Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 48:6
Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare [it]? I have showed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them.
6. see all this ] see it all (sc. fulfilled).
and will not ye declare it?] Better (with the change of a consonant) and you, will ye not bear witness? (Duhm). Cf. ch. Isa 43:12.
6 b 8. Jehovah has proved His power to foretell by the fulfilment of past predictions ( vv. 3 6 a); now He announces new things.
I have shewed thee ] Rather: I shew thee (in the act of speaking).
new things] viz. those specified in Isa 48:14, the conquest of Babylon and all that results from it, the deliverance of Israel, the overthrow of heathenism and the manifestation of the glory of Jehovah.
hidden things] Lit. “things kept” (in reserve). and thou didst not know them ] which thou hast not known (R.V.). With the exception of one letter the clause coincides with one in Jer 33:3 (“difficult things which thou knowest not”).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Thou hast heard – You are witnesses that the prediction was uttered long before it was fulfilled.
See all this – Behold how it is all fulfilled. Bear witness that the event is as it was predicted.
And will ye not declare it? – Will you not bear witness to the entire fulfillment of the prophecy? God appeals to them as qualified to testify that what he had declared had come to pass, and calls on them to make this known as a demonstration that he alone was God (see the notes at Isa 44:8).
I have showed thee new things from this time – From this time I make known a thing which has not before occurred, that you may have a similar demonstration that Yahweh is God. The new thing here referred to, is, doubtless, the prediction of the deliverance from the captivity at Babylon – a new thing, in contradistinction from those which had been before predicted, and which were already fulfilled (see the notes at Isa 42:9; Isa 43:19).
Even hidden things – Events which are so concealed that they could not be conjectured by any political sagacity, or by any contemplation of mere natural causes. They are, as it were, laid up in dark treasurehouses (compare Isa 45:3), and they can be known only by him to whom the darkness shineth as the day, and to whom the night and the day are both alike Psa 139:12.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 48:6
See all this
Things seen as a whole
The words See all this, have been rendered by one of the latest commentators, See it as a whole.
This rendering reproduces the prophetic argument. Isaiah had recalled a period of history which, taken as a whole, was a fulfilled word of Jehovah. That completed epoch of history from the predictions of old to the events in which it had issued was to the prophet proof of Gods control of human affairs. Any completed historic cycle, taken as a whole, becomes to us significant of God. The evidence of the Divine providence discovers itself when we view things largely, when we see life as a whole.
1. Look at your life in the large relations of it, see it as a whole. This is not the view of life which it is altogether easy for us to take. For we touch life at single points; we receive life moment by moment; and our first views of things are apt to be partial. We ought, in our moral maturity, to fit our daily doings into some large conception of our whole reason for being here in this world. We do not know how to live well, certainly we have not learned to live richly if we have not gained something of the happy art of massing things in nobler groupings; if we cannot hold the little things and daily details of life under some broad, generous conception of our life; very much as from some height we see the several parts of a landscape, not singly, but together, as one wide sunny expanse.
2. That particular thing, for example, for which it may be necessary for you to strive to-morrow in your business, or which it seems desirable to secure for your enjoyment, needs to be sought for, not as though it were the one thing only to be attained, but as a possible part of some greater good in which your life is to find its satisfaction. A man to be successful in any calling must have something of that power of concentration to which Sir Fowell Buxton once attributed his success–the power of being a whole man to one thing at a time. Nevertheless, that would be an unworthy success which should leave us entirely confined to any single thing.
3. If we desire to possess our friendships well, we must learn this art of seeing things not in their little, often vexatious details, but largely and as wholes. You must take your friend largely for what he is in his entire character, if you would keep your friend. The microscope has its uses; but it was never made for the eye of friendship.
4. Another instance for the application of this text might be found in our habits of regarding our homes. We are to possess the home, not as a good for itself alone, but in its whole social setting, in its relation to the neighbourhood, to the Church of humanity, to the kingdom of heaven, of which it is part and portion.
