, for his own sake, Isa 48:9-11. 1. It is true they had been very provoking, and God had been justly angry with them. Their captivity was the punishment of their iniquity; and if, when he had them in Babylon, he had left them to pine away and perish there, and made the desolations of their country perpetual, he would only have dealt with them according to their sins, and it was what such a sinful people might expect from an angry God. "But," says God, "I will defer my anger" (or, rather, stifle and suppress it); "I will make it appear that I am slow to wrath, and will refrain from thee, not pour upon thee what I justly might, that I should cut thee off from being a people." And why will God thus stay his hand? For my name's sake; because this people was called by his name, and made profession of his name, and, if they were cut off, the enemies would blaspheme his name. It is for my praise; because it would redound to the honour of his mercy to spare and reprieve them, and, if he continued them to be to him a people, they might be to him for a name and a praise. 1. It is true they were very corrupt and ill-disposed, but God would himself refine them, and make them fit for the mercy he intended for them: "I have refined thee, that thou mightest be made a vessel of honour." Though he does not find them meet for his favour, he will make them so. And this accounts for his bringing them into the trouble, and continuing them in it so long as he did. It was not to cut them off, but to do them good. It was to refine them, but not as silver, or with silver, not so thoroughly as men refine their silver, which they continue in the furnace till all the dross is separated from it; if God should take that course with them, they would be always in the furnace, for they are all dross, and, as such, might justly be put away (Psa 119:119) as reprobate silver, Jer 6:30. He therefore takes them as they are, refined in part only, and not thoroughly. "I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction, that is, I have made thee a choice one by the good which the affliction has done thee, and then designed thee for great things." Many have been brought home to God as chosen vessels and a good work of grace has been begun in them in the furnace of affliction. Affliction is no bar to God's choice, but subservient to his purpose. 3. It is true they could not pretend to merit at God's hand so great a favour as their deliverance out of Babylon, which would put such an honour upon them and bring them so much joy; therefore, says God, For my own sake, even for my own sake, will I do it, Isa 48:11. See how the emphasis is laid upon that; for it is a reason that cannot fail, and therefore the resolution grounded upon it cannot fall to the ground. God will do it, not because he owes them such a favour, but to save the honour of his own name, that that may not be polluted by the insolent triumphs of the heathen, who, in triumphing over Israel, thought they triumphed over the God of Israel and imagined their gods too hard for him. This was plainly the language of Belshazzar's revels, when he profaned the holy vessels of God's temple at the same time that he praised his idols (Dan 5:2, Dan 5:4), and of the Babylonians' demand (Psa 137:3), Sing us one of the songs of Zion. God will therefore deliver his people, because he will not suffer his glory to be thus given to another. Moses pleaded this often with God: Lord, what will the Egyptians say? Note, God is jealous for the honour of his own name, and will not suffer the wrath of man to proceed any further than he will make it turn to his praise. And it is matter of comfort to God's people that, whatever becomes of them, God will secure his own honour; and, as far as is necessary to that, God will work deliverance for them. II. Here is a proof that God could do it for them, though they were unable to help themselves and the thing seemed altogether impracticable. Let Jacob and Israel hearken to this, and believe it, and take the comfort of it. They are God's called, called according to his purpose, called by him out of Egypt (Hos 11:1) and now out of Babylon, a people whom with a distinguishing favour he calls by name, and to whom he calls. They are his called, for they are called to him, called by his name, and called his; and therefore he will look after them, and they may be assured that, as he will deliver them for his own sake, so he will deliver them by his own strength. They need not fear them, for, 1. He is God alone, and the eternal God (Isa 48:12): "I am he who can do what I will and will do what is best, he whom none can compare with, much less contend with. I am the first; I also am the last." Who can be too quick for him that is the first, or anticipate him? Who can be too hard for him that is the last, and will keep the field against all opposers, and will reign till they are all made his footstool? What room then is left to doubt of their deliverance when he undertakes it whose designs cannot but be well laid, for he is the first, and well executed, for he is the last. As for this God, his work is perfect. 2. He is the God that made the world, and he that did that can do any thing, Isa 48:13. Look we down? We see the earth firm under us, and feel it so; it was his hand that laid the foundation of it. Look we up? We see the heavens spread out as a canopy over our heads, and it was his hand that spread them, that spanned them, that stretched them out, and did it by an exact measure, as the workman sometimes metes out his work by spans. This intimates that God has a vast reach and can compass designs of the greatest extent. If the palm of his right hand (so the margin reads it) has gone so far as to stretch out the heavens, what will he do with his outstretched arm? Yet this is not all: he has not only made the heavens and the earth, and therefore he in whom our hope and help is omnipotent (Psa 124:8), but he has the command of all the hosts of both; when he calls them into his service, to go on his errands, they stand up together, they come at the call, they answer to their names: "Here we are; what wilt thou have us to do?" They stand up, not only in reverence to their Creator, but in a readiness to execute his orders: They stand up together, unanimously concurring, and helping one another in the service of their Maker. If God therefore will deliver his people, he cannot be at a loss for instruments to be employed in effecting their deliverance. 3. He has already foretold it, and, having infinite knowledge, so that he foresaw it, no doubt he has almighty power to effect it: "All you of the house of Jacob, assemble yourselves, and hear this for your comfort, Which among them, among the gods of the heathen, or their wise men, has declared these things, or could declare them?" Isa 48:14. They had no foresight of them at all, but those who consulted them were very confident that Babylon should be a lady for ever and Israel perpetual slave; and their oracles did not give them the least hint to the contrary, to undeceive them; whereas God by his prophets had given notice to the Jews, long before, of their captivity and the destruction of Jerusalem, as he had now likewise given them notice of their release (Isa 48:15): I, even I, have spoken; and he would not have spoken it if he could not have made it good: none could out-see him, and therefore we may be sure that none could outdo him. 4. The person is pitched upon who is to be employed in this service, and the measures are concerted in the divine counsels, which are unalterable. Cyrus is the man who must do it; and it tends much to strengthen our assurance that a thing shall be done when we are particularly informed how and by whom. It is not left at uncertainty who shall do it, but the matter is fixed. (1.) It is one whom God is well pleased in, upon this account, because he is designed for this service: The Lord has loved him (Isa 48:14); he has done him this favour, this honour, to make him an instrument in the redemption of his people and therein a type of the great Redeemer, God's beloved Son, in whom he was well pleased. Those God does a great kindness to, and has a great kindness for, whom he makes serviceable to his church. (2.) It is one to whom God will give authority and commission: I have called him, have given him a sufficient warrant, and therefore will bear him out. (3.) It is one whom God will by a series of providences lead to this service: "I have brought him from a far country, brought him to engage against Babylon, brought him step by step, quite beyond his own intentions." Whom God calls he will bring, will cause them to come (so the word is), to come at the call. (4.) It is one whom God will own and give success to. Cyrus will do God's pleasure on Babylon, that which it is his pleasure should be done and which he will be pleased with the doing of, though Cyrus has ends of his own to serve and has no regard either to the will of God or to his favour in the doing of it. His arm (Cyrus's army, and in it God's arm) shall come, and be upon the Chaldeans, to bring them down (Isa 48:14); for, if God call him and bring him, he will certainly make his way prosperous, Isa 48:15. Then we may hope to prosper in our way when we follow a divine call and guidance.”

