Isaiah 49:21

Isa 49:21 Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where [had] they [been]?

Ver. 21. Then shalt thou say in thine heart.] Est artificiosa fictio, et color rhetoricus.

A captive, and removing to and fro.] The condition of God’s Church on earth - to be afflicted and tossed from post to pillar, having no settled abode; as neither had the ark, but was transportative, till settled at length in Solomon’s temple.

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.

Who, &c.--Zion's joyful wonder at the unexpected restoration of the ten tribes. Secondarily, the accession of spiritual Israelites to the mother church of Jerusalem from the Gentiles is meant. This created surprise at first (Act 10:45; Act 14:27; Act 15:3-4).

lost . . . am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro--rather, "bereaved of . . . have been barren, an exile and outcast" [HORSLEY]. She had been "put away" by Jehovah, her husband (Isa 50:1); hence her wonder at the children begotten to her.

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. These, where had they been - "These then, where were they?"] The conjunction is added before אלה elleh, that is, ואלה veelleh. in thirty-two MSS. (nine ancient) of Kennicott's, and fifty-four of De Rossi's, and so the Septuagint, Chaldee, and Vulgate. See on Isa 49:12.

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

(21) Who hath begotten me these . . .?—Better, who hath borne . . .? The widowed daughter of Zion cannot believe that these crowding children are her own, and asks, Who then is their mother? She, the widowed one, the prisoner, dragged hither and thither, could not claim them.

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

21. Zion is bewildered at finding herself once more “a joyful mother of children” (Psa_113:9).

Who hath begotten] Rather, Who hath borne (in spite of the masculine gender of the verb). The peculiar figure is probably to be explained by the custom illustrated in Gen_16:1 ff; Gen_30:1 ff., &c. The exile was the time of Zion’s barrenness; the generation of Israelites that had grown up in a foreign land are regarded as not her natural children, although legally they belong to her, having been borne for her by a stranger.

seeing I have lost &c.] seeing I am childless and unfruitful. The clause immediately following (which must be rendered exiled and put away) introduces a conception alien to the image of the verse. Zion herself was not “exiled” but “left alone,” when her children were taken from her. The words are wanting in the LXX. and may be a gloss.

these, where had they been?] If this were the sense intended, the verb “had been” (or “were”) would probably require to have been expressed. But the question that Zion broods over is not where her children had been, but how she comes to have children at all, who are strangers to her. Render, therefore (with Dillmann), these, how (is it) with them? of what description are they? (cf. Jdg_8:18).

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.

Then shalt thou say in thine heart,.... In, a way of admiration, secretly within herself, astonished at the numerous crowds flocking in;

who hath begotten me these? not their natural parents, nor they themselves;

for they are not born of blood, nor of the will of man, nor of the will of the flesh; nor ministers of the Gospel, though they are instruments, yet not the cause; but God only, Father, Son, and Spirit, to whom regeneration is only ascribed: regeneration is a wonderful work of God; it is unaccountable to the natural man; it is amazing to the saints themselves; and it is matter of astonishment to the church of God; especially when on a sudden, and without means, and in great numbers, men are born again; and particularly when these come from among the Gentiles, which seems to be the case here:

seeing I have lost my children; by captivity and the sword, by the tyranny and cruelty of the man of sin:

and am desolate; or alone, as if without a husband, or any to take care of her: this represents the church in the wilderness, during the reign of antichrist, Rev 12:14, while she seems to be forsaken of the Lord her husband, though she is not:

and a captive; to the Romish antichrist; see Rev 13:10,

and removing to and fro; being forced to flee from place to place, by reason of persecution: there is, no doubt, an allusion in all this to the case of the Jews in the Babylonish captivity:

and who hath brought up these? the same that begot them, even the Lord himself; who nourishes and brings up his children with the milk of the Gospel, and the breasts of Gospel ordinances; so that they are brought up from children to young men, from young men to fathers, till they become perfect men; even the church in the wilderness, with her children, are nourished by him, for a time, and times, and half a time, Rev 12:14 which is wonderful:

behold, I was left alone; seemingly without husband or children, in a desolate and wilderness state:

these, where had they been? in the ruins of Adam's fall; in a state of darkness; in the graves of sin; in a pit wherein is no water; in the hands of Satan, and among wicked men; even in Babylon itself, but now called out; see Rev 18:4.

