Don’t be afraid, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel. I will help you,” says Yahweh. “Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
Parallel Translations
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Don’t be afraid, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel. I will help you,” says Yahweh. “Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
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Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
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Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I help thee, saith the LORD, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
Cross-references (24)
Passages linked to Isaiah 41:14 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 43:14 Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says: “For your sake, I have sent to Babylon, and I will bring all of them down as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships of their rejoicing.
- Isaiah 54:5 For your Maker is your husband; Yahweh of Armies is his name. The Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer. He will be called the God of the whole earth.
- Psalms 22:6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people.
- Jeremiah 50:34 Their Redeemer is strong: Yahweh of Armies is his name. He will thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
- Job 25:6 How much less man, who is a worm, the son of man, who is a worm!”
- Psalms 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, Yahweh, my rock, and my redeemer.
- Job 19:25 But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives. In the end, he will stand upon the earth.
- Isaiah 44:6 This is what Yahweh, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Yahweh of Armies, says: “I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God.
- Isaiah 44:24 Yahweh, your Redeemer, and he who formed you from the womb says: “I am Yahweh, who makes all things; who alone stretches out the heavens; who spreads out the earth by myself;
- Isaiah 47:4 Our Redeemer, Yahweh of Armies is his name, is the Holy One of Israel.
- Isaiah 48:17 Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says: “I am Yahweh your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way that you should go.
- Isaiah 49:26 I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh; and they will be drunk on their own blood, as with sweet wine. Then all flesh shall know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
- Isaiah 63:16 For you are our Father, though Abraham doesn’t know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, Yahweh, are our Father. Our Redeemer from everlasting is your name.
- Titus 2:14 who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good works.
- Isaiah 49:7 Yahweh, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, says to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhors, to a servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and rise up, princes, and they shall worship, because of Yahweh who is faithful, even the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
- Isaiah 54:8 In overflowing wrath I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting loving kindness I will have mercy on you,” says Yahweh your Redeemer.
- Isaiah 59:20 “A Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from disobedience in Jacob,” says Yahweh.
- Isaiah 60:16 You will also drink the milk of the nations, and will nurse from royal breasts. Then you will know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
- Matthew 7:14 How narrow is the gate, and restricted is the way that leads to life! Few are those who find it.
- Luke 12:32 Don’t be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.
- Romans 9:27 Isaiah cries concerning Israel, “If the number of the children of Israel are as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant who will be saved;
- Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,”
- Revelation 5:9 They sang a new song, saying, “You are worthy to take the book and to open its seals: for you were killed, and bought us for God with your blood out of every tribe, language, people, and nation,
- Deuteronomy 7:7 Yahweh didn’t set his love on you nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people; for you were the fewest of all peoples;
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (20 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Thus he calleth them because they were contemned of…
Thus he calleth them because they were contemned of all the world, and that they considering their own poor estate, should seek unto him for help.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 41:14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, [and] ye…
Isa 41:14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, [and] ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
Ver. 14. Fear not.] This is oft inculcated, for better confirmation and comfort. Our Saviour may seem to have hence his "Fear not little flock." It is no easy matter to cheer up afflicted consciences. Luther saith it is as hard a matter as to raise the dead. Hence this frequent "Fear not."
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Thou worm Jacob, who art weak in thyself, and…
Thou worm Jacob, who art weak in thyself, and despised and trodden under foot by thy proud and potent enemies.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Fear not, thou worm Jacob,.... Being like a worm,…
Fear not, thou worm Jacob,.... Being like a worm, exposed to danger, and liable to be trampled upon and crushed, mean and despicable in their own eyes, and in the esteem of others; and it may be Jacob, or the true Israelites, are so called, because of their impurity in themselves, of which they are sensible; and chiefly because of their weakness and impotence to defend themselves, and resist their enemies. It is an observation of Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech, that the strength of a worm lies in its mouth, which, though tender, can strike the strongest cedar, and penetrate into it; and the latter observes, that the strength of Israel lies in their prayers, as Jacob's did, when, wrestling with the angel, and making supplication, he had power with God, and prevailed. Now, though the saints are such poor, weak, and contemptible things, yet the Lord bids them not fear any of their enemies, he would take their part, and protect them:
and ye men of Israel; the Vulgate Latin version renders it, "ye dead men of Israel" (s); such as were accounted as dead men, and had no more respect shown them than the dead, that are remembered no more; or were exposed to death daily, for the sake of Christ and his Gospel; or that reckoned themselves dead to sin, and did die daily to it, and lived unto righteousness: or, "ye few men of Israel", as others (t) render it; Christ's flock is a little flock, his church is a little city, and few men in it, in comparison of the men of the world:
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I will help thee, saith, the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; which is repeated for the confirmation of it, and is the more strongly assured by these characters of a Redeemer of his people out of the hands of all their enemies, and the holy and just God, and sanctifier of them, which he here takes to himself, and makes himself known by.
(s) "mortales Israeliae", Castalio. (t) , Sept. "viri pauci Israel", Munster, Montanus; "Israel, qui pauco es numero", Tigurine version.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Thou worm - Who art weak in thyself, and…
Thou worm - Who art weak in thyself, and trodden under foot by thy proud enemies.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 14. Fear not, thou worm Jacob] In the…
Verse 14. Fear not, thou worm Jacob] In the rabbinical commentary on the five books of Moses, Yelamedenu, it is asked, Why are the Israelites called a worm? To signify, that as the worm does not smite, that is, gnaw the cedars, but with its mouth, which is very tender, yet it nevertheless destroys the hard wood; so all the strength of the Israelites is in prayer, by which they smite the wicked of this world, though strong like the cedars, to which they are compared, Eze 31:3.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Isa 41:14-16. Fear not, thou worm Jacob — Who…
Isa 41:14-16. Fear not, thou worm Jacob — Who art weak in thyself, despised and trodden under foot by thy proud and potent enemies. I will make thee a new sharp thrashing instrument — Such as were usual in those times and places. Thou shall thrash the mountains and hills — The great and lofty potentates of the world, which set themselves against thee: or, the greater or lesser kingdoms or countries which were enemies to God’s truth and people; so the phrase signifies, Isa 2:14, and Psa 72:3. The expressions of this and the following verse allude to the custom of the eastern countries, of having their thrashing-floors upon the tops of hills and mountains. Thou shalt fan them — When thou hast beaten them as small as chaff; and the wind shall carry them away — They shall no more molest thee; they shall be scattered and lost. And thou shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel — For to him, and not to thyself, thou shalt ascribe thy victory over thine enemies.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Fear not - (See the note at Isa 41:10).
Fear not - (See the note at Isa 41:10).
Thou worm - This word is properly applied as it is with us, to denote a worm, such as is generated in putrid substances Exo 16:20; Isa 14:11; Isa 66:24; or such as destroy plants Jon 4:7; Deu 28:39. It is used also to describe a person that is poor, afflicted, and an object of insignificance Job 25:5-6 :
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Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not;
Yea, the stars are not pure in his sight.
How much less man, that is a worm;
And the son of man which is a worm?
And in Psa 22:6 :
But I am a worm, and no man;
A reproach of men, and despised of the people.
In the passage before us, it is applied to the Jews in Babylon as poor and afflicted, and as objects of contempt in view of their enemies. It implies that in themselves they were unable to defend or deliver themselves, and in this state of helplessness, God offers to aid them and assures them that they have nothing to fear.
