Isaiah 44:28 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 44:28
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.
to say (used with great latitude) · definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
Cyrus
לְכ֙וֹרֶשׁ֙le.Kho.resh
H3566
Koresh (or Cyrus) · preposition + proper noun, a man's name
shepherd
רֹעִ֔יro.'I
H7462
to tend a flock · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
perform
יַשְׁלִ֑םyash.Lim
H7999
to be safe (in mind · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
pleasure
חֶפְצִ֖יchef.Tzi
H2656
pleasure · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
saying
וְלֵאמֹ֤רve.le.Mor
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
Jerusalem
לִירוּשָׁלִַ֙ם֙li.ru.sha.Lim
H3389
Jerushalaim or Jerushalem · preposition + proper noun, a place name
built
תִּבָּנֶ֔הti.ba.Neh
H1129
to build (literally and figuratively) · verb, niphal imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
temple
וְהֵיכָ֖לve.hei.Khal
H1964
a large public building · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
laid
תִּוָּסֵֽדti.va.Sed
H3245
to set (literally or figuratively) · verb, niphal imperfect, 3rd person feminine 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
2 Chronicles 36:22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD sti…
Isaiah 45:1 Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of k…
Ezra 6:3-18 In the first year of Cyrus the king the same Cyrus the king made a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, Let the house be builded…
Daniel 10:1 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, but…
Isaiah 45:13 I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for pric…
Isaiah 46:11 Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to…
Isaiah 63:11 Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his…
Psalms 78:71-72 From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 44:21–end
In these verses we have,
I. The duty which Jacob and Israel, now in captivity, were called to, that they might be qualified and prepared for the deliverance designed them. Our first care must be to get good by our afflictions, and then we may hope to get out of them. The duty is expressed in two words: Remember and return, as in the counsel to Ephesus, Rev 2:4, Rev 2:5. 1. "Remember these, O Jacob! Remember what thou hast been told of the folly of idolatry, and let the convictions thou art now under be ready to thee whenever thou art tempted to that sin. Remember that thou art my servant, and therefore must not serve other masters." 2. Return unto me, Isa 44:22. It is the great concern of th…
my shepherd--type of Messiah (Isa 40:11; Psa 23:1; Psa 77:20; Eze 34:23).
all my pleasure--so Messiah (Isa 42:1; Isa 53:10). This is the first time Cyrus is named expressly; and that, a hundred fifty years before the time when in 550 B.C. he began his reign. The name comes from the Persian khorschid, "the sun"; kings often taking their names from the gods; the sun was worshipped as a god in Persia.
saying--rather, "and that saith"; construed with God, not with Cyrus. God's word is instantaneously efficient in accomplishing His will.
to . . . to--or, "of Jerusalem . . . of the temple," as previously, the same Hebrew word is translated, "of Cyrus" [BARNES]. English Version is more graphi…
That saith of Cyrus, he is my shepherd,.... Or Coresh, as his name in the Hebrew language is; and in the Persian tongue signifies the "sun"; from whence he had his name, as Ctesias (q) and Plutarch (r) say; to which the Hebrew word "cheres", which signifies the "sun", has some affinity; though Joseph Scaliger (s) would have the name of Cyrus to signify "food" in the Persian language, and which answers to his character as a shepherd. The father of this illustrious person was Cambyses, king of Persia; his mother's name was Mandane, daughter of Astyages, king of Media (t). This prophecy, concerning him, was nearly two hundred years before he was born. Josephus says (u), that Cyrus read this pro…
The Church Fathers
And he who restores Jerusalem, destroys Babylon. He also says to Cyrus, the king of the Persians, who first destroyed Babylon and the Chaldeans: you are my shepherd, or as the Septuagint translated, so that you may understand. The reason for this difference is clear. For the Hebrew word Roi, if we read it with the letter Res (ר), it is understood as my shepherd; if we read it with the letter Daleth (ד), it means my knowing or understanding, which are distinguished by a small apex, and therefore are often confused. It is written at the beginning of Ezra, that by the edict of Cyrus, the king of the Persians and Medes, the captivity of the people of Israel was released, and those who wanted to return were sent back to Jerusalem under Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, the son of Josedech the high priest. For to him the Lord inspired to do his will, and to fulfill his commandments.
