Isaiah 50:10

Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(10) That obeyeth the voice of his servant.—The question may be asked of any servant of Jehovah, such as was Isaiah himself, but receives its highest application in the Servant who has appeared as speaking in the preceding verses.

That walketh in darkness.—The words grow at once out of the prophet’s own experience and that of the ideal Servant. All true servants know what it is to feel as if the light for which they looked had for a time failed them, to utter a prayer like that of Ajax, “Give light, and let us die” (Hom. Il. xvii. 647). The Servant felt it when he uttered the cry, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). For such an one there were the words of counsel, “Trust, in spite of the darkness.” So the cry of the forsaken Servant was followed by the word “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46).

MacLaren's Expositions

Isaiah

A CALL TO FAITH

Isaiah 50:10.

The persons addressed in this call to faith are ‘those who fear the Lord,’ and ‘obey the voice of His Servant.’ In that collocation is implied that these two things are necessarily connected, so that obedience to Christ is the test of true religion, and the fear of the Lord does not exist where the word of the Son is neglected or rejected.

But besides that most fruitful and instructive juxtaposition, other important thoughts come into view here. The fact that the call to faith is addressed to those who are regarded as already fearing God suggests the need for renewed and constantly repeated acts of confidence, at every stage of the Christian life, and opens up the whole subject of the growth and progress of individual religion, as secured by the continuous exercise of faith. The call is addressed to all at every stage of advancement. Of course it is addressed also to those who are disobedient and rebellious. But that wider aspect of the merciful invitation does not come into view here.

But there is another clause in the description of the persons addressed, ‘Who walketh in darkness and hath no light.’ This is, no doubt, primarily a reference to the great sorrow that filled, like a gloomy thundercloud, the horizon of Jewish prophets, small and uninteresting as it seems to us, namely, the captivity of Israel and their expulsion from their land. The faithful remnant are not to escape their share in the national calamity. But while it lasts, they are to wait patiently on the Lord, and not to cast away their confidence, though all seems dark and dreary.

The exhortation thus regarded suggests the power and duty of faith even in times of disaster and sorrow. But another meaning has often been attached to these words, they have been lifted into another region, the spiritual, and have been supposed to refer to a state of feeling not unknown to devout hearts, in which the religious life is devoid of joy and peace. That is a phase of Christian experience, which meets any one who knows much of the workings of men’s hearts, and of his own, when faith is exercised with but little of the light of faith, and the fear of the Lord is cherished with but scant joy in the Lord. Now if it be remembered that such an application of the words is not their original purpose, there can be no harm in using them so. Indeed we may say that, as the words are perfectly general, they include a reference to all darkness of life or soul, however produced, whether it come from the night of sorrow falling on us from without, or from mists and gloom rising like heavy vapours from our own hearts. So considered, the text suggests the one remedy for all gloom and weakness in the spiritual life.

Thus, then, we have three different sets of circumstances in which faith is enforced as the source of true strength and our all-embracing duty. In outward sorrow and trial, trust; in inward darkness and sadness, trust; in every stage of Christian progress, trust. Or I. Faith the light in the darkness of the world. II. Faith the light in the darkness of the soul. III. Faith the light in every stage of Christian progress.

I. Faith our light in the darkness of the world.

The mystery and standing problem of the Old Testament is the coexistence of goodness and sorrow, and the mystery still remains, and ever will remain, a fact. It is partially alleviated if we remember that one main purpose of all our sorrows is to lead us to this confidence.

1. The call to faith is the true voice of all our sorrows.

It seems easy to trust when all is bright, but really it is just as hard, only we can more easily deceive ourselves, when physical well-being makes us comfortable. We are less conscious of our own emptiness, we mask our poverty from ourselves, we do not seem to need God so much. But sorrow reveals our need to us. Other props are struck away, and it is either collapse or Him. We learn the vanity, the transiency, of all besides.

Sorrow reveals God, as the pillar of cloud glowed brighter when the evening fell. Sorrow is meant to awaken the powers that are apt to sleep in prosperity.

So the true voice of all our griefs is ‘Come up hither.’ They call us to trust, as nightfall calls us to light up our lamps. The snow keeps the hidden seeds warm; shepherds burn heather on the hillside that young grass may spring.

