Isaiah 45:8

WEB

Distil, you heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open, that it may bring forth salvation, and let it cause righteousness to spring up with it. I, the Lord, have created it.

KJV

Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.

Commentary

Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness,.... Or, "the righteous One", as the Vulgate Latin version; the Lord our righteousness, Christ the author of righteousness, who was to bring in an everlasting one; and whose coming was to be, and was, as the rain, as the former and latter rain to the earth, Hos 6:3 , and who came from heaven to earth to fulfil all righteousness; and with him came an abundance of blessings of rich grace, even all spiritual blessings, peace, pardon, righteousness, salvation, and eternal life, which were poured down from above upon the sons of men; thus the Holy Ghost, the spirit of prophecy, proceeds at once from Cyrus to Christ, from the type to the antitype, from the temporal redemption of the Jews to the spiritual redemption of the Lord's people; and these words are to be considered, not as a petition of the prophet, or of the church, for the coming of Christ, and salvation by him; but a promise and prophecy of it. Aben Ezra and Kimchi take them to be an address to the angels of heaven to assist in the affair of the salvation of Israel; these did drop down or descend, even a great multitude of them, at the incarnation of Christ, and published the good tidings of good things that came by him: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation; or the "Saviour", as the Vulgate Latin version; Christ the author of salvation, who was appointed to be the salvation or Saviour of his people, who came to effect it, and has obtained it; heaven and earth were both concerned in bringing forth this "fruit" of righteousness and salvation, as the word (o) rendered "bring forth" signifies; see Isa 4:2 . Christ was the Lord from heaven, and yet made of a woman in the lowest parts of the earth: Christ, who is the "truth", sprung "out of the earth"; and he, who is the author of "righteousness", looked down from heaven, Psa 85:11 and it follows: "let righteousness spring up together"; or "bud forth" (p) as a branch; one of the names of the Messiah, frequent in prophecy: I the Lord have created it; or that, both righteousness and salvation; or Christ as man, the author of both, whom God appointed, and raised up, and sent to be the Redeemer and Saviour of his people. The Targum interprets this of the resurrection of the dead, paraphrasing the whole thus; "let the heavens from above minister, and the clouds flow with good; let the earth open, and the dead revive; and let righteousness be revealed together; I the Lord have created them.'' (o) "fructificent", Vatablus; "edant fractum salutis"; Junius & Tremellius. (p) "germinare faciet", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, "progerminet germen", Vitringa.