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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 44 Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</title><link rel="canonical" href="https://biblehub.com/commentaries/expositors/isaiah/44.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'; 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and Israel, whom I have chosen:</div>XLIV.</span><p>(1) <span class= "bld">Yet·now hear . . .</span>—The thoughts of Israel are turned from their own sins to the unchanging love of God, and that is the ground of their hope.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/44-2.htm">Isaiah 44:2</a></div><div class="verse">Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, <i>which</i> will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen.</div>(2) <span class= "bld">Thou, Jesurun . . .</span>—The ideal name of Israel as “the upright one;” so the Book of Jasher is the book of the “upright,” of the heroes of Israel. (See Note on <a href="/deuteronomy/32-15.htm" title="But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: you are waxen fat, you are grown thick, you are covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.">Deuteronomy 32:15</a>.) The name is substituted for the Israel of the preceding verse, as pointing to the purpose of God in their election.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/44-3.htm">Isaiah 44:3</a></div><div class="verse">For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:</div>(3) <span class= "bld">I will pour water . . .</span>—The latter words of the verse interpret the former. It is not the union of material or spiritual blessings, but first the symbol, and then the reality. The “thirst” is that of <a href="/psalms/42-1.htm" title="As the hart pants after the water brooks, so pants my soul after you, O God.">Psalm 42:1</a>; <a href="/context/john/4-13.htm" title="Jesus answered and said to her, Whoever drinks of this water shall thirst again:">John 4:13-14</a>. In the promise of the Spirit we have an echo of <a href="/joel/2-28.htm" title="And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:">Joel 2:28</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/44-4.htm">Isaiah 44:4</a></div><div class="verse">And they shall spring up <i>as</i> among the grass, as willows by the water courses.</div>(4) <span class= "bld">As willows.</span>—The same word as in <a href="/psalms/137-2.htm" title="We hanged our harps on the willows in the middle thereof.">Psalm 137:2</a> and <a href="/isaiah/15-7.htm" title="Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up, shall they carry away to the brook of the willows.">Isaiah 15:7</a>. Botanists identify it with a species of <span class= "ital">Viburnum, </span>which grows on the banks of streams, rather than with the <span class= "ital">“</span>weeping” or other species of <span class= "ital">Salix.</span><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/44-5.htm">Isaiah 44:5</a></div><div class="verse">One shall say, I <i>am</i> the LORD'S; and another shall call <i>himself</i> by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe <i>with</i> his hand unto the LORD, and surname <i>himself</i> by the name of Israel.</div>(5) <span class= "bld">One shall say, I am the Lord’s.</span>—The words paint, like <a href="/context/psalms/87-4.htm" title="I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me: behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there.">Psalm 87:4-5</a>, the eagerness of heathen proselytes to attach themselves to Israel. The forms of adhesion rise in emphasis: (1) the convert declares himself to belong to Jehovah; (2) he calls upon the name of Jacob; (3) he writes upon his hand, To Jehovah!—brands himself, as it were, as His servant (comp. <a href="/ezekiel/9-4.htm" title="And the LORD said to him, Go through the middle of the city, through the middle of Jerusalem, and set a mark on the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the middle thereof.">Ezekiel 9:4</a>), as showing that the prohibition of idolatrous marks (<a href="/leviticus/19-28.htm" title="You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks on you: I am the LORD.">Leviticus 19:28</a>) did not exclude this; and see also <a href="/revelation/7-3.htm" title="Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.">Revelation 7:3</a>; <a href="/revelation/9-4.htm" title="And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.">Revelation 9:4</a>; (4) he takes the name of Israel in addition to his own as a title of honour.<span class= "bld"><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/44-6.htm">Isaiah 44:6</a></div><div class="verse">Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I <i>am</i> the first, and I <i>am</i> the last; and beside me <i>there is</i> no God.</div>(6) <span class= "bld">Thus saith the Lord . . .</span>—A new section opens, repeating the argument of Isaiah 41, 43 against idolatry.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/44-7.htm">Isaiah 44:7</a></div><div class="verse">And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them.</div>(7) <span class= "bld">Since I appointed the ancient people . . .