And the Gentiles shall come - So splendid shall be that glory, that it will attract the distant nations, and they shall come and participate in the blessings of the gospel. This contains the main statement which it is the design of this chapter to illustrate. The prophet had frequently made this statement before in general terms (compare Isaiah 2:3; Isaiah 11:10; Isaiah 49:22; Isaiah 54:3); but he here goes into a more particular account, and more fully describes the blessings which would result from this accession to the true church.

And kings - (Compare Isaiah 49:7, note; Isaiah 49:23, note; Isaiah 52:15, note).

To the brightness of thy rising - This does not mean that the church was to arise with the splendor of the sun; but 'thy rising' means the rising upon her - called her rising, because it would shed its beams on her. It is correctly rendered by Lowth - 'The brightness of thy sunrising;' by Noyes and Herder. 'The brightness that riseth upon thee.'

And the Gentiles shall come - This has been in some sort already fulfilled. The Gentiles have received the light of the Gospel from the land of Judea, and the Gentile kings have embraced that Gospel; so that many nations of the earth are full of the doctrine of Christ.

And the Gentiles shall come to thy light,.... To the Gospel, preached in the midst of her; and to Christ, who is her light and into her church state, and partake of the prosperity and happiness of it. The Targum is,

"and nations shall walk in thy light;''

and so in Revelation 21:24, where it is interpreted of the nations of them that are saved, truly regenerated and converted persons:

and kings to the brightness of thy rising; Christ, the sun of righteousness, will rise upon her; and this being the morning of the latter day glory, the church will rise as a bright morning star; and such be the evidence and lustre of Gospel truths and ordinances, that kings shall he enlightened by them, and come and join themselves unto her, and walk with her in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord. Some of this high rank and dignity have been called, and but a few; but in those times the instances will be many, even all kings shall serve and worship the Lord, Psalm 72:11.

And the Gentiles shall come to {c} thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

(c) Meaning, that Judea would be as the morning star, and that the Gentiles would receive light from her.

60:3 The Gentiles - A plain prophecy of the calling of the Gentiles.

Margin light

See Scofield Note: "Isa 42:6"

3. (Isa 2:3; 11:10; 43:6; 49:22; 66:12).

kings-(Isa 49:7, 23; 52:15).

thy rising-rather, "thy sun-rising," that is, "to the brightness that riseth upon thee."

60:1-8 As far as we have the knowledge of God in us, and the favour of God towards us, our light is come. And if God's glory is seen upon us to our honour, we ought, not only with our lips, but in our lives, to return its praise. We meet with nothing in the history of the Jews which can be deemed a fulfilment of the prophecy in this chapter; we must conclude it relates principally to future events. It predicts the purity and enlargement of the church. The conversion of souls is here described. They fly to Christ, to the church, to the word and ordinances, as doves to their own home; thither they fly for refuge and shelter, thither they fly for rest. What a pleasant sight to see poor souls hastening to Christ!