Isaiah 51:14

The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(14) The captive exile.—Literally, he that is bowed down, i.e., bound in fetters. The “pit,” as in the case of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 38:6), is the underground dungeon, in which the prisoner was too often left to starve.

Benson Commentary

Isaiah 51:14-16. The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed — From his captivity, and may return to his own country from which he is banished. And that he should not die in the pit — Die a prisoner, through the inconveniences and hardships of his confinement; nor that his bread should fail — The bread or provision allowed to keep him alive in prison. The general sense of the verse is, God is not slack, as you think, but makes haste to fulfil his promise, and rescue his captive and oppressed people from all their oppressions and miseries. And I have put my words in thy mouth — These great and glorious promises, which are in thy mouth, are not the vain words of man, a weak, inconstant, and unfaithful creature, but the words of the almighty, unchangeable, and faithful God; and therefore they shall be infallibly accomplished. This is spoken by God to his church and people, whom he addresses, both in the foregoing and following verses. For God’s word is frequently said to be put into the mouths, not only of the prophets, but also of the people, as Isaiah 59:21; Deuteronomy 30:14. And have covered thee, &c. — Have protected thee by my almighty power. That I may plant the heavens — Bishop Lowth reads, To stretch out the heavens: and lay the foundations of the earth — I have given thee, O my church, these promises, and this protection in all thy calamities, to assure thee of my care and kindness to thee, and that I will reform thee in a most glorious manner, and bring thee unto that perfect and blessed estate which is reserved for the days of the Messiah, which, in the language of Scripture, is termed the making of new heavens and a new earth, Isaiah 65:17; and Isaiah 66:22. And say unto Zion, Thou art my people — That I may own thee for my people, in a more illustrious manner than I have done.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

51:9-16 The people whom Christ has redeemed with his blood, as well as by his power, will obtain joyful deliverance from every enemy. He that designs such joy for us at last, will he not work such deliverance in the mean time, as our cases require? In this world of changes, it is a short step from joy to sorrow, but in that world, sorrow shall never come in view. They prayed for the display of God's power; he answers them with consolations of his grace. Did we dread to sin against God, we should not fear the frowns of men. Happy is the man that fears God always. And Christ's church shall enjoy security by the power and providence of the Almighty.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The captive exile - Lowth renders this, evidently very improperly, 'He marcheth on with speed who cometh to set the captive free;' and supposes that it refers to Cyrus, if understood of the temporal redemption from the captivity at Babylon; in the spiritual sense, to the Messiah. But the meaning evidently is, that the exile who had been so long as it were enchained in Babylon, was about to be set free, and that the time was very near when the captivity was to end. The prisoner should not die there, but should be conducted again to his own land. The word used here, and rendered 'captive exile' (צעה tso‛eh from צעה tsâ‛âh), means properly 'that which is turned on one side,' or inclined, as, e. g., a vessel for pouring Jeremiah 48:12. Then it means that which is inclined, bent, or bowed down as a captive in bonds. The Chaldee renders this, 'Vengeance shall be quickly revealed, and the just shall not die in corruption, and their food shall not fail.' Aben Ezra renders it, 'Bound.' The idea is, that they who were bowed down under bondage and oppression in Babylon, should very soon be released. This is one of the numerous passages which show that the scene of the prophetic vision is Babylon, and the time near the close of the captivity, and that the design of the prophet is to comfort them there, and to afford them the assurance that they would soon be released.

And that he should not die in the pit - That is, in Babylon, represented as a prison, or a pit. The nation would be restored to their own land. Prisoners were often confined in a deep pit or cavern, and hence, the word is synonymous with prison. The following extract from Pax. ton will illustrate this. 'The Athenians, and particularly the tribe of Hippothoontis, frequently condemned offenders to the pit. It was a dark, noisome hole, and had sharp spikes at the top, that no criminal might escape; and others at the bottom, to pierce and torment those unhappy persons who were thrown in. Similar to this place was the Lacedemonian Καιαδας Kaiadas, into which Aristomenes the Messenian being cast, made his escape in a very surprising manner.' Compare also Genesis 37:20; Numbers 16:30; Psalm 9:15; Psalm 28:1; Psalm 30:3, Psalm 30:9; Psalm 40:2; Psalm 55:23; Psalm 119:85; Psalm 140:10; Jeremiah 37:21; Zechariah 9:11.

Nor that his bread should fail - His needs shall be supplied until he is released.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

14. captive exile—literally, one bowed down as a captive (Isa 10:4) [Maurer]. The scene is primarily Babylon, and the time near the close of the captivity. Secondarily, and antitypically, the mystical Babylon, the last enemy of Israel and the Church, in which they have long suffered, but from which they are to be gloriously delivered.

pit—such as were many of the ancient dungeons (compare Jer 38:6, 11, 13; Ge 37:20).

nor … bread … fail—(Isa 33:16; Jer 37:21).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

God is not slack, as you think, but maketh haste to fulfil his promise, and to rescue his captive and oppressed people from all their oppressions and miseries.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed,.... The time hastens on, or God will hasten the time, for the release either of the captive Jews in literal Babylon, or of his people in mystical Babylon; or they that are in exile and captivity, as soon as ever opportunity offers for their release, will take it, and make no delay: though some understand the words by way of complaint, as if the persons spoken of were impatient, and could not wait the proper time of their deliverance:

and that he should not die in the pit; in captivity, which was like a pit or grave:

nor that his bread should fail: while in the pit or prison, or on his way home. Musculus interprets all this of Pharaoh, whom he supposes to be the oppressor in the preceding verse, and renders the words,

who hastened going to open, lest he should die in the destruction; who, when he saw the firstborn slain, hastened to open and let Israel go, and was urgent upon them to be gone immediately, lest he and all his people should perish in that calamity:

nor did his bread fail; the bread of the people delivered out of Egypt, so he understands it, but were provided with bread from heaven, all the while they were in the wilderness; and yet this instance of divine power and goodness was greatly forgotten in later times. Jerome applies the whole to Christ, who should quickly come; going and treading down his enemies; opening the way of victory; saving those that are converted, and giving the bread of doctrine to them: but the words are a promise to exiles and prisoners for the sake of Christ and his Gospel, that they should be quickly loosed and set free, and not die in prison, nor want bread, neither corporeal nor spiritual.