And ye men of Israel - (מתי ישׂראל yı̂s'erâ'ēl methēy). Margin, ‘Few men.’ There has been a great variety in the explanation of this phrase. Aquila renders it, Τεθνεῶτες Tethneōtes, and Theodotion, Νεκροὶ Nekroi, ‘dead.’ So the Vulgate, Qui mortui estis ex Israel. The Septuagint renders it, ‘Fear not, Jacob, O diminutive Israel’ (ὀλιγοστὸς Ἰσραὴλ oligostos Israēl). Chaldee, ‘Fear not, O tribe of the house of Jacob, ye seed of Israel.’ Lowth renders it, ‘Ye mortals of Israel.’ The Hebrew denotes properly, as in our translation, ‘men of Israel;’ but there is evidently included the idea of fewness or feebleness. The parallelism requires us so to understand it; and the word men, or mortal men, may well express the idea of feebleness.
And thy Redeemer - On the meaning of this word, see the notes at Isa 35:9; Isa 43:1, Isa 43:3. It is applied here to the rescue from the captivity of Babylon, and is used in the general sense of deliverer. God would deliver, or rescue them as be had done in times past. He had done it so often, that this might be regarded as his appropriate appellation, that he was the redeemer of his people.
The Holy One of Israel - The Holy Being whom the Israelites adored, and who was their protector, and their friend (see the note at Isa 2:4). This appellation is often given to God (see Isa 5:19, Isa 5:24; Isa 10:20; Isa 12:6; Isa 17:7; Isa 29:19; Isa 30:11-12). We may remark in view of these verses:
1. That the people of God are in themselves feeble and defenseless. They have no strength on which they can rely. They are often so encompassed with difficulties which they feel they have no strength to overcome, that they are disposed to apply to themselves the appellation of ‘worm,’ and by ethers they are looked on as objects of contempt, and are despised.
2. They have nothing to fear. Though they are feeble, their God and Redeemer is strong. He is their Redeemer, and their friend, and they may put their trust in him. Their enemies cannot ultimately triumph over them, but they will be scattered and become as nothing.
3. In times of trial, want, and persecution, the friends of God should put their trust alone in him. It is often the plan of God so to afflict and humble his people, that they shall feel their utter helplessness and dependence, and be led to him as the only source of strength.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Dead. Though you were in the grave, I could…
Dead. Though you were in the grave, I could protect you. Captivity is often represented under this idea. (Calmet) --- You who are despised, fear not, since Christ will protect and reward you. (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain 14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye 24men…
3. THE SERVANT OF GOD, WEAK AND LOWLY, YET IN GOD THE STRONG PEOPLE OF ISRAEL, RICHLY BLESSED WITH SALVATION AND DIVINE KNOWLEDGE
Isa_41:14-20
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14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye 24men of Israel;
I 25will help thee, saith the Lord,
And thy redeemer, 26the Holy One of Israel.
15 Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument
Having 27teeth:
Thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small,
And shalt make the hills as chaff.
16 Thou shalt 28fan them, and the wind shall carry them away,
And the whirlwind shall scatter them:
And thou shalt rejoice in the Lord,
And shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17 29When the poor and needy 30seek water, and there is none,
And their tongue faileth for thirst,
I the Lord will hear them,
I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
18 I will open rivers in 31high places,
And fountains in the midst of the valleys:
I will make the wilderness a pool of water,
And the dry land springs of water.
19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the 32shittah tree,
And the myrtle and 33the oil tree;
I will set in the desert the 34fir tree,
And the 35pine, and the 36box tree together:
20 That they may see, and know,
And consider, and understand together,
That the hand of the Lord hath done this,
And the Holy One of Israel hath created it.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
See the List for the recurrence of the words: Isa_41:14. קדושׁ ישׂראל–גָּאַל–נְאֻם י׳–מְתִים–תּוֹלַעַת. Isa_41:16 הָלַל–מְעָרָה–זָרָה Isa_41:18 מוֹצָא–אֲגַם. Isa_41:19. אֶרֶז בְּרוֹשׁ–הֲדַם–שִׁטָּה–. Isa_41:20. בָּרָא–שָׂכַל.
Isa_41:14. It is to be noted that the Lord addresses Israel as a weak woman, Isa_41:14-15 a in the second pers. fem.; whereas Isa_41:15 b, 16, the one dashing down the enemies is right away addressed in the masculine as a man. [This seems over-refinement. The fern, form of the verb and suffixes are prompted by the principal noun תּוֹלַעַת; in the masculine forms following, the idea of the person addressed is resumed, according to common usage.—Tr.].
Isa_41:17. העניים והאביונים put first shows that they are to be regarded as casus absoluti. It is still uncertain whether נָשָֽׁתָּה is derived from נָשַׁת ,נָשָׁה or from שָׁתַת. The latter seems to me the least likely, since it means ponere, fundare, stabilire, from which the meaning defecit, exaruit can be got only by straining. We must comp. Isa_19:5; Jer_51:30. I had rather, with Olshausen, assume a root נָשַׁה=exaruit, defecit, kindred to נָשָׁה. Then נָשָֽׁתָּה would be third person fern. Kal, in pausal form, with Dagesch affectuosum.——In the second clause of Isa_41:17, אֲנִי is the common subject of the two clauses, with both יהוה and אלהי י׳ in apposition, and it is to be noted that the latter stands in parallelism for the former, as indeed the God of Israel is actually called Jehovah.
Isa_41:20. After יָשִׂימוּ is to be supplied, not only לֵב (comp. Isa_41:22), but עַל לֵב (Isa_42:25; Isa_47:7; Isa_57:1; Isa_57:11; comp. Isa_44:19). Thus the proper order of thought is restored: that they see, know, take to heart and gain an insight into. Moreover this form of expression occurs in Isaiah only in the places cited. The omission of לֵב occurs in various senses, Psa_50:23; Job_4:20; Job_23:6; Job_34:23; Job_37:15; Jdg_19:30.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. The Servant of God is here still the people Israel; but what is properly characteristic of this notion is made prominent, viz.: the suffering and lowliness. But at the same time the Prophet does not omit to say very emphatically that this poor servant of God will be also a mighty and irresistible instrument of judgment in the hand of Jehovah. Thus Israel is addressed “worm Jacob,” “little people” Israel,” and that with the use of a feminine verbal form, whom, however, the Lord will help to rid itself of its enemies (Isa_41:14-16), and will bless with abundance of good things (Isa_41:17-19), in order that all may know that He alone is God (Isa_41:20).
2. Fear not——of Israel.
Isa_41:14-16. The expressions “little worm,” “little people” are evidently intended to paint the wretchedness and weakness of Israel. The former recalls Psa_22:6 “I am a worm, and no man,” and also the description of the suffering servant of God, Isa_53:2 sqq. Comp. too, Job_25:6. Yet one cannot but see in this “worm Jacob” the transition of the servant of God to the “form of a servant,” and thus recognize an intimation that the suffering people of God is also a type of the suffering Saviour. The expression מתי ישׂראל also, which recalls מְתֵי מִמְפָּר, i.e., a few people, that may be counted (Gen_34:30; Deu_4:27; Psa_105:12; 1Ch_16:19, comp. שָׁוְאJob_11:11 : Psa_26:4), involves the meaning of weakness, inconsiderableness, lowliness. גָּאַל is the antithesis of מָכַר (comp. Lev_25:25; Lev_25:48). The word frequently occurs in a juristic sense; but frequently, too, of Jehovah, who as next of kindred, so to speak, redeems His people that has been sold into the hand of their enemies.
