Chapter Forty-Five

1–8. The prophetic predestination and consecration of Cyrus, its cause and purpose. 9–19. The inscrutability and greatness of the plans of Divine Providence regarding the salvation of Israel. 20–25. The extension of God’s salvation to all nations of the world.

Isaiah 45:1. Thus says the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus: I hold you by the right hand, to subdue nations before you, and I will loosen the loins of kings, that gates may be opened before you, and gates shall not be shut; From verses 1–8, this section of chapter 45, as we have already said, forms a direct continuation of the preceding discourse, constituting the conclusion (thesis, decline) of that very period whose beginning is given in verse 24 of chapter 44. In view of this, the modern division of these two chapters, which violently and mechanically breaks apart two organic parts of one whole, must be deemed rather unfortunate, which is why commentators generally ignore it. The only external justification for such an unfortunate division is the opening words of chapter 45, “Thus says the Lord,” which indeed frequently serve in the Bible as the beginning of a new discourse or important new section. (The division into chapters and verses in the modern Bible was made very late — by Hugo de Caleta and Stephen Gerhard (14th–16th centuries) — and in places quite artificially, so that criticism of it ought not to be constrained). Note: Division into chapters was first made in 586 BC, when the Pentateuch was divided into 154 chapters (sedarim). Half a century later it was divided into 54 sections (parshiyot) and into 669 smaller fragments to facilitate cross-reference searches. This division was used in the annual reading cycle. The Greeks divided the Bible into sections around 250 AD. The earliest division into chapters dates to 350 AD and was made in the margins of the so-called Vatican Codex. The first indicators that the Bible consisted of individual verses were gaps between words, sometimes letters or numbers. They were not applied by all. The first universally accepted division into verses dates to approximately 900 AD. The Latin Vulgate was the first Bible in which both the Old and New Testaments were divided into both chapters and verses. The existing division into chapters was introduced only in the early 13th century by Stephen Langton, later Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1214 he divided the Latin Vulgate text into chapters, and this division was transferred to the Hebrew and Greek texts. Verses were first numbered by Santes Pagninus (died in 1541), then around 1555 by Robert Estienne (Stephanus). The existing system of chapters and verses first appeared in the English Bible of 1560. The division is not always logical, but it is too late to abandon it or to change anything: for four centuries it has settled into cross-references, commentaries, and indices. Editor’s note. “Thus says the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus.” A direct address from God to a pagan king has no parallel in Holy Scripture. Other instances of somewhat analogous addresses (to Nebuchadnezzar, to Pharaoh, and to Abimelech) occurred in dreams. This exceptional fact is explained, on the one hand, by the importance of the mission that the Lord laid upon Cyrus, and on the other, by his comparative moral elevation. “And indeed, all historical testimony that has come down to us relates the moral virtues of this leader, whose memory is surrounded by a special luster of glory and respect for his moral qualities, which no one of the famous men of antiquity enjoyed. The great authority on all traditions, Aeschylus, in his Persians (verses 765–772) calls Cyrus a man of good soul, highly intelligent, toward whom the gods were especially favorable. Herodotus III, 89, says that the Persians called Cyrus ‘father’ for his kindness; Diodorus of Sicily (fragments, book XI, 14, 16) speaks of Cyrus as surpassing all his contemporaries in wisdom, courage, and all other virtues, and that he was distinguished by particular goodness, so that the Persians gave him the epithet ‘father.’ Finally, it is known that in his narrative ‘Cyropaedia,’ Xenophon chose him to portray the ideal king and man.” (Vlastov V, 219). “To His anointed.” In the LXX this is rendered as τῳ—χριστῳ—μου, which makes even more clear the prefiguring character of Cyrus in relation to the Messiah-Christ. “I hold you by the right hand, to subdue nations before you.” To hold someone by the right hand, in the language of the prophet Isaiah, means to help him strongly (Isa 41:13). Here there is clearer speech about that glorious subjugation of many nations by Cyrus, which was spoken of enigmatically above, under the image of the victorious march of the “man of righteousness” (Isa 41:2-3). Brilliant vindication of this prophecy is given in the glorious and swift conquests of Cyrus, who subdued to himself all the then-known powerful states and founded a new world monarchy that stretched from the Ganges to the Hellespont and from the Caspian to the Nile. “I will loosen the loins of kings.” Just as the girding of the loins, in the language of Scripture, is a symbol of strength and battle readiness (Ps 44:4; Jer 1:17), so, on the contrary, the loosening of the girdle and weakening of the loins constitutes a sign of powerlessness and uselessness (Isa 5:27; Dan 5:6). “That gates may be opened before you and gates shall not be shut.” A small but characteristic detail; indeed, as contemporary excavations on the site of ancient Assyro-Babylonian cities show, they were all surrounded by walls in which there were several massive gates. In particular, the city of Babylon, according to the testimony of Herodotus (1, 179), had up to a hundred bronze gates (Ps 106:16), which it appears the following verse (verse 2) alludes to.

