Yeshayah 51:2

2 Look unto Avraham Avichem, and unto Sarah that gave birth to you; for I called him as one alone, and put a brocha on him, and made him many.

Yeshayah 51:2 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 51:2

Look unto Abraham your father
Not only the father of the Jewish nation, but of all them that believe: this explains what is meant by the rock, in the former verse, who is to be looked unto for imitation in the exercise of faith, and performance of duty, and for encouragement in distressed times and circumstances: and unto Sarah that bare you;
signified by the pit or cistern; who was not only the mother of the Jewish nation; but such also are her daughters who do well, and tread in her steps: now the very unpromising circumstances these two persons were in, are proposed to be considered by the church in her present ones, for the encouragement of her faith; that as a numerous issue proceeded from them, so also should she become fruitful and multiply: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him;
he was without issue when he was "called" out of Chaldea into another country, and also the only one of the family; and the Lord "blessed" him not only with flocks and herds, and gold and silver, but with a son in his old age; and so "increased" him, that there sprung from him as many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand by the sea shore innumerable, ( Hebrews 11:12 ) . The Septuagint and Arabic versions, between "blessed" and "increased", insert these words, "and I loved him", which are not in the Hebrew text. The Targum is,

``and one was Abraham, alone in the world, and I brought him to my service, and I blessed him, and multiplied him.''

Yeshayah 51:2 In-Context

1 1 Pay heed to Me, ye that pursue tzedek, ye that seek Hashem; look unto the Tzur from where ye are cut, and to the quarry from where ye were hewn.
2 Look unto Avraham Avichem, and unto Sarah that gave birth to you; for I called him as one alone, and put a brocha on him, and made him many.
3 For Hashem shall comfort Tziyon; He will comfort all her ruins; and He will make her midbar like Eden, and her ruins like the Gan (Garden) of Hashem; sasson and simchah shall be found therein, todah, and the kol zimrah (the sound of singing).
4 Pay heed unto Me, O My people; and give ear unto Me, O My Nation; for torah [42:4] shall go forth from Me, and I will set at rest [establish] My mishpat as Ohr Amim (Light for the Nations).
5 My tzedek is near; My Salvation is gone forth, and Mine zero’a shall judge the Ammim; the iyim shall wait upon Me, and on Mine zero’a [Moshiach; See 53:1] shall they trust.
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.