2. The call to faith echoes from the voice of the Servant.

Jesus in His darkness rested on God, and in all His sorrows was yet anointed with the oil of gladness. In every pang He has been before us. The rack is sanctified because He has been stretched upon it.

3. The substance of the call.

It is to trust, not to anything more. No attempts to stifle tears are required. There is no sin in sorrow. The emotions which we feel to God in bright days are not appropriate at such times. There are seasons in every life when all that we can say is, ‘Truly this is a grief, and I will bear it.’

What then is required? Assurance of God’s loving will sending sorrow. Assurance of God’s strengthening presence in it, assurance of deliverance from it. These, not more, are required; these are the elements of the faith here called for.

Such faith may co-exist with the keenest sense of loss. The true attitude in sorrow may be gathered from Christ’s at the grave of Lazarus, contrasted with the excessive mourning of the sisters, and the feigned grief of the Jews.

There are times when the most that we can do is to trust even in the great darkness, ‘Though He slay me yet will I trust in Him.’ Submissive silence is sometimes the most eloquent confession of faith. ‘I was dumb, I opened not my mouth, because Thou didst it.’

4. The blessed results of such faith.

It is implied that we may find all that we need, and more, in God. Have we to mourn friends? ‘In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne.’ Have we lost wealth? We have in Him a treasure that moth or rust cannot touch. Are our hopes blasted? ‘Happy is He . . . whose hope is in the Lord his God.’ Is our health broken? ‘I shall yet praise Him, who is the health of my countenance.’ ‘The Lord is able to give thee much more than these.’

How can we face the troubles of life without Him? God calls us when in darkness, and by the darkness, to trust in His name and stay ourselves on Him. Happy are we if we answer ‘Though the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines . . . yet I will rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of my salvation.’

II. Faith, our light in the darkness of the soul.

No doubt there may be such a thing as true fear of God in the soul along with spiritual darkness, faith without the joy of faith. Now this condition seems contradictory of the very nature of the Christian life. For religion is union with God who is light, and if we walk in Him, we are in the light. How then can such experience be?

We must dismiss the notion of God’s desertion of the trusting soul. He is always the same; He has ‘never said to the seed of Jacob, Seek ye Me in vain.’ But while putting aside that false explanation, we can see how such darkness may be. If our religious life was in more vigorous exercise, more pure, perfect and continuous, there would be no separation of faith and the joy of faith. But we have not such unruffled, perfect, uninterrupted faith, and hence there may be, and often is, faith without much joy of faith. I would not say that such experience is always the fruit of sin. But certainly we are not to blame Him or to think of Him as breaking His promises, or departing from His nature. No principles, be they ever so firmly held, ever so undoubtingly received, ever so passionately embraced, exert their whole power equally at all moments in a life. There come times of languor when they seem to be mere words, dead commonplaces, as unlike their former selves as sapless winter boughs to their summer pride of leafy beauty. The same variation in our realising grasp affects the truths of the Gospel. Sometimes they seem but words, with all the life and power sucked out of them, pale shadows of themselves, or like the dried bed of a wady with blazing, white stones, where flashing water used to leap, and all the flowerets withered, which once bent their meek little heads to drink. No facts are always equally capable of exciting their correspondent emotions. Those which most closely affect our personal life, in which we find our deepest joys, are not always present in our minds, and when they are, do not always touch the springs of our feelings. No possessions are always equally precious to us. The rich man is not always conscious with equal satisfaction of his wealth. If, then, the way from the mind to the emotions is not always equally open, there is a reason why there may be faith without light of joy. If the thoughts are not always equally concentrated on the things which produce joy, there is a reason why there may be the habit of fearing God, though there be not the present vigorous exercise of faith, and consequently but little light.

Another reason may lie in the disturbing and saddening influence of earthly cares and sorrows. There are all weathers in a year. And the highest hope and nearest possible approach to joy is sometimes ‘Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness.’ Our lives are sometimes like an Arctic winter in which for many days is no sun.

Another reason may be found in the very fact that we are apt to look impatiently for peace and joy, and to be more exercised with these than with that which produces them.

Another may be errors or mistakes about God and His Gospel.

Another may be absorption with our own sin instead of with Him. To all these add temperament, education, habit, example, influence of body on the mind, and of course also positive inconsistencies and a low tone of Christian life.

It is clear then that, if these be the causes of this state, the one cure for it is to exercise our faith more energetically.

