Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 41:26
Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? and formerly, that we may say, [He is] righteous? yea, [there is] none that showeth, yea, [there is] none that declareth, yea, [there is] none that heareth your words.
26. He is righteous ] He is in the right (cf. Exo 9:27); or, simply, Right! (cf. ch. Isa 43:9), although the adj. is always used of persons, except in Deu 4:8 (of the divine ordinances).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Who hath declared from the beginning – The meaning of this passage is, there is no one among the soothsayers, and the worshippers of idols, who has predicted the birth, the character, and the conquests of Cyrus. There is among the pagan no recorded prediction on the subject, as there is among the Jews, that when he shall have come, it may be said that a prediction is accomplished.
And before-time – Formerly; before the event occurred.
That we may say – That it may be said; that there may be evidence, or reason for the affirmation.
He is righteous – The words he is are not in the Hebrew The original is simply righteous ( tsaddyq), just, that is, it is just, or true; the prediction is fulfilled. It does not refer to the character of God, but to the certainty of the fulfillment of the prediction.
There is none that showeth – There is no one among the worshippers of false gods, the soothsayers and necromancers, that has predicted these events.
None that heareth your words – There is no one that has heard such a prediction among you.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 26. Your word] imrntheychem; but, instead of this, one of my most ancient MSS. has dibreychem. The meaning is nearly the same: but in this reading this MS. is singular.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Who hath declared from the beginning? which of all your idols did or could foretell such things as this from the beginning of the world unto this day? They never yet did nor can foretell any such things, further than I think fit to reveal it to them.
Beforetime; either in time past, or before the things come to pass.
That we may say, that we may be convinced and forced to acknowledge,
He is righteous; his cause now pleaded is just and good; he. is a God indeed as he pretends to be, he claims his Divinity by a good title.
Yea, there is none; Heb. surely there is none of your gods that hath done or can do this, and therefore their claim to the Deity is false and foolish.
There is none that heareth your words; none of your worshippers ever heard any such thing, either from you or of you; nor indeed doth any man hear your words, because you are dumb, and cannot speak.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
26. Whoof the idolatroussoothsayers? When this prophecy shall be fulfilled, all shall seethat God foretold as to Cyrus, which none of the soothsayers have.
beforetimebefore theevent occurred.
He is righteousrather,”It is true”; it was a true prophecy, as the event shows.”He is righteous,” in English Version, must beinterpreted, The fulfilment of the idol’s words proves that he isfaithful.
showeth, &c.rather,”there was none (of the soothsayers) that showed . . .declaredno one has heard your words” foretelling the event.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know?…. Who of the idols, or of their priests, that have declared things future before they came to pass, or ever predicted such an event as this before mentioned; which, if understood of Cyrus, was an hundred and fifty years before it came to pass; and if of Constantine, near a thousand years:
and before time, that we may say, he is righteous? that is, who hath declared things before the time of the accomplishment of them, and they have come to pass, as they have been declared? by which it may be known that they are gods, or the priests of such that are so, by their having prescience of future events, or the spirit of prophecy; and so it may be said of them, that they are just in their pretensions, and have a rightful claim to deity, or are true prophets; so the Targum,
“that we may say it is true”
yea, there is none that showeth, yea, there is none that declareth; that shows and declares things to come, or such as the true God shows and declares:
yea, there is none that heareth your words; none of your worshippers that ever heard you speak a word, who, when they have prayed to you, could never have an answer; and therefore you have no just claim to deity; or ever heard any of your prophets say such a thing should come to pass, and it did.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
