Thus saith the Lord: In an acceptable time I have heard thee, and in the day of salvation I have helped thee: and I have preserved thee, and given thee to be a covenant of the people, that thou mightest raise up the earth, and possess the inheritances that were destroyed:

“In a time of favor In the time of prayer, when you seek My favor and appease Me. and on a day of salvation When you need salvation. and I will watch you Heb. וְאֶצָּרְךָ, and I will watch you. for a people of a covenant to be a people of a covenant to Me. to establish a land The land of Israel, chosen by Me from all lands.”

“בעת רצון עניתיך In an acceptable time I have heard thee. This expression is likewise a proof of the correctness of my opinion. Many, in opposition to the context, refer the pronoun thee to Cyrus. R. Moses thinks that the preposition ב in בעת רצון has the same meaning as in במרחב יה (Ps. 118:5), namely: with. It is not at all unlikely that his opinion is right.”

“Hear, O islands, etc. In this part he pursues the order of the liberation more specifically; and concerning this he does two things. First the people confesses the benefits received; second it receives the promise of things to come, there, I said: in vain, etc. Concerning the first, four benefits are confessed. First, the privilege of the divine election; and it continues why the prophet had above enjoined the people, that they should announce it. Whence immediately is subjoined the voice of the people announcing, and saying, Hear. From the womb, choosing me in the fathers themselves. Ps. 21: From the womb of my mother, God, etc. Second, the efficacy of prayer: and he set the mouth, prayer, as a sword, penetrating even to the ears of God and the depths of his mercy, Eph. ult.: the sword of the spirit, etc. Third, the help of divine protection: in the shadow, that is, under the protection of his power, as an archer hides a chosen arrow, to preserve it. Ps. 16: under the shadow of thy wings, etc.; Ps. 26: he hath hidden me in his tabernacle, etc. Fourth, the glory of the divine power: and he said to me: in thee will I glory; through the great things shown in thee I will appear glorious. Above, 43: every one that calleth upon my name, etc. According to others, this is the voice of Cyrus, whose name was foretold by Isaiah above, 45, before he was born; whose threatening words were as a sword, and he was protected lest his grandfather should kill him, and was kept as a chosen arrow for the appointed time; to whom it was announced that the people of Israel was the servant of God. Otherwise it is expounded of Christ; whose name was foretold by the Angel; the word of preaching, a sword piercing hearts; protected, on account of the weakness of the flesh, by the power of the divinity, and chosen among all for the fulfilling of the salvation of the human race. And he is called Israel, because he was born of the people of Israel according to the flesh. I said: here the Lord promises future benefits: and first he promises the prophet Isaiah exaltation; second, to the people liberation, there, thus saith the Lord the redeemer, etc. Concerning the first, two things. First is set down the allegation of the prophet, setting forth his labor in preaching, although through the fault of the hearers no fruit followed: and he concludes: therefore my judgment, on my behalf, is with the Lord, before him, and my work, as pleasing to him. Jer. 6: the founder hath melted in vain, etc. Second, he sets down God's response: and now thus saith the Lord: and first is signified the acceptance of the allegation, that I may bring back, as if to say: choosing me from the womb of my mother for this, that I might recall his people to him. And yet Israel shall not altogether be gathered, to him through my preaching. And yet I am glorified, etc.; Habac. 3: God, the Lord, is my strength, etc. Second, the response itself is set down, and he said: it is a small thing, as if to say: so greatly will I honor thy ministry that not only among the Jews, but among all the nations, my salvation shall be announced through thee. Rom. 3: is he the God of the Jews only? etc. This too is plainly expounded of Christ, who by his preaching and the consummation of his death made little fruit among the Jews, but enlightened and saved the nations. Likewise also of Cyrus, though more forcedly, who through his kindnesses, according to the Lord's intention, recalled the people to the worship of God, and yet did not succeed, to whom dominion over many nations was given by God. Thus saith the Lord the redeemer, etc. Here he promises liberation: and concerning this he does two things. First he promises liberation; second he excludes their doubt, there, and Sion said, etc. Concerning the first, three things. First, the things preceding liberation, namely the veneration of the Jews, which was the cause of the liberation; recalling their former contempt: contemptible, on account of the people's weakness; abominable, on account of the singularity of their worship; a servant, on account of subjection to diverse nations, above, 18: to a nation rent asunder, etc.; and he sets down the veneration itself: kings shall see the great things I will show for thee, and shall adore, as, according to the letter, Nabuchodonosor, Dan. 2, and Cyrus, and his other princes honored Esdras. Another preamble is the exaltation of the liberating king, namely Cyrus: in an acceptable time, and he does not determine the time of the exaltation: acceptable, when it shall please me to save my people, I have heard, exalting thee into a kingdom, according to thy desire, and the fruit of the exaltation: and I have preserved, etc., for the fulfilling of the covenant of my people. Be revealed, that is, be enlightened. Or of Christ, who in his passion was despised, and judged as it were a servant. Below, 53: we saw him despised, etc., but afterward, according to the letter, adored by kings. Ps. 71: all kings shall adore him, etc.; in an acceptable time, namely the time of grace. 