Then your light will break out as the morning, and your healing will appear quickly; then your righteousness shall go before you, and Yahweh’s glory will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and Yahweh will answer. You will cry for help, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ “If you take away from among you the yoke, finger pointing, and speaking wickedly;
and if you pour out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will rise in darkness, and your obscurity will be as the noonday;
and Yahweh will guide you continually, satisfy your soul in dry places, and make your bones strong. You will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters don’t fail.
Those who will be of you will build the old waste places. You will raise up the foundations of many generations. You will be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of Paths with Dwellings.
“If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, and the holy of Yahweh honorable; and honor it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words,
then you will delight yourself in Yahweh, and I will make you to ride on the high places of the earth, and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father;” for Yahweh’s mouth has spoken it.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv8, 9, 10, 12, 13 The Testimony of thy goodness shall appear before God…
The Testimony of thy goodness shall appear before God and man.
That is, the prosperous estate wherewith God will bless thee.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv8–14 Isa 58:8 Then shall thy light break forth as…
Isa 58:8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.
Ver. 8. Then shall thy light break forth as the morning.] He saith not "shall appear," but "shall break forth," ut velocitatem et copiam dantis exprimeret, saith Chrysostom, that he might express the swiftness and bountifulness of God the giver of it.
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And thy health shall spring forth speedily.] "The Sun of righteousness shall arise unto thee with healing under his wings." {Mal 4:2} {See Trapp on "Mal 4:2"}
And thy righteousness shall go before thee.] Thou shalt have the comfort and credit of thy bounty and charity, which is oft called "righteousness," as in Psa 112:9 Dan 4:24 Act 10:35.
And the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward,] i.e., The glorious Jehovah shall see to thy safety. See Psa 27:10. {See Trapp on "Pro 27:10"} See also Isa 52:12.
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 On vv8–14 Thy light: it is put in general for all…
Thy light: it is put in general for all happiness and prosperity; as all kind of adversity and calamity is set forth and resembled by darkness: but here more particularly for a comfortable and free estate after their dark and calamitous condition in the Babylonish captivity; for the like reason Josephus tells us, lib. 12. cap. 11., that the Jews instituted a feast to be observed by their posterity, upon the account of the service of the temple being re-established, which they called the feast of lights, because, saith he, so great a happiness broke forth upon them beyond their hope. Break forth as the morning: here is a metaphorical allusion in a metonymical expression, viz. of the efficient, describing the comfortable effect of humbling themselves in a right manner, which like the daylight shall
break forth from the blackness of their night of affliction, and bring with it the joy and comfort of all good things; and he doth not only say this light shall appear, but break forth, dart itself forth, notwithstanding all difficulties, as the sun breaks and pierceth through a cloud, noting how ready God is to help is people when they are rightly humbled, how quickly and how clearly salvation shall break forth upon them.
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Thine health shall spring forth speedily: another metaphor to express the same thing, unless there may be this difference, the light with reference to their outward state, and health with reference to the inward delight of their minds, in both to describe the complete satisfaction they should have. Deliverances out of great pressures are often in Scripture represented by the recovery of health, as Isa 57:18; Jer 8:22; and this prophet especially delights in this metaphor, because all affliction is as it were a sickness to the soul, altering the heart and countenance; see Neh 2:2,3; and a recovery out of this estate maketh the heart glad, and the countenance cheerful, Est 8:16,17; Jer 33:6; compare Isa 58:10,11. Hence the LXX. render it; medicines. Thy righteousness; either,
1. Thy uprightness and sincerity, Gen 30:33. Or,
2. The reward of thy righteousness, by a metonymy, Isa 48:18; Psa 24:5; and here perhaps it may particularly relate to their works of mercy and charity, it being the thing in hand, and often so called, Psa 112:9, and applied by the apostle to this purpose, 2Co 9:9. It brings temporal, spiritual, and eternal blessings, and all this not of desert, but free grace, as a reward that naturally springs forth from the faithfulness of his promises, as the harvest from the earth, when the seed is sown; see Hos 10:12; so the fruit and reward of our righteousness springs not from our deserts, but from God’s righteousness, Heb 6 10. Or,
3. The witness of thy righteousness; by what thou doest thou wilt appear to be righteous, Psa 37:6. For such a notion as this was vulgarly sucked in, that adversity did never befall a person or people but for their sins, and was strongly urged by way of argument against Job’s integrity by his friends; therefore they being delivered shall be as a testimony of thy righteousness. Or,
4. The fruit and effect of thy righteousness, viz. the due, just, and right order of thy government, which, as Calvin saith, is a sign of God’s fatherly kindness; things that are now in a confusion he will bring into right order again, i.e. justice shall be duly administered, and men shall carry themselves justly all the land over: see Isa 32:16-18. Or,
5. Christ’s righteousness, Jer 23:6, compared with Isa 33:16. Then the meaning is, He shall go in and out before thee.
Shall go before thee; as it were making way for thy better state, as the break of day or the morning star goes before the sun.
