Isaiah 48:17 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 48:17
Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
LORD
יְהוָ֛הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
Redeemer
גֹּאַלְךָ֖go.'al.Kha
H1350
to be the next of kin (and as such to buy back a relati… · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
One
קְד֣וֹשׁke.Do.osh
H6918
sacred (ceremonially or morally) · adjective, masculine singular construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
LORD
יְהוָ֤הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
God
אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙'e.lo.Hei.kha
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
teacheth
מְלַמֶּדְךָ֣me.la.med.Kha
H3925
properly · verb, piel active participle, masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
to tread · verb, hiphil active participle, masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
way
בְּדֶ֥רֶךְbe.De.rekh
H1870
a road (as trodden) · preposition + noun, common both genders singular absolute
go
יָלַךְyâlak
H3212
to walk (literally or figuratively)
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 32:8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.
Psalms 25:12 What man is he that feareth the LORD? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.
Job 22:21-22 Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.
Deuteronomy 8:17-18 And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.
Isaiah 30:20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any mo…
Psalms 73:24 Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.
Isaiah 54:13 And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.
Job 36:22 Behold, God exalteth by his power: who teacheth like him?
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 48:16–end
Here, as before, Jacob and Israel are summoned to hearken to the prophet speaking in God's name, or rather to God speaking in and by the prophet, and that as a type of the great prophet by whom God has in these last days spoken unto us, and that is sufficient: Come near therefore, and hear this. Note, Those that would hear and understand what God says must come near, and approach to him; let them come as near as they can. Let those that have hearkened to the tempter now come near, and hear this, that they may be confirmed in their resolutions to serve God. Those that draw nigh to God may depend upon this, that his secret shall be with them. Here,
I. God refers them to what he hath both said…
teacheth . . . to profit--by affliction, such as the Babylonish captivity, and the present long-continued dispersion of Israel (Heb 12:10).
John Gill on Isaiah 48:17
Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer,.... A character peculiar to Christ, who engaged in covenant to be the Redeemer of his people; was promised and prophesied of as such; and who came into this world for this purpose, and has obtained eternal redemption:
the Holy One of Israel; who came of Israel as man, and as such was holy, and without any spot or stain of sin and who, as God, is the most holy, in his nature and works; and, as Mediator, the Sanctifier of Israel, and is in the midst of them as such:
I am the Lord thy God; and so fit to be the Redeemer and Sanctifier of them; and happy are those who can say with Thomas, "my Lord and my God"; and who further describes himself, and declares hi…
Thus saith Jehovah. I connect this verse with the four following verses, because they relate to the same subject, and because in them the Lord promises deliverance to his people, but in such a manner as first to shew that it was through their own fault that they were reduced to slavery; that is, that the people might not murmur and object that it would have been better to be kept in their native country, if the Lord wished to assist them, than to be carried away and brought back; for physicians who cure a disease which they might have prevented, are held to be less entitled to thanks. The Prophet therefore meets this, and says that this befell the people through their own fault, and that the…
The Church Fathers
He says, "I AM your God." This "I AM" means "I am the beginning." He explained all this to the all-wise Moses saying "I am the one who is." For he as Lord is truly the God of everything. Those things that are brought into being by him are said to be "beings" also and to share in the source of being.… Again he works in them a steadfast thinking and a well-established mind that they can see God to be truly existing in nature. To these he reveals his glory so that they are not carried away by deceitful voices.
(Verse 17, 18 and following) Thus says the Lord, your holy Redeemer, the God of Israel: I am the Lord your God, teaching you what is profitable, leading you in the way you should go. Oh, that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea. Your descendants would have been like sand, and the offspring of your womb like its grains; their name would never be cut off or destroyed from before me. Because God has promised future blessings to Israel, he explains why he afflicted them before. If they avoid the same mistakes, they will not suffer similar consequences. Yes, he said, if you had followed my commands: as the Seventy translated; or at least, with a desire for it, if you had followed my commands: if you had done so, your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea, signifying abundance of all things. And what follows: and your offspring would have been like the sand, and the descendants of your womb like its grains: indeed, it seems to remain in the Jewish people, who to this day, like worms, produce children and grandchildren; but how is this to be understood in terms of the promise, when they do not have peace and righteousness? For either he is angry with them, or appeased. If he is angry, how is his seed multiplied every day? If he is appeased, how do they serve and not possess peace and justice? From this it is clear that it is said now of the apostolic seed, of which we also read above (In Chapter I): Unless the Lord of hosts had left us seed, we would have become like Sodom. And because it seems at that time not to have been fulfilled, it is fulfilled in the coming of Christ: and before his face the seed of Israel remains.
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
Feet, The · Of saints: Guided by Christ — Of saints: Guided by Christ
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 exhortation is now continued. Israel is to learn the incomparable nature of Jehovah from the work of redemption thus prepared in word and deed. The whole future depends upon the attitude which it henceforth assumes to His commandments. "Thus saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I, Jehovah thy God, am He that teacheth thee to do that which profiteth, and leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldst go. O that thou hearkenedst to my commandments! then thy peace becomes like the river, and thy righteousness like waves of the sea; and thy seed becomes like the sand, and the children of thy body like the grains thereof: its name will not be cut off nor destroyed away from my cou…
I have told you plainly: God’s promises are clear, though not always specific as to manner and time. • now the Sovereign Lord and his Spirit have sent me with this message: The identity of the one who is sent is unclear. Isaiah might be referring to himself as a Spirit-inspired prophet who spoke the very words of God to Israel. The connection with the Spirit suggests that it refers to the promised servant, the Messiah. • The presence of the Spirit assures the servant’s success.
Rashi on Isaiah 48:16
from the time it was, there was I [Jonathan paraphrases:] From the time the nations ceased fearing Me, there I brought Abraham your father near to My service.
and now, the Lord God has sent me, and His spirit [Jonathan paraphrases:] Said the prophet, “And now, the Lord God has sent me, and His word.” This is an intermingling of words. The one who said this did not say that [i.e., the first part of the verse was said by God, and the second part by the prophet]. And the Aggadic Midrash of Rabbi Tanhuma (Yithro 21) explains: Hearken to this—This alludes to Moses’ Torah, referred to as “This is the Torah.” In the beginning, I did not speak in secretat Sinai. And the prophet says, “From the time…