Trust, do not look back. We are tempted to cast away our confidence and to say: What profit shall I have if I pray unto Him? But it is on looking onwards, not backwards, that safety lies.

Trust, do not think about your sins.

Trust, do not think so much about your joy.

It is in the occupation of heart and mind with Jesus that joy and peace come. To make them our direct aim is the way not to attain them. Though now there seems a long wintry interval between seed time and harvest, yet ‘in due season we shall reap if we faint not.’

‘In the fourth watch of the night Jesus came unto them.’

III. Faith our guiding light in every stage of Christian progress.

Those who already ‘fear God’ are in the text exhorted to trust.

In the most advanced Christian life there are temptations to abandon our confidence. We never on earth come to such a point as that, without effort, we are sure to continue in the way. True, habit is a wonderful ally of goodness, and it is a great thing to have it on our side, but all our lives long, there will be hindrances without and within which need effort and self-repression. On earth there is no time when it is safe for us to go unarmed. The force of gravitation acts however high we climb. Not till heaven is reached will ‘love’ be ‘its own security,’ and nature coincide with grace. And even in heaven faith ‘abideth,’ but there it will be without effort.

1. The most advanced Christian life needs a perpetual renewal and repetition of past acts of faith.

It cannot live on a past any more than the body can subsist on last year’s food. The past is like the deep portions of coral reefs, a mere platform for the living present which shines on the surface of the sea, and grows. We must gather manna daily.

The life is continued by the same means as that by which it was begun. There is no new duty or method for the most advanced Christian; he has to do just what he has been doing for half a century. We cannot transcend the creatural position, we are ever dependent. ‘To hoar hairs will I carry you.’ The initial point is prolonged into a continuous line.

2. The most advanced and mature faith is capable of increase, in regard to its knowledge of its object, and in intensity, constancy, power. At first it may be a tremulous trust, afterwards it should become an assured confidence. At first it may be but a dim recognition, as in a glass darkly, of the great love which has redeemed us at a great price; afterwards it should become the clear vision of the trusted Friend and lifelong companion of our souls, who is all in all to us. At first it may be an interrupted hold, afterwards it should become such a grasp as the roots of a tree have on the soil. At first it may be a feeble power ruling over our rebel selves, like some king beleaguered in his capital, who has no sway beyond its walls, afterwards it should become a peaceful sovereign who guides and sways all the powers of the soul and outgoings of the life. At first it may be like a premature rose putting forth pale petals on an almost leafless bough, afterwards the whole tree should be blossomed over with fragrant flowers, the homes of light and sweetness. The highest faith may be heightened, and the spirits before the throne pray the prayer, ‘Lord, increase our faith.’

For us all, then, the merciful voice of the servant of the Lord calls to His light. Our faith is our light in darkness, only as a window is the light of a house, or the eye, of the body, because it admits and discerns that true light. He calls us each from the darkness. Do not try to make fires for yourselves, ineffectual and transient, but look to Him, and you shall not walk in darkness, even amid the gloom of earth, but shall have light in your darkness, till the time come when, in a clearer heaven and a lighter air, ‘Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself, for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.’

Benson Commentary

Isaiah 50:10-11. Who is among you that feareth the Lord? — He now turns his speech from the unbelieving and rebellious Jews, to those of them who were, or should be, pious. That obeyeth the voice of his servant — Of the same person of whom he has hitherto spoken, of Christ, who is called God’s servant by way of eminence, and to intimate that, though he was God, yet he would take upon himself the form of a servant. It is hereby signified, that the grace of God, and the encouragement and comfort here following, belong to none but those that believe in and obey this great prophet of the church; which was also declared by Moses, Deuteronomy 18:15, compared with Acts 3:22-23. That walketh in darkness — Not in sin, which is often called darkness, but in misery, which the word also frequently signifies; that lives in a disconsolate and calamitous condition. And hath no light — No comfort nor prospect of deliverance. Let him trust in the name of the Lord, &c. — Let him fix his faith and hope in the amiable nature and infinite perfections, and especially in the mercy and faithfulness of the Lord, declared in his word, and in his interest in God, who, by the mediation of this his servant, is reconciled to him, and made his God. Behold, all ye that kindle a fire — That you may enjoy the light and comfort of it; you that reject the light which God hath set up, and seek for comfort and safety in your own inventions: which was the common error of the Jews in all ages, and especially in the days of the Messiah, when they refused him, and that way of salvation which he appointed, and rested on their own traditions and devices, going about to establish their own righteousness, and not submitting themselves unto the righteousness of God. That compass yourselves with sparks — Of your own kindling. Dr. Waterland and Bishop Lowth translate this latter clause, “who place, or heap the fuel around.” Walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled — Use your utmost endeavours to get comfort from these devices. This shall ye have of my hand, &c — This shall be the fruit of all, through my just judgment, that, instead of that comfort and security which you expect by these means, you shall receive nothing but vexation and misery, which shall pursue you both living and dying; for the word שׁכב, here rendered lie down, is frequently used for dying, as Genesis 47:30; Job 21:26, and elsewhere.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

