Isaiah 45:21 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
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? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.
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 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
Isaiah 43:11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.
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,
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…
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…
Titus 2:13-14 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Isaiah 43:3 For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.
Isaiah 45:14 Thus saith the LORD, The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and the…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 45:20–end
What here is said is intended, as before,
I. For the conviction of idolators, to show them their folly in worshipping gods that cannot help them, and neglecting a God that can. Let all that have escaped of the nations, not only the people of the Jews, but those of other nations that were by Cyrus released out of captivity in Babylon, let them come, and hear what is to be said against the worshipping of idols, that they may be cured of it as well as the Jews, that Babylon, which had of old been the womb of idolatry, might now become the grave of it. Let the refugees assemble themselves and come together; God has something to say to them for their own good, and it is this, that idolatry is a f…
Challenge the worshippers of idols (Isa 41:1).
take counsel together--as to the best arguments wherewith to defend the cause of idolatry.
who . . . from that time-- (Isa 41:22-23; see on Isa 44:8). Which of the idols has done what God hath, namely, foretold, primarily as to Cyrus; ultimately as to the final restoration of Israel hereafter? The idolatry of Israel before Cyrus' time will have its counterpart in the Antichrist and the apostasy, which shall precede Christ's manifestation.
just . . . and . . . Saviour--righteous in keeping His promises, and therefore a Saviour to His people. Not only is it not inconsistent with, but it is the result of, His righteousness, or justice, that H…
Tell ye, and bring them near, and let them take counsel together,.... Tell them what I say of their ignorance and stupidity; and gather them all together, their gods, their makers, and their worshippers, and let them lay their heads together, and consult what proof they are able to give of their divinities, particularly by foretelling things to come:
who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? that is, who of all their gods or priests have ever declared this or anyone thing at any distance of time before it came to pass? either this everlasting salvation of my people, or the redemption by Cyrus, which was a type of it, and was spoken of beforehand? have ever a…
The Church Fathers
There is among them no true knowledge of the things to come, but rather they prophesy falsely, and with clownish talk and deception and trickery and nothing else. The God of the universe responds: If they prophesy rightly, they will come close and will know at the same time. For if they are able to prophesy rightly, then they will all be brought together as one. For their oracles came from many places. But some worked others into a frenzy and honored the unclean demons who were speaking falsehood. If they had been able to prophesy rightly, they would all be aware of what is to come and who from the very start made these things to be heard.
(Vers. 21) Announce, and come, and counsel together: Who has declared this from the beginning, and from then on predicted it? Is it not I, the Lord? There is no other God besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me. LXX: Tell ye, and come, and consult together: who hath declared this from the beginning, who hath foretold this from that time? Have not I the Lord, and there is no God else besides me? A just God and a saviour, there is none besides me. Therefore, the Apostles are commanded to proclaim the truth opportune and importune (2 Timothy 4), and to devise a plan for the salvation of the nations. But, that is, in order that many might be saved, God spoke from the beginning that they should be gathered and come from the nations, and the mouths of all the prophets proclaimed those who spoke the word of the Lord, except for whom there is no other. For the Son is not without Him, but in Him is God.
With these and innumerable other texts of the same kind, in which the Lord our God is proclaimed as merciful and just, is shown how much his mercy must be loved and how much his justice must be feared.… Therefore, if there are those whom the pious goodness of God does not free from the domination of sin in this present world, his just severity condemns them in the future. From this it comes about that the evil ones are tirelessly admonished for their salvation by the divine words lest they remain in the servitude of sin, but they are exhorted rather to seek the mercy of a just God while they are in this life.… Therefore, his mercy must be loved and his justice feared by both the good and the wicked, lest either the good, loving the mercy of God, do not fear his justice and fall into the traps of the devil who seduces, or the wicked, considering only the severity of his justice, do not seek the blessing of his mercy when they can find it in their life, and so hardened, not only reject the forgiveness of sins but also do not cease to multiply sins.
Dictionary and topics
Atonement, The · Reconciles the justice and mercy of God — Reconciles the justice and mercy of God
God · Is declared to be: Just — Is declared to be: Just
Justice Of God, The · Is a part of his character — Is a part of his character
Prophecy · God is the author of — God is the author of
Salvation · Is by Christ alone — Is by Christ alone
Time · Particular periods of, mentioned: The ancient time — Particular periods of, mentioned: The ancient time
Unity Of God · Asserted by: God himself — Asserted by: God himself
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).
Tell ye. He again challenges all those who might have annoyed the Jews and shaken their faith by their taunts; for he always keeps this object in view, to fortify the faith of the people against all the assaults of the Gentiles. Amidst temptations so numerous and so severe, there was danger lest the Jews should sink under their terrible afflictions, if there had not been powerful arguments on the other side to induce them still to worship and trust the true God; and therefore he permits heathens to produce and bring forward everything that they can find in support of their cause.
Let them also take counsel together. These words are added, in order to inspire greater confidence; for the Prop…
The salvation of Israel, foretold and realized by Jehovah, becomes at the same time the salvation of the heathen world. "Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye escaped of the heathen! Irrational are they who burden themselves with the wood of their idol, and pray to a god that bringeth no salvation. Make known, and cause to draw near; yea, let them take counsel together: Who has made such things known from the olden time, proclaimed it long ago? have not I, Jehovah? and there is no Deity beside me; a God just, and bringing salvation: there is not without me!" The fulness of the Gentiles, which enters into the kingdom of God, is a remnant of the whole mass of the heathen: for sa…
Salvation is from the Lord alone. He is the creator, the revealer, and the executor of his will in human history. He promised to establish a new era of salvation and righteousness (see 45:8). Every human being will submit to God, either willingly or unwillingly (45:23-24).
45:18 Ancient pagan people viewed the world as a place of empty chaos. However, God’s purposes are good, and he made the world from the beginning as a place to be lived in with him in harmony.
Rashi on Isaiah 45:21
who announced this from before Who of your idols is it that announced from before that your God brought salvation, each one to its worshipers?
Is it not I, the Lord, and there are no other For I announce what I am destined to do for My people, and I fulfill My words.
