Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Isaiah 62:10

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Isaiah 62:10. Of the people - "For the people"] Before the word העם haam, the people, two MSS. insert יהוה Yehovah; one MS. adds the same word after; and eight MSS., three ancient, instead of העם haam, have יהוה Yehovah, and so likewise one edition. But though it makes a good sense either way, I believe it to be an interpolation, as the ancient Versions do not favour it. The Septuagint indeed read עמי ammi, my people. - L.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Good news for the exiles (61:1-62:12)

God’s Spirit gives the prophet some good news to pass on to the Jews held captive in Babylon. They will be released to return to their land, but their captors will be punished (61:1-2). When they arrive in Jerusalem, they may be overcome with grief because of the ruin and devastation they see around them. But God will encourage and strengthen them so that they can rebuild their beloved city (3-4).
Foreigners will carry out the everyday duties for the Jews and contribute liberally to the national income. This will enable the Jews to concentrate on the more important matters of worshipping and serving God (5-6). God will give blessings to his people that are far beyond anything they have ever expected. In justice he will compensate them for the plundering they have suffered at the hands of their enemies (7-9).
In thanks the prophet praises God in advance for saving Israel and giving it glory, a glory that he likens to the beauty of wedding garments. As surely as seeds sprout and grow, so just as surely will God save Israel and bring praise to himself from people of all nations (10-11).
But at the time of writing, the prophet is still in Babylon and Israel has not yet been saved. The prophet will therefore not cease praying for Israel till it has been restored to its land in glory (62:1-3). The nation will then no longer be like an unfaithful wife living alone and in disgrace. Her husband still loves her and will take her back. As the deserted woman becomes happily married again, so the desolate nation will again rejoice in fellowship with Yahweh (4-5).
In Jerusalem watchmen wait expectantly for the first returning exiles. The prophet urges these watchmen to join him in unceasing prayer that God will soon fulfil his promise and bring his people back, never to be plundered again (6-9). He then commands people to go out and prepare the way for Israel’s release from Babylon and return to Jerusalem. Israel will again be known as the people whom God has redeemed (10-12).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

“Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up an ensign for the peoples. Behold, Jehovah hath proclaimed unto the end of the earth, Say ye to the daughter of Zion; Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. And they shall call them the holy people, The redeemed of Jehovah: and thou shalt be called Sought out, A city not forsaken.”

“Here the inhabitants of Jerusalem are urged to go out through the gates of the city and to prepare a highway for the return of the exiles.”Broadman Bible Commentary (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1971), p. 364. The trouble with all such literal understanding of such prophecies is that it would be more than a hundred years after the return of the exiles before the literal Jerusalem would ever have an effective system of walls and gates. It seems more likely that the thing meant would refer to the diligence of the Church in her preparation and efforts to evangelize mankind.

“Behold thy salvation cometh” This was the message of God’s great proclamation throughout the whole earth, that the long awaited salvation of Israel was soon to take place. Historically, this was literally the truth. Many long centuries had elapsed after the weeping parents of our fallen race were expelled from Eden; but when Isaiah wrote, the far greater time of waiting for “The Seed of Woman” who would bruise the head of Satan had already expired; and the meaning here is that the Messiah indeed would hasten his arrival upon the earth.

“They shall call them the holy people, the redeemed of Jehovah” This, alas is what God planned for His people after the exile; but it never took place, due to their wickedness. As Paul stated, the name of God was blasphemed all over the Gentile world, because of the wickedness of the Jews (Revelation 2:24). The Jews simply forgot to read Jeremiah 18:7-10, or at least forgot to heed it.

Rawlinson pointed out that the universal love and appreciation of the racial Israel has never taken place, and suggested that, “Perhaps the prophecy may be considered still to await its complete fulfillment.”Pulpit Commentary, Vol. II, p. 431. Many scholars suppose that some future fulfillment of this may yet occur “in the Millennium,” or “when national Israel is converted,” or “when the fulness of the Gentiles has come in” or at some such other time; but we have never been able to find any sufficient grounds for such hopes in the Sacred Scriptures. God has only one plan for salvation; and that is in Christ. Therefore, when and if Israel (that is racial, or national Israel) is ever redeemed it will be in the same manner as that by which God saves all men. “There is no distinction between Jews and Gentiles in the New Dispensation.”

