Isaiah 45:1

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

Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the

ISAIAH CHAPTER 45 Cyrus’ s work and strength foretold, . God hath all power, ; will assist Cyrus, ,14. The mystery of Providence, . Idols and their worshippers shall be destroyed, and God alone exalted, 16— 21. The Gentiles come in to Christ, . His anointed, i.e. his king, whom God hath designed, and separated, and fitted, in all respects, for his work and service; in which and such-like respects divers persons are said to be anointed, who never had any material oil poured upon them, as the king of Tyrus, , and Christ, , and Zerubbabel, , and Christians, 2 Cop. 1:21 . And they are thus called by way of allusion to the practice of the Jews, whose kings were frequently anointed, 16:13, &c. I have holden, or strengthened; whom I will powerfully assist, teaching his hands to war, as the phrase is, , supporting and directing his right hand to strike home. Nations; the Babylonians, and those other nations which were confederate with them, and fought for them, as may be gathered from . I will loose the loins of kings; I will weaken them, for a man’ s strength consists much in his loins, and receiveth some advantage by the girding of his loins: or, I will take away their girdle, which was about their loins, to wit, their power and authority, whereof that was an ensign, of which see on . To open before him the two-leaved gates; the great and magnificent gates of their cities and palaces, which shall be opened to him as conqueror.

Isaiah 45:1 Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;Ver. 1. To his anointed,] i.e., To his appointed and enabled one, to subdue many nations. Xenophon, in his first book De Cyropaed., gives us a list of them. Cyrus subdued, saith he, the Syrians, Assyrians, Arabians, Cappadocians, Phrygians, the Lydians, Carians, Phoenicians, Babylonians, the Bactrians, Indians, Cilicians, Sacians, Paphlagonians, Maryandines, and many other nations. He also had dominion over the Asiatics, Greeks, Cyprians, Egyptians, &c. He vanquished, saith Herodotus, what country soever he invaded. And what wonder, when God himself, as here, "held," or "strengthened his right hand," and "loosed the loins of kings" that were his adversaries - that is, disarmed and disabled them; for it is he alone who strengtheneth and weakeneth the arm of either party. Et nemo vir magnus sine afflatu divine unquam fuit, saith Cicero. God transferreth kingdoms, and setteth up kings. To open unto him the two leaved gates.] Or, Doors. Whether doors of houses or gates of cities, all shall fly open before him. Lib. i. De Nat. Deor., lib. ii.

XLV. (1) To his anointed . . .—The name is none other than the Messiah, the Christ, with which we are familiar, here and here only applied to a heathen king. It has to be remembered that the words had not yet received the special application given to it in Daniel 9:26, and had been used of the theocratic kings, of Saul (1 Samuel 26:9; 1 Samuel 26:11; 1 Samuel 26:16), of the house of David (2 Samuel 22:51; 2 Samuel 23:1), and of the patriarch Abraham (Psalms 105:15). What is meant, therefore, is that Cyrus, the future deliverer, would be as truly a king “by the grace of God” as David had been, not only, like Nebuchadnezzar, “a servant of Jehovah” (Jeremiah 27:6; Jeremiah 43:10), but “fulfilling all his pleasure,” whom He grasps by the right hand and guides. I will loose the loins.—Literally, I will ungird, either as a general symbol of weakening, or specifically for disarming, the sword being suspended from the girdle. The “two-leaved gates” are those of kingly palaces; the “gates,” those of cities, which will have to open to him. The words here, and in the next verse, may have been used with a special reference to the “hundred brazen gates” of Babylon (Herod. i. 179).

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 1. Loose the loins of kings - "ungird the loins of kings"] See Clarke on 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.

Isaiah 45:1-7. The apostrophe to Cyrus expresses dramatically the purpose of Jehovah in raising up the Persian conqueror. The idea that the true God has made a personal revelation of Himself to the mind of Cyrus is not implied; Cyrus is to learn the religious significance of his mission from its results (Isaiah 45:3), just as mankind at large comes to understand it (Isaiah 45:6). The direct address to Cyrus (Isaiah 45:2 ff.) is prefaced in Isaiah 45:1 by a series of clauses describing his invincible career, which has already attracted the attention of the world. There is a startling resemblance between some of the expressions here used of Jehovah’s choice of Cyrus, and some of those employed by the Babylonian writer of the “Annalistic Tablet” in describing him as the favourite of Merodach. We read there that “Merodach … appointed a prince who should guide aright the wish of the heart which his hand upholds, even Cyrus …” that he “has proclaimed his title; for the sovereignty of all the world does he commemorate his name,” and that he “beheld with joy the deeds of his vicegerent, who was righteous in hand and heart,” and that “like a friend and comrade he went at his side.” (See Introduction, p. xviii.) to his anointed, to Cyrus] The Hebr. word for “anointed” (mâshîǎ ?ḥ ?), when used as a substantive, is almost confined to the kings of Israel; although in later times there was a tendency to employ it in a wider sense (e.g. of the Patriarchs in Psalms 115:15, of the people in Habakkuk 3:13). Unless Psalms 2:2 be an exception it is never used in the O.T. of the future ideal king (the Messiah); hence the idea that the rôle of the Messianic king is by the prophet transferred to Cyrus is not to be entertained. The title simply designates him as one consecrated by Jehovah to be His agent and representative. This, however, is the only passage where the title is bestowed upon a foreign ruler; Nebuchadnezzar is called the “servant” of Jehovah (Jeremiah 25:9; Jeremiah 27:6; Jeremiah 43:10), but the more august designation of “His Anointed” is reserved for one who as the Deliverer of Israel and the instrument of the overthrow of polytheism, stands in a still closer relation to Jehovah’s purpose. Comp. “My Shepherd” in ch. Isaiah 44:28; also ch. Isaiah 46:11, Isaiah 48:14. to subdue &c.] Render: to subdue before him nations, and to loose the loins of kings; to open before him doors, and that gates should not be shut; the infinitive construction is resolved into the finite verb. To loose (lit. “open”) is to ungird, or disarm; see 1 Kings 20:11, where the same verb forms the contrast to “gird.”

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.

Sec. 4. (2) THE TIMES OF CYRUS AND MESSIAH.1. This subdivision of section four presents more in detail the relations of Cyrus to Immanuel.