Isaiah 51:12 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Isaiah 51:12
I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass;
properly · verb, piel active participle, masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
afraid
וַתִּֽירְאִי֙va.ti.re.'I
H3372
to fear · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 2nd person feminine singular
man
מֵאֱנ֣וֹשׁme.'e.No.osh
H582
a man in general (singly or collectively) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
die
יָמ֔וּתya.Mut
H4191
to die (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
son
וּמִבֶּןu.mi.ben-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · conjunction + preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
man
אָדָ֖ם'a.Dam
H120
ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species · noun, common masculine singular absolute
made
יִנָּתֵֽןyi.na.Ten
H5414
to give · verb, niphal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
grass
חָצִ֥ירcha.Tzir
H2682
grass · noun, common masculine 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
Psalms 118:6 The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?
Isaiah 2:22 Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?
1 Peter 1:24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
John 14:26-27 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to you…
John 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
2 Corinthians 1:3-5 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;
James 1:10-11 But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.
Isaiah 66:13 As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 51:9-16
In these verses we have,
I. A prayer that God would, in his providence, appear and act for the deliverance of his people and the mortification of his and their enemies. Awake, awake! put on strength, O arm of the Lord! Isa 51:9. The arm of the Lord is Christ, or it is put for God himself, as Psa 44:23. Awake! why sleepest thou? He that keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps; but, when we pray that he would awake, we mean that he would make it to appear that he watches over his people and is always awake to do them good. The arm of the Lord is said to awake when the power of God exerts itself with more than ordinary vigour on his people's behalf. When a hand or arm is benumbed we say, It is…
comforteth-- (Isa 51:3; Isa 40:1).
thou--Zion.
son of man--frail and dying as his parent Adam.
be made as grass--wither as grass (Isa 40:6-7).
John Gill on Isaiah 51:12
I, even I, am he that comforteth you,.... This is an answer to the prayer of the prophet, or the church by him, in which the Lord promises not only assistance and help, but comfort; not only to exert his power and show his great strength by making bare his arm; but to open his heart, unbosom himself, and show his great love and strong affection for them; and so administer divine comforts unto them, giving more than was asked for: and he promises to do it himself, not by his prophets and ministers, word and ordinances, though these are the usual means; but he himself would do it by his Spirit and grace, and the immediate discoveries of his love; and which he repeats, to show the certainty of…
I, I am. Here the Lord not only promises grace and salvation to the Jews, but remonstrates with them for refusing to believe him, and for valuing his power less than they ought. It is exceedingly base to tremble at the threatenings of men to such a degree as to care nothing about God's assistance; for he displays his power for this purpose, that he may at least fortify; us against every attack. Accordingly, by an excessive fear of men we betray contempt of God.
Hence it is evident how sinful it is to be agitated by the terrors of men, when God calls us to repose. And indeed it is amazing ingratitude in men, who, when they hear that God is on their side, derive no hope from his magnificent p…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 12, 13.) I, I myself will comfort you. Who are you that you fear from a mortal man, and from the son of man, who will dry up like grass? And you have forgotten the God your maker, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth; and you were constantly afraid all day long because of the fury of the one who was afflicting you, who had prepared to destroy. Where is the fury of the one afflicting you now? It will come quickly, walking to open and will not kill to the point of destruction: and his bread will not fail. But I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea and its waves roar; the Lord of hosts is His name. I have put My words in your mouth, and have covered you with the shadow of My hand, that I may plant the heavens, lay the foundations of the earth, and say to Zion, 'You are My people.' LXX: I am, I am He who comforts you. Who are you that you should be afraid of a man who will die, and of the son of a man who will be made like grass? And you forget the Lord your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth; you have feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he has prepared to destroy. But where is the fury of the oppressor now? For when you are saved, it will not stand, nor will it remain; it will not bring destruction, and its bread will not fail. For I am your God, who stirs up the sea and makes its waves roar. The Lord of hosts is my name. I will put my words in your mouth, and cover you with the shadow of my hand; in which I have set the heavens and established the earth; and Zion will say, 'You are my people.' The people of the faithful is the arm of the Lord, who is the strength of God and the wisdom of God, and they had prayed that he would rise up and provide them with aid, and with him fighting for the saints, they would have joy and gladness, with sorrow and groaning banished. Therefore, either the arm of the Lord, or the Lord Himself responded: I am, I am; and not through the Prophets, but I myself will console you: God of mercies, and Father of all consolation. And I wonder how, with me saying above: Do not fear the reproach of men and their blasphemies, you may fear the rage of persecutors, and not know that they are mortals, who dry up suddenly like hay, and perish. And certainly at that time when you feared them, you forgot the Lord your Maker. For if you had…
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
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.…
Son of man — (1.) Denotes mankind generally, with special reference to their weakness and frailty (Job 25:6; Ps. 8:4; 144:3; 146:3; Isa. 51:12, etc.). (2.) It is a title frequently given to the prophet Ezekiel,…
Affliction, Consolation Under · Promised — Promised
Cowardice · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Holy Spirit · 31:3;35:31; — 31:3;35:31;
Jews, The · National character of: Cowardly — National character of: Cowardly
Persecution · OF THE RIGHTEOUS — OF THE RIGHTEOUS
Warfare Of Saints · Saints: Encouraged in — Saints: Encouraged in
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).
In the second half the promise commences again, but with more distinct reference to the oppression of the exiles and the sufferings of Jerusalem. Jehovah Himself begins to speak now, setting His seal upon what is longed and hoped for. "I am your comforter: who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of a mortal who will die, and of a son of man who is made a blade of grass; that thou shouldst forget Jehovah thy Creator, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth; that thou shouldst be afraid continually all the day of the fury of the tormentor, as he aims to destroy? and where is the fury of the tormentor left? He that is bowed down is quickly set loose, and does not die to the grave…
Wake up, wake up: God does not sleep; this prayer is for God to act immediately to save his people (see 52:1; see especially God’s military garb in 59:17). • in the days of old: The exodus from Egypt was an act of redemption that displayed God’s power as he made a path of escape (51:10) for his people (see also 11:15).
Rashi on Isaiah 51:12
who are you the daughter of the righteous like you and full of merits, why should you fear man, whose end is to die?