50:10,11 A child of God is afraid of incurring his displeasure. This grace usually appears most in believers when in darkness, when other graces appear not. Those that truly fear God, obey the voice of Christ. A sincere servant of God may for a long time be without views of eternal happiness. What is likely to be an effectual cure in this sad case? Let him trust in the name of the Lord; and let him stay himself upon the promises of the covenant, and build his hopes on them. Let him trust in Christ, trust in that name of his, The Lord our Righteousness; stay himself upon God as his God, in and through a Mediator. Presuming sinners are warned not to trust in themselves. Their own merit and sufficiency are light and heat to them. Creature-comforts are as sparks, short-lived, and soon gone; yet the children of this world, while they last, seek to warm themselves by them, and walk with pride and pleasure in the light of them. Those that make the world their comfort, and their own righteousness their confidence, will certainly meet with bitterness in the end. A godly man's way may be dark, but his end shall be peace and everlasting light. A wicked man's way may be pleasant, but his end and abode for ever will be utter darkness.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Who is among you that feareth the Lord? - This whole prophecy is concluded with an address made in this verse to the friends of God, and in the next to his enemies. It is the language of the Messiah, calling on the one class to put their trust in Yahweh, and threatening the other with displeasure and wrath. The exhortation in this verse is made in view of what is said in the previous verses. It is the entreaty of the Redeemer to all who love and fear God, and who may be placed in circumstances of trial and darkness as he was. to imitate his example, and not to rely on their own power, but to put their trust in the arm of Yahweh. he had done this Isaiah 50:7-9. He had been afflicted, persecuted, forsaken, by people Isaiah 50:6, and he had at that time confided in God and committed his cause to him; and he had never left or forsaken him. Encouraged by his example, he exhorts all others to cast themselves on the care of him who would defend a righteous cause.

That feareth the Lord - Who are worshippers of Yahweh.

That obeyeth the voice of his servant - The Messiah (see the note at Isaiah 42:1). This is another characteristic of piety. They who fear the Lord will also obey the voice of the Redeemer John 5:23.

That walketh in darkness - In a manner similar to the Messiah Isaiah 50:6. God's true people experience afflictions like others, and have often trials especially their own. They are sometimes in deep darkness of mind, and see no light. Comfort has forsaken them, and their days and nights are passed in gloom.

Let him trust in the name of the Lord - The Messiah had done this Isaiah 50:8-9, and he exhorts all others to do it. Doing this they would obtain divine assistance, and would find that he would never leave nor forsake them.

And stay upon his God - Lean upon him, as one does on a staff or other support. This may be regarded still as the language of the merciful Redeemer, appealing to his own example, and entreating all who are in like circumstances, to put their trust in God.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

10. Messiah exhorts the godly after His example (Isa 49:4, 5; 42:4) when in circumstances of trial ("darkness," Isa 47:5), to trust in the arm of Jehovah alone.

Who is, &c.—that is, Whosoever (Jud 7:3).

obeyeth … servant—namely, Messiah. The godly "honor the Son, even as they honor the Father" (Joh 5:23).

darkness—(Mic 7:8, 9). God never had a son who was not sometimes in the dark. For even Christ, His only Son, cried out, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"

light—rather, "splendor"; bright sunshine; for the servant of God is never wholly without "light" [Vitringa]. A godly man's way may be dark, but his end shall be peace and light. A wicked man's way may be bright, but his end shall be utter darkness (Ps 112:4; 97:11; 37:24).

let him trust in the name of the Lord—as Messiah did (Isa 50:8, 9).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Who is among you that feareth the Lord? he now turneth his speech from the unbelieving and rebellious Jews to those of them who were or should be pious.