2 Cor. 6: behold, now is the time, etc. Second, he sets down the things consequent upon the liberation, promising to the liberated an abundance of good things: they shall feed in the ways; that is, they shall enjoy consolations as abundantly as sheep enjoy pastures, when they are found even in the way, beyond the usual. Ezech. 34: they shall rest in the grass, etc.; as to the absence of evils, both of want, he shall not hunger, etc., and of harm inflicted, the heat, of tribulation; and the sun, the tyrant causing it. Ps. 120: the sun shall not burn by day, etc.; and he assigns the cause of both. Because he that is merciful, etc.; of waters, of consolations. Ps. 22: the Lord ruleth me. Third, he promises the liberation itself, setting down the preparation of the ways: and I will make all the mountains; that is, the princes will help you to return. Above, 40: every valley shall be filled, etc.; setting down also the return of the captives: behold these from afar, from the east, the sea, the west. Jer. 31: I will bring them from the north, etc.; he sets down also the giving of thanks: praise, ye heavens, etc.; Ps. 68: let the heavens praise him, etc. And Sion said, etc. Here he excludes their doubt: and first that which arose from the divine indignation; second that which arose from their dejection, there, and thou shalt say in the heart, etc.; third that which arose from the power of the enemies, there, shall it be taken away, etc. Concerning the first, two things. First he sets down the doubt: hath forsaken, without help; and therefore I cannot hope for liberation. Baruch 4: I am forsaken, etc.; second he excludes it by the likeness of a mother: is it possible, etc.; Jer. 31: if a son honorable, etc.; third he applies the promise concerning the restoration of the city: and first as to the rebuilding of the walls, setting down the divine purpose: behold, in my hands; as if to say: thus I hold thee in memory, as one who writes, or makes some sign on his hand, that he may be mindful of some thing. Thy walls; as if to say, now I see the rebuilding of thy walls. Job 37: he hideth in the hands, etc.; Ps. 89: a thousand years before the eyes, etc.; and the manner of the fulfillment: builders have come, that is, rebuilders, namely Zorobabel, and Jesus, and others, already in my eyes; the scatterers, the Chaldeans. Zach. 4: the hands of Zorobabel, etc. Second, as to the habitation of men: and concerning this he does three things. First, the gathering together of the citizens: lift up round about, etc.; Baruch 4: look about, Jerusalem, etc. Second, the re-inhabiting of the city, showing that it shall be inhabited. As I live, the manner of an oath; as with an ornament — as a bride with garments, so the city is adorned with citizens. Below, 61: he hath clothed me with the garment of salvation, etc.; showing that it shall be filled with inhabitants: for the desert places, as to inhabitants, the solitudes, as to the tillers, the ruins, as to the destroyed walls. Zach. 2: it shall be inhabited without a wall, etc.; he shows also that it shall be emptied of enemies: and far, etc. Third, he foretells the multitude of the inhabitants: still shall the children of sterility say, that is, those who were born when thou didst believe thyself barren, emptied of inhabitants. Below, 54: enlarge the place of the tent, etc. And thou shalt say in the heart, etc. Here he excludes the second doubt: and first he sets down the wonder, and thou shalt say, out of wonder: barren, because there were not in me men who could beget children; destitute, of divine help. Below, 66: who hath ever heard such, etc. Second he excludes the doubt, setting down the manner of the multitude of the inhabitants: thus saith the Lord: as to four things. First, as to the divine inspiration: behold I will lift up the hand, as it were making a sign; above, 11: he shall lift up a sign among the nations, etc. Second, as to the honorable bringing back: and they shall bring in the arms, in which is signified the help which they had from the nations. Kings, foster-fathers, providing for thee in necessities. Baruch 5: the Lord will bring them to thee, etc. Third, as to the exaltation of the liberated: with the face to the earth, this especially at the time of the Machabees; below, 40: they shall come to thee bowed down, etc. Fourth, he assigns the reason for this: and thou shalt know that I, etc.; Ps. 70: in thee, O Lord, have I hoped, let me not be confounded, etc. Shall it be taken away. Here he excludes the third doubt: and first he sets it down, from the strong, Nabuchodonosor; Matth. 12: or how can one enter, etc. Second he excludes it: for thus he saith, first setting down the benefit of the liberation: the captivity, namely of the Jews. Job 29: I broke the jaws of the wicked one, etc.; second, the manner of the liberation, setting down the destruction of the enemies. But them, namely the Chaldeans, they judged, unjustly. Soph. 3: I will kill, etc.; and he sets down the determination of the punishment: and I will feed: either on account of dissension, as above, 9: every man the flesh of the arm, etc., or on account of the multitude of the dead, while the mouth of one fell upon the blood of another, as if he would drink: or on account of famine. Third, he sets down the fruit of the liberation: and all flesh shall know, etc.; above, 40: all flesh shall see, etc.”

