Isaiah 58

CRy aloud The Prophet having in the foregoing Chapter noted and censured divers gross miscarriages of the Jews proceeds upon the same Subject in this Chapter, and in Gods name expostulates with them for other misdemeanours., spare not Forbear not to speak whatsoever I command thee for the conviction of this People., lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

Yet they seek me daily They cover all their wickedness with a profession of Religion, from time to time resorting to my house, pretending to ask Counsel of me, and to desire and seek my Favour and Blessing., and delight to know my ways Either 1. They seem to delight in it: for men are oft said in Scripture to be, or do, that which they seem or profess to be, or do, as Mat. 13. 12. that which he has is thus explained in Luk. 8. 18. that which he seemeth to have, and Rom. 7. 9. I was alive, i. e. I falsly thought my self to be alive. See also Phil. 3. 9. Or 2. They really delight; for this is evident, that there are many men who take some pleasure in the knowledge of Gods Will and Word, and yet do not conform their Lives to it., as a nation that did righteousness As if they were a righteous and godly People., and forsook not the ordinance of their God As if they were not guilty of any Apostacy from God, or neglect of, or disobedience to Gods precepts.: they ask of me the ordinances of justice As if they desired and resolved to observe them.: they take delight Of which see the second note upon this verse. in approaching to God In coming to my Temple to hear my Word, and to offer Sacrifices..

Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not They complain of hard usage from God, that although they prayed, and fasted, and kept the rest of Gods ordinances, all which are synecdochically comprehended under the title of fasting, all their labor was lost, and God neither regarded nor delivered them.? wherefore have we afflicted our soul Defrauded and pinched our Appetites with fasting, of which this Phrase is used, Lev. 16. 29. & 23. 27, 29., and thou takest no knowledg? Behold, in the day of your fast In those solemn days of fasting which I have appointed: or, in those times when I have called you by the course of my Providence, and counsels of my Prophets, unto fasting, and weeping and mourning, &c. Isa. 22. 12. ye find pleasure Either 1. You indulge your selves in sensuality, as they did, Isa. 22. 13. But this does not agree with that afflicting of their Souls which they now professed, and which God acknowledgeth, v. 5. Or rather 2. You pursue and satisfie your own Lusts: though you abstain from bodily food, you do not mortifie your own sinful concupiscences, and when you are restrained from outward Acts, yet even then your Thoughts and Affections are set upon, and working toward those things which gratifie your fleshly Inclinations and worldly Interests., and exact all your labours Your money got by your labour, and lent to others either for their need, or your own advantage: for Labour is oft put for Wealth, as Deut. 28. 33. Isa. 45. 14, &c. Heb. your griefs, not passively, those things which are grievous to you, but actively such as are very grievous and burdensom to others, either hard Service, above the strength of your Servants, or beyond the time limited by God for their Service, of which see an Instance, Ier. 34. 13, 14, 15, 16. or debts, which you require either with usury, or at least with rigour and cruelty, when either the general Law of Charity, or Gods particular and positive Law, commanded the release or at least the forbearance of them; of which see an instance, Nehem. 5. 1, 2, &c..

Behold, ye fast for strife and debate Your fasting days, wherein you ought in a special manner to implore the Mercy of God, and to show compassion to Men, you imploy in a great measure in injuring or quarreling with your Brethren, your Servants, or Debtors, or in contriving mischief against them, as if the design of your fasting and praying to God, were only to obtain a licence to oppress Men. Compare Mat. 23. 14., and to smite with the fist of wickedness Or, with a wicked fist, a Genitive of the Adjunct. To deal rigorously and injuriously with your Servants or Debtors, which Servants, it may be, had sold themselves to the year of Redemption, Exod. 21. 2. Lev. 25. 39, 40, 50. You handle them with an hard hand, the word is used for fist, Exod. 21. 18. the LXX add the humble, poor, or inferiour person, and that not only their Debtors with a summum jus exact rigour, which seems elsewhere to be expressed by grinding the face, ch. 3. 15. and in that Parable by taking by the Throat, Mat. 18. 28. but also their Servants out of mere Will and Pleasure, and in contempt of them, treating them opprobriously as Christ was handled in contempt and scorn, Mat. 26. 67, 68. Ioh. 18. 22., ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice Either 1. In strife and Debate, in which Mens Passions show themselves by loud clamours. Or 2. So as to cause the cry of the oppressed, by reason of your injuries, of what kind soever, to enter into the Ears of God, which is a crying sin, whether it proceed from unmercifulness, Exod. 22. 25, 26, 27. which sometimes encreaseth to rage, 2 Chr. 28. 9. or from injustice, ch. 5. 7. or from fraud and deceit, Ia.... 5. 4. The Scripture does frequently express whatever sin is against Charity in special, as also general complex sins, by crying, Gen. 18. 20, 21. Ion. 1. 2. Or 3. By way of Ostentation, to note their Hypocrisie, they love to be taken notice of by others, Mat. 6. 2, 5, 16. or, their Folly, supposing that they shall be heard for their much speaking, upon which account Baals Priests are mocked by E... ijah, 1 Kin. 18. 27, 28. 4. Voice here relates principally to their Prayer, it is a Synecdoche of the kind; so the sense is, this is not the way to have your Prayers heard, if you desire that, you must fast in another manner, and abstain from all kind of oppression: And this seems best to suit the Context, which is to show what kind of fast the Lord reproves, and what he approves in the following verses. to be heard on high.