As Isa 41:25 points back to the first charge against the heathen and their gods (Isa 41:2-7), so Isa 41:26-28 point back to the second. Not only did Jehovah manifest Himself as the Universal Ruler in the waking up of Cyrus, but as the Omniscient Ruler also. “Who hath made it known from the beginning, we will acknowledge it, and from former time, we will say He is in the right?! Yea, there was none that made known; yea, none that caused to hear; yea, none that heard your words. As the first I saith to Zion, Behold, behold, there it is: and I bestow evangelists upon Jerusalem. And I looked, and there was no man; and of these there was no one answering whom I would ask, and who would give me an answer.” If any one of the heathen deities had foretold this appearance of Cyrus so long before as at the very commencement of that course of history which had thus reached its goal, Jehovah with His people, being thus taught by experience, would admit and acknowledge their divinity. is used in the same sense as in Isa 48:16: and also in Isa 41:4 and Isa 40:21, where it refers according to the context in each case, to the beginning of the particular line of history. signifies either “he is right,” i.e., in the right (compare the Arabic siddik , genuine), or in a neuter sense, “it is right” (= true), i.e., the claim to divine honours is really founded upon divine performances. But there was not one who had proclaimed it, or who gave a single sound of himself; no one had heard anything of the kind from them. receives a retrospective character from the connection; and bearing this in mind, the participles may be also resolved into imperfects. The repeated , passing beyond what is set down as possible, declares the reality of the very opposite. What Jehovah thus proves the idols to want, He can lay claim to for Himself. In Isa 41:27 we need not assume that there is any hyperbaton, as Louis de Dieu, Rosenmller, and others have done: “I first will give to Zion and Jerusalem one bringing glad tidings: behold, behold them.” After what has gone before in Isa 41:26 we may easily supply , “I said,” in Isa 41:27 (compare Isa 8:19; Isa 14:16; Isa 27:2), not , for the whole comparison drawn by Jehovah between Himself and the idols is retrospective, and looks back from the fulfilment in progress to the prophecies relating to it. The only reply that we can look for to the question in Isa 41:26 is not, “I on the contrary do it,” but “I did it.” At the same time, the rendering is a correct one: “Behold, behold them ” ( illa ; for the neuter use of the masculine, compare Isa 48:3; Isa 38:16; Isa 45:8). “As the first,” Jehovah replies (i.e., without any one anticipating me), “Have I spoken to Zion: behold, behold, there it is,” pointing with the finger of prophecy to the coming salvation, which is here regarded as present; “and I gave to Jerusalem messengers of joy;” i.e., long ago, before what is now approaching could be known by any one, I foretold to my church, through the medium of prophets, the glad tidings of the deliverance from Babylon. If the author of chapters 40-66 were a prophet of the captivity, his reference here would be to such prophecies as Isa 11:11 (where Shinar is mentioned as a land of dispersion), and more especially still Mic 4:10, “There in Babylon wilt thou be delivered, there will Jehovah redeem thee out of the hand of thine enemies;” but if Isaiah were the author, he is looking back from the ideal standpoint of the time of the captivity, and of Cyrus more especially, to his own prophecies before the captivity (such as Isaiah 13:1-14:23, and Isa 21:1-10), just as Ezekiel, when prophesying of Gog and Magog, looks back in Isa 38:17 fro the ideal standpoint of this remote future, more especially to his own prophecies in relation to it. In that case the m e bhasser , or evangelist, more especially referred to is the prophet himself (Grotius and Stier), namely, as being the foreteller of those prophets to whom the commission in Isa 40:1, “Comfort ye, comfort ye,” is addressed, and who are greeted in Isa 52:7-8 as the bearers of the joyful news of the existing fulfilment of the deliverance that has appeared, and therefore as the m e bhasser or evangelist of the future . In any case, it follows from Isa 41:26, Isa 41:27 that the overthrow of Babylon and the redemption of Israel had long before been proclaimed by Jehovah through His prophets; and if our exposition is correct so far, the futures in Isa 41:28 are to be taken as imperfects: And I looked round ( , a voluntative in the hypothetical protasis, Ges. 128, 2), and there was no one (who announced anything of the kind); and of these (the idols) there was no adviser (with regard to the future, Num 24:14), and none whom I could ask, and who answered me (the questioner). Consequently, just as the raising up of Cyrus proclaimed the sole omnipotence of Jehovah, so did the fact that the deliverance of Zion-Jerusalem, for which the raising up of Cyrus prepared the way, had been predicted by Him long before, proclaim His sole omniscience.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
26. Who hath declared from the beginning? Again the Lord attacks idols, after having maintained his divinity; for he asks if idolaters can produce anything of a similar nature to support their worship; that is, if they can bring forward any such instance of foreknowledge or power. And because beyond all controversy he could claim this prerogative for himself alone, he tauntingly says, “We will acknowledge that he by whom such things shall be done is the true God.”
