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The Hebrew word zeroa is derived from the verb zarah, "to scatter", and is associated,
by sound, with zara, "to sow", as may be seen in the play on the word "Jezreel" in Hosea,
where first it means "to scatter" (Hosea 1: 4) and secondly "to sow" (Hosea 2: 23),
fulfilling the twofold prophecy, "He that scattered Israel will gather him . . . . . I will sow
. . . . ." (Jer. 31: 10 and 27). Moreover, He that gathers "scattered" Israel, gathers and
keeps "as a Shepherd doth His flock" (Jer. 31: 10). No Hebrew could see the word
"Arm" and forget its association with "scattering" in judgment and "sowing" in blessing
and restitution.
Israel's deliverance from Egyptian bondage is particularly connected with the
"stretched out arm of the Lord" (Exod. 6: 6; Deut. 4: 34; 5: 15). To this the Psalmist
returns again and again.
"Thou hast with Thine arm redeemed Thy people" (Psa. 77: 15).
"O sing unto the Lord a new song; for He hath done marvelous things: His right
hand, and His holy arm, hath gotten Him the victory" (Psa. 98: 1).
"He brought out Israel from among them . . . . . with a strong hand, and with a
stretched out arm" (Psa. 136: 11, 12).
Coming to Isaiah's prophecy itself, we find several important references. Looking
back to the overthrow of Egypt, Isaiah cries:
"Awake, awake, put on Thy strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancient
days . . . . . therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return . . . . . I, even I, am He that
comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid . . . . . of the son of man
which shall be made as grass" (Isa. 51: 9-12).
The reader will need no elaboration of this prophecy in order to perceive its
connection with Isa. 40: When Israel shall be in their extremity and "no man" appears as
their saviour, then, says the prophet:
"Therefore His arm brought salvation" (Isa. 59: 16; 63: 5).
"The Lord hath made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends
of the earth shall see the salvation of our God" (Isa. 52: 10).
This, however, is in designed contrast with Isa. 53: which, referring to the Lord's
first advent, asks: "Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed?" (Isa. 53: 1).
The prophet's words bring vividly to light the blessed fact that "The Arm of the Lord"
is a title of Christ. He is both the Wisdom of God and the Power of God, a twofold
pledge indeed that the purpose of the ages shall reach its goal.
When, in the passage which we are studying, the prophet speaks of the Arm of the
Lord he does not refer to "salvation" but "rule". This word "rule" is the translation of the
Hebrew mashal, "to make like", and gives us the word "similitude" and "proverb".
Gesenius says: