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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 For Yahweh, will have compassion, on Jacob, And will yet, choose Israel, And will give them rest upon their own soil,–And the sojourner, shall join himself, unto them, And they shall attach themselves unto the house of Jacob; |
Mercy on Jacob – Natural Israel. A300
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| 2 And peoples, shall take them, and bring them into their own place, And the house of Israel shall possess themselves of them, upon the soil of Yahweh, for servants and for handmaids,–Thus shall they be taking captive their captors, And shall tread down their oppressors. |
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| 3 And it shall come to pass, in the day when Yahweh, shall give thee rest, from thy toil, and from thy disquiet,–and from the hard service which had been laid upon thee, |
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| 4 that thou shalt take up this taunt over the king of Babylon, and shalt say:–How, hath ceased, the oppressor! Ceased, the exactress! |
Of Babylon – Mystic Babylon, Christendom. D26
The golden city – The exactress of gold, see margin. D473
Ceased! – Gone to sheol, oblivion. Babylon shall be utterly lost sight of and forgotten. E369[E369]
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| 5 Broke, hath Yahweh the staff of the lawless,–The sceptre of despots; |
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| 6 Smiting peoples in passion, With stroke unremitting,–Trampling, in anger, on nations, Persecution unhindered. |
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| 7 Quiet, at rest, the whole earth,–Men have burst into shouting! |
Earth is at rest – Will be, as a result of the establishment of God's Kingdom. R3053:4, R1248:5
Into singing – The prospect even now puts a new song into our mouths. R1262:3
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| 8 Yea the pine-trees, make mirth at thee, Cedars of Lebanon, Since thou wast laid low, No feller hath come up against us! |
The fir trees – The Lord's people. R480:5*
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| 9 Hades, beneath, is excited about thee, To meet thine arrival,–Rousing up, for thee, Shades, All the he-goats of earth! Maketh rise from their thrones, All the kings of the nations. |
Hell from beneath – Sheol, oblivion (Margin: grave). E369; R2599:5
The preface to the Revised Version says that the word "hell" was left in this passage because of the familiarity of the passage. Elsewhere they translate "sheol" with either "grave" or "pit." R829:1*
Learned translators could not agree to render this word "grave" or "tomb" and left it untranslated. PD29/41
At thy coming – At the destruction of Great Babylon, soon. E369
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| 10 All of them, answer, and say to thee,–Thou too, made strengthless, as we! Unto us, art thou like! |
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| 11 Brought down to Hades, thy pride, The hum of thy harps, Beneath thee, is spread out corruption, And, thy coverlet–worms! |
Pomp is brought down – Babylon's greatness will soon be a thing of the past. E369
To the grave – Sheol, oblivion, not to a burning hell. E369; R2600:2
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| 12 How, hast thou fallen from heaven, O Shining One–Son of the Dawn! Hewn down to the earth, O crusher of nations! |
How art thou fallen – This description primarily fits Satan's own course, and in a secondary sense is applicable to the rise and fall of literal Babylon; and in a yet further sense to the rise and fall of mystic Babylon. F618[F618:1]
From heaven – God has found it necessary to perform the unpleasant duties of discipline. In justice he must disown the disloyal sons and deal with them as enemies. R1833:4[R1833:6]
Lucifer – A glorious angelic being of a high order. OV306:3; SM63:1; R5843:3[R5843:7]
The shining one, God's first opponent. R5896:1[R5896:3]
His name was changed to that of Satan, meaning the hater, the accuser. R5896:1[R5896:3]
Primarily Satan, whose existence many deny. F609[F609:1]
Secondarily, applies to literal and mystic Babylon. F618; R1686:2
Son of the morning – One of the earliest of creation. R1642:1, R1686:1
If Satan had known the results of his course, he probably would not have taken it. R5576:5
Cut down to the ground – Limited to the earth and sentenced to final destruction. R1686:3
Cut off from all association with holy beings. R5896:1
