Ésaïe 45:1

Louis Segond

Ainsi parle l'Eternel à son oint, à Cyrus, Qu'il tient par la main, Pour terrasser les nations devant lui, Et pour relâcher la ceinture des rois, Pour lui ouvrir les portes, Afin qu'elles ne soient plus fermées;

Parallel Translations

La Bible David Martin (1744)
Ainsi a dit l'Eternel � son Oint, � Cyrus, duquel j'ai pris la main droite, afin que je terrasse les nations devant lui, et que je d�lie les reins des Rois; afin qu'on ouvre devant lui les portes, et que les portes ne soient point ferm�es.

La Bible Ostervald (1996)
Ainsi a dit l'�ternel � son oint, � Cyrus, que j'ai pris par la main droite, pour terrasser devant lui les nations et d�lier les ceintures des rois, pour ouvrir les portes devant lui, tellement qu'elles ne soient plus ferm�es:

Darby's French Translation
Ainsi dit l'�ternel � son oint, � Cyrus, dont j'ai tenu la droite pour soumettre devant lui les nations;... et je d�lierai les reins des rois, pour ouvrir les deux battants devant lui afin que les portes ne soient pas ferm�es:

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

to his: Isaiah 13:3, Isaiah 44:28, 1 Kings 19:15, Jeremiah 27:6

whose: Isaiah 41:13, Isaiah 42:6, Psalms 73:23

holden: or, strengthened, Ezekiel 30:21-24

to subdue: Isaiah 41:2, Isaiah 41:25, Ezra 1:1, Jeremiah 50:3, Jeremiah 50:35, Jeremiah 51:11, Jeremiah 51:20-24, Daniel 5:6, Daniel 5:28-30, Daniel 7:5, Daniel 8:3

to open: All the streets of Babylon, leading on each side to the river, were secured by two leaved brazen gates, and these were providentially left open when Cyrus's forces entered the city in the night, through the channel of the river, in the general disorder occasioned by the great feast which was then celebrated; otherwise, says Herodotus, the Persians would have been shut up in the bed of the river, as in a net, and all destroyed. The gates of the palace were also imprudently opened to ascertain the occasion of the tumult; when the two parties under Gobrias and Gadatas rushed in, got possession of the palace, and slew the king. Nahum 2:6

Reciprocal: Judges 3:12 - and the Lord 1 Samuel 10:7 - God 1 Kings 1:34 - Zadok 2 Kings 9:6 - I have anointed 1 Chronicles 14:15 - for God 2 Chronicles 36:22 - the Lord stirred Ezra 1:2 - he hath charged Ezra 4:3 - king Cyrus Ezra 5:13 - General Nehemiah 7:67 - their manservants Esther 4:14 - whether Job 8:20 - help the evil doers Job 12:19 - General Psalms 18:34 - teacheth Psalms 107:16 - General Psalms 144:10 - salvation Isaiah 5:27 - neither Isaiah 10:6 - will I give Isaiah 13:2 - go into Isaiah 13:4 - the Lord Isaiah 21:5 - arise Isaiah 43:14 - For Isaiah 45:4 - I have even Isaiah 45:13 - raised him Isaiah 46:11 - Calling Isaiah 48:14 - The Lord Isaiah 51:18 - that taketh Jeremiah 25:9 - Nebuchadrezzar Jeremiah 25:14 - many Jeremiah 34:22 - I will command Jeremiah 43:10 - my servant Jeremiah 47:7 - the Lord Jeremiah 50:9 - I will raise Jeremiah 51:30 - her bars Jeremiah 51:53 - from Jeremiah 51:58 - high gates Ezekiel 29:20 - served Ezekiel 30:24 - I will Daniel 2:39 - another kingdom Daniel 6:28 - and in Daniel 8:4 - pushing Daniel 10:1 - Cyrus Micah 2:13 - breaker Nahum 3:13 - the gates Habakkuk 2:7 - they Acts 12:10 - which Romans 9:17 - I raised

