---
title: "Clarke"
description: "Verse Isaiah 48:1. Are come forth out of the waters of Judah - \"Ye that flow from the fountain of Judah\"] ממי mimmey, \"from the waters.\" Perhaps ממעי mimm"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/isaiah/48"
---

Verse [Isaiah 48:1](../../../kjv/isaiah/48/1). ***Are come forth out of the waters of Judah*** - "Ye that flow from the fountain of Judah"] ממי *mimmey*, "from the waters." Perhaps ממעי *mimmeey*, "from the bowels," SO many others have conjectured, or מני יהודה *meni yehudah*, or מיהודה *meyhudah*, "from Judah." - *Secker*. But see *Michaelis* in Praelect, not. 22. And we have עין יעקב *eyn yaakob*, "the fountain of Jacob," [Deuteronomy 33:28](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/33/28), and ממקור ישראל *mimmekor yishrael*, "from the fountain of Israel," [Psalms 68:27](../../../kjv/psalms/68/27). Twenty-seven MSS. of *Kennicott's*, six of *De Rossi's* and two of my own, with six editions, have מימי *meymey*, "from the days;" which makes no good sense.

Verse [Isaiah 48:6](../../../kjv/isaiah/48/6). ***Thou hast heard, see all this***- "Thou didst hear it beforehand; behold, the whole is accomplished"] For חזה *chazeh,* *see*, a MS. has הזה *hazzeh, this*; thou hast heard the whole of *this*: the *Syriac* has וחזית *vechazith*, "thou hast heard, *and* *thou hast seen*, the whole." Perhaps it should be הנה *hinneh,* *behold*. In order to express the full sense, I have rendered it somewhat paraphrastically.

Verse [Isaiah 48:9](../../../kjv/isaiah/48/9). ***And for my praise***- "And for the sake of my praise"] I read ולמען תהלתי *ulemaan tehillathi*. The word למען *lemaan*, though not absolutely necessary here, for it may be understood as supplied from the preceding member, yet seems to have been removed from hence to [Isaiah 48:11](../../../kjv/isaiah/48/11); where it is redundant, and where it is not repeated in the *Septuagint, Syriac*, and a MS. I have therefore omitted it in the latter place, and added it here.

Verse [Isaiah 48:10](../../../kjv/isaiah/48/10). ***I have chosen thee*** - "I have tried thee"] For בחרתיך *becharticha*, "I have *chosen* thee," a MS. has בחנתיך *bechanticha*, "I have *tried* thee." And so perhaps read the *Syriac* and *Chaldee* interpreters; they retain the same word בחרתך *bechartach*; but in those languages it signifies, I have *tried* thee. ככסף *kecheseph, quasi* argentum, "as silver." *Vulgate*.
I cannot think בכסף *becheseph, WITH silver*, is the true reading. ככסף *kecheseph, LIKE silver*, as the *Vulgate* evidently read it, I suppose to have been the original reading, though no MS. yet found supports this word; the similarity of the two letters, ב *beth* and כ *caph*, might have easily led to the mistake in the first instance; and it has been but too faithfully copied ever since. כור *cur*, which we translate *furnace*, should be rendered *crucible*, the vessel in which the silver is melted. The meaning of the verse seems to be this: I have purified you, but not as silver is purified; for when it is purified, no dross of any kind is left behind. Had I done this with you, I should have consumed you altogether; but I have put you in the crucible of affliction, in *captivity*, that you may acknowledge your sins, and turn unto me.

Verse [Isaiah 48:11](../../../kjv/isaiah/48/11). ***For how should*****my name*****be poll****uted*- "For how would my name be blasphemed"] The word שמי *shemi, my name*, is dropped out of the text; it is supplied by a MS. which has שמי *shemi*; and by the *Septuagint*, ὁτι το εμον ονομα βεβηλουται. The *Syriac* and *Vulgate* get over the difficulty, by making the verb in the first person; that *I may not be blasphemed*.

Verse [Isaiah 48:12](../../../kjv/isaiah/48/12). ***O Jacob*** - "O Jacob, my servant"] After יעקב *yaakob*, a MS. of *Kennicott's*, two of *De Rossi's*, and the two old editions of 1486 and 1488, add the word עבדי *abdi*, "my servant," which is lost out of the present text; and there is a rasure in its place in another ancient MS. The Jerusalem Talmud has the same word.
***I also*****am*****the last*** - "I am the last"] For אף אני *aph ani*, "even I," two ancient MSS. and the ancient Versions, read ואני *veani*, "and I;" more properly.

Verse [Isaiah 48:14](../../../kjv/isaiah/48/14). ***Which among them hath declared these things*** - "Who among you hath predicted these things"] For בהם *bahem*, "among *them*," twenty-one MSS., nine ancient, and two editions, one of them that of the year 1488, fourteen of *De Rossi's*, and one ancient of my own, have *bachem*, "among *you*;" and so the *Syriac*.
***The Lord hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon*** - "He, whom JEHOVAH hath loved, will execute his will on Babylon"] That is, Cyrus; so *Symmachus* has well rendered it: Ὁν ὁ Κυριος ηγαπησε ποιησει το θελημα αυτου, "He whom the Lord hath loved will perform his *will*."
**On*****the Chaldeans.*** — The preposition is lost; it is supplied in the edition of 1486, which has בכשדים *bechasdim*, and so the *Chaldee* and *Vulgate*.

