Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 44:8
Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared [it]? ye [are] even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, [there is] no God; I know not [any].
8. Fear ye not ] in the coming convulsions; the ground of confidence is that Jehovah has proved His control over these events by foretelling them. The verb for be afraid does not occur elsewhere.
from that time ] Rather beforehand, or, from of old; as ch. Isa 45:21, Isa 48:3; Isa 48:5; Isa 48:7.
and ye are my witnesses (R.V.)] Cf. ch. Isa 43:10; Isa 43:12.
no God ] no Rock, as R.V. Cf. Deu 32:4, etc.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Fear ye not, neither be afraid – (see the notes at Isa 41:10). The word rendered here be afraid, occurs nowhere else in the Bible. There can be no doubt, however, in regard to its meaning. The Septuagint renders it, Mede planasthe – Neither be deceived. All the other ancient versions express the sense to fear, to be afraid (Gesenius Lexicon on the word yarahh).
Have not I told thee from that time – Have I not fully declared from the very commencement of your history as a people, in the main what shall occur?
Ye are even my witnesses – (See the notes at Isa 43:12).
Is there a God besides me? – This is a strong mode of affirming that there is no God besides Yahweh (see the note at Isa 44:6).
Yea, there is no God – Margin, Rock ( tsur). The word rock is often applied to God (see the note at Isa 30:29; compare Deu 32:4, Deu 32:30-31; Psa 19:14; Psa 31:2-3; Psa 42:9; et soepe al. The idea is taken from the fact that a lofty rock or fastness was inaccessible by an enemy, and that those who fled there were safe.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 44:8
Fear ye not
Christian courage
Boldness for God, and boldness in dealing with God, should form part of the Christian character; and the Word of God encourages this Christian boldness.
We are repeatedly exhorted to fear not, to be of good courage.
I. WHY ARE WE TO EXPECT THAT THE PEOPLE OF GOD WOULD BE LIKELY TO FEAR?
1. They have always been a persecuted people.
2. Many a man, before he is decided for God, finds out that, if he makes up his mind to enter into the service of the Lord, his worldly interest is nearly sure to suffer.
3. Others, again, know their personal interest for their worldly circumstances. They know, for instance, their birth, their wealth, their talent. Then perhaps they are called of God to think seriously about their eternal state; and the result is, that they feel in their own minds, If I forsake all this outward display of means, and show that I do not value it as I have hitherto done, my influence amongst others will very greatly suffer.
4. There is many a man, if he would serve the Lord, must make a sacrifice of many of his personal and worldly comforts.
5. Then, take the case of doctrines. There are many who imbibe from their earliest days the idea that religion is gloomy, that God is an object of terror, that death must be misery; they live in no thought of the Lords coming again in joy and happiness, and heaven itself, with its delights and its pleasures, is never really considered. Now, all these things frequently produce fear in our minds.
II. THE REASON WHY WE SHOULD NOT FEAR. The reason is, that the Lord thus argues with us: Have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? That is, God challenges man to deny this fact, that He knows the end from the beginning, and has proved that He knows it by foretelling the end from the beginning. This is the manner in which God argues in other passages. (Isa 42:9). God knows the end; God foresees the means, and foreseeing the means He exercises control over those means–everything that happens therefore, great or small, is under the control of God, who orders all things after the counsel of His own will, and consequently we have nothing to fear, because we are in His hands who doeth all things well. This is the manner in which we find the argument used in Isa 51:12.
III. Having thus stated the Christians duty as well as his privilege–not to fear; and having seen what the reason is, that God has foretold all things, and therefore decreed and settled all things from the beginning, HE THEN CHALLENGES HIS PEOPLE in these words–Ye are even My witnesses, and therefore urges upon them, by the strongest possible personal appeal, to bear testimony to the fact that the Lord He is God, and our God too, for ever and for ever. (M. Villiers, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 8. Fear ye not] tirehu never occurs. Perhaps it should be tireu, fear ye. Two MSS. read tirehu, and one of mine taharu.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Have not I told thee? thee, O Israel, whom he bids not to fear. The sense is, I call you Israelites to bear me witness, whether I have not, from time to time, acquainted you with things to come, such as your sojourning in a strange land for four hundred years, and your deliverance and happiness after that time, Gen 15:13,14, and many things of the like nature?