The full understanding of the fact that racial origin has no bearing whatever upon salvation is so important that we submit here four testimonials from the sacred authors of the New Testament, a single word from any one of them being worth more than a thousand libraries of human speculations.

The Apostle Paul stated that:

For the scripture (the Old Testament) saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be put to shame. For there is NO DISTINCTION between Jew and Greek: for the same Lord is lord of all, and is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:11-13).

But now apart from the law, a righteousness of God hath been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ unto all them that believe; for there is NO DISTINCTION; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:21-23).

The Apostle Peter declared that:

“Brethren, ye know that a good while ago God made choice among you that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God who knoweth the heart bare them witness, giving them the Holy Spirit, even as he did unto us; and made NO DISTINCTION between us (Jews) and them (Gentiles), cleansing their hearts by faith (Acts 15:7-9).”

Again when Peter was at first unwilling to go to the house of Cornelius because he was a Gentile, God corrected Peter on this; and when Peter arrived, he explained:

The Spirit bade me go, making NO DISTINCTION (between Jews and Gentiles) (Acts 11:12).

These four references are among the most important in the New Testament:

NO DISTINCTION...Romans 3:12

NO DISTINCTION...Romans 10:12

NO DISTINCTION...Acts 11:12

NO DISTINCTION...Acts 15:9

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Go through, go through the gates - The connection of this with what goes before is not very apparent, and there has been a great diversity of opinion in regard to it among interpreters. Grotius supposes that it refers to the priests and Levites who are referred to also in the previous verses, and that it is a command for them to enter into the temple. Calvin supposes that it refers to the Christian church, and that the idea is, that the gates of it should be continually open for the return of penitent sinners. Rosenmuller supposes that it is an address to the cities lying between Babylon and Jerusalem, and that the idea is, that their gates would be thrown open for the return of the exiles, and that all obstacles would be taken out of the way. Others suppose that it refers to the Jews, and that the command is to them to go through the gates of Babylon, and an immediate order is added to the people to prepare the way for them. This last seems to me to be the sense of the passage. It is a direction to the exiles in Babylon to go forth and return to their own land. The gates so long closed against their return would be thrown open, and they would now have liberty to depart for their own country. Thus explained, the connection is apparent. The watchmen were commanded to pray until this was done Isaiah 62:7; the prophet had said that he would not rest until it was done Isaiah 62:1; Yahweh had promised this in a most solemn manner Isaiah 62:8-9; and now those prayers are heard, and that promise is about to be fulfilled, and they are commanded to leave the city and enter upon their journey to their own land (compare the notes at Isaiah 52:10-12).

Prepare ye the way of the people - (Compare the notes at Isaiah 40:3).

Cast up, cast up the highway - (See the notes at Isaiah 57:14).

Gather out the stones - Clear it from the stones - in other words, make a smooth path on which they can travel with ease. The word which is used here (סקל sāqal) commonly denotes to stone, or to pelt with stones, a species of capital punishment among the Hebrews 2 Samuel 16:6-13. Hence, it means to pile up stones in a heap; and it has also the signification of removing stones from a field Isaiah 5:2, and here of removing them from the way when they are an obstruction to the traveler. Harmer supposes that the word here means to pile up stones at proper distances, as a kind of landmark in the deserts, in order to mark the way for travelers - a practice which, he says, is quite common in Arabia. But the more correct interpretation is, that they were to remove the stones from the way, in order that the journey might be made with ease.

Lift up a standard - As when an army is about to march. They were about to be collected from their dispersions and restored to their own land, and the command is given, that the banner might be reared that they might rally around it (see the notes at Isaiah 10:18; Isaiah 59:19; Isaiah 49:22).

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

10.Pass through, pass through the gates. From the preceding statement he draws the conclusion, that there shall be a free passage through the gates of the city, which formerly were shut or in a ruinous state; shut when it was besieged by enemies; in a ruinous state, when the city was thrown down and levelled with the ground. He means that there shall be such a restoration of the city, that its inhabitants shall be numerous, and there shall be frequent passing to and from it.

Some think that these words are addressed to the pastors, that they may enter in at the gates, and go before others as their conductors. But it is a general and figurative statement, by which he compares the Church to a populous city, though for a time it was ruinous and desolate, as Jerusalem had been. Others pursue more ingenious speculations, and say that the gates of a Church are opened, when pardon of sins is proclaimed in it, and by that message God invites all to come to him. But if we wish to get at the Prophet’s meaning, we must believe that all these things are spoken figuratively, as we have already mentioned.