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| 13 Yet, thou, didst say in thy heart–The heavens, will I ascend, Above the stars of GOD, will I lift up my throne,–That I may sit in the Mount of Assembly, In the Recesses of the North: |
I will ascend – Ambition is good, but only when it is based on humility. Any spirit that does not respect God's wisdom is foolish. R5186:2
Lucifer had long cherished in his heart ambitious designs. PD15/24; R4928:6, R5665:3
A man has no right to aspire to be an angel, never having been invited to that position; nor has an angel any right to aspire to the divine nature, that never having been offered to him. A189
It was by permitting pride and ambition to gain control of his heart that Satan became an opponent of God and of righteousness. R5183:3
"Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased." (Luke 14:11) A189; R5844:5
Ambition is necessary in the Church, as in the world; but it must not be a selfish ambition for greatness or prominence, but a loving ambition to serve the Lord and his people, even the very humblest. F296
He became ambitious to become some great one, thereby necessitating his abasement; for "pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." (Prov. 16:18) R1892:3
Illustrating the principle that no kind of pride is more detestable in God's sight than pride of the truth. R5001:1
Nothing in the Scriptures indicates that Satan assumed any evil disposition or opposition to the Almighty prior to his seduction of our first parents. This was the time of Satan's temptation and fall into sin. R2839:6, R1678:1
Into heaven – Power of spiritual control. A318; R1686:2
Exalt my throne – Authority and rulership. A92
Satan thought to exalt himself; Jesus, to humble himself. R5186:2; E80
Above – A position already filled by the only begotten Son of God. R1686:2
The stars of God – Others of the sons of God. F297, R1686:2
Satan wanted to be higher than the other angels, their captain and leader. SM95:1; R5955:4, R1515:2, R4928:6; OV15:3; PD15/24
Upon the mount – The Kingdom. F618
Of the congregation – God's people. F618
Sides of the north – The Pleiades, in the north, long esteemed the center of the universe, the Throne of Jehovah. F618
The farthest end of the north-universal dominion. R1686:2
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| 14 I will mount on the hills of the clouds, I will match the Most High! |
Like the most High – A monarch, or king, over the human family. E113; R2839:6, R1678:1; OV15:3; SM63:1; PD15/24
His peer, his equal. R4928:6, R1515:2
Not to take Jehovah's place, but to establish a rival dominion. CR425:6; OV15:3; SM63:1, SM95:1
Indicating a covetous, selfish, presumptuous, ambitiously proud spirit, in opposition to God. R5665:3, R5955:4, R5183:3, R5001:2; SM63:1; OV298:4
The ambition to become ruler seems to have developed as he beheld the first human pair with their procreative powers, reasoning that if he could control this man he should have dominion over all his offspring. R1678:1; PD15/24; SM63:1, SM95:1; Q826:T; HG593:6
He thought that if he had an empire of his own he could improve upon the divine order of things. OV306:3
"As God is the Emperor of the entire universe, I should like to be the Emperor of some quarter of it where I might reign supreme and work out my own schemes and plans." Q826:T
He would prefer to be a monarch of happier subjects than the "groaning creation" and is thus willing to become a reformer in all particulars but one--his ambition must be gratified. E113
Satan's claim is contrasted with Jesus', who did not claim equality or aspire to a usurpation of God's authority. (Phil. 2:6, Diaglott) R1686:2, R369:3, R5844:5, R1515:2
The very exaltation which Satan sought and failed to reach by pride and rebellion is, in substance, obtained by the chief messenger who humbled himself and has now been exalted to the divine nature. R490:3
A man has no right to aspire to be an angel, never having been invited to that position; nor has an angel the right to aspire to the divine nature, that never having been offered to him. R612:3
A usurper of divine authority, without divine appointment, and contrary to divine regulation. F297, R1515:2, R4928:6; SM95:1
This language applies also symbolically to the Papacy, for the Papacy is Satan's own work, in his own likeness. R1686:2
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| 15 Howbeit, to Hades, shalt thou be brought down,–To the Recesses of the Pit! |
Yet thou shalt be – "God is the Judge, he putteth down one and setteth up another." (Psa. 75:6,7) R5710:5
Down to hell – Sheol, oblivion. F618, R2599:5
The grave, so rendered in verse 11. R2599:5