5. I wish now to go up with this principle to some higher lines of experience, and to observe how this entire earthly life of ours is itself life but in part, and how, if we would live truly, we must learn to see all our life, from the cradle to the grave, as itself but a part of some still larger, better whole for us. If this earthly span of our days be all, what is a human life at its best but as the rainbow which we have seen, one end of it resting upon the depths of the waters, and the other end lost in the cloud, itself as fleeting as the mist upon which for its moment of promise it becomes visible? But here lies the difficulty and the doubt. We have no experience of what lies beyond. Our hand can lay no measuring-rod upon futurity. We have only this present. It is also true, and it is the more important part of the truth, that we have this present only as an incomplete thing, we have this life only as a segment; its present brief span is the are of some curve of larger sweep than we can measure. What its future may be like, we do not know; but we know this present as in itself incomplete and requiring some future completion. If you ask me, said Savonarola, as he was ready to be borne to the stake, what shall be in general the issue of this struggle, I reply, Victory. If you ask me what shall be the issue in the particular sense, I reply, Death. It was the answer of a seer. Seen in the particular, the issue of life may be death. Seen in the general, seen as a whole, true life is not death, but victory. The Christian faith brings to a man its Gospel of the One sinless Man, who knew whence He came, and whither He went, and whose life was always to Him not an affair of the moment only, but a truth of eternity. Jesus earthly life was indeed a broken one. In one aspect of it no human life has been left so incomplete as was that life which we can follow for a few brief years of it through these gospels. The verse in the book of Acts, All the things which Jesus began both to do and to teach, suggests the incompleteness, the utter brokenness of Jesus earthly life. What work did He live to see completed? what doctrine to finish? His hands did not complete His work of mercy; they were pierced before they had wrought all their possible work of healing. His lips did not finish His teachings; He had many things to say, and He died leaving much unsaid.
Into our Lords Gethsemane may there not have entered the pathos of an unfinished life? Yet He said, I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do. He could not have said that had He not looked always upon His life here as part and daily portion of one Divine whole, His sacrifice as something complete in Gods eternal purpose; had He not known that His life here, and there, and always, is one life, continuous throughout, on earth and in heaven, one will of the Father–each part of it, whether of humiliation or transfiguration, of suffering or resurrection, partaking of the glory of the perfect whole. (N. Smyth, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 6. Thou hast heard, see all this – “Thou didst hear it beforehand; behold, the whole is accomplished”] For chazeh, see, a MS. has hazzeh, this; thou hast heard the whole of this: the Syriac has vechazith, “thou hast heard, and thou hast seen, the whole.” Perhaps it should be hinneh, behold. In order to express the full sense, I have rendered it somewhat paraphrastically.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Thou hast heard, see all this; as thou hast heard all these things from my mouth, from time to time, so now I advise thee to see, i.e. seriously to consider them, and to lay them to heart.
Will not ye declare it? I call you to witness; must you not be forced to acknowledge the truth of what I say? Deny it if you can. Or,
have ye not declared it unto all people, as occasion required it? Have you not boasted unto the Gentiles of this as your honour and privilege? I have showed thee new things from this time; and I have now given thee new predictions of secret things, and such as till this time were wholly unknown to thee, as it follows, concerning thy deliverance out of Babylon by Cyrus.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
6. Thou, c.So “ye are mywitnesses” (Isa 43:10).Thou canst testify the prediction was uttered long before thefulfilment: “see all this,” namely, that the event answersto the prophecy.
declaremake the factknown as a proof that Jehovah alone is God (Isa44:8).
new thingsnamely, thedeliverance from Babylon by Cyrus, new in contradistinctionfrom former predictions that had been fulfilled (Isa 42:9Isa 43:19). Antitypically, theprophecy has in view the “new things” of the gospeltreasury (Son 7:13; Mat 13:52;2Co 5:17; Rev 21:5).From this point forward, the prophecies as to Messiah’s first andsecond advents and the restoration of Israel, have a newcircumstantial distinctness, such as did not characterize theprevious ones, even of Isaiah. Babylon, in this view, answers to themystical Babylon of Revelation.
hiddenwhich could nothave been guessed by political sagacity (Dan 2:22;Dan 2:29; 1Co 2:9;1Co 2:10).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thou hast heard, see all this: and will ye not declare it?…. You have heard of all these things, how they were foretold before they were; how they came to pass exactly as they were predicted; now look over these prophecies, and compare them with the events; see the exact completion of them; and when you have so done, can you be so stouthearted and impudent as to deny them, or not own and confess them?