Isaiah 45:2. I will go before you and make the rough places smooth; I will break in pieces the bronze doors and cut through the iron bars; “I will go before you and make the mountains level.” By the “leveled mountains” here are symbolized the conquered kingdoms and peoples (Isa 40:4; compare Isa 2:14).

Isaiah 45:3. And I will give you the treasures of darkness and riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name. “And I will give you the treasures of darkness and riches stored in secret places.” The best illustration of the literal fulfillment of this prophecy is the common account of the riches of Croesus, king of Lydia, that came to Cyrus as a conqueror by right (Herod. 1, 30, 2, 84 and Xenoph. Cyrop. VII, 2, 11). No less treasures came to him in Babylon (Jer 50:37; Jer 51:13). “So that you may know that I am the Lord.” This is the first purpose of Cyrus’s special exaltation, so that he himself, from reflection on his extraordinary successes, would come to the conclusion that the true God was helping him. And it was fully achieved, as is evident from the opening words of Cyrus’s decree, reported by Josephus Flavius: “After the Greatest God of the universe revealed me as king, I am convinced that this is precisely He whom the people of Israel worship; for He indeed predicted my name through the prophets, and at the same time that I would build His temple in Jerusalem, in the land of Judea.” (Josephus, Antiquities 11:1)

Isaiah 45:4. For the sake of Jacob My servant, and Israel My chosen, I have called you by your name; I have given you a title of honor, though you do not know Me. Isaiah 44:28. “For the sake of Jacob My servant... I have called you by your name, I have given you a title of honor.” This is the second purpose and at the same time the principal cause of Cyrus’s calling, raised up by God with the special task (My “shepherd,” “he will accomplish all my pleasure” Isaiah 44:28) to free the Jews and give them the opportunity to rebuild the city and temple again (ibid). Isaiah 45:5. I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides Me there is no God. I have girded you, though you have not known Me, “Though you have not known Me.” This remark, repeated twice, emphasizes, on the one hand, the height and power of Divine Foreknowledge, which knows all about a person long before his birth, and on the other hand, points out that Cyrus’s election was accomplished not by virtue of his personal merits, which did not yet exist, but for the implementation of the higher plans of Divine Providence.

Isaiah 45:6. That from the rising of the sun to its setting people may know that there is none besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other. Isaiah 45:7. I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things. “That from the rising of the sun to its setting... I, the Lord, do all these things.” The third and final motive for Cyrus’s calling is that all nations, united under his ruling hand into one political union, could more easily and conveniently become acquainted with true knowledge of God through the captive Jews and their liberator Cyrus. Thus, Cyrus through his remarkable destiny, his wonderful conquests, his high personal qualities, and especially his exceptionally protective attitude toward the Jews caused people to speak of him and of the God of Israel, to whom he ascribed his successes, and through this he became the chosen instrument of the knowledge of God in the ancient pagan world (Ezra 1:2). “I am the Lord, and there is no other, there is no God besides Me... I am the Lord, and there is no other... I, the Lord, do all these things.” The intense repetition of this idea here is directed, obviously, against pagan polytheism and, in particular, against Persian dualism, Cyrus’s official religion. Some hint of the latter some see in the words of verse 7, where the opposition of two principles is set forth — light and darkness, peace and calamities (Pulp. Comment. Orelli and others).

