Isaiah 44

14. Description of the material out of which the idol is formed.
cypress--rather, from Hebrew root, "to be hard," the holm oak," an evergreen abundant in Palestine [GESENIUS].
strengtheneth--literally, "and he getteth strength to himself in the trees of the forest;" that is, he layeth in a great store of timber [LOWTH]. Or, "chooseth," as "madest strong for thyself," that is, hast chosen ( Psalms 80:15 Psalms 80:17 ) [GESENIUS]. But English Version gives a good sense: "strengtheneth"; that is, rears to maturity; a meaning suitable also to the context of Psalms 80:15 Psalms 80:17 , where Israel is compared to a vine planted by Jehovah [MAURER].
rain doth nourish it--Though the man planted the tree, yet he could not make it grow. In preparing to make an idol, he has to depend on the true God for rain from heaven ( Jeremiah 14:22 ).

15. The same tree that furnishes the material for the god is in part used as fuel for a fire to cook his meals and warm himself!
thereto--rather, "he falleth down before them," that is, such images [MAURER].

16. part . . . part--not distinct parts, but the same part of the wood (compare Isaiah 44:17 ).
eateth--that is, cooks so as to eat ( Isaiah 44:19 ).
I have seen--I feel its power.

18. he, &c.--God hath given them over to judicial blindness; not His direct physical, but His providential agency in administering His moral government, is meant ( Isaiah 6:9 Isaiah 6:10 ). "Shut," literally, "daubed," plastered up; it is an Eastern custom in some cases to seal up the eyes of offenders.

19. considereth--literally, "layeth it to heart," ( Isaiah 42:25 , Jeremiah 12:11 ).
abomination--the scriptural term for an idol, not merely abominable, but the essence of what is so, in the eyes of a jealous God ( 1 Kings 11:5 1 Kings 11:7 ).

20. feedeth on ashes--figuratively, for the idolater delights in what is vain ( Proverbs 15:14 , Hosea 12:1 ). "Feedeth on wind." There is an allusion, perhaps, also, to the god being made of a tree, the half of which was reduced to ashes by fire ( Isaiah 44:15-17 ); the idol, it is implied, was no better, and could, and ought, to have been reduced to ashes like the other half.
deceived heart--The heart and will first go astray, then the intellect and life ( Romans 1:28 , Ephesians 4:18 ).
lie in . . . right hand--Is not my handiwork (the idol) a self-deceit?

21. Remember--"Be not like the idolaters who consider not in their heart" ( Isaiah 44:19 ).
these--things just said as to the folly of idol-worship.
my servant--not like the idolaters, slaves to the stock of a tree ( Isaiah 44:19 ). See Isaiah 44:1 Isaiah 44:2 .
thou . . . not . . . forgotten of me--Therefore thou oughtest to "remember" Me.

22. blotted out--the debt of thy sin from the account-book in which it was entered ( Exodus 32:32 Exodus 32:33 , Revelation 20:12 ).
as a thick cloud--scattered away by the wind ( Psalms 103:12 ).
as a cloud--a descending gradation. Not only the "thick cloud" of the heavier "transgressions," but the "cloud" ("vapor" [LOWTH], not so dense, but covering the sky as a mist) of the countless "sins." These latter, though not thought much of by man, need, as much as the former, to be cleared away by the Sun of righteousness; else they will be a mist separating us from heaven ( Psalms 19:12 Psalms 19:13 , 1 John 1:7-9 ).
return . . . for--The antecedent redemption is the ground of, and motive to, repentance. We do not repent in order that He may redeem us, but because He hath redeemed us ( Zechariah 12:10 , Luke 24:47 , Acts 3:18 Acts 3:19 ). He who believes in his being forgiven cannot but love ( Luke 7:43 Luke 7:47 ).

23. Call to inanimate nature to praise God; for it also shall share in the coming deliverance from "the bondage of corruption" ( Romans 8:20 Romans 8:21 ).
done it--effected redemption for both the literal and spiritual Israel.
lower parts, &c.--antithetical to "heavens"; "mountains," "forest," and "tree," are the intermediate objects in a descending gradation (see Psalms 96:11 Psalms 96:12 ).

24-28. Confirmation of His promises to the Church and Israel, by various instances of His omnipotence; among these the restoration of the Jews by Cyrus.
alone--literally, "Who was with Me?" namely, when I did it; answering to "by Myself," in the parallel clause (compare similar phrases, Hosea 8:4 , John 5:30 ) [MAURER].

25. tokens--prognostics; the pretended miracles whiten they gave as proofs of their supernatural powers.
liars--( Jeremiah 50:36 ). Conjurers; or, astrologers; men leading a retired contemplative life in order to study divination by the signs of the stars [VITRINGA].
backward--with shame at their predictions not being verified. "To turn away the face" is to frustrate defeat ( Isaiah 36:9 , 1 Kings 2:15 ). The "wise men" are the diviners who, when Babylon was attacked by Cyrus, predicted his overthrow.

26. servant--in a collective sense, for the prophets in general, who foretold the return from Babylon; answering to "His messengers" (plural, in the parallel clause) [MAURER]. Antitypically, and ultimately, Messiah, who is the consummating embodiment of all the prophets and messengers of God ( Malachi 3:1 , Matthew 21:34 Matthew 21:36 Matthew 21:37 , John 10:36 ); hence the singular, "His servant."
counsel--predictions; prophets' counsels concern the future (compare "counsellor," Isaiah 41:28 ).
Jerusalem--regarded prophetically, as lying in ruins.

27. Referring to the Euphrates, which was turned into a different channel, close to Babylon, by Cyrus, who thereby took the city. "The deep" is applied to Euphrates as "sea" ( Jeremiah 51:32 Jeremiah 51:36 ). "Rivers" refers to the artificial canals from the Euphrates made to irrigate the country; when it was turned off into a different bed (namely, a lake, forty miles square, which was originally formed to receive the superfluous water in an inundation), the canals became dry.

28. my shepherd--type of Messiah ( Isaiah 40:11 , Psalms 23:1 , 77:20 , Ezekiel 34:23 ).
all my pleasure--so Messiah ( Isaiah 42:1 , 53:10 ). This is the first time Cyrus is named expressly; and that, a hundred fifty years before the time when in 550 B.C. he began his reign. The name comes from the Persian khorschid, "the sun"; kings often taking their names from the gods; the sun was worshipped as a god in Persia.
saying--rather, "and that saith"; construed with God, not with Cyrus. God's word is instantaneously efficient in accomplishing His will.
to . . . to--or, "of Jerusalem . . . of the temple," as previously, the same Hebrew word is translated, "of Cyrus" [BARNES]. English Version is more graphic. Cyrus, according to JOSEPHUS, heard of this prophecy of Isaiah delivered so long before; hence he was induced to do that which was so contrary to Oriental policy, to aid in restoring the captive Jews and rebuilding their temple and city.