“Thus saith the Lord,.... These are the words of God the Father to his Son continued; the Jews themselves interpret them of the Messiah (z): in an acceptable time have I heard thee: this was the time when Christ was here on earth, when he became incarnate, and suffered and died for his people: this was an acceptable time to God the Father; his very sufferings were acceptable; his sacrifice was of a sweet smelling savour; his righteousness was well pleasing to him; for by all this his perfections were glorified, his purposes were answered, his covenant and promises fulfilled, and his people saved: it was acceptable to men, the things that were now done and procured; as pardon of sin, peace and reconciliation, a justifying righteousness, and complete salvation; which is worthy the acceptation of all that are lost and undone, and see themselves so, and that nothing they can do will save them: or "in a time of good will" (a); such was the time of Christ's first coming; it was good will to men, Luk 2:14. God showed his good will to men by the Person whom he sent to save them, his own, only, and beloved Son; and by sending him to save sinners, the chief of sinners, even enemies; and this time was fixed and settled by the good will and pleasure of God; and during this time the Lord heard Christ; he always heard him interceding for himself, and for his people; he heard him in the garden, and on the cross, and at all other times; see Heb 5:7. and in a day of salvation have I helped thee; at the time when he wrought out the salvation of his people, then he helped him in it, and through it, as he promised him, and as Christ believed he would, Isa 42:1. This is to be understood of him as man and Mediator, and to show the greatness of the work of salvation, and the concern of God in it; otherwise, as Christ is the mighty God, he needed no help, and his own arm brought salvation to him: and I will preserve thee; as he did from his enemies in life, in his infancy, and when grown up, that his life might not be taken away before his time; from being overcome by his enemies in the garden, and on the cross; from the power of death and the grave, by raising him up from thence; he preserved him to his kingdom and glory, and now retains him in heaven until the time of the restitution of all things; and will preserve his seed, and his throne, his cause, and interest, to the end of time: and give thee for a covenant of the people; Jews and Gentiles, all that are given to him, and whom he redeems by his blood, whom the Spirit sanctifies, and applies the blessings and promises of the covenant to; which is to be understood of the covenant of grace: Christ is said to be given for it unto them, he being a covenantee in it; the representative of these people in it; the surety of it for them; the Mediator and messenger of it to them; and the ratifier and confirmer of it; and as he is the great blessing of it, the sum and substance of it; and as all the blessings and promises of it are in him; and this may respect the constitution of the covenant from everlasting, and the manifestation of it in time; and this is a gift of God honourable to Christ, of free grace to his people, very comprehensive and unspeakable. Kimchi says this refers to the times of the Messiah: and the end of all this is to establish the earth; not the land of Judea, but the whole earth; which, were it not for Christ, and his covenant and suretyship engagements for his people, and for the sake of them, and their salvation, would long ago have been dissolved and broke to pieces; but he bears up the pillars of it; and, when he has gathered in all his people, will destroy it: or the end in his being given for a covenant was to "raise up" the fallen inhabitants of the earth, for so the word (b) may be rendered; or to raise up the elect of God unto life, who were obnoxious to death; or to establish, settle, and confirm the church of God on earth; see Psa 89:36. The Targum is, "to raise up the righteous that lie in the dust", referring it to the resurrection of the dead: to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; the desolate cities of Judah, or the Gentile world, which was like a desolate wilderness: it seems to denote the desolate condition of the church, which should become comfortable and flourishing through the numerous conversions of Jews and Gentiles, as the fruit and effect of the covenant of grace made with Christ; in which the Heathen were given for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession, Psa 2:8. (z) In Pesikta Rabbati in Yalkut in loc. (a) "in tempore gratuitae voluntatis", Munster; "in tempore placito", V. L. Pagninus; "beneplaciti", Piscator. (b) "ad suscitandam terram", Pagninus, Montanus; "ut erigas terram", Piscator; "ad erigendam terram", Vitringa.”