Yet what a contrast! The Lord makes this worm Jacob a mighty instrument of judgment against the nations. חרוץ, that occurs Isa_10:22 in a figurative sense, and Isa_28:27 as designation of the threshing roller itself, signifies here a quality of the latter, viz.: the being sharp. Sharp, new, and double-edged (פיפיות only here in Isaiah, comp. Psa_149:6) shall the roller be. As such a roller lacerates the bundles of grain, and as the similarly formed harrow crushes the clods, so shall Israel rend and crush mountains and make hills like chaff, etc. This prophecy has not been fulfilled by the fleshly Israel, or at least only in a meager way, the best example being the Maccabees. But by the spiritual Israel it has had glorious fulfilment in spiritual victories.
3. The poor——created it.
Isa_41:17-20. From the preceding Isa_41:14-16, which are parallel with these, it appears that these verses do not promise to the returning exiles merely the needful refreshment through the desert, thus connecting say with Isa_40:10-11. Isa_41:14-16 do not describe something that the exiles are to effect before they can betake themselves home; and just as little do Isa_41:17 sqq., speak of something relating only to the return. Isa_41:14-20 describe the condition of salvation in general, which Israel shall experience after the exile. Isa_41:17 sqq., can only refer to the return from exile so far as that belongs to that condition. Taking the wretched that seek water, etc., as parallel with “worm Jacob,” etc., we understand Isa_41:17-20 to describe all the conditions that caused the existence of Israel before its redemption to appear like a life in the desert. As in Isa_41:14 sq. the “worm” is suddenly transformed into a mighty threshing sled, so here dry places are suddenly transformed into richly watered places, covered with glorious vegetation.
Isa_41:18-19 say how the Lord will hear the prayers of the languishing. He will open the earth (comp. Psa_105:41) (פָּתַח, by metonomy, the cause instead of the effect, as often, comp. Isa_14:17; Jer_40:4) to let streams burst forth even on bald hills, and in valleys, etc. מוֹצָא “place of issue” Isa_58:11, comp. Psa_107:35 and Isa_35:1; Isa_35:7.
In describing the vegetation seven trees in all are named, which perhaps is not accidental. אֶרֶז, “cedar” is generic: שִׁטָּה (from שָׁנָט, “to be pointed, to prick “Arabic sant, Egyptian schonte, comp. Herz. R.-Encycl. XV p. 95, and Jerome on our passage) “the acacia;” only here in Isa. הֲדַם “the myrtle,” that grows as a tree in Anterior-Asia, and in Greece (see Victor Hehn, Kulturplanzen u. Hausthiere, p. 143 sqq.: Herz. R.-Encycl. X. 142). By עֵץ שֶׁמֶן, in contrast with זֵית שׁמן (Deu_8:8), is commonly understood the wild olive, oleaster, ἀγριέλαιος (Rom_11:17; Rom_11:24). The LXX. translates κυπάρισσον; Celsus supposes resinous trees in general. This last would be a good way of getting over the difficulty, seeing the expression is strange for the wild olive. For it gives no oil, being partly without fruit (see Hehn, l. c. p. 45) partly yields fruit that is applicable for making salve and not oil (Herz. B.-Encycl. X p. 547). But as in Neh_8:15עֲלֵי זַיִת and עֲלֵי עֵץ שֶׁמֶן are mentioned together as needful for constructing the leafy booths, one must suppose the wild olive is meant. The expression occurs only 1Ki_6:23; 1Ki_6:31-33, where the עצי שׁמן are mentioned as material for the cherub-figures, and the doors and posts of the Holiest. The following words “the fir,” etc., occur verbatim Isa_60:13. בְּרוֹשׁ “the cypress” (according to MoversPhoen. I. p. 575 sqq. Berot, Berut is the name of the divinity of nature that was supposed to dwell in trees). Comp. Hehn, l. c. p.192 sqq. The words תדהר and תאשׁור remain to the present unexplained. They occur again only 60. 13 which is to be regarded as a repetition of the present passage, דָּהַר is a Hebrew word. We read מוּם דֹהֵר “the galloping horse,” Nah_3:2, and Jdg_5:22 paints מִדַּֽהְַרוֹת דַּֽהְַרוֹת אַבִּירָיו almost like quadrupedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum. But dahr in Arabic means “tempus, seculum.” It is the Hebrew דּוֹר (comp. מוּל and מוּר ,מָֹהַל and נוּר ,מָהַר and נָהַר, etc.). However one may mediate the notions “currere, cursus” and “tempus, seculum,” whether by the notion of haste or that of circuit, still the meaning of lasting, continuance, longevity seems also to belong to the sphere of the root דָּהַר. And perhaps this is still more the case in the dialects than in Hebrew itself; comp. the Chaldee תְּדִּירָאcircuitus, perpetuitas=תָּמִיד, with which it would agree that תדהר, which does not elsewhere occur in Hebrew, is probably a cognate foreign word, i.e., belonging to a kindred dialect. The plane-tree appears not to be indigenous in Palestine, for it is no where mentioned among trees that grow there. If ערמון is really the plane-tree, it signifies a tree not growing in Palestine as appears from the context of the two places of its occurrence (Gen_30:37; Eze_31:8). תדהר might thus, in the Prophet’s day, be a name for the plane-tree borrowed from some kindred dialect, and that was given to it because of its longevity. Descriptions of giant specimens of the plane-tree such as that of Hehn, l. c. p.198 sqq., prove that it attains a great age, and prodigious size. Hehn says: “The praise of the plane-tree fills all antiquity.” Again: “Greece received the plane-tree and the fashion of esteeming it from Asia, where the plane-tree like the cypress from ancient times was regarded with religious veneration by the tree-loving Iranians and the Iranian races of Asia-Minor.” According to this, one might almost think it strange if the plane-tree were omitted from mention with the cypress in an enumeration of the glorious trees that were to adorn the desert road of Israel returning from the Iranian territory (for that we may include also the idea of the return was mentioned above). Hence I am inclined, until better instructed, to regard the תדהר, with Saadia, Gesenius, Delitzsch and others, as the planetree. תְּאַשּׁוּר, from אָשַׁר “rectus, erectus fuit, is held by the ancients to be either “the box-tree “or “the sherbin cedar.” Hehn, against the meaning box-tree, appeals to Theophrast who ranks the πύξος among the φιλόψυχρα, i.e., among the vegetation that cannot endure a warm climate. A designation like “recta, erecta” suits the cedar admirably, and as the name sherbin undoubtedly stands for the cypressus oxycedrus (see Gesen. Comm.; Niebuhr, Description of Arabia, p. 149; Delitzschin loc.), we may for the present be content with the meaning “Sherbin.”
All these glorious acts will the Lord accomplish for the purpose of bringing His people to the full, deep and abiding knowledge that He has effected such things, and that thus He alone is to be revered as God. The Lord had often before wonderfully delivered His people, and they had often returned to Him then as their God. But this knowledge had never been right comprehensive and thorough. They had always in a little while turned again to idols. When the Lord terminates the great Babylonian captivity, then the nation will renounce idols forever and serve the Lord alone. This also came to pass. יַחְדָּו (comp. Isa_40:5) relates to the subject: all shall know it. But if the Prophet means by these “all” primarily the redeemed, those poor and wretched (Isa_41:17) that needed these wonders of God, still in this emphatic יחדו there seems to be also a reference to all in the widest sense to whom this knowledge would be proper. בראח comp. Isa_45:8.
