Isaiah 1

12	12 When you come to seeᵅ my face, who has made to be sought this from your hand, a trampling of my courts.

Isaiah 7

14	14 So A̕dōnai̱ will himself give to you a sign: behold the virgin will be conceiving and bearing a son. And you will have called his name, ‘I̒mmanū’ēl.’

Isaiah 41

22

22 Let them draw near, and let them make plain to us that which will be met with. The former things (what they are) make plain. And let us set it to our hearts, and let us know their afterward, or make us hear the coming things. 23 Make plain the coming things, hereafter, and we will know that you are gods. Yea, cause good, or cause evil, and we will be dismayed, and let us see together.

Isaiah 42

1

1 Behold, my servant, whom I support. ²In him, my chosen one, my soul has delighted. I have put my Spĭrit upon him, and his judgment¹ to the nations he will make go out.† 2 He will not ¹harangue, and he will not ²yell, and he will not make heard his ³rhetorical speech in the ᵅstreet. 3 A crushed stalk he will not shatter. And a dim wick—he will not make it quenched. Faithfully he will make go forth justice. 4 He will not dim, or be crushed¹ while he establishes justice in the earth, and for his Law the coastlands will wait.‡

Isaiah 45

1	1 Thus has said Yăhwēh concerning his anointed, to Ḳōresh, whom I shall have made strong in his right arm, to beat down before his face the nations. And the loins of kings I will make to be loosed a making loosed. At his face, doors and gates will not be shut. 2 I, at your face, I will go. And the mountainsᵅ I will make level. Doors of bronze I will make to be shattered, and bars of iron I will make to be hewn off. 3 And I will have given to you the stores of darknessᵅ and treasures of secret places, so that you may know that I Yăhwēh, the one calling you by your name am the Almĭghty of Yisra’ēl. 4 For the sake of my servant Ya‘aqōv̱, and Yisra’ēl my chosen, I will call to you. By your name I make you to be titled. And you have not known me. 5 I am Yăhwēh, and no one else. Besides me there is no Almĭghty.† I make you to be girded, and you will not have known me, 6 so that they will know from the rising of the sun, and from the setting of it, that none is besides me. I am Yăhwēh and none else, 7 forming light, and creating darkness, making peace, and creating calamity. I am Yăhwēh doing all these things. 8 Make drip the heavens from above, and may the clouds rain down righteousness. May the earth open, and may salvation and righteousness be fruitful. May she make them sprout together. I Yăhwēh will have created it.
9	9 Woe one striving with his Maker, a pot alongside earthen pots. Will the clay say to its Maker, “What do you do, and your work has no handsᵅ to it.” 10 Woe to the one saying to a father, “What do you make begotten,” and to a ᵅwoman, “What do you labor!” 11 Thus has said Yăhwēh, Holy One of Yisra’ēl, and his Maker. Of the coming things ask me! About my sons, and about the work of my hands, can you make me to be commanded? 12 I, I have made earth, and man upon it. My hands have stretched the heavens. And all their hosts I have made to be commanded.
13	13 I, I have made him roused in righteousness, and all his ways I will make to be straight. He will build my city. And my exile he will make to be sent, not for hire and not with a bribe, has said Yăhwēh of hosts. 14 Thus has said Yăhwēh, the toil of Egypt, and the traffic of Kūsh, and Sev̱a’i̱m, men of stature, will cross over on account of you, and in respect to you they will be behind you. They will walk in chains. They will pass by. And unto you they will make themselves to be bowing down. Unto you they will make themselves to be praying†, saying, Gŏd is in you.
14b	14b But there is none yet except the Almĭghty! 15 Surely you are a Gŏd making himself to be hidden, the Almĭghty of Yisra’ēl, the Saviour!

Isaiah 46

8

8 Remember this, and make yourselves to be men. O transgressors, ponder it upon the heart. 9 Remember the former things, from time immemorial, because I am Gŏd, and no other is Almĭghty, and none is like me, 10 making told from the beginning, what is afterward, and from antiquity things that have not been done, saying my counsel will stand, and all my pleasure I will do.