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| 16 They who see thee, upon thee, will gaze, Upon thee, will thoughtfully muse,–Is this, the man who startled the earth? Who terrified kingdoms? |
Is this the man – Perhaps suggesting that Satan would appear as a man in the last days. (In letter from Benjamin Barton. Brother Russell's view is different.) R5866:3*, R5867:1
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| 17 Who made the world like a desert? And, its cities, brake down? Its prisoners, he loosed not, Each one to his home? |
Of his prisoners – Death's captives. A112
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| 18 All the kings of the nations–they all, are lying in state, Each one in his crypt; |
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| 19 But, thou, art flung out from thy grave, Like a scion detested, Beshrouded with slain, the pierced of the sword, Like a carcase trod underfoot: |
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| 20 As for them who go down to the stones of the Pit, Thou shalt not be united with them in burial; For, thy land, thou didst ruin, Thy people, didst slay,–Unnamed to times ago-abiding, Be the seed of the wicked! |
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| 21 Prepare–for his sons–shambles, For the iniquity of their fathers,–They shall not rise, nor possess the earth, Nor fill the face of the world with cities. |
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| 22 I will rise, Then, against them, Declareth Yahweh of hosts,–And will cut off from Babylon, Record and remnant, And scion and seed, Declareth Yahweh. |
For I will rise up – Not wholly fulfilled by Cyrus; much still awaits for fulfilment in mystic Babylon. R2498:3
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| 23 And will make her a possession for the bittern, And marshes of water,–And will sweep it with the besom of destruction, Declareth Yahweh of hosts. |
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| 24 Yahweh of hosts, hath sworn, saying,–Surely, as I intended, so, hath it come to pass, And, as I purposed, the same, shall stand:– |
So shall it stand – God's original plan is still in progress. A66; R419:3; HG537:3
We have the assurance that all God's purposes shall be accomplished. R165:5
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| 25 That I will break in pieces the Assyrian, in my land, Yea, upon my mountains, will I tread him underfoot,–So shall be removed from off them, his yoke, And, his burden, from off their shoulder, shall be removed. |
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| 26 This, is the purpose that is purposed upon all the earth,–And, this, the hand outstretched over all the nations; |
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| 27 For, Yahweh of hosts, hath purposed,–And who, shall frustrate? And, his, is the hand outstretched, And who, shall turn it back? |
Hath purposed – God knows the end from the beginning; he changes not from his original purpose. R2026:6
Who shall disannul it? – God has a definite and systematic plan for the development of the race by which the largest possible proportion thereof shall be brought to ultimate and permanent good. R902:6*
God's righteous and benevolent plan could know no failure. R1834:6
Turn it back? – Having begun the work of salvation, God does not intend to abandon it. R2690:1
God's plans were perfect before they began to be executed; hence all the changes of God's course or conduct are working out the accomplishment of his original purpose which contemplated these very changes. R2026:6
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| 28 In the year that King Ahaz died, came this oracle:– |
King Ahaz died – Check Bible chronology
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| 29 Do not rejoice, Philistia, any of thee, In that the rod of him that smote thee, is broken,–For, out of the root of the serpent, shall come forth, a viper, And his fruit be a fiery dragon that flieth. |
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| 30 Then shall feed, the firstborn of the poor, And, the needy, in confidence, lie down,–And I will kill with famine thy root, And, thy residue, shall be slain. |
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| 31 Howl–O gate, Make outcry–O city, Dispersed art thou, Philistia, all of thee,–For, out of the north, a smoke cometh in, With no, straggler in his ranks. |
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| 32 What, then, shall one answer the messengers of a nation? That, Yahweh, hath founded Zion, And, in her, shall seek refuge, the oppressed of his people. |
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