THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET
ISAIAH

Isaiah 25

1The prophet praiseth God for his past judgments, 6and for his future salvation of his people, and overthrow of their enemies.


1 O 1LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done 2wonderful things; thy counsels 3of old are 4faithfulness and truth.

1 This is a song of praise of the people of God, namely, of the church of believers in the New Testament.

2 Or, wonders.

3 That is, from afar off.

4 Or, stability.

25For thou hast 6made of a 7city an heap;a of a defenced city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built.

5 For clarity sakes the words of this verse are somewhat in a different order than they are in the Hebrew text.

6 Namely, Babylon, and consequently all other hostile cities and nations, and especially Rome.

7 Hebr. set for an heap of stones.

a Isa. 21:9; 23:13; Rev. 14:8; 18:2.

3Therefore shall 8the strong people glorify thee, the city 9of the terrible nations shall fear thee.

8 Understand that people that will turn unto Thee, that by such terrible judgments shall learn to fear and honor Thee.

9 Or, terrible, violent, cruel heathen.

4For thou hast been a strength 10to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge 11from the storm, a shadow from the heat, 12when 13the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.

10 Or, a strength of the poor.

11 Or, from the overflowing waters, as Isa. 4:6.

12 Or, when the blowing of tyrants was as, etc.

13 Hebr. the wind (or, as some, spirit, that is, wrath) of tyrants, or, of cruel or terrible ones.

5Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, 14as the heat in a dry place; even the 15heat with the shadow of a cloud: the 16branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low.

14 The sense is: As the heat in a dry place is soon quenched by the rain, as such has God by the cloud of His gracious help, whereby He refreshed and revived His church, extinguished the raging heat of strangers, that is, of infidels and enemies of His church.

15 See Isa. 4:6.

16 Or, the song of the tyrants, that is, the gladness, joy and triumph, which they were wont to make over the godly.

617And in 18this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto 19all people 20a feast of fat things, a feast of 21wines on the lees,b22of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.

17 Here the prophet speaks, likewise in verses 7 and 10.

18 That is, in the christian church, which is typified and represented by mount Zion.

19 As well the Gentiles as the Jews, whom, by the preaching of the Holy Gospel, He will call to the knowledge of Himself.

20 Hebr. a feast of fatnesses. In a spiritual sense the meaning of this and of what follows is, that God will make His elect partakers of His exceeding great grace and mercy in Christ, namely, of everlasting joy and salvation, which He has prepared for us above in heaven. Compare herewith Psalm 22:26, 29; Mat. 8:11; 22:2. See the annotation at Psalm 36 on verse 8.

21 Or, refined wine, that is, in which there is no lees, or which is refined or purified from the lees. Other, that lies on the lees.

b dregs, sediment (separated or refined by pouring from bottle to bottle)

22 That is, animals, being fat and with much marrow.

7And he will 23destroy in this mountain 24the face of the covering cast over all people, 25and the vail that is spread over all nations.

23 That is, disannul, make void.

24 Hebr. the face of the wrapping up or covering, wrapped up or covered upon, etc. and so in the sequel; and understand hereby the blindness and ignorance in Divine and heavenly things, wherein all the Gentiles were stuck before the preaching of the Holy Gospel. See 2 Cor. 3:16.

25 That is, wherewith the eyes of the understanding of all nations, or of all the Gentiles are covered, and as blinded concerning things Divine. That which was said immediately before, is repeated again in other words.

8Hec will 26swallow up death 27in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off 28all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away 29from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.

c 1 Cor. 15:54.

26 That is, deprive of its power, so that it shall have no power to reign over His elect, or be able to separate them from His love.

27 These words the apostle quoted in 1 Cor. 15:54. Other, forever, or, everlastingly. See of the Hebrew word in the first annotation at Psalm 4 in the title; Psalm 13 on verse 1.

28 Namely, from off the faces of His people. See Rev. 7:17; 21:4.

29 That is, in all lands.

9¶And it shall be said in that day, Lo, 30this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will 31save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice 32in his salvation.

30 Namely, Jesus Christ.

31 Or, deliver, preserve. This word and the last of this verse are both derived from the Hebrew root or from the original from which the word Jesus is derived.

32 That is, in the salvation which He procures for us. Other, in his saving.

10For in this mountain shall 33the hand of the LORD rest, and 34Moab shall be trodden down 35under him, even as straw is trodden down 36for the dunghill.

33 That is, the power. The sense is: God will continually preserve and defend His church; for, by mount Zion is meant here the church of God.

34 That is, all the enemies and persecutors of the people of God.

35 Namely, under the Lord, Who shall tread down and destroy him.

36 Understand hereby the worst sort of straw, which serves for nothing else but to make dung of it. Other, Is trodden down on the dunghill. Other, at Madmannah. There were two cities of this name, the one in Judah, 1 Chron. 2:49, and the other in the land of the Moabites, Jer. 48:2. It seems that abundance of corn grew there, Isa. 10:31.

11And 37he shall spread forth 38his hands in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim: and hed shall bring down 39their pride together 40with the spoils of their hands.

37 Namely, the Lord.

38 That is, He will with all His strength and power seize upon and destroy His enemies, as a swimmer spreads forth both his hands to swim well.

d Isa. 16:6.

39 Namely, of the Moabites.

40 The sense is: Moab is proud in heart, and in his hands is deceit or guile, in which respect he fancies great things unto himself; but God will confound them both, as well the pride of his heart as the snares of his hands. So that the particle with signifies here as much as together with. Other, with his lurking hands, as if he said: With his hands that lurk or lie in wait to rent the godly in pieces, as the lion lies in wait for a prey.

12And 41the fortress of the high fort 42of thy walls shall 43he bring down, lay low, and bring 44to the ground, even to the dust.

41 That is, the fortifications of thy high walls.

42 Namely, of Moab, that is, of the enemies of God’s church.

43 Namely, the Lord.

44 That is, He shall cast them to the ground, even to the dust.