Bible Commentaries
Isaiah 50

Verses 1-3

Isa 50:1-3

Isaiah 50:1-3

This remarkable chapter contains the beginning of what is called "The Third Servant Song," although the word "servant" does not appear in it. Isaiah 42:1-4; Isaiah 49:1-6; and Isaiah 52:13 to Isaiah 53:12, are reckoned as the three, along with what is written here. "The first two songs emphasized the Servant’s mission; the third one, however, treats of his obedience, and of his steadfast endurance under persecution. Because of the song’s description of the growing hostility toward the Servant, North entitled it: `The Gethsemane of the Servant.’”

Some, of course, dispute the fact that the chapter is principally a reference to Our Saviour’s patience under shameful persecutions and trials; but Barnes has listed the following reasons why the passage could not possibly refer to anyone else except Jesus Christ:

"(1) The words of Isaiah 50:6 cannot be applied to anyone else except Christ. (2) The Messianic meaning of the chapter has almost unanimously been upheld throughout the centuries by the Christian Church. (3) All that is here said of humiliation, submission, patience, and trust in God applies eminently to the Lord Jesus Christ, and to no other one. (4) The closing part which promises terrible vengeance upon his foes cannot be applied to anyone except our Lord. (5) In Luke 18:31-32, our Lord specifically mentioned prophecies recorded in this chapter, flatly declaring that `all these things shall be accomplished unto the Son of man.

The reason listed by Barnes as the fifth in the above list is alone sufficient to justify the conclusion that this chapter is Messianic.

The chapter naturally divides into two parts, Isaiah 49:1-3 and Isaiah 49:4-11.

Isaiah 50:1-3

"Thus saith Jehovah, Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement, wherewith I have put her away? of which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities were ye sold, and for transgressions was your mother put away. Wherefore, when I came was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness; their fish stink, because there is no water, and die for thirst. I clothe the heavens with blackness, and make sackcloth their covering."

It is acutely distressing to this student that many respected commentators use this passage to declare that God never divorced the Southern Israel, namely Judah, whereas the passage teaches the opposite. Of course, God divorced Israel, as absolutely proved by the prophet Hosea in his symbolical marriage with adulterous Gomer. There is utterly no way to restrict the application of the divorce that put away Gomer to the Northern Israel alone. Yes, Hosea mentioned God’s triple betrothal to Jezreel, but that referred to the New Israel of the Church of God, and not to the old adulterous nation of Israel.

We are glad indeed that Kelley discerned the truth on this passage.

"Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement ...?" (Isaiah 50:1). "This does not mean, however, that no divorce occurred. Israel was indeed sent away (Malachi 2:16).” By the same token, the passage does not mean that Israel was not sold; what is meant by both of these metaphors is that "The bill of Israel’s divorcement showed that Israel’s shameful wickedness was the reason behind it, and not some capricious action on the part of God; and that Israel was indeed sold for iniquities! They sold themselves! The first part of Isaiah 50:1 is the equivalent of God’s merely asking Israel to "look at the record!" Note what the latter half of Isaiah 50:1 emphatically states as fact:

"Behold, for your iniquities were ye sold, and for your transgressions was your mother put away (divorced)."

The plain thrust of this passage is, as stated by Jamieson, "God is saying, It was not from any caprice of mine, but through your own fault that your mother was put away, and that you were sold.”

Of course, in the case of Gomer in Hosea, her husband did indeed buy her back from a life of adultery and slavery. He brought her back home indeed, but not as a wife. See Hosea 3:3.

We agree with Cheyne that these first three verses appear to be another echo of the question raised in the previous chapter (Isaiah 49:14), in which the people were critical of God Himself and inclined to blame the Lord with their troubles. "This looks like a second reply on God’s part to that complaint.”

"Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? ..." (Isaiah 50:2). "The Messiah is the speaker here and in the following verses; he complains of the inattention and unbelief of the Jewish people." Cheyne believed that, "`When I came’ can be a reference only to Jehovah," because of the power claimed by the speaker in the same verse; but we believe that the problem is solved in the truth that Christ the Messiah is indeed God come in the flesh. Therefore, we have here a prophecy of the Incarnation, that indeed being the only occasion when God "came" to men in the person of his Son; and this, of course, is an implied prophecy of the Virgin Birth as well, that being the only means by which God could indeed have become a man. The Incarnation and the Virgin Birth are interdependent twin wonders, neither of them being possible without the other. No unbeliever has ever suggested that God could have entered our earth life as a man by any other device whatever except by the Virgin Birth. That is the reason, apparently, for God’s mentioning both together in Isaiah 7:14 : "Behold THE VIRGIN shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (God with us)."