Is it such a fast that I have chosen Approve of, accept, or delight in, by a Metonymy, because we delight in what we freely choose.? a day Or, to afflict his Soul for a day: It is an Hypallage, and so it may be understood, either for a man to take a certain time to afflict his Soul in, and that either from even to even, Lev. 23. 32. or from morning to evening, Iudg. 20. 26. 2 Sam. 3. 35. or else, to afflict his Soul for a little time. for a man to afflict Or, keep himself low, or chassi... e the Body for want of Food, viz. outwardly without any inward sorrow, or compunction for sin working a true Humiliation in the sight of God. his soul Put here Synecdochically for the Body or Person, as is usual in Scripture, Gen. 46. 18, 22, 25. Lev. 2. 2, 4. & 7. 20, 21, 27. & 22. 11.? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him The Jews to express their sorrow, made use of Sackcloth and Ashes two ways: 1. Sometimes by putting on Sackcloth upon their Bodies, as 1 Kin. 21. 27. Ps. 69. 11. and casting ashes upon their Heads, 2 Sam. 13. 19. And 2. Sometimes by spreading Sackcloth under them, and lying down upon Ashes, Esth. 4. 3. Iob 2. 8. The Intent of Sackcloth was to afflict the Body by its unpleasing harshness, and of Ashes to represent their own vileness, as being but Dust and Ashes; their putting of them on might note their uneasiness under sin, and laying on them their self-abhorrency, shaming themselves for it. Quer. Are such Rites now convenient on a day of Humiliation to help us in our afflicting of our selves? Answ. Gospel Services neither require them, or need them, respecting more the Inward afflicting of the Soul with godly sorrow, and deep contrition; yet may they carry this instruction along with them, that our Ornaments, our best and gawdy Apparel, ought to be laid aside, as not suiting either the ground and cause, or the end and design of days of Humiliation.? wilt thou call i. e. Canst thou upon a rational account as a mere man call it so? Canst thou think, suppose, or believe it to be so? this a fast It being such an one as has nothing in it, but the lifeless skeleton and dumb signs of a Fast, nothing of deep Humiliation appearing in it, or, real Reformation proceeding from it: Not that the Prophet blames them for these external Rites in this outward way of afflicting themselves. For this he commands, Lev. 23. 27, 31, 32. and appoints certain Rites to be used, Lev. 16. 19, 21. And these particular Rites were frequent in their solemn Humiliations, 1 Kin. 21. 27. Esth. 4. 3. Dan. 9. 3. used also by the Heathen, Ion. 3. 5, 6. See Mat. 11. 21. But that which he condemns is their Hypocrisie in separating true Humiliation from them: for bodily exercise profiteth little, 1 Tim. 4 8., and an acceptable day to the LORD A day that God will approve of, as before. Heb. a day of acceptance, or that will turn to a good account on your behalf.? y Here the Prophet sets down those ext... al gestures and postures in particular, which they did join with... eir hypocritical fasts, as he had mentioned it before in general. To bow down, bowing is the posture of Mourners, Psal. 35. 14. and here it is either, as if through weakness of Body their Heads did hang down; or counterfeitly, to represent the posture of true penitents, moving sometimes their Heads this way, and that way, as the word signifieth, not unlike the ballance of a Clock, as the Bullrush moved by the Wind boweth itself down, waving to and fro, in a kind of circular, or semicircular motion, the contrary motion of lifting up the Head being an Indication of Pride, ch. 3. 16. It is the guise of Hypocrites to put on affected Countenances, Mat. 6. 16.

