Commentary upon the Prophecy of Isaiah

Vers. 2. I will go before thee and make the crooked straight: I will break the brazen doors, and burst the iron bars. 3. And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and the things hid in secret places, that thou mayst know that I am the Lord which call thee by name, and name thee, though thou hast not known me.

Vers. 2. I will goe before thee and make the crooked straight: I will breake the brasen doores, and burst the yron barres. 3. And I will giue thee the treasures of darknes, and the things hid in secret places, that thou mayst know that I am the Lord which call thee by name, and name thee, though thou hast not knowne mee.

These two verses depend upon the former:¹ but in a word they show, that Cyrus shall easily overcome, and that in short time, because the Lord shall prepare the way for him; for this cause he promiseth that the crooked way shall be made straight, in respect that God will take away all obstacles. Now because money is the sinew of war,² and that Cyrus was to pass over the poor & barren mountains of Persia, Isaiah tells him, that the treasures which before were hid, should fall into his hands, that being enriched with the spoil, he might furnish himself with all necessaries, for by treasures of darkness, he means treasures hidden and buried deeply in the earth. Now it appears plainly by the histories how these things came to pass: for after Croesus king of Lydia³ was taken, who was the richest king in the world, Cyrus recovered great treasures. A man would never have supposed then that he could have made such a general Conquest, had not the cause of so good success been here expressed: to wit, that the Lord called him forth, and guided him in his journey, that in him he might manifest a notable sign of his power: for so much, that thou mayst know, imports.