I have showed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them; meaning the destruction of the Babylonish empire, and the deliverance of the Jews by Cyrus, prophesied just now in the preceding chapters; things not yet come to pass, newly revealed, which were hidden in the breast of God, and unknown to them until prophesied of; and which were typical of redemption by the incarnate Son of God, whose incarnation, and salvation by him, were new, unheard of, and wonderful things; and of the new state of things under the Gospel dispensation, when all things shall become new; the doctrines and ordinances of which are new; the whole Gospel is a hidden mystery, and unknown to men till revealed and made known by the Spirit of God.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
But in order to determine exactly what “the former things” were, which Jehovah had foretold in order that Israel might not ascribe them to this idol or the other, we must add Isa 48:6-8: “Thou hast heard it, look then at it all; and ye, must ye not confess it? I give thee new things to hear from this time forth, and hidden things, and what thou didst not know. It is created now, and not long ago; and thou hast not heard it before, that thou mightest not say, Behold, I knew it. Thou hast neither heard it, nor known it, nor did thine ear open itself to it long ago: for I knew thou art altogether faithless, and thou art called rebellious from the womb.” The meaning of the question in Isa 48:6 is very obvious: they must acknowledge and attest, even thou against their will (Isa 43:10; Isa 44:8), that Jehovah has foretold all that is now confirmed by the evident fulfilment. Consequently the “former things” are the events experienced by the people from the very earliest times (Isa 46:9) down to the present times of Cyrus, and more especially the first half or epoch of this period itself, which expired at the time that formed the prophet’s standpoint. And as the object of the prediction was to guard Israel against ascribing to its idols that which had taken place (which can only be understood of events that had occurred in favour of Israel), the “former things” must include the preparation for the redemption of Israel from the Babylonian captivity through the revolution brought to pass by Cyrus. Hence the “new things” will embrace the redemption of Israel with its attendant circumstances, and that not merely on its outward side, but on its spiritual side as well; also the glorification of the redeemed people in the midst of a world of nations converted to the God of Israel, and the creation of a new heaven and a new earth; in short, the New Testament aeon (compare , lxx , Isa 42:6), with the facts which contribute to its ultimate completion (f. Isa 42:9). The announcement and realization of these absolutely new and hitherto secret things (cf., Rom 16:25) take place from this time forward; Israel has not heard of them “before today” (compare , “from this day forward,” Isa 43:13), that it may not lay claim to the knowledge conveyed to it by prophecy, as something drawn from itself. This thought is carried to a climax in Isa 48:8 in three correlated sentences commencing with “yea” ( gam ). signifies patescere here, as in Isa 60:11 (Ewald, 120, a). Jehovah had said nothing to them of this before, because it was to be feared that, with their faithlessness and tendency to idolatry, which had run through their entire history, they would only abuse it. This is strange! On the one hand, the rise of Cyrus is spoken of here as predicted from of old, because it belonged to the “former things,” and as knowable through prophecy – a statement which favours the opinion that these addresses were written before the captivity; and, on the other hand, a distinction is drawn between these “former things” and certain “new things” that were intentionally not predicted before the expiration of these “former things,” which certainly seems to preclude the possibility of their having been composed before the captivity; since, as Ruetschi observes, if “the older Isaiah had predicted this, he would have acted in direct opposition to Jehovah’s design.” But in actual fact, the dilemma in which the opponents of the authenticity of these prophecies find themselves, is comparatively worse than this. For the principal objection – namely, that a prophet before the captivity could not possibly have known or predicted anything concerning Cyrus – cannot be satisfactorily removed by attributing these prophecies to a prophet of the time of the captivity, since they expressly and repeatedly affirm that the rise of Cyrus was an event foreknown and predicted by the God of prophecy. Now, if it is Isaiah who thus takes his stand directly in the midst of the captivity, we can understand both of these: viz., the retrospective glance at previous prophecies, which issued in the rise of Cyrus that prepared the way for the redemption from Babylon, since, so far as the prophet was concerned, such prophecies as Isaiah 13-14:23; Isa 21:1-10, and also Isa 11:10-12 (Mic 4:10), are fused into one with his present predictions; and also the prospective glance at prophecies which are now first to be uttered, and events which are now fore the first time about to be accomplished; inasmuch as the revelations contained in these prophecies concerning Israel’s pathway through suffering to glory, more especially so far as they grew out of the idea of the “servant of Jehovah,” might really be set down as absolutely new to the prophet himself, and never heard of before. Meanwhile our exposition is not affected by the critical question; for even we most firmly maintain, that the prophet who is speaking here has his standpoint in the midst of the captivity, on the boundary line of the condition of suffering and punishment and its approaching termination.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
6. Thou hast heard. This makes it still more clear that the Prophet speaks of a future captivity, and of the redemption by which it should be followed; thus intending to make provision for the advantage both of the men of his own time and of posterity, that, if they who then lived received no benefit, at least posterity might take warning and repent. It frequentlyhappens, that the doctrine of the prophets produces little effect on those who see and hear, and sometimes is even treated by them with contempt, while posterity receive it with better dispositions.