(Verse 28) I say to Cyrus: you are my shepherd, and you will fulfill all my desires. I say to Jerusalem: you will be rebuilt; and to the temple: you will be founded. LXX: I say to Cyrus, so that he may understand, and do all my will; I say to Jerusalem, you will be built: and I will establish my holy house. He also says to Cyrus, the king of the Persians, who first destroyed Babylon and the Chaldeans: you are my shepherd, or as the Septuagint translated, so that you may understand. The reason for this difference is clear. For the Hebrew word Roi, if we read it with the letter Res (ר), it is understood as my shepherd; if we read it with the letter Daleth (ד), it means my knowing or understanding, which are distinguished by a small apex, and therefore are often confused. It is written at the beginning of Ezra, that by the edict of Cyrus, the king of the Persians and Medes, the captivity of the people of Israel was released, and those who wanted to return were sent back to Jerusalem under Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, the son of Josedech the high priest. For to him the Lord inspired to do his will, and to fulfill his commandments. Significantly, he added, I say to you Jerusalem, you shall be built, and to the Temple, you shall be founded. For under Cyrus, it was commanded to build Jerusalem and the Temple, of which only the foundations were laid while he was alive. However, under Darius, in his second year, with the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, the building of the Temple was begun.
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
Cyrus — (Heb. Ko’resh), the celebrated “King of Persia” (Elam) who was conqueror of Babylon, and issued the decree of liberation to the Jews (Ezra 1:1, 2). He was the son of Cambyses, the prince of Persia,…
Isaiah, Book Of — I. Chapters 1-5 contain Isaiah’s prophecies in the reigns of Uzziah and Jotham, foretelling that the present prosperity of Judah should be destroyed, and that Israel should be brought to desolation.…
Shepherd — A word naturally of frequent occurence in Scripture. Sometimes the word “pastor” is used instead (Jer. 2:8; 3:15; 10:21; 12:10; 17:16). This word is used figuratively to represent the relation of…
Babylon · Predictions respecting: Restoration of the Jews from — Predictions respecting: Restoration of the Jews from
Cyrus · Prophecies concerning — Prophecies concerning
Jerusalem · Prophecies respecting: To be rebuilt by Cyrus — Prophecies respecting: To be rebuilt by Cyrus
Medo-Persian Kingdom · Predictions respecting: Deliverance of the Jews — Predictions respecting: Deliverance of the Jews
Persia · Cyrus — Cyrus
Shepherd · .A name given to Cyrus — .A name given to Cyrus
Shepherds · Illustrative: Of kings as the leaders of the people — Illustrative: Of kings as the leaders of the people
Temple, The Second · Cyrus: His decree for building, predicted — Cyrus: His decree for building, predicted
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).
Saying to Cyrus. This is a remarkable passage, in which we not only may see the wonderful providence of God, but which likewise contains a striking proof of the truth and certainty of the prophecies. Here "Cyrus" was named long before he was born; for between the death of Manasseh, by whom Isaiah was slain, and the birth of "Cyrus," more than a century intervened. Besides, even though he had been born, who would have conjectured that he should come from the most distant mountains of Persia to Babylon? These things ought therefore to be carefully observed, for they shew clearly that it was not by a human spirit that Isaiah spoke. No one would ever have thought that there would be a person nam…
The promise takes a new turn here, acquiring greater and greater speciality. It is introduced as the word of Jehovah, who first gave existence to Israel, and has not let it go to ruin. "Thus saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer, and He that formed thee from the womb, I Jehovah am He that accomplisheth all; who stretched out the heavens alone, spread out the earth by Himself; who bringeth to nought the signs of the prophets of lies, and exposeth the soothsayers as raging mad; who turneth back the wise men, and maketh their science folly; who realizeth the word of His servant, and accomplisheth the prediction of His messengers; who saith to Jerusalem, She shall be inhabited! and to the cities of Judah,…
He is my shepherd: Cyrus went beyond simply permitting the Jews to return to their homeland. He facilitated a major restoration project to rebuild Jerusalem and restore the Temple (see 45:13; Ezra 1:2-4; 6:3-5).