Of his servant; of the same person of whom he hath hitherto spoken; of Christ, who is called God’s servant, Isaiah 52:13 53:11, partly by way of eminency, and partly to intimate that although he was God, yet he should take upon himself the form of a servant, as is said, Philippians 2:7. He hereby signifies that the grace of God, and the comfort here following, belongeth to none but to those that hear and believe this great Prophet of the church; which also was declared by Moses, Deu 18:15, compared with Acts 3:22,23.

In darkness; not in sin, which is oft called darkness; as walking in darkness is put for living in wickedness, 1Jo 1:6; but in misery, which also frequently cometh under the name of darkness: that liveth in a most disconsolate and calamitous condition, together with great despondency or dejection of spirit.

No light; no comfort nor hope left.

Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God; let him fix his faith and hope in the name, i.e. in the most excellent and amiable nature, and infinite perfections, and especially in the free grace, and mercy, and faithfulness,

of the Lord, declared in his word; and in his propriety or interest in God, who by the mediation of this Servant is reconciled to him, and made his God.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Who is among you that feareth the Lord?.... Not with a slavish fear of the awful majesty of God, or of his tremendous judgments, or of wrath to come, but with a filial fear, a fear of the Lord, and his goodness, which is an internal principle in the heart, a reverential affection for God, a godly fear of him; is attended with faith in him, and joy of him; which makes holy, and keeps humble, and takes in the whole worship of God: of men of this character there are but few, and especially there were but few among the Jews at this time which the prophecy refers to; the greatest part were rejecters of Christ, before spoken of, and to; and from whom the Lord turns himself, and addresses these few. There are none that naturally fear the Lord, only such who have the grace bestowed on them; their number is but small, but there are always some in the worst of times, and these are taken notice of by the Lord, Malachi 3:16,

that obeyeth the voice of his servant: not the prophet, as the Targum adds, and as it is commonly interpreted by the Jewish writers, and others; though some of them say (d) this is "Metatron", a name of the Messiah with them; and indeed he is meant, before spoken of as the Lord's servant, and represented as an obedient one, and afterwards as righteous; see Isaiah 49:3 and by his "voice" is meant either his Gospel, which is a soul quickening and comforting voice, a charming and alluring one; and which is obeyed, heard, and hearkened to, by his people, externally and internally, when they receive it by faith, and in the love of it; or else his commands, precepts, and ordinances, which love constrains his people to an obedience unto; and where there is the fear of God, there will be hearing of his word, and submission to his ordinances:

that walketh in darkness: not the Lord's servant, but the man that fears the Lord, and obeys his servant's voice, such an one may be in darkness, and walk in it; or "in darknesses" (e), as in the original; not only in affliction and misery, often expressed by darkness in Scripture, but in desertion, under the hidings of God's face; and which may continue for a while:

and hath no light? or "shining" (f): not without the light of nature, nor without the light of grace, but without the light of God's countenance shining upon him; without the light of spiritual joy and comfort shining in his heart; and this must be a very distressing case indeed.

Let him trust in the name of the Lord; not in himself, nor in any creature, but in the Lord himself; in the perfections of his nature, his mercy, grace, and goodness; in the name of the Lord, which is a strong tower, and in whom is salvation; in Christ, in whom the name of the Lord is, and whose name is the Lord our Righteousness; and to trust in him, when in the dark, is a glorious act of faith; this is believing in hope against hope.

And stay upon his God; covenant interest continues in the darkest dispensation; God is the believer's God still; and faith is a staying or leaning upon him, as such; a dependence upon his power to protect, on his wisdom to guide, and on his grace, goodness, and all sufficiency, to supply.

(d) Zohar in Exod. fol. 54. 3.((e) (f) "splendor", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Vitringa.

Geneva Study Bible

{l} Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and rely upon his God.

(l) Showing that it is a rare thing that any should obey correctly God's true ministers, though they labour to bring them from hell to heaven.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

10. Those who fear the Lord are exhorted to imitate the Servant’s trust in God.

that obeyeth the voice of his servant] (lit. “that hearkeneth to” &c.). The LXX. reads “let him hearken,” which certainly gives a better balanced verse: “Whoso among you feareth Jehovah, let him hearken” &c. The reference is not merely to the words just spoken (Isaiah 50:4-9), but to the whole revelation of which the Servant is the organ.

that walketh] Better, as R.V., he that walketh—commencing a new sentence.

in darkness] lit. “in dark places”; i.e. in trouble.

let him trust &c.] Cf. ch. Isaiah 26:4; Habakkuk 2:4.

