Koresh, to whom the first
book is dedicated; but, with that, the abnormal condition of misery and
abasement, which is so much opposed to the idea of the people of God,
is not completely and truly removed. That which the Servant of God
bestows upon the elect of Israel, viz., _raising up and restoration_,
is, in substance, the same which, according to what follows, He becomes
to the _Gentiles_, [Pg 242] viz., _light and salvation_. By becoming
light and salvation to the elect of Israel, He raises them up and leads
them back, inasmuch as this was the normal, natural condition of the
covenant-people, from which they had only fallen by their sins. It is
to that, that the election is restored by the Servant of God. By the
_tribes of Jacob_, the better part only of the people is to be
understood, to the exclusion of those souls who are cut off from their
people, because they have broken the covenant of the Lord, comp. ver.
4. This appears from the addition: "And the preserved of Israel"
(the _Kethibh_ [Hebrew: neiri] is an adjective form with a passive
signification; the marginal reading [Hebrew: ncvri] is the Part.
Pass.); just as, similarly in Ps. lxxiii. 1, Israel is limited to
the true Israel by the explanatory clause: "Such as are of a clean
heart." The verb [Hebrew: ncr], "to watch," is, according to
_Gesenius_, especially used _de Jehova homines custodiente et tuente._
Hence, the preserved of Israel are those whom God keeps under His
gracious protection and care, in contrast to the great mass of the
covenant-breakers whom He _gives up_. Chap. lxv. 13, 14: "Behold my
servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry; behold my servants shall
drink, but ye shall be thirsty; behold my servants shall rejoice, but
ye shall be ashamed; behold my servants shall sing for joy of heart,
but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of
spirit," likewise points to a great separation which shall take place
in the Messianic time. _Light_ (compare remarks on chap. xlii. 6), and
_salvation_ are related to one another, as the image to the thing
itself From the circumstance that the point here in question is the
reward for the Servant of God, who is to be indemnified for the loss
which He suffered by Israel (comp. ver. 4), it is obvious that we must
not explain: "that my salvation be," but: "that thou mayest be my
salvation;" for it is only when He is the salvation that such an
indemnification is spoken of Moreover, the Infin