Verse:
Isaiah 52:7
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings (gospel/basar), that publisheth peace ; that bringeth good tidings (gospel/basar) of good , that publisheth salvation ; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
Commentary by Adam Clarke
Isaiah 52:7. How beautiful Source
The watchmen discover afar off, on the mountains, the messenger bringing the expected and much-wished-for news of the deliverance from the Babylonish captivity. They immediately spread the joyful tidings, Isaiah 52:8, and with a loud voice proclaim that JEHOVAH is returning to Zion, to resume his residence on his holy mountain, which for some time he seemed to have deserted. This is the literal sense of the place.
Isaiah 52:8
Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices;
together they shout for joy.
When the LORD returns to Zion,
they will see it with their own eyes.
"How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the joyful messenger," is an expression highly poetical: for, how welcome is his arrival! how agreeable are the tidings which he brings!
Nahum, Nahum 1:15, who is generally supposed to have lived after Isaiah, has manifestly taken from him this very pleasing image; but the imitation does not equal the beauty of the original:-
Nahum 1:15
Look, there on the mountains,
the feet of one who brings good news,
who proclaims peace!
Celebrate your festivals, O Judah,
and fulfill your vows.
No more will the wicked invade you;
they will be completely destroyed.
"Behold upon the mountain the feet of the joyful messenger, Of him that announceth peace! Celebrate, O Judah, thy festivals; perform thy vows: For no more shall pass through thee the wicked one; He is utterly cut off."
But it must at the same time be observed that Isaiah's subject is infinitely more interesting and more sublime than that of Nahum; the latter denounces the destruction of the capital of the Assyrian empire, the most formidable enemy of Judah; the ideas of the former are in their full extent evangelical; and accordingly St. Paul has, with the utmost propriety, applied this passage to the preaching of the Gospel, Romans 10:15. The joyful tidings here to be proclaimed, "Thy God, O Zion, reigneth," are the same that John the Baptist, the messenger of Christ, and Christ himself, published: "The kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Romans 10:15
And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
From the use made of this by our Lord and the apostles, we may rest assured that the preachers of the Gospel are particularly intended. Mountains are put for the whole land of Judea, where the Gospel was first preached. There seems to be an allusion to a battle fought, and the messengers coming to announce the victory, which was so decisive that a peace was the consequence, and the king's throne established in the land.
There appear to have been two sorts of messengers among the Jews: one sort always employed to bring evil tidings; the other to bring good. The names also and persons of these different messengers appear to have been well known; so that at a distance they could tell, from seeing the messenger, what sort of tidings he was bringing. See a case in point, 2 Samuel 18:19-27. Ahimaaz and Cushi running to bring tidings of the defeat of Absalom and his rebel army. Ahimaaz is a GOOD man, and bringeth GOOD tidings.
2 Samuel 18:19-27
19 Now Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, "Let me run and take the news to the king that the LORD has delivered him from the hand of his enemies."
20 "You are not the one to take the news today," Joab told him. "You may take the news another time, but you must not do so today, because the king's son is dead."
21 Then Joab said to a Cushite, "Go, tell the king what you have seen." The Cushite bowed down before Joab and ran off.
22 Ahimaaz son of Zadok again said to Joab, "Come what may, please let me run behind the Cushite."
But Joab replied, "My son, why do you want to go? You don't have any news that will bring you a reward."
23 He said, "Come what may, I want to run."
So Joab said, "Run!" Then Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain and outran the Cushite.
24 While David was sitting between the inner and outer gates, the watchman went up to the roof of the gateway by the wall. As he looked out, he saw a man running alone.
25 The watchman called out to the king and reported it.
The king said, "If he is alone, he must have good news." And the man came closer and closer.
26 Then the watchman saw another man running, and he called down to the gatekeeper, "Look, another man running alone!"
The king said, "He must be bringing good news, too."
27 The watchman said, "It seems to me that the first one runs like Ahimaaz son of Zadok."
"He's a good man," the king said. "He comes with good news."