See all. When he bids them see, some think that the Prophet exhibits the event in such a manner as if he had said, that God had spoken nothing which had not been made evident to be true. But I give a different interpretation of this word חזה, (chazeh,) see, in this manner: “Seeing that the Lord hath spoken, it is thy duty to examine the words, and to give attention.” Hence we ought to observe, that it is owing to our sluggishness or indolence that we immediately lose those things which proceed from the mouth of God, and that in vain do many persons hold out the pretext of ignorance; because the Lord reveals clearly enough all that is necessary to be known, if they who hear would examine it carefully, and with due attention.
And will ye not declare it? The Lord next demands something more from his people than to understand and consider his word; that is, that they may be a herald and witness of the miracles which they have known by experience. And, indeed, he instructs his people on this condition, that they shall afterwards lead others to the same confession of faith. Even now have I made thee to hear As if he had said, “Observe this day, on which the Lord foretells to thee, by my mouth, those things which thou didst not know; for these things cannot be perceived or foreseen by human conjecture.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
GODS COMMUNICATIONS TO MANKIND
Isa. 48:6-8. I have showed thee new things, &c.
I. The manner of Gods communications. Prophetic, addressed to the ear, and concerning things hidden from human reason. Providential, addressed to the eye. (In dealing with Isa. 48:7, show
1. Mans tendency to intellectual pride.
2. How this is checked by Gods method of revelation.)
II. The manner in which they are received. With inattention; without understanding; with wilful impenitenceall arising out of natural corruption.J. Lyth, D.D.: The Homiletical Treasury, Isaiah, p. 65.
GODS FOREKNOWLEDGE OF MANS SIN
Isa. 48:8. Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not, &c.
The ancient people of God were most vexatiously stolid; and although the Lord taught them very plainly and repeatedly, line upon line, &c., yet they would not understand His will. Though taught by God-sent prophets, yet the people refused to be instructed. As in a looking-class, let us see ourselves! Let the unconverted man see his own picture! God has spoken quite as pointedly to you as ever He did to the seed of Israel. He has called you by providences, &c. Three times a yea is put into our text, as if to show Gods wonder at mans obstinacy, and the certainty that such was the state of the heart. More painful still is it to remember, that in a certain degree the same accusation may be laid at the door of believers. Even they have not such a degree of spiritual sensibility as they should have. Alas! we may well bewail ourselves that we do not hear the voice of God as we ought. Having thus reminded you of your sin, trusting we may be led to confess it with deep humility, I have now an encouraging truth to tell you, a very simple one, that all this folly, and ignorance, and obstinacy, and rebellion on our part, was foreknown by God; and notwithstanding that foreknowledge, He yet has been pleased to deal with us in a way of mercy.
I. I ADDRESS THIS TRUTH TO THE BELIEVER.
1. A mournful fact, I knew, &c. That word treacherously is one which a man would not like to have applied to himself in the common transactions of life; he would feel it to be very galling, and if there were truth in it, very degrading; and yet I question whether it will produce the same effect upon our minds when it is applied to us in relation to unfaithfulness to God. How treacherous we have been to our own vows and promises when we were first converted! This is not all. It is not merely that we have failed in promises which were made in a period of excitement, but we have been treacherous to obligations which were altogether apart from voluntary vows on our part; we have been treacherous to the most blessed relationships which mercy could have instituted. Have you not lived as if you were your own? As soldiers, by cowardice, disobedience, and desertion, we have been treacherous to a very shameful degree. Worst of all is the fact that we have been treacherous to our Lord in a relationship where fidelity constitutes the very essence of bliss, the marriage bond which exists between our soul and Christ.
