Isaiah 50:1-6

God Helps His Servant

1 Thus says the LORD, "Where is the 1certificate of divorce By which I have 2sent your mother away? Or to whom of My creditors did I 3sell you? Behold, you were sold for your 4iniquities, And for your 5transgressions your mother 6was sent away.
2 "Why was there 7no man when I came? When I called, why was there none to answer? Is My 8hand so short that it cannot ransom? Or have I no power to deliver? Behold, I 9dry up the sea with My rebuke, I 10make the rivers a wilderness; Their fish stink for lack of water And die of thirst.
3 "I 11clothe the heavens with blackness And make sackcloth their covering."
4 The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of 12disciples, That I may know how to 13sustain the weary one with a word. He awakens Me 14morning by morning, He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.
5 The Lord GOD has 15opened My ear; And I was 16not disobedient Nor did I turn back.
6 I 17gave My back to those who strike Me, And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting.

Isaiah 50:1-6 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 50

This chapter is a prophecy of the rejection of the Jews, for their neglect and contempt of the Messiah; and of his discharge of his office as Mediator, and fitness for it. The rejection of the Jews is signified by the divorce of a woman from her husband, and by persons selling their children to their creditors; which is not to be charged upon the Lord, but was owing to their own iniquities, Isa 50:1, particularly their disregard of the Messiah, and inattention to him, as if he was an insufficient Saviour; whereas his power to redeem is evident, from his drying up the sea and rivers below, and clothing the heavens above with black clouds, and eclipsing the luminaries thereof, Isa 50:2,3, his fitness for his prophetic office is expressed in Isa 50:4. His obedience to his Father, and his patience in sufferings, while performing his priestly office, Isa 50:5,6, and his faith and confidence in the Lord, as man and Mediator, that he should be helped, carried through his work, and acquitted; and not be confounded, overcome, and condemned, Isa 50:7-9, and the chapter is closed with an exhortation to the saints to trust in the Lord in the darkest times; and a threatening to such who trust in themselves, and in their own doings, Isa 50:10,11.

Cross References 17

  • 1. Deuteronomy 24:1, 3; Jeremiah 3:8
  • 2. Isaiah 54:6, 7
  • 3. Deuteronomy 32:30; 2 Kings 4:1; Nehemiah 5:5
  • 4. Isaiah 52:3; Isaiah 59:2
  • 5. Isaiah 1:28; Isaiah 43:27
  • 6. Jeremiah 3:8
  • 7. Isaiah 41:28; Isaiah 59:16; Isaiah 66:4
  • 8. Genesis 18:14; Numbers 11:23; Isaiah 59:1
  • 9. Exodus 14:21; Isaiah 19:5; Isaiah 43:16; Isaiah 44:27
  • 10. Joshua 3:16; Isaiah 42:15
  • 11. Isaiah 13:10; Revelation 6:12
  • 12. Isaiah 8:16; Isaiah 54:13
  • 13. Isaiah 57:19; Jeremiah 31:25
  • 14. Psalms 5:3; Psalms 88:13; Psalms 119:147; Psalms 143:8
  • 15. Psalms 40:6; Isaiah 35:5
  • 16. Matthew 26:39; John 8:29; John 14:31; John 15:10; Acts 26:19; Philippians 2:8; Hebrews 5:8; Hebrews 10:7
  • 17. Matthew 26:67; Matthew 27:30; Mark 14:65; Mark 15:19; Luke 22:63

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Heb "YHWH," usually rendered LORD, and so throughout the ch
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