Yeshayah 49:14-26

14 But Tziyon said, Hashem hath forsaken me, and Adonoi hath forgotten me.

15 Can an isha forget her nursing baby, that she should not have rachamim on her ben beten? Indeed, they may forget, yet I will not forget thee.

16 Behold, I have engraved thee upon the palms of My hands; thy chomot are continually before Me.

17 Thy banim shall make haste [to return from the Golus]; thy destroyers and they that laid thee waste shall depart from thee.

18 Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold; all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith Hashem, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with jewelry and put them on like a kallah.

19 For thy ruins and thy desolate places, and the eretz of thy devastation, shall even now be too narrow for the inhabitants [of Tziyon returned from the Golus], and they that devoured thee shall be far away.

20 Furthermore, the Bnei Shikkulayich (the Children of thy Bereavement, i.e., the sons born while the Mother was bereaved of other children lost) shall say again in thine oznayim, The makom is too cramped for me; geshah (fall back, make room, give place) to me that I may dwell.

21 Then shalt thou say in thine lev, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I am shekhulah (bereaved) of my children, and am galmudah (barren, incapable of having children), a captive of the Golus, and thrust away as rejected? So who has reared these? Behold I was left a lone survivor; these, where were they? Where did they come from?

22 Thus saith Adonoi Hashem, Hinei, I will lift up Mine Yad to the Goyim, and set up My nes (banner, rallying flag, [i.e., Moshiach; see Isa 11:10]) to the Nations; and they shall bring thy banim in their arms, and thy banot shall be carried upon their shoulders.

23 And melachim shall be thy omenim (foster fathers, supporters, nurturers), and their sarot thy wet nurses; they shall bow down before thee with their face toward eretz, and lick the aphar of thy raglayim; and thou shalt know that I am Hashem; for they shall not be put to shame that wait for Me.

24 Shall the malko’ach (plunder, prey, booty) be taken from the gibbor; shall the shevi tzaddik be delivered?

25 But thus saith Hashem, Even the Shevi gibbor shall be taken, and the malko’ach of the aritz (the fierce, the tyrant) shall escape; for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy banim.

26 And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own basar; and they shall be shikkor (drunk) with their own dahm, as with asis (new wine); and kol basar shall know that I Hashem am thy Moshi’a and thy Go’el, the Avir Ya’akov (Mighty One of Jacob).

Yeshayah 49:14-26 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 49

This is a prophecy concerning Christ, and redemption by him; and of the enlargement of the church in the latter day, by the conversion of Jews and Gentiles; which the isles, and people afar off, are exhorted to listen and hearken to, delivered out by the prophet, in the person of Christ; who gives an account of his call to his office, and the time of it; of what the Lord did for him, and said unto him, Isa 49:1-3, then follows a complaint of his labouring in vain, and a correction of it, Isa 49:4 and a further declaration of his call and appointment to office, and of each of the parts of the work assigned him, with encouragement to it, Isa 49:5,6. Christ is again represented under discouraging circumstances, as despised of men, abhorred by the nation, and a servant of rulers; who is encouraged by divine promises that kings should rise up before him, and worship him; that God would be faithful to his promise to him, and yet choose him, hear and help him, at a proper time; preserve him, and give him for a covenant to the people, to the establishment of the earth, and making it habitable, Isa 49:7,8 for the release of prisoners, and feeding, leading, and guiding them, and removing all difficulties out of the way, Isa 49:9-11 when the calling of the Gentiles is foretold, which would occasion great joy in the world, Isa 49:12,13 yet the church is introduced as complaining that she was forsaken of God, Isa 49:14 which is denied, and the contrary affirmed; being dear to the Lord as a sucking child to its mother, and more so; never forgotten by him, and always under his care, Isa 49:16, and, for her comfort, she is assured that those who had destroyed and made her waste should be removed; and that she should have converts that would be an ornament to her, and these numerous, insomuch that the place of their habitation would be too strait and narrow, and which would be matter of astonishment to her, Isa 49:17-21 and, besides those that would be converted in the land of Judea, there would be great numbers in the Gentile world converted by the power of God accompanying his Gospel, set up as a standard there, kings and queens countenancing and encouraging the interest of Christ, Isa 49:22,23 and yet still it is questioned whether the church should be delivered from her oppressors, Isa 49:24 to which it is answered, that she should be delivered, and her persecutors destroyed; by which it would be known that the Lord is the Redeemer and Saviour of his people, Isa 49:25,26.