Isaiah 10:21

Isa 10:21 The remnant shall return, [even] the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.

Ver. 21. A remnant shall return,] scil., To the Lord by true repentance, from whom they had deeply revolted. But of these there is but as a "remnant" - a poor few - in comparison of the whole piece of cloth.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Isa 10:21-23. The remnant shall return — Hebrew, שׁאר ישׁוב, shear- jashub, the name given to one of the prophet’s sons, (see Isa 7:3,) in confirmation of the truth of God’s promises. It may be rendered, as here, the remnant, or, a remnant, or, but a remnant, shall return; unto the mighty God — Hebrew, אל גבור, the very appellation given to Christ, Isa 9:6. For though thy people Israel — Or, thy people, O Israel; to whom the prophet, by an apostrophe, directs his speech; be as the sand, &c., yet a remnant — Or, a remnant only, as before; shall return — For that this is a threatening in respect of some, as well as a promise in respect of others, is evident from the rest of this, and from the following verse. The consumption decreed shall overflow — God’s judgments are said to overflow when they spread generally, the metaphor being taken from an inundation that sweeps all before it. The destruction of the people of Israel was already decreed by the fixed counsel of God, and therefore must needs be executed, and like a deluge overflow them, with, or in righteousness, as the word is rendered Rom 9:28, that is, with justice, and yet with clemency, inasmuch as he spared a considerable remnant of them, when he might have destroyed them utterly. In the midst of the land — In all the parts of the land, not excepting Jerusalem, which was to be preserved in the Assyrian invasion. Bishop Lowth translates these verses, “Though thy people, O Israel, shall be as the sand of the sea, a remnant of them only shall return. The consummation decided overfloweth with strict justice: For a full and decisive decree shall Jehovah, the Lord of hosts, accomplish in the midst of the land.” The prophet’s affirming, that only a remnant of Judah and Ephraim should be preserved, and return in true repentance to God, might justly cause wonder and offence, both to Jews and Israelites, at the time when he spoke these things: for it implied that far the greater part of the people should perish, which they must have conceived highly improbable, especially as they were at that time very numerous and flourishing. The prophet, therefore, declares repeatedly, and more explicitly, that God had determined, by an absolute and precise decree, thus to exercise his justice and severity upon them. This, it is evident, is the sense of the present passage, though there is some difficulty in the expressions. This prophecy was, in part, fulfilled at the Babylonish captivity, but there can be no doubt that it has also a reference to the times of the Messiah: see note on Rom 9:27. Indeed, as Lowth observes, the remnant, so miraculously preserved in Jerusalem from Sennacherib’s invasion, were a type or figure of that small number of converts under the gospel, styled σωζομενοι, (Act 2:47,) such as should be saved, namely, such as should escape the vengeance which fell upon the main body of the Jewish nation, for their sin in rejecting Christ. And there shall be another remnant of them that shall be saved in the latter days of the Christian Church.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

mighty God-- (Isa 9:6) the God who shall have evinced such might in destroying Israel's enemies. As the Assyrians in Sennacherib's reign did not carry off Judah captive, the returning "remnant" cannot mainly refer to this time.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 21. The remnant shalt return - unto the mighty God.] אל גבור El gibbor, the mighty or conquering God; the Messiah, the same person mentioned in Isa 9:6 of the preceding chapter.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(21) The remnant shall return . . .—The very form of the words (Shear-jashub) shows that the prophet had the “Immanuel promise in his thoughts, just as “the mighty God” (the same word as in Isa_9:6) must have reminded men of the Child who was to bear that name in the age to come. (Comp. Hezekiah’s proclamation in 2Ch_30:6.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21. The remnant, &c.] A remnant shall turn. Thus shall be fulfilled the prophecy embodied in the name of Isaiah’s son, Shear-jashub (ch. Isa_7:3).

