properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
peace
הֶחֱשֵׁ֙יתִי֙he.che.Shei.ti
H2814
to hush or keep quiet · verb, hiphil perfect, 1st person common singular
still
אַחֲרִ֖ישׁ'a.cha.Rish
H2790
to scratch · verb, hiphil imperfect, 1st person common singular
refrained
אֶתְאַפָּ֑ק'et.'a.Pak
H662
to contain · verb, hithpael imperfect, 1st person common singular
cry
אֶפְעֶ֔ה'ef.'Eh
H6463
to scream · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular
woman
כַּיּוֹלֵדָ֣הkai.yo.le.Dah
H3205
to bear young · preposition with the article + verb, qal active participle, feminine singular absolute
destroy
אֶשֹּׁ֥ם'e.Shom
H5395
properly · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular
devour
וְאֶשְׁאַ֖ףve.'esh.'Af
H7602
to inhale eagerly · conjunction + verb, qal, 1st person common singular
once
יָֽחַדYa.chad
H3162
properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
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
Psalms 83:1-2 Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God.
Ecclesiastes 8:11-12 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
Jeremiah 15:6 Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am wea…
Jeremiah 44:22 So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefor…
Luke 18:7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
2 Peter 3:9-10 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should peri…
2 Peter 3:15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him ha…
Job 32:18 For I am full of matter, the spirit within me constraineth me.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 42:13-17
It comes all to one whether we make these verses (as some do) the song itself that is to be sung by the Gentile world or a prophecy of what God will do to make way for the singing of that song, that evangelical new song.
I. He will appear in his power and glory more than ever. So he did in the preaching of his gospel, in the divine power and energy which went along with it, and in the wonderful success it had in the pulling down of Satan's stronghold, Isa 42:13, Isa 42:14. He had long held his peace, and been still, and refrained himself, while he winked at the times of the ignorance of the Gentile world (Act 17:30), and suffered all nations to walk in their own ways (Act 14:16); but now he…
long time--namely, during the desolation of Israel (Isa 32:14).
holden my peace--(Compare Psa 50:21; Hab 1:2).
cry like a travailing woman, &c.--Like a woman in parturition, who, after having restrained her breathing for a time, at last, overcome with labor pain, lets out her voice with a panting sigh; so Jehovah will give full vent to His long pent-up wrath. Translate, instead of "destroy . . . devour"; I will at once breathe hard and pant, namely, giving loose to My wrath.
John Gill on Isaiah 42:14
I have long time holden my peace,.... For many hundred years the Lord suffered the Gentile world to walk in their own ways, to worship their idols, and took no notice of them; he winked at and overlooked their times of ignorance, and did not bring down his vengeance upon them, nor stir up all his wrath; nor indeed did he send any among them, to reprove and convince them of their errors, and threaten them with "ruin", in case of their continuance in them:
I have been still, and refrained myself; had been silent, and said nothing against them in a providential way, but curbed and kept in his wrath and displeasure at their idolatry, as a woman in travail "holds in" (y) her breath as long as sh…
"Sweet and righteous is the Lord." You love [him] because he is sweet. You fear [him] because he is righteous. In a gentle voice, he said, "I have kept silence." But as a just person, "shall I always be silent?" "A Lord compassionate and merciful." Yes, indeed. Yet add, patient; yet add, and very compassionate.
Still, the saying of Isaiah has come to my mind: "I have kept silence; I shall not always keep silence and endure, shall I? I have been as patient as a woman in labor." May it be that we both receive the reward for our silence and acquire some power for refuting, so that, when we have given our proofs, we may dry up this bitter torrent of falsehood poured out against us. May we say, "Our souls have passed through a torrent," and, "If it has not been that the Lord was with us, when people rose up against us, perhaps they had swallowed us up alive, perhaps the waters had swallowed us up."
The one who speaks is now keeping quiet. He speaks in commandments; he keeps quiet in judgment.… How has he kept quiet, seeing that he spoke to say this very thing? He says, "I have kept quiet," and yet he does not keep quiet, because just by saying "I have kept quiet," God has not kept quiet. So then, Lord, I hear you speaking in so many commandments, as many sacred signs, so many pages, so many books. And then I hear you saying this, "I have kept quiet, will I keep quiet always?" So how have you kept quiet? Because I am not yet saying, "Come, you blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom." And I am not yet saying to the others, "Go into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels." And while I am not yet saying these things, I am already warning you that I am going to say them.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
on Isaiah 42:14
I have kept silence. The Prophet meets the temptations which commonly give us great uneasiness, when God delays his aid. We are tempted by impatience, and dread that his promises are false. We reckon it unreasonable that God should be silent, and fall asleep, so to speak, while the wicked carry themselves high; that he should be cool, while they burn with eagerness to do mischief; and that he should wink at their crimes, while they keenly pursue every kind of cruelty. When their minds were distressed and almost overwhelmed, the Prophet wished to comfort them, that they might not think that God had forsaken them, though everything appeared to be desperate.
For a long time. He expressly menti…
The period of punishment has now lasted sufficiently long; it is time for Jehovah to bring forth the salvation of His people. "I have been silent eternally long, was still, restrained myself; like a travailing woman, I now breathe again, snort and snuff together." The standpoint of these prophecies has the larger half of the captivity behind it. It has already lasted a long time, though only for several decades; but in the estimation of Jehovah, with His love to His people, this time of long-suffering towards their oppressors is already an "eternity" (see Isa 57:11; Isa 58:12; Isa 61:4; Isa 63:18-19; Isa 64:4, cf., Isa 64:10, Isa 64:11). He has kept silence, has still forcibly restrained Him…
I have long been silent . . . restrained myself: Israel had experienced God’s absence in the Exile, which came about because of their idolatrous ways (57:11-13; 2 Kgs 17:6-24). The godly will pray for God’s presence and renewed involvement in their situation (Isa 64:12), and the Lord will answer their prayers because of his commitment to their redemption (62:1, 6).
Rashi on Isaiah 42:14
I was silent from time immemorial Already for a long time I have been silent about the destruction of My Temple, and always...
I am still; I restrain Myself This is present tense. Until now My spirit has constrained Me, and from now, like a travailing woman will I cry.
I will be terrified Heb. אֶשֹּׁם, I will be terrified.
and destroy [them] together And I will long to destroy everyone together, all My adversaries.
