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. (Isaiah 41:25)
See on v. 2. Cyrus is represented as coming from both the north and the east. Babylonia is to the east of Judah, but entry from Mesopotamia into Palestine was always from the north, near Carchemish, at the bend of the Euphrates. For this reason Babylon or Assyria is often referred to in connection with the north (see on Jer. 1:14; 3:18; 4:6; etc.).
Shall he call upon my name.
From 2 Chron. 36:23 and Ezra 1:2 it is clear that, to some degree at least, Cyrus came to acknowledge the God of heaven.
Come … upon morter.
Meaning, “tread ... upon mortar.” Mortar was mixed by treading it with the feet (Nahum 3:14). With the help of God Cyrus was able to tread down his enemies (Isa. 41:2; 45:1) and to conquer the East.