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Isaiah 44

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Assurance and Promise to Israel 1–5

1
Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen: ​
2
Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen. ​
3
For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: ​
4
And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.
5
One shall say, I am the LORD'S; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the LORD, and surname himself by the name of Israel. ​

The LORD: The Only God 6–8

6
Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. ​
7
And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them. ​
8
Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any. ​

The Folly and Shame of Idolatry 9–20

9
They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed. ​
10
Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing?
11
Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed: and the workmen, they are of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together.
12
The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint. ​
13
The carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house. ​
14
He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it.
15
Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto. ​
16
He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire:
17
And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god. ​
18
They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand. ​
19
And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree? ​
20
He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand? ​

God Blots Out Israel's Sins 21–23

21
Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me. ​
22
I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee. ​
23
Sing, O ye heavens; for the LORD hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel. ​

The LORD, Creator and Controller of History 24–28

24
Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself; ​
25
That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish; ​
26
That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof: ​
27
That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers:
28
That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Isaiah 44

Verse 1

Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen — ‘Yet now’ turns from the charges of 43:22–28, which end with ‘Jacob to the curse’. The old titles of 41:8 return: ‘servant’ (ebed) and ‘chosen’ (bachar). The names Jacob and Israel are set side by side again in vv.5, 21 and 23.

Verse 2

Jesurun — Yeshurun, a name for Israel drawn from yashar, upright. It stands in Deut 32:15, ‘Jeshurun waxed fat’, in 33:5 and 33:26, and in the Hebrew Bible only once beyond them, here. ‘Formed’ is yatsar, the potter’s verb, repeated in vv.21 and 24, where v.24 again says ‘from the womb’.

Verse 3

I will pour water upon him that is thirsty — Yatsaq, to pour, is used twice, first of water and then of the Spirit: ‘I will pour my spirit upon thy seed’. John 7:37–39 applies the thirst and the water to the Spirit ‘which they that believe on him should receive’. Joel 2:28 and Acts 2:17 speak of the Spirit poured out on all flesh.

Verse 5

subscribe with his hand unto the LORD — ‘Subscribe’ is katab, to write, as on a document. ‘Surname’ is kanah, to give a title, the verb of 45:4, ‘I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me’. Three speakers each take a name: the LORD’s, Jacob’s and Israel’s.

Verse 6

I am the first, and I am the last — Three titles precede it: ‘King of Israel’, ‘his redeemer’ (go’el, as in 41:14) and ‘LORD of hosts’ (tsava, the host of heaven in 40:26). ‘Beside me’ is bil’adai, ‘apart from me’, and recurs in v.8. Christ speaks the same words of himself in Rev 22:13.

Verse 7

set it in order for me — ‘Declare’ is nagad, the verb of 41:22 and 41:26, where the idols were put to the same test. ‘Set it in order’ is arak, to lay out in rows, the word for the shewbread ‘set in order’ (Ex 40:23) and for battle lines. The claim covers arranging events as well as announcing them.

Verse 8

ye are even my witnesses — ‘Witnesses’ is ed, the word of 43:10, and also of the idol-makers in v.9, who ‘are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know’. ‘There is no God’ is literally ‘no Rock’ (tsur), the title of Deut 32:4. Christ gives the same name to his followers: ‘ye shall be witnesses unto me’ (Acts 1:8).

Verse 9

They that make a graven image — ‘Vanity’ is tohu, translated ‘without form’ in Gen 1:2 and ‘confusion’ in 41:29. ‘Shall not profit’ is yaal, the verb of Hab 2:18, ‘What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it?’ ‘Delectable things’ are what the makers most desire (chamad, to desire).

Verse 12

he is hungry, and his strength faileth — The man who forges the god grows hungry and ‘is faint’, the verb ya’ef of 40:28, where the LORD ‘fainteth not, neither is weary’. ‘Strength’ is koach, the word of 40:29 and 40:31, where it is given to the faint and renewed for those who wait.

Verse 13

after the figure of a man — Tabnith, a pattern or model, the word for the ‘pattern of the tabernacle’ in Ex 25:9, there shown by the LORD. Here the carpenter marks the pattern out with line and compass ‘according to the beauty of a man’. Paul states the conclusion: ‘we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone’ (Acts 17:29).