“Messiah is represented as having asked for the grace of God in behalf of sinners; this verse contains God the Father's favorable answer. an acceptable time--"In a time of grace" [HENGSTENBERG]. A limited time (Isa 61:2; Co2 6:2). The time judged by God to be the best fitted for effecting the purposes of His grace by Messiah. heard thee-- (Psa 2:8; Heb 5:7). day of salvation--when "the fulness of time" (Gal 4:4) shall have come. The day of salvation is "to-day" (Heb 4:7). helped--given Thee the help needed to enable Thee, as man, to accomplish man's salvation. preserve--from the assaults and efforts of Satan, to divert Thee from Thy voluntary death to save man. covenant of the people--(See on Isa 42:6). "The people," in the singular, is always applied exclusively to Israel. establish the earth--rather, "to restore the land," namely, Canaan to Israel. Spiritually, the restoration of the Church (the spiritual Israel) to the heavenly land forfeited by man's sin is also included. cause to inherit . . . desolate heritages--image from the desolate state of Judea during the Babylonish captivity. Spiritually, the Gentile world, a moral waste, shall become a garden of the Lord. Literally, Judea lying desolate for ages shall be possessed again by Israel (compare Isa 61:7, "in their land"). Jesus, the antitype of, and bearing the same name as Joshua (Heb 4:8), shall, like him, divide the land among its true heirs (Isa 54:3; Isa 61:4).”

“The next two vv. describe (though only with reference to Israel, the immediate circle) what is the glory of the vocation to which Jehovah, in accordance with His promise, exalts His chosen One. "Thus saith Jehovah, In a time of favour have I heard thee, and in the day of salvation have I helped thee: and I form thee, and set thee for a covenant of the people, to raise up the land, to apportion again desolate inheritances, saying to prisoners, Go ye out: to those who are in darkness, Come ye to the light." Jehovah heard His servant, and came to his help when he prayed to Him out of the condition of bondage to the world, which he shared with his people. He did it at the time for the active display of His good pleasure, and for the realizing of salvation, which had been foreseen by Him, and had now arrived. The futures which follow are to be taken as such. The fact that Jehovah makes His servant "a covenant of the people," i.e., the personal bond which unites Israel and its God in a new fellowship (see Isa 42:6), is the fruit of his being heard and helped. The infinitives with Lamed affirm in what way the new covenant relation will be made manifest. The land that has fallen into decay rises into prosperity again, and the desolate possessions return to their former owners. This manifestation of the covenant grace, that has been restored to the nation again, is effected through the medium of the servant of Jehovah. The rendering of the lxx is quite correct: τοῦ καταστῆσαι τὴν γῆν καὶ κληρονομῆσαι κληρονομίας ἐρήμους λέγοντα לאמר is a dicendo governed by both infinitives. The prisoners in the darkness of the prison and of affliction are the exiles (Isa 42:22). The mighty word of the servant of Jehovah brings to them the light of liberty, in connection with which (as has been already more than once observed) the fact should be noticed, that the redemption is viewed in connection with the termination of the captivity, and, in accordance with the peculiar character of the Old Testament, is regarded as possessing a national character, and therefore is purely external. The person of the servant of Jehovah now falls into the background again, and the prophecy proceeds with a description of the return of the redeemed. "They shall feed by the ways, and there is pasture for them upon all field-hills. They shall not hunger nor thirst, and the mirage and sun shall not blind them: for He that hath mercy on them shall lead them, and guide them by bubbling water-springs. And I make all my mountains ways, and my roads are exalted. Behold these, they come from afar; and, behold, these from the north and from the sea; and these from the land of the Sinese." The people returning home are represented as a flock. By the roads that they take to their homes, they are able to obtain sufficient pasture, without being obliged to go a long way round in order to find a sufficient supply; and even upon bare sandy hills (Isa 41:18) there is pasture found for them. Nothing is wanting; even the shârâb (see Isa 35:7) and the sun do not hurt them, the former by deceiving and leading astray, the latter by wearying them with its oppressive heat: for He whose compassion has been excited by their long pining misery (Isa 41:17-20) is leading them, and bringing them along in comfort by bubbling springs of real and