Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1904 edition. Excerpt: ... NOTES I. Isaiah liii. In order to understand the meaning and to see the exact bearing of this famous passage, one must throw off dogmatic preconceptions. Historical exegesis establishes the following facts: -- 1st. We are here dealing with a poetical passage, the metaphors of which must be interpreted in accordance with the mind of the author and the spirit of the time, like those of Oriental poetry in general; 2nd. The "Servant of the Lord" is no future and mysterious personality. The author has himself defined and introduced him in the preceding chapters as the poetical personification, now of the nation of Israel as a whole, now of the faithful remnant of the people (xli. 8 and 9; xlii. 1; xliv. 1 and 2, 21; xlv. 4; xlviii. 20; xlix. 3 and 5; lii. 13); 3rd. The writer is not thinking of a drama to come, but of a past drama. The only thing the prophet sees in the future is the glorification of his hero; but his humiliation, defeat, and sufferings are in the past. By the light of these literary considerations, the entire allegory--for it is nothing more-- explains itself. What is thought of is the miserable state of the faithful, of the "Lord's poor," who have been involved in the catastrophe in which the whole nation has perished. They, indeed, had done nothing to call down this terrible disaster which had cast them captive and dying on the banks of the Euphrates. Upon them has weighed the iniquity of the people; upon them the judgment of God has fallen. They have died in the land of the wicked, and their death has been as a holy oblation to God for their people. But this is only a metaphor. Divine grace will restore this defeated and destroyed people; and they shall be the cause of this restoration, because their faithfulness has...