From that time; from the time when I appointed the ancient people, as I now said, Isa 44:7. These were pregnant instances of Gods prediction of things to come, not only from the beginning of the Jewish commonwealth, but even from the first ages of the world, as unto Enoch, Jude 14, and unto Noah, Ge 6 13, to say nothing of what other authors relate concerning Adam and Seth.
Have declared it; have published it to the world in my sacred records.
My witnesses, both of my predictions, and of the exact agreeableness of events to them.
Is there a God besides me? judge by this character whether I be not the only true God.
Yea, there is no God; I know not any; if any of you be wiser than I am, I am willing to be informed. It is a sarcastical speech. But this clause may be, and is by others, taken interrogatively, do not I know it? Is it not a certain and undeniable truth, that there is no other God?
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
8. be afraidliterally, “beastounded,” or “distracted with fear.”
from that timenamely,from the time that “I appointed the ancient people” (Isa44:7). From the time of Abraham’s call, his family were thedepositories of the predictions of the Redeemer, whereas the promiseof Cyrus was not heard of till Isaiah’s time; therefore, the event tothe prediction and accomplishment of which God appeals in proof ofHis sole Godhead, is the redemption of man by a descendant ofAbraham, in whose person “the ancient people” was firstformally “appointed.” The deliverance of the Jews, byCyrus, is mentioned afterwards only as an earnest of that greatermercy [HORSLEY].
no GodHebrew, tsur,“rock” (De 32:4); thatis, a stronghold to take refuge in, and a solid foundation to buildon.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Fear ye not, neither be afraid,…. Of the accomplishment of prophecies and promises, and of professing the true God, and of adhering to Jesus Christ, the only Redeemer and Saviour; or of the gods of the Heathens, and of persecuting tyrants, and what they can do against you, and in favour of their idolatrous religion:
have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? what should come to pass, before it did, even everything that has since the appointment of the ancient people; and particularly what troubles and persecutions the apostles, ministers of the word, the first Christians should meet with among the Heathens, for professing and propagating the Gospel, and what success they should meet with, which came to pass accordingly:
ye are even my witnesses; as especially the apostles were, who had it from Christ’s own mouth, that they should be hated and persecuted for the sake of the Gospel, and should be successful wherever they came; as they also were his witnesses in Jerusalem, and Judea, and Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth, of his person, doctrine, miracles, death, resurrection, and ascension to heaven, Ac 1:8:
is there a God besides me? that is a true God; for there were many fictitious and false deities, but none omniscient and omnipotent, that could foretell future events, and accomplish them as he did; there is no god but the one God, Father, Son, and Spirit; for this an appeal is made to the witnesses:
yea, there is no God, I know not any; or, there is “no rock” a; or, is there any? a word used for God, De 32:4, there is no rock to build upon for salvation, no rock for shelter and safety, but Christ the rock of ages, on which the church is built, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it, Mt 16:18, and if God, who is omniscient, knows none else, there can be no other.
a “nulls rupes”, Junius Tremellius, Piscator “non est petra”, Montanus, Cocceius; “estne rupes?” Vitringa.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Of course, none of the heathen gods could in any way answer to the challenge. So much the more confident might Israel be, seeing that it had quite another God. “Despair ye not, neither tremble: have not I told thee long ago, and made known, and ye are my witnesses: is there a God beside me? And nowhere a rock; I know of none.” The Jewish lexicographers derive (with the first syllable closed) from ( ); whereas modern lexicographers prefer some of them to read , tr e hu , from (Ges., Knobel), and others (Ewald). But the possibility of there being a verb , to tremble or fear, cannot for a moment be doubted when we think of such words as , , compare also Arab. r’h (applied to water moving to and fro). It was not of the heathen deities that they were directed not to be afraid, as in Jer 10:5, but rather the great catastrophe coming upon the nations, of which Cyrus was the instrument. In the midst of this, when one nation after another would be overthrown, and its tutelar gods would prove to be worthless, Israel would have nothing to fear, since its God, who was no dumb idol, had foretold all this, and that indeed long ago ( , cf., , Isa 41:26), as they themselves must bear witness. Prophecies before the captivity had foretold the conquest of Babylon by Medes and Elamites, and the deliverance of Israel from the Babylonian bondage; and even these prophecies themselves were like a spirit’s voice from the far distant past, consoling the people of the captivity beforehand, and serving to support their faith. On the ground of such well-known self-manifestations, Jehovah could well ask, “Is there a God beside me?” – a virtual denial in the form of an interrogation, to which the categorical denial, “There is no rock (i.e., no ground of trust, Isa 26:4; Isa 17:10), I know of none (beside me),” is attached.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
8. Fear not. Isaiah now explains the reason why he formerly spoke of the power of God, that is, in order to confirm the faith of the people. From the preceding statements he draws this conclusion, — “Since the Lord is so powerful, and governs all things at his pleasure, the people whom he hath taken under his protection ought not to fear.”