“For my name's sake will I defer mine anger,.... From age to age, for those sins which had been committed, and continued in ever since they were a people. The above account of them shows that it was not for any merits of theirs, or any works of righteousness done by them, that he showed favour to them, as afterwards expressed; but for his own name's sake, and because of his glory; because these people were called by his name, and said to be his people, lest therefore his name should be reproached among the Heathen, or he should suffer any diminution of his glory, therefore he did not at once stir up all his wrath, as their sins deserved, but prolonged it from time to time: and for my praise will I refrain from thee, that I cut thee not off: that is, refrain mine anger from thee; or "seal" or "stop my nostrils" (c), that the smoke of his wrath and anger might not go out from thence to destroy them. The Targum is, "I will confirm (or establish) thee, that I may not consume thee;'' and this he would do, because of his praise, of the praise of his mercy, grace, and goodness; and that he might have a people to praise him, which he would not, should they be cut off. (c) "obstruam sive". "obturabo nares tibi", Malvenda, Gataker; so Jarchi.”

“The people now expiating its offences in exile has been from time immemorial faithless and inclined to apostasy; nevertheless Jehovah will save it, and its salvation is therefore an unmerited work of His compassion. "For my name's sake I lengthen out my wrath, and for my praise I hold back towards thee, that I may not cut thee off. Behold, I have refined thee, and not in the manner of silver: I have proved thee in the furnace of affliction. For mine own sake, for mine own sake I accomplish it (for how is it profaned!), and my glory I give not to another." The futures in Isa 48:9 affirm what Jehovah continually does. He lengthens out His wrath, i.e., He retards its outbreak, and thus shows Himself long-suffering. He tames or chains it (חטם, like Arab. chṭm, root טם, compare domare, root Sanscr. dam, possibly also to dam or damp) for the sake of Israel, that He may not exterminate it utterly by letting it loose, and that for the sake of His name and His praise, which require the carrying out of His plan to salvation, on which the existence of Israel depends. What Israel has hitherto experienced has been a melting, the object of which was not destruction, but testing and refinement. The Beth of בכסף ולא is not Beth pretii in the sense of "not to gain silver," or "not so that I should have gained silver as operae pretium," as Umbreit and Ewald maintain (and even Knobel, who explains it however as meaning "in the accompaniment of silver," though in the same sense). Such a thought would be out of place and purposeless here. Nor is Rosenmller's explanation admissible, viz., "not with silver, i.e., with that force of fire which is necessary for the smelting out of silver." This is altogether unsuitable, because the sufferings inflicted upon Israel did resemble the smelting out of the precious metal (see Isa 1:25). The Beth is rather the Beth essentiae, which may be rendered by tanquam, and introduces the accusative predicate in this instance, just as it introduces the nominative predicate in the substantive clause of Job 23:13, and the verbal clause of Psa 39:7. Jehovah melted Israel, but not like silver (not as men melt silver); the meaning of which is, not that He melted it more severely, i.e., even more thoroughly, than silver, as Stier explains it, but, as the thought is positively expressed in Isa 48:10, that the afflictions which fell upon Israel served as a smelting furnace (kūr as in Deu 4:20). It was, however, a smelting of a superior kind, a spiritual refining and testing (bâchar is Aramaic in form, and equivalent to bâchan). The manifestation of wrath, therefore, as these expressions affirm, had a salutary object; and in this very object the intention was involved from the very first, that it should only last for a time. He therefore puts an end to it now for His own sake, i.e., not because He is induced to do so by the merits of Israel, but purely as an act of grace, to satisfy a demand made upon Him by His own holiness, inasmuch as, if it continued any longer, it would encourage the heathen to blaspheme His name, and would make it appear as though He cared nothing for His own honour, which was inseparably bound up with the existence of Israel. The expression here is curt and harsh throughout. In Isa 48:9, למען and אפּי are to be supplied in thought from Isa 48:9; and in the parenthetical exclamation, יחל איך (niphal of חלל, as in Eze 22:26), the distant word שׁים (my name), also from Isa 48:9. "I will do it" refers to the carrying out of their redemption (cf., Isa 44:23). In Eze 36:19-23 we have, as it were, a commentary upon Isa 48:11.”