</span>—Literally, <span class= "ital">the people of the age, </span>or <span class= "ital">of eternity. </span>The phrase is used of the dead in <a href="/ezekiel/26-20.htm" title="When I shall bring you down with them that descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set you in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that you be not inhabited; and I shall set glory in the land of the living;">Ezekiel 26:20</a>. Here it has been referred either to the antediluvian fathers of mankind (<a href="/job/22-15.htm" title="Have you marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?">Job 22:15</a>) or to the patriarchs of Israel, or, more fitly, to Israel, as having before it a far-off future as well as a far-off past, and, therefore, <span class= "ital">an everlasting people. </span>The same phrase is used for the “perpetual covenant” of <a href="/exodus/31-16.htm" title="Why the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.">Exodus 31:16</a>. (Comp. <a href="/exodus/40-15.htm" title="And you shall anoint them, as you did anoint their father, that they may minister to me in the priest's office: for their anointing shall surely be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.">Exodus 40:15</a>; <a href="/2_samuel/7-13.htm" title="He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever.">2Samuel 7:13</a>; <a href="/2_samuel/7-16.htm" title="And your house and your kingdom shall be established for ever before you: your throne shall be established for ever.">2Samuel 7:16</a>.)<span class= "bld"><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/44-8.htm">Isaiah 44:8</a></div><div class="verse">Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared <i>it</i>? ye <i>are</i> even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, <i>there is</i> no God; I know not <i>any</i>.</div>(8) <span class= "bld">Yea, there is no God . . .</span>—Literally, <span class= "ital">no Rock. </span>That word, as expressing eternal strength, being used, as in <a href="/deuteronomy/32-4.htm" title="He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.">Deuteronomy 32:4</a>; <a href="/2_samuel/22-3.htm" title="The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my savior; you save me from violence.">2Samuel 22:3</a>; <a href="/2_samuel/23-3.htm" title="The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me, He that rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.">2Samuel 23:3</a>, as a Divine name.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/44-9.htm">Isaiah 44:9</a></div><div class="verse">They that make a graven image <i>are</i> all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they <i>are</i> their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.</div>(9) <span class= "bld">Are all of them vanity . . .</span>—Once more Isaiah’s favourite <span class= "ital">tohu</span>—the symbol of the primeval chaos.<p><span class= "bld">Their delectable things . . .</span>—The generic term used for works of art (<a href="/isaiah/2-16.htm" title="And on all the ships of Tarshish, and on all pleasant pictures.">Isaiah 2:16</a>), specially for what men delight to worship. (Comp. <a href="/isaiah/64-11.htm" title="Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised you, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste.">Isaiah 64:11</a>; <a href="/lamentations/1-10.htm" title="The adversary has spread out his hand on all her pleasant things: for she has seen that the heathen entered into her sanctuary, whom you did command that they should not enter into your congregation.">Lamentations 1:10</a>.)<p><span class= "bld">They are their own witnesses . . .</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">their witnesses </span>(<span class= "ital">i.e., </span>the worshippers who sing their praises) <span class= "ital">see not and know not.</span><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/44-11.htm">Isaiah 44:11</a></div><div class="verse">Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed: and the workmen, they <i>are</i> of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; <i>yet</i> they shall fear, <i>and</i> they shall be ashamed together.</div>(11) <span class= "bld">Behold, all his fellows . . .</span>—The noun has a half-technical sense, as describing a member of a religious guild or fraternity, such as were attached to heathen temples. In this sense “Ephraim was <span class= "ital">joined </span>to idols” (<a href="/hosea/4-17.htm" title="Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.">Hosea 4:17</a>). In <a href="/hosea/6-9.htm" title="And as troops of robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way by consent: for they commit lewdness.">Hosea 6:9</a>, the noun is used for the “company” of priests.<p><span class= "bld">Let them stand up.</span>—The words gain in vividness when we remember that the challenge is addressed to the guild of idol-makers. They are but men; how can they make a god?<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/44-12.htm">Isaiah 44:12</a></div><div class="verse">The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint.</div>(12) <span class= "bld">The smith with the tongs.