10, 11. A double message of encouragement and warning based on the preceding soliloquy of the Servant. It seems evident that the Servant here is regarded as the nucleus of the godly party who are addressed in Isaiah 50:10; in other words, as a personification of the true Israel which is in process of being separated from the unbelieving part of the nation. These last are addressed in Isaiah 50:11 as opponents and persecutors of the faithful Israelites.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 10, 11. - AN ADDRESS OF JEHOVAH TO HIS CHURCH. Some suppose that the Church of Hezekiah's reign is addressed; others the exiles towards the close of the Captivity period. The first verse is an exhortation, encouraging those who fear God, but have insufficient light, to trust in him. The second threatens such as "kindle fire," or cause strife, with retribution. Verse 10. - That obeyeth the voice of his servant; that is, of "his servant" for the time being, whether Isaiah, or Jeremiah, or "the Servant" κατ ἐξοχήν That walketh in darkness. Not clearly seeing his way or knowing what his duty is, and so inclined to despond and doubt. Every such person is bidden to put aside his doubts, and trust wholly in the Name of the Lord, and stay upon his God. Hence light will shine in upon him, and his doubts will be resolved, and sufficient light will be granted him to direct his paths. Isaiah 50:10

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Thus far we have the words of the servant. The prophecy opened with words of Jehovah (Isaiah 50:1-3), and with such words it closes, as we may see from the expression, "this shall ye have at my hand," in Isaiah 50:11. The first word of Jehovah is addressed to those who fear Him, and hearken to the voice of His servant. Isaiah 50:10"Who among you is fearing Jehovah, hearkening to the voice of His servant? He that walketh in darkness, and without a ray of light, let him trust in the name of Jehovah, and stay himself upon his God." The question is asked for the purpose of showing to any one who could reply, "I am one, or wish to be such an one," what his duty and his privileges are. In the midst of the apparent hopelessness of his situation (chăshēkhı̄m the accusative of the object, and plural to chăshēkhâh, Isaiah 8:22), and of his consequent despondency of mind, he is to trust in the name of Jehovah, that firmest and surest of all grounds of trust, and to stay himself upon his God, who cannot forsake or deceive him. He is to believe (Isaiah 7:9; Isaiah 28:16; Habakkuk 2:4) in God and the word of salvation, for בטח and נשׁען are terms applied to that fiducia fidei which is the essence of faith. The second word of Jehovah is addressed to the despisers of His word, of which His servant is the bearer. Isaiah 50:11 "Behold, all ye that kindle fire, that equip yourselves with burning darts, away into the glow of your fire, and into the burning darts that ye have kindled! This comes to you from my hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow." The fire is not the fire of divine wrath (Jeremiah 17:4), but the fire of wickedness (rish‛âh, Isaiah 9:17), more especially that hellish fire with which an evil tongue is set on fire (James 3:6); for the zı̄qōth (equivalent to ziqqōth, from zēq equals zinq, from zânaq, to spring, to let fly, Syr. to shoot or hurl), i.e., shots, and indeed burning arrows (Psalm 7:14), are figurative, and stand for the blasphemies and anathemas which they cast at the servant of Jehovah. It is quite unnecessary to read מאירי instead of מאזּרי, as Hitzig, Ewald, and Knobel propose, or even, contrary to all usage of speech, מאורי. The former is the more pictorial: they gird burning darts, accingunt malleolos, i.e., they equip or arm themselves with them for the purpose of attack (Isaiah 45:5). But the destruction which they prepare for the servant of Jehovah becomes their own. They themselves have to go into the midst of the burning fire and the burning darts, that they have set on fire. The hand of Jehovah suddenly inverts the position; the fire of wrath becomes the fire of divine judgment, and this fire becomes their bed of torment. The lxx has it correctly, ἐν λύπῃ κοιμηθήσεσθε. The Lamed indicates the situation (Ewald, 217, d). תּשׁכּבוּן with the tone upon the last syllable gives a dictatorial conclusion. It has a terrible sound, but still more terrible (apart from the future state) is the historical fulfilment that presents itself to the eye.