--- title: "Clarke" description: "Verse Isaiah 54:1. Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear - \"Shout for joy, O thou barren, that didst not bear\"] The Church of God under the Old Testame" image: "/images/missing.jpg" url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/isaiah/54" --- Verse [Isaiah 54:1](../../../kjv/isaiah/54/1). ***Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear***- "Shout for joy, O thou barren, that didst not bear"] The Church of God under the Old Testament, confined within the narrow bounds of the Jewish nation, and still more so in respect of the very small number of true believers, and which sometimes seemed to be deserted of God her husband, is *the barren woman, that did not bear*, and was *desolate*. She is exhorted to rejoice, and to express her joy in the strongest manner, on the reconciliation of her husband, (see [Isaiah 54:6](../../../kjv/isaiah/54/6),) and on the accession of the Gentiles to her family. The converted Gentiles are all along considered by the prophet as a new accession of adopted children, admitted into the original Church of God, and united with it. See [Isaiah 49:20](../../../kjv/isaiah/49/20); [Isaiah 49:21](../../../kjv/isaiah/49/21). Verse [Isaiah 54:4](../../../kjv/isaiah/54/4). ***For thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth*** — That is, "The bondage of Egypt: *widowhood*, the captivity of Babylon." - *Secker*. Verse [Isaiah 54:7](../../../kjv/isaiah/54/7). ***For a small moment***- "In a little anger"] So the *Chaldee* and *Syriac*, either reading רגז *regaz*, for רגע *rega*; or understanding the latter word as meaning the same with the former, which they both make use of. See [Psalms 30:5](../../../kjv/psalms/30/5); [Psalms 35:20](../../../kjv/psalms/35/20), in the *Septuagint*, where they render רגע *rega* by οργη, *anger*. Verse [Isaiah 54:8](../../../kjv/isaiah/54/8). ***I hid my face from thee for a moment*** — The word רגע *rega* is omitted by the *Septuagint, Syriac*, and two MSS. of *Kennicott's*, and two of *De Rossi's*. It seems to embarrass rather than to help the sentence. Forte reponi debet pro שצף *shetseph*, quod potest a קצף *ketseph* errore scribae originem duxisse. "Perhaps it ought to be substituted for שצף *shetseph*, an error probably made by some scribe from its similarity to קצף *ketseph*." - *Secker*. ***Thy Redeemer*** — גאלך *goalech*: but for this word three of *De* *Rossi's* MSS. have מרחמך *merachamech, thy commiserator*. Verse [Isaiah 54:9](../../../kjv/isaiah/54/9). ***For this*****is as*****the waters of Noah unto me*** - "The same will I do now, as in the days of Noah"] כימי *kimey*, in one word, in a MS., and some editions; and so the *Syriac, Chaldee, Vulgate,* *Symmachus, Theodotion, Abarbanel, Sal. ben Melec*, and *Kimchi* acknowledge that their copies vary in this place. It is certain that these two words *ki mey*, were written formerly as *one*. Taken as two כי מי *ki mey*, they signify *for* as *the waters* - when as one, כימי *kimey*, they signify *as the* *days*. This latter reading is found in about four of *Kennicott's* and *De Rossi's* MSS. In one of my own it appears to have been intended as *one word*: but he who added the *points*, which are by a much *later hand* than the MS. itself, has pointed the letters so as to make the *two words* which are commonly found in the text. For *the waters, Symmachus, Theodotion*, the *Syriac, Vulgate*, and *Arabic* have days. The former seems to make the best sense; and the ancient *Versions*, except the *Septuagint*, support it. Verse [Isaiah 54:11](../../../kjv/isaiah/54/11). ***Behold, I will lay thy stones***- "Behold, I lay thy stones"] These seem to be general images to express beauty, magnificence, purity, strength, and solidity, agreeably to the ideas of the eastern nations; and to have never been intended to be strictly scrutinized, or minutely and particularly explained, as if they had each of them some precise, moral, or spiritual meaning. Tobit, in his prophecy of the final restoration of Israel, describes the New Jerusalem in the same oriental manner: "For Jerusalem shall be built up with sapphires, and emeralds, and precious stones; thy walls, and towers, and battlements, with pure gold. And the streets of Jerusalem shall be paved with beryl, and carbuncle, and stones of ophir." *Tob. 13:16, 17*. Compare also [Revelation 21:18-21](../../../kjv/revelation/21/18-21). Verse [Isaiah 54:15](../../../kjv/isaiah/54/15). ***Shall fall for thy sake***- "Shall come over to thy side."] For יפול *yippol*, twenty-eight MSS. (eight ancient) have יפל *yipal*, in its more common form. For the meaning of the word in this place, see [Jeremiah 37:13](../../../kjv/jeremiah/37/13). ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/isaiah/54#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/images/missing.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/images/missing.jpg","width":640,"height":370,"caption":"Clarke's Commentary - Isaiah 54"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/isaiah/54#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/isaiah/54","name":"Clarke's Commentary - Isaiah 54","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/isaiah/54#primaryimage"},"datePublished":null,"dateModified":null,"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Verse Isaiah 54:1. Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear - \"Shout for joy, O thou barren, that didst not bear\"] The Church of God under the Old Testame","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/isaiah/54#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/isaiah/54"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/isaiah/54#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries","name":"Commentaries"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary","name":"Clarke's Commentary"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/isaiah","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/isaiah","name":"Isaiah"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/isaiah/54","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/isaiah/54","name":"54"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]} ```