Matthew Poole and continuators on Isaiah 58:8

8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning , and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee , the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward .

It is put in general for all happiness and prosperity; as all kind of Adversity and Calamity is set forth and resembled by darkness; but here more particularly for a comfortable and free Estate after their dark and calamitous condition in the Babylonish Captivity; for the like reason Iosephus tells us, lib. 12. cap. 11. that the Jews instituted a Feast to be observed by their posterity, upon the account of the service of the Temple being re-established, which they called, The Feast of Lights, because, saith he, so great a Happiness brake forth upon them beyond their hope.

Here is a Metaphorieal allusion in a Metonimical Expression, viz. of the efficient, describing the comfortable effect of humbling themselves in a right manner, which, like the day light, shall break forth from the blackness of their night of affliction, & bring with it the joy and comfort of all good things; And he doth not only say this light shall appear, but break forth, dart itself forth, not withstanding all difficulties, as the Sun breaks, and pierceth through a cloud, noting how ready God is to help his People, when they are rightly humbled, how quickly, and how clearly Salvation shall break [illegible: 1+ letters]orth upon them.

Another Metaphor to express the same thing, unless there may be this difference, the Light with reference to their outward state, and Health with reference to the inward delight of their Minds, in both to describe the compleat satisfaction they should have: Deliverances out of great pressures are often in Scripture represented by the Recovery of Health, as ch. 57. 18. & Ier. 8. 22. and this Prophet especially delights in this Metaphor; because all affliction is as it were a sickness to the Soul, altering the Heart and Countenance, See Neh. 2. 2, 3. and a recovery out of this estate maketh the Heart glad, and the Countenance chearful, Esth. 8. 16, 17. Ier. 33. 6. compare v. 10, 11. Hence the LXX render it Medicines.

Either 1. Thy uprightness and sincerity, Gen. 30. 33. Or 2. The reward of thy Righteousness, by a Metonymy, ch. 48. 18. Psal. 24. 5. and here perhaps it may particularly relate to their works of Mercy, and Charity, it being the thing in hand, and often so called, Psal. 112. 9. and applied by the Apostle to this purpose, 2 Cor. 9. 9. It brings temporal, spiritual, and eternal Blessings, and all this not of desert but free Grace, as a reward, that naturally springs forth from the faithfulness of his Promises, as the Harvest from the Earth, when the seed is sown, see Hos 10. 12. so the fruit and reward of our Righteousness springs not from our deserts, but from Gods Righteousness, Heb. 6. 10. O[illegible: 1+ letters] [illegible: 1 word]. The witness of thy Righteousness, by what thou doest thou wilt appear to be righteous. Psal. 37. 6. For such a notion as this was vulgarly sucked in, that Adversity did never befal a person or People, but for their sins, and was strongly urged by way of argument against Iob's Integrity by his Friends, therefore thy being delivered shall be as a testimony of thy Righteousness. Or 4. The fruit and effect of thy Righteousness, viz. the due, just, and right order of thy Government which, as Calvin saith, is a sign of Gods fatherly kindness; things that are now in a confusion he will bring into right order again, i. e. Justice shall be duly administred, and men shall carry themselves justly all the Land over, See Isa. 32. 16, 17, 18. Or 5. Christs Righteousness, Ier. 23. 6. compare with 33. 16. Then the meaning is, He shall go in and out before thee.

As it were making way for thy better state, as the break of day, or the morning Star goes before the Sun.

i. e. The glory of his Power and Providence, or his glorious Power shall be seen in bringing thee up from Captivity, and defending thee from their pursuit; or, as some, a glorious state shall succeed this thy calamitous condition, and called the Glory of the Lord to express the greatness of this glory, as very great mountains are called the mountains of God, and tall Cedars the Cedars of God, the glorious Lord▪ by a Metonymy of the Adjunct.

Heb. shall gather thee, thus the word is used concerning Dan, who was appointed to bring up the Rear, or to close up the march of the Israelites, when they marched from the Wilderness of Sinai, Num. 10. 25. This Office God takes upon himself; for it argues great skill, and courage, and makes much for the Honour and Glory of a Commander, both to gather up all the stragglers, that none be picked up by the Enemy, which relates to the Hebrew word of gathering, and to secure and cover the Rear of his Army; Thus the Angel of his presence secured the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt, Exod. 14. 19.

Marginal references: Job 11. 17. Ch. 50. 10. & 59. 9. 10.; Ch. 52. 12.; Heb. [illegible: 1+ letters]hall gather thee up.