We will say he is righteous. This is the literal rendering, but the word “righteous” has an extensive meaning, and sometimes denotes “true and approved;” hence the saying, “Wisdom is justified,” that is, approved, “by her children.” (Mat 11:19.) These are then clear proofs of the divine majesty, which demonstrate the vanity of idols, because by the disposal of God alone all things are governed, and by the slightest expression of his will the mightiest monarchies are overthrown. The Lord speaks in the plural number, in order to shew that he does not defend his own cause, but the cause of the whole nation. He is, indeed, satisfied with his own eternity; but as we are weak, it is therefore necessary that it should be proved to us that he is God, that our minds may not go astray, or wander in uncertainty, but may rest entirely upon him; and therefore to the word is added experimental knowledge, that it may more fully support our faith, if it should still be liable to waver.
There is none that heareth your words. He says that the idols are dumb, and leave their worshippers in suspense, while he kindles the torch of his word, to enlighten his elect people, and lead them forward to righteous judgment.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(26) Who hath declared . . .The words paint once more the startling suddenness of the conquests of the Persian king. He was to come as a comet or a meteor. None of all the oracles in Assyria or Babylon, or in the far coasts to which the Phnicians sent their ships of Tarshish, had anticipated this.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
26. Who hath declared from the beginning The questioned resumed as respects idols. Which of them ever gave a prediction at all? Which of them could even affirm as I, Jehovah, have affirmed of Cyrus?
He is righteous A better translation, at least of the thought, is that of Cowles: “Who has declared [any thing] from the beginning, that we may know [it,] and from before the event, and we will say, Right. [It is true.] Verily there has been no such revealer, no such publisher; not one who has heard your words that is, real predictions.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 41:26 Who 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.
Ver. 26. Who hath declared? ] Who, besides myself, ever did or could predict such a thing? If any other hath done it, we will do him right, called him a god.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
declared: Isa 41:22, Isa 43:9, Isa 44:7, Isa 45:21, Hab 2:18-20
righteous: Isa 41:23
Reciprocal: Isa 41:4 – hath Dan 2:22 – revealeth 2Pe 1:19 – a more
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 41:26. Who hath declared from the beginning Which of your idols could foretel such things as these from the beginning of the world unto this day? And beforetime Before the things come to pass. That we may say, He is righteous His cause is good; he is a God indeed. Yea, there is none that showeth Hebrew, surely, there is none of your gods that hath done or can do this, and therefore their claim to divinity is false and foolish. There is none that heareth your words Because you are dumb and cannot speak.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
41:26 Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? and in times past, that we may say, [He is] righteous? verily, [there is] none that sheweth, verily, [there is] none that declareth, verily, [there is] none that heareth {y} your words.
(y) Meaning, that none of the Gentile gods can work any of these things.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Yahweh is the only predictor of Cyrus, and His prediction proves Him unique among the "gods." In Isaiah’s day the pagans claimed that their gods sent them messages, but these messages were vague and not specific. The fulfillment of this prediction would prove that Yahweh was the true God. Many scholars believe that the writer of this part of Isaiah, if not the whole book, lived after Cyrus began his conquests about 545 B.C. If that were so, the whole point of this passage loses its force.