Isaiah 45:8. Let the heavens pour down righteousness; let the clouds rain it down. Let the earth open, that salvation may spring up, and let righteousness flourish with it. I, the Lord, have created it. Isaiah 44:23. “Let the heavens pour down righteousness; let the clouds rain it down; let the earth open and bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together.” The words of this verse present themselves as a hymn of thanksgiving and praise to God for the future deliverance of Israel and for the granting to it and to all mankind of new blessings. The heavens, clouds, and earth — all these are familiar emblems of universal, worldwide joy (see commentary on Isaiah 44:23). It is somewhat more difficult to determine what is meant here by “righteousness” and “salvation.” In the immediate historical sense, “salvation,” which is invited to come upon the earth, obviously means the very fact of salvation or deliverance of the Jews from Babylonian captivity. By “righteousness,” accompanying this salvation, is meant the triumph of Divine righteousness, that is, the vindication or fulfillment of Divine plans for universal salvation, a prototype of which is this deliverance of the Jews from captivity. But in a more remote, prefiguring sense, by “righteousness” descending from heaven to sinful earth, one can understand “the gift of justification,” that is, the forgiveness of sins, united with the grace of the Holy Spirit; and by “salvation” — the consequence of such justification, that is, the obtaining of eternal, true salvation. Isaiah 45:9. Woe to him who contends with his Maker, he who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, “What are you making?” or “Your work has no hands? Isaiah 45:10. Woe to him who says to a father, “What have you fathered?” or to a woman, “What have you brought to birth? Verses 9–13 inclusive address the objections or, more precisely, anticipate the doubts that might arise with someone regarding the exact fulfillment of everything that has just been predicted; and also to some extent here is refuted the dissatisfaction with the path of salvation just proclaimed. “Woe to him who contends with his Maker... who says to a father... to a mother: what have you brought to birth.” To whom is this woe proclaimed? Who dares to contend bitterly with the Creator and to express such senseless discontent with his lot? Obviously none other than that same “stiff-necked” Israel, who more than once before, both from the prophet Isaiah (Isa 29:16; Isa 40:27) and from other prophets (Jer 18:1-2), had already received similar lessons for this stubborn fault. One can suppose that the captive Jews, enduring heavy calamities, had already lost faith in the possibility of deliverance, as follows from the complaint of Israel we know of: “My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God” (Isa 40:27). But there are also grounds to suppose that the Jews, as proud nationalists, expressed further discontent, hearing a prophecy about the restoration of their city and temple not by some great Jewish leader (for example, the Messiah), but by a king completely foreign to them, a pagan. To this, apparently, the end of verse 11 alludes: “Do you question me about my children, or give me orders about the work of my hands?”

Isaiah 45:11. Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, its Maker: Ask me about the things to come; will you command me about my children and the work of my hands? Isaiah 45:12. I have made the earth and created humankind upon it; it is my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host. “I have made the earth and created humankind upon it.” The senselessness and presumption of the objections raised are refuted by the Lord with one peremptory argument — a reference to Himself as the Creator of all the world, including mankind itself (compare Isa 40:26; Isa 42:5 and others).

Isaiah 45:13. I have stirred him up in righteousness, and I will make all his ways straight. He will build my city and set my exiles free, not for price or reward, says the Lord of hosts. “I have stirred him up in righteousness.... He will build my city and set my exiles free, not for price or reward.” The discourse again turns to Cyrus, and the prophecy about him concludes with the very same point (the release of captives and the restoration of Jerusalem) with which it began (Isa 44:26). But here is added another new detail — the complete unselfishness of Cyrus’s actions, which, as is known, was brilliantly vindicated historically, when Cyrus not only took nothing from the Jews he freed, but also himself richly rewarded them (Ezra 1:8). “I have stirred him up in righteousness” — this is either a synonym of the expression “man of righteousness” (Isa 41:2), or else an indication of him as the executor of “God’s righteous judgments.” Concluding our discourse about Cyrus, we cannot resist the temptation to cite an excerpt from a cuneiform text, read on the famous Cylinder of Cyrus and having, apparently, quite close analogy with the beginning of chapter 45. In it we read the following: “Marduk sought a righteous king; he took him by the hand, a man after his own heart; he called him by his name Cyrus, king of Anshan; throughout the world empire he pronounced his name....” A scholar who specially commented on this inscription and compared it with biblical prophecy found no grounds for speaking of borrowing by one author from another; but merely expressed the supposition that the prophet Isaiah was acquainted with the style of Babylonian court chroniclers (Kittel – Condamin, Le livre d’Isaie, 273 p.). We, with equal right, can make the opposite supposition, that the Babylonian historiographers were aware of the prediction of the prophet Isaiah and in their records imitated him. Probably they also brought it to the attention of Cyrus himself.