Have I not since then made thee hear? He next repeats what he had already said, that God not only brought assistance secretly to the Jews, and suddenly, as if by legerdemain, made his appearance when he was least expected, but kept their faith alive by many predictions, and, in short, gave manifest proofs of his fatherly kindness, so that his divinity was clearly perceived. It would be of no advantage to us that God knows and can do all things, if it were not also revealed how great concern he takes in our salvation. Although, therefore, he wishes that many things should be unknown to us, yet he communicates everything that is useful or advantageous for us to know. מאז, (meaz,) from then, means a long period; or, if it be thought better, it denotes an opportunity; for the Lord reveals his secrets to the elect, when he sees a fit season; but the former interpretation appears to me to be more simple.
Therefore ye are my witnesses. He means what I have already remarked, that the people cannot plead the excuse of ignorance for not being satisfied with one God; for he has abundantly revealed himself to them, so as to give a testimony concerning himself. The object intended to be gained by our knowledge of the glory of God is, that we should profess his truth before men, as has been already said, if we do not wish to extinguish the light which he hath brought to us by his Spirit. Again, we cannot be “witnesses to God” if we are not confirmed by his truth; for a testimony proceeding from a doubtful opinion would be of no avail, and therefore we must be taught by the Word of God, so as to have a fixed and unhesitating hope of salvation.
And there is no strong God. (174) In this passage, as in many others, he applies to God the epithet strong; for it is not enough to acknowledge God’s eternal essence, if we do not also ascribe strength to him. But for this, we shall leave him nothing but a bare and empty name, as is done by wicked men, who with the mouth confess God, and afterwards ascribe his power to this and to that.
(174) “There is no God. Heb., Rock. — (Eng. Ver.)
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CHRISTIAN COURAGE
Isa. 44:8. Fear not, neither be afraid, &c.
Boldness for God, and boldness in dealing with God, should form part of the Christian character; and the Word of God, from the beginning to the end, encourages this Christian boldness. We are repeatedly exhorted to fear not, to be of good courage.
I. WHY GODS PEOPLE ARE LIKELY TO FEAR.
1. Because they are few in number and peculiar. Many are called, but few are chosen. Fear not, little flock, &c.
2. The result of this is that they have always been a persecuted people (Gen. 5:29; Isa. 41:10-11).
3. Because they are called to live not by sight, but by faith, and therefore to make present sacrifices (Mat. 19:2-30; Php. 3:4-7).
II. WHY THEY SHOULD NOT FEAR. Because the Lord thus argues with, us: Have not I, &c. God challenges man to deny this fact, that He knows the end from the beginning, and has proved that He knows it by foretelling the end from the beginning. [1414] This is the manner in which God argues in other passages (Isa. 42:9; Deu. 28:47-49; Mat. 26:31). So, again, the Lord has foretold to us everything that is required for our deliverance in the advent and work of Christ (Isa. 9:6; Zec. 13:7; Dan. 9:26; Isa. 53:5). These prophecies have been fulfilled to the very letter. Hence, God knows the end; foresees the means, and exercises control over those means. Everything that happens, great or small, is under the control of God, and therefore we have nothing to fear, because we are in His hands who doeth all things well. In this manner we find the argument used (Isa. 51:12).
[1414] See also Isa. 44:7 : And who, as I, shall call, &c. Foreknowledge is the exclusive prerogative of God; it is exemplified in the prophetic history of His people; it extends to things remote as well as near; it supplies a strong argument for unwavering confidence.Lyth.
III. THE PERSONAL APPEAL WHICH THE LORD MAKES TO HIS PEOPLE. Ye are even my witnesses, thus urging upon them, by the strongest possible personal appeal, to bear testimony to the fact that He is their God for ever and ever. He would have all His people speak of His faithfulness (Isa. 43:10-13). The duty from which many shrink, from a want of simple courage. Many ways in which we may be witnesses.