Footnotes:
[24]Or, few men.
[25]omit will.
[26]supply is.
[27]Heb. mouths.
[28]scatter.
[29]omit When.
[30]seeking.
[31]bare hills.
[32]acacia.
[33]wild olive.
[34]cypress.
[35]plane-tree.
[36]sherbin-cedar.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain worm--in a state of contempt and affliction, whom all…
worm--in a state of contempt and affliction, whom all loathe and tread on, the very expression which Messiah, on the cross, applies to Himself (Psa 22:6), so completely are the Lord and His people identified and assimilated. God's people are as 'worms' in humble thoughts of themselves, and in their enemies' haughty thoughts of them; worms, but not vipers, or of the serpent's seed." [HENRY].
men--The parallelism requires the word "men" here to have associated with it the idea of fewness or feebleness. LOWTH translates, "Ye mortals of Israel." The Septuagint, "altogether diminutive." MAURER supports English Version, which the Hebrew text best accord with.
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the Lord--in general.
and thy redeemer--in particular; a still stronger reason why He should "help" them.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 14. Thou worm Jacob — The term “worm” expresses…
14. Thou worm Jacob — The term “worm” expresses feebleness, and is applied to give the hint that Israel’s predicted deliverance is not to be a thing of their own achievement.
Thy Redeemer — See Lev_25:25-27. Jehovah is to stand in the relation of near kinsman to Israel, especially to the remnant in Babylon, to pay ransom, as it were, for their deliverance; a typical conception, somehow, of Him who is to be the coming incarnate Redeemer, the Messiah. Nearly universal is the argument with evangelical interpreters that Jehovah of the Old Testament becomes, “in the fulness of times,” the Lord Jesus of the New.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 14–16. Israel itself, in the might of Jehovah, shall…
14–16. Israel itself, in the might of Jehovah, shall be the means of crushing and scattering its foes. The idea, however, is not that of warlike conquest on the part of the Israelites, it is simply that in the contest Israel is as the threshing instrument to the corn, it is armed with an irresistible strength. Cheyne pointed out that in Isa_41:14-15 a, Israel is addressed in the fem., but that is in all probability a mere freak of the punctuators, suggested by the fem. “worm.”
thou worm Jacob] Cf. Psa_22:6; Job_25:6. ye men of Israel] supplies a very weak parallel. It is generally taken as an ellipsis for “ye few men of I.” (as if it were מתי מספר, Gen_34:30 &c.), but that would have to be expressed. We should probably read with Ewald “thou small worm Israel” (רמת for מתי); the two words for “worm” occur together in Job_25:6 and also in ch. Isa_14:11.
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I will help] Render, as before, I help.
and thy redeemer, the Holy One] Read with R.V. and thy Redeemer is the Holy One. The word for “Redeemer” is Gô’çl, the technical term for the person charged with the duty of buying back the alienated property of a kinsman, of avenging his death, and certain other obligations (see Lev_25:48 f.; Num_35:19 ff.; Rth_3:12 &c.). It is a standing title of Jehovah in the latter part of Isaiah, occurring in 12 passages (the corresponding verb in 6 others). The verb means originally to assert a right by purchase: hence fig. to reclaim, rescue &c.; Driver, Introduction6, p. 418.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (14) Fear not, thou worm Jacob.—The servant of Jehovah…
(14) Fear not, thou worm Jacob.—The servant of Jehovah is reminded that he has no strength of his own, but is “as a worm, and no man” (Psa_22:6). He had not been chosen because he was a great and mighty nation, for Israel was “the fewest of all people” (Deu_7:7). As if to emphasise this, the prophet in addressing Israel passes from the masculine to the feminine, resuming the former in the second clause of Isa_41:15, where he speaks of its God-given strength.
Thy redeemer . . .—i.e., the Goel of Lev_25:48-49, the next of kin, who was the protector, the deliverer, of his brethren (Lev_25:43-49). Looking to the numerous traces of the influence of the Book of Job in 2 Isaiah, it seems not improbable that we have in these words an echo of the hope, “I know that my Redeemer liveth” (Job_19:25).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Thou worm Jacob. Though in thyself the weakest of…
Thou worm Jacob. Though in thyself the weakest of the weak, grovelling in the dust, a mere worm, (Job_25:6 Psa_22:6) yet thou hast no cause to fear, since God sustains thee. Ye men of Israel; rather, ye handful, Israel (Delitzsch). The term used is one of disparagement, corresponding to the "worm" of the parallel clause. Few and weak though they be, God"s people need not fear. Thy Redeemer. The word goel, here used for the first time by Isaiah, is frequent throughout the later chapters. (Isa_43:14 Isa_44:6, 24 47:4 48:17 49:7, 26 54:5, 8 59:20 60:16 63:16) It is used for the "nearest of kin," and "avenger of blood," in the Levitical Law, but has a sense similar to that of the present passage in Job_19:25 Psa_19:14 Psa_78:35 Psa_103:4 Pro_23:11; and Jer_1:3-4. The sense "redeem" belongs to the verb of which goal is the participle, in Exo_6:6 Exo_15:13 Lev_25:25, Lev_25:33, Lev_25:48, 49 27:13, 19, 21, etc. The Holy One of Israel Isaiah"s favourite designation of the Almighty in his covenant relationship to Israel, used eleven times in the earlier chapters, (Isa_1:3-5) once in the middle or historical portion, and thirteen times in the later chapters; (Isa_40:6) only used elsewhere in Psa_71:22 Psa_78:41 Psa_89:18 Jer_1:2-9; and Jer_51:5 (see Urwick, "Servant of Jehovah," pp. 36, 37).
Vers. 14-20. God"s strength made perfect in weakness.
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It is when Jacob is brought so low that his only fitting designation is "thou worm," and Israel is so reduced as to be a mere "handful of men," that the promise is made of the triumphant crushing of enemies, and scattering of them "like the chaff of the summer threshing-floor." It is when the nation generally feels itself to be "poor and needy" (ver. 17), when it is as it were at the last gasp, actually perishing of thirst, that it is raised to paradisaical bliss, that it finds itself in a veritable "garden of Eden." Exaltation follows abasement, not however by any mere law of alternation, as if men having reached the very bottom of the wheel of fortune must begin to rise, much less by any mere caprice of the power that rules the universe, but by the law of moral fitness. "He that would be great among you let him be your servant." It is when men, chastened by God"s afflicting rod, abase themselves in the dust, feeling and acknowledging their weakness, and throwing themselves wholly upon God for strength and power, that they are most fit to become his instruments for the chastisement of others, and to occupy a high position among the nations. His strength is made perfect in their weakness; and this for two principal reasons.
I IT IS FOR GOD"S GLORY THAT HE SHOULD ASSERT HIS POWER BY WEAK INSTRUMENTS. The poorer the instrument, the more evident that it is the workman to whom the work is due. Egypt is subdued by plagues of frogs and lice and locusts. Sisera falls by the hand of a woman. The Midianites are smitten by the three hundred who lapped with the tongue. (Jud 7:5-22) David slays Goliath of Gath with a sling end a stone. Great miracles are wrought by a rod, a word, some spittle. And so also with the events that revolutionize the world. "Big battalions" do not always carry the day. The host of Zerah is smitten by. (2Ch_14:9-12) Ben-hadad and the thirty-two kings are repulsed by "the young men of the princes of the provinces". (1Ki_20:1-20) Cyrus, with a handful of Persian rustics, defeats Astyages (Herod., 1:126, 127). Three hundred Greeks decimate the myriads of Xerxes at Thermopylae. Judas Maccabaeus, with a few thousands, destroys half a dozen Syrian armies three or four times as numerous. (RAPC 1Ma 4:26-34 7:40-47 2Ma 12:13-37 15:20-28) God"s hand is the more clearly seen, the weaker and poorer the means that he uses.
