The Prophets · Old Testament
Isaiah 41
Isaiah 41: the islands summoned, Israel my servant, and the idols challenged
General context
The islands are told to keep silence and the people to come near to judgment. The speaker asks who raised up the righteous man from the east and made him rule over kings, and answers: I the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he. The isles saw and feared; the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and what they solder is fastened with nails so it will not move. Then the Lord turns to Israel: thou art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend, taken from the ends of the earth and not cast away. Fear not, for I am with thee; I will strengthen, help and uphold thee, and those incensed against thee will become as nothing. Fear not, thou worm Jacob; the Holy One of Israel will help. Israel is made a sharp threshing instrument that beats mountains into chaff. When the poor and needy seek water, the Lord will hear; he will open rivers in high places, make the wilderness a pool, and plant cedar, myrtle, fir and pine in the desert so that all may see that his hand has done this. The King of Jacob then challenges the gods to produce their cause: show the former things or declare things to come, do good or evil, so that we may know you are gods; but they are of nothing, and whoever chooses them is an abomination. The Lord has raised up one from the north who will call on his name and tread princes like mortar. None of the gods declared this beforehand; the Lord gives Jerusalem one who brings good tidings. He looked and found no counsellor who could answer; they are all vanity, and their molten images are wind and confusion.
Cited passages: Isaiah 41:1, Isaiah 41:2, Isaiah 41:4, Isaiah 41:5, Isaiah 41:7, Isaiah 41:8, Isaiah 41:9, Isaiah 41:10, Isaiah 41:11, Isaiah 41:14, Isaiah 41:15, Isaiah 41:17, Isaiah 41:18, Isaiah 41:19, Isaiah 41:20, Isaiah 41:21, Isaiah 41:23, Isaiah 41:24, Isaiah 41:25, Isaiah 41:26, Isaiah 41:27, Isaiah 41:28, Isaiah 41:29
Isaiah 41 (KJV)
1Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment.
2Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? he gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow.
3He pursued them, and passed safely; even by the way that he had not gone with his feet.
4Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he.
5The isles saw it, and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came.
6They helped every one his neighbour; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage.
7So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the sodering: and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.
8But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.
9Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.
10Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
11Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish.
12Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.
13For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.
14Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
15Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.
16Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
18I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
19I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together:
20That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.
21Produce your cause, saith the Lord; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob.
22Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them shew the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come.
23Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.
24Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you.
25I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon princes as upon morter, and as the potter treadeth clay.
26Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that we may say, He is righteous? yea, there is none that sheweth, yea, there is none that declareth, yea, there is none that heareth your words.
27The first shall say to Zion, Behold, behold them: and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings.
28For I beheld, and there was no man; even among them, and there was no counsellor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word.
29Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing: their molten images are wind and confusion.
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Historical context
The chapter names its servant plainly: thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, and again thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel. The servant in this chapter is the people, addressed as Israel and Jacob and called the seed of Abraham my friend; the text gives no other identity for the servant here. The righteous man from the east in verse 2 and the one from the north in verse 25 are not named in this chapter, and the text does not say whether they are the same person; chapter 44 later names Cyrus as my shepherd, but chapter 41 itself does not use that name. The addressees shift: islands and peoples in verse 1, Israel in verses 8 to 16, and the gods and their images in verses 21 to 24, whom the Lord challenges to declare the former things or things to come. The first-person speaker who answers in verse 4 and speaks through the rest of the chapter is the Lord, given the title the King of Jacob in verse 21. The one who bringeth good tidings to Jerusalem in verse 27 is not named. The chapter names no king of Israel or Judah, no date and no enemy nation. The previous chapter ends at 40:31 with those who wait upon the Lord renewing their strength, and this chapter opens by telling the people to renew their strength for judgment.
Cited passages: Isaiah 41:8, Isaiah 41:14, Isaiah 41:2, Isaiah 41:25, Isaiah 44:28, Isaiah 41:1, Isaiah 41:22, Isaiah 41:21, Isaiah 41:27, Isaiah 40:31
Literary context
The chapter is set as a trial. It opens with a summons to silence and judgment, asks who did this, and answers with the Lord's own name, the first, and with the last. The isles' response to what they saw is to help one another, and the scene of carpenter and goldsmith encouraging each other and nailing down what they have soldered is placed right before the Lord's word to Israel, so that a thing that must be fastened so it will not move stands beside a God who holds a hand. The address to Israel repeats fear not three times, in verses 10, 13 and 14, and each time gives a reason: I am with thee, I will hold thy right hand, I will help thee. The servant is called worm Jacob and then made a threshing instrument, a reversal within two verses. Water for the poor and trees in the desert are listed by name so that the hearers may see, know, consider and understand together. The trial resumes in verse 21, and its test is the ability to declare beforehand; the gods' silence is reported as none that sheweth, none that declareth, none that heareth. The chapter ends where the idol scene began, with images that are wind and confusion. Chapter 42 opens with behold my servant, taking up the word servant that this chapter has fixed on Israel.
Cited passages: Isaiah 41:1, Isaiah 41:4, Isaiah 41:6, Isaiah 41:7, Isaiah 41:13, Isaiah 41:10, Isaiah 41:14, Isaiah 41:16, Isaiah 41:20, Isaiah 41:26, Isaiah 41:29, Isaiah 42:1, Isaiah 41:5
Key moments
- Silence before the judgment (Isaiah 41:1). The islands and peoples are summoned to come near and be judged.
- The first and with the last (Isaiah 41:4). The Lord names himself as the one who raised up the man from the east.
- Nailed so it cannot move (Isaiah 41:7). Carpenter and goldsmith encourage each other and fasten their work with nails so it will not move.
- Israel my servant (Isaiah 41:8). The Lord names Israel and Jacob as his chosen servant, the seed of Abraham his friend.
- Fear not, worm Jacob (Isaiah 41:14). The Holy One of Israel promises help to the servant he calls a worm.
- Rivers in high places (Isaiah 41:18). The Lord promises to open rivers in high places and make the wilderness a pool of water.
- Produce your cause (Isaiah 41:21). The King of Jacob challenges the gods to declare things to come.
For reflection
The Lord calls his servant worm Jacob and in the next verse a sharp threshing instrument that beats mountains to chaff. What does the text want a reader to hold together in those two names for the same people?