The wonders God mentioned in Isaiah 50:2-3 may suggest some of the great wonders performed in the Exodus; but evidently far greater powers are in view here. In Revelation 6:12 reveals that on the occasion of the final judgment the sun will become black as sackcloth. "The Egyptian plague of darkness (Exodus 10:21-22) is not adequate to the expressions used here. God means to assert his power to have all nature in total darkness if he so chooses, a power necessarily belonging to him who said, `Let there be light; and there was light.’"

The concluding eight verses of the chapter are often referred to as, "A soliloquy of the Servant of Jehovah," the Messiah. We shall look at these verses one at a time.

Isaiah 50:1 ACCUSATIONS: Judah is trying to justify herself against Jehovah’s accusations (through His prophets) and against His promise of her impending captivity, with some accusations of her own! Judah is trying to blame Jehovah for her troubles with Babylon. She is accusing Jehovah of casting her off “illegally,” or without justification. That is the impenitent sinner’s usual ruse. Jehovah answers by referring them to His Law. The Law of Jehovah is, of course, His will—a revelation in human terms of His very nature. It is not Jehovah’s nature to do anything without justification. In the matter of divorce, for example, if there is legal cause for a man to put away his wife, he must certify the legality of it by a written bill of divorcement (Deuteronomy 24:1 f). There is no written “bill of divorcement” from Jehovah. Israel is separated from Jehovah by her own doing—not His! She has gone after other lovers (cf. Hosea 1-3). The Lord did not want the separation, nor is He responsible for it. Another objection Israel might propose is that the Lord will give her up to slavery because Babylon has some claim upon Him. The thought is preposterous. Jehovah owes no one! Jehovah is not man that He has creditors. No one has any claims upon Him! Israel will go away into slavery because of her own weaknesses, not God’s. Judah had flirted with the Babylonians off and on for a number of years (cf. comments on Isaiah, ch. 36–39). The separation was her doing, not the Lord’s. Jehovah’s attitude toward Israel is graphically portrayed in the experience of Hosea with his wife.

Isaiah 50:2-3 ACTUALITIES: Israel has accused Jehovah of insensitively casting her off. The actual facts are quite different. Many times Jehovah came to Israel (through prophets and providential judgments and redemptions) to rescue her from her headlong plunge into pagan slavery, but she would not listen. This is the historical record! Furthermore, the actual facts are that God demonstrated that He not only wanted to save Israel from enslavement but He had the power to save her. Time and time again He came, but none responded. In fact, He was rejected (cf. Isaiah 30:8-11), until in the fulness of time He came incarnate to His own and they crucified Him! Delitzsch interprets these as the words of The Servant. Certainly Isaiah 50:4 f would seem to be The Servant’s, and these may very well be His also. The apparent reference to the Red Sea exodus (“. . . at my rebuke I dry up the sea . . .”) would indicate these to be the words of Jehovah. Since Jehovah and the Servant are essentially One (John 1:1-18; John 14:8-11; Colossians 1:19; Colossians 2:9), Isaiah constantly shifts from One to the other in these latter chapters. This is not unusual. It is the “shortened perspective” aspect of O.T. prophecy. It may be nearer the correct interpretation to understand Jehovah as the speaker in Isaiah 50:1-3 and the Servant in Isaiah 50:4-11. Whatever the case, the point of this passage is to emphasize the righteousness and justness of God in Israel’s imminent enslavement and to implore Israel again that He is not only willing but able to save her if she will hearken to His leading. The final and full revelation of Jehovah’s redemptive purpose will be in the Person of The Servant, and that is who addresses Israel next.

Verses 4-7

Isa 50:4-7

Isaiah 50:4

"The Lord Jehovah hath given me the tongue of them that are taught, that I may know how to sustain with words him that is weary: he waketh morning by morning, he waketh mine ear to hear as they that are taught."

This explains the supernatural wisdom of Jesus Christ. The Father from above supernaturally endowed him with intelligence, knowledge, and wisdom beyond everything ever known by mere mortal men. Many of God’s prophets received revelations from God, but only of Messiah was it declared that "God’s Spirit rested upon him" (Isaiah 42:1). "God held immediate and constant communication with the Servant, not enlightening him only occasionally, as with other prophets ... `Morning by morning’ is not to be limited to the bare literal meaning but should be taken in the sense of `uninterruptedly.’”

