Isaiah 41:26

Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that we may say, He is righteous? yea, there is none that sheweth, yea, there is none that declareth, yea, there is none that heareth your words.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
declared	הִגִּ֤יד hi.Gid	H5046	properly · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
beginning	מֵרֹאשׁ֙ me.roSh	H7218	the head (as most easily shaken) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
know	וְנֵדָ֔עָה ve.ne.Da.'ah	H3045	to know (properly · conjunction + verb, qal infinitive construct, 1st person common plural
beforetime	וּמִלְּפָנִ֖ים u.mi.le.fa.Nim	H6440	the face (as the part that turns) · conjunction + preposition + preposition + noun, common masculine plural absolute
say	וְנֹאמַ֣ר ve.no.Mar	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal, 1st person common plural
righteous	צַדִּ֑יק tza.Dik	H6662	just · adjective, masculine singular absolute
sheweth	מַגִּ֗יד ma.Gid	H5046	properly · verb, hiphil active participle, masculine singular absolute
declareth	מַשְׁמִ֔יעַ mash.Mi.a'	H8085	to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, hiphil active participle, masculine singular absolute
heareth	שֹׁמֵ֖עַ sho.Me.a'	H8085	to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
words	אִמְרֵיכֶֽם 'im.rei.Khem	H561	something said · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Isaiah 41:22 Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them shew the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know…
Isaiah 44:7 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 c…
Isaiah 45:21 Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time…
Isaiah 43:9 Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things? let t…
Habakkuk 2:18-20 What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work t…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 41:21–end

The Lord, by the prophet, here repeats the challenge to idolaters to make out the pretentions of their idols: "Produce your cause (Isa 41:21) and make your best of it; bring forth the strongest reasons you have to prove that your idols are gods, and worthy of your adoration." Note, There needs no more to show the absurdity of sin than to produce the reasons that are given in defence of it, for they carry with them their own confutation. I. The idols are here challenged to bring proofs of their knowledge and power. Let us see what they can inform us of, and what they can do. Understanding and active power are the accomplishments of a man. Whoever pretends to be a god must have these in perfec…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Isaiah 41:26

Who--of the idolatrous soothsayers? When this prophecy shall be fulfilled, all shall see that God foretold as to Cyrus, which none of the soothsayers have. beforetime--before the event occurred. He is righteous--rather, "It is true"; it was a true prophecy, as the event shows. "He is righteous," in English Version, must be interpreted, The fulfilment of the idol's words proves that he is faithful. showeth, &c.--rather, "there was none (of the soothsayers) that showed . . . declared--no one has heard your words" foretelling the event.

John Gill on Isaiah 41:26

Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know?.... Who of the idols, or of their priests, that have declared things future before they came to pass, or ever predicted such an event as this before mentioned; which, if understood of Cyrus, was an hundred and fifty years before it came to pass; and if of Constantine, near a thousand years: and before time, that we may say, he is righteous? that is, who hath declared things before the time of the accomplishment of them, and they have come to pass, as they have been declared? by which it may be known that they are gods, or the priests of such that are so, by their having prescience of future events, or the spirit of prophecy; and so it…

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The Church Fathers

And what has been accomplished confirms the text: the oracles spread through all parts of the earth and of the sea have ceased to speak, and those who used to attend to them openmouthed have now turned away from them to learn the truth.
— Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 12:41.26

(Verse 26) Who announced it from the beginning, so that we may say: You are just. There is neither announcer, nor predictor, nor listener to your words. LXX: For who can declare to you the things that are from the beginning, that we may know them that shall be in the future? And we shall say that they are true: there is none that announces, nor that hears your words. These things, which I say I have done according to the prophetic tradition, as if they were already past, or, according to Symmachus, I promise they will be in the future, no demon or idol can predict. Therefore, all oracles have remained silent, because there is no one to announce, no one to hear, while the dull hearts of the Gentiles were first understood in their own terror, and they left behind false prophecies.
— Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Isaiah 41:26

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 41:21–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Isaiah 41:26

John Gill on Isaiah 41:26

The Church Fathers

Isaiah 41:26

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 41:21–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Isaiah 41:26

John Gill on Isaiah 41:26

The Church Fathers

John Calvin on Isaiah 41:26

Keil & Delitzsch on Isaiah 41:26-28

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Isaiah 41:26

Rashi on Isaiah 41:26