The glory of the Lord, i.e. the glory of his power and providence, or his glorious power, shall be seen in bringing thee up from captivity, and defending thee free from their pursuit; or, as some, a glorious stale shall succeed this thy calamitous condition, and called the glory of the Lord to express the greatness of this glory, as very great mountains are called the mountains of God, and tall cedars the cedars of God. The glorious Lord, by a metonymy of the adjunct.
Shall be thy rereward, Heb. shall gather thee: thus the word is used concerning Dan, who was appointed to bring up the rear, or to. close up the march of the Israelites, when they marched through the wilderness of Sinai, Num 10:25. This office God takes upon himself; for it argues great skill and courage, and makes much for the honour and glory of a commander, both to gather up all the stragglers, that none be picked up by the enemy, which relates to the Hebrew word of gathering, and to secure and cover the rear of his army; thus the angel of his presence secured the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt, Exo 14:19.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv8, 13 Here are precious promises for those to feast freely…
Here are precious promises for those to feast freely and cheerfully upon by faith who keep the fast that God has chosen; let them know that God will make it up to them. Here is,
I. A further account of the duty to be done in order to our interest in these promises (Isa 58:9, Isa 58:10); and here, as before, it is required that we both do justly and love mercy, that we cease to do evil and learn to do well. 1. We must abstain from all acts of violence and fraud. "Those must be taken away from the midst of thee, from the midst of thy person, out of thy heart" (so some); "thou must not only refrain from the practice of injury, but mortify in thee all inclination and disposition towards it." Or from the midst of thy people. Those in authority must not only not be oppressive themselves, but must do all they can to prevent and restrain oppression in all within their jurisdiction. They must not only break the yoke (Isa 58:6), but take away the yoke, that those who have been oppressed may never be re-enslaved (as they were Jer 34:10, Jer 34:11); they must likewise forbear threatening (Eph 6:9) and take away the putting forth of the finger, which seems to have been then, as sometimes with us, a sign of displeasure and the indication of a purpose to correct. Let not the finger be put forth to point at those that are poor and in misery, and so to expose them to contempt; such expressions of contumely as are provoking, and the products of ill-nature, ought to be banished from all societies. And let them not speak vanity, flattery or fraud, to one another, but let all conversation be governed by sincerity. Perhaps that dissimulation which is the bane of friendship is meant by the putting forth of the finger (as Pro 6:13 by teaching with the finger), or it is putting forth the finger with the ring on it, which was the badge of authority, and which therefore they produced when they spoke iniquity, that is, gave unrighteous sentences. 2. We must abound in all acts of charity and beneficence. We must not only give alms according as the necessities of the poor require, but, (1.) We must give freely and cheerfully, and from a principle of charity. We must draw out our soul to the hungry (Isa 58:10), not only draw out the money and reach forth the hand, but do this from the heart, heartily, and without grudging, from a principle of compassion and with a tender affection to such as we see to be in misery. Let the heart go along with the gift; for God loves a cheerful giver, and so does a poor man too. When our Lord Jesus healed and fed the multitude it was as having compassion on them. (2.) We must give plentifully and largely, so as not to tantalize, but to satisfy, the afflicted soul: "Do not only feed the hungry, but gratify the desire of the afflicted, and, if it lies in your power, make them easy." What are we born for, and what have we our abilities of body, mind, and estate for, but to do all the good we can in this world with them? And the poor we have always with us.
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II. Here is a full account of the blessings and benefits which attend the performance of this duty. If a person, a family, a people, be thus disposed to every thing that is good, let them know for their comfort that they shall find God their bountiful rewarder and what they lay out in works of charity shall be abundantly made up to them. 1. God will surprise them with the return of mercy after great affliction, which shall be as welcome as the light of the morning after a long and dark night (Isa 58:8): "Then shall thy light break forth as the morning and (Isa 58:10) thy light shall rise in obscurity. Though thou hast been long buried alive thou shalt recover thy eminency; though long overwhelmed with grief, thou shalt again look pleasant as the dawning day." Those that are cheerful in doing good God will make cheerful in enjoying good; and this also is a special gift of God, Ecc 2:24. Those that have shown mercy shall find mercy. Job, who in his prosperity had done a great deal of good, had friends raised up for him by the Lord when he was reduced, who helped him with their substance, so that his light rose in obscurity. "Not only thy light, which is sweet, but thy health too, or the healing of the wounds thou hast long complained of, shall spring forth speedily; all thy grievances shall be redressed, and thou shalt renew thy youth and recover thy vigour." Those that have helped others out of trouble will obtain help of God when it is their turn. 2. God will put honour upon them. Good works shall be recompensed with a good name; this is included in that light which rises out of obscurity. Though a man's extraction be mean, his family obscure, and he has no external advantages to gain him honour, yet, if he do good in his place, that will procure him respect and veneration, and his darkness shall by this means become as the noon-day, that is, he shall become very eminent and shine brightly in his generation. See here what is the surest way for a man to make himself illustrious; let him study to do good. He that would be the greatest of all, and best-loved, let him by humility and industry make himself a servant of all. "Thy righteousness shall answer for thee (as Jacob says, Gen 30:33), that is, it shall silence reproaches, nay, it shall bespeak thee more praises than thy humility can be pleased with." He that has given to the poor, his righteousness (that is, the honour of it) endures for ever, Psa 112:9. 