Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall show justice to the Gentiles.
Read Chapter 12
George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
Behold my servant The words are out of the prophet Isaias, Chap. xli. 1. And it is observed that the Jews, before the coming of Jesus, used to expound them of their Messias. (Witham)
Our Lord Jesus Christ may be called the Servant of the Almighty, because, as himself assures us, he came down not to be served, but to serve; or, as St. Remigius says, not on account of his divinity, but on account of his humanity, which he received from the pure flesh and blood of the immaculate Virgin. (in St. Thomas Aquinas) There is some difference in the text of Isaias, whence this is taken. The apostles and evangelists did not confine themselves to cite the very words of the text, but only the sense. (Bible de Vence)
Through Isaiah the prophet the person of the Father states this: “I shall put my Spirit upon him.” The Spirit is not placed upon the Word of God nor upon the only begotten Son who proceeds from the Father but upon the One about whom it is said, “Here is my Son.” .
The prophet celebrates His meekness, and His unspeakable power, and opens to the Gentiles a great door and effectual; he foretells also the ills that are to overtake the Jews, and signifies His unanimity with the Father. For behold, says He, my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased. Now if He chose Him, not as an adversary does Christ set aside the law, nor as being an enemy of the lawgiver, but as having the same mind with Him, and the same objects.