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,.... Cyrus is called the Lord's anointed, not because he was anointed with material oil, as the kings of Israel and Judah were; but because he was appointed by the Lord to be a king, and was qualified by him for that office; and was raised up by him to be an instrument of doing great things in the world, and particularly of delivering the Jews from their captivity, and restoring them to their own land:

whose right hand I have holden; whom he raised up, supported, strengthened, guided, and directed to do what he did:

to subdue nations before him; which was accordingly done. Xenophon y relates, that he subdued the Syrians, Assyrians, Arabians, Cappadocians, both the countries of Phrygia, the Lydians, Carians, Phoenicians, and Babylonians; also the Bactrians, Indians, Cilicians, the Sacae, Paphlagonians, and Megadinians; likewise the Greeks that inhabit Asia, Cyprians and Egyptians. Herodotus z says, that he ruled over all Asia: all which the Lord subdued under him; for it was he that did it rather than Cyrus; it was he that clothed him with strength and courage, gave him skill in military affairs, and success and victory:

I will loose the loins of kings; as Croesus king of Lydia, and Belshazzar king of Babylon, by divesting them of their dignity, power, and government; and particularly this was true of the latter, when, by the handwriting on the wall, he was thrown into a panic; "and the joints of his loins were loosed", Daniel 5:6, "to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut"; the gates of cities and palaces wherever he came, which were opened to receive him as their conqueror and sovereign; this was very remarkably true of the gates of the palace of the king of Babylon, when the army of Cyrus by a stratagem had got into the city, and were come up to the king's palace, they found the gates shut; but a clamour and noise being made, the king ordered to see what was the matter; the gates being opened for that purpose, the soldiers of Cyrus rushed in to the king, and slew him a; but, what is more remarkable, the gates of brass, which shut up the descents from the keys to the river, were left open that night Babylon was taken, while the inhabitants were feasting and revelling; which, had they been shut b, would have defeated the enterprise of Cyrus; but God in his providence ordered it to be so.

y Cyropaedia, l. 1. p. 2. z Clio, sive l. 1. c. 130. a Cyropaedia, l. 7. c. 22, 23. b Herodot. l. 1. c. 191.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Thus saith the Lord to his anointed - This is a direct apostrophe to Cyrus, though it was uttered not less than one hundred and fifty years before Babylon was taken by him. The word ‘anointed’ is that which is usually rendered “Messiah” (משׁיח mâshı̂yach), and here is rendered by the Septuagint, Τῷ χριστῷ μου Κύρῳ Tō christō mou Kurō - ‘To Cyrus, my Christ,’ i. e, my anointed. It properly means “the anointed,” and was a title which was commonly given to the kings of Israel, because they were set apart to their office by the ceremony of anointing, who hence were called οι χρυστοὶ Κυρίου hoi christoi Kuriou - ’The anointed of the Lord’ 1 Samuel 2:10, 1Sa 2:35; 1 Samuel 12:3, 1 Samuel 12:5; 1Sa 16:6; 1 Samuel 24:7, 1 Samuel 24:11; 1Sa 26:9, 1 Samuel 26:11, 1 Samuel 26:23; 2Sa 1:14, 2 Samuel 1:16; 2 Samuel 19:22-23. There is no evidence that the Persian kings were inaugurated or consecrated by oil, but this is an appellation which was common among the Jews, and is applied to Cyrus in accordance with their usual mode of designating kings. It means here that God had solemnly set apart Cyrus to perform an important public service in his cause. It does not mean that Cyrus was a man of piety, or a worshipper of the true God, of which there is no certain evidence, but that his appointment as king was owing to the arrangement of God’s providence, and that he was to be employed in accomplishing his purposes. The title does not designate holiness of character, but appointment to an office.

Whose right hand I have holden - Margin, ‘Strengthened.’ Lowth, ‘whom I hold fast by the right hand.’ The idea seems to be, that God had upheld, sustained, strengthened him as we do one who is feeble, by taking his right hand (see the notes at Isaiah 41:13; Isaiah 42:6)

To subdue nations before him - For a general account of the conquests of Cyrus, see the notes at Isaiah 41:2. It may be added here, that ‘besides his native subjects, the nations which Cyrus subdued, and over which he reigned, were the Cilicians, Syrians, Paphlagonians, Cappadocians, Phrygians, Lydians, Carians, Phenicians, Arabians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Bactrians, Saeae, and Maryandines. Xenophon describes his empire as extending from the Mediterranean and Egypt to the Indian Ocean, and from Ethiopia to the Euxine Sea, and conveys a physical idea of its extent by observing that the extremities were difficult to inhabit, from opposite causes - some from excess of heat, and others from excess of cold; some from a scarcity of water, and others from too great abundance.’ - (Pictorial Bible.)

