Isaiah 14:2

Isa 14:2 And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.

Ver. 2. For servants and for handmaids.] Their converts shall be willing to lay their hands under their feet, as we say, and glad to do them any service, like as Cyprian was for Caecilius, whom he called novae vitae parentem, parent of new life, and Latimer for Bilney, whom he called Blessed Bilney. See Isa 49:23.

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 14:2. And the people shall take them, &c. — They shall provide them with all necessary accommodations for their journey: see Ezr 4:1. And Israel shall possess them for servants — Those of the Chaldeans who left their own country for the sake of religion, and went along with the Jews into Judea, would probably be content to live among them in an inferior condition, and give them the benefit of their service. Or, the meaning may be, that many of the Jewish people should be in such circumstances as to be able to procure servants in the land where they were captives, and to take them with them into their own land as their servants. So that the people of the country where they had been captives, became captives or servants to the Jews, in their own land; who might therefore be said strictly to rule over those who had oppressed them. But, without question, these words have a further meaning in them, and point at those times under the gospel, when the apostles, and other ministers of Christ, who were of the Jewish nation, should conquer a great part of the Gentile world, and subject them to the worship of the true God, obedience to the Jewish Messiah, and the laws of Christianity.

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

14:2 Just as Israel was subject to the Lord, so the nations of the world would submit themselves to the Lord through Israel (45:14; 49:7, 23; 60:12, 14; 66:23). • The oppressed nation of Israel will rule over its enemies, assuming a position of power and favor with God.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Signifying, that the Jews should be superiors to the Gentiles, and that they should be brought under the service of Christ by the preaching of the Apostles, whereby all are brought to the subjection of Christ, 2 Cor. 10:5.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

the people--of Babylon, primarily. Of the whole Gentile world ultimately (Isa 49:22; Isa 66:20; Isa 60:9).

their place--Judea (Ezr 1:1-6).

possess--receive in possession.

captives--not by physical, but by moral might; the force of love, and regard to Israel's God (Isa 60:14).

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 2. For servants and handmaids] For thrallis and thrallesses. - OLD BIBLE. Male and female slaves.

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

(2) The people shall take them . . .—Literally, the peoples. In Ezr_1:1-4; Ezr_6:7-8, we have what answered, in a measure, to the picture thus drawn; but here, as elsewhere, the words paint an ideal to which there has been as yet no historical reality fully corresponding. No period of later Jewish history has beheld the people ruling over a conquered race; and if we claim a real fulfilment of the last clause of the verse, it is only in the sense in which the Latin poet said that Grœcia capta ferum victorem cepit (Horat. Ep. II. i. 156). The triumph of Israel has, so far, been found in that of its leading ideas, and in the victory of the faith of Christ. In Isa_56:3 the proselyte appears as admitted on terms of equality, here on those of subjugation.

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

2. And the people] And peoples (ch. Isa_49:22 f.).

shall possess them] Lit. “serve themselves heirs to them” (Lev_25:46). For the idea cf. ch. Isa_60:10; Isa_60:14, Isa_61:5.

they shall take them captives, whose captives they were] Jdg_5:12.

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.

And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place,.... That is, the people among whom the Jews dwelt in Babylon, who had a kindness for them, and especially such of them as were proselyted to their religion should attend them in their journey home, and supply them with all necessaries for provision and carriage, as they were allowed to do by the edict of Cyrus, Ezr 1:4 and this will have a further accomplishment in the latter day, when the Gentiles shall bring their sons and daughters in their arms, and on their shoulders, and on horses, and in chariots, to Jerusalem, Isa 49:21 which last passage Kimchi refers to, as explanative of this:

and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord, for servants and handmaids; by the "land of the Lord" is meant the land of Israel, which was peculiarly his; for though the whole earth is his, yet he chose this above all others for the place of his worship, under the former dispensation; and where his son, in the fulness of time, should appear in human nature, preach the Gospel, perform miracles, and work out the salvation of his people; and where his feet shall stand at the latter day, when he comes to judge the world; this is the same with Immanuel's land, Isa 8:8 hither many of the Chaldeans coming along with the Jews, and having embraced their religion, chose rather to be servants and handmaids to them, than to return to their own land, and who were a kind of inheritance or possession to the Jews; though some think that these were such as they bought of the Babylonians, that came with them to be their servants, and not they themselves. It may be understood of Gentile converts in Gospel times, who would willingly and cheerfully engage in the service of the church of God, and by love serve his people, and one another. Kimchi explains this clause by Isa 61:5,

and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors: that is, the Babylonians, who had carried the Jews captive, should be taken captives by them, and made slaves of; which might be true of those they bought of them, when they returned to their own land; or, as some think, this had its accomplishment in the times of the Maccabees, when they conquered many people, who before had carried them captive, and oppressed them; and in a spiritual and mystical sense has been fulfilled in the times of the Gospel, through the spread of it in the Gentile world, by the ministry of the apostles, who were Jews; by which means many of the nations of the world were brought to the obedience of Christ and his church.

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

And the people shall take them - That is, the people in Babylon.