Clear the way for the people. This is, strictly speaking, the duty of teachers; but the Prophet speaks in general terms, and addresses all whose agency the Lord employed for preparing the way for the people. At that time, indeed, he spoke to Medes and Persians, by means of whom he opened up the way for the Jews, that they might return to their native country; but next he includes all others by whom the Lord restored his Church.

Level, level the road. He authoritatively commands all men to “clear and level the roads;” that the Jews might know that every obstacle shall easily be removed, and that all men, however inveterate their hostility, shall immediately obey the command of God. In this way he enjoins believers to gird themselves manfully for the work, as if many workmen were ready to give assistance, and the emphatic repetition of the word (“Level, level”) deserves notice as intended to express certainty.

Pave it with stones. סקל (sikkel) sometimes means to remove stones, and sometimes to pave with stones; and I think that it ought rather to be understood here in this latter signification, though commentators are generally of a different opinion. ⁽¹⁷⁰⁾

Lift up a standard to the peoples. This is of the same import with the former clause; for the Prophet means that the peoples shall obey the command of God, in the same manner as subjects are wont to obey princes; for they shall assemble and run together when “the standard is lifted up,” and shall lend their aid to bring back the people; and thus he extols in lofty terms the power of God, that the Jews might be fully persuaded that they would one day be restored. ⁽¹⁷¹⁾

(170) “The words סקלו מאבן (sakkelu meeben) are used elliptically for סקלו הדרך מאבן , (sakkelu hadderek meeben,) ‘remove the stones from the road;’ for סקל, (sikkel,) which.in general means ‘to stone, or to throw stones,’ as ויסקל באבנים את דוד, (vayesakkel baabanim eth David,) (2 Samuel 16:6,) here means to take away many stones, as in Isaiah 5:2; and מאבן (meeben,) as Jarchi remarks, is equivalent to מהיות שם אבן, (mihyoth sham eben,) ‘that there may be no stones there,’ at which travellers might stumble. Thus, ‘I will make them מאדם, (meadam) from a man;’ that is, that not a man shall be left. (Hosea 9:12.)” —Rosenmuller.

(171) “Here the style of the Prophet is very Pindarical. First, he speaks to the captives, as if he saw them near the gates of Babylon, and bids them go through them, that is, pass out of the place of their captivity; then, as if he saw workmen in the road, he bids them level the ground, and make it plain, that they may not be tired by ascending and descending steep precipices, nor hurt their feet with sharp stones; then, as if they had not yet received notice of their deliverance, or were not informed of the place where they were to rendezvous, in order to return altogether, he commands a standard to be erected for the people, that is, over their heads, so high that it might he seen by those at the greatest distance.” —White.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 62

In chapter 62, God continues to speak of the restoration of Israel.

For Zion's sake [that is, Jerusalem] will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth ( Isaiah 62:1 ).

God said, "I'm not going to rest until I have accomplished it."

And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name. Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken ( Isaiah 62:2-4 );

And, of course, the people have felt forsaken. Just recently they had another commemoration for those who survived the Holocaust. And you talk to so many people in Israel today or those who are here who have survived the Holocaust, and so often their question was, "Where was God when our parents or our uncles were burned in the ovens in Germany? Where was God? Where was God?" And that is a common question that you hear asked by them. And they themselves feel forsaken by God. But, "You will no longer be called Forsaken."

neither will your land be termed Desolate: but you will be called Hephzibah ( Isaiah 62:4 ),

Which means the Lord delights in thee.

and thy land [will be called] Beulah ( Isaiah 62:4 ):

Which means married.

For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee ( Isaiah 62:5 ).

As a bridegroom over the bride. So, again, this beautiful figure of speech that God relates to Israel as a bridegroom to His bride. Now in the New Testament, that same kind of relationship exists between Christ and His church, as Paul writing to the Ephesians writes about marital relationships. "Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it. And wives, submitting yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. Now I speak to you," Paul said, "of a mystery. For I speak concerning Christ and His church how that we have this beautiful, intimate relationship with Jesus Christ as the bride to the bridegroom. And that love and all that is there." So it is a figure of the Old Testament between God and Israel. In the New Testament of... That is, God the Father and Israel; in the New Testament of Jesus and the church.