Geneva Study Bible

The captive exile {m} hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail.

(m) He comforts them by the short time of their banishment: for in seventy years they were restored and the greatest empire of the world destroyed.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

14. The received text is probably best rendered as follows: Speedily shall the crouching (prisoner) be set free, and he shall not die (and go down) to the pit, nor shall his bread fail (see R.V.); Israel in exile being compared to a prisoner in danger of death through starvation. The image reminds us of Jeremiah in the dungeon (Isaiah 38:9-10). The verse is full of obscurities, and its connexion with what precedes is of the loosest kind. The LXX. gives what is obviously a conjectural rendering, and it is not unlikely that the Hebr. represents another attempt to restore an illegible text.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 14. - The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed; rather, he that is bent down hasteneth to be released; i.e. such of the exiles as were cramped and bent by fetters, or by the stocks, would speedily, on the fall of Babylon, obtain their release. They would not "die unto the pit," i.e. so as to belong to the pit and to be east into it, but would live and have a sufficiency of sustenance. Isaiah 51:14

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

In the second half the promise commences again, but with more distinct reference to the oppression of the exiles and the sufferings of Jerusalem. Jehovah Himself begins to speak now, setting His seal upon what is longed and hoped for. "I am your comforter: who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of a mortal who will die, and of a son of man who is made a blade of grass; that thou shouldst forget Jehovah thy Creator, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth; that thou shouldst be afraid continually all the day of the fury of the tormentor, as he aims to destroy? and where is the fury of the tormentor left? He that is bowed down is quickly set loose, and does not die to the grave, and his bread does not fail him; as truly as I Jehovah am thy God, who frighteneth up the sea, so that its waves roar: Jehovah of hosts is His name." הוּא after אנכי אנכי is an emphatic repetition, and therefore a strengthening of the subject (αὐτὸς ἐγώ), as above, in Isaiah 51:10, in אתּ־היא. From this major, that Jehovah is the comforter of His church, and by means of a minor, that whoever has Him for a comforter has no need to fear, the conclusion is drawn that the church has no cause to fear. Consequently we cannot adopt Knobel's explanation, "How small thou art, that thou art afraid." The meaning is rather, "Is it really the case with thee (i.e., art thou then so small, so forsaken), that thou hast any need to fear" (fut. consec., according to Ges. 129, 1; cf., ki, Exodus 3:11; Judges 9:28)? The attributive sentence tâmūth (who will die) brings out the meaning involved in the epithet applied to man, viz., 'ĕnōsh (compare in the Persian myth Gayomard, from the old Persian gaya meretan, mortal life); חציר equals כּחציר (Psalm 37:2; Psalm 90:5; Psalm 103:15; compare above, Isaiah 40:6-8) is an equation instead of a comparison. In Isaiah 51:12 the address is thrown into a feminine form, in Isaiah 51:13 into a masculine one; Zion being the object in the former, and (what is the same thing) Israel in the latter: that thou forgettest thy Creator, who is also the almighty Maker of the universe, and soarest about in constant endless alarm at the wrath of the tormentor, whilst he is aiming to destroy (pichad, contremiscere, as in Proverbs 28:14; ka'ăsher as in Psalm 66:7; Numbers 27:14, lit., according as; kōnēn, viz., his arrows, or even his bow, as in Psalm 11:2; Psalm 7:13, cf., Isaiah 21:13). We must not translate this quasi disposuisset, which is opposed to the actual fact, although syntactically possible (Job 10:19; Zechariah 10:6). The question with which the fear is met, "And where is the fury of the tormentor?" looks into the future: "There is not a trace of him to be seen, he is utterly swept away." If hammētsı̄q signifies the Chaldean, Isaiah 51:14, in which the warning passes into a promise, just as in the first half the promise passed into a warning, is not to be understood as referring to oppression by their own countrymen, who were more heathenish than Israelitish in their disposition, as Knobel supposes; but tsō‛eh (from tsâ‛âh, to stoop or bend) is an individualizing description of the exiles, who were in captivity in Babylon, and some of them actually in prison (see Isaiah 42:7, Isaiah 42:22). Those who were lying there in fetters, and were therefore obliged to bend, hastened to be loosed, i.e., would speedily be set at liberty (the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus may be referred to here); they would not die and fall into the pit (constr. praegnans), nor would their bread fail; that is to say, if we regard the two clauses as the dissection of one thought (which is not necessary, however, though Hitzig supports it), "he will not die of starvation." The pledge of this is to be found in the all-sufficiency of Jehovah, who throws the sea into a state of trembling (even by a threatening word, geârâh; רגע is the construct of the participle, with the tone upon the last syllable, as in Leviticus 11:7; Psalm 94:9 : see Br's Psalter, p. 132, from râga‛, tremefacere), so that its waves roar (cf., Jeremiah 31:35, and the original passage in Job 26:12).