Isaiah 61:1

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,.... According to the Targum, these are the words of the prophet concerning himself; and so say Aben Ezra and Kimchi; but the latter elsewhere says (p) they are

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and

ISAIAH CHAPTER 61. Christ and his blessed office, . The church’ s repair and increase, and joy, . The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, as it were, to accomplish that which is foretold and promised in the foregoing chapter, whereby this appears to be either the Holy Ghost; See Poole ""; or the Spirit of prophecy, i.e. the gift of prophecy; so we are often to understand by the Spirit, viz. the gifts; as the Spirit upon Samson, viz. the gift of valour, and courage, and strength: see , &c. Though the prophet may speak this of himself in person, yet that it is principally understood of Christ is evident, because he applieth this text unto himself, , being the first text he preached upon after his baptism, at which time the Holy Ghost did descend upon him in a visible shape, of which that John, who baptized him, was an ocular witness, ,33, and so making good the truth of this prophecy; and it is said to rest upon and dwell in him, according as it is prophesied, 42:1. Hath anointed me; set me apart, i.e. both capacitating him with gifts, and commissioning him with authority; and yet more as it is applied to Christ, a power to make all effectual, from whence he hath also the name of Messiah among the Hebrews, and of Christ among the Greeks; nay, Christ alone among the prophets hath obtained this name, : and the prophet seems here to describe first who Christ is, and then what are his offices; this being the usual ceremony for the designing persons to the offices of prophets, priests, and kings, as hath been divers times shown, in all which respects it doth most eminently belong to Christ; so that the prophet doth hereby intimate both the final cause of his unction, viz. that he should execute these offices to which he was anointed; and the effect of it; that unction being upon him as the Head, it would flow from thence to his members, and so is an unction more peculiar to them; arid in a more general way it hath respect unto all the faithful, ,22 ,27. To preach good tidings unto the meek: being meant of Christ, this relates to his prophetical office. Literally this points at the good news that Isaiah brought of Cyrus’ s being raised up to bring them out of Babylon, now they are become meek and humble; but if it be thus taken, it must be understood of his prophecies left behind him, for he died many years before the captivity. But they chiefly signify the good tidings of the gospel, that discovers Christ come in the flesh to redeem poor sinners from the captivity of sin and Satan, such as are meek, and tremble, or afflicted, as the word signifies, because ordinary afflictions make men meek and humble; called also the poor, and our Saviour expresseth it by that word, . To these the gospel, these good tidings, are brought, .

Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD [is] upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to [them that are] bound;Ver. 1. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me.] Christ had graciously promised to accomplish his people’ s happiness in its due time. Here he showeth how and when he will do it - viz., by himself, anointed and appointed by his heavenly Father to be "Messiah the Prince"; "Christ the Lord"; Priest, prophet, and king of his Church; a Saviour ex professo, consecrated as the priests of old were, first with oil, and then with blood. So was he (1.) By the Holy Spirit, invisibly at the first instant of his conception, and visibly, at his baptism; (2.) By his own blood sprinkled upon him at his circumcision, but especially at his Passion, which was another baptism. Because the Lord hath anointed me.] Prae, consortibus et pro consortibus "Above thy fellows," and also for thy fellows, as some render that text. See John 1:33; John 3:34 Luke 4:18 Acts 10:38 Hebrews 1:8 Psalms 105:15 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 1 John 2:20; 1 John 2:27. "Only unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gifts of Christ"; "but God gave not the Spirit unto him by measure," he had it in an abundant and transcendent manner, "good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over," even as much as his human nature was capable of. Let the saints love him for this, and labour to be more and nmre made partakers of his holiness, for "of his fulness we all receive grace for grace"; a perfection in some sort answerable to Christ’ s own perfection. There are those who observe in this text, and not amiss, the mystery of the Holy Trinity - viz., God the Father anointing his Son Christ with the Holy Ghost. See the like at Christ’ s baptism. [See Trapp on "Matthew 3:16" To preach good tidings unto the meek.] "To preach." This referreth to Christ’ s prophetic office; as doth "binding up the broken hearted" to his priestly, and "proclaiming liberty to the captives," to his kingly office. To these three offices as God he was consecrated - set apart for a mediator; and as man he was qualified, as before. That which Christ came to preach was good tidings, goodspel or gospel, as we call it, the best news that ever came into the world. This he came and preached not in his own person only, but by his prophets and apostles, in whom he spake, and before all whom himself preached the first gospel to our first parents, even the gospel of grace. Unto the meek.] Or, Lowly; for humility and meekness are sorores collectaneae, twin sisters.