</span>—We begin with the metal idol. Better, <span class= "ital">The smith uses a chisel. </span>The work involves stooping over the charcoal furnace. The maker of the god is exhausted with his toil, and requires food and drink to sustain him.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/44-13.htm">Isaiah 44:13</a></div><div class="verse">The carpenter stretcheth out <i>his</i> rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house.</div>(13) <span class= "bld">The carpenter.</span>—The wooden idol comes next. First there is the rough measurement with the “rule;” then the artificer draws the outline of the figure in red chalk. “Plane” and “compasses” come in to make the form more definite. The human figure is complete; then there is the artist’s final touch to add the element of beauty; and so it is ready for the “house,” or <span class= "ital">temple.</span><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/44-14.htm">Isaiah 44:14</a></div><div class="verse">He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish <i>it</i>.</div>(14) <span class= "bld">He heweth him down cedars.</span>—The manufacture is traced further back, possibly by way of protest against the belief current in all nations that some archaic image had fallen from heaven (<a href="/acts/19-35.htm" title="And when the town cleark had appeased the people, he said, You men of Ephesus, what man is there that knows not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?">Acts 19:35</a>). The “cypress” is probably the <span class= "ital">Quercus ilex, </span>and the “ash” a <span class= "ital">fig tree; </span>but the identification of trees in the language of a remote time and language is always somewhat uncertain.<p><span class= "bld">Which he strengtheneth for himself.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">fixeth his choice among. </span>The eye travels, it will be noted, backward from the workshop.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/44-15.htm">Isaiah 44:15</a></div><div class="verse">Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth <i>it</i>, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth <i>it</i>; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto.</div>(15-17) <span class= "bld">Then shall it be. . . .</span>—The point on which the prophet dwells with indignant iteration is that it is a mere chance which half of the shapeless log is to be worshipped as a god, and which to be used for cooking the workmen’s dinner. Diagoras of Melos, the reputed atheist disciple of Democritus, is said to have thrown a wooden Hercules on his hearth, bidding the hero-god do a thirteenth labour, and boil his turnips (Del.).<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/44-18.htm">Isaiah 44:18</a></div><div class="verse">They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; <i>and</i> their hearts, that they cannot understand.</div>(18) <span class= "bld">He hath shut their eyes.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">their eyes are smeared over. </span>The state described is the judicial blindness of <a href="/context/romans/1-20.htm" title="For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:">Romans 1:20-25</a>. It will be remembered that blindness thus inflicted was one of the tortures of Eastern cruelty.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/44-20.htm">Isaiah 44:20</a></div><div class="verse">He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, <i>Is there</i> not a lie in my right hand?</div>(20) <span class= "bld">He feedeth on ashes.</span>—The verb passes readily through the meanings “feeding,” “pasturing,” “following after,” and the last is commonly accepted. The first, however, has the merit of greater vividness. (Comp. <a href="/hosea/12-1.htm" title="Ephraim feeds on wind, and follows after the east wind: he daily increases lies and desolation; and they do make a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt.">Hosea 12:1</a>.) The “ashes” of the smith’s furnace become the symbols of the vanity of his work (<a href="/ecclesiastes/7-6.htm" title="For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity.">Ecclesiastes 7:6</a>), and yet he has not even the germ of truth which lies in the questions of the sceptic.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/44-21.htm">Isaiah 44:21</a></div><div class="verse">Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou <i>art</i> my servant: I have formed thee; thou <i>art</i> my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me.</div>(21) <span class= "bld">Remember these.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">these things</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e., </span>the whole argument against idolatry. In contrast with the blind worshippers of idols, Israel is addressed in its ideal character as the “servant of Jehovah” with all the emphasis of iteration.<p><span class= "bld">Thou shalt not be forgotten of me.