Is not this the fast that I have chosen Or, approve, as before v. 5. or, ought not such a Fast to be accompanied with such things as these, where he is now about to show the concomitants of a true Fast, with reference to the thing in hand, namely, to exercise works of Charity, consisting partly in acts of Self-denial in this Verse, and partly in doing good to those in distress in the next. In this verse he instanceth in some particulars, and closeth with a general.? to loose the bands of wickedness viz. The cruel obligations of Usury and Oppression., to undo the heavy burdens Heb. bundles, a Metaphor, possibly pointing at those many bundles of Writings, as Bills, Bonds, Mortgages, and acknowledgments, which the Usurers had lying by them. The former may relate to unjust and unlawful Obligations extorted by force, or fear, which he would have cancelled; This latter to just Debts contracted through Poverty and necessity, the rigour whereof he would have abated, whether by reason of loans upon too hard conditions, called a drawing them into a net, Psal. 10. 9. and so much is implied, Prov. 6. 5. or, under too hard circumstances, whether they were loans of Food, or money, of which the People so bitterly complained, Neh. 5. 1, 2, 3, 4. and is expresly forbid Exod. 22. 25. For Debts may be called Burdens, 1. Because they lie as a great load upon the Debtors Spirits, under which who ever can walk up and down easily, does not so much excel in fortitude as in folly. 2. Because they usually introduce Poverty, Slavery, Imprisonment, &c., and to let the oppressed Heb. broken, i. e. like a bruised Reed, so crushed and weakned, that they have no consistency or ability, either to satisfie their Creditors, or support themselves, and we usually call such insolvent persons, broken, that cannot look upon themselves to be, sui juris, but wholly at anothers Mercy; you have the same kind of oppression, and the same words used Amos 4. 1. go free Either in a large sense viz. any ways grieved or vexed, whether by the gripings of Usury, or the bondage of Slavery accompanied with cruel usage; or, more peculiarly (according to some) relating to their being confined, and shut up in Prisons, which latter sense the word, free may possibly seem to favour, the former being comprised in that general expression that follows of breaking every yoke., and that ye break every yoke Namely, That is grievous, a Metaphor, i. e. free them from all sorts of Vexation, whatever it is that held them under any Bondage; the LXX refer it to Bonds and Writings: But it seems more general the word properly signifies that stick or cord that holds both ends of the yoke, that it spring not out, or fall off from the neck on which it is laid, Exod. 25. 14. where the same word is used for staves, and called the bands of the Yoke, Lev. 26. 13. I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright, the same thing that God would have them do here.?

Is it Viz. The Fast that pleaseth me, supplied from the former verse; having showed the evil they are to abstain from in order to an acceptable Fast, viz. cruelty, he here speaks of the duty that is required, viz. Mercy, as a manifestation of Repentance, Dan. 4. 27. Luk. 19. 8. For there are two parts of Justice, one to do no man wrong, the other to do good to all. Which two ought always to accompany each other, and cannot be parted, especially in acts of Humiliation, and as by those evils mentioned he understands all other evil whatsoever, that they are to be abstained from as the consequence of a day of Humiliation, so under these duties mentioned are comprised all the duties that we are to set upon as the effect of true Repentance; and he instanceth rather in those of the second Table than those of the first, not that they are to be neglected, but because chearful performance of external duties to our Neighbour, is the clearest discovery and indication of our inward Piety towards God, 1 Ioh. 4. 20. not to deal The word properly signifies to divide, or break into parts, for the more equal and expeditious doing whereof, they were wont of old to ba... e their Leaves with curs or clefts in them, more or fewer according to the bigness of the Loaf, not much unlike that which we ordinarily call buns. It implies, that as none is obliged to give away all, so none is exempted from giving some, but a distribution to be made according to the abilities of Rich and Poor, or, the meaning is, what thou sparest on thy fasting day from thine own Belly, thou give it to refresh the bowels of the hungry: What thou takest from thy self, give to another, that thy poor Neighbours Body may be refreshed by that, from the abstinence whereof thine own is afflicted. thy bread Bread is taken for all necessaries for the Support of humane Life, and here for all kind of Food; and it is here limited by a term of propriety, Thy, Which may seem to have some Emphasis in it; see my note on Eccles. 11. 1. speaking of their grinding and oppressing the poor, he would have them be sure to give of their own, not that which of right is anothers, and thou hast, it may be unjustly gotten. For to refresh some poor with that which thou hast gotten by the oppressing of others, and thereby possibly made them poor, will turn but to a bad account, it will bring a curse upon thy house, or Family, Proverbs 15. 27. or will transfer thy Estate over to such strangers, that will manage it as thou shouldest have done Prov. 28. 8. to the hungry, and that thou bring i. e. Voluntarily, without pressing. Invite, encourage, freely accommodate. the poor Viz. That are not only needy, and necessitous, as to their present condition, but helpless, and shiftless as to the means of getting out of it. that are cast out And thereby wanderers, having no abiding place; or rather, suffered no where, such are mentioned Heb. 11. 