3. They shall always be safe under the divine protection: "Thy righteousness shall go before thee as thy vanguard, to secure thee from enemies that charge thee in the front, and the glory of the Lord shall be thy rearward, the gathering host, to bring up those of thee that are weary and are left behind, and to secure thee from the enemies, that, like Amalek, fall upon thy rear." Observe, How good people are safe on all sides. Let them look which way they will, behind them or before them; let them look backward or forward; they see themselves safe, and find themselves easy and quiet from the fear of evil. And observe what it is that is their defence; it is their righteousness, and the glory of the Lord, that is, as some suppose, Christ; for it is by him that we are justified, and God is glorified. He it is that goes before us, and is the captain of our salvation, as he is the Lord our righteousness; he it is that is our rearward, on whom alone we can depend for safety when our sins pursue us and are ready to take hold on us. Or, "God himself in his providence and grace shall both go before thee as thy guide to conduct thee, and attend thee as thy rearward to protect thee, and this shall be the reward of thy righteousness and so shall be for the glory of the Lord as the rewarder of it." 4. God will be always nigh unto them, to hear their prayers, Isa 58:9. As, on the one hand, he that shuts his ears to the cry of the poor shall himself cry and God will not hear him; so, on the other hand, he that is liberal to the poor, his prayers shall come up with his alms for a memorial before God, as Cornelius's did (Act 10:4): "Then shalt thou call, on thy fast-days, which ought to be days of prayer, and the Lord shall answer, shall give thee the things thou callest to him for; thou shalt cry when thou art in any distress or sudden fright, and he shall say, Here I am." This is a very condescending expression of God's readiness to hear prayer. When God calls to us by his word it becomes us to say, Here we are; what saith our Lord unto his servants? But that God should say to us, Behold me, here I am, is strange. When we cry to him, as if he were at a distance, he will let us know that he is near, even at our right hand, nearer than we thought he was. It is I, be not afraid. When danger is near our protector is nearer, a very present help. "Here I am, ready to give you what you want, and do for you what you desire; what have you to say to me?" God is attentive to the prayers of the upright, Psa 130:2. No sooner do they call to him than he answers, Ready, ready. Wherever they are praying, God says, "Here I am hearing; I am in the midst of you." He is nigh unto them in all things, Deu 4:7. 6. God will direct them in all difficult and doubtful cases (Isa 58:11): The Lord shall guide thee continually. While we are here, in the wilderness of this world, we have need of continual direction from heaven; for, if at any time we be left to ourselves, we shall certainly miss our way; and therefore it is to those who are good in God's sight that he gives the wisdom which in all cases is profitable to direct, and he will be to them instead of eyes, Ecc 2:26. His providence will make their way plain to them, both what is their duty and what will be most for their comfort. 6. God will give them abundance of satisfaction in their own minds. As the world is a wilderness in respect of wanderings, so that they need to be guided continually, so also is it in respect of wants, which makes it necessary that they should have continual supplies, as Israel in the wilderness had not only the pillar of cloud to guide them continually, but manna and water out of the rock to satisfy their souls in drought, in a dry and thirsty land where no water is, Psa 63:1. To a good man God gives not only wisdom and knowledge, but joy; he is satisfied in himself with the testimony of his conscience and the assurances of God's favour. "These will satisfy thy soul, will put gladness into thy heart, even in the drought of affliction; these will make fat thy bones, and fill them with marrow, will give thee that pleasure which will be a support to thee as the bones to the body, that joy of the Lord which will be thy strength. He shall give thy bones rest" (so some read it), "rest from the pain and sickness which they have laboured under and been chastened with;" so it agrees with that promise made to the merciful. The Lord will make all his bed in his sickness, Psa 41:3. "Thou shalt be like a watered garden, so flourishing and fruitful in graces and comforts, and like a spring of water, like a garden that has a spring of water in it, whose waters fail not either in droughts or in frosts." The principle of holy love in those that are good shall be a well of living water, Joh 4:14. As a spring of water, though it is continually sending forth its streams, is yet always full, so the charitable man abounds in good as he abounds in doing good and is never the poorer for his liberality. He that waters shall himself be watered. 7. They and their families shall be public blessings. It is a good reward to those that are fruitful and useful to be rendered more so, and especially to have those who descend from them to be so too. This is here promised (Isa 58:12): "Those that now are of thee, thy princes, and nobles, and great men, shall have such authority and influence as they never had;" or, "Those that hereafter shall be of thee, thy posterity, shall be serviceable to their generation, as thou art to thine." It completes the satisfaction of a good man, as to this world, to think that those that come after him shall be doing good when he is gone. 1. They shall re-edify cities that have been long in ruins, shall build the old waste places, which had lain so long desolate that the rebuilding of them was quite despaired of. This was fulfilled when the captives, after their return, repaired the cities of Judah, and dwelt in them, and many of those in Israel too, which had lain waste ever since the carrying away of the ten tribes. 2. They shall carry on and finish that good work which was begun long before, and shall be helped over the obstructions which had retarded the progress of it: They shall raise up to the top that building the foundation of which was laid long since and has been for many generations in the rearing. This was fulfilled when the building of the temple was revived after it had stood still for many years, Ezr 5:2. Or, "They shall raise up foundations which shall continue for many generations yet to come;" they shall do that good which shall be of lasting consequence. 