Isaiah 48

1	1 Hear this, house of Ya‘aqōv̱, the ones being called by the name of Yisra’ēl, and who from the waters of Yehūdah have gone out, the ones swearing themselves by the name of Yăhwēh, and who in the Almĭghty of Yisra’ēl make a memorial, but not in truth, and not in righteousness,
2	2 Surely they call themselves by the holy city, and upon the Almĭghty of Yisra’ēl they have supported themselves. Yăhwēh of Armies is his name.
3	3 The beginning things, ever since that time, I have explained, and from my mouth they have gone out. And I made them heard. Suddenly I had acted and they became.
4	4 Ever since my knowing that you are obstinate, and your neck an iron sinew, and your forehead bronze, 5  then I informed you about that time, before it became. I have made you hear about it lest you should say, ‘My idol has made them, and my graven image. And my metal image has made them to be commanded.’
6	6 You have heard about it. Observe all of it, and will you not explain it?† I will have made you hear new things from now on, and guarded things. And you have not known them. 7 Just now they have been created, and not from that time. And before the face of today, even you have not heard them, lest you should say, ‘Behold, I had known them.’
8	8 Yea, you have not heard. Yea, you have not known. Yea, since that time you have not opened your ear. Yea I have known that faithlessly you would act faithlessly. And transgressing ever since the womb you are called. 9 For the sake of my name I delay my anger, and for the sake of my praise. I restrain it for you, for not making you cut off.
10	10 Behold, I will have refined you, and not as with silver. I will have tested you in the furnace of affliction 11 for my sake. For my sake I will act, because how can one profane oneself? And my glory to another I will not give!
12	12 Listen unto me Ya‘aqōv̱ and Yisra’ēl, whom I make to be called, I AM. I am first. Yea, I am last. 13 Yea, my hand has founded the earth, and my right hand has made to be spread out the heavens. When I am calling unto them, they stand together. 14 Assemble yourselves, all of you, and listen. Who among them has made told these things? Yăhwēh has loved him!† He will do his pleasure against Bav̱el, and his arm will be upon the Kasdi̱m. 15 I, I, have made to be spoken I. Yea I have summoned him. I have made him come. And he will have made his way prosper.‡
16	16 Draw near unto me. Hear this: ever since the beginning I have not spoken in secret! From the time of its being, there I am, and now A’dŏnai̱ Yăhwēh has sent me, and his Spĭrit.‡

Isaiah 56

1	1 Thus has said Yăhwēh, “Keep justice, and do righteousness, because my Salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to being revealed. 2 Blessedly happy is the man, who will do this, and the son of Adam who will make seized hold on it, keeping Sabbath, from making it to be profaned, and keeping his hand from doing any evil. 3 And may the foreign son not say, who has joined himself unto Yăhwēh, saying, “Making separate Yăhwēh has made me separate from being added upon† his people. And may the eunuch not say, “Look! I am a dry tree.”
4	4 For thus has said Yăhwēh to the eunuchs which will keep my Sabbaths, and they who have chosen in what I have delighted, that is seizing on My covenant. 5 Even I will have given to them in my house, and in my walls a †side, and a name better than sons and daughters, an everlasting name I will give to him, which shall not be cut off. 6  And the foreign sons joining themselves upon Yăhwēh, to make to be ministered ¹himself, and to love ²himself, the name of Yăhwēh, to be for him as servants, everyone keeping Sabbath, from making it to be profaned, and making strong My covenant, 7 then I will have made them come unto My holy mountain. And I will have made them to be joyful in my house of prayer. Their ascending offerings, and their sacrifices will be acceptable upon My altar, because my house, a house of prayer, will be called for all the nations!”
8	8 A declaration of A̕dōnai̱ Yăhwēh, who makes to be collected the banished ones of Yisra’ēl, “Yet others I will make to be collected, added upon him, of his ones being collected.