2. The Divine statement of the text, that all this was known. It was no secret that we were transgressors from the womb. As the Lord foreknew the fountain of sin, so He knew all the streams which would gush from it. There are no things unknown to God. We never have surprised the Most High; we never have brought Him to such a position that He could say, I did not know this. We have never gone into any sin of which it could be said concerning God, that He did not know that it would so be wrought by us.
3. Seeing that this is most certain and sure, adore the amazing grace of God. You have dealt very treacherously, and yet you were redeemed not with silver and gold, &c., and you have been adopted into the Lords family.
4. This truth is very important to us, because in the light of it our security is clearly manifest. God can never be obstructed by a circumstance in us which can create surprise in His mind, or throw His course out of His reckoning.
5. This truth, also, should tend very much to enhance our sense of the fulness which is treasured up in Christ Jesus. The Lord our God has provided for us in Christ for all the necessities that can occur, for He has foreknown all these necessities.
II. I APPLY THIS TRUTH TO THE UNCONVERTED.
You have discovered lately the natural vileness of your heart, &c. You have a deep regret for your long delay in seeking mercy. You are willing to acknowledge that there have been special aggravations in your case. Now, the gospel of Jesus Christ is sent to you in the state in which you now are. All these sins, delays, aggravations, and rebellions of yours, were all foreknown to God; therefore, since He has sent the Gospel to you, be not slow to accept it, since it is not possible that your sins, whatever they may be, can at all militate against the fact that, if you believe and receive the Gospel, you shall be saved. Why invent a scheme by which a rebel might be saved, if He foreknew that on account of sin that rebel never could be pardoned? Do you think God would have gone farthergone to the vast expense of providing a Saviour, if really the Gospel were null and void? He maketh not an exception. Though a man had daubed himself a thousand times with the blackest filth that ever came from hell, yet, if he believes in Jesus, God must be true to His solemn promise (H. E. I. 23322337).C. H. Spurgeon: Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, No. 779.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(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 referred to as former things.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
6, 7. Thou hast heard, etc. The words are addressed to the Jews as if in Babylon. They have already heard enough from Jehovah. They have no need of more concerning the prediction of their deliverance through Cyrus.
See all this In God’s eye it is all fulfilled: see you the fact likewise. That is, believe Jehovah, the same as if its accomplishment were before your eyes.
And will not ye declare it Cause it to be known, testify to its certainty from perfect knowledge of God’s veracity? New things
hidden things Perhaps among them Israel’s deliverances from Babylon, and their restoration to their own land and to God’s worship; not yet accomplished, but as certain as if they were.
They are created now Hence, they are the same as if already accomplished, and the Jews are to treat the prediction accordingly. The fulfilment is ideal but real. Babylon is to be destroyed, and Israel is to be delivered. Take these facts as made known by Jehovah, not by idol oracles or by human sagacity. No excuse for you to do otherwise. God’s veracity has often enough been proved to you. It is mockery of Jehovah to say, Behold, I knew them before.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 48:6-7. I have shewed thee new things The new things refer to the prophesies respecting the deliverance of the Jewish people by Cyrus, and the consequence of that deliverance. They are created now, says the prophet, speaking of the first revelation of these things. The idea is elegant; for what is revealed exists by the word which proceeds from the mouth of God; which is the character of creation. The next words may be rendered, And not from the beginning, nor before this day, hast thou heard them.
See commentary on Isa 48:3
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Isa 48:6 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.
Ver. 6. Thou hast heard, see all this. ] Here God extorteth from them a confession of the aforesaid truth, and urgeth them to attest and publish it.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
see = look close into.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Isa 48:6-8
Isa 48:6-8
“Thou hast heard it; behold all this; and ye will not declare it? I have showed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, which thou hast not known. They are created now, and not from of old, and before this day thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them. Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from of old thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou didst deal very treacherously, and was called a transgressor from the womb”.