the mighty God] the Hero-God—in ch. Isa_9:6 a title of the Messiah, but here apparently of Jehovah.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea,.... These words are spoken either by the Lord to the prophet, calling Israel his people; or by the prophet to Hezekiah, as Jarchi and Kimchi think; or they may be rendered thus, "for though thy people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea" (s); that is, innumerable, as was promised to Abraham, Gen 22:17,

yet a remnant of them shall return; or "be converted in it" (t), to the Messiah; or "be saved", as the apostle interprets it; see Gill on Rom 9:27; a remnant is a few, as Kimchi explains it, out of a great number: it signifies, that the majority of the Jewish nation should reject the Messiah, only a few of them should believe in him; and these should certainly believe in him, and be saved by him; and that for the following reason, because

the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness; that is, the precise and absolute decree, concerning the salvation of the remnant, God will cause to overflow, or abundantly execute, in a righteous manner, consistent with his divine perfections; and so it makes for the comfort of the remnant of the Lord's people, agreeably to the intent of the apostle's citation of it; see Gill on Rom 9:28; though some understand it of God's punitive justice, in consuming and destroying the greater part of the Jewish people, the ungodly among them, and saving a remnant, which return and repent; and to this sense are the Targum, and the Jewish commentators.

(s) "Nam etsi fuerit populus tuus, O Israel, sicut arena maris", Piscator. (t) "convertetur in eo", Montanus, Cocceius.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The remnant ... - That is, those who shall be left after the invasion of Sennacherib.

Shall return - Shall abandon their idolatrous rites and places of worship, and shall worship the true God.

The mighty God - The God that had evinced his power in overcoming and destroying the armies of Sennacherib.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The remnant; or, a remnant; or, but a remnant; or, a remnant only; which particles are oft understood, as hath been formerly and frequently observed, and may be here supplied from the following verses.

Unto the mighty God; unto the Messiah, expressly called the mighty God, Isa 9:6.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

21. The remnant — They shall return to Jehovah, who in the past was the Mighty One (El Gibbor, see note on Isa_9:7) to Israel. They shall return to God in Christ. See Hos_3:5, where Jehovah and David’s Son are placed side by side. Isaiah’s son, Shear-jashub — the fact of whose birth and the significance of whose name (Isa_7:3) no doubt are still familiar — brings up this doctrine of the “remnant,” etc., with vividness.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The mighty God. (comp. Isa_9:6) The name is not, however, Messianic in this place.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

"The remnant will turn, the remnant of Jacob, to God the mighty." El gibbor is God as historically manifested in the heir of David (Isa 9:6). Whilst Hosea (Hos 3:5) places side by side Jehovah and the second David, Isaiah sees them as one. In New Testament phraseology, it would be "to God in Christ."

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

“A remnant shall return, a remnant of Jacob, to God Almighty.” There is an obvious allusion in these words to the name of the Prophet’s son Shear-jashub, mentioned in Isa 7:3. As the people were probably familiar with this name, its introduction here would be the more significant. The remnant of Jacob means those who should survive God’s judgments threatened in this prophecy, not merely the Assyrian invasion or the Babylonish exile, but the whole series of remarkable events, by which the history of the chosen people would be marked, including the destruction and dispersion of the nation by the Romans. The return here spoken of is one that was to take place at various times and in various circumstances. Under the old dispensation, the prophecy was verified in the conversion of idolatrous Jews to the worship of Jehovah, or of wicked Jews to a godly life, by means of their afflictions; under the new, in the admission of believing Jews to the Christian church, and prospectively in the general conversion of Israel to God, which is yet to be expected.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

A remnant shall return The remnant of them shall return to the Holy One, blessed be He.

the mighty God Who demonstrated His might against Sennacherib.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

שאר יעקב. The remnant shall return. This is the name of the prophet’s son, which is to be explained now. Supply יעקב, after the first שאר. The remnant of Jacob, that is Judah, will return; repeat likewise ישוב before אל: The remnant of Jacob will return to the mighty God (comp. Prov. 21:14). The verse, if written in full, would run thus: שאר יעקב ישוב אל אל גבור שאר יעקב ישוב,. The remnant of Jacob will return, the remnant of Jacob will return to the mighty God.

Mighty, who is able to help them.

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.