</span>—The LXX., Vulg., and some other versions take the verb as middle, <span class= "ital">thou shalt not forget, </span>but the evidence for the passive sense preponderates, to say nothing of its greater fitness in connection with the next verse, and its bearing upon complaints like those of <a href="/isaiah/40-27.htm" title="Why say you, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?">Isaiah 40:27</a>; <a href="/isaiah/49-14.htm" title="But Zion said, The LORD has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me.">Isaiah 49:14</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/44-22.htm">Isaiah 44:22</a></div><div class="verse">I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.</div>(22) <span class= "bld">I have blotted out, as a thick cloud.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">mist. </span>The Authorised Version half suggests the idea that it is the cloud that hides the sins from view. What is meant is that the sins of Israel are put away, as the sun and wind drive away the mists and fogs (<a href="/job/30-15.htm" title="Terrors are turned on me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passes away as a cloud.">Job 30:15</a>); and that this is, in idea at least, if not in time, prior to the conversion as that which makes it possible.<span class= "bld"><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/44-23.htm">Isaiah 44:23</a></div><div class="verse">Sing, O ye heavens; for the LORD hath done <i>it</i>: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel.</div>(23) <span class= "bld">The Lord hath done it.</span>—The pronoun supplied in the Authorised Version refers to the redemption of <a href="/isaiah/44-22.htm" title="I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins: return to me; for I have redeemed you.">Isaiah 44:22</a>; but the word may be taken absolutely in the sense <span class= "ital">hath done mightily.</span><p><span class= "bld">Ye lower parts of the earth.</span>—These, as in <a href="/ephesians/4-9.htm" title="(Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?">Ephesians 4:9</a>, are equivalent to Sheol, or Hades. Even they, commonly thought of as echoing no song of praise (<a href="/psalms/6-5.htm" title="For in death there is no remembrance of you: in the grave who shall give you thanks?">Psalm 6:5</a>; <a href="/psalms/88-12.htm" title="Shall your wonders be known in the dark? and your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?">Psalm 88:12</a>; <a href="/isaiah/38-18.htm" title="For the grave cannot praise you, death can not celebrate you: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for your truth.">Isaiah 38:18</a>), are invited to join in the great doxology.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/44-24.htm">Isaiah 44:24</a></div><div class="verse">Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I <i>am</i> the LORD that maketh all <i>things</i>; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;</div>(24) <span class= "bld">Thus saith the Lord.</span>—A new section begins, which is carried on to the end of Isaiah 45. The contrast between the foreknowledge of Jehovah and the no-knowledge of the worshippers of idols culminates in the proclamation, in <a href="/isaiah/44-28.htm" title="That said of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, You shall be built; and to the temple, Your foundation shall be laid.">Isaiah 44:28</a>, of the name of the deliverer and his restoration of the Temple.<p><span class= "bld">That spreadeth abroad the earth by myself.</span>—The Hebrew written text gives the more emphatic reading: <span class= "ital">that spreadeth forth the earth; who was with me? </span>(Comp. <a href="/isaiah/40-13.htm" title="Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counselor has taught him?">Isaiah 40:13</a>; <a href="/isaiah/63-3.htm" title="I have trodden the wine press alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in my anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled on my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.">Isaiah 63:3</a>; and <a href="/job/9-8.htm" title="Which alone spreads out the heavens, and treads on the waves of the sea.">Job 9:8</a>.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/44-25.htm">Isaiah 44:25</a></div><div class="verse">That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise <i>men</i> backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;</div>(25) <span class= "bld">That frustrateth the tokens of the liars.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">of the praters</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e., </span>the false prophets of Babylon. It is implied that they, after the manner of the false seers of Judah (<a href="/context/jeremiah/23-16.htm" title="Thus said the LORD of hosts, Listen not to the words of the prophets that prophesy to you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.">Jeremiah 23:16-17</a>), predicted for the kings of Babylon a time of prosperity and peace.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/44-26.htm">Isaiah 44:26</a></div><div class="verse">That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof:</div>(26) <span class= "bld">That confirmeth the word of his servant.