I will hiss for them
Or "whistle for them" F16; the word signifies, as Kimchi and
Ben Melech observe, the motion of the lips with the voice, and is
a sign of calling; and so the Targum renders it, I will cry or
call for them; and it denotes the call of them by the Gospel,
which is the voice of Christ, which is soft, sweet, and
melodious; is a sound of love, grace, and mercy; of peace,
pardon, life, and salvation: the allusion seems to be to the
shepherd gathering his sheep together with his pipe or whistle,
and which was a reed; and so may denote the weakness of the
instrument, the ministry of the word in itself, which is made the
power of God unto salvation: and gather them;
from the places where they are scattered, into their land; or, by
effectual calling, out from the state and condition in which they
are, and from among the men of the world, to the Lord himself, as
their Redeemer and Saviour; and to him for pardon and
righteousness; and into his churches, and communion with him
there: Kimchi observes, that some interpret this verse of future
time; and Jarchi says it relates to it; and in the Talmud
F17 it is applied to the times of the
Messiah; where they speak of a bird called "racham", which we
translate the gier eagle, ( Deuteronomy
14:17 ) and they say it is so called, because, when that
comes, mercies come into the world, which this word signifies. R.
Bibi bar Abi says, when it sits, it makes a whistling or hissing,
from whence it is called "sarakrak", a word derived from what is
here used; and when it sits on the ground, and hisses or
whistles, the Messiah will come, as it is said, "I will hiss for
them"; the gloss is, when it stands not, but sits and chirps, it
is a sign of good news. The design, seems to be to show, that the
Messiah's coming is owing mercy, and would be good news, which
the Gospel publishes. For I have redeemed them;
from sin, Satan, the law, death, and hell, and every enemy, by
his precious blood, and the sacrifice of himself when here on
earth; and this is the foundation of the effectual calling of any
and every sinner; and will be the reason of the conversion and
ingathering of the Jews in the latter day; they being a people
redeemed and purchased by the blood of Christ, ( Isaiah 43:1 ) :
and they shall increase as they have increased;
either when in Egypt, or in the days of Solomon; their number
shall be as the sand of the sea, ( Hosea 1:10 ) a nation
shall be born at once; they shall be multiplied, and not be few,
and glorified, and not be small; yea, the place shall be too
strait for them to dwell in, ( Jeremiah
31:18 ) ( Isaiah
49:18-22 ) ( 66:8 ) .