Commentary by James Burton Coffman
The apostle Paul applied this passage to the preaching of the Gospel (Romans 10:15); and the truth that Israel's God reigneth (Isaiah 52:7) is a reference to the same reality proclaimed "By John the Baptist, and by the Lord Jesus Christ himself, that, `The Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand!'" As regards the exact time when that reign of God (through Christ) began, it was upon that occasion when Jesus Christ declared that, "All authority in heaven and upon earth has been given unto me" (Matthew 18:18-20). Some people find it hard to harmonize the fact of God's current reign upon earth with the presence of much evil in the world; but all such doubts fail when it is realized that, at the very darkest hours in the history of the Old Israel, as in this chapter, while the people were languishing in captivity, God was reigning then; and God through Christ is reigning now! The most delusive notion ever entertained by mortals is that all men will, in some glorious tomorrow, submit to the Word of God. The reason that the vast majority of Adam's race are condemned to eventual destruction is due to the fact that God has given men the freedom of choice; and as Jesus said, "Broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many are they that enter in thereby" (Matthew 7:13). God will never rule in human hearts that reject his word, deny the Christ, and by choice prefer the service of Satan. This reference to those "who bring good tidings and publish peace" is an oft recurring subject in Isaiah, as in Isa. 40:9 and Isa. 41:27, another signature declaring Isaiah as the author.
Romans 10:15 Matthew 18:18-20
And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
"I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
"Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.
For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."Source
Isa. 40:9 Isa. 41:27
You who bring good tidings to Zion,
go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem,
lift up your voice with a shout,
lift it up, do not be afraid;
say to the towns of Judah,
"Here is your God!"
I was the first to tell Zion, 'Look, here they are!'
I gave to Jerusalem a messenger of good tidings.
Commentary by David Guzik
a. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news: Isaiah prophesies of the beautiful feet of those who bring the Gospel - the good news. b. Who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns!" The good news - news of peace, glad tidings, and salvation - can all be summed up in the glorious proclamation, "Your God reigns!" Where God reigns, peace reigns. Where God reigns, glad tidings reign. Where God reigns, salvation reigns. What a marvelous declaration - Our God reigns!
i. No wonder those who bring good news have beautiful feet; they are out partnering with God for the salvation of men. The feet speak of activity, motion, and progress, and those who are active and moving in the work of preaching the gospel have beautiful . . . feet! Source
i. "The watchmen who see this happy return are probably those in Jerusalem who had long awaited the messengers. According to Ezekiel, the prophets were the leading 'watchmen' for the nation." (Wolf)
Commentary by Geneva Study Bible
Signifying that the joy and good tidings of their deliverance would make their affliction in the mean time more easy: but this is chiefly meant of the spiritual joy, as in (Nahum 1:15; Romans 10:15).
Source
Commentary by Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
7. beautiful feet--that is, The advent of such a herald seen on the distant "mountains" (see on Isa 40:9; Isa 41:27; Isa 25:6, 7; So 2:17) running in haste with the long-expected good tidings, is most grateful to the desolated city (Na 1:15). good tidings--only partially applying to the return from Babylon. Fully, and antitypically, the Gospel (Lu 2:10, 11), "beginning at Jerusalem" (Lu 24:47), "the city of the great King" (Mt 5:35), where Messiah shall, at the final restoration of Israel, "reign" as peculiarly Zion's God ("Thy God reigneth"; compare Ps 2:6).
Isa 40:9 Isa 41:27
You who bring good tidings to Zion,
go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem,
lift up your voice with a shout,
lift it up, do not be afraid;
say to the towns of Judah,
"Here is your God!"Isa 25:6, 7
I was the first to tell Zion, 'Look, here they are!'
I gave to Jerusalem a messenger of good tidings.Na 1:15
6 On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare
a feast of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine-
the best of meats and the finest of wines.
7 On this mountain he will destroy
the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;
15 Look, there on the mountains,
the feet of one who brings good news,
who proclaims peace!
Celebrate your festivals, O Judah,
and fulfill your vows.
No more will the wicked invade you;
they will be completely destroyed.
Source
Lu 2:10, 11 Lu 24:47
But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.Mt 5:35
and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Ps 2:6
or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.
"I have installed my King
on Zion, my holy hill."