</span>—The parallelism of “servant<span class= "ital">” </span>in the singular with “messengers” in the plural suggests the thought that the prophet is not speaking of himself, but of Israel, as the ideal “servant of the Lord,” the prophetic nation represented by the individual “messengers” or prophets. Comp. as to the word <a href="/isaiah/42-19.htm" title="Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the LORD's servant?">Isaiah 42:19</a>; <a href="/malachi/3-1.htm" title="Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the LORD, whom you seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom you delight in: behold, he shall come, said the LORD of hosts.">Malachi 3:1</a>, and that prophet’s own name (“my messenger”).<span class= "bld"><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/44-27.htm">Isaiah 44:27</a></div><div class="verse">That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers:</div>(27) <span class= "bld">That saith to the deep</span>—i.e., to the Euphrates. The words find a literal fulfilment in the strategical operation by which Cyrus turned the river from its usual bed into the Sepharvaim channel, and thus enabled his soldiers to cross on foot (Herod. i. 191). Symbolically the words may mean simply the destruction of the power of Babylon, of which its river was the emblem. (Comp. <a href="/revelation/16-12.htm" title="And the sixth angel poured out his vial on the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.">Revelation 16:12</a>.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/isaiah/44-28.htm">Isaiah 44:28</a></div><div class="verse">That saith of Cyrus, <i>He is</i> my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.</div>(28) <span class= "bld">That saith of Cyrus.</span>—The Hebrew form is <span class= "ital">Koresh, </span>answering to the <span class= "ital">Kur’us </span>of the inscription of the king’s tomb in the Murghab valley. The prediction of the name of the future deliverer has its only parallel in that of Josiah (<a href="/1_kings/13-2.htm" title="And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus said the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name; and on you shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense on you, and men's bones shall be burnt on you.">1Kings 13:2</a>). Such a phenomenon admits of three possible explanations:—(1) That it is a prophecy after the event—<span class= "ital">i.e., </span>that the whole of Isaiah, or this part of it, was written at the close of the exile. (2) That the name was revealed to the prophet in a way altogether supernatural. (3) That the name came within the horizon of the prophet’s vision from his natural stand-point, the supernatural element being found in the facts which he is led to connect with it. Of these, (3) seems to commend itself as most analogous with the methods of prophetic teaching. The main facts in the case are these—(1) Events had made Isaiah acquainted with the name of the Medes, and with a people bearing the name (Elam), afterwards given by the Jews to the Persians of the Greeks (<a href="/isaiah/11-1.htm" title="And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:">Isaiah 11:1</a>; <a href="/isaiah/13-7.htm" title="Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:">Isaiah 13:7</a>; <a href="/isaiah/21-2.htm" title="A grievous vision is declared to me; the treacherous dealer deals treacherously, and the spoiler spoils. Go up, O Elam: besiege, O Media; all the sighing thereof have I made to cease.">Isaiah 21:2</a>; <a href="/2_kings/17-6.htm" title="In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.">2Kings 17:6</a>; <a href="/2_kings/18-11.htm" title="And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel to Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes:">2Kings 18:11</a>). (2) <span class= "ital">Koresh </span>or <span class= "ital">Kyros </span>was the name of a river in that region, and the conqueror is said to have changed his previous name (Agradates) for it (Strab. Xv. 3, 6). (3) The name has been said to mean “the sun” (Plutarch, Ctesias), and this, though not accepted by many modern scholars as philologically accurate, at least indicates that the Greeks assigned that meaning to it. It would be a natural name for one who, as a worshipper of Ormuzd, saw in the sun the supreme symbol of the God of heaven. (4) The grandfather of the great Cyrus is said to have borne the same name (Herod. i. 111). (5) The facts point to the conclusion that the name <span class= "ital">Kursus; </span>if not a titular epithet, like the Pharaoh of Egypt, may yet have had the prestige of antiquity and dignity, historical or mythical. (6) Is it altogether impossible that the prophecy, circulating among the Babylonian exiles, helped to bring about its own fulfilment, and that Agradates may have been led to take the name of <span class= "ital">Kur’us </span>because he found his work described in connection with it (Josh. <span class= "ital">Ant., </span>xii. 1, 2)?<p><span class= "bld">My shepherd.</span>—As guiding the flock of Jehovah, each to their own pasture.<p><span class= "bld">Thou shalt be built.</span>—Both verbs are better taken as imperatives, <span class= "ital">Let her be built; Let thy foundations be laid.</span><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>. 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