King James Version
Isaiah 48
22 verses with commentary
Stubborn Israel
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.
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KJV Study Commentary
The address to those who 'swear by the name of the LORD' yet 'not in truth, nor in righteousness' exposes false profession - external religious form without internal reality. The phrase 'called by the name of Israel' but failing to live accordingly anticipates Jesus' warning about those who say 'Lord, Lord' without doing His will (Matthew 7:21). True covenant membership requires heart transformati...
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XLVIII.
(1) **Are come forth out of the waters of Judah.**—The words limit the wider terms of Jacob and Israel to the Judæan exiles. For the phrase, comp. “ye that are of the fountains of Israel” (Psalm 68:26). The ideal attributes of Israel, “swearing by the name of Jehovah **. . .**” are pressed in contrast with their actual state of hypocrisy and unrighteousness.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**16. highway--**a highway clear of obstructions (Is 19:23; 35:8).
**like as ... Israel ... Egypt--**(Is 51:10, 11; 63:12, 13).
For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is his name.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel.</strong> Isaiah exposes Israel's presumption - claiming covenant privilege without covenant obedience. The verb <em>qara</em> (call themselves) indicates self-designation; Israel appropriates the title "holy city" without pursuing holiness. Similarly, <em>samach</em> (stay, lean upon) suggests confidence...
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(2) **They call themselves of the holy city . . .**—The words of praise are spoken, as the preceding words show, with a touch of irony. Those who so boasted were not true citizens of Zion (Psalm 15:1; Matthew 3:9). They did not enter into all that was implied in their confession of Jehovah Sabaoth.
I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass.
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KJV Study Commentary
God's declaration 'I have declared the former things from the beginning' establishes His prophetic credentials through fulfilled predictions. The phrase 'I did them suddenly, and they came to pass' emphasizes divine sovereignty in executing purposes. This pattern of prediction-fulfillment validates Scripture's divine origin and assures that future promises (new covenant, Christ's return) are equal...
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(3) **I have declared . . .**—Once more, for the seventh time, the prophet presses the fact of the Divine foreknowledge, not, as before, against the “no-faith” of the heathen, but against the “little faith” of Judah.
Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; obstinate: Heb. hard
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KJV Study Commentary
The description 'thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass' depicts stubborn, unyielding resistance to God - a stiff neck that won't bow and a hardened forehead that won't shame. This echoes Exodus 32:9's 'stiffnecked people' and anticipates Romans 2:5's 'hardness and impenitent heart.' The metaphor shows that sin is fundamentally volitional stubbornness requiring supernatural grace to break.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **Because I knew that thou art obstinate . . .**—The point is that Jehovah foresees not only the conquests of Cyrus, but the obduracy of His own people. In Egypt (Jeremiah 44) and in Babylon, as of old, they were still a stiff-necked people, inclined (Isaiah 48:5), to ascribe their deliverance to another god, and to worship that god in the form of a graven image.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 12 Is 12:1-6. Thanksgiving Hymn of the Restored and Converted Jews.
Just as Miriam, after the deliverance of the Red Sea (Is 11:16), celebrated it with an ode of praise (Ex 15:1-19).
**2. Lord Jehovah--**Jah, Jehovah. The repetition of the name denotes emphasis, and the unchangeableness of God's character.
**strength ... song ... salvation--**derived from Ex 15:2; Psa 118:14. The ide...
Read full commentary →I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them.
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KJV Study Commentary
God predicted the future specifically 'lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them' - His detailed prophecies prevent false attribution of His works to idols. This demonstrates that one purpose of biblical prophecy is to secure God's exclusive glory. When God alone predicts and fulfills specific events, He proves His unique deity against all pretenders.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**3. draw water ... salvation--**an expressive image in a hot country. On the last day of the feast of tabernacles the Jews used to bring water in a golden pitcher from the fountain of Siloam, and pour it, mingled with wine, on the sacrifice on the altar, with great rejoicing. This is the allusion in Jesus' words on "the last day of the feast" (Joh 7:2, 37-39). The pouring out of water indicated r...
Read full commentary →Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it?</strong> This verse marks a pivotal shift in God's prophetic discourse through Isaiah. The Hebrew verb <em>shama'ta</em> (שָׁמַעְתָּ, "you have heard") implies not merely auditory reception but experiential knowledge—Israel has witnessed God's predictions come to pass. The imperative "see" (<em>chazeh</em>, חֲזֵה) calls for careful...
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(6) **Thou hast heard . . .**—The appeal is to the conscience of the exiles. They had heard the prediction. They are bidden to consider it all. Should not they declare the impression it had made on them?
**I have shewed thee.**—Better, *I shew thee, *as a present incipient act.
**New things.**—The “new things” are those that lie in a more distant future than the conquests of Cyrus, which are refer...