The scriptures here confront the fundamental truth of the excessive wickedness of the chosen people. Moreover, “This is not a new trait with them; they’ve been that way from the beginning. When Jacob, their father, was given a name which means `cheater’ and `guile,’ the name well described him and his descendants as well. Ezekiel in Ezekiel 16 and Ezekiel 25 bluntly tell the story of a wicked nation whose history is one shameless narrative.” Even in the times of Jesus, the nation showed no improvement; because, one day when a true Israelite, an honorable and truthful man by the name of Nathaniel, came to Jesus, Christ pointed him out as something of a phenomenon, saying, “Behold! an Israelite in whom is no guile!” (Joh 1:47).
The words thus far in this chapter give the reason for subsequent developments in the ranks of the captive nation. We should always remember that, “The great mass, even of Judah, no less than of Israel `remained behind’ in Babylon, where they came more and more to be assimilated by and identified with paganism.” Josephus tells us that, when Cyrus gave his decree authorizing the return of the Jews to Jerusalem, that, “Many of them stayed in Babylon, as not willing to leave their possessions.” He gave the number of returnees as 42,462; and a combination of the statements by Biblical writers sets the number at about 52,000; but neither of these totals, nor even the adding of them together, gives us a numerically significant number when compared with the millions that once constituted Israel. The captive nation under Cyrus, having achieved a local acceptance which they wanted, simply joined up with their pagan captors and became, themselves, a part of Babylon.
“New things …” (Isa 48:6). What are these? The new revelation could not possibly have been the deliverance from captivity. That a remnant would return had been prophesied ever since Isaiah named his first son; and, therefore, we hold that the “new things” mentioned here refer primarily to the marvelous revelation of the Saviour under the figure of the Ideal Servant, which revelation would occupy the foremost place in the second section of these last 27 chapters. “I have showed thee new things” is therefore prophetic and shows that the “new things” will reach into the far future. The statement that they are created now, and not from of old is a reference to their revelation to Israel; because all of the things of the new covenant were planned in the heart of God, “before the world was.”
Isa 48:6-8 PERVERSITY OF JUDAH: The onus is put squarely upon the perverse people of Judah. You have had opportunities to know all these past predictions and their fulfillments; I remind you to study them again, would be Jehovahs challenge to Judah. The question of verse six is undoubtedly rhetorical: And you, you will not declare it, will you? or, And you, how can you not declare it? The meaning is that what the Lord predicted came to pass and they must acknowledge the factuality of it even if they do not obey the moral implications of it! This shows that unbelief is a moral problem, not an evidential one!
But now, the Lord is predicting new things (things that will have their fulfillment yet in the future). Among these things (so incredible for Judah to accept) were the captivities, release from captivity by a pagan ruler and a coming Messiah who is bringing a way of salvation which is absolutely foreign to their present dispensation. Salvation by grace, through faith in the substitutionary atonement of the Messiah (Isaiah 53, et al.) had to be by revelation-it had to be a new prediction because it could never have been thought-up by the human mind (cf. 1Co 1:18 to 1Co 2:16). This plan of salvation was created by God and worked out in His sovereign plans (cf. Romans 9, 10, 11) as a mystery to be revealed (cf. Eph 1:3-10, etc.). God predicted it all and typified it all in the Old Testament dispensation, to be sure (cf. Rom 3:21-22; see special study, The Righteousness of God As Revealed by The Prophets, page 282), but it was dim and abstruse (cf. Heb 1:1). The Lord predicts and rules in history toward His goal of redemption. He reveals His will and plan for man; He reveals Himself (His own person, nature, character-even in the flesh!). Man cannot know Gods plan or Gods nature until God reveals it. Man may not even be able to understand it all when it is revealed. But God revealed enough of it in human language (which is human experience) (cf. 1Co 2:13) and in human flesh (Jesus Christ; cf. Joh 1:1-18; 1Jn 1:1-4, etc.) that man can know His will for salvation and obey His will for salvation.
