the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
make
אֲיַשֵּׁ֑ר'o.shir
H3474
to be straight or even · verb, piel imperfect, 1st person common singular
places
וַהֲדוּרִ֖יםva.ha.du.Rim
H1921
to swell up (literally or figuratively · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural absolute
straight
יָשַׁרyâshar
H3474
to be straight or even
pieces
אֲשַׁבֵּ֔ר'a.sha.Ber
H7665
to burst (literally or figuratively) · verb, piel imperfect, 1st person common singular
gates
דַּלְת֤וֹתdal.Tot
H1817
something swinging · noun, common feminine plural construct
brass
נְחוּשָׁה֙ne.chu.Shah
H5154
copper · noun, common feminine singular absolute
sunder
אֲגַדֵּֽעַ'a.ga.De.a'
H1438
to fell a tree · verb, piel imperfect, 1st person common singular
bars
וּבְרִיחֵ֥יu.ve.ri.Chei
H1280
a bolt · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct
iron
בַרְזֶ֖לvar.Zel
H1270
iron (as cutting) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Isaiah 40:4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places p…
Isaiah 42:16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light befor…
Luke 3:5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways s…
Psalms 107:16 For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder.
Jeremiah 51:30 The mighty men of Babylon have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have…
Isaiah 13:4-17 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the L…
Acts 1:15 And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 45:1-4
Cyrus was a Mede, descended (as some say) from Astyages king of Media. The pagan writers are not agreed in their accounts of his origin. Some tell us that in his infancy he was an outcast, left exposed, and was saved from perishing by a herdsman's wife. However, it is agreed that, being a man of an active genius, he soon made himself very considerable, especially when Croesus king of Lydia made a descent upon his country, which he not only repulsed, but revenged, prosecuting the advantages he had gained against Croesus with such vigour that in a little time he took Sardis and made himself master of the rich kingdom of Lydia and the many provinces that then belonged to it. This made him very…
crooked . . . straight-- (Isa 40:4), rather, "maketh mountains plain" [LOWTH], that is, clear out of thy way all opposing persons and things. The Keri reads as in Isa 45:13, "make straight" (Margin).
gates of brass-- (Psa 107:16). HERODOTUS (1.179) says, Babylon had a hundred massive gates, twenty-five on each of the four sides of the city, all, as well as their posts, of brass.
bars of iron--with which the gates were fastened.
John Gill on Isaiah 45:2
I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight,.... Or, "level the hilly places" (c); as pioneers do. The sense is, that he would remove all impediments and obstructions out of his way, and cause him to surmount all difficulties:
I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron; with which the brasen gates were barred: in the wall that surrounded Babylon there were a hundred gates, all made of solid brass, twenty five on each side of the square; which, no doubt, are here referred to; which could not hinder the entrance of Cyrus into the city, and the taking of it; though they were not then destroyed by him, but by Darius afterwards (d) these gates o…
By all that is about to be said, he has taught that he has invested Cyrus as king, he has given him the necessary sovereignty to direct his empire with good will and so that the disposition of difficult matters is mitigated and facilitated. This is what the phrase means: "I will level mountains, and I will break to pieces brazen doors."
Nevertheless, I assert according to the Scriptures that He was able to spread out lowly places and open fields, just as He Himself says: 'I will walk before you and make mountains plain.' The force of the water itself could also make deeper things, which had settled, more turbulent: with such a movement of waves and such a surge of a more agitated element, which daily twists the depths of the sea and turns the sands out of the deep.
Therefore, let us fear nothing so much as sin and transgression. Let us not fear punishment, and then we shall escape punishment. Even as the Three Children were not afraid of the furnace, and so escaped from the furnace. Such indeed it becomes the servants of God to be. For if those who were brought up under the Old dispensation, when death was not yet slain, nor his "brazen gates broken down," nor his "iron bars smitten in sunder;" so nobly encountered their end, how destitute of all defence or excuse shall we be, if, after having had the benefit of such great grace, we attain not even to the same measure of virtue as they did, now when death is only a name, devoid of reality. For death is nothing more than a sleep, a journey, a migration, a rest, a tranquil haven; an escape from trouble, and a freedom from the cares of this present life!
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Bar — Used to denote the means by which a door is bolted (Neh. 3:3); a rock in the sea (Jonah 2:6); the shore of the sea (Job 38:10); strong fortifications and powerful impediments, etc. (Isa. 45:2; Amos…
Gate — (1.) Of cities, as of Jerusalem (Jer. 37:13; Neh. 1:3; 2:3; 3:3), of Sodom (Gen. 19:1), of Gaza (Judg. 16:3). (2.) Of royal palaces (Neh. 2:8). (3.) Of the temple of Solomon (1 Kings 6:34, 35; 2…
Isaiah, Book Of — I. Chapters 1-5 contain Isaiah’s prophecies in the reigns of Uzziah and Jotham, foretelling that the present prosperity of Judah should be destroyed, and that Israel should be brought to desolation.…
Lock — The Hebrews usually secured their doors by bars of wood or iron (Isa. 45:2; 1 Kings 4:3). These were the locks originally used, and were opened and shut by large keys applied through an opening in…
Babylon · .Gates of — .Gates of
Brass · .Gates — .Gates
Brass, Or Copper · Made into: Gates — Made into: Gates
Call · .CYRUS — .CYRUS
Cyrus · Prophecies concerning — Prophecies concerning
Gates · Ma — Ma
Iron · Made into: Bars — Made into: Bars
Medo-Persian Kingdom · Predictions respecting: Deliverance of the Jews — Predictions respecting: Deliverance of the Jews
Persia · Cyrus
and 3. I will go before thee. These two verses contain nothing new; but, in general, he shews that Cyrus will gain an easy and rapid victory, because he will have the Lord for the leader of his expedition. Accordingly he promises that all crooked paths shall be made straight, because God will remove every obstruction. Now, since money is the sinews of war, and Cyrus came from the scorched and poor mountains of Persia, Jehovah says that treasures which were formerly hidden and concealed shall come into the hands of Cyrus, so that, laden with rich booty, he shall have enough for defraying any expenditure; for by the treasures of darkness he means those which lay concealed, and as it were burie…
anointed one: This designation, commonly reserved for David or the Messiah, is here applied to Cyrus. Cyrus was anointed in the sense that he was selected to fulfill a special mission. This title was never used of any other foreign ruler (cp. 1 Sam 10:1; Rom 13:1). • whose right hand he will empower: The Lord would give Cyrus victory over Babylon (see Isa 43:14).
Rashi on Isaiah 45:2
and I will straighten out crooked paths Heb. וַהֲדוּרִים אֲיַשֵּׁר. Jonathan renders: I will level the walls. Comp. (Shab. 77b) “the surrounding area (הדר הדרנא),” since the wall surrounds the city. The word may also be explained as: I will straighten out crooked paths before him.
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