Isaiah 64

6	6 Therefore, we become as the unclean one, all of us, and like a filthy garment all of our righteousness, and we droop like a leaf, all of us. And our iniquities like the wind carry us off.‡

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Commentary

1:12ᵅ ^{^}Read: לִרְאוֹת. See Exodus 23:15†.

42:1² ^{^}Read בו with the next clause.

42:1¹ ^{^}DSS ומשׁפטו. See BHS. Or, “and his justice.”

42:1† ^{^}The use of the word נפשׁ, soul, person, in relation to the Făther here, who puts his Spĭrit on the Sŏn is significant. As much as this term is used for humans, it shows that the unseen Făther also applies the term to himself, and the meaning of the term, as such, is that which humans and the Almĭghty have in common, as man is created in his image, yet on the other hand the divine nature is part of his soul and not our created souls, which are in the image of Gŏd, but not omnipotent or worthy of the position.

42:2¹ ^{^}Hebrew: יִצְעַק = cry aloud, cry out. Obviously used in the sense of an overbearing clamorous speech.

42:2² ^{^} יִשָּׂא: raise [his voice], קוֹלוֹ.

42:2³ ^{^}Voice, or sound, קוֹלוֹ, i.e. his well sounding articulate speech or pleasant rhetoric, as often preachers sway their audiences by their skill with words rather than truth.

42:2ᵅ ^{^}The street. The square in the city. The usual place for giving persuasive speeches.

45:2ᵅ ^{^}Read: והררים.

42:4¹ ^{^}Read: יֵרוֹץ.

45:3ᵅ ^{^}Stores hidden in dark places.

42:4‡ ^{^}Isa. 42:1-4a is quoted in Matthew 12:18-20, and then Matthew finishes his Isaiah quotation with Isa. 11:10 instead of 42:4b. In Hebrew, Isaiah 11:10 says, “Unto him the nations will seek” (אֵלָיו גּוֹיִם יִדְרֹשׁוּ), which is thoughtwise the same as “and for his Law the coastlands will wait;” The LXX version of Isaiah 11:10 reads, “ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ ἔθνη ἐλπιοῦσιν,” = “upon him the nations will hope;” Matthew added the word “name” by way of explanation. The sense of name is is reputation, renown, or character, which is understood through his Law. We must keep in mind that ancient quotations did not follow modern standards of direct quotation. But they were varied for explanatory purposes, and also to jar the reader to make certain connections. Therefore, we cannot accuse Matthew of a mistake. The so called mistake is actually the ancient method of comparing scripture with scripture or interpreting scripture with Scripture. We are therefore to compare Matthew with Isa. 11:10 and 42:4b, and realize that for Matthew the nations faithfully trusting upon the name of Mĕssiah involves the commitment to seek out and understand his Law.

I have compared many ancient quotes in the NT, and it is clear that exact quotation was not a required standard, and indeed, often the aim was to explain one word with another, and the other word may be found in the quote, which is not in the original. The modern demand for exact quotation is in fact based on the notion that the one citing the source cannot be trusted to give the original thought accurately. And it is often the case that even when quote marks are used that an author is not giving his source correctly, because he has taken it out of context. So we are right to demand witnesses, proof, and confirmation. However, modern rules of quotation, even when they are seemingly followed, are not going to prevent fallen men from deceiving others. Nor is correct use of quotes going to prevent fallen men from accusing honest men of perverting the message. It is the Spĭrit of the Almĭghty that confirms truth and exposes lies in the hearts of men. I myself only strive to make myself a useful tool in his hands. Whoever has hears, let him hear what the Spĭrit says.

