The Pulpit Commentary on Isaiah 51:23

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee. Babylon, the oppressor of Judah, shall in her turn be made to drink of the cup of which Judah had so long drunk, and shall suffer nearly the same woes which she had inflicted. Meanwhile, Judah should cease to drink of the cup, and have "a time of refreshing." Bow down, that we may go over; i.e. "submit yourselves to the uttermost, that we may put upon you the most extreme indignity." The metaphor is drawn from the actual practise of conquerors, who made captive kings prostrate themselves, and placed their feet upon their necks, or otherwise trampled upon them.

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commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Isaiah 51:1-23EXPOSITIONJoseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryMatthew Henry on Isaiah 51:17-23God calls upon his people to mind the things that belong to their everlasting peace. Jerusalem had provoked God, and was made to taste the bitter fruits. Those who should have been her comforters, were their own torment…Matthew Henry commentaryJerusalem's Affliction. (b. c. 706.)JERUSALEM'S AFFLICTION. (B. C. 706.) God, having awoke for the comfort of his people, here calls upon them to awake, as afterwards, Isaiah 52:1. It is a call to awake not so much out of the sleep of sin (though that als…Matthew Henry commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Isaiah 51:17-23Encouragement for Jerusalem. The prophet, or chorus of prophets, is supposed to salute the holy city with a cheering cry. I. PICTURES OF DISTRESS. The draught from the cup of Divine wrath. "The cup of his fury"—"the gob…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Isaiah 51:17-23AN ADDRESS OF THE PROPHET TO JERUSALEM. The comfort afforded to Israel generally is now concentrated on Jerusalem. Her condition during the long period of the Captivity is deplored, and her want of a champion to assert…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Isaiah 51:17-23Spiritual stupefaction. The passage presents one of the most pitiable of all possible spectacles—a nation reduced to utter helplessness and prostration, lying like one that is brought down by intoxication to a motionles…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Isaiah 51:23Divine judgment on persecutors. "Thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over." This is a figure for the last humiliation of an Eastern conquest. Joshua called his captains, and even…Joseph S. Exell and contributors