Isaiah 50:5

"The Lord Jehovah hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away backward."

There is great solemnity of the sacred language. Note that the double name of Jehovah ([~’Adonay] [~Yahweh]) appears four times in Isaiah 50:4-5; Isaiah 50:7; Isaiah 50:9. The mission to which Christ was called involved the ultimate in hardship, rejection, hatred, persecution, torture and death; but unlike many prophets before Christ, our Lord was not rebellious, as was Jonah; he did not complain, as did Jeremiah; nor did he even shrink from the task, as did Moses. Christ delivered not his own message, but the message of the Father (John 7:16; John 8:28 b, and John 12:49). Only Christ ever did anything like that. Today we are challenged to hear because: some Pope has delivered an encyclical, a bishop has spoken, the General Synod has issued a statement, or the Conference has decided something! If one wishes to know what Almighty God has declared, he shall find it in the sayings of Jesus and nowhere else.

Isaiah 50:6

"I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spitting."

Luke 18:31-32 records Jesus’ quotation of things mentioned in this verse, declaring that all these things would be accomplished unto the Son of Man; and the gospels faithfully relate how practically all of the things mentioned here were actually done unto Jesus. Cheyne pointed out that plucking the hair off the cheeks is not specifically reported in the gospels as something endured by Jesus, and supposed that the expression was figurative. The very fact, however, that such indignities were often inflicted by such men as mocked the Christ is the only proof needed that this too was fulfilled upon the Lord. Besides that, our prophecy states that he gave his cheeks to the men who did such things; and that Jesus most certainly did. Furthermore, Christ stated in Luke 18:31 that "all the things" written in the prophets concerning him would be accomplished; and we cannot believe the plucking of the hair off the cheeks was omitted. This is another instance where the whole truth is discovered only by taking into account both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Another instance is that of the piercing of Jesus’ feet in the crucifixion.

Isaiah 50:7

"For the Lord Jehovah will help me; therefore have I not been confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame."

Cheyne compared Jesus and Job, noting that, "Whereas Job, the type of a righteous man, shrinks in terror from the issue (of terrible suffering), the Servant, human and yet superhuman in nature, has no doubt as to a favorable result." He set his face like a flint to do God’s will. Luke, especially, was impressed with this trait in our Lord’s personality. See Luke 9:51.

Isaiah 50:4-7 DISCIPLINED: The Hebrew word limmudiym (them that are taught; could be translated disciples for it is the same word as is used in Isaiah 8:16. It is the root word from which the later Hebrew word Talmud (instruction) was derived. Jehovah will equip the Servant with divine wisdom and instruction. The obedient character of the Servant is being emphasized. He will hear the commandment of Jehovah and do it (cf. Matthew 3:17; Matthew 17:5; John 8:29; John 14:31; John 15:10; Romans 5:19; Philippians 2:5-8; Hebrews 5:8; Hebrews 10:9), as compared with Israel who had the commandment of God taught to them by the prophets and did not hear and obey. The Servant, experiencing obedience, will become the “pathfinder” (Gr. archegon, in Hebrews 2:10) of our salvation. He will be able to “succor” those who must also experience obedience (Hebrews 2:18). Why did the Servant (Jesus) need to “learn obedience through the things He suffered” (Hebrews 5:8-9)? Was He disobedient? Was He less than perfect? Were there things He did not know and could only know by chastening and instruction? Perhaps we shall never know fully the profound, divine mystery of the kenosis (humiliation) of the Son of God. Perhaps, in His willing choice to suffer the humiliation of incarnation (becoming flesh), He must, in some way experience discipline in order to fulfill the whole experience of incarnation. He was subject to His earthly parents as well as to His Heavenly Father. He did grow in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man (cf. Luke 2:40; Luke 2:51-52). Perhaps He did not need to experience obedience for His own sake but for ours. If we are to really believe He knows and cares about our chastenings—if we are to have realistic (not superficial) commitment and discipleship to Him—then the Servant must experience suffering and obedience. He must obey the Father’s commandments at the cost of self—not for Himself but for us. So the Servant, God-incarnate, is given the tongue of them that are taught, that He may know how to sustain with words him that is weary.