45:5† ^{^}I am Yăhwēh, and no one else. Besides me there is no Almĭghty. The pronoun “I” here is used collectively of more than one person. Often in Hebrew singular pronouns are used to refer to entities made up of multiple persons. For example, the city of Nineveh speaks collectively and says, “This is the exultant city, the one dwelling securely, the one saying in her heart, “I am, and no one is besides me” (Zeph 2:15). Many have sought to deny the plural nature of the Almĭghty by citing the Isaiah passages as if they prove that he is a singular person. But the Hebrew language puts the use of singular pronouns into the mouth of a speaker for a collective entity often enough to disprove this argument. As revealed in Genesis, Yăhwēh is a being of more than one person, and is at the beginning referred to with the pronoun “us.”

45:9ᵅ ^{^}Idiom: handles.

45:10ᵅ ^{^}LXX: μητρί, mother.

45:14† ^{^}This actually happened as recorded in the book of Daniel.

48:6† ^{^}or, “will you not explain it away?”

48:14† ^{^}The subject matter now switches to Mĕssiah. Heretofore, the Almĭghty has been speaking collectively including the Sŏn in I, and with a collective “I,” but now the Făther and Spĭrit speak of Mĕssiah together in the third person.

48:15‡ ^{^}Here the Făther and the Spĭrit are still speaking collectively of the Sŏn, but they have switched to the first person. The threefold use of I here seems to run together. Then the Făther and the Spĭrit summon the Sŏn to carry out a decision that was agreed to beforehand by the Sŏn, to make him come as Mĕssiah. And he will make the way of the Almĭghty succeed.

48:16‡ ^{^}Draw near unto me. Hear this: ever since the beginning I have not spoken in secret! From the time of its being, there I am, and now A’dŏnai̱ Yăhwēh has sent me, and his Spĭrit.‡ The speaker now switches to the Almĭghty Sŏn, who says he has been from the beginning, and his speaking is no secret, and yet he is Yăhwēh who is speaking, the part of the Almĭghty who is the Sŏn, and who has been sent by Yăhwēh the Făther, and Yăhwēh the Spĭrit.

56:3† ^{^}The preposition עַל a̒l is typically used in the sense of “adding upon” (see BDB).

56:5† ^{^} See hand in the EHSV Lexicon. The translation “monument” or “memorial” is incorrect, and is motivated by the notion that Yăhwēh will not actually make the eunuch and the foreign son fit to be in his Temple. It is also motivated by a false theology that the nations cannot become part of Gŏd’s people Yisra’ēl. The wording carries the sense into an eschatological fulfillment in the age to come.

56:6¹ ^{^} = he.

56:6² ^{^}Read paragogic letter: וּלְאַהֲבָהֻ

64:6‡ ^{^}Therefore, we become as the unclean one, all of us, and like a filthy garment all of our righteousness, and we droop like a leaf, all of us. And our iniquities like the wind carry us off.‡ Isaiah is speaking of a trend here, a change in state, from a righteous state to a defiled state. The filthy garment was once clean. The dry leaf was once green and vibrant. Iniquity spoils righteousness and defiles it. It blows righteousness away like the wind does a dry leaf. Without the Spĭrit of the Almĭghty to reverse the trend, initial righteousness is corroded away by sin until it is defiled. A person who is righteous and stops relying on the Almĭghty for support eventually fades away.

The prophet is not defining righteousness as filthy rags. Rather he is saying what becomes of righteousness in a sinful environment without the intervention of the Holy Spĭrit. Torah rejecting Christians have re-defined the righteousness in Torah as filthy rags in order to denigrate it and to make it of no account. The Hebrew text will not support this notion. The first verb is properly translated, “become” indicating a change of state. The KJV and CJB are wrong on the first verb. The ESV is correct. All the translations are wrong in adding a second verb “are” such that the text is made to read, “and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy rag.” There is no second verb there in the Hebrew text! The verbal sense is meant to come from the first verb in the verse, “become.” For this reason, the attempted redefinition of righteousness to be the same as filthy rags fails. So next time someone says all our righteousness is as a filthy rag, then tell them that their translation is not correct.