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

Then shalt thou say in thine heart - Thou shalt wonder at the multitude, and shalt ask with astonishment from where they all come. This verse is designed to describe the great increase of the true people of God under the image of a mother who had been deprived of her children, who should suddenly see herself surrounded with more than had been lost, and should ask in astonishment from where they all came.

Who hath begotten me these - The idea here is, that the increase would be from other nations. They would not be the natural increase of Zion or Jerusalem, but they would come in from abroad - as if a family that had been bereaved should be increased by an accession from other families.

I have lost my children - Jerusalem had been desolated by wars, and had become like a widow that was bereft of all her sons (compare the notes at Isa 47:8-9).

A captive, and removing to and fro - A captive in Babylon, and compelled to wander from my own land, and to live in a strange and distant country.

These, where had they been? - The image in this entire verse is one of great beauty. It represents a mother who had been suddenly deprived of all her children, who had been made a widow, and conveyed as a captive from land to land. She had seen ruin spread all around her dwelling, and regarded herself as alone. Suddenly she finds herself restored to her home, and surrounded with a happy family. She sees it increased beyond its former numbers, and herself blessed with more than her former prosperity. She looks with surprise on this accession, and asks with wonder from where all these have come, and where they have been. The language in this verse is beautifully expressive of the agitation of such a state of mind, and of the effect which would be thus produced. The idea is plain. Jerusalem had been desolate. Her inhabitants had been carried captive, or had been put to death. But she should be restored, and the church of God would be increased by a vast accession from the Gentile world, so much that the narrow limits which had been formerly occupied - the territory of Palestine - would now be too small for the vast numbers that would be united to those who professed to love and worship God.

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

Then shalt thou say, not without admiration,

Who hath begotten me these? whence or by whom have I this numberless issue?

Seeing I have lost my children; seeing it is not long since that I was in a manner left childless. Am desolate; without a husband, being forsaken by God, who formerly owned himself for my Husband, Isa 54:5; Jer 31:32, and elsewhere.

A captive, and removing to and fro; which condition is in many respects a great impediment to the procreation of children. Who hath brought up these? the same thing repeated again to express the miraculousness of this work, and the great surprisal of the Jews at it; which showeth that he speaks of the conversion of the Gentiles.

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

21. Thou — Zion.

Shalt… say — Namely, to herself, in absolute wonderment.

Who hath begotten me these — The bereft, wondering captive has become the spiritual mother of a vast throng, and she inquires in ecstasy, Where had they been? This paraphrase is not fanciful, but touches the text at every point. It well describes the astonishment of the hitherto desolate Zion.

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

Who hath begotten me these? The Jewish Church is astounded at the influx of the Gentiles, and asks, "Where did they come from? Who has made them my children? Who has trained them?" That they are not her natural children she is sure, since she knows that she has been for a long time "bereaved and unfruitful" (Cheyne) a captive, and a "wanderer" (Kay). It is certain that the Jewish Church did not at first altogether welcome the incoming of the Gentiles. (Act_11:1-3 Act_15:1-11 Gal_2:11-14, etc.) But the guidance of the Holy Spirit surmounted the difficulty. (Act_15:28)

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

Who - Whence have I this numberless issue? Seeing - Seeing I was in a manner left childless. Desolate - Without an husband, being forsaken by God, who formerly owned himself for my husband.

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

The words that sound in the ears of Zion are now followed by the thought of astonishment and surprise, that rises up in her heart. "And thou wilt say in thy heart, Who hath borne me these, seeing I was robbed of children, and barren, banished, and thrust away; and these, who hath brought them up? Behold, I was left alone; these, where were they?" She sees herself suddenly surrounded by a great multitude of children, and yet she was robbed of children, and galmūdâh (lit. hard, stony, Arab. 'galmad, 'gulmūd, e.g., es-sachr el'gulmūd, the hardest stone, mostly as a sugstantive, stone or rock, from gâlam, from which comes the Syriac gelomo, stony ground, related to châlam, whence challâmı̄sh, gravel, root gal, gam, to press together, or heap up in a lump or mass), i.e., one who seemed utterly incapacitated for bearing children any more. She therefore asks, Who hath borne me these (not, who hath begotten, and which is an absurd question)? She cannot believe that they are the children of her body, and her children's children. As a tree, whose foliage is all faded away, is called nōbheleth itself in Isa 1:30, so she calls herself gōlâh vesūrâh, extorris et remota (sūr = mūsâr, like sūg in Pro 14:14 = nâsōg or mussâg), because her children have been carried away into exile. In the second question, the thought has dawned upon her mind, that those by whom she finds herself surrounded are her own children; but as she was left alone, whilst they went forth, as she thought to die in a foreign land, she cannot comprehend where they have been hitherto concealed, or where they have grown up into so numerous a people.

