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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 Because Jehovah loveth Jacob, And hath fixed again on Israel, And given them rest on their own land, And joined hath been the sojourner to them, And they have been admitted to the house of Jacob. |
Mercy on Jacob – Natural Israel. A300
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| 2 And peoples have taken them, And have brought them in unto their place, And the house of Israel have inherited them, On the land of Jehovah, For men-servants and for maid-servants, And they have been captors of their captors, And have ruled over their exactors. |
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| 3 And it hath come to pass, In the day of Jehovah's giving rest to thee, From thy grief, and from thy trouble, And from the sharp bondage, That hath been served upon thee, |
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| 4 That thou hast taken up this simile Concerning the king of Babylon, and said, How hath the exactor ceased, |
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 Ceased hath the golden one. Broken hath Jehovah the staff of the wicked, The sceptre of rulers. |
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| 6 He who is smiting peoples in wrath, A smiting without intermission, He who is ruling in anger nations, Pursuing without restraint! |
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| 7 At rest quiet hath been all the earth, They have broken forth [into] singing. |
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 Even firs have rejoiced over thee, Cedars of Lebanon [saying]: Since thou hast lain down, The hewer cometh not up against us. |
The fir trees – The Lord's people. R480:5*
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| 9 Sheol beneath hath been troubled at thee, To meet thy coming in, It is waking up for thee Rephaim, All chiefs ones of earth, It hath raised up from their thrones All kings of 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 unto thee, Even thou hast become weak like us! Unto us thou hast become like! |
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| 11 Brought down to Sheol hath been thine excellency, The noise of thy psaltery, Under thee spread out hath been the worm, Yea, covering thee is the worm. |
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 the heavens, O shining one, son of the dawn! Thou hast been cut down to earth, O weakener 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 And thou saidst in thy heart: the heavens I go up, Above stars of God I raise my throne, And I sit in the mount of meeting in the sides 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 go up above the heights of a thick cloud, I am like to 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 Only unto Sheol thou art brought down, Unto the sides 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 Thy beholders look to thee, to thee they attend, Is this the man causing the earth to tremble, Shaking 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 He hath made the world as a wilderness, And his cities he hath broken down, Of his bound ones he opened not the house. |
Of his prisoners – Death's captives. A112
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| 18 All kings of nations all of them, Have lain down in honour, each in his house, |
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| 19 And thou hast been cast out of thy grave, As an abominable branch, raiment of the slain, Thrust through ones of the sword, Going down unto the sons of the pit, As a carcase trodden down. |
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| 20 Thou art not united with them in burial, For thy land thou hast destroyed, Thy people thou hast slain, Not named to the age is the seed of evil doers. |
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| 21 Prepare ye for his sons slaughter; Because of the iniquity of their fathers, They rise not, nor have possessed the land, Nor filled the face of the world [with] cities. |
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| 22 And I have risen up against them, (The affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts,) And have cut off, in reference to Babylon, Name and remnant, and continuator and successor, The affirmation of Jehovah. |
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 have made it for a possession of a bittern, And ponds of waters, And daubed it with the mire of destruction, The affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts! |
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| 24 Sworn hath Jehovah of Hosts, saying, 'As I thought so hath it not been And as I counselled it standeth; |
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 To break Asshur in My land, And on My mountains I tread him down, And turned from off them hath his yoke, Yea, his burden from off their shoulder turneth aside.
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| 26 This [is] the counsel that is counselled for all the earth, And this [is] the hand that is stretched out for all the nations. |
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| 27 For Jehovah of Hosts hath purposed, And who doth make void And His hand that is stretched out, Who doth 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 of the death of king Ahaz was this burden: |
King Ahaz died – Check Bible chronology
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| 29 Rejoice not thou, Philistia, all of thee, That broken hath been the rod of thy smiter, For from the root of a serpent cometh out a viper, And its fruit [is] a flying saraph. |
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| 30 And delighted have the first-born of the poor, And the needy in confidence lie down, And I have put to death with famine thy root, And thy remnant it slayeth. |
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| 31 Howl, O gate; cry, O city, Melted art thou, Philistia, all of thee, For from the north smoke hath come, And there is none alone in his set places. |
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| 32 And what doth one answer the messengers of a nation 'That Jehovah hath founded Zion, And in it do the poor of His people trust!' |
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