37, 38. Or, this word coming from a root that signifies to rebel, it may be applied to such as have been adjudged, whether wrongfully or no, Rebels, and therefore cast out, viz. of favour and protection, and so become as banished ones, or Pilgrims in another Country; or afflicted, as in the margent, viz. grievously oppressed by the cruelty of great men, whereby they are cast out of their possessions, and so become wanderers, seeking Relief abroad., to thy house That thou be hospitable, and make thy house a shelter to them that have none of their own left, but as we usually say, cast out of house and home; see Act. 16. 34.? when thou seest the naked i. e. Either that have no cloaths, or that are so meanly cloathed they have scarce enough to cover their nakedness, 1 Cor. 4. 11. where naked is to be taken as hunger and thirst is, not absolutely starved, so neither quite stripped: But either in a ragged and undecent condition, as to others sight, or so thinly and insufficiently cloathed as not to defend him from the injury of weather, as to his own sense of feeling., that thou cover him i. e. That thou give him raiment suited to these wants, or that wherewith he may proc... re cure it, Iam. 2. 15, 16. most of these circumstances we find were the cases of the Apostles, 1 Cor. 4 11., and that thou hide That thou not only seek to occasion to excuse thy self, either by absence, or discountenancing, and disowning of him; but that out of compassion thou apply thy self heartily to his speedy relief, that thou beest not like that Priest, and Levite, Luk. 10. 31, 32. but like the good Samaritan, Luk. 10. 33, 34, 35. not giving him occasion to complain as David, Psal. 142. 4. not thy self from thine own flesh Some confine this to our own kindred, and Relations, and Family, and this the LXX seem to favour, who render it, Those of thine own House, of thine own seed overlook not; agreeable to that of 1 Tim. 5. 8. where the Apostle useth the same word that the LXX does for Kindred: But this would confine our Charity within too narrow a compass, in as much as often, nay most commonly, the necessities of others are greater than our own; neither is it congruous that the other words should be taken in the greatest latitude, and this alone confined within so narrow a compass: 'Tis true the Hebrews by their own feesh do mostly understand those who are of the same Stock, or Lineage, and Tribe, as Gen. 37. 27. & 2 Sam. 19. 12, 13. and thus many understand Paul's meaning, Rom. 11. 14. But here it is to be taken more generally, for every man, he being thine own nature; and in this latitude our Saviour interprets the relation of neighbour to that Lawyer, Luk. 10. 29, 30, &c. We can look on no man, but there we contemplate our own flesh, and therefore it is barbarous, not only to tear, but not to love and succour our own flesh, Neh. 5. 5. In which soever of these two senses you take it, there is a note of similitude to be understood; so that the sense is this, Break thy bread, &c. to them as unto thine own flesh; be not more severe to them, than thou wouldest be to thy self; and thus it agrees with that of our Saviour Mat. 22. 39. and with that of the Apostle, Eph. 5. 29. in short feed him as thou wouldst feed thy self, or have it fed; shelter him as thou wouldest shelter thy self, or have it sheltered; cloath him as thou wouldest cloath thy self, or be cloathed; if in any of these respects thou wert in his circumstances.?

Then shall thy light It is put in general for all happiness and prosperity; as all kind of Adversity and Calamity is set forth and resembled by darkness; but here more particularly for a comfortable and free Estate after their dark and calamitous condition in the Babylonish Captivity; for the like reason Iosephus tells us, lib. 12. cap. 11. that the Jews instituted a Feast to be observed by their posterity, upon the account of the service of the Temple being re-established, which they called, The Feast of Lights, because, says he, so great a Happiness brake forth upon them beyond their hope. break forth as the morning Here is a Metaphorieal allusion in a Metonimical Expression, viz. of the efficient, describing the comfortable effect of humbling themselves in a right manner, which, like the day light, shall break forth from the blackness of their night of affliction, & bring with it the joy and comfort of all good things; And he does not only say this light shall appear, but break forth, dart itself forth, not withstanding all difficulties, as the Sun breaks, and pierceth through a cloud, noting how ready God is to help his People, when they are rightly humbled, how quickly, and how clearly Salvation shall break... orth upon them., and thine health Another Metaphor to express the same thing, unless there may be this difference, the Light with reference to their outward state, and Health with reference to the inward delight of their Minds, in both to describe the complete satisfaction they should have: Deliverances out of great pressures are often in Scripture represented by the Recovery of Health, as ch. 57. 18. & Ier. 8. 22. and this Prophet especially delights in this Metaphor; because all affliction is as it were a sickness to the Soul, altering the Heart and Countenance, See Neh. 2. 2, 3. and a recovery out of this estate maketh the Heart glad, and the Countenance chearful, Esth. 8. 16, 17. Ier. 33. 6. compare v. 10, 11. Hence the LXX render it Medicines. shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness Either 1. Thy uprightness and sincerity, Gen. 30. 33. Or 2. The reward of thy Righteousness, by a Metonymy, ch. 48. 18. Psal. 24. 5. and here perhaps it may particularly relate to their works of Mercy, and Charity, it being the thing in hand, and often so called, Psal. 112. 9. and applied by the Apostle to this purpose, 2 Cor. 9. 9. It brings temporal, spiritual, and eternal Blessings, and all this not of desert but free Grace, as a reward, that naturally springs forth from the faithfulness of his Promises, as the Harvest from the Earth, when the seed is sown, see Hos 10. 