II IT IS FOR MAN"S ADVANTAGE THAT HE SHOULD HAVE IT IMPRESSED UPON HIM THAT HIS SUCCESSES ARE NOT DUE TO HIMSELF. As man"s arrogance is one of the chief causes of God"s judgments upon him, it is well that success should be given him under circumstances which make it almost impossible that he should ascribe the merit of it to his own efforts or abilities. Best, far best for him to know that it is "when he is weak, that he is strong". (2Co_12:10) So long as we are conscious that we are instruments, we are less inclined to exalt ourselves, to be puffed up, to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. We feel our dependence upon God, realize his power upholding us, lean upon him, and have a sweet satisfaction in so leaning. As our day is, so we feel that our strength will be. (Deu_33:25) His grace will be always sufficient, just sufficient, for us. So we avoid all boasting and self-complacency, and are able to "rest in the Lord," to "stay upon him" and to maintain a perpetual consciousness of his mighty arm supporting us.
Vers. 14-16. Weakness made strong.
"A fine touch is lost in the English here. In the Hebrew, Israel is addressed in the feminine gender, as a weak and suffering woman. It is not so in the preceding verses, and in ver. 15 the prophet significantly reverts to the masculine" (Cheyne).
I HUMILITY THE CONDITION OF STRENGTH. Jacob is a worm, Israel a "petty folk." This was, we know, a clear historic fact. It was not by armies or by navies, by numerous fortresses and serried ranks, and an impregnable land, that she was strong. She was "diminutive Israel," as the LXX render. At this moment she might well be thought of as a poor, trembling, defenceless woman. In that one simple oracle, "I will help thee, saith Jehovah," realized, lay her might; and all possible might was there. It is not in human nature to depend where it can stand alone. It is when we feel "what worthless worms are we," that the contrast of God"s almightiness comes upon us, and the sense that we may connect ourselves with it. Thrown upon our own resources, and finding them at an end, we "catch at God"s skirts, and pray." Then it is no longer we, but our enemies, who fear. We cannot have too low an opinion of ourselves, nor too high an opinion of God. He is here described as the Goel, the Defender of the right, the Avenger of the wrongs of his people. He is the redeeming God. (Isa_47:3, 4 Jer_50:33, Jer_50:34) The verbal root means to ransom by the payment of a price, and to deliver from danger, distress, captivity.
II WEAKNESS MADE STRONG. This petty nation shall become a power against which nothing can stand. Israel becomes as a threshing-roller, sharp, new, and double-edged, which shall crush the mountains, and make the hills as chaff; he shall winnow the nations, and they shall be scattered. With the two-edged sword in their hand, they will execute vengeance on the heathen, and punishments on the people, binding their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron (Psalm 149). Perhaps the allusion is to the Maccabean period, and to the glorious wars of the Jews under the priests Simon and Hyrcanus, against the kings of Syria. The oracle which begins by touching the chord of humility ends with the note of boasting: "Thou shalt exult in Jehovah, and in Israel"s Holy One shalt make thy boast" Thus the spirit of the true Israel is the spirit of true religion, the spirit of Christ exemplified in St. Paul: "I will glory in infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. J.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Fear not, thou worm Jacob
Isa_41:14
Fear not, thou worm Jacob
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Fear not
I.
The first qualification for serving God with any amount of success, and for doing Gods work well, is a SENSE OF OUR OWN WEAKNESS. When Gods warrior marches forth to battle with plumed helmet, and with mail about his loins, strong in his own majesty--when he says, I know that I shall conquer, my own right arm and my mighty sword shall get unto me the victory, defeat is not far distant. God will not go forth with that man who goeth forth in his own strength. The text addresses us as worms. Now, the mere rationalist, the man who boasts of the dignity of human nature, will never subscribe his name to such a title as this. Not so, however, he who is wise and understandeth; he knows that he is a worm, and he knows it in this way--
1. By contemplation. Those who think, must think their pride down-if God is with them in their thinking. Lift up now your eyes, behold the heavens, the work of Gods fingers; and if ye be men of sense and your souls are attuned to the high music of the spheres, ye will say, What is man that Thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that Thou visitest him?
2. Again, if you want to know your own nothingness, consider what you are in suffering.
3. Try some great labour for Christ.
II. THERE SHOULD BE TRUST IN THE PROMISED STRENGTH. There is no saying what man can do when God is with him. Put God into a mans arm, and he may have only the jawbone of an ass to fight with, but he will lay the Philistines in heaps: put God into a mans hand, and he may have a giant to deal with, and nothing but a sling and a stone, but he will lodge the stone in the giants brow before long; put God into a mans eye, and he will flash defiance on kings and princes; put God into a mans lip, and he will speak right honestly, though his death should be the wages of his speech.
III. WE MUST LABOUR TO GET RID, AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, OF FEAR. The prophet says, Fear not; thou art a worm, but do not fear; God will help thee; why shouldest thou fear?
1. Get rid of fear, because fear is painful.
2. Fear is weakening.
3. Fear dishonours God.
4. Doubt not the Lord, oh, Christian, for in so doing thou dost lower thyself. The more thou believest, the greater thou art; but the more thou doubtest, the less thou becomest. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Thou worm Jacob!
I. JACOB WAS A WORM IN OTHER PEOPLES EYES. Is there not many a worm still under the same experience? I may be speaking to a clerk who gets laughed at by his fellow-clerks, with their masters permission, because he is a Christian. I may be speaking to some one who is despised and scoffed at, and called a Sabbatarian, because he keeps the Sabbath day. Take comfort! He who is now thy Redeemer was treated as a worm. I am a worm, and no man, sang the Messianic psalmist.
II. JACOB WAS ALSO A WORM IN HIS OWN EYES, which is far more to the purpose. Look at the Jews drawing together into some little sanctuary on a Sabbath morning or evening, amid the scoffs of the Babylonians. Look at the aged patriarch when the doors are shut, opening the roll of the prophet Isaiah, and reading, Fear not, thou worm Jacob. Ay, worms indeed: the hearers would reply from the bottom of their hearts; worms indeed! We may writhe under mens contempt; but there is no writhing like the writhing under a sense of personal sin. There is no nerve like the nerve that passes through the conscience. Job was perhaps the noblest man of his day; and yet we find him saying, I have said to corruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, Thou art my mother and my sister. None of you are so low as that! Our Lord called Himself a worm because He was treated as a worm; but Job uses the word in a very different sense; for Job knew he was a sinner, and it is almost an insult to a worm for a sinner to call himself by the name. The Septuagint has left out this word in the text. How that came about passes my comprehension. Were these proud translators of Alexandria too good for the Bible? Were they too high and holy to put in what Isaiah wrote? Coleridge says, Gods Word is Gods Word to me, because it finds me. Has it found us? Have we seen the sin and the misery of our own heart? Can we look back on that action we did yesterday, and say, It was the action of a worm, and not of a man?