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**4. make mention--**Hebrew, "cause it to be remembered."
They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them.
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KJV Study Commentary
The declaration 'they are created now, and not from the beginning' reveals that God has reserved some revelations for optimal timing. The phrase 'even before the day when thou heardest them not' emphasizes human ignorance before God's revelation. This establishes that biblical progressive revelation was God's sovereign plan, not human religious evolution.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **They are created now . . .**—The verb is an unusual one, as applied to the events of history. What is meant is that the things which had been from the beginning in the mind of God are now, for the first time, manifested, through the prophet, as about to pass into act. What these are the prophet develops in the following chapters, as including the spiritual redemption and restoration of Israe...
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**5. Sing, &c.--**alluding to Ex 15:21.
Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb.
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KJV Study Commentary
The accusation 'thou wast called a transgressor from the womb' asserts original sin - sinfulness from conception, not merely bad choices later. This foundational doctrine (Psalm 51:5) explains why human effort cannot save and why new birth is necessary. The name 'transgressor from the womb' demolishes all merit theology and establishes the necessity of sovereign grace.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. inhabitant of Zion--**Hebrew, "inhabitress"; so "daughter of Zion," that is, Zion and its people.
**in the midst of thee--**of Jerusalem literally (Jr 3:17; Eze 48:35; Zep 3:15, 17; Zec 2:10).
For my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off.
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KJV Study Commentary
God's forbearance 'for my name's sake' and 'for my praise' reveals that covenant maintenance ultimately serves divine glory, not human merit. The 'refining' of verse 10 ('I have refined thee, but not with silver') means God's discipline purifies but doesn't consume His people. This anticipates 1 Peter 1:7's 'trial of your faith' producing glory at Christ's appearing.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **For my name’s sake . . .**—The thought is two-fold, in answer to the implied question why Jehovah had not punished so guilty a people: (1) after the manner of men, that had He destroyed His chosen people, the nations of the world would have thought Him changeable and capricious; (2) taking “name” as the symbol of character, that He might assert His own everlasting righteousness and love, as ...
Read full commentary →Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. with: or, for silver
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KJV Study Commentary
The statement 'I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction' shows that God's purifying methods differ from human metallurgy - the furnace itself is the choosing instrument. Election and sanctification intertwine; God chooses through trials that prove and purify faith. This demolishes easy-believism and establishes that genuine salvation includes progre...
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(10) **I have refined thee, but not with silver . . .**—The meaning is obscure, and perhaps depends on some unknown process in ancient metallurgy. Commonly the refining of silver is taken as a parable of God’s dealings with His people (Isaiah 1:25; Ezekiel 22:18-22; Malachi 3:3). Here the thought seems to be that the discipline had been less fierce than that of the refiner’s fire. Silver was “puri...
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CHAPTER 13 Is 13:1-22. The Thirteenth through Twenty-third Chapters Contain Prophecies as to Foreign Nations.--The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Twenty-seventh Chapters as to Babylon and Assyria.
The predictions as to foreign nations are for the sake of the covenant people, to preserve them from despair, or reliance on human confederacies, and to strengthen their faith in God: also in order to ext...
Read full commentary →For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another.
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KJV Study Commentary
The repeated 'for mine own sake' emphasizes that God's ultimate motivation in all redemption is His own glory, not human benefit (though we do benefit). The rhetorical 'how should my name be polluted?' shows that God's holiness demands vindication of His reputation. This God-centeredness offends human pride but establishes true worship - God is end, not means.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **Will I do it . . .**—The neuter pronoun includes the whole work of redemption.
**For how should my name be polluted?**—The italics show that “my name” is not in the Hebrew, but the context requires its insertion as from Isaiah 48:9. or that of “my glory” from the clause that follows. The “pollution” or desecration of the name of Jehovah would follow, it is implied, on the non-completion of ...
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**2. Lift ... banner--**(Is 5:26; 11:10).
**the high mountain--**rather, "a bare (literally, "bald," that is, without trees) mountain"; from it the banner could be seen afar off, so as to rally together the peoples against Babylon.
**unto them--**unto the Medes (Is 13:17), the assailants of Babylon. It is remarkable that Isaiah does not foretell here the Jews' captivity in Babylon, but presupp...
Read full commentary →Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.
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KJV Study Commentary
The titles 'I am he; I am the first, I also am the last' anticipate Revelation 22:13 where Jesus claims this divine title. The 'Alpha and Omega' language establishes God's eternality and sovereignty over all history from inception to consummation. This self-designation appears repeatedly in Isaiah (41:4, 44:6), creating unique divine signature that Jesus appropriates.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **Hearken unto me, O Jacob.**—The prophet is drawing near to the end of the first great section of his book, and his conclusion takes the form of a condensed epitome of the great argument of Isaiah 40-47, asserting the oneness, the eternity, the omnipotence, the omniscience of Jehovah.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**3. sanctified ones--**the Median and Persian soldiers solemnly set apart by Me for the destruction of Babylon, not inwardly "sanctified," but designated to fulfil God's holy purpose (Jr 51:27, 28; Joe 3:9, 11; where the Hebrew for prepare war is "sanctify" war).