3. They shall have the blessing and praise of all about them: "Thou shalt be called (and it shall be to thy honour) the repairer of the breach, the breach made by the enemy in the wall of a besieged city, which whoso has the courage and dexterity to make up, or make good, gains great applause." Happy are those who make up the breach at which virtue is running out and judgments are breaking in. "Thou shalt be the restorer of paths, safe and quiet paths, not only to travel in, but to dwell in, so safe and quiet that people shall make no difficulty of building their houses by the road-side." The sum is that, if they keep such fasts as God has chosen, he will settle them again in their former peace and prosperity, and there shall be none to make them afraid. See Zac 7:5, Zac 7:9; Zac 8:3-5. It teaches us that those who do justly and love mercy shall have the comfort thereof in this world.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv8–14 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning,....…
Then shall thy light break forth as the morning,.... Through thick clouds, or the darkness of the night, suddenly, swiftly, irresistibly, and increase more and more, till it is perfect day. This is to be understood best of temporal and spiritual prosperity, especially the latter, which will attend the churches of the Reformation, when a spirit of persecution is laid aside, and a spirit of love commences, which will be in the Philadelphian church state; and it particularly respects the glorious light of the Gospel, which will break forth very clearly, and shine out in all the world; and the light of joy, peace, and comfort, which will attend it, in the hearts of the Lord's people; see Isa 60:1,
and thine health shall spring forth speedily; as the herbs and grass out of the earth, by clear shining after rain; by which is meant the healthful and sound state of the church in the latter day, when all divisions shall be healed; contentions and animosities cease; sound doctrine preached; the ordinances administered according to their original institution; true discipline restored; and all the parts of worship performed, according to the rule of the divine word; and so the souls of men, under all these means, be in thriving and flourishing circumstances:
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and thy righteousness shall go before thee; not the external righteousness of the saints, or works of righteousness done by them; these do not go before them, at least to prepare the way for them into a future state of happiness, but follow after, Rev 14:13, rather the righteousness of Christ imputed to them, and so theirs; or Christ their righteousness, the sun of righteousness, that arises upon them with healing in his wings, and from whom they have the health before mentioned; he goes before his people by way of example, as a guide to direct them, and as the forerunner of them, and whose righteousness will introduce them into the heavenly glory. Though perhaps the meaning here is, that their righteousness, in the latter day glory, shall be very manifest, both their righteousness before God, and before men; which will, as it were, visibly walk before them, make way for them, and protect them; see Isa 60:21,
and the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward, the glorious power and providence of God, preserving his people; or the glorious Lord himself, our Lord Jesus Christ, the brightness of his Father's glory, he, as the word may be rendered, "shall gather thee" (i); he gathers his people to himself; he protects and defends them; he takes care of the weak and feeble, and that are straggling behind; and he brings them up, being the reward, and saves them. The phrase denotes a glorious state of the church in the latter day, when the glory of the Lord will be risen on his church, and abide upon it, and upon all that glory there shall be a defence; see Isa 60:1.
(i) "colliget te", V. L. Munster, Pagninus, Montanus, 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 On vv8–14 Thy light - Happiness and prosperity. Break forth -…
Thy light - Happiness and prosperity. Break forth - It shall not only appear, but break forth, dart itself forth, notwithstanding all difficulties, as the sun breaks, and pierces through a cloud. Thy health - Another metaphor to express the same thing. Righteousness - The reward of thy righteousness. Before thee - As the morning-star goes before the sun. The glory - His glorious power and providence. Thy rereward - Thus the angel of his presence secured the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 Verse 8. And thine health shall spring forth speedily…
Verse 8. And thine health shall spring forth speedily - "And thy wounds shall speedily be healed over"] Et cicatrix vulneris tui cito obducetur; "And the scar of thy wounds shall be speedily removed." Aquila's Version, as reported by Jerome, with which agrees that of the Chaldee.
The glory - "And the glory"] Sixteen MSS. (five ancient) of Dr. Kennicott's, and the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate add the conjunction ו vau, וכבוד vechabod.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv8, 9, 11, 13, 14 Isa 58:8. Then shall thy light — Matter or…
Isa 58:8. Then shall thy light — Matter or cause of rejoicing, break forth as the morning — Arise as certainly and speedily as in the morning the light arises out of darkness. It shall not only appear, but break, or dart itself forth, notwithstanding all obstructions, as the sun breaks and pierces through a cloud. So ready is God to help his people when they are truly humbled! Thus quickly and clearly does salvation break forth upon them! And thy health shall spring forth speedily — The recovery of thy former prosperous condition. Another metaphor to express the same thing. And thy righteousness shall go before thee — To prepare thy way to safety and happiness; ensuring to thee, O my church, the peculiar direction and care of thy God, and the favour and approbation of wise and good men; see Rom 14:17-18. Or manifold blessings shall be bestowed upon thee, upon all occasions, as the reward of thy righteousness. The glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward — The glorious presence, power, and providence of God shall protect and secure thee. Thus the angel of his presence secured the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt. Or, the meaning may be, A glorious state shall succeed this thy present calamitous condition.
