Isaiah 54:11

“O thou afflicted, tossed with tempests, and not comforted, &c.] Or, “O thou poor”f1084 church; for the first Christian churches chiefly consisted of poor persons, not many mighty and noble being called; and which were greatly “afflicted” with false teachers, who broached errors and heresies, and made schisms among them; and “tossed with tempests” like a ship at sea; or “stormed”f1085 with the rage and fury of violent persecutors, such as the Roman emperors were; and not “comforted”, having none to administer any external comfort or relief to them; none of the kings or princes of the earth, or any civil magistrate to protect and defend them; what comfort they had was internal and spiritual;…”

“not comforted--by anyone; none gave her help or comfort. lay . . . with fair colours--rather, "lay . . . in cement of vermilion" [LOWTH]. The Hebrew for "fair colors" means stibium, the paint with which Eastern women painted their eyelids and eyelashes (Kg2 9:30). The very cement shall be of the most beautiful color (Rev 21:18-21).”

“O thou afflicted - In the previous verses, Yahweh had merely promised protection, and had in general terms assured them of his favor. Here he shows that they should not only be defended, but that his church would rise with great beauty, and be ornamented like a most splendid palace or temple. This is to be regarded as addressed primarily to the exiles in Babylon near to the close of their seventy years’ captivity. But nothing forbids us to apply it to the church in all similar circumstances when persecuted, and when she is like a ship rolling on the heaving billows of the ocean. Tossed with tempest - Lowth, ‘Beaten with the storm.’ The idea is that of a ship that is driven by the tempest; or…”

“O thou - Who hast been, in a most afflicted and comfortless condition. With sapphires - I will make thee exceeding beautiful and glorious, by a plentiful effusion of excellent gifts, and graces. Isaiah 54:12”

“54:11-17 This is a vision of the renewed Jerusalem as a city under God’s protection, a place of peace and righteousness (see 59:21–60:22). This section forms the background of John’s vision of the new Jerusalem (Rev 21:10-21). 54:11 The Lord himself would rebuild the city (see Heb 11:10). • Lapis lazuli is a semi-precious stone.”

“thou afflicted: Isa 54:6, Isa 49:14, Isa 51:17-19, Isa 51:23, Isa 52:1-5, Isa 60:15; Exo 2:23, Exo 3:2, Exo 3:7; Deu 31:17; Psa 34:19, Psa 129:1-3; Jer 30:17; Joh 16:20-22, Joh 16:33; Act 14:22; Rev 11:3-10, Rev 12:13-17 tossed: Mat 8:24; Act 27:18-20 not comforted: Lam 1:1, Lam 1:2, Lam 1:16, Lam 1:17, Lam 1:21 I will lay: Kg1 5:17; Ch1 29:2; Ezek. 40:1-42:20; Eph 2:20; Pe1 2:4-6; Rev 21:18-21 sapphires: Exo 24:10, Exo 28:17-20, Exo 39:10-14; Sol 5:14; Eze 1:26, Eze 10:1 Isaiah 54:13”

“"O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, not comforted, behold, I lay thy stones in stibium, and lay thy foundations with sapphires; and make thy minarets of ruby, and thy gates into carbuncles, and all thy boundary into jewels." At the present time the church, of which Jerusalem is the metropolis, is sunk in misery, driven with tempest like chaff of the threshing-floor ( Hos 13:3), without comfort; because till now it has waited in vain for any act of consolation on the part of God, and has been scorned rather than comforted by man (סערה is a part. kal, not pual; and נחמה 3rd pers. praet. like נעזבה, Isa 62:12, and רחמה, Hos 1:6; Hos 2:3). But this will be altered; Jerusalem will rise again…”