Verse 15

he maketh a god, and worshippeth it — ‘God’ is el, the word of 40:18, ‘To whom then will ye liken God?’ The same wood warms him, bakes his bread and becomes a god. ‘Falleth down’ is sagad, which in the Hebrew Bible appears only here (vv.15, 17, 19) and in 46:6.

Verse 17

Deliver me; for thou art my god — ‘Deliver’ is natsal, the verb of the LORD’s promise to Hezekiah, ‘I will deliver thee and this city’ (38:6), and of v.20, where the man ‘cannot deliver his soul’. The confession of Daniel’s companions is the reverse: ‘our God whom we serve is able to deliver us’ (Dan 3:17).

Verse 18

he hath shut their eyes — Tachach, to smear over, as plaster is spread on a wall (Lev 14:42). The same judgment on seeing and understanding stands in Isa 6:9–10. Paul traces unbelief to ‘the god of this world’, who ‘hath blinded the minds of them which believe not’ (2 Cor 4:4).

Verse 19

none considereth in his heart — Literally none ‘brings back to his heart’ (shuv), the idiom of Deut 4:39, ‘consider it in thine heart, that the LORD he is God’. The thought left unsaid is put as a question, ‘shall I make the residue thereof an abomination?’ (to’evah, the word of Deut 27:15 and of Isa 41:24).

Verse 20

He feedeth on ashes — ‘Feedeth’ is ra’ah, the shepherd’s verb of 40:11, where the LORD ‘shall feed his flock like a shepherd’; Hos 12:1 uses it of Ephraim, who ‘feedeth on wind’. ‘A lie in my right hand’ puts the image in the hand which the LORD promises to hold in 41:13.

Verse 21

thou shalt not be forgotten of me — The promise answers the complaint of 49:14, ‘The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me’, and is given again in 49:15, ‘yet will I not forget thee’. ‘Servant’ is said twice, with ‘I have formed thee’ (yatsar), the verb of vv.2 and 24.

Verse 22

I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions — ‘Blotted out’ is machah, to wipe away, the verb of 43:25. The redemption is stated as already done, ‘for I have redeemed thee’ (ga’al), and it is the ground of the call ‘return unto me’. Acts 3:19 joins the two, ‘Repent ye therefore… that your sins may be blotted out’.

Verse 23

Sing, O ye heavens — ‘Break forth’ is patsach, the verb of 49:13 and 55:12, ‘the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing’. ‘Glorified himself’ is pa’ar, the verb of 49:3, where Israel is ‘my servant… in whom I will be glorified’. The reason given is twofold: ‘the LORD hath done it’, and he ‘hath redeemed Jacob’.

Verse 24

that stretcheth forth the heavens alone — Natah, the verb of 40:22, ‘stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain’. ‘Spreadeth abroad’ is raqa, to beat out, used in Ex 39:3 of gold beaten into plates and in Isa 40:19 of the goldsmith’s overlay on an image. Redeemer and Maker are one speaker: ‘formed thee from the womb’.

Verse 25

frustrateth the tokens of the liars — ‘Tokens’ is oth, ‘sign’, the word of the sign the LORD gave Hezekiah (38:22). ‘Diviners’ (qasam) are those forbidden in Deut 18:10, ‘that useth divination’. ‘Maketh… foolish’ is sakal, the verb of David’s prayer, ‘turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness’ (2 Sam 15:31).

Verse 26

confirmeth the word of his servant — ‘Confirmeth’ is qum, the verb of 40:8, ‘the word of our God shall stand for ever’. The promises ‘Thou shalt be inhabited’ and ‘Ye shall be built’ meet the report of Neh 1:3, ‘the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down’. 2 Chr 36:22 shows the word of Jeremiah accomplished.

Verse 28

He is my shepherd — Cyrus is named in Isaiah only here and in 45:1. ‘Shepherd’ is ra’ah, the verb of 40:11. Ezra 1:1 records the fulfilment, ‘the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia’, and Ezra 3:10 the laying of the temple’s foundation, ‘when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD’.