I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence ( Isaiah 62:6 ),

In other words, calling for intercessors.

And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he makes Jerusalem a praise in the eaRuth ( Isaiah 62:7 ).

In other words, don't stop praying until the fulfillment of this takes place and God makes Jerusalem that glorious praise of the earth once more. The Bible says. "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper who will pray for your peace" ( Psalms 122:6 ). And so we are encouraged here of continual intercession and prayer, giving Him no rest. Interesting phrase concerning prayer.

You remember Jesus made an illustration of prayer in which He used very unlikely types of figures. It was a judge who had this little widow woman coming in every day and saying, "Avenge me my adversary." And every day she was there seeking to be avenged to her adversary. Finally, Jesus said, though the judge said, "I don't fear God or man, but this little woman is going to drive me crazy." And so he gave the judgment for her. And He was using that as an illustration to encourage us in persistence in prayer.

Now, I have great difficulty with this in my own mind and in the understanding of it. The difficulty lies in the man that Jesus chooses in a figure to represent God, for he was an unjust judge. The man says, "I don't fear God or man." And the persistence of this little woman. But the illustration is this. If even an unjust judge will yield to the persistence, how much more will a righteous, just Father in heaven answer the petitions of His children who call upon Him continually. So He's not really using the judge. He's using the judge in a sharp contrast to God rather than as a figure of God, but in sharp contrast. So even if an unjust judge will yield to persistency, how much more. And so much of the New Testament is in contrast. If this would happen, how much more then will God your Father. So don't give God rest until He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

The LORD hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, Surely I will no more give thy corn to be meat for your enemies; and the sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine, for that which thou hast labored ( Isaiah 62:8 ):

Now, so often they found that... You remember, and it was something that persisted through their history. When their enemies had overrun them, they would come in and take their crops. You remember Gideon was threshing in a cave to hide it from the Midianites because the Midianites would watch them. As soon as they thresh the wheat, they'd come in and rip them off. And so you'd labor and someone else would take it from you. And they experienced this many times. They would build up the land and build up these places and other people would come in and take it. So God says that's not going to happen anymore.

But they that have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the LORD; and they that have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of my holiness. Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people. Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed to the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work is before him. And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken ( Isaiah 62:9-12 ).

So God's restoration of the people. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

With now familiar figures for preparing a highway (cf. Isaiah 7:3; Isaiah 11:16; Isaiah 19:23; Isaiah 33:8; Isaiah 35:8; Isaiah 36:2; Isaiah 49:11; Isaiah 59:7), Isaiah called on God’s people to plan for the fulfillment of the promised redemption, return to the land, and Gentile worship. They should not just wait passively, but should take steps to express and to bolster their faith in these promises. They should march through the gates of Babylon and return to their homeland.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The need for faith 62:10-12

Having learned of the mission of the Anointed One to bring salvation to Israel, and having received promises of benefits that would accompany His salvation, the Israelites needed to believe these promises-in spite of impending exile in Babylon. This pericope concludes the section of Isaiah dealing with the revelation of future glory (chs. 60-62; cf. Isaiah 40:1-11; Isaiah 52:1-12).

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Go through, go through the gates,.... Open them, and keep them open for persons to enter in; meaning not the gates of Jerusalem, which those in it should open for the reception of the Jews returning from Babylon, though there may be an allusion to it; but the gates of the church in the latter day, which shall stand open night and day, that converts, who shall flock unto it, may enter in thereat, whether Jews or Gentiles; see Isaiah 26:1:

prepare you the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; for the people of the Jews, or the Gentiles, by the destruction of the eastern and western antichrist, and by the preaching of the Gospel; by which means way will be made for the kings of the east, and for the eastern kingdoms being converted, and becoming the kingdoms of our Lord, and his Christ; see Revelation 16:12:

gather out the stones; all things that offend, that are a stumblingblock to Jews, Pagans, and Mahometans, and hinder them embracing the Christian religion; as errors, heresies, schisms, false doctrines, false worship, idolatry, and superstition. Jarchi thinks there is a respect to the corruption of nature; and so the Targum interprets it, the thought of the evil imagination, which is as a stone: or, "pitch" or "strow it with stones" k; that is, the highway; pave it with them, because of the clay, that so it may be a good way for passengers:

lift up a standard for the people; that they may know where to come or go; this is to be understood of the preaching of the Gospel, and of lifting up Christ as a standard or ensign in it, to whom the people might be directed, invited, and encouraged to come; see Isaiah 11:10. The Targum is,