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 On vv8–14 Then shall thy light - (See the notes at…
Then shall thy light - (See the notes at Isa 44:7). The idea here is, that if they were faithful in the discharge of their duty to God, he would bless them with abundant prosperity (compare Job 11:17). The image is, that such prosperity would come on the people like the spreading light of the morning.
And thine health - Lowth and Noyes render this, ‘And thy wounds shall be speedily healed over.’ The authority on which Lowth relies, is the version of Aquila as reported by Jerome, and the Chaldee. The Hebrew word used here, (ארוּכה 'ărûkâh), means properly “a long bandage” (from ארך 'ârak, “to make long”), such as is applied by surgeons to heal a wound (compare the notes at Isa 1:6). It is then used to denote the healing which is secured by the application of the bandage; and figuratively here means their restoration from all the calamities which had been inflicted on the nation. The word rendered ‘spring forth’ (from צמח tsâmach) properly relates to the manner in which plants germinate (compare the notes at Isa 42:9). Here the sense is, that if they would return to God, they would be delivered from the calamities which their crimes had brought on them, and that peace and prosperity would again visit the nation.
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And thy righteousness shall go before thee - Shall be thy leader - as an army is conducted. The idea is that their conformity to the divine laws would serve the purpose of a leader to conduct them in the ways of peace, happiness, and prosperity.
The glory of the Lord - The allusion here is doubtless to the mode in which the children of Israel came out of Egypt (see the notes at Isa 6:5).
Shall be thy rere-ward - Margin, ‘Shall gather thee up.’ That is, shall bring up the rear (see the notes at Isa 52:12).
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 On vv8–14 Light. Prosperity, (Calmet) or Saviour. (Haydock) --- Matthew iv.…
Light. Prosperity, (Calmet) or Saviour. (Haydock) --- Matthew iv. 2., and John i. 8. (Calmet) --- Health. Aquila, "the scar of thy wound shall soon be covered." (St. Jerome) --- Up. He shall close the rear, like the angel in the cloud, Exodus xiii. 21., and xiv. 19. He will grant thee rest from bondage in the grave and in heaven. (Calmet)
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv8–14 light--emblem of prosperity (Isa 58:10; Job 11:17).
light--emblem of prosperity (Isa 58:10; Job 11:17).
health--literally, a long bandage, applied by surgeons to heal a wound (compare Isa 1:6). Hence restoration from all past calamities.
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go before thee--Thy conformity to the divine covenant acts as a leader, conducting thee to peace and prosperity.
glory . . . reward--like the pillar of cloud and fire, the symbol of God's "glory," which went behind Israel, separating them from their Egyptian pursuers (Isa 52:12; Exo 14:19-20).
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 On vv8, 9, 10, 12, 13 8. The blessings here mentioned follow true obedience.
8. The blessings here mentioned follow true obedience.
Thy light — Spiritual light, in which the obedient walk, is as the hopeful morning dawn.
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Health… spring forth — Thy spiritual growth shall be rapid.
Thy righteousness — Abstract for the concrete, much as St. Paul uses the word in Romans; sometimes a moral rightness of character, leading one to do what pleases God; sometimes, thy Righteous One, who justifies, shall go before thee.
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 On vv10–14 10. draw out thy soul to the hungry] A…
10. draw out thy soul to the hungry] A very peculiar expression. The most natural sense would be “let thy desire go out” &c.; but most commentators rightly feel that the object (“the hungry”) demands some more specific definition of duty than this. Hence they take “thy soul” to mean “that in which thy soul delights” (see R.V. marg.), i.e. “thy sustenance” (Cheyne), which is hardly an improvement, and is moreover a rendering not easily to be justified. The Peshitto reads “bread” instead of “soul”; the LXX. has both words (τὸν ἄρτον ἐκ ψυχῆς σου). Since the word “soul” immediately follows (in the original) it is not improbable that there is an error in the text, and that what the prophet wrote was “thy bread.” Render therefore and bestow thy bread on the hungry. This sense of the verb is guaranteed by a very similar use in Psa_144:13 (E.V. “afford”).
then shall thy light rise &c.] See Isa_58:8.
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 On vv8–14 (8) Then shall thy light . . .—The dawning…
(8) Then shall thy light . . .—The dawning of a new day, as in 2Sa_23:4; the growth as of new and healthy flesh after long illness; “righteousness,” i.e., the sentence of acquittal in the eyes of all the world, as leading the van of a triumphant march, the “glory of Jehovah” following in the rear as a protection; all these images are heaped together to paint the fulness of blessing that follows on that true renunciation of the old evil selfishness of which fasting is but a symbol and a part.