III. JACOB WAS A WORM IN GODS EYES. God, says Calvin, here seems to speak disrespectfully of His people; but if you are to speak t? worms, you must speak in their language. Fine names would never suit Jacob in this case, and the Jacob-minded soul finds comfort in such words, knowing that they were used in love. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, I will help thee. Thee is an individualising, singularising word. The Lord places His finger upon the humble mans heart, and says, I will help thee. I, the Highest, will seek out the lowest, and let others, who think themselves better, help themselves. The Holy One of Israel--blessed name! name He will never lay aside!--is the Portion, the Helper, the Friend of worm Jacob. Oh worm Jacob, it doth not yet appear what thou shalt be; but when He shall appear whose thou art, thou shalt be like Him, for thou shalt see Him as He is. (A. Whyte, D. D.)
Fears dispelled
I. THE CHARACTER OF GODS PEOPLE.
1. The language employed refers to the Jews as the descendants of Jacob, afterwards called Israel.
2. The epithet which designates their character. Worm. This word describes a person--mean, weak, vile, and despised (Job_25:5-6). This epithet implies--
(1) Meanness. This meanness is frequently felt by Christians when they think of the grandeur and glory of God, as seen in His works and recorded in His Word (Psa_8:3-4). When they think of their sins and imperfections (1Co_15:9). When they think of their duties, trials, their ignorance, and their tendency to the grave.
(2) Pollution. A worm is regarded as unclean. Its element is putrescence. Man is now degraded from his original dignity. Every Christian feels his tendency to pollution.
(3) Danger. A worm is frequently exposed to danger. Every foot is ready to crush it. The body of man is liable to casualties. And the precious soul of man is surrounded by danger.
(4) Weakness. A worm is not able to make resistance. What resistance can a sinner make to God?
II. GODS PEOPLE ARE SUBJECT TO FEAR. Fear not, worm Jacob. The Israelites in Babylon were sadly depressed in mind, fearing that God would be gracious no more. The people of God are subject to fear.
1. Their character, as represented by meanness, pollution, danger, and weakness, causes them to fear.
2. The multitude of their enemies causes fear
3. They fear Divine chastisements. These are needful, but grievous Heb_12:11).
4. They sometimes fear the tests and trials of the future.
5. They fear death.
III. THE EXHORTATION AND PROMISE. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, I will help thee. Fear not! Look from earthly resources to the mighty God of Jacob. Fear not thy foes. He that is for thee is more than all that are against thee. I will help thee, for--
1. I have chosen thee.
2. I have redeemed thee.
3. I have adopted thee.
4. I have the ability as well as the will. By all means.
5. I will help thee with the ministration of My angels, by the events of providence.
6. I will guide thee in all perplexities.
7. I will not only help, but will glorify thee. Thou art a worm here. I will change thy vile body when the dead shall be raised, even as the chrysalis becomes a beautiful being after its temporary sleep, (Homilist.)
Biblical illustrations from the animal kingdom
It is not unusual to find the Bible writers borrowing names from the animal kingdom end applying them to men. Isaiah does so again and again. Bold in his calling, ha stands beside Jehovah in the circle of the heavens, and sees men like grasshoppers. But among the grass and the grasshoppers he sees a people over whom Jehovah rules, and he calls them sheep, and the little people he calls lambs. And then he sees his sheep and his lambs changing into eagles and eaglets--They shall mount up with wings as eagles. Prophets, psalmists, apostles, all employ the same method, and draw their illustrations from the same source. There is fine education in the Bible I No wonder that John Bunyan wrote the finest style in the English language, getting his vocabulary between its boards! (A. Whyte, D. D.)
Thou worm Jacob!:
The worm here indicated is elsewhere referred to as being injurious to vineyards (Deu_28:39). It was the destroyer of Jonahs gourd (Jon_4:7). It is said to be the coccus, a genus which includes the cochineal insect. Naturalists describe the coccus as living upon trees and plants, and as being very small. When collected in districts where these insects are cultivated for the dye which they yield, there are found to be about 70,000 of them in a pound. Two kinds of insect are designated worm in Isa_14:11. The worm (mite of corruption) is spread under thee, and worms (cocci) cover thee. This is also the case in Job_25:6. In the passage before us, then, the descendants of Jacob are compared with a creature that is despicable, because it is insignificant and noxious (Psa_22:6). Orelli, explaining that worm Jacob denotes here smallness, weakness, and helplessness, seems to have presented to his mind some such insignificant creature as the coccus; but the commentators generally have thought rather of the familiar earthworm, which they regard as a symbol of debasement and affliction, after the manner of Gloster in King Lear, when he says of the supposed idiot beggar--
I the last nights storm I such a fellow saw,
Which made me think a man a worm.
Gods people, says Henry, are as worms in humble thoughts of themselves, and in their enemies haughty thoughts of them: worms, but not vipers, or of the serpents seed. Other writers use the expressions despicable and trampled upon (Lowth); weak and despised, and trodden under foot (Wordsworth); creature of the dust, prostrate and helpless (Kay); abject, weak, and wretched of thyself (Diodati). We must turn to Mic_7:17 for a passage in which reference is expressly made to the earthworm. The comments supplied by Cornelius a Lapide show that expositors have not always been content to regard the epithet worm Jacob merely as a suggestion of lowliness and meanness. In the opinion of the more ancient among them it signifies, historically and typically, the Jews afflicted by the Assyrians, but antitypically the apostles and early Christians, turn ob paucitatem, turn ob contemptum et humilitatem. Allusion was made to Luk_12:32 and 1Co_4:9; while Eze_28:11-12 was referred to as a parallel passage. Jerome is quoted as saying, Sicut vermis terram penetrat, ita sermo Apostolicus penetravit Gentium civitates, et ingressus est corda prius durissima. On Luk_12:32 Bengel comments, Grex est non numerissimus, si ad mundum comparetur; and by applying the thought thus expressed to the phrase under discussion we get a slight, but useful, addition to the suggestions made elsewhere. (F. Jarratt.)
Thy Redeemer
Thy Redeemer
And why does it say, and thy Redeemer? What was the use of appending the Redeemers name to this precious exhortation?
I. It was added FOR AMPLIFICATION. There are some preachers from whom you will never learn anything; not because they do not say much which is instructive, but because they just mention the instructive thought once, and immediately pass on to another thought, never expanding the second thought, but immediately passing on, almost without connection, to a third. Other preachers, on the other hand, follow a better method. Having given one idea, they endeavour to amplify it, so that their hearers, if they are not able to receive the idea in the abstract, at least are able to lay hold upon some of its points, when they come to the amplification of it. Now God, the great Author of the Book, the great Preacher of the truth by His prophets, when He would preach it, and when He would write it, so amplifies a fact, so extends a truth, and enlarges upon a doctrine. I will help thee, saith Jehovah-That means Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. All! but, said God, My people will forget that, unless I amplify the thought, so I will even break it up; I will remind them of My Trinity. They understand My Unity; I will bid them recollect that there are Three in One, though these Three be One; and He adds, Thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Jehovah--Redeemer--Holy One of Israel--three persons, all included, indeed, in the word Jehovah, but very likely to be forgotten unless they had been distinctly enumerated. Suffer your thoughts to enlarge upon the fact, that the promise contained in this verse, Fear not, I will help thee, is a promise from Three Divine Persons.
