Isaiah 49:2

And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword,.... Or, "he hath put his words in my mouth as a sharp sword,'' as the Targum; namely, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, and is sharper

And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me; He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword (Isaiah

He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; as he made me the great Teacher of his church and of the world, so he assisted me by his Spirit, and made my word or doctrine quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, &c., as it is said to be, , killing men’ s lusts, convincing, humbling, and converting their souls; and mighty to the pulling down of strong holds, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ, as we read, ,5. In the shadow of his hand hath he hid me; he will protect me by his power from all mine enemies, until I have finished the work for which he sent me. Made me a polished shaft; like an arrow, whose point is bright and polished; which therefore pierceth deeper. This metaphor signifies the same thing with the former, Christ’ s piercing of men’ s hearts by his word and Spirit. Quiver; where arrows are hid and kept. The quiver signifies the same thing with the shadow in the foregoing clause, even God’ s powerful and gracious protection of him from dangers and mischiefs.

Isaiah 49:2 And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;Ver. 2. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword.] He hath added efficacy to my doctrine, and will protect my person till I have finished the work that he gave me to do. And made me a polished shaft.] That, being well pointed, will pierce at a distance, and either prick converts at the heart, or cut refractories to the heart. Christ will pursue his enemies both with the terrors of his words, his mouth being "made like a sharp sword," and with the plagues of his hands, being made like a polished shaft.

(2) He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword.—The words indicate at once the spiritual nature of the “Servant’s” victories. It is his speech that wounds and heals, his words that go like winged arrows to their mark. The description finds an echo in Hebrews 4:12; Revelation 1:16; Revelation 19:15; Ephesians 6:17. The “shaft” is “polished,” as piercing without impediment. It is “hid in the quiver,” reserved, in the drama of the world’s history, and in each crisis of the Servant’s life, till the “hour was come,” the appointed “fulness of time” (John 2:4; John 7:6; Galatians 4:4).

Verse 2. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword - "And he hath made my mouth a sharp sword"] The servant of God, who speaks in the former part of this chapter, must be the Messiah. If any part of this character can in any sense belong to the prophet, yet in some parts it must belong exclusively to Christ; and in all parts to him in a much fuller and more proper sense. Isaiah's mission was to the Jews, not to the distant nations, to whom the speaker in this place addresses himself. "He hath made my mouth a sharp sword;" "to reprove the wicked, and to denounce unto them punishment," says Jarchi, understanding it of Isaiah. But how much better does it suit him who is represented as having "a sharp two-edged sword going out of his mouth," Revelation 1:16; who is himself the Word of God; which word is "quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart;" Hebrews 4:12. This mighty Agent and Instrument of God, "long laid up in store with him, and sealed up among his treasures," is at last revealed and produced by his power, and under his protection, to execute his great and holy purposes. He is compared to a polished shaft stored in his quiver for use in his due time. The polished shaft denotes the same efficacious word which is before represented by the sharp sword. The doctrine of the Gospel pierced the hearts of its hearers, "bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." The metaphor of the sword and the arrow, applied to powerful speech, is bold, yet just. It has been employed by the most ingenious heathen writers, if with equal elegance, not with equal force. It is said of Pericles by Aristophanes, (see Cicero, Epist. ad Atticum, xii. 6:) - Οὑτωςεκηλει, καιμονοςτωνῥητορων Τοκεντρονεγκατελειπετοιςακροωμενοις. Apud. Diod. lib. xii. His powerful speech Pierced the hearer's soul, and left behind Deep in his bosom its keen point infixed. Pindar is particularly fond of this metaphor, and frequently applies it to his own poetry: - Επεχενυνσκοπῳτοξον, Αγε, θυμε. τιναβαλλομεν Εκμαλθακαςαυτεφρε - νοςευκλεαςοΐστους Ἱεντες - ; Olymp. ii. 160. "Come on! thy brightest shafts prepare, And bend, O Muse, thy sounding bow; Say, through what paths of liquid air Our arrows shall we throw?" WEST. See also ver. 149 of the same ode, and Olymp. ix. 17, on the former of which places the Scholiast says, τροπικοςὁλογος·βεληδετουςλογουςεορηκε, διατοοξυκαικαιριοντωνεγκωμιων. "He calls his verses shafts, by a metaphor, signifying the acuteness and the apposite application of his panegyric." This person, who is (Isaiah 49:3) called Israel, cannot in any sense be Isaiah. That name, in its original design and full import, can only belong to him who contended powerfully with God in behalf of mankind, and prevailed, Genesis 32:28. After all that Vitringa, Bp.

2. The Servant is described as one prepared in secret for his great work. He compares himself to a weapon fashioned by Jehovah for His own use, but kept in reserve till the fulness of time. As the ideal prophet, he speaks of his mouth, the organ of prophetic utterance (see Jeremiah 1:9; Isaiah 6:7), as made like a sharp sword in virtue of the “word” which Jehovah puts in it (ch. Isaiah 51:16; cf. Hebrews 4:12). in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me] (ch. Isaiah 51:16). The metaphor perhaps denotes protection rather than secrecy. a polished arrow] see Jeremiah 51:16. There is nothing in the verse inconsistent with the idea that the speaker is Israel personified. The fundamental thought, translated into modern language, would be that prophecy is the highest expression of the genius of Israel; and the idealised nation is naturally identified with what is best and most characteristic in its history, and invested with the character of the ideal prophet. And again, Jehovah’s hiding of His Servant may express the truth that Israel had been providentially preserved through long ages for the sake of the spiritual endowments which made it the mouthpiece of revelation. The further idea that the real mission of Israel was concealed both from the world and from the nation itself is no doubt true, but is perhaps hardly contained in the figure.

And he hath made my mouth - The idea here is, that he had qualified him for a convincing and powerful eloquence - for the utterance of words which would penetrate the heart like a sharp sword.

2. My mouth — That is, my words, cutting, penetrating, because they pierce and cause pain to guilty souls: represented in Hebrews 4:12, as “sharper than any two-edged sword,” and in Revelation 1:16,