refreshing water (ינחל, as Petrarch once says of shepherds, Move la schira sua soavemente). Jehovah also makes all the mountains into roads for those who are returning home, and the paths of the desert are lifted up, as it were, into well-made roads (yerumūn, Ges. 47, Anm. 4). They are called my mountains and my highways (differently from Isa 14:25), because they are His creation; and therefore He is also able to change them, and now really does change them for the good of His people, who are returning to the land of their forefathers out of every quarter of the globe. Although in Psa 107:3 yâm (the sea) appears to stand for the south, as referring to the southern part of the Mediterranean, which washes the coast of Egypt, there is no ground at all in the present instance for regarding it as employed in any other than its usual sense, namely the west; mērâchōq (from far) is therefore either the south (cf., Isa 43:6) or the east, according to the interpretation that we give to 'erets Sı̄nı̄m, as signifying a land to the east or to the south. The Phoenician Sinim (Ges. Isa 10:17), the inhabitants of a fortified town in the neighbourhood of Area, which has now disappeared, but which was seen not only by Jerome, but also by Mariono Sanuto (de castro Arachas ad dimidiam leucam est oppidum Sin), cannot be thought of, for the simple reason that this Sin was too near, and was situated to the west of Babylon and to the north of Jerusalem; whilst Sin (= Pelusium) in Egypt, to which Ewald refers, did not give its name to either a tribe or a land. Arias Montanus was among the first to suggest that the Sinim are the Sinese (Chinese); and since the question has been so thoroughly discussed by Gesenius (in his Commentary and Thesaursu), most of the commentators, and also such Orientalists as Langles (in his Recherches asiatiques), Movers (in his Phoenicians), Lassen (in his Indische Alterthumskunde, i. 856-7), have decided in favour of this opinion. The objection brought against the supposition, that the name of the Chinese was known to the nations of the west at so early a period as this, viz., that this could not have been the case till after the reign of the emperor Shi-hoang-ti, of the dynasty of Thsin, who restored the empire that had been broken up into seven smaller kingdoms (in the year 247 b.c.), and through whose celebrated reign the name of his dynasty came to be employed in the western nations as the name of China generally, is met by Lassen with the simple fact that the name occurs at a much earlier period than this, and in many different forms, as the name of smaller states into which the empire was broken up after the reign of Wu-wang (1122-1115 b.c.). "The name Θῖναι (Strabo), Σῖναι (Ptol.), Τζίνιτζα (Kosmas), says the Sinologist Neumann, did not obtain currency for the first time from the founder of the great dynasty of Tsin; but long before this, Tsin was the name of a feudal kingdom of some importance in Shen-si, one of the western provinces of the Sinese land, and Fei-tse, the first feudal king of Tsin, began to reign as early as 897 b.c." It is quite possible, therefore, that the prophet, whether he were Isaiah or any other, may have heard of the land of the Sinese in the far east, and this is all that we need assume; not that Sinese merchants visited the market of the world on the Euphrates (Movers and Lassen), but only that information concerning the strange people who were so wealthy in rare productions, had reached the remote parts of the East through the medium of commerce, possibly from Ophir, and through the Phoenicians. But Egli replies: "The seer on the streams of Babel certainly could not have described any exiles as returning home from China, if he had not known that some of his countrymen were pining there in misery, and I most positively affirm that this was not the case." What is here assumed - namely, that there must have been a Chinese diaspora in the prophet's own time - is overthrown by what has been already observed in Isa 11:11; and we may also see that it is to purely by accident that the land of the Sinese is given as the farthest point to the east, from my communications concerning the Jews of China in the History of the Post-biblical Poetry of the Jews (1836, pp. 58-62, cf., p. 21). I have not yet seen Sionnet's work, which has appeared since, viz., Essai sur les Juifs de la Chine et sur l'influence, qu'ils ont eue sur la litrature de ce vaste empire, avant l're chrtienne; but I have read the Mission of Enquiry to the Jews in China in the Jewish Intelligence, May 1851, where a facsimile of their thorah is given. The immigration took place from Persia (cf., ‛Elâm, Isa 11:11), at the latest, under the Han dynasty (205 b.c.-220 a.d.), and certainly before the Christian era.”