II. It is a SWEETENING OF THE PROMISE. All the promises are yea and amen in Christ Jesus; but when a promise mentions the name of the Redeemer, it imparts a peculiar blessedness to it. It is something like, if I may represent it by such a figure, the beautiful effect of certain decorations of stained glass. There are some persons whose eyes are so weak that the light seems to be injurious to them, especially the red rays of the sun, and a glass has been invented, which rejects the rays that are injurious, and allows only those to pass which are softened and modified to the weakness of the eye. It seems as if the Lord Jesus were some such a glass as this. The grace of God the Trinity, shining through the man Christ Jesus, becomes a mellow, soft light, so that mortal eye can bear it.
III. I think this is put in by way of CONFIRMATION. Read the promise, recollecting that it says, Thy Redeemer; and then, as you read it through, you will see how the word Redeemer seems to confirm it all. Now begin. I will help thee: lay, a stress on that word. If you read it so, there is one blow at your unbelief. I will help thee, saith the Redeemer. There is the Masters handwriting; it is His own autograph, it is written by Himself; behold the bloody signature! It is stamped with His Cross. And now let us read the promise again, and lay the stress on the will. Oh, the wills and the shalls: they are the sweetest words in the Bible. When God says I will, there is something in it. And now we lay stress on another word: I will help thee. That is very little for Me to do, to help thee. Consider what I have done already. What! not help thee? Why, I bought thee with My blood. And now, just take the last word, I will help thee. (C. H.Spurgeon.)
Thy Redeemer
The word Redeemer would suggest to a Hebrew reader the idea of a near kinsman (Lev_25:24-25), and of deliverance from bondage by the payment of a ransom. Its highest application occurs here and in Job_19:25. The reference to the Son of God, although it might not be perceptible of old, is now rendered necessary by the knowledge that this act, even under the old dispensation, is always referred to the same person of the Trinity. (J. A. Alexander.)
The Holy One thy Redeemer
Of the two names applied by Isaiah to the Saviour, which are nearly peculiar to him, Qudosh, or Holy One, is common to both sections of his book, while Goel, the Redeemer, though not confined to the second part, receives there its peculiar significance. Here it is that the Holy One thy Redeemer, becomes altogether merged in the Goel. (F. Sessions.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Isa_41:14-15. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, &c.
THE WORM AND THE MOUNTAIN
Isa_41:14-15. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, &c.
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Though I have read to you only these verses, the treasury of truth upon which I intend to draw now is the whole paragraph in which they occur (Isa_41:10-16). In it the prophet comforts the Church by the promises wherewith he had been comforted by God. Before the captivity of God’s people commences, he furnishes them with that which will cheer them while it lasts. In his prophetic vision he sees them in a prostrate and most depressed condition—like a worm trodden under foot in Babylon. But he puts before them the support of their expiring hope, in the assurance of God’s favour. His argument is, that He who redeemed their fathers from Egyptian slavery would redeem them from Chaldean bondage. Mighty as their oppressors were, let them not fear; fast as their chains were riveted, let them not be dismayed; weak and defenceless as they were, let them not despair; for though the mountain threatened to crush the worm, the worm should be strengthened to thresh the mountain. The truths and promises in this paragraph are the heritage of God’s people in all ages, and on them they may, and should, lay hold in every season of threatening and trouble.
I. A VERY UNEQUAL CONTEST.
The worm is called upon to thresh the mountain! Yea, not one mountain only, but many of them—“mountains.” A hopeless encounter, a mad attempt! But the suggestions of sense and the reasonings of faith are widely different; “to do the greatest things and to suffer the hardest is all one to true faith.” We may apply this representation variously—
1. To the efforts needful to establish the kingdom of God in the world. The agency intrusted with the task often seems altogether inadequate. Was it not so when Moses stood before Pharaoh, and when the power and despotism of ancient Egypt seemed ready to destroy the infant Church; when Elijah stood on Carmel, all the power of Ahab and Jezebel, their court, and the priests of Baal against him—one man against a world in arms; when the first disciples went forth to proclaim a crucified Saviour, with all the power of Judaism and all the arms and wealth of the ancient Roman empire against them; when Luther, a poor monk, challenged the Vatican, and stood solitary before the emperor and cardinals, saying, “Here stand I alone for the truth; God help me!” In each case, who would not have expected that the mountain would crush the worm? But in each case the worm prevailed. If we look at the obstacles still in the way—Heathenism, Mahometanism, Popery, Infidelity, and all the forms of vice—they seem most formidable; but the “worm” shall thresh all the mountains! The corn of the Jews was threshed by drawing over it a sharp instrument—a cart with wheels encircled with iron spikes, thus cutting the straw very small, while the corn escaped through interstices left for the purpose. As complete shall be the breaking down of all the obstacles to the Saviour’s glory by the Christian Church, weak as she is in herself.
2. To the cares and calamities of life. We are here in a state of exile, like that of the Jews in Babylon; and we often need encouragement. The frequent repetition of the charge, “Fear not,” implies that there is much to fear. The greatness of the consolation offered proves the greatness of the impending danger. Fear is incident to our nature, for we are weak creatures; to our character, for we are guilty creatures; to our condition and circumstances, for we are the suffering inhabitants of a guilty world. And though it is true that our hopes are greater than our fears, it is equally true that our faith is never so firm as not to be exposed to waverings, and our hope is never so strong as to be altogether above distrust. The path to heaven lies through an enemy’s country; it is strait, narrow, and intricate; there are many turnings, windings, and bypaths in which pilgrims may be drawn aside, and, like Christian in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, we are not always favoured with daylight. We pursue it beset by trials and afflictions, and we are often confronted by mountains of care and sorrow, of disappointment and danger. But we need not fear any of them. The worm shall thresh the mountains. See also another great promise in which great perils are implied (Isa_43:2).
3. To the Christian conflict—the struggle which the Christian has to sustain against the evil of his own heart, the seductive influences of the world, and the artifices and wiles of the powers of darkness (Eph_6:12; H. E. I. 1059–1062).
II. AN ANIMATING PROMISE.
“Fear not, thou worm Jacob. True, thou art a worm—weak and low in thine own eyes, small and contemptible in the eyes of others; but thou shalt be strengthened for the warfare and successful in the conflict; for I, the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, engage myself on thy side, and will be answerable for the result.” In view of this promise there can be no doubt that grace, though weak, shall be victorious.
Great consolation is to be derived—
1. From the near relation which God sustains to His people. “Thy Redeemer,” &c.
2. From the perpetual presence of God with His Church. “I will hold thee,” &c.
3. From the manner in which He adapts the instrumentality He employs to the end He proposes. “I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth.”
4. From the way in which He identifies His glory with our success.
In order to enjoy the consolation of this promise—
1. There must be in us a well-founded hope of acceptance and reconciliation with God.
2. We must seek to possess the character to which this and all such promises are made.
3. We must be much in the exercise of that faith which honours God in all His attributes.
4. We must cultivate the expectation of nothing less than final triumph for the cause of God, and for the individual believer, the recipient of His mercy. The history of the past proves that this expectation is reasonable. How often the worm has threshed the mountain! The captives were delivered from their captivity. The Apostles triumphed over the Roman empire. Luther and his associates did accomplish the Reformation. That which has been is that which shall be; in the future there will be still greater victories for the Church of God.—Samuel Thodey.
CHEER FOR THE CHURCH OF GOD
Isa_41:14-16. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, &c.