1. By a consistent life. Should be a living epistle.
2. By speaking for the cause of truth and holiness.
3. By zeal for the salvation of souls.
Are you amongst the real witnesses for God?M. Villiers, M.A.: The Pulpit, vol. lxix. pp. 129134).
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(8) Yea, there is no God . . .Literally, no Rock. That word, as expressing eternal strength, being used, as in Deu. 32:4; 2Sa. 22:3; 2Sa. 23:3, as a Divine name.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 44:8. Fear ye not, &c. The meaning is, “Fear ye not, nor be terrified at the motions of the Medes and Persians rising up against the Babylonish empire, since those motions shall be for your advantage: For have not I clearly foretold that this should come to pass, from the time in which Isaiah and the subsequent prophets have prophesied among you? And are not their prophesies in your hands? So that I can here desire no other witnesses than yourselves.” Vitringa renders the next clause very properly, Is there a god besides me? Is there a rock? I know not any.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Isa 44:8 Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared [it]? ye [are] even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, [there is] no God; I know not [any].
Ver. 8. Have I not told thee from that time? ] Ever since I made thee mine ancient people, well affected to old truths, and distasting novel opinions.
Is there a God besides me?
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
My witnesses. Note the Structures above).
no God = no Rock. Reference to Pentateuch (Deu 32:4. Compare Isa 26:4). App-92.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
neither: Isa 44:2, Isa 41:10-14, Pro 3:25, Pro 3:26, Jer 10:7, Jer 30:10, Jer 30:11, Joh 6:10
have declared: Isa 42:9, Isa 48:5, Gen 15:13-21, Gen 28:13-15, Gen 46:3, Gen 48:19, Gen 49:1-28, Lev 26:1-46, Deu 4:25-31, Deu 28:1-68
ye are: Isa 43:10, Isa 43:12, Ezr 1:2, Ezr 8:22, Dan 2:28, Dan 2:47, Dan 3:16-28, Dan 4:25, Dan 5:23-30, Dan 6:22, Act 1:8, Act 14:15, Act 17:23-31, Heb 12:1, 1Jo 1:2
Is there: Isa 44:6, Isa 45:5, Isa 45:6, Isa 46:9, Deu 4:35, Deu 4:39, Deu 32:39, 1Sa 2:2, 2Sa 22:32, Joh 1:1, Joh 10:30
no God: Heb. no rock, Deu 32:4, Deu 32:31, Psa 18:31
Reciprocal: Exo 20:3 – General Deu 6:4 – the Lord Deu 32:12 – no strange Deu 32:17 – to God 1Ki 8:60 – the Lord 2Ki 5:15 – now I know 2Ki 19:15 – thou art the God 2Ch 32:13 – were the gods Neh 9:6 – even thou Psa 95:3 – above Psa 96:5 – For Isa 16:13 – since Isa 41:23 – that we may know Isa 45:14 – and there Isa 45:21 – who hath declared Isa 48:3 – declared Mat 24:25 – General Mat 28:7 – lo Mar 12:32 – for Mar 13:23 – behold Joh 6:20 – It is Joh 8:58 – I am 1Co 8:4 – we know Jam 2:19 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
44:8 Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared [it]? {l} ye [are] even my witnesses. Is there a God besides me? verily, [there is] no God; I know not [any].
(l) Read Isa 43:10 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The Israelites should not fear even though they were heading for captivity. God had told them that they would return from captivity as well as go into it. When they did return, they would be able to witness to the world that the Lord had predicted and performed both events. In the meantime they could seek refuge in their Rock, their only support and protector.
"The character of God is the ultimate assurance of His people." [Note: Motyer, p. 345.]
Seeking refuge in idols is not only fruitless but fatal (Isa 44:9-20). The idols have no witnesses to their ability to forecast and control the future. They are nothing (Isa 44:9-11), and their worshippers are confused (Isa 44:12-17) and blind (Isa 44:18-20). If Isaiah could show that it was foolish to think that supreme power resided in an idol, he could expose the heresy of paganism. This he did in this pericope.
"This extended exposé was doubtless intended to strengthen the Jews against the allurements of paganism during the long captivity in Babylon." [Note: Archer, p. 640.]