In verse eight we have the reason God chose to hide these new things from Judah until He was ready to reveal them. The Hebrew syntax would indicate the latter half of the verse should read literally: dealing treacherously you would deal treacherously. . . . God did not let them know-He did not open their ear to these new things because of their perversity. They were spiritually unprepared to hear them. He had yet to put them through a long period of indignation (the captivities, the return from exile, the centuries of the Greek-Seleucid oppression and the Roman oppression) before the new dispensation could come and be accepted. This verse definitely teaches the sovereign wisdom of God in a gradual revelation from Old Testament times to the New. There were things Jesus could not reveal to the twelve until after He had gone away because they were unable to bear them while He was with them in the flesh (cf. Joh 16:1-15). Fleshly-mindedness prohibits man from listening to Gods word even when it is being spoken and revealed (cf. 1Co 2:6; 1Co 3:1-4; Heb 5:11-14, etc.). It was difficult for the apostle Peter to accept the revelation of Christ about His atoning death (cf. Mat 16:21-23) because Peter simply refused to accept the concept of a dying Messiah! So, Isaiah says, until Judah stops its rebellion against Jehovahs sovereignty, she is not going to hear the new things Jehovah wants to reveal.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
hast heard: Psa 107:43, Jer 2:31, Mic 6:9
and will: Isa 21:10, Isa 43:8-10, Psa 40:9, Psa 40:10, Psa 71:15-18, Psa 78:3-6, Psa 119:13, Psa 145:4, Psa 145:5, Jer 50:2, Mat 10:27, Act 1:8
showed: Isa 42:9, Dan 12:8-13, Amo 3:6, Joh 15:15, Rom 16:25, Rom 16:26, 1Co 2:9, 1Pe 1:10-12, Rev 1:19, Rev 4:1, Rev 5:1, Rev 5:2, Rev 6:1-17
Reciprocal: Isa 42:20 – Seeing Isa 43:9 – who among Isa 43:19 – I will do Isa 48:20 – utter it even Jer 33:3 – mighty Mat 24:25 – General 1Co 2:7 – even Heb 12:25 – See
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 48:6-8. Thou hast heard, see all this As thou hast heard all these things, from time to time, seriously consider them. And will not ye declare it I call you to witness: must you not be forced to acknowledge the truth of what I say? I have showed thee new things from this time And I have now given thee new predictions of secret things, such as till this time were wholly unknown to thee, concerning thy deliverance out of Babylon by Cyrus. They are created now Revealed to thee by me; brought to light, as things are by creation. The idea is elegant; for what is revealed exists by the word that proceeds from the mouth of God, which is the character of creation. And not from the beginning Hebrew, , not from thence, not from these ancient times when other things were revealed to thee. Even before the day Hebrew, and, or, or before this day. This day answers to now in the first clause, and seems to be added as an exposition of it; when thou heardest them not Hebrew, And thou didst not hear them, namely, before this time in which God hath revealed them to thee by my ministry. Lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them Either by thine own sagacity, or by the help of thine idols. Yea, thou knewest not The same thing is repeated, because this was so illustrious a proof of the infinite power and providence of God, and so clear and full a discovery of the vanity of idols. Yea, from that time Hebrew, from then, as in the foregoing verse; thine ear was not opened That is, thou didst not hear; I did not reveal these things unto thee: for so this phrase of opening the ear is understood, 1Sa 9:15. For I knew that thou wouldest deal treacherously I knew all these cautions were necessary to cure thine infidelity. And wast called Namely, justly and truly; a transgressor from the womb Thou wast indeed such from thy very origin as a people. The contents of this verse, therefore, are not only to be considered as a confirmation of what was said in the preceding verse, namely, that the Jews had no knowledge of these new things, (as they are called Isa 48:6,) before the revelation of them made by Isaiah; but as containing a conviction of the inconsideration, incredulity, and prejudices of the Jewish people; who, notwithstanding the prophecies so clearly fulfilled among them, had neither duly attended to them, nor become obedient to God, which he observes was nothing strange, since, from the first time of their adoption as a people, from their deliverance out of Egypt, which was, as it were, their birth, they had been full of perfidy and transgression. See Vitringa.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
48:6 Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye {g} declare [it]? I have showed ye new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them.
(g) Will you not acknowledge my blessing, and declare it to others?
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Israel’s need for faith 48:6-11
Having reminded His people of His ways, God now gave them a new prediction.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
God directed His people to consider carefully what He had just revealed, and they would have to admit that it was true. It was important that they come to a clear understanding of His ways because He was making other predictions about the future (i.e., Cyrus, return from exile, the coming Servant). They needed to know that He is in charge and that He is dependable. What He revealed was hidden, in that its time and method of fulfillment were not specific, but the content itself was clear enough, having been revealed generally before (cf. Gen 15:18-21; Deu 30:1-5).