decree is an eternal one), but rather that this decree should be carried out. It is for this that Israel's unbelief offers an occasion "As the salvation of the elect among Israel (in reference to the great mass, the Servant of God had laboured in vain, ver. 4) would be too small a reward for thee, I assign to thee in addition to them, an infinitely larger inheritance, viz., the whole heathen world." שוב in _Hiphil_ frequently means "to lead back," in the ordinary sense, but sometimes also "to lead back into the former, or _normal_ condition," "to restore," compare remarks on Dan. ix. 25; Ps. lxxx. 4. The parallel, "to raise up," which is opposed to the _lying down_ (Ps. xli. 9), shows that here it stands in the sense of "to restore." The local leading back belongs to the sphere of Koresh, to whom the first book is dedicated; but, with that, the abnormal condition of misery and abasement, which is so much opposed to the idea of the people of God, is not completely and truly removed. That which the Servant of God bestows upon the elect of Israel, viz., _raising up and restoration_, is, in substance, the same which, according to what follows, He becomes to the _Gentiles_, [Pg 242] viz., _light and salvation_. By becoming light and salvation to the elect of Israel, He raises them up and leads them back, inasmuch as this was the normal, natural condition of the covenant-people, from which they had only fallen by their sins. It is to that, that the election is restored by the Servant of God. By the _tribes of Jacob_, the better part only of the people is to be understood, to the exclusion of those souls who are cut off from their people, because they have broken the covenant of the Lord, comp. ver. 4. This appears from the addition: "And the preserved of Israel" (the _Kethibh_ נעירי is an adjective form with a passive signification; the marginal reading נצורי is the Part. Pass.); just as, similarly in Ps. lxxiii. 1, Israel is limited to the true Israel by the explanatory clause: "Such as are of a clean heart." The verb נצר, "to watch," is, according to _Gesenius_, especially used _de Jehova homines custodiente et tuente._ Hence, the preserved of Israel are those whom God keeps under His gracious protection and care, in contrast to the great mass of the covenant-breakers whom He _gives up_. Chap. lxv. 13, 14: "Behold my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry; behold my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty; behold my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed; behold my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit," likewise points to a great separation which shall take place in the Messianic time. _Light_ (compare remarks on chap. xlii. 6), and _salvation_ are related to one another, as the image to the thing itself From the circumstance that the point here in question is the reward for the Servant of God, who is to be indemnified for the