And bring them to their place - That is, they shall attend them to the land of Judea, and aid in restoring them to their own country. There is reference here, doubtless, to the fact that Cyrus would assist them (compare Ezr 1:1-11), and that many of the inhabitants of Chaldea who would become proselytes, would be willing to accompany them to their own land.

And the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord - Not in a foreign land, and among strangers and foes, but in their own land, and among the institutions of their own religion. They would be willing to return with them, and occupy a humble place among them, as servants, for the sake of enjoying the privileges of the true religion. It was a matter of course among the Hebrews, that proselytes would be regarded as occupying a less elevated place in society than native-born Jews.

And they shall take them captive ... - That is, they shall induce them to become proselytes; to be willing to accompany them to their own homes, and to become their servants there. It does not mean that they would subdue them by force; but they would be able, by their influence there, to disarm their opposition; and to induce them to become the friends of their religion.

And they shall rule over their oppressors - This is one instance where the people of God would show that they could disarm their oppressors by a mild and winning demeanour, and in which they would be able to induce others to join with them. Such would be the force of their example and conduct, of their conversation and of their deportment, even in the midst of proud and haughty Babylon, that their oppressors would be won to embrace the religion of their captives. If, in proud and haughty Babylon, those who loved the Lord could thus do good; if, when they were “captives,” they could have such an influence over their haughty masters, where is there a place in which the friends of God may not be useful by their example, their conversation, and their prayers?

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

Place. Cyrus probably granted an escort, as Artaxerxes did, 2 Esdras ii. 7. --- Servants. They had purchased many slaves, (1 Esdras ii. 65.) as some were very rich in captivity, and were treated like other subjects. --- Oppressors. Stragglers of the army of Cambyses, &c., though this was chiefly verified under the Machabees, Jeremias xxv. 14., and xxx. 16. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Which they might do literally, and sometimes did, after their return into their own land, either by their power with the Persian monarchs, as in the days of Cyrus and Darius, and especially of Ahasuerus; or by their own prowess, as in the time of the Maccabees. But this was more evidently and eminently verified in a spiritual sense, in the days of the gospel, when the apostles and other ministers, who were of the Jewish nation, conquered a great part of the Gentile world to the worship and obedience of their Messiah.

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

2. And the people — Literally, peoples; they of Babylon; heathen turned friends; Cyrus and authorities under him.

Bring them to their place — They shall attend them to the land of Judea.

The house of Israel — The Jews.

Possess them — As converts from heathenism.

In the land of the Lord — In the low sense, this means in Judea. But the prophecy sweeps, as usual, into the times of the Messiah, the spiritual realm of the Church.

Take them captives — Into the true religion.

Shall rule over their oppressors — Under laws and truths of the Messiah’s kingdom. There are here predicted exchanged conditions, external and internal. The chosen people and the other peoples change places, the Jews to their own land, with heathen in a willing sense subject to them; but the full accomplishment of the prophecy is to be fulfilled when the Church of Christ shall become prevalent in the earth.

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

And the people shall take them; rather, peoples shall take them. The heathen nations among whom they have dwelt shall rejoice at the restoration of Israel to their own land, and even escort them in a friendly spirit to their borders. (comp. Ezr_1:4, 6 Neh_2:7-9) Some shall go so far as voluntarily to become their bondservants in Palestine. They shall take them captive, whose captives they were. This can scarcely have been intended literally. The Jews were at no time a conquering people, nor one that set itself to "take captives." The true meaning is that Jewish ideas shall penetrate and subdue the nations generally, and among them those with whom Israel had dwelt as captives. The Jews did become very powerful and numerous both in Assyria and Babylonia about the first century after Christ, and Christian Churches were early formed in Mesopotamia, Adiabene, and even Babylon.

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

Rule - Which they literally did, after their return into their own land. But this was more eminently verified in a spiritual sense, in the days of the gospel.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

“And nations shall take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel shall take possession of them on Jehovah’s land for male and female servants, and (thus) they (the Israelites) shall be the captors of their captors, and rule over their oppressors.” The first clause is rendered somewhat obscure by the reference of the pronoun ‘them’ to different subjects, first the Jews and then the Gentiles. Most interpreters are agreed that it relates to the part taken by the Gentiles in the restoration of the Jews. To a Hebrew reader the word would convey the idea, not of bare possession merely, but of permanent possession, rendered perpetual by hereditary succession. The word is used in this sense, and with special reference to slaves or servants in Lev 25:46. The simple meaning of this promise seems to be that the church or chosen people and the other nations should change places, the oppressed becoming the oppressor, and the slave the master. This of course admits both an external and internal fulfillment. In a lower sense and on a smaller scale it was accomplished in the restoration of the Jews from exile; but its full accomplishment is yet to come.

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

shall inherit they shall inherit from them, and similarly, “and you shall hold onto them as an inheritance” (Lev. 25:46).

and rule Heb. וְרָדוּ, an expression of ruling and dominating, as (Lev. 25: 46): “You shall not rule over him (תִרְדֶה).”

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.

And the people shall take them, etc. When people will see how Cyrus honours Israel, they will like to be servants to the Israelites.

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.