The first reference of these words may be to the dejected feeling of the Jews in the captivity of Babylon, and they were recorded in order to encourage them in their low condition; but to understand them as referring only to the temporal state of the Jews in Babylon and their deliverance from their captivity would be nothing better than to reduce this sublime inspired record to the level of the writings of Josephus or any other uninspired Jewish historian. The chief and the ultimate reference of the words is evidently to the condition of the spiritual Church in the various ages of the world. Taking the verses in this sense, we are led to consider—
I. THE WEAKNESS OF THE CHURCH.
“Thou worm Jacob.” A worm is a weak and despised thing.
1. The Church of God in itself is weak and helpless. Its most useful and godly members have described themselves as “worms” (Psa_22:6). It has generally been made up of such persons as the world looked upon with contempt (1Co_1:26-28.)
2. It has always been despised by the ungodly. The apostles of Christ were regarded by the world as “the filth of the world and the off-scouring of all things,” and eminently godly people have been treated thus in every age.
II. THE STRENGTH OF THE CHURCH. The weak and despised worm is to be converted into “a new, sharp, threshing instrument having teeth.” The Orientals used to thresh their corn with heavy rollers with sharp iron teeth, which separated the corn from the ears, and cut the straw to be fodder for the cattle. The Church is compared here to such a powerful machine.
1. The holiness of God’s people makes them strong and effective to do good (Mat_5:16; Php_2:15).
2. Their activity and devotedness make them like sharp threshing instruments.
3. Their prayers also have in all ages produced wonderful effects.
III. THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE CHURCH. “Thou shalt thresh the mountains,” &c. By the mountains and the hills we are to understand the sinful habits of mankind, such as their commercial frauds, their warlike dispositions, their drunkenness, their lasciviousness, &c., and all the false religions which prevail throughout the world. All these formidable obstructions are to be removed through the instrumentality of God’s people.
IV. THE JOY OF THE CHURCH.
“Thou shalt rejoice in the Lord,” when all the mountains and the hills shall be removed and made as chaff.
1. The temporal condition of the world will be happy and glorious.
2. Its spiritual condition will be heavenly. It will then be the days of heaven upon earth.
3. And the Church will attribute all the glory to the Holy One of Israel, and not to itself.—Thomas Rees, D.D.
Supposed to be an interval of twelve or fourteen years between the first part of the book and that part beginning at chap. 40. The prophet is fast growing an old man. In mind he throws himself into the future, and places himself in the midst of the Jews in Babylon. He supposes their captivity to be nearing its end; but, to the heart yearning so painfully after Jerusalem, it seems without termination. To cheer them, this and the preceding chapter ring with rallying-cries, repeated again and again: “Fear not;” “Be not dismayed.” The text is a remarkable assurance that though their difficulties be as “mountains,” Jacob should rise and “beat them small.”
I. GOD’S OWN RECOGNITION OF THE FEEBLENESS OF HIS PEOPLE.
“Fear not, thou worm Jacob and ye men of Israel,” or “few men of Israel.” It is His epithet, as well as flung at them by their conquerors; but it is not used in their spirit. It is only when the insect of a man struggles defiantly against his Maker that God says in ineffable contempt, “Let the potsherds,” &c. This is a pitiful remembrance of their weakness. Illustrates His infinite condescension. In deigning to ally Himself to men, in inviting us to share His thoughts and counsels, He has not overrated the worth of the creature He receives to such high dignity. Marvellous that He who has in His majesty and glory from everlasting stood alone, and must be for ever the solitary God, without an equal in His universe, welcomes to His heart those who are impotent as a “worm” (Job_25:5-6).
II. GOD’S RECOGNITION OF THE HUGE DIFFICULTIES IN THE WAY OF HIS PEOPLE.
He speaks of them as “mountains,” “hills.” Babylon, with its strong walls, vast army, the desert reaching away weary miles between His people and their country; all is gauged exactly. For them to try and overcome would be like a worm attempting to attack the mountains.
III. CONSIDER THE “WORM” AS THE “MOUNTAIN THRESHER”.
“Thou shalt thresh the mountains,” &c. In the previous chapter God is represented leading His people in their victorious march through the wilderness. A way was to be prepared that He might march right royally before His people (Isa_40:3-5). See the instance of Semiramis on her march to Ecbatanæ.
Behold the worm attempting the impossible and accomplishing it! The handful of Israelites were omnipotent with Jehovah at their back. Invested with God’s strength, the “worm” should conquer all difficulties.
The main idea is the completeness of the conquest of hindrances. No words better convey a conception of the thoroughness with which the work should be done: “Mountains threshed small” and “hills made as chaff.”
1. The application of this promise to the followers of Christ personally. The Christian is to be a “mountain thresher” in his own heart and life. “Sin shall not have dominion over you.”
2. Its application to Christian labour in general. This promise is the inspiration of the Church in what the world deems idiotic tasks affecting the conversion of the heathen. Sin is not always to be the “mountain.” “A new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness” are to arise. You cannot crush goodness out of the world now. (See the failure of Julian, Voltaire, and others.)
3. The application of this promise to any particular neighbourhood. God is jealous of the mountain Sin rising everywhere. If there is any piety in any given locality, though it is as insignificant as a “worm,” it is strong enough with God to save that neighbourhood.—S. Shrimpton.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain Heb. "goel," Redemp. (Kinsman type). (See Scofield "Isa 59:20").
redeemed
Heb. "goel," Redemp. (Kinsman type). (See Scofield "Isa 59:20").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh continues speaking to the people of Israel.
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Jacob you worm, and you men of Israel
Here "Jacob" and "men of Israel" mean the same thing. AT: "you people of Israel who are like worms" (See: Doublet)
Jacob you worm
Possible meanings are 1) that this refers to the opinions of other nations regarding the people of Israel or 2) that this refers to Israel's own opinion of themselves. Yahweh speaks of their insignificance as if they were a worm. (See: Metaphor)
this is Yahweh's declaration
Yahweh speaks of himself by name to express the certainty of what he is declaring. Translate as in Isaiah 30:1. AT: "this is what Yahweh has declared" or "this is what I, Yahweh, have declared" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
Holy One of Israel
See how you translated this phrase in Isaiah 1:4.
I am making you like a sharp threshing sledge ... you will make the hills like chaff
Yahweh speaks of enabling Israel to defeat their enemies as if he were making the nation a threshing sledge that will level mountains. (See: Metaphor)
a sharp threshing sledge
A threshing sledge was a board with sharp spikes that someone would drag over the wheat to separate the grain from the chaff.
two-edged
This refers to the edges of the spikes that were attached to the threshing sledge. That they are "two-edged" means that they are very sharp.
you will thresh the mountains and crush them
This is a double metaphor. The mountains are a metaphor for grain, and threshing grain is a metaphor for the Israelites defeating the powerful enemy nations near them. AT: "you will thresh your enemies and crush them as if they were grain, even though they appear to be as strong as mountains" (See: Metaphor and Hyperbole and Generalization)
you will make the hills like chaff
The hills are a metaphor for the powerful enemy nations near Israel. People having the wind blow the chaff away after they have threshed the grain is a metaphor for them allowing Yahweh to destroy their enemies. (See: Metaphor and Simile)
translationWords
fear
Jacob
Israel
Yahweh
redeem
Holy One
thresh
chaff
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 41:14 In exile, Israel was in a lowly state.…
41:14 In exile, Israel was in a lowly state. • God is the Redeemer. He works mightily to rescue and restore people from sin and its consequences (for Israel, the Exile; for application to Jesus, see Luke 2:38; 21:28; Rom 3:24; 1 Cor 1:30; Gal 4:5; Eph 1:1-14; Titus 2:14; Heb 9:12).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.