Isaiah 41:9

The ends of the earth. God called Abraham out of Ur to be His representative and to be the founder of national Israel. Four hundred thirty years after Abraham entered the Land of Promise (Ex. 12:40, 41; Gal. 3:17) Israel was called out of Egypt, again to enter the Promised Land, but now as a “kingdom of priests, and a holy nation” (Ex. 19:5, 6). Here, however, Isaiah probably refers specifically to the gathering of the exiles from the lands whither they had been scattered (see Isa. 11:16; 56:8; etc.).

From the chief men. Literally, “from the remote parts of it.”

I have chosen thee. Israel belonged to God by right of divine election, to be His chosen representatives in the earth (see pp. 26, 27). He had not cast them off, in spite of their sins and in spite of the scattering of the northern tribes by Assyria and the exile of Judah, soon to be accomplished by Nebuchadnezzar. This thought Isaiah emphasizes again and again (see chs. 42:1; 43:1, 10; 44:8, 21; 45:4; 55:3, 4; 65:8, 9, 22). The discouragement of Israel implicit in ch. 40:1, 2 was due to the fear that God had forsaken them (see on 2 Kings 19:30; see also Isa. 37:31; 40:1-5, 9-11; cf. Isa. 5:1-7).