first · definite article + ordinal number, feminine plural absolute
pass
בָ֑אוּVa.'u
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
things
וַֽחֲדָשׁוֹת֙va.cha.da.shOt
H2319
new · conjunction + adjective, feminine plural absolute
declare
מַגִּ֔ידma.Gid
H5046
properly · verb, hiphil active participle, masculine singular absolute
forth
תִּצְמַ֖חְנָהtitz.Mach.nah
H6779
to sprout (transitive or intransitive · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person feminine plural
tell
אַשְׁמִ֥יע'ash.Mi'
H8085
to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, hiphil imperfect, 1st person common singular
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 43:19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the…
Isaiah 46:9-10 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,
John 13:19 Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he.
2 Peter 1:19-21 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the d…
Isaiah 44:7-8 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…
Joshua 23:14-15 And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath fai…
1 Kings 8:15-20 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which spake with his mouth unto David my father, and hath with his hand fulfilled it, saying…
Isaiah 41:22-23 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…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 42:5-12
Here is I. The covenant God made with and the commission he gave to the Messiah, Isa 42:5-7, which are an exposition of Isa 42:1, Behold my servant, whom I uphold.
1. The royal titles by which the great God here makes himself known, and distinguishes himself from all pretenders, speak very much his glory (Isa 42:5): Thus saith God the Lord. And who are thou, Lord? Why, he is the fountain of all being and therefore the fountain of all power. He is the fountain of being, 1. In the upper world; for he created the heavens and stretched them out (Isa 40:22), and keeps the vast expanse still upon the stretch. 2. In the lower world: for he spread forth the earth, and made it a capacious habitation,…
former things--Former predictions of God, which were now fulfilled, are here adduced as proof that they ought to trust in Him alone as God; namely, the predictions as to Israel's restoration from Babylon.
new--namely, predictions as to Messiah, who is to bring all nations to the worship of Jehovah (Isa 42:1, Isa 42:4, Isa 42:6).
spring forth--The same image from plants just beginning to germinate occurs in Isa 43:19; Isa 58:8. Before there is the slightest indication to enable a sagacious observer to infer the coming event, God foretells it.
John Gill on Isaiah 42:9
Behold, the former things are come to pass,.... Which the Lord had foretold in former times, as to Abraham, concerning the affliction of his posterity in Egypt, the bringing them out from thence, and settling them in the land of Canaan; and other things by Moses and Joshua, and other prophets; and by Isaiah; and particularly the captivity of the ten tribes, which was now come to pass in the times of Hezekiah:
and new things do I declare; as the captivity of Judah and Benjamin, and their restoration by Cyrus; and more especially the mission and incarnation of Christ, his sufferings and death, and redemption and salvation by him; which were not only things to come, but new things, famous and…
(Verse 9) The things that were first, behold they have come, and new things I declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them. Sequitur, Quae prima fuerunt, ecce venerunt. Et est sensus: Quae locutus sum, quae per Moysen, Prophetasque pollicitus sum, universa completa sunt. Nunc autem annuntio vobis Evangelium, vocationem gentium, passionem Christi, novitatem fidei: ut quomodo priora cernitis rebus expleta, sic et ea quae nunc polliceor, credatis esse ventura.
"Behold, the first things," he says, "came to pass. But I proclaim new things, and before they arise, I will cause these things to be heard by you." Just as he says "the first things" would be fulfilled through my works, as I promised Abraham concerning his "seed," so indeed I acted. I fulfilled also those things foretold by Moses and the rest of the prophets; "now I promise to everyone what was proclaimed before" and to make them come to light through the prophecies, for "I caused these things to be heard by you."
When the prophet says, "See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them," he does not allow for us to disbelieve the word of the Savior in any respect. In fact, he is saying that, just as what was said from the beginning about his coming has been fulfilled, so also what he calls the "new things" will be shown to be true and will be revealed before they are made manifest. And what are these things? Our Lord Jesus Christ promised life in the age to come, namely, the life of incorruption, and holiness, and righteousness, the kingdom of heaven, the glorious participation in the spiritual goods, the fruits of gentleness, the reward of piety, the crown of love for him. May it be that we, too, attain this through his grace and loving-kindness.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Gentiles · PROPHECIES OF THE CONVERSION OF — PROPHECIES OF THE CONVERSION OF
Wisdom Of God, The · Exhibited in: His foreshadowing events — Exhibited in: His foreshadowing events
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Calvin on Isaiah 42:9
The former things. He now recalls to remembrance the former predictions, by the fulfillment of which he shews that confidence ought to be placed in him for the future; for what we have known by actual experience ought to tend greatly to confirm our belief. It is as if he had said, "I have spoken so frequently to your fathers, and you have found me to be true in all things; and yet you cannot place confidence in me about future events: the experience of past transactions produces no effect upon you, and does not excite you to do better." God's favors, therefore, ought to be mentioned by us in such a manner that, whenever our salvation lies concealed in hope, we may rest on the word of God, an…
First the overthrow of idolatry, then the restoration of Israel and conversion of the Gentiles: this is the double work of Jehovah's zeal which is already in progress. "The first, behold, is come to pass, and new things am I proclaiming; before it springs up, I let you hear it." The "first" is the rise of Cyrus, and the agitation of the nations which it occasioned - events which not only formed the starting-point of the prophecy in these addresses, whether the captivity was the prophet's historical or ideal standpoint, but which had no less force in themselves, as the connection between the first and second halves of the v. before us imply, as events both foreknown and distinctly foretold by…
I am the Lord: As Creator of the world, and as the only one who can bring about the things he predicts, the Lord alone is glorious and worthy of praise.
Rashi on Isaiah 42:9
The former things that I promised Abraham concerning the exile of Egypt (Gen. 15:14), “And also the nation etc.”
behold they have come to pass I kept My promise, and now new things I tell My people, to promise them concerning a second exile.