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.)

“And thou shalt say in thine heart,” (i.e., to thyself, in strict agreement with the preceding verse, as a dialogue not between the mother and her children, but between the children in their mother’s hearing). This is consequently not an answer to what goes before, but an observation uttered, as it were, aside by an eye and ear witness of the struggle and the clamor for more room. With them the question is, ‘where they shall dwell’; with her it is, ‘whence they came. Who hath produced these for me?’ As in other cases the mother is said to bear a child to the father, so in this case one mother may without absurdity be said to bear a child to another, because in either case the essential idea is that of one person being provided with a child by another, whether it be a husband by his wife, or a childless woman by a woman who has children. The truth is, however, that the force and beauty of the passage are exceedingly impaired by cutting its bold figures to the quick, and insisting on a rigorous conformity to artificial rules, instead of resting in the general conception, so clearly and affectingly presented, of a childless mother finding herself suddenly surrounded by the clamor of a multitude of children, and asking in amazement whence they came and who they are. The distinction between father and mother is one which would never occur to the speaker in such a case, and may therefore be safely overlooked by the interpreter. The cause of her astonishment is then assigned. “And I was bereaved and barren.” These almost incompatible expressions for a childless one are joined for the purpose of expressing that idea in the strongest manner, and with more regard to the idea itself than to the rules of rhetorical propriety. An exile and a banished one. The last word strictly means removed, (i.e., from home and from society). “And these who brought up?” literally made great, as in Isa 1:2. “Behold, I was left alone (or by myself); these, where were they?” The pronoun at the end is emphatic: “where were they?” She asks how it is that she was so long desolate and childless, when she sees so many children round her now. The Zion of this context is the ancient church or chosen people, represented by the Sanctuary and the Holy City, as its local center and appointed symbol. Of this ideal subject, desolation, childlessness, captivity, exile, and the other varying conditions here described, may all be predicated with the same propriety. If this, however, be the true exegetical hypothesis, and no other seems to answer all the requisitions of the case, then the Babylonish exile, and the state of the church at that period of her history, has no claim to be recognized as anything more than a particular exemplification of the general promise, that the church, after passing through extreme depression and attenuation, should be raised up and replenished like a childless mother who suddenly finds herself surrounded by a large and joyous family of children.

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

General Information:

Yahweh continues speaking to Zion as if it were a woman. (See: Personification)

Who has borne these children for me?

Zion speaks of the people who are returning to inhabit the city as if those people were her children. Zion's question expresses her surprise that so many children now belong to her. (See: Metaphor and Rhetorical Question)

I was bereaved and barren, exiled and divorced

Zion describes herself as a woman incapable of having more children. She indicates the reasons for her great surprise. (See: Metaphor)

I was bereaved and barren

"I was mourning over my dead children and unable to have more"

exiled and divorced

"I was sent away, without a husband"

Who has raised these children? Look, I was left all alone; where did these come from?

Again, Zion uses questions to expresses her surprise. AT: "Look, I was left all alone; now all of these children that I did not raise have come to me." (See: Rhetorical Question)

translationWords

children

barren

exile

divorce

raise

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

and solitary solede in O.F.

rejected Rejected by everyone. All say about me, “Turn away from her.”

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.

נלמודה Desolate. Remaining lonely; comp. גלמוד solitary (Job 3:7). It is an adjective, of a quadriliteral root.

וסורה And removing to and fro. It is an adjective, and not a participle passive; for סור to depart is a neuter verb.

איפה where. It is a compound of two words אי and פה

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.