The phrase “he wakeneth morning by morning” emphasizes the continuous, unreserved obedience of the Servant. He always obeys. He never takes a day off from obeying the Father. It was His mission to obey the Father! (John 12:27; Hebrews 10:5 f). It was His mission to teach mankind what obedience to the Father involved and produced. There was not the slightest rebellion in the Servant. He was tempted; He was tested—supremely—but He did not yield. Moses, Jeremiah, Jonah, and a host of other servants objected and some even tried to resist the Lord’s call (cf. Exodus 4:10 ff; Jeremiah 20:7 ff; Jeremiah 17:16; Jonah 1:3). The Servant did not turn back from serving Jehovah for one moment (cf. Matthew 4:1-11; John 4:34; John 9:4; Hebrews 10:5-10, etc.).

The Servant’s experience of obedience involved “giving His back to the smiters.” He was to be delivered up for such humiliation and suffering according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God (cf. Acts 2:23). Yet it was not without His willing surrender to God’s plan for He had the power to lay down His life and the power to take it up. No one took His life from Him (cf. John 10:17-18). Whatever He did or whatever was done to Him, He allowed it to be (cf. John 19:10-11) in obedience to the plan of His Father. He allowed His tormentors to “pluck off the hair” which refers no doubt to His beard. Many passages in the Bible seem to show that the Jews let their beards grow. Psalms 132 directly states that Aaron, Moses’ brother, had a beard; and balm flowed down it to the very skirts of his robe. The Oriental regarded the beard as a sign of freedom and respect, and to pluck out the hair of the beard is to show utter contempt. The most heinous and degrading insult is to spit in the face of another. It is nothing short of impossible to willingly subject oneself to such humiliation without resentment, rebellion and perhaps revenge. But the Servant did it! (cf. Matthew 26:67; Matthew 27:26; John 19:1 ff). And He did it for us!

Verses 7-9

Isa 50:7-9

Isaiah 50:8

"He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand up together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me."

The one who was near to Jesus and who would surely justify him was God the Father. He justified Jesus when he raised him from the dead. "By the resurrection, God acquitted Christ of the charge of blasphemy upon which he had been condemned, and by that resurrection proclaimed him to be, `holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners.’" (See Hebrews 7:26).

Isaiah 50:9

"Behold, the Lord Jehovah will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? behold, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up."

These words are strongly suggestive of Paul’s words in Romans 8:31, "If God be for us, who can be against us!"

"They all shall wax old as a garment ..." This is also declared to be true of the heavens themselves (Hebrews 1:10-12). If Christ shall indeed survive to see the end of the sidereal universe, infinitely less would be the chances that any of his earthly foes could outlast the Lord!

"The idea here is that Messiah would survive all their attacks; his cause, his truth, and his reputation would live, while all the power, influence and reputation of his adversaries would vanish just like a garment that is worn out and thrown away.”

Isaiah 50:7-9 DEFENDED: The power of the Servant to render such unreserved obedience is in His unreserved trust in Jehovah to vindicate Him. Whatever the Servant has to suffer, Jehovah will ultimately make right. Furthermore, Jehovah will give the Servant divine assistance. The Servant’s secret is godly faith and dependence (cf. Hebrews 5:7) that Jehovah will, in His own good time, turn the Servant’s humiliation into everlasting exaltation. So the Servant sets His face “like a flint” to do Jehovah’s will (cf. Luke 9:51-53). The Hebrew word hallamiys is translated “flint” but Young says it is comparable to the Akkaddian word elmesu which means diamond. The point to be illustrated is that the Servant will not be deterred by anything from doing the will of Jehovah because the servant has complete confidence in Jehovah’s justification. The reason the Servant has such confidence is His constant companionship and communion with Jehovah (cf. John 14:10-11; John 15:9-10; John 16:25-28; John 17:1-26, etc.). Jesus knew, mentally, emotionally and experientially the constant presence of Jehovah and He lived, not by bread alone, but by God’s abiding presence (Matthew 4:4; John 4:34)—that is how near God was to Jesus. When God justifies, who is there to condemn (cf. Romans 8:31-39)?! The enemies of the Servant abused Him, slandered Him, perjured themselves bearing false witness against Him, tormented Him, accused Him and crucified Him as a criminal, but God raised Him from the dead showing the Servant was right and not His accusers! The cause of the Servant’s enemies was “as full of holes as a garment eaten by moths.” They went the way of all flesh, but the Servant lives forever! The same exaltation given the Servant is offered to all who faithfully serve the Servant. If we belong to the Servant, God is for us. If God is for us, who can be against us! We are justified because our faith is in the justified Servant.