Verse [Isaiah 48:16](../../../kjv/isaiah/48/16). ***Come ye near unto me*** — After the word קרבו *kirbu*, "draw near," a MS. adds גוים *goyim*, "O ye nations;" which, as this and the two preceding verses are plainly addressed to the idolatrous nations, reproaching their gods as unable to predict future events, is probably genuine.
***Hear ye this*** - "And hear ye this"] A MS. adds the conjunction, ושמעו *vashimu*; and so the *Septuagint, Syriac*, and *Vulgate*.
***I have not spoken in secret*** — The Alexandrine copy of the *Septuagint* adds here, ουδε εν τοπῳ γης σκοτεινω, "nor in a dark place of the earth," as in [Isaiah 45:19](../../../kjv/isaiah/45/19). That it stands rightly, or at least stood very early, in this place of the Version of the *Septuagint*, is highly probable, because it is acknowledged by the *Arabic* Version, and by the Coptic MS. *St. Germain de Prez*, Paris, translated likewise from the *Septuagint*. But whether it should be inserted, as of right belonging to the *Hebrew* text, may be doubted; for a transcriber of the *Greek* Version might easily add it by memory from the parallel place; and it is not necessary to the sense.
***From the time that it was*** - "Before the time when *it* began to exist"] An ancient MS. has היותם *heyotham*, "they began to exist;" and so another had it at first. From the time that the expedition of Cyrus was planned, there was God managing the whole by the economy of his providence.
***There*****am*****I*******- "I had decreed it"] I take שם *sham* for a verb, not an adverb.
***And now the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me*** - "And now the Lord JEHOVAH hath sent me, and his Spirit"]
Τις εστιν ὁ εν τῳ Ησαιῳ λεγων, Και νυν Κυριος απεστειλε με και το Πνευμα αυτου; εν ᾡ, αμφιβολου οντος του ῥητου, ποτερον ὁ Πατηρ και το Ἁγιον Πνευμα απεστειλαν του Ιησουν, η ὁ Πατηρ απεστειλε τον τε Χριστον και το Ἁγιον Πνευμα το δευτερον εστιν αληθες.
"Who is it that saith in Isaiah, And now the Lord hath sent me and his Spirit? in which, as the expression is ambiguous, is it the Father and the Holy Spirit who have sent Jesus; or the Father, who hath sent both Christ and the Holy Spirit. The latter is the true interpretation." - *Origen* cont. Cels. lib. i. I have kept to the order of the words of the original, on purpose that the ambiguity, which Origen remarks in the Version of the *Septuagint*, and which is the same in the *Hebrew* might still remain; and the sense which he gives to it, be offered to the reader's judgment, which is wholly excluded in our translation.

Verse [Isaiah 48:18](../../../kjv/isaiah/48/18). ***As a river***- "Like the river"] That is, the Euphrates.

Verse [Isaiah 48:19](../../../kjv/isaiah/48/19). ***Like the gravel thereof*** - "Like that of the bowels thereof"] בצאצאי מעי הים והם הדגים *betseetsaey meey haiyam vehem* *haddagim*; "As the issue of the bowels of the sea; that is, fishes." - *Salom. ben Melec*. And so likewise *Aben Ezra, Jarchi,* *Kimchi*, &c.
***His name*** - "Thy name"] For שמו *shemo*, "*his* name," the *Septuagint* had in the copy from which they translated שמך *shimcha*, "*thy* name."

Verse [Isaiah 48:20](../../../kjv/isaiah/48/20). ***Tell this***- "Make it heard"] *Twenty-seven* MSS. of *Kennicott's*, (*ten* ancient,) many of *De Rossi's*, and two ancient, of my own, with the *Septuagint, Syriac, Chaldee*, and *Arabic*, and one edition, prefix to the verb the conjunction ו *vau*, והשמיעו vehashmiu.

Verse [Isaiah 48:21](../../../kjv/isaiah/48/21). ***They thirsted not - through the deserts*** — *Kimchi* has a surprising observation upon this place: "If the prophecy,' says he, "relates to the return from the Babylonish captivity, as it seems to do, it is to be wondered how it comes to pass, that in the Book of Ezra, in which he gives an account of their return, no mention is made that such miracles were wrought for them; as, for instance, that God clave the rock for them in the desert." It is really much to be wondered, that one of the most learned and judicious of the Jewish expositors of the Old Testament, having advanced so far in a large Comment on Isaiah, should appear to be totally ignorant of the prophet's manner of writing; of the parabolic style, which prevails in the writings of all the prophets, and more particularly in the prophecy of Isaiah, which abounds throughout in parabolical images from the beginning to the end; from "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth," to "the worm and the fire" in the last verse. And how came he to keep his wonderment to himself so long? Why did he not expect that the historian should have related how, as they passed through the desert, cedars, pines, and olive-trees shot up at once on the side of the way to shade them; and that instead of briers and brambles the acacia and the myrtle sprung up under their feet, according to God's promises, [Isaiah 41:19](../../../kjv/isaiah/41/19); [Isaiah 55:13](../../../kjv/isaiah/55/13)? These and a multitude of the like parabolical or poetical images, were never intended to be understood literally. All that the prophet designed in this place, and which he has executed in the most elegant manner, was an amplification and illustration of the gracious care and protection of God vouchsafed to his people in their return from Babylon, by an allusion to the miraculous exodus from Egypt. See *De S. Poesi*, Hebr. Prael. ix.

Verse [Isaiah 48:22](../../../kjv/isaiah/48/22). **There is*****no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked.*** — *See below, Clarke's note on "*[Isaiah 57:21](../../../kjv/isaiah/57/21)*"*. As the destruction of Babylon was determined, God commands his people to hasten out of it; for, saith the Lord, *there is no peace* (prosperity) to the wicked; ουκ εστι χαιρειν τοις ασεβεσιν, λεγει Κυριος. - *Sept*. "There is no rejoicing or prosperity to the wicked saith the Lord." *Their is* *not pese to unrytous men seith the Lord.*-Old MS. Bible.

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