"the prophet said, pass by, and return through the gates; turn the heart of the people to the right way; publish good things and comforts to the righteous, who remove the thought of the evil imagination, which was as a stone of stumbling; lift up a sign to the people.''

k סקלו מאבן "sternite [eam] lapidibus", Vatablus, Forerius, Gataker. So many Jewish writers, R. Jonah, R. Joseph Kimchi, and Ben Melech; but is disliked by Gussetius, Ebr. Comment. p. 569.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      10 Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people.   11 Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.   12 And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.

      This, as many like passages before, refers to the deliverance of the Jews out of Babylon, and, under the type and figure of that, to the great redemption wrought out by Jesus Christ, and the proclaiming of gospel grace and liberty through him. 1. Way shall be made for this salvation; all difficulties shall be removed, and whatever might obstruct it shall be taken out of the way, Isaiah 62:10; Isaiah 62:10. The gates of Babylon shall be thrown open, that they may with freedom go through them; the way from Babylon to the land of Israel shall be prepared; causeways shall be made and cast up through wet and miry places, and the stones gathered out from places rough and rocky; in the convenient places appointed for their rendezvous standards shall be set up for their direction and encouragement, that they may embody for their greater safety. Thus John Baptist was sent to prepare the way of the Lord,Matthew 3:3. And, before Christ by his graces and comforts comes to any for salvation, preparation is made for him by repentance, which is called the preparation of the gospel of peace,Ephesians 6:15. Here the way is levelled by it, there the feet are shod with it, which comes all to one, for both are in order to a journey. 2. Notice shall be given of this salvation, Isaiah 62:11; Isaiah 62:12. It shall be proclaimed to the captives that they are set at liberty and may go if they please; it shall be proclaimed to their neighbours, to all about them, to the end of the world, that God has pleaded Zion's just, injured, and despised cause. Let is be said to Zion, for her comfort, Behold, thy salvation comes (that is, thy Saviour, who brings salvation); he will bring such a work, such a reward, in this salvation, as shall be admired by all, a reward of comfort and peace with him; but a work of humiliation and reformation before him, to prepare his people for that recompence of their sufferings; and then, with reference to each, it follows, they shall be called, The holy people, and the redeemed of the Lord. The work before him, which shall be wrought in them and upon them, shall denominate them a holy people, cured of their inclination to idolatry and consecrated to God only; and the reward with him, the deliverance wrought for them, shall denominate them the redeemed of the Lord, so redeemed as none but God could redeem them, and redeemed to be his, their bonds loosed, that they might be his servants. Jerusalem shall then be called, Sought out, a city not forsaken. She had been forsaken for many years; there were neither traders nor worshippers that enquired the way to Jerusalem as formerly, when it was frequented by both. But now God will again make her considerable. She shall be sought out, visited, resorted to, and court made to her, as much as ever. When Jerusalem is called a holy city, then it is called sought out; for holiness puts an honour and beauty upon any place or person, which draws respect, and makes them to be admired, beloved, and enquired after. But this being proclaimed to the end of the world must have a reference to the gospel of Christ, which was to be preached to every creature; and it intimates, (1.) The glory of Christ. It is published immediately to the church, but is thence echoed to every nation: Behold, thy salvation cometh. Christ is not only the Saviour, but the salvation itself; for the happiness of believers is not only from him, but in him, Isaiah 12:2; Isaiah 12:2. His salvation consists both in the work and in the reward which he brings with him; for those that are his shall neither be idle nor lose their labour. (2.) The beauty of the church. Christians shall be called saints (1 Corinthians 1:2), the holy people, for they are chosen and called to salvation through sanctification. They shall be called the redeemed of the Lord; to him they owe their liberty, and therefore to him they owe their service, and they shall not be ashamed to own both. None are to be called the redeemed of the Lord but those that are the holy people; the people of God's purchase are a holy nation. And they shall be called, Sought out. God shall seek them out, and find them, wherever they are dispersed, eclipsed, or lost in a crowd; men shall seek them out, that they may join themselves to them, and not forsake them. It is good to associate with the holy people, that we may learn their ways, and with the redeemed of the Lord, that we may share in the blessings of the redemption.