Verse 10

isa 50:10

Isaiah 50:10

"Who is among you that feareth Jehovah, that obeyeth the voice of his Servant? he that walketh in darkness and hath no light, let him trust in the name of Jehovah, and rely upon his God."

This is an address to faithful believers in God of all generations, and especially to the church of our own times. We like what Jamieson said about this.

"God never had a son who was not sometimes in the dark, for Christ himself cried, `My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ A godly man’s way may be dark, but his end shall be peace and light. A wicked man’s way may be bright, but his end shall be utter darkness.”

Isaiah 50:10 STRENGTH: Israel is offered two options in relation to Jehovah’s prediction of the coming Servant. The outcome depends on one’s attitude toward Jehovah’s coming Servant, Parenthetically, it may be well to point out here that the “Servant” cannot possibly be the nation Israel since fearing the Lord and hearkening to the voice of the Servant are synonymous. Hearkening to human Israel (even the best of Israel) cannot be seriously equated with fearing Jehovah. By “obeying” the voice of the Servant is meant believing, accepting and obeying the predictions of the coming Servant insofar as their limited revelation of God’s will at that time would direct them in such obedience. Israel must believe that God’s redemptive purposes were to be fulfilled in a coming “suffering Christ” (1 Peter 1:10-12) and prepare themselves to be used by Jehovah as the instrument of that coming by obeying God’s instructions for them. Israel may have to walk in centuries of “darkness” (tribulation and indignation) but she must trust in the name of Jehovah and yisshae‘n (Hebrew for “lean upon for support”) rely upon God. Israel is to follow the example of the mysterious Servant who will come and be willingly obedient even in the face of extreme humiliation. Then Israel may expect to be vindicated and exalted as is predicted of the Servant. That is Israel’s first option—the one Jehovah desires she choose.

Verse 11

Isa 50:11

Isaiah 50:11

"Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that gird yourselves about with firebrands; walk ye in the flame of your fire, and among the brands that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of my hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow."

Wardle summarized the meaning of Isaiah 50:10-11 thus:

"Let the pious Jew hear the Servant’s voice, and despite his pitiful plight trust in Jehovah. Those who kindle the flames of persecution and strife shall become the victims of their own fire, and by his doom shall lie in a place of flame (Gehenna may be meant)."

If Wardle’s interpretation of Isaiah 50:11 is correct (as in Footnote No. 16, above), then the most remarkable fulfillment of it took place when the nation of the Jews stirred up the Roman government against the Christians and enlisted their support against the Church, with the result that Rome indeed tried to stamp out Christianity; but Rome soon learned that Christianity was indeed a true derivative of Judaism; and armed with that information, they decided to stamp out Judaism as well. The resulting Jewish war culminated in the utter destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. bythe armies of Vespasian and Titus. Thus the apostate, hardened, and rejected Israel perished in the flames they themselves had kindled.

This may not be the only application of the passage, because it is always true that people who stir up troubles for others sometimes entrap themselves, as did Haman who perished upon the very gallows he had erected for the purpose of hanging Mordecai (Esther 5:14 to Esther 7:10).

Isaiah 50:11 SORROW: The other option is rebellion. Those who opt for rebellion are those who play with fire. Fire is used chiefly as a figure of destruction, doom, torment, wrath, anger. Those who rebel against God are toying with forces that destroy those who continue to kindle them. Rebellion against the Creator is self-destructive for the creature (Romans 1:18 ff). Jehovah speaks ironically, “walk ye in the flame of your fire . . .” or, “Go ahead and rebel if you insist. . . .” (cf. Isaiah 1:2; Isaiah 1:20; Ezekiel 2:3; Ezekiel 20:8; Ezekiel 20:13; Ezekiel 20:21; Daniel 9:5; Daniel 9:9; Isaiah 30:1; Isaiah 30:9; Isaiah 65:2, etc.). The Lord will take this rebellion in His hand and turn it against the rebels until they are struck down in sorrow. Rebellion can never lead to happiness. It always leads to sorrow. When the Jewish people rejected their Servant-Messiah their rebellion eventuated in the Roman holocaust. The sorrow of the Jew has been unceasing. He can never find happiness until he “obeys the voice of the Servant.”