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 On vv8–14 Then. When thou hast taken this advice to heart,…
Then. When thou hast taken this advice to heart, and adopted it, and made it the rule of thy conduct. Upon such a change in thee, all good things shall follow. Thou shalt have no more to complain of unanswered prayers or covenant promises left in abeyance (see the comment on vers. 2 and 3). Shall thy lightbreak forth; i.e. thy glorious, time shall begin. (comp Isa_50:1) Thine health rather, thine healing; the "healing of thy bruise," or thy recovery from the low estate to which thy sins have brought thee down shall spring forth speedily; i.e. shall soon manifest itself; and the result will be twofold:
(1) thy own righteousness will go before thee will be, as it were, thy vanguard; and
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(2) The glory of the Lord; i.e. the glory which he will confer upon thee, will follow thee up, and be, as it were, thy rearguard. (comp. Isa_52:12)
The break of day.
"Then shall thy light break forth as the morning." The hindrances to progress in God"s Church are not in Divine limitations, but in human perversions.
I THE LIGHT IS THERE. We hide it under the bushel of our formalism and worldliness. Divine revelation gives it yea, keeps it alive; and it" we remove the obstacles to its glory, it will burst forth. Many blame religion for the faults and formalities of nominally religious men.
II THE REVELATION OF THIS LIGHT IS A MORNING. Mornings have often come alike in Jewish and Christian history. Isaiah awakened the Hebrew nation to a new life. Mediaevalism with its dark superstitions, the inquisition with its abhorrent cruelties, did not destroy Christianity. What has been well called the "morning of the Reformation" came. Look back now to Savonarola, and you will see what one man can do to herald a better day in darkest times. Then! Not by an accident in history, nor by an arbitrary decree of God; but by obedience to his Word and by the baptism of his Spirit. And beautiful as are all mornings, when the sun touches the clouds with gold, and fills the earth with splendour, and makes dancing sunshine on the sapphire sea, none are so beautiful as the mornings of new moral life for the world. W.M.S.
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 On vv8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14 Then shall thy light break forth
Isa_58:8-14
Then shall thy light break forth
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The secret of prosperity to nations, churches, and men
(Isa_58:8-10; Isa_58:14, Then, then, then, then ):--
I.
MEN AND CHURCHES CHARGE GOD FOOLISHLY, AND COMPLAIN WITHOUT CAUSE OF THEIR OWN LOW ESTATE.
II. GOD REBUTS THEIR BLASPHEMOUS CHARGE, AND ASSERTS THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF HIS DEALINGS IN AN APPEAL TO THEIR OWN CONSCIENCES AND COMMON-SENSE.
III. GOD RETURNS THE CHARGE AGAINST HIMSELF ON THE SINNERS OWN HEADS, AND REVEALS HIS SECRET, IF MEN WILL HAVE EARS TO HEAR. Then is the secret of light and darkness; of health and sickness, or want of spiritual vigour and vitality; of covenant righteousness in the enjoyment of covenant blessings, or apparent breach of covenant in the withholding of what is good; of glory, such as that of Israel in the wilderness, when the glory of the Lord was their rereward, when the pillar of cloud and fire was in the midst of them by day and night, or shame, as when the ark was in the hands of the Philistines, or the Assyrian or Babylonian invaded Gods heritage and profaned His temple; of prayers answered, or unanswered; of Gods presence manifested in undeniable! tokens, or denied, undiscerned, apparently withdrawn; of power to be Gods witnesses and workmen in doing good to others, or impotence, conscious inability to be fellow-labourers with God and for God, want of spiritual life and energy. Then is the secret--then, and not till then--then, and not otherwise--then certainly-then according to the promise of the covenant, and in the way of the covenant and kingdom. In further application of the text to ourselves learn such lessons as the following--
1. The salvation of the Gospel is salvation from sin itself.
2. In the Gospel, accordingly, blessedness and righteousness go together, and so also sin and misery.
3. There is under the Gospel no substitute for repentance.
4. Man, in all the work of salvation, from beginning to end, must co-operate with God. (R. Paisley.)
God the rewarder
If a person, a family, a people be thus disposed to everything that is good, let them know for their comfort that they shall find God their bountiful rewarder.
1. God shall surprise them with the return of mercy after great affliction, which shall be as welcome as the light of the morning after a long and dark night (Isa_58:8; Isa_58:10). They that arc cheerful in doing good, God will make them cheerful in enjoying good. They that have showed mercy shall find mercy. Those that have helped others out of trouble, God will help them when it is their turn.
2. God will put honour upon them. Good works shall be recompensed with a good name. This is included in that light which riseth out of obscurity.
3. They shall always be safe under the Divine protection. Thy righteousness shall go before thee, as the vanguard, to secure thee from enemies that charge thee in the front; and the glory of the Lord shall be thy rearward, the gathering, host to bring up those of thee that are weary and are left behind, and to secure thee from the enemies that, like Amalek, fall upon thy rear.