12. so the fruit and reward of our Righteousness springs not from our deserts, but from Gods Righteousness, Heb. 6. 10. O.... The witness of thy Righteousness, by what thou doest thou wilt appear to be righteous. Psal. 37. 6. For such a notion as this was vulgarly sucked in, that Adversity did never befal a person or People, but for their sins, and was strongly urged by way of argument against Iob's Integrity by his Friends, therefore thy being delivered shall be as a testimony of thy Righteousness. Or 4. The fruit and effect of thy Righteousness, viz. the due, just, and right order of thy Government which, as Calvin says, is a sign of Gods fatherly kindness; things that are now in a confusion he will bring into right order again, i. e. Justice shall be duly administred, and men shall carry themselves justly all the Land over, See Isa. 32. 16, 17, 18. Or 5. Christs Righteousness, Ier. 23. 6. compare with 33. 16. Then the meaning is, He shall go in and out before thee. shall go before thee As it were making way for thy better state, as the break of day, or the morning Star goes before the Sun., the glory i. e. The glory of his Power and Providence, or his glorious Power shall be seen in bringing thee up from Captivity, and defending thee from their pursuit; or, as some, a glorious state shall succeed this thy calamitous condition, and called the Glory of the Lord to express the greatness of this glory, as very great mountains are called the mountains of God, and tall Cedars the Cedars of God, the glorious Lord by a Metonymy of the Adjunct. of the LORD shall be thy rereward Heb. shall gather thee, thus the word is used concerning Dan, who was appointed to bring up the Rear, or to close up the march of the Israelites, when they marched from the Wilderness of Sinai, Num. 10. 25. This Office God takes upon himself; for it argues great skill, and courage, and makes much for the Honour and Glory of a Commander, both to gather up all the stragglers, that none be picked up by the Enemy, which relates to the Hebrew word of gathering, and to secure and cover the Rear of his Army; Thus the Angel of his presence secured the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt, Exod. 14. 19..

Then shalt thou call e, and the LORD shall answer He will give an effectual demonstration, that he hears thee, by the real answer that he will give to thy request, Psal. 34. 17. & 99. 6. & 118. 5., thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am A Phrase that notes a person to be ready at hand, for Work, as Isaiah, ch. 6. 8. or for Help, as God here, and Psal. 46. 1. or both, Psal. 145. 18, 19.: if thou take away from the midst Not a Geometrical middle, or center, but having a place among others, the meaning is, from among you. of thee, the yoke i. e. All those pressures and Grievances before mentioned v. 6. all that barbarous slavery they brought their Brethren into, the particulars expressed by that one Hebrew word, motah, three times used in this Chapter., the putting forth of the finger There being often an indication of a mans Mind by the postures of several parts of the Body, as of Lust, Malice, Scorn, Revenge, &c. Prov. 6. 12, 13, 14. this putting forth of the finger may point at divers things all springing from two roots; either the secret malice of the Heart, or unjust and open violence. It is used 1. Sometimes by way of scoff, reproof, or disdainful insulting, as the Pharisee seems to point at the Publican, Luke 18. 11. pointing with the Finger, like winking with the Eye, seeming to indicate somthing that may cause shame in another; and this is reckoned among great afflictions, Hebr. 11. 36. See 2 Chron. 36. 16. Ier. 20. 7. 2. Sometimes for beating, or other injurious treating men, seizing either their Persons or Estates; such a putting forth of the Hand you have mentioned, 1 Sam. 22. 17. and this agrees well to the fist of wickedness, v. 4. and so the Finger may be put by a Synecdoche for the Hand, and that which before was called the Fist, may be here called the Finger. 3. Sometimes as a token of putting Suitors by, and refusing to hear their Petitions, and requests, seeking to them for Mercy and Pity. 4. Sometimes to express an angry Mind, stirring up itself, either to the imperious commanding of a thing, or to Revenge, whether by the gesture alone, or accompanied with menacing expressions, signifying thereby a purpose to put our power in execution., and speaking vainly Heb. aven, it signifies a Lye, or Iniquity, as Psal. 5. 5. and 6. 8. and so the sense may be, if thou dost not proceed to indecent Expressions in thy strifes, brawls, and threatnings with thy Finger, which seldom is done without sin; and thus the counsel here may suit with our Saviours Matt. 5. 21, 22. viz. not only not stretch out thine hand against thy Brother, but not so much as be lavish with thy tongue, so speaking vanity may be a Meiosis, for not railing, the LXX render it muttering, which is an incompleat kind of speaking, whereby we reproach another in low, informed, undigested Expressions: But it seems here rather to signifie Affliction, not only because the word used in this place does properly so signifie, but because it is most agreeable to the matter discoursed of, and the Chaldee render it violence, and then the sense is, speaking words of affliction, or that will vex and grieve, like those words of Nabal to Davids Servants, 1 Sam. 25. 10, 11. Prov. 18. 23. And thus it relates to their harsh and unjust Commands, wherewith they were wont to burden their Servants, a Synecdoche of the kind.. l They made great complaint, v. 3. that God took no notice of their Services, which complaint God seems now to satisfie, q. d. these conditions observed, call upon me, and thou shalt see I will regard, Psal. 34. 15. See Isa. 1. 18.