**for mine anger--**to execute it.
**rejoice in my highness--**"Those who are made to triumph for My honor" [Horsley]. The heathen ...
Read full commentary →Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together. my: or, the palm of my right hand hath spread out
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KJV Study Commentary
The declaration 'Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth' asserts God's creative sovereignty, while 'when I call unto them, they stand up together' depicts creation's instant obedience. This contrasts with human resistance (v. 8) - inanimate creation obeys immediately while rational beings rebel. The picture anticipates Christ calming the storm (Mark 4:39), demonstrating divine author...
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**4. the mountains--**namely, which separate Media and Assyria, and on one of which the banner to rally the hosts is supposed to be reared.
**tumultuous noise--**The Babylonians are vividly depicted as hearing some unwonted sound like the din of a host; they try to distinguish the sounds, but can only perceive a tumultuous noise.
**nations--**Medes, Persians, and Armenians composed Cyrus' army...
Read full commentary →All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The LORD hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans.
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KJV Study Commentary
The rhetorical 'Which among them hath declared these things?' challenges all false gods to prophesy like Yahweh. The identification of Cyrus as 'The LORD hath loved him' shocks by applying covenant language to a pagan king. This demonstrates God's sovereign freedom to choose instruments and shows that His purposes transcend ethnic Israel, preparing for Gentile inclusion in the church.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **All ye, assemble yourselves.**—The challenge is addressed as before (Isaiah 43:9) to the worshippers of idols.
**The Lord hath loved him.**—Better, *He whom the Lord loveth will do his pleasure. *The context leaves it uncertain whether the “pleasure” and the “arm” are those of Cyrus or Jehovah. The latter seems to give a preferable meaning. There is, perhaps, an allusive reference to the id...
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**5. They--**namely, "Jehovah," and the armies which are "the weapons of His indignation."
**far country--**Media and Persia, stretching to the far north and east.
**end of heaven--**the far east (Psa 19:6).
**destroy--**rather, "to seize" [Horsley].
I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.
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KJV Study Commentary
The emphatic 'I, even I, have spoken' and 'I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous' establishes direct divine agency in Cyrus's success. The repeated first-person pronouns stress that God personally, actively controls history - not abstract fate or human achievement. This undergirds confidence that what God decrees will certainly come to pass.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. day of the Lord--**day of His vengeance on Babylon (Is 2:12). Type of the future "day of wrath" (Re 6:17).
**destruction--**literally, "a devastating tempest."
**from the Almighty--**not from mere man; therefore irresistible. "Almighty," Hebrew, Shaddai.
Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.
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KJV Study Commentary
The invitation 'Come ye near unto me, hear ye this' transitions from historical review to messianic revelation. The claim 'I have not spoken in secret from the beginning' asserts Scripture's clarity against mystical claims of hidden knowledge. The mysterious 'now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me' introduces the speaker as distinct from yet sent by God - early Trinitarian revelation antic...
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(16) **Come ye near unto me.**—Here the address would seem to be made to Israel. At first Jehovah appears as the speaker, and as using much the same language as before. At the close the prophet appears abruptly, as speaking in his own person. Perhaps, indeed, the prophet is the speaker throughout. A paraphrase will perhaps help to explain the sequence of thought. “I have not from the beginning of ...
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**7. faint ... melt--**So Jr 50:43; compare Jos 7:5. Babylon was taken by surprise on the night of Belshazzar's impious feast (Da 5:30). Hence the sudden fainting and melting of hearts.
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.
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KJV Study Commentary
The titles 'thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel' combine salvation and sanctification, showing that redemption from sin's penalty includes transformation of character. The description 'which teacheth thee to profit' and 'leadeth thee by the way' depicts God as both instructor and guide. True gospel includes not just forgiveness but discipleship - God redeems to transform.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **The Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit.**—The words applied to the natural human, perhaps we may add, to the specially national, desire, to make a good investment. The question what was profitable? was one to which men returned very different answers. It was the work of the true Redeemer to lead men to the one true imperishable gain (comp. Matthew 16:26), to lead them in the one rig...
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**8. pangs--**The Hebrew means also a "messenger." Horsley, therefore, with the Septuagint translates, "The heralds (who bring word of the unexpected invasion) are terrified." Maurer agrees with English Version, literally, "they shall take hold of pangs and sorrows."