Commentary by John Gill
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings Source
Not of the messenger that brought the news of Cyrus's proclamation of liberty to the Jews; rather of John the Baptist, the forerunner of our Lord; best of Christ himself, the messenger of the covenant, who was anointed to preach glad tidings to the meek, and by whom grace, peace, life, and salvation came; and also of the apostles of Christ, for to Gospel times are these words applied, and to more persons than one, (Romans 10:15) , who were not only seen "upon the mountains" of the land of Israel, as the Targum paraphrases it, where both Christ and his apostles preached, but upon the mountains of the Gentile world; and may denote the pains they took, the circuit they made, and the difficulties they had to encounter with; and the publicness of their ministrations, which lay in bringing "good tidings" of the incarnate Saviour, of God manifest in the flesh, for the word here used has the signification of flesh in it; of good things in the heart of God for his people, in the covenant of grace, in the hands of Christ, and as come by him, and to be had from him; as pardon by his blood; justification by his righteousness; eternal life and happiness through him; and of all good things to be enjoyed now and hereafter. It may be applied to all other ministers of the Gospel in later ages, who are bringers of the same good tidings to the children of men, to whom their very feet are beautiful, and even at a distance, upon the high mountains; not to carnal men, but sensible sinners, to whom the good news of salvation by Christ is welcome. Feet are mentioned instead of their whole persons, because the instruments of motion, and so of bringing the tidings, and of running to and fro with them from place to place, and even though they are dirty and defiled with sin; for Gospel ministers are not free from it, and are men of like passions with others; yet are beautiful when their walk and ministry, conversation and doctrine, agree together; and their feet are particularly so, being shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace. The words may with the greatest propriety, and in agreement with the context, be understood of that angel, or set of Gospel ministers in the latter day, represented as flying in the midst of the heavens, having the everlasting Gospel to preach to all nations, which will precede the fall of Babylon, (Revelation 14:6,8) : that publisheth peace;
Romans 10:15 Revelation 14:6,8
15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
6 Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth--to every nation, tribe, language and people.
8 A second angel followed and said, "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries."that bringeth good tidings of good;
peace by the blood of Jesus Christ, a principal article of the Gospel, and of its good news; hence it is called the Gospel of peace, and the word of reconciliation; peace of conscience, which flows from the same blood applied, and of which the Gospel is the means; and peace among the saints one with another, and among men, which shall at this time be enjoyed; there, will be no discord nor animosities among themselves, nor persecution from their enemies: happy times! halcyon days! welcome the publishers of such tidings! that publisheth salvation;
or, "that bringeth good tidings" [Macro error: Can't evaluate the expression because the name "l" hasn't been defined.] ; for the original does not require such a tautology; it means the same good tidings as before, and which follow after: that sitteth unto Zion, thy God reigneth;
by Jesus Christ, as wrought out by him for sinners, which is full, complete, and suitable for them, and to be had of him freely; and what better tidings than this? see (Revelation 19:1) :
Revelation 19:1
After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting:
"Hallelujah!
Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,see (Matthew 3:2) . This passage is interpreted of the Messiah and his times, by many Jewish writers, ancient and modern; (See Gill on 10:15).
that saith to Zion, the church of Christ, that Christ, who is truly God, and their God, has taken to himself, in a more open and visible manner, his great power and reigns as the Lord God omnipotent; and this is good news and glad tidings; see (Psalms 97:1) (Revelation 19:6) (11:15,17) . The Targum is, ``the kingdom of thy God is revealed;''
Psalms 97:1 Revelation 19:6
The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad;
let the distant shores rejoice.
Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
"Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Matthew 3:2
and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."
Commentary by John Wesley
Verse 7 Source
The mountains - Of Judea, to which these glad tidings were brought, and from which they were spread abroad into other countries.
Of him - Or, of them; the singular number being put for the plural.
Returneth - In the days of the Messiah, God did discover and exercise his dominion over the world far more eminently than ever he had done from the beginning of the world until that time.
Commentary by Matthew Henry
Source
7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
The removal of the Jews from Babylon to their own land again is here spoken of both as a mercy and as a duty; and the application of Isaiah 52:7 to the preaching of the gospel (by the apostle, Romans 10:15 ) plainly intimates that that deliverance was a type and figure of the redemption of mankind by Jesus Christ, to which what is here said of their redemption out of Babylon ought to be accommodated.