And if thou draw out Or, open, as when we break open a Store, or Magazine to satisfie the wants of the needy, it implies Bounty and Liberality. A Phrase contrary to that of shutting up the Bowels, 1 Joh. 3. 17. thy soul Thy affection, i. e. thy pity and compassion, a Metonymy of the Subject, as one that condoles with them in their misery; affectionately, and with delight, Rom. 12. 8. 2 Cor. 9. 7. God loves a chearful giver, as well as a liberal giver, not grudgingly, not of constraint, not because thou must, but because thou wilt, not out of necessity, but of choice: Compassion and Mercy in a work is more than the work of Mercy itself; for this is somthing only without a man but the other is somthing from within, and of himself: This argues a Sympathy, which the other does not, all without this being as nothing, 1 Cor. 13. 3. to the hungry, and satisfie Here the Prophet notes the work that is to be done, as in the former Expression the affection wherewith it is to be done, otherwise it would be no more than what the Apostle Iames reproves, Iam. 2. 15, 16. and the Psalmist joyns them both together, Psal. 37. 21. And then further it implies a complete and proportionable answering of his wants, that the supply answer the necessity, that is, be such as may satisfie, not barely keep him from starving. the afflicted soul i. e. The person afflicted with wants.; then shall thy light rise This is the same promise, and expressed in the same figure, as in ver. 8. See the same phrase opened there. The Hebrews delight to express the same things often by a little altering of the phrase; only here it seems to be carried to an higher degree: There the Light shall break forth, but here Light shall be in obscurity. in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day In the very darkness of the affliction itself thou shalt have comfort, Psal. 112. 4. There it shall be as the morning still increa sing here as the noon-day in its Zenith, and height of perfection, which shall be without so much as any shadow of affliction.

And the LORD shall guide thee Viz. like a Shepherd, Psal. 23. 1, 2, 3. or, as the Vulgar, shall give thee rest, and so it may relate to the rest that God would give them in Iudea, upon their return from Captivity, as answering to their complaints in Babylon, Lam. 5. 5. And he adds continually, to show that his conduct and blessing shall not be momentary, or of a short continuance, but all along, as he did to Israel in the Wilderness, not leaving them, till he brought them into Canaan. continually, and satisfie thy soul in drought Heb. Droughts, or, drought of droughts; which being in the plural number, notes extremity of drought, Psa. 78. 72. Skilfulnesses, that is, great skill: And Prov. 1. 20. Wisdoms, i. e. exeellent wisdom; and consequently great scarcity and famine: The meaning is, that when thy lot shall fall in the extremity of such a condition, either as to time, or place, he will abundantly satisfie thy soul, i. e. thee, by a Synecdoche, thou shalt have plenty, when others are in scarcity., and make fat thy bones Or, make nimble, and so the expression relates to bones full of marrow, which causeth agility and nimbleness, a state of health and strength; see Prov. 15. 30. Or, it notes chearfulness, which is often the cause of bones well covered with fat, therefore a broken, or a sorrowful spirit is said to dry up the bones, Prov. 17. 22. This may be spoken in opposition to the sad effects of Famine, whereby the flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen, and the bones that were not seen, stick out, Iob 33. 21. they cleave to the skin, Psa. 102. 5. And thus it may have respect to their afflicted estate in Babylon, where they complain that their bones were broken, La.... 3. 4. but now in their return their bones should not only be made whole, but strong, and in good condition; see Psal. 51. 8. Our English Annotations, after divers senses given, choose to close with the Vulgar Translation, he will deliver, or set free thy bones, and so the word does signifie, Prov. 11. 8, 9. Some make each expression of these promises to answer as suitable, and conditional rewards of their several duties, ex. gr. If thou conduct the cast-outs, and harbourless to thy house, ver. 7. God will guide and conduct thee continually: If thou draw forth thy soul to the hungry, so as to satisfie them, ver. 10. God will satisfie thee in a time of drought, and in famine thou shalt have sufficient, Psal. 33. 19. If thou let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke, ver. 6. & 9. then God will make thy bones to rejoyce, by delivering them from their burdens, i. e. if thou wilt free them, he will free thee. And if thou continue thus to draw forth thy soul, that it be ever running to the refreshing of the needy, thou shalt be as a spring of waters that shall never fail thee, but like the Widdows Oil, ever flowing: If thou relieve the poor, thou shalt never be poor, but as a well watered garden, alwaies flourishing; see Prov. 3. 9, 10.: and thou shalt be like a watered garden Like a Garden, for the pleasure and beauty of it, a Paradise; like a garden watered for the continual flourishing of thy estate, there shall be no withering, or decay upon thy prosperous condition, Psal. 1. 3, 4. contrary to what is said of the wicked, Psal. 37. 2, 10, 20, 35, 36. And thus Ieremiah speaks of the return of this same People, Ier. 31. 12., and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not Heb. deceive not, a Metaphor which further notes also the continuance of this flourishing state, which will not be like a land flood, or brooks, that will soon be dried up with drought; see Iob 6. 15. but will be fed with a spring of blessing, that will never fail; a very significant Metaphor, it being the nature of springs, spontaneously and freely, as it were to pour out their bowels to all, that upon their wants come to receive it; neither is ever scanty, but flows still like fresh Milk to the Breast the more it is drawn; hence God is called a fountain of goodness..