**woman ... travaileth--**(1Th 5:3).
**amazed--**the stupid, bewildered gaze of consternation.
**faces ... flames--**"their vi...
Read full commentary →O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:
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KJV Study Commentary
The lament 'O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments!' expresses God's genuine grief over Israel's disobedience and lost blessings. The conditional 'then had thy peace been as a river' shows that covenant blessings required responsive faith, not automatic ethnic privilege. This refutes both presumption (thinking blessings are unconditional) and despair (thinking disobedience is irremediable)...
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(18) **Then had thy peace been as a river.**—Literally, “as *the *river,” *i.e., *the Euphrates, which for the Babylonian exiles was a natural standard of comparison. “Righteousness,” as elsewhere, includes the idea of the blessedness which is its recompense. United with “peace” it implies every element of prosperity.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9. cruel--**not strictly, but unsparingly just; opposed to mercy. Also answering to the cruelty (in the strict sense) of Babylon towards others (Is 14:17) now about to be visited on itself.
**the land--**"the earth" [Horsley]. The language of Is 13:9-13 can only primarily and partially apply to Babylon; fully and exhaustively, the judgments to come, hereafter, on the whole earth. Compare Is 13...
Read full commentary →Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof</strong> (וַיְהִי כַחוֹל זַרְעֶךָ וְצֶאֱצָאֵי מֵעֶיךָ כִּמְעֹתָיו)—This verse describes what might have been had Israel obeyed. The <em>zera</em> (seed) would have multiplied like <em>chol</em> (sand), recalling God's promise to Abraham (Genesis 22:17). <strong>Offspring of thy bowels</strong> (<em>...
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(19) **Like the gravel thereof.**—Literally, *as the bowels thereof, i.e., *as that within the bowels of the sand, the living creatures that swarm in countless myriads in the sea. The two verses utter the sigh which has come from the heart of all true teachers as they contemplate the actual state of men and compare it with what might have been. (Comp. Deuteronomy 32:29-30; Luke 19:42.)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10. stars, &c.--**figuratively for anarchy, distress, and revolutions of kingdoms (Is 34:4; Joe 2:10; Eze 32:7, 8; Am 8:9; Re 6:12-14). There may be a literal fulfilment finally, shadowed forth under this imagery (Re 21:1).
**constellations--**Hebrew, "a fool," or "impious one"; applied to the constellation Orion, which was represented as an impious giant (Nimrod deified, the founder of Ba...
Read full commentary →Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The LORD hath redeemed his servant Jacob.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans</strong> (צְאוּ מִבָּבֶל בִּרְחוּ מִכַּשְׂדִּים)—The imperatives <em>tse'u</em> (go out) and <em>birchu</em> (flee) command urgent exodus from Babylon. Written 150 years before Babylon's rise, this prophecy anticipates Cyrus's decree (539 BC) allowing Jewish return. <strong>With a voice of singing declare ye, tell this</strong>—The exodus ...
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(20) **Go ye forth of Babylon . . .**—The sorrow and sighing are past, and the prophet speaks to the remnant that shall return. They are to act without fear on the promises of God, on the decree of Cyrus, and to start at once on their homeward journey, and as they go, to proclaim what great things God hath done for them.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**11. world--**the impious of the world (compare Is 11:4).
**arrogancy--**Babylon's besetting sin (Da 4:22, 30).
**the terrible--**rather, tyrants [Horsley].
And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>They thirsted not when he led them through the deserts</strong> (וְלֹא צָמְאוּ בַּחֳרָבוֹת הוֹלִיכָם)—This recalls the first exodus when God provided water in wilderness. The verb <em>holiqam</em> (led them) emphasizes divine guidance through <em>charavot</em> (desert places, waste lands). Despite arid conditions, <em>lo tsame'u</em> (they thirsted not)—a miracle of provision. <strong>He c...
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(21) **He caused the waters to flow . . .**—A dead prosaic literalism makes men wonder that there is no record of such wonders on the return from Babylon. A truer insight recognises that the “water out of the rock” is, as ever, the symbol of spiritual refreshment (Isaiah 41:17-19; Isaiah 43:19-20; John 4:10).
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**12. man ... precious--**I will so cut off Babylon's defenders, that a single man shall be as rare and precious as the finest gold.
There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked</strong> (אֵין שָׁלוֹם אָמַר יְהוָה לָרְשָׁעִים)—This stark declaration concludes Isaiah's Babylonian prophecy section (chapters 40-48). The phrase <em>ein shalom</em> (no peace) negates <em>shalom</em>—comprehensive well-being, wholeness, prosperity, harmony with God. The <em>resha'im</em> (wicked) are those who persist in rebellion despi...
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(22) **There is no peace.**—The warning was needed even for the liberated exiles. There was an implied condition as to all God’s gifts. Even the highest blessings, freedom and home, were no real blessings to those who were unworthy of them.
**Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
13. Image for mighty revolutions (Is 24:19; 34:4; Ha 3:6, 10; Hag 2:6, 7; Re 20:11).