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Isaiah 51:17-23

The Pulpit Commentary on Isaiah 51:17-23

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

Encouragement 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 goblet-cup of reeling." These are figures for the horror and bewilder-meat caused by a (great catastrophe. It is "to drink the wine of astonishment" (; ). Then there is utter helplessness. No guide for Jerusalem to be found in all her sons; no strong and helping hand to grasp hers in the hour of her dire need. Desolation, death, famine, and sword—the latter without, the former within ()—such is the state of the city. The afflicted mother and her sons. It is a picture resembling that of Niobe and her doomed offspring. The sons of this mother-city swoon, and lie at the corners of the streets. "Israel the mountain people is likened to a gazelle, which all its swiftness and grace have not saved from the hunter's snare." All these things are signs of "the fury of Jehovah, the rebuke of God."

II. UNEXPECTED ENCOURAGEMENT. "The transition from threatening to promise is marked by "therefore "(; ; ). The Lord Jehovah, the God who is the Advocate of his people, speaks. This cup, which makes men reel with the madness of bewilderment, shall be taken from them, and put into the hands of their tormentors—the proud conquerors who had placed their feet upon their necks (c.f. ; ). Such sudden transitions remind us of the fact of providence, and of the coincidence of human extremity with Divine opportunity. God will not leave himself at any age without a witness in the world—which shall see that the hand of Divine power is not shortened, nor the bowels of Divine goodness straitened; but that God is as able and ready to save his Church as ever. "The difficulty of affairs has baffled and laughed at all resistances of created power, and so made the omnipotent Author of the deliverance visible and conspicuous."—J.

HOMILIES BY W.M. STATHAM

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commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Isaiah 51:1-23EXPOSITIONJoseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryMatthew 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 HenrycommentaryJerusalem'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 HenrycommentaryThe 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 contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Isaiah 51:17Awake, awake (comp. Isaiah 51:9 and Isaiah 52:1). Isaiah marks the breaks in his prophecy, sometimes by a repetition of terminal clauses, which have the effect of a refrain (Isaiah 5:25; Isaiah 9:12, Isaiah 9:17, Isaiah…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe 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 contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Isaiah 51:18None to guide her. From the time that Johanan, the son of Kareah, and the other "captains of the forces," quitted Judaea and fled into Egypt, taking with them Jeremiah and Baruch (Jeremiah 43:5-7), there was no one left…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Isaiah 51:19These two things. What are the "two things," it is asked, since four are mentioned—desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword? The right answer seems to be that of Aben Ezra and Kimchi, that the two thin…Joseph S. Exell and contributors