Romans 10:15
And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
I. It is here spoken of as a great blessing, which ought to be welcomed with abundance of joy and thankfulness.
1. Those that bring the tidings of their release shall be very acceptable ( Isaiah 52:7 ): " How beautiful upon the mountains, the mountains round about Jerusalem, over which these messengers are seen coming at a distance, how beautiful are their feet, when it is known what tidings they bring!" It is not meant so much of the common posts, or the messengers sent express by the government to disperse the proclamation, but rather of some of the Jews themselves, who, being at the fountain-head of intelligence, had early notice of it, and immediately went themselves, or sent their own messengers, to all parts, to disperse the news, and even to Jerusalem itself, to tell the few who remained there that their brethren would be with them shortly; for it is published not merely as matter of news, but as a proof that Zion's God reigns, for in that language it is published: they say unto Zion, Thy God reigns. Those who bring the tidings of peace and salvation, that Cyrus has given orders for the release of the Jews, tidings which were so long expected by those that waited for the consolation of Israel, those good tidings (so the original reads it, without the tautology of our translation, good tidings of good ), put this construction upon it, O Zion! thy God reigns. Note, When bad news is abroad this is good news, and when good news is abroad this is the best news, that Zion's God reigns, that God is Zion's God, in covenant with her, and as such he reigns, Psalms 146:10,Zec+9:9 .The Lord has founded Zion, Isaiah 14:32 . All events have their rise in the disposals of the kingdom of his providence and their tendency to the advancement of the kingdom of his grace. This must be applied to the preaching of the gospel, which is a proclamation of peace and salvation; it is gospel indeed, good news, glad tidings, tidings of victory over our spiritual enemies and liberty from our spiritual bondage. The good news is that the Lord Jesus reigns and all power is given to him. Christ himself brought these tidings first ( Luke 4:18, Heb 2:3 ), and of him the text speaks: How beautiful are his feet! his feet that were nailed to the cross, how beautiful upon Mount Calvary! his feet when he came leaping upon the mountains (Song of Solomon 2:8 ), how beautiful were they to those who knew his voice and knew it to be the voice of their beloved! His ministers proclaim these good tidings; they ought to keep their feet clean from the pollutions of the world, and then they ought to be beautiful in the eyes of those to whom they are sent, who sit at their feet, or rather at Christ's in them, to hear his word. They must be esteemed in love for their work's sake (1 Thessalonians 5:13 ), for their message sake, which is well worthy of all acceptation.
2. Those to whom the tidings are brought shall be put thereby into a transport of joy.
(1.) Zion's watchmen shall then rejoice because they are surprisingly illuminated, Isaiah 52:8 . The watchmen on Jerusalem's walls shall lead the chorus in this triumph. Who they were we are told, Isaiah 62:6 . They were such as God set on the walls of Jerusalem, to make mention of his name, and to continue instant in prayer to him, till he again made Jerusalem a praise in the earth. These watchmen stand upon their watch-tower, waiting for an answer to their prayers ( Habakkuk 2:1 ); and therefore when the good news comes they have it first, and the longer they have continued and the more importunate they have been in praying for it the more will they be elevated when it comes: They shall lift up the voice, with the voice together shall they sing in concert, to invite others to join with them in their praises. And that which above all things will transport them with pleasure is that they shall see eye to eye, that is, face to face. Whereas God had been a God hiding himself, and they could scarcely discern any thing of his favour through the dark cloud of their afflictions, now that the cloud is scattered they shall plainly see it. They shall see Zion's king eye to eye; so it was fulfilled when the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and there were those that saw his glory (John 1:14 )and looked upon it, 1 John 1:1 . They shall see an exact agreement and correspondence between the prophecy and the event, the promise and the performance; they shall see how they look one upon another eye to eye, and be satisfied that the same God spoke the one and did the other. When the Lord shall bring again Zion out of her captivity the prophets shall thence receive and give fuller discoveries than ever of God's good-will to his people. Applying this also, as the Isaiah 52:8 , to gospel times, it is a promise of the pouring out of the Spirit upon gospel ministers, as a spirit of wisdom and revelation, to lead them into all truth, so that they shall see eye to eye, shall see God's grace more clearly than the Old-Testament saints could see it: and they shall herein be unanimous; in these great things concerning the common salvation they shall concur in their sentiments as well as their songs. Nay, St. Paul seems to allude to this when he makes it the privilege of our future state that we shall see face to face.
(2.) Zion's waste places shall then rejoice because they shall be surprisingly comforted ( Isaiah 52:9 ): Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem; that is, all parts of Jerusalem, for it was all in ruins, and even those parts that seemed to lie most desolate shall share in the joy; and they, having little expected it, shall break forth into joy, as men that dream, Psalms 126:1,2 . Let them sing together. Note, Those that share in mercies ought to join in praises. Here is matter for joy and praise.