And I will loose the loins of kings - The ancients dressed in a large, loose, flowing robe thrown over an under-garment or tunic, which was shaped to the body. The outer robe was girded with a sash when they toiled, or labored, or went to war, or ran. Hence, ‘to gird up the loins’ is indicative of preparation for a journey, for labor, or for war. To unloose the girdle, or the loins, was indicative of a state of rest, repose, or feebleness; and the phrase here means that God would so order it in his providence that the kings would be unprepared to meet him, or so feeble that they would not be able to resist him (compare Job 38:3; Jeremiah 1:17). See also Job 12:21 :

He poureth contempt upon princes,

And weakeneth the strength of the mighty;

Margin, more correctly, ‘Looseth the girdle of the strong.’ There was a literal fulfillment of this in regard to Belshazzar, king of Babylon, when the city was taken by Cyrus. When the hand came forth on the walls of his palace, and the mysterious finger wrote his condemnation, it is said, ‘Then the king’s countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against the other’ Daniel 5:6. The Vulgate renders this, ‘I will turn the backs of kings.’

To open before him the two-leaved gates, and the gates shall not be shut - The folding gates of a city, or a palace. It so happened in the scene of revelry which prevailed in Babylon when Cyrus took it, that the gates within the city which led from the streets to the river were left open. The city was not only enclosed with walls, but there were walls within the city on each side of the river Euphrates with gates, by which the inhabitants had access to the water of the river. Had not these gates been left open on that occasion, contrary to the usual custom, the Persians would have been shut up in the bed of the river, and could all have been destroyed. It also happened in the revelry of that night, that the gates of the palace were left open, so that there was access to every part of the city. Herodotus (i. 191) says, ‘If the besieged had been aware of the designs of Cyrus, or had discovered the project before its actual accomplishment, they might have effected the total destruction of these troops. They had only to secure the little gates which led to the river, and to have manned the embankments on either side, and they might have enclosed the Persians in a net from which they could never have escaped; as it happened they were taken by surprise; and such is the extent of that city, that, as the inhabitants themselves affirm, they who lived in the extremities were made prisoners before the alarm was communicated to the center of the palace.’ None but an omniscient Being could have predicted, a hundred and fifty years before it occurred, that such an event would take place; and this is one of the many prophecies which demonstrate in the most particular manner that Isaiah was inspired.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

CHAPTER XLV

Prophecy concerning Cyrus, the first king of the Persians.

Every obstruction shall be removed out of his way, and the

treasures taken from his enemies shall be immense, 1-3,

To whom, and on what account, Cyrus was indebted for his

wonderful success, 4-6.

The prophet refutes the absurd opinion of the Persians, that

there were two supreme beings, an evil and a good one,

represented by light and darkness, here declared to be only the

operation of the ONE true God, 7;

and makes a transition to the still greater work of God

displayed in the dispensation of the Gospel, 8.

Great impiety of those who call in question the mysterious

providence of God towards his children, 9-12.

The remaining part of this chapter, interspersed with

strictures on the absurdity of idolatry and some allusions to

the dark lying oracles of the heathens, may partly refer to the

deliverance begun by Cyrus, but chiefly to the salvation by the

Messiah, which, it is declared, shall be of universal extent

and everlasting duration, 13-25.

NOTES ON CHAP. XLV

Verse Isaiah 45:1. Loose the loins of kings - "ungird the loins of kings"] Isaiah 5:27. Xenophon gives the following list of the nations conquered by Cyrus: the Syrians, Assyrians, Arabians, Cappadocians, both the Phrygians, Lydians, Carians, Phoenicians, Babylonians. He moreover reigned over the Bactrians, Indians, Cilicians, the Sacae Paphlagones, and Mariandyni. - Cyrop., lib. i. p. 4, Edit. Hutchinson, Quarto. All these kingdoms he acknowledges, in his decree for the restoration of the Jews, to have been given to him by JEHOVAH, the God of heaven. Ezra 1:2.

To open before him the two leaved gates, c. - "That I may open before him the valves and the gates shall not be shut"] The gates of Babylon within the city leading from the streets to the river, were providentially left open, when Cyrus's forces entered the city in the night through the channel of the river, in the general disorder occasioned by the great feast which was then celebrated; otherwise, says Herodotus, i. 191, the Persians would have been shut up in the bed of the river, and taken as in a net, and all destroyed. And the gates of the palace were opened imprudently by the king's orders, to inquire what was the cause of the tumult without; when the two parties under Gobrias and Gadatas rushed in, got possession of the palace, and slew the king. - XENOPH., Cyrop. vii. p. 528.