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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0;"/><title>Isaiah 12 Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</title><link rel="canonical" href="https://biblehub.com/commentaries/expositors/isaiah/12.htm" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001com.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/isaiah/12.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="//biblehu.com/bmcom/isaiah/12-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="/commentaries/">Commentary</a> > <a href="../">Ellicott</a> > <a href="../isaiah/">Isaiah</a></div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../isaiah/11.htm" title="Isaiah 11">◄</a> Isaiah 12 <a href="../isaiah/13.htm" title="Isaiah 13">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</div><div class="chap"> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/12-1.htm">Isaiah 12:1</a></div><div class="verse">And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.</div>XII.</span><p>(1) In <span class= "bld">that day thou shalt say . . .</span>—The prophet becomes the psalmist of that new Exodus, and the hymn that follows is based upon the type of that in Exodus 15, though with less of local and historical colouring. He has been taught that confession must be blended with thanksgiving—that those only can rightly estimate the comfort which God gives who have first felt His wrath. The fact that the prophet appears as a psalmist was a natural result of the training of the schools of the prophets, as described in <a href="/1_samuel/19-20.htm" title="And Saul sent messengers to take David: and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over them, the Spirit of God was on the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.">1Samuel 19:20</a>, possibly also of his familiarity with the Temple service as a priest or Levite. The group of psalms ascribed to the sons of Korah presents so many parallelisms to the writings of Isaiah, and so obviously belongs to the same period, that we may reasonably think of him as having been associated with that goodly company. (See <span class= "ital">Introduction.</span>)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/12-2.htm">Isaiah 12:2</a></div><div class="verse">Behold, God <i>is</i> my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH <i>is</i> my strength and <i>my</i> song; he also is become my salvation.</div>(2) <span class= "bld">Behold, God is my salvation . . .</span>—The words admit of the rendering, <span class= "ital">Behold the God of my salvation. </span>In either construction “salvation” is taken, as in the New Testament (<a href="/john/4-22.htm" title="You worship you know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.">John 4:22</a>; <a href="/context/1_peter/1-9.htm" title="Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.">1Peter 1:9-10</a>), as meaning more than mere deliverance from danger, and including the highest spiritual blessings.<p><span class= "bld">The Lord Jehovah . . .</span>—The Hebrew here and in <a href="/isaiah/26-4.htm" title="Trust you in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:">Isaiah 26:4</a> presents the exceptional combination of the two Divine Names (<span class= "ital">Yah Yahveh</span>)<span class= "ital">. </span>(See <a href="/psalms/68-4.htm" title="Sing to God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rides on the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him.">Psalm 68:4</a>.) With this exception the second clause of the verse is a verbal reproduction of <a href="/exodus/15-2.htm" title="The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him.">Exodus 15:2</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/12-3.htm">Isaiah 12:3</a></div><div class="verse">Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.</div>(3) <span class= "bld">Therefore with joy shall ye draw water . . .</span>—Literally, <span class= "ital">And with joy. </span>The words may be either part of the hymn, or addressed to those who are to join in it. The latter seems most in harmony with the context. In the later ritual of the Feast of Tabernacles, the priests went in solemn procession to the Pool of Siloam, filled a golden vase with water, carried it to the Temple, and poured it out on the western side of the altar of burnt offering, while the people chanted the great Hallel (Hymn of Praise) of Psalms 113-118 (See Note on <a href="/john/7-37.htm" title="In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come to me, and drink.">John 7:37</a>.) If we may assume that this represented the ritual of the monarchy, we may reasonably infer that the words of Isaiah pointed to it. The Talmud expressly connects the act with the symbolism of Isaiah’s words (Jer. <span class= "ital">Succa, v.</span> 1), and the prophet’s reference to the “waters of Shiloah” in <a href="/isaiah/8-6.htm" title="For as much as this people refuses the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son;">Isaiah 8:6</a>, confirms the inference.<span class= "bld"><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/12-4.htm">Isaiah 12:4</a></div><div class="verse">And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.</div>(4) <span class= "bld">Declare his doings among the people.</span>—Literally, <span class= "ital">among the peoples. </span>The prophet quotes from the hymn which had been sung when the Ark was placed in Zion (<a href="/1_chronicles/16-8.htm" title="Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name, make known his deeds among the people.">1Chronicles 16:8</a>), and in part from <a href="/psalms/105-1.htm" title="O give thanks to the LORD; call on his name: make known his deeds among the people.">Psalm 105:1</a>.<span class= "bld"><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/12-5.htm">Isaiah 12:5</a></div><div class="verse">Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done excellent things: this <i>is</i> known in all the earth.</div>(5) <span class= "bld">For he hath done excellent things.</span>—Here, again, the Hebrew indicates an echo from <a href="/exodus/15-1.htm" title="Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song to the LORD, and spoke, saying, I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider has he thrown into the sea.">Exodus 15:1</a> : “He hath triumphed gloriously.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/12-6.htm">Isaiah 12:6</a></div><div class="verse">Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great <i>is</i> the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.</div>(6) <span class= "bld">Thou inhabitant of Zion.</span>—The Hebrew is feminine. The inhabitant is the <span class= "ital">daughter </span>of Zion, the restored Church, that has Zion for her dwelling-place.<p><span class= "bld">Great is the Holy One of Israel . . .</span>—The hymn ends with the Divine Name which is characteristic of Isaiah. The presence of the Holy One was to be a joy and blessing to the remnant who were worthy of their calling. With this hymn the whole of what has been called the Immanuel volume of Isaiah’s prophecies comes to its close.<p><span class= "bld"><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers<br /><br />Text Courtesy of <a href="//biblesupport.com" target="_top">BibleSupport.com</a>. Used by Permission. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/">Bible Hub</a></div></div></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="left"><a href="../isaiah/11.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Isaiah 11"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Isaiah 11" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../isaiah/13.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Isaiah 13"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Isaiah 13" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="rightbox"><div class="padright"><div id="pic"><iframe width="100%" height="860" scrolling="no" src="//biblescan.com/mpc/isaiah/12-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></div></div><div id="rightbox4"><div class="padright2"><div id="spons1"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td class="sp1"><iframe width="122" height="860" scrolling="no" src="/commentaries/ellicott/sidemenu.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></div><div id="bot"><br /><br /><div align="center"> <script id="3d27ed63fc4348d5b062c4527ae09445"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=51ce25d5-1a8c-424a-8695-4bd48c750f35&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script> <script id="b817b7107f1d4a7997da1b3c33457e03"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=cb0edd8b-b416-47eb-8c6d-3cc96561f7e8&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-2'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-0' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-3'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-1' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div align="center" id='div-gpt-ad-1531425649696-0'> </div><br /><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:200px;height:200px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-3753401421161123" data-ad-slot="3592799687"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script> <br /><br /> </div><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhchap.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></body></html>