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The Prophets · Old Testament

Isaiah 48

Isaiah 48: the obstinate house of Jacob refined in affliction and told to leave Babylon

General context

The Lord calls the house of Jacob to hear. They are called by the name of Israel, come out of the waters of Judah, swear by the Lord's name and call themselves of the holy city, but not in truth or righteousness. He says he declared the former things long before and did them suddenly, because he knew Jacob was obstinate, with a neck like an iron sinew and a brow of brass, so that they could not credit an idol. Now he shows new and hidden things, created now, which they did not know, because he knew they would deal treacherously and were called a transgressor from the womb. For his name's sake he defers his anger and does not cut them off; he has refined them, but not with silver, and chosen them in the furnace of affliction, for his own sake, refusing to give his glory to another. He tells Jacob and Israel that he is the first and the last, that his hand laid the earth's foundation and spanned the heavens. He says the Lord has loved him and will do his pleasure on Babylon; he has called him and brought him. A voice says the Lord God and his Spirit have sent me. The Lord, the Redeemer, says he teaches Israel to profit, and laments that if they had hearkened their peace would have been as a river and their seed as the sand. The chapter ends with a command to go forth from Babylon and the Chaldeans with singing, declaring that the Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob, a memory of water from the rock in the desert, and the line that there is no peace to the wicked.

Cited passages: Isaiah 48:1, Isaiah 48:2, Isaiah 48:3, Isaiah 48:4, Isaiah 48:5, Isaiah 48:6, Isaiah 48:7, Isaiah 48:8, Isaiah 48:9, Isaiah 48:10, Isaiah 48:11, Isaiah 48:12, Isaiah 48:13, Isaiah 48:14, Isaiah 48:15, Isaiah 48:16, Isaiah 48:17, Isaiah 48:18, Isaiah 48:19, Isaiah 48:20, Isaiah 48:21, Isaiah 48:22

Isaiah 48 (KJV)

1Hear 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.

2For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The Lord of hosts is his name.

3I 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.

4Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;

5I 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.

6Thou 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.

7They 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.

8Yea, 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.

9For my name’s sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off.

10Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.

11For 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.

12Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.

13Mine 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.

14All 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.

15I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.

16Come 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.

17Thus 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.

18O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:

19Thy 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.

20Go 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.

21And 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.

22There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked.

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Historical context

The addressee is named three ways in one verse: the house of Jacob, those called by the name of Israel, and those come out of the waters of Judah; the text also reports that they call themselves of the holy city. The servant in this chapter is Jacob: the closing announcement is that the Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob. Verses 14 and 15 speak of a him whom the Lord has loved, called and brought, who will do his pleasure on Babylon; the chapter does not name him, and readers must decide whether to connect him with Cyrus, named three chapters earlier, since the text itself does not restate the name. At verse 16 an unmarked first-person voice says the Lord God and his Spirit have sent me; the chapter does not identify this speaker. Babylon and the Chaldeans are named as the place to leave, but no route, date or leader is given. The water from the rock is stated as a past event, when he led them through the deserts, matching the account in Exodus 17 where Moses smites the rock in Horeb; Isaiah names neither Moses nor the place. The final line about no peace for the wicked recurs almost word for word at the end of chapter 57.

Cited passages: Isaiah 48:1, Isaiah 48:2, Isaiah 48:20, Isaiah 48:14, Isaiah 48:15, Isaiah 45:1, Isaiah 48:16, Isaiah 48:21, Exodus 17:6, Isaiah 48:22, Isaiah 57:21

Literary context

Four calls to listen mark the chapter's sections: Hear ye this, Hearken unto me, assemble yourselves and hear, and Come ye near unto me, hear ye this. The first section is an indictment built on knowing. The Lord says twice that he knew: that Jacob was obstinate, and that they would deal treacherously and were called a transgressor from the womb; and he sets former things, declared long ago, against new things created now, so that Jacob can claim neither an idol's credit nor prior knowledge. The reason for restraint is repeated with emphasis, for my name's sake, for mine own sake, even for mine own sake. The refining image says what the fire was not, not with silver, and where the choosing happened, in the furnace of affliction. The second half moves from self-declaration, I am the first, I also am the last, to a lament in the past conditional, O that thou hadst hearkened, and then to the chapter's one command to leave a place, Go ye forth of Babylon. The final verse is a single short sentence that cuts against the singing just before it.

Cited passages: Isaiah 48:1, Isaiah 48:12, Isaiah 48:14, Isaiah 48:16, Isaiah 48:4, Isaiah 48:8, Isaiah 48:3, Isaiah 48:7, Isaiah 48:5, Isaiah 48:11, Isaiah 48:10, Isaiah 48:18, Isaiah 48:20, Isaiah 48:22

Key moments

  1. Called by Israel's name, not in truth (Isaiah 48:1). The house of Jacob swears by the Lord's name but the Lord says not in truth or righteousness.
  2. Neck of iron, brow of brass (Isaiah 48:4). The Lord says he foretold events because he knew Jacob was obstinate.
  3. Refined in the furnace of affliction (Isaiah 48:10). The Lord says he refined Jacob, but not with silver, and chose him in affliction.
  4. The first and the last (Isaiah 48:12). The Lord tells Jacob and Israel that he is the first and also the last.
  5. Sent by the Lord God and his Spirit (Isaiah 48:16). An unnamed speaker says the Lord God and his Spirit have sent him.
  6. Peace like a river, if only (Isaiah 48:18). The Lord laments what Jacob's peace would have been had they hearkened.
  7. Go forth from Babylon singing (Isaiah 48:20). The people are told to leave the Chaldeans and declare that the Lord has redeemed Jacob.

For reflection

The Lord says he chose Jacob in the furnace of affliction, not out of it. What might it change to read a hard season as the place of choosing rather than as its interruption, and what would that reading not be allowed to excuse?

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