Isaiah 48:1 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 48:1
Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness.
to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
house
בֵּֽיתbeit-
H1004
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine singular construct
Jacob
יַעֲקֹ֗בya.'a.Ko
H3290
Jaakob · proper noun, a man's name
called
הַנִּקְרָאִים֙ha.nik.ra.'Im
H7121
to call out to (i.e. properly · definite article + verb, niphal active participle, masculine plural absolute
name
בְּשֵׁ֣םbe.Shem
H8034
an appellation · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
forth
יָצָ֑אוּya.Tza.'u
H3318
to go (causatively · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
waters
וּמִמֵּ֥יu.mi.Mei
H4325
water · conjunction + preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
Judah
יְהוּדָ֖הye.hu.Dah
H3063
Jehudah (or Judah) · proper noun, a place name
swear
הַֽנִּשְׁבָּעִ֣יםha.nish.ba.'Im
H7650
to seven oneself · definite article + verb, niphal active participle, masculine plural absolute
name
בְּשֵׁ֣םbe.Shem
H8034
an appellation · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
LORD
יְהוָ֗הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
mention
יַזְכִּ֔ירוּyaz.Ki.ru
H2142
properly · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
God
וּבֵאלֹהֵ֤יu.ve.lo.Hei
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · conjunction + preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵל֙Yis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
truth
בֶאֱמֶ֖תve.'e.Met
H571
stability · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
righteousness
בִצְדָקָֽהvitz.da.Kah
H6666
rightness (abstractly) · preposition + noun, common feminine 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
Jeremiah 4:2 And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in hi…
Psalms 68:26 Bless ye God in the congregations, even the Lord, from the fountain of Israel.
Genesis 32:28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
Deuteronomy 6:13 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.
Isaiah 1:10-14 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
Isaiah 65:16 That he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God…
Jeremiah 5:2 And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely.
Jeremiah 7:9-10 Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 48:1-8
We may observe here,
I. The hypocritical profession which many of the Jews made of religion and relation to God. To those who made such a profession the prophet is here ordered to address himself, for their conviction and humiliation, that they might own God's justice in what he had brought upon them. Now observe here,
1. How high their profession of religion soared, what a fair show they made in the flesh and how far they went towards heaven, what a good livery they wore and what a good face they put upon a very bad heart. (1.) They were the house of Jacob; they had a place and a name in the visible church. Jacob have I loved. Jacob is God's chosen; and they are not only retainers to his fa…
Hear ye this, O house of Jacob,.... Who were of the house and family of Jacob, his descendants and posterity; and who were of the house of the God of Jacob, had a name and a place there, at least in profession:
which are called by the name of Israel; a name given to Jacob, because of his prevalence with God in prayer; but these had only the name, not the thing, however not as yet; they were neither praying Jacobs, nor prevailing Israels; they were not Israelites indeed:
and are come forth out of the waters of Judah; that is, were of the seed of Judah, as the Targum, Aben Ezra, and Kimchi interpret it; these were waters out of his buckets, as Jarchi observes from Numbers 24:7, so we read of…
Hear this, O house of Jacob. He now addresses his discourse to the Jews; whom also he had chiefly in his eye, in the whole of the preceding chapter; for he was not sent to the Babylonians, but addresses them in such a manner as to wish that the Jews, to whom he had been especially appointed, should hear him. Accordingly, he foretold the destruction of the Babylonians, that the Jews might calmly wait for deliverance, and at the same time might not be terrified by the greatness and power of their enemies, [234] and that, relying on these promises, they might stand unmoved against all temptations. But because the Jews were obstinate, and did not believe those promises, and because Isaiah foresa…
The Church Fathers
He calls them the house of Jacob as not being worthy of the name of their forefather. Rather, "those called by the name Israel" are not really Israel, and those bearing that name are not called such here. And he adds, "and coming forth from the water of Judah." For they had nothing of the worthiness of the patriarchal soul, although they were descended from his fluid and bodily seed. For they were children only in the physical and carnal sense and not true children of the soul. But "Judah through the water" means the "kingly race" from David's line that in the days of the prophets remained in Jerusalem. They were those who, being not truly worthy of these names, used "Jacob" and "Israel" and "Judah" falsely; for they were those who praised the name of the Lord and made mention of the God of Israel with only their lips and mouth.… For they did "not" take their oaths "in truth" if they were [at the same time] consulting oracles. But they even thought they were being loyal to the city which was dedicated to God when, in fact, they were resisting God and performing this hypocrisy.
(Chapter 48, Verses 1 and following) Listen to this, house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and come from the waters of Judah: who swear in the name of the Lord, and remember the God of Israel, not in truth or justice. For they are called from the holy city: and they are established upon the Lord, the name of the God of Israel. These things I foretold to the Chaldeans and the Babylonians, and it is necessary for what I have spoken through my prophets to be fulfilled. But you, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and who come forth from the waters of Judah, and the rest that follows, listen attentively to what I am about to say. And it should be noted that he does not call them Jacob, but the house of Jacob; nor Israel, who are falsely called by this name, as they have no need for a name. And concerning the waters, he says, you come forth from the waters of Judah, calling them more reverently waters instead of seed, so as not to show that they are sons of the patriarchs in terms of virtue, but of the flesh. And rightly he called the waters of Judah, because at that time it was the only tribe that remained in the land of Judah; and the seed of David was preserved as king. You swore, he said, in the name of the Lord, not to honor the Lord; but taking his name, you commit injustice, while you want him to be a witness to your lie, and you rest in the holy city, and rely on the Lord of Israel; so that you boast to be the inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem, and to have the privilege of the Lord of hosts, when you assume the names of the empty Jacob, Israel, and the holy city, and the omnipotent God.
Dictionary and topics
Hypocrisy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Perjury · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Righteousness · The wicked: Make mention of God, not it — The wicked: Make mention of God, not it
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).
The Lord here calls on Israel to forsake her historic rebelliousness and listen to what he says. The Hebrew word translated listening is often synonymous with obeying or acting upon what is heard.
48:1-11 This prophecy is a disputation, a speech in which the prophet argues a set of points against his audience.
48:1-2 Israel was religious but not truly committed to the Lord.
48:1 Jacob . . . Judah: Although Isaiah’s normal focus was on Judah, here he addressed all the tribes of Israel.
Rashi on Isaiah 48:1
Hearken to this The two tribes destined to go in exile to Babylon.
O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel That is the tribe of Benjamin, who are not called by the tribe of Judah, but by the general name of the tribes of Israel.
and who emanated from the waters of Judah And the tribe of Judah who emanated and ran from the waters of Judah’s pail, as Scripture states (Num. 24: 7): “Water shall run out of his pails.”
neither in truth As Jeremiah said, (5:2) “And if they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’ surely they swear falsely,” i.e., you were unworthy of being redeemed, but since they were called [as being] from the Holy City, and that caused them not to be exiled with the ten trib…
