I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon princes as upon morter, and as the potter treadeth clay.
I have raised up - in purpose; not fulfilled until 150 years afterward.
One from the north - in Isaiah 41:2 "from the east:" both are true. See the note there.
From the rising of the sun (the East) shall he call upon my name - acknowledge me as God, and attribute His success to me. This he did in the proclamation (Ezra 1:2). This does not necessarily imply that Cyrus renounced idolatry; but hearing of Isaiah's prophecy, given 150 years before, so fully realized in his own acts, he recognized God as the true God, but retained his idols (so Naaman, 2 Kings 5:1-27: cf. the Assyrian colonists in Samaria, 2 Kings 17:33; 2 Kings 17:41; Daniel 3:28; Daniel 4:1-3; Daniel 4:34-37).
Princes - the Babylonian satraps or governors of provinces.
As (upon) mortar - mire. He shall tread them under foot as dirt (Isaiah 10:6).