Isaiah 42:6

I the Lord have called thee in righteousness,.... Not the Prophet Isaiah, as Jarchi and Aben Ezra interpret it; nor the people of Israel, as Kimchi; but the Messiah, whom Jehovah called to the office

I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; In righteousness - rather, 'for a righteous purpose' (Lowth).

Have called thee in righteousness; to declare my righteousness, as is said, , or my faithfulness, which is frequently called righteousness in Scripture; according to my promise long since made, and oft-renewed. As the former verse asserted God’ s power, so this clause declares his will and firm purpose and obligation to effect this work, and both together evince the certainty and necessity of it. Will hold thine hand; will give thee counsel and strength for thy high and hard work. Will keep thee, that thou shalt not fail in, nor be hindered by, thine enemies from the accomplishment of thy work. Give thee for a covenant; to be the Angel of the covenant, as Christ is called, ; or the Mediator, in and by whom my covenant of grace is made and confirmed with mankind. Of the people; either of my people, the Jews; or, indefinitely or universally, of all people, not only Jews, but Gentiles also, as it follows. For a light of the Gentiles; to enlighten them with true and saving knowledge, and to direct them in the right way to true happiness, from which they had miserably wandered. He alludes to God’ s fiery pillar, which enlightened and directed the Israelites in the wilderness.

Isaiah 42:6 I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;Ver. 6. I the Lord have called thee.] To the Mediatorship. And will hold thine hand.] Working wonders by thee, and with thee. And will keep thee.] That thou be not crucified till thine hour be come, and that thou despair not when thou sufferest. And give thee for a covenant of the people,] i.e., For that "angel of the covenant," and that thou mayest reconcile all the elect in one body to me by thy cross, &c. For a light to the Gentiles.] See Isaiah 9:2.

(6) Have called thee in righteousness . . .—The words apply to the personal servant. His call was in accordance with the absolute righteousness of God, manifesting itself in love. A covenant of the people.—The context limits the “people” to Israel. The “servant of the Lord” is to be in Himself not only the mediator of the covenant, but the covenant, the meeting-point between God and man, just as He is the “peace” as well as the peacemaker (Micah 5:5; Ephesians 2:14). The words may well have furnished a starting-point for the “new covenant” of Jeremiah 31:31, and the whole series of thoughts that have grown out of it. A light of the Gentiles.—Re-echoed in Luke 2:32.

Verse 6. A covenant of the people - "A covenant to the people"] For עם am, two MSS. of Dr. Kennicott's, and of my own, read עולם olam, the covenant of the age to come, or the everlasting covenant; which seems to give a clearer and better sense. But I think the word ברית berith, here, should not be translated covenant, but covenant sacrifice, which meaning it often has; and undoubtedly in this place. This gives a still stronger and clearer sense.

6. called thee in righteousness] i.e. in accordance with a stedfast and consistent purpose. See Appendix, Note II, and cf. ch. Isaiah 45:13. and will keep thee] R.V. marg. (“form thee”) derives the verb from a different root; if this sense be taken, it is necessary to read the words in close connexion with what follows: “I will form and appoint thee for a covenant &c.” for a covenant of the people] The expression occurs again in ch. Isaiah 49:8, and is one of the most difficult in this prophecy. The idea is necessarily a pregnant one, and it is nowhere developed in such a way that we can be sure of the exact meaning. The notion of a “national league” must be dismissed, because the Heb. bìrîth, unlike the German “Bund,” nowhere means “confederation.” To take “people” in the sense of “humanity” is also unsuitable because of Isa 49:8, which clearly limits the reference to Israel. Looking at the phrase by itself two constructions are grammatically possible: (a) We may render it, “a covenant of a people,” or “a covenant people,” after the analogy of Gen 16:12, where Ishmael is called “a wild ass of a man” (cf. “Wonder of a Counsellor” in ch. Isaiah 9:6). This, however, is somewhat strained. (b) The most natural, and on the whole probably the most satisfactory rendering is, “a nation’s covenant,” i.e. the covenant upon which a nation is constituted, the conception implied being that Israel’s future national existence must be based on a new covenant between it and Jehovah (ch. Isaiah 55:3; Jeremiah 31:30-32). The difficulty is thus reduced to the pregnancy of the statement that the Servant is or shall be this covenant. It is probably to be explained in accordance with such expressions as “thou shalt be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2). As “blessing” there means “cause of blessing,” so here “covenant” may be equivalent to the ground or (as most commentators explain) the mediator of a national covenant. The idea at all events must be something like this: the Divine ideal represented by the Servant of the Lord becomes the basis of a new national life, inasmuch as it expresses that for the sake of which Jehovah enters into a new covenant relation with His people. for a light of the nations] The ultimate destiny of the Servant; see on Isaiah 42:1.

I the Lord have called thee in righteousness - The phrase ‘in righteousness’ has been very differently understood by different expositors (see the note at Isaiah 41:10).

6. I the Lord have called thee in righteousness — “Thee,” Messiah. Faithful to my word of promise with Abraham; faithful also to my own intrinsic righteousness. Both are involved in the covenant.