4. God will be always nigh unto them to hear their prayers (Isa_58:9). As, on the one hand, he that shuts his ears to the cry of the poor shall himself cry and God will not hear him, so on the other hand, he that is liberal to the poor, his prayers shall come up, with his alms, for a memorial before God Act_10:4).
5. God will direct them in all difficult and doubtful cases (verse 11).
6. God will give them abundance of satisfaction in their own minds (verse 11).
7. They and their families shall be public blessings (verse 12). (M. Henry.)
Break forth as the dawn
Break forth is the verb used in IsaGe 7:11; Psa_74:15, of the bursting of waters through a fissure in the earths surface; by a vivid metaphor the dawn was conceived as splitting the heavens and flooding the world with light The same word occurs on the Moaite Stone in the phrase from the splitting of the dawn. (Prof. J. Skinner,D. D.)
Thine health shall spring forth speedily
A healthy Church
I. ESSENTIALS OF A HEALTHY CHURCH.
1. A Scriptural constitution.
2. Nutritious food.
3. Pure air.
4. Regular exercise.
II. CHARACTERISTICS OF A HEALTHY CHURCH
1. Health is sometimes known by outward appearances. The rosy cheeks, the sparkling eyes, the sonorous voice, all testify to health. A healthy Church may be known by its prayer-meetings, contributions, missionary spirit, etc.
2. Health is known by tastes. A sickly mans taste is bad. Unwholesome dainties are preferred to strong meat. So with regard to an unhealthy Church. Silly anecdotes are preferred to good scriptural teaching. Thinks much of forms and ceremonies.
3. Contentment of mind. An unhealthy man is querulous and difficult to please. So an unhealthy Church. It is a fault-finding Church.
4. Work. Sickness disables a man for labour. Health stimulates to work. A healthy Church may be known by its labour.
III. THE DESIRABILITY OF A HEALTHY CHURCH. A healthy Church--
1. Is one of great comfort to itself.
2. Will survive through many trials. The healthy man is heedless of east winds, etc. So a healthy Church survives persecutions, etc.
3. Is attractive. People shun unhealthy Churches as they do fever dens.
4. Is one likely to live.
Lessons:
1. A morally sick Church is a great curse to a neighbourhood.
2. The sooner the better that many a Church should apply to the great Physician for spiritual healing.
3. The Church will by and by become perfectly whole.
4. When perfectly whole, diseased persons will no longer be admitted into its fellowship (Rev_21:27). (J. Williams.)
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 On vv8, 10, 11, 13 Isa_58:8. And thine health shall spring forth speedily
A HEALTHY CHURCH
Isa_58:8. And thine health shall spring forth speedily
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I. ESSENTIALS OF A HEALTHY CHURCH.
1. A scriptural constitution. As Noah built the ark, Moses the tabernacle, and Solomon the temple, according to the Divine instructions; so a healthy church is formed according to the teaching of the New Testament and pattern of the churches planted by the apostles. The foundation must be well laid, otherwise the superstructure cannot but fall.
2. Nutritious food. As the body requires to be fed with a sufficient amount of wholesome food, so the soul must be fed with the bread which came down from heaven. Truth in its purity, without any adulteration, should be the soul’s spiritual diet (1Pe_2:2).
3. Pure air. The man who breathes in a polluted atmosphere sows the seed of disease and death in the human body. So the soul which lives in an impure moral atmosphere greatly injures itself. The spirit of worldliness, and the society of evil companions, should be most carefully avoided.
4. Regular exercise. Physical exercise is one of the conditions of health, and is the means of saving many a doctor’s bill. In like manner, Christian work and the faithful discharge of religious duties is conducive to sound spiritual health.
II. CHARACTERISTICS OF A HEALTHY CHURCH.
1. Health is sometimes known by outward appearances. The rosy cheeks, the sparkling eyes, the sonorous voice, all testify to health. One invalid in a family puts everything out of sorts. A healthy church may be known by its prayer-meetings, contributions, missionary spirit, &c.
2. Health is known by tastes. A sickly man’s taste is bad. Unwholesome dainties are preferred to strong meat. So with regard to an unhealthy church. Its taste is bad. Silly anecdotes are preferred to good scriptural teaching—thinks much of forms and ceremonies, &c.
3. Contentment of mind. An unhealthy man is peevish, querulous, and difficult to please. So an unhealthy church. It is a fault-finding church. Never pleased with its ministry, with its officers, with its choir, &c. It fancies that matters are managed better everywhere than at home.
4. Work. Sickness disables a man for labour. Health stimulates to work. A healthy man cannot be idle. A healthy church may be known by its labour. It teaches the young, visits the sick and needy, supports the missions, &c.
III. THE DESIRABILITY OF A HEALTHY CHURCH.
1. A healthy church is one of great comfort to itself. Though a man has wide estates, baronial castles, chariots innumerable, and though he be rolling in wealth, if health fails, his chief comfort departs. So with a church. Though it may have a beautiful chapel, a crowded congregation, a large endowment; if lacking in spiritual health, its consolations are indeed small.