Isaiah 45:14. Thus says the Lord: The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and the Sabeans, tall of stature, shall come over to you and be yours; they shall follow you; they shall come over in chains and bow down to you. They will make supplication to you, saying, “God is with you alone, and there is no other; there is no god besides him. From verses 14–17 there is discourse about the humiliation of paganism, which, if it wishes to be consistent and sincere, must, at the sight of Cyrus’s miraculous conquests, renounce its false gods and confess the One God of Israel, by whose power Cyrus accomplished his wonderful deeds. Many commentators regard this section as messianic and interpret it in the sense of a prophecy about the entry of the pagans into the New Testament church (Vitringa, Pulp. Comm., Dillmann, En., Peter, Vlastov, and others). But such understanding is sharply contradicted by the content of verse 16 — about the humiliation of paganism, which they are forced to artificially circumvent. Therefore, we prefer the more realistic interpretation (Orelli, Petersburg professor), which sees here discourse about Cyrus’s various conquests, as natural paths for the spread of true knowledge of God in the ancient world and as a preparatory means, first toward Jewish proselytism, and then toward New Testament Christianity. “The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and the Sabeans, tall of stature, shall come over to you... and they will make supplication to you, saying: God is with you alone, and there is no god besides him.” The correct interpretation of this passage is established by comparing it with the parallel passage, where it is said: “In return for you I give Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba” (Isa 43:3). And here, by connection with verse 13, the same interpretation is needed. Since Cyrus, by his benevolent attitude toward Jewish captives, displayed, among other things, high unselfishness, then as a reward for this the Lord promises him (more precisely, his successors, or his kingdom and people) important and rich new conquests in the form of Egyptian nations. And this natural reward to Cyrus will serve, according to the plans of Divine Wisdom, at the same time as a means toward the triumph of the true God: newly conquered nations will be new witnesses of Cyrus’s wonderful deeds, and consequently, new glorifiers of that God in whose name he accomplished all this.

Isaiah 45:15. Truly, you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Savior. Acts 17:23. “Truly, you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Savior.” It is most correct to attribute this exclamation to the prophet Isaiah himself. Discerning in his prophetic vision that the pagan nations entering into the composition of Cyrus’s monarchy, although they will dimly feel the greatness of the true God, will nevertheless remain for them “hidden,” “an unknown God” (Acts 17:23), the prophet wishes to supplement the inadequacy of such knowledge of God with a clearer and more definite confession of Him (compare Deut 28:29; Prov 25:2). Isaiah 45:16. They will all be put to shame and confounded; the makers of idols go in confusion together. Isaiah 45:17. But Israel is saved by the Lord with everlasting salvation; you shall not be put to shame or confounded to all eternity. “They will all be put to shame and confounded... But Israel is saved... you shall not be put to shame or confounded.” In these two verses an antithesis is given of the immediate future of the pagans and the Jews. The pagans, hoping in their idols, will be put to shame, as they will fall under the hand of the new conqueror. The faithful sons of Israel, receiving freedom by the mercy of their God, will thereby triumph over all their enemies, the idol-worshippers (compare Isa 28:16; Rom 10:11). The beginning of verse 17, where it is said that “Israel is saved by the Lord with everlasting salvation,” should not particularly disturb us, first, because the word “age” and “eternity” often in the language of Holy Scripture have a very conditional meaning (the lifetime of a generation, a tribe, and even of individual persons); and second, also because the Hebrew nation, as we know and observe, had, has, and will eternally continue to exist (Rom 9:27; Rom 11:5).

Isaiah 45:18. For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it a chaos, he formed it to be inhabited): I am the Lord, and there is no other. Isaiah 45:19. I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, “Seek me in chaos.” I the Lord speak the truth, I declare what is right. “For thus says the Lord... I did not speak in secret... I did not say to the offspring of Jacob: seek me in vain. I the Lord speak the truth.” The words of these two verses, on the one hand, are the usual concluding oath to the prophecy concerning the fate of Israel that is customary for the prophet Isaiah, and on the other hand, serve as a kind of solemn introduction or transition to the following prophecy — about the calling of the pagans to God. Reference to the history of the creation of the world, besides assurance of Creative Wisdom and power, has here also the significance of a certain analogy: just as the Lord once by His creative power brought into order the material chaos of the primordial world, so now He is about to put in order the spiritual chaos of the various religious beliefs of mankind, bringing them to the unity of true knowledge of God. Hebraists, incidentally, draw attention to an not quite exact translation of the words: “He did not create it chaos,” which should perhaps more correctly be rendered: “He did not leave it desolate anymore.” In this form, this entire phrase, especially its last expression — tohu — obtains the closest relationship to chapter 1 of the Book of Genesis and, consequently, testifies to its pre-exilic origin. “I did not speak in secret, not in a dark place of the earth.” The Lord clearly and publicly proclaimed His will and the entire course of His Divine economy regarding the salvation of mankind to the people of Israel, and through them to all mankind (Deut 30:11-20 and others). He never spoke in secret (Isa 48:16), and in hidden places, but always before many witnesses (Isa 43:10; Isa 44:8; compare John 18:20). In this respect the word of the true God now presents a contrast with the utterances of false gods: it is known that pythias, sibyls, and pagan priests often transmitted the revelations of their gods either in caves (the Delphic oracle, now Trophonios) or in underground passages of temples (of Jupiter Capitolinus and others).