LXI. (1) The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me . . .—We have obviously a new poem in the form of a soliloquy, and we ask, “Who is the speaker.?” The Jewish Targum and many modern critics hear only the voice of Isaiah. Guided by Isaiah 41:1; Isaiah 1:4-9, we recognise here, as there, the utterance of the ideal Servant of Jehovah. That view, it needs scarcely be said, is the one suggested to all Christian minds by our Lord’s application of the passage to His own work in Luke 4:16-22. The opening words repeat what had been said by Jehovah of the Servant in Isaiah 42:1. The “anointing,” as it stands, might be that of king (1 Samuel 9:16; 1 Samuel 10:1), or priest (Exodus 29:2; Leviticus 7:36), or prophet (1 Kings 19:16). As interpreted by its fulfilment, it may be held to include all three. To preach good tidings . . .—Comp. Note on Isaiah 40:9. To this passage, more than any other, even than Isaiah 40:9, we may trace the use of the word “gospel” (“evangel,” “good tidings”) in our Lord’s teaching and that of the Apostles. Claiming the promise as fulfilled in Himself, He became the great evangelist, and all who followed Him were called to the same office. To bind up the broken-hearted . . .—The primary thought is that of a healing bandage applied to the heart’s wounds. (Comp. 1:6), The Servant of Jehovah is the great physician as well as the evangelist. To proclaim liberty.—Phrase and thought are taken from the law of the Year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25:10; Ezekiel 46:17; Jeremiah 34:8). The opening of the prison.—The LXX., adopted in Luke 4:18, gives “recovery of sight to the blind;” and as the verb is never used for the opening of a room or door, and is used in Isaiah 35:5; Isaiah 42:7, for the opening of the eyes, that is probably its meaning here.

CHAPTER LXI The subject of the preceding chapter is continued in this; and to give it the greater solemnity, the Messiah is introduced describing his character and office, and confirming the large promises made before, 1-9. In consequence of this the Jewish Church is introduced, praising God for the honour done her by her restoration to favour, and by to accession of the Gentiles, which is beautifully described by allusions to the rich pontifical dress of the high priest; a happy similitude to express the ornaments of a restored nation and of a renewed mind, 10. Certainty of the prophecy illustrated by a figure drawn from the vegetable kingdom, 11. NOTES ON CHAP. LXI Verse 1. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me - "The Spirit of JEHOVAH is upon me"] The Septuagint, Vulgate, and St. Luke, (Lu 4:18,) and a MS., and two old editions omit the word אדני Adonai, the Lord; which was probably added to the text through the superstition of the Jews, to prevent the pronunciation of the word יהוה Jehovah following. See Kennicott on the state of the printed Hebrew text, vol. i., p. 610. In most of Isaiah's prophecies there is a primary and secondary sense, or a remote subject illustrated by one that is near. The deliverance of the Jews from their captivity in Babylon is constantly used to shadow forth the salvation of men by Jesus Christ. Even the prophet himself is a typical person, and is sometimes intended to represent the great Saviour. It is evident from Lu 4:18 that this is a prophecy of our blessed Lord and his preaching; and yet it is as evident that it primarily refers to Isaiah preaching the glad tidings of deliverance to the Jews. The opening of the prison - "Perfect liberty"] פקח קוח pekach koach. Ten MSS. of Kennicott's, several of De Rossi's, and one of my own, with the Complutensian, have פקחקוח pekachkoach in one word; and so the Septuagint and Vulgate appear to have taken it: not merely opening of prisons, but every kind of liberty - complete redemption. The proclaiming of perfect liberty to the bound, and the year of acceptance with JEHOVAH. is a manifest allusion to the proclaiming of the year of jubilee by sound of trumpet. See Leviticus 25:9, c. This was a year of general release of debts and obligations, of bondmen and bondwomen, of lands and possessions which had been sold from the families and tribes to which they belonged. Our Saviour, by applying this text to himself, (Lu 4:18-19,) a text so manifestly relating to the institution above mentioned, plainly declares the typical design of that institution.

1–3. The prophet as Evangelist.

The Spirit of the Lord God - Hebrew, The Spirit of the Lord Yahweh.’ The Chaldee renders this, ‘The prophet said, the spirit of prophecy from the presence of Yahweh God is upon me.’ The Syriac, ‘The

1-3. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me — Upon whom? The use which our Lord Jesus Christ at Nazareth (Luke 4:16-22) made of these words must decide that he made himself the person meant.