And they that shall be of thee i. e. Either 1. A remnant of thee among the Captivity, that shall be as persons raised from the dead: Or, 2. Thy Posterity, expressed thus, because they sprang, or proceeded from them., shall build the old wast places Heb. wasts of eternity, i. e. which have lain long waste. For holam does not alwaies signifie what is bounded by no time, but what respects a long time, looking either forward, as Gen. 13. 15. Exod. 21. 6. or, backward, as here, viz. the space of seventy years, and so may truly be rendred the wasts of an Age. By wast places he means the City, and Temple, with Cities, and places adjacent, turned as it were all into a wast, or wilderness, void and untilled, and which was done not only by Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon, but by Sennacherib also, and the... her Kings of Assyria. They had lain so long desolate, that the Foxes inhabited them instead of men, Lam. 5. 18. And it was turned so much into a Desert, that they were forced to fight with the Beasts that possessed it, to get their food, Lam. 5. 9.: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations Either the foundations that were laid many generations ago, as those of Ierusalem, which was not only built, but was the head of a Kingdom in the daies of Melchizedek, who was King thereof in the daies of Abraham, as appears, Gen. 14. 18. If that Salem were Ierusalem, as is generally agreed, and Iosephus writes lib. 1. antiquit. cap. 10. who was born about the 300th year after the Flood, the superstructures were now destroyed, viz. of Ierusalem, and divers other Cities; or, that shall continue for many generations yet to come., and thou shalt be called Thou shalt be honoured with this Title, as we use to say the Father of our Countrey, i. e. deservedly so called because thou art so; the like phrase, chap. 48. 8., The repairer of the breach Breach is put here collectively for Breaches, which were made by God's Judgments breaking in upon them in suffering the walls of their Towns and Cities to be demolished, and their State broken, chap. 5. 5., the restorer of paths Such an one was Moses, Psal. 106. 23. And this tends to the same sense with the former expression, because men were wont to make paths over those Breaches, to go the nearest way; or, it may more particularly point at the recovering of the Ancient paths, and bringing them into their wonted course, which were either those chief Streets through the Gates of the Cities, or other Lanes out of those Streets, which were now forgotten and lost, partly by being covered with rubbish, and partly by those shorter paths that were trod, and made over the Breaches; such a Restorer of paths was Nehemiah, Neh. 6. 1. And we read of the several Repairers he made use of, Neh. 3 Or, those paths that led from City to City, which being now laid desolate, and uninhabited, were grown over with grass, and weeds, for want of Travellers, or safety of travelling, (of something a like case we read in the time of the Judges, Iudg. 5. 6. 7.) and so lost as in a wilderness, wherein there is no way, and by building up those Cities again, the several paths leading to them would be restored. to dwell in These accommodations being all recovered their ancient Cities might be fit to be re-inhabited..