Isaiah 45:20. Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, you survivors of the nations! They have no knowledge who carry about their wooden idols, and keep on praying to a god that cannot save. From verses 20–25, that is, to the end of the chapter, there is already a direct address to the pagans, with the purpose of calling them to the true God. In its general content and even in separate expressions, it is very kindred to those numerous passages in the book of the prophet Isaiah in which is set forth God’s judgment over pagan nations, usually concluding with the acknowledgment of their guilt, but at the same time with the forgiveness of it and their turning to God (compare Isa 24:1-23; Isa 26:20-21; Isa 27:1-7; Isa 30:27-33; Isa 23:1-10; Isa 40:24; Isa 41:11-12; Isa 43:13-15 and so on). “Assemble yourselves and come, draw near together, all you survivors of the nations.” This address is identical in meaning with similar earlier ones (Isa 41 and Isa 43:9). What is new here is only that it is directed not to all pagans, but to the “survivors” of them, obviously to those surviving until the future prophetic moment — the coming of the Messiah. “The prophecy sees the time when the corrupt monarchies of the Semito-Cushites are already shattered and when with them fell the corrupting religious system that had turned men into creatures with purely animal instincts. The surviving nations are those which by God’s providence were subjected to the influence of the captive Israelites living among them (2 Sam 17:6; 2 Sam 24:15-16), who in turn were sobered in captivity and never again returned to idolatry.” (Vlastov, V, 231). “The ignorant are those who carry about their wooden idols... which cannot save.” An exposure of idolatry, closely reminiscent of what was said on this subject above (Isa 40:18-20; Isa 31 and Isa 44:9). The fact that Assyro-Babylonian pagans arranged solemn religious processions with the carrying of various foreign gods is testified to by ancient drawings from contemporary excavations, described by Layard and Rawlinson (Pulp. Commentary — 177).

Isaiah 45:21. Declare and bring forth your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is no one besides me. “Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old?” This question is also well known from what precedes (Isa 41:26; Isa 43:9; Isa 44:7). The same must be said about the answer to it (Isa 41:4; Isa 42:21; Isa 43:10-12; Isa 44:6-8). Obviously, the discourse is again, chiefly, about the striking clarity and wonderful accuracy of the prophecy about Cyrus, which 150 years before his birth could not have been given by anyone other than the All-Knowing and All-Powerful. But insofar as the prophecy about Cyrus stands in connection with the prophecy about the conversion of the pagans, here the discourse about the latter is not excluded.

Isaiah 45:22. Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. “Turn to me... all the ends of the earth.” A clear and expressive call of the pagans to true knowledge of God, partial — in the form of Jewish proselytism and more complete — in the form of their predominant entry into the New Testament church (Ps 21:28 and others).

Isaiah 45:23. I have sworn by Myself: righteousness goes forth from My mouth, an unchangeable word, that before Me every knee shall bow, and by Me every tongue shall swear. “By myself I have sworn: from my mouth has gone forth in righteousness a word that shall not return.” As testimony to the highest immutability of everything said, an oath customary in such cases is made (Gen 22:16; Gen 24:7; Exod 13:5; Jer 22 and others). The meaning and significance of God’s oath is revealed by the Apostle Paul (Heb 6:13). “To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.” The best commentary on this passage is the well-known prayer of the same apostle: “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil 2:10-11 Compare also Ps 21:28-30 and Rom 14:11).

Isaiah 45:24. Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength; to him shall come and be ashamed all who were incensed against him. “Only in the Lord... are righteousness and strength.” That is, only God, as an impartial Judge, can judge everyone correctly, and only He again, as All-Powerful, is able to carry out His verdict. It is precisely with this spirit that all of God’s works are imbued. Hence the Gospel of Christ, according to the Apostle, “is the power of God... in it the righteousness of God is revealed” (Rom 1:16-17). “All who were incensed against him shall come to him and be ashamed.” This is a compressed repetition of what was said in more detail above (Isa 41:11).

Isaiah 45:25. In the Lord all the offspring of Israel shall triumph and glory. “In the Lord all the offspring of Israel shall be justified and shall glory,” and it shall not save itself, not by its own merits and deserts, but solely by the saving and merciful grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. These words in no way should be applied only to the carnal Israel, since the greater part of it rejected the Lord and therefore could not receive salvation. Therefore they should be applied to the spiritual Israel, or interpreted in the sense of blessed Jerome: “Those descended from the tribe of the sons of Israel and born from the seed of the Apostles and believing in Christ will have righteousness and eternal glory.” * * * Notes The Delphic oracle and that of Trophonius are not the same. See footnotes. — Ed.