2. A healthy church will survive through many trials. The healthy man is heedless of easterly winds, and furious hurricanes. So a healthy church. It survives through persecutions, imprisonments, and martyrdom. Like the bush of old fires cannot destroy it.
3. A healthy church is attractive. Healthy neighbourhoods entice visitors. So healthy churches attract men into their communion, and make all who come better and holier. People shun unhealthy churches as they do fever dens.
4. A healthy church is one likely to live. Sickness is the precursor of death. When a church becomes morally sick, people will begin to speak of its death, funeral, and grave. But a healthy church will live. Its chapel may become dilapidated, its members may die, but the healthy church lives on.
LESSONS.—
1. A morally sick church is a great curse to a neighbourhood.
2. The sooner the better that many a church should apply to the great Physician for spiritual healing.
3. The church will by and by become perfectly whole.
4. When perfectly whole, diseased persons will no longer be admitted into its fellowship (Rev_21:27).—J. Williams, Newcastle-Emlyn: “Cofiant.”
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.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v8 The Blessings Following True Repentance
The Blessings Following True Repentance
v. 8. Then, namely, when a person acts in accordance with the suggestion made in the first part of the chapter, shall thy light break forth as the morning, like the dawn of the Orient, which speedily covers the sky, and thine health shall spring forth speedily, the spiritual healing going on with great rapidity; and thy righteousness, the deliverance promised in the covenant, shall go before thee, as the pillar of Jehovah did at the time of the wilderness journey; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rearward, to protect him against any attack from that quarter. This is nothing else than the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, the Messiah Himself. Cf 2Co 4:6; 1Co 10:4.
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v. 9. Then, namely, when this wonderful fellowship obtains, shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer, with a ready assistance; thou shalt cry, appealing to Him for help, and He shall say, Here I am, indicating His presence and readiness to help with the customary answer. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, removing every form of oppression, the putting forth of the finger, in a threatening gesture, and speaking vanity, things which would prove harmful to the neighbor;
v. 10. and if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, opening his heart in true mercy, and satisfy the afflicted soul, offering it the desired relief, then shall thy light rise in obscurity, in the midst of the darkness of this vale of tears, and thy darkness, what seems to be the worst form of affliction, be as the noonday, filled with the glorious light of God’s kindness and mercy;
v. 11. and the Lord shall guide thee continually, throughout life, and satisfy thy soul in drought, whenever a time of spiritual want comes, and make fat thy bones, strengthening a man’s frame for endurance; and thou shalt be like a watered garden, a park with luxuriant growth, and like a spring of water whose waters fail not, such as do not disappoint the traveler by being dried up at the crucial time.
v. 12. And they that shall be of thee, their descendants, the members of their nation, shall build the old waste places, changing ruins into inhabited dwellings; thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations, all the cities of the Holy Land, but especially Jerusalem; and thou shalt be called The Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Paths to Dwell In, both activities making the dwelling in the Promised Land possible once more.
v. 13. If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, the Sabbath being regarded as holy ground, which no unholy foot dared touch, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day, whatever pleases the natural heart of man, and call the Sabbath a delight, refreshment for the soul, the holy of the Lord, honorable, keeping it sacred in the manner commanded by the Lord, and shalt honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words, in vanity and foolishness:
v. 14. then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord, finding the soul’s true refreshment in Him; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, once more to occupy the hills of their homeland, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob, thy father, enjoying all the blessings promised to that patriarch; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it, a solemn formula to assure men of the fulfillment of God’s promises. Even as Israel, the Church of the Old Testament, could come to the enjoyment of Jehovah’s heritage only by true repentance, so the believers of the New Testament fitly keep the admonition of the Lord before their eyes, "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. "
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh continues speaking to the people of Israel.
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Then your light would be broken open like the sunrise
"Break open" here is an idiom that means when a light begins to shine brightly. This means that if they help people in need, their deeds will be like lights others will see, as when the sun comes up after a dark night. Or the light may refer to the light of the Lord, shining on them and blessing them. (See: Idiom and Metaphor)
your healing would quickly sprout up
This means God will bless and restore them quickly, as a wound heals quickly. (See: Metaphor)
your righteousness would go before you, and the glory of Yahweh would be your rearguard
This refers to the time when God protected the people of Israel as they escaped from Egypt. This means God will again protect them from their enemies if they will do what is right.
your righteousness
This expression in Hebrew can also be interpreted as the one who gives righteousness or even victory. In this context, this expression would refer to God. A few modern versions have this interpretation.
translationWords
light
cure
righteous
glory
Yahweh
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 On vv8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14 58:8 your salvation (literally your light): The light of…
58:8 your salvation (literally your light): The light of the coming age (see 42:6-7; 60:1-3) will dawn on those who turn fully to the Lord. The night of divine judgment and oppression will be over. • your wounds: The nation of Israel was wounded when they were conquered and sent into exile. • protect you from behind: See also 52:12.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.