[1.] God's people will have the comfort of this salvation; and what is the matter of our rejoicing ought to be the matter of our thanksgiving. He has redeemed Jerusalem (the inhabitants of Jerusalem that were sold into the hands of their enemies) and thereby he has comforted his people that were in sorrow. The redemption of Jerusalem is the joy of all God's people, whose character it is that they look for that redemption, Luke 2:38 .
[2.] God will have the glory of it, Isaiah 52:10 . He has made bare his holy arm (manifested and displayed his power) in the eyes of all the nations. God's arm is a holy arm, stretched out in purity and justice, in defence of holiness and in pursuance of his promise.
[3.] All the world will have the benefit of it. In the great salvation wrought out by our Lord Jesus the arm of the Lord was revealed and all the ends of the earth were made to see the great salvation, not as spectators of it only, as they saw the deliverance of the Jews out of Babylon, but as sharers in it; some of all nations, the most remote, shall partake of the benefits of the redemption. This is applied to our salvation by Christ. Luke 3:6 ,All flesh shall see the salvation of God, that great salvation.
II. It is here spoken of as a great business, which ought to be managed with abundance of care and circumcision. When the liberty is proclaimed,
1. Let the people of God hasten out of Babylon with all convenient speed; though they are ever so well settled there, let them not think of taking root in Babylon, but Depart, depart (Isaiah 52:11 ), go out from the midst of her; not only those that are in the borders, but those that are in the midst, in the heart of the country, let them be gone. Babylon is no place for Israelites. As soon as they have leave to let go, let them lose no time. With this word God stirred up the spirits of those that were moved to go up, Ezra 1:5 . And it is a call to all those who are yet in the bondage of sin and Satan to make use of the liberty which Christ has proclaimed to them. And, if the Son make them free, they shall be free indeed.
2. Let them take heed of carrying away with them any of the pollutions of Babylon: Touch no unclean thing. Now that God makes bare his holy arm for you, be you holy as he is, and keep yourselves from every wicked thing. When they came out of Egypt they brought with them the idolatrous customs of Egypt ( Ezekiel 23:3 ), which were their ruin; let them take heed of doing so now that they come out of Babylon. Note, When we are receiving any special mercy from God we ought more carefully than ever to watch against all impurity. But especially let those be clean who bear the vessels of the Lord, that is, the priests, who had the charge of the vessels of the sanctuary (when they were restored by a particular grant) to carry them to Jerusalem, Ezra 1:7,8:23 , &c. Let them not only avoid touching any unclean thing, but be very careful to cleanse themselves according to the purification of the sanctuary. Christians are made to our God spiritual priests, Revelation 1:6 . They are to bear the vessels of the Lord, are entrusted to keep the ordinances of God pure and entire; it is a good thing that is committed to them, and they ought to be clean, to wash their hands in innocency and so to compass God's altars and carry his vessels, and keep themselves pure.
3. Let them depend upon the presence of God with them and his protection in their removal ( Isaiah 52:12 ): You shall not go out with haste. They were to go with a diligent haste, not to lose time nor linger as Lot in Sodom, but they were not to go with a diffident distrustful haste, as if they were afraid of being pursued (as when they came out of Egypt) or of having the orders for their release recalled and countermanded: no, they shall find that, as for God, his work is perfect, and therefore they need not make more haste than good speed. Cyrus shall give them an honourable discharge, and they shall have an honourable return, and not steal away; for the Lord will go before them as their general and commander-in-chief, and the God of Israel will be their rearward, or he that will gather up those that are left behind. God will both lead their van and bring up their rear; he will secure them from enemies that either meet them or follow them, for with his favour will he compass them. The pillar of cloud and fire, when they came out of Egypt, sometimes went behind them, to secure their rear ( Exodus 14:19 ), and God's presence with them would now be that to them which that pillar was a visible token of. Those that are in the way of their duty are under God's special protection; and he that believes this will not make haste.
The Humiliation of the Messiah.
B. C. 706
About Commentary Authors
Prepared by William C. Barman for George Young Memorial United Methodist Church -- Palm Harbor, FL on 9/2/03; 7:06:49 AM