If thou turn away thy foot This is taken, either, properly, i. e. if thou take no unnecessary journeys, or do any servile works either of hand or foot that are forbidden on the Sabbath day, the instrument being here put for the work; or, Metaphorically, i. e. if thou keep thy mind, and affections clear, and restraining thy self from whatever may prophane it, as David did concerning the word, Psal. 119. 101. Feet are often put for the Affections, Eccl. 5. 1. because the mind is moved by the affections, as the body is by the feet, if we do not let our thoughts be extravagant either upon impertinencies, or unlawful things. The sum is, if thou be careful not to break the Sabbath. from the sabbath Or for the Sabbath's sake, whether we understand it more largely, of the occasional Sabbath in solemn humiliations, or otherwise set apart for sacred services, which is called a Sabbath, Lev. 16. 31. and 23. 32. Days of this nature were set apart before the captivity, Ch. 22. 12. Ier. 36. 9. and also in the Captivity, Zech. 7. 5. And thus it may be pertinent to the occasion of this discourse, v. 3. And further, though Sabbath be here only mentioned, yet it may take in every institution of God, that they were in a capacity of observing during their captivity; Thus I conceive it is understood, ch. 56. 1, 2. Or, whether we take it more particularly for the weekly Sabbath, such a carriage does God expect, as does become it., from doing thy pleasure Satisfying thy lusts, and the corruption of thy will on my holy day i. e. on my Sabbath, which is an holy day., and call the sabbath a delight Full of delights in thy Judgment, not looking on it as a burthen; and Practice, performing the duties of it with cheerfulness, delighting in the ordinances of it, and so the Sabbath by a Metonymy is put for the works of the Sabbath, the time being put for the things that ought to be done in that time; Therefore Calling here is not only a verbal, but affectionate calling, the understanding assenting, the will consenting, and the actions conforming thereto; this delight appears in the Saints of God in their breathings after it, as it did frequently in David, Psal. 27. 4. & 36. 8. & 42. 1. with many more., the holy of the LORD Or to the Lord. i. e. dedicated to him, consecrated to his service. The Jews had a law that no man might take from the Sabbath to add to the prophane days, but he might on the contrary., honourable viz. the chief of days, worthy of all honour, and therefore honourable, because holy; and so shall honour, either it. i. e. the day; or him. i. e. the Lord, whose day it is. For to sanctify God, and to sanctify his day is all one, compare ch. 8. 13.... with Exod. 20. 8. thus esteem it an honour as well as a pleasure., and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways Or works, or course of life; a mans whole course being described by a way or walk, Gen. 17. 1. Eph. 5. 8., nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words Viz. That are properly thine own. i. e. thine own in opposition to what God commands, proceeding from the corruption of Nature, and vanity of the mind, or not speaking words. i. e. vainly, impertinently, and not suitable to the work of the day, tending neither to thy profit, or pleasure; or rather injurious, revengeful or reproachful words, contrary to rest, quiet, and sedate composedness of the Sabbath. And thus it refers to what was their usual practice upon their solemn assemblies, or Sabbaths towards their poor brethren, which they are charged with, ver. 3. and is called speaking vanity. v. 9. See there: and accordingly the seventy render it, if thou speak not a word in anger..

Then shalt thou delight thy self This has reference to the foregoing verse. If thou wilt delight thy self in the Sabbath, then thou shalt delight in the God of the Sabbath; or, thou shalt have cause to delight in the Lord, viz. in his goodness, and faithfulness to thee, and so shalt live by faith in him as the fountain of all good, as Psal. 37. 4. in the assurance of his love and favour, Psal. 33. 21. and that in great abundance, Psal. 36. 8. Such delights as no wicked man can have, Prov. 14. 10. in the LORD, and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth Thou shalt be above the reach of danger, ch. 33. 16. Or, it may have respect to their being brought out of Babylon, which lay very low in respect of Iudea, called the Earth, as it is elsewhere, Luke 23. 44. and high, both in respect of the scituation of it, as also its mountainousness: Or, the expression may import the subduing of their enemies, as it is, Deut. 33. 29. Riding is oft used for conquering, Psal. 45. 4. See the note there, Rev. 6. 2. The sense is, they shall come out of Babylon, not sneakingly as on foot, but triumphantly and gloriously riding, as God brought Israel out of Aegypt harnassed, in good order, and with an high hand; or, they shall ride to, and fro in their Chariots at their pleasure., and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob i. e. Thou shalt enjoy the good of the land of Canaan, which God had promised as an heritage to Iacob, and his seed, Gen. 35. 12. and feed on the fruits of it. Quest. Why does he say of the heritage of Iacob, and not of Abraham, or Isaac. Answ. Because the whole Posterity of Iacob was within the Covenant, but Ishmael and Esau, one the seed of Isaac, the other the seed of Abraham, were both excluded. thy father; for the mouth of the LORD This is to express the certainty, and indubitableness of it, being from the mouth of him who cannot lie: see of the same expression of assurance, ch. 1. 20. & 40. 5. And this Calvin refers both to what was spoken in the beginning of the chapter, that it was in vain for those hypocrites to contend with God; & also as the confirmation of his promise, if they would rightly observe those promises, the mouth of the Lord has spoken it, he speaks of himself, as of a man by a Prosopopaeia: Or, it may relate to the Prophet, the Lord, whose mouth and instrument I am. has spoken it.