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Selected Verse: Isaiah 41:26 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Isa 41:26	Strong Concordance	Who hath declared [05046] from the beginning [07218], that we may know [03045]? and beforetime [06440], that we may say [0559], He is righteous [06662]? yea, there is none that sheweth [05046], yea, there is none that declareth [08085], yea, there is none that heareth [08085] your words [0561].
	King James	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.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
Who--of the idolatrous soothsayers? When this prophecy shall be fulfilled, all shall see that God foretold as to Cyrus, which none of the soothsayers have. beforetime--before the event occurred. He is righteous--rather, "It is true"; it was a true prophecy, as the event shows. "He is righteous," in English Version, must be interpreted, The fulfilment of the idol's words proves that he is faithful. showeth, &c.--rather, "there was none (of the soothsayers) that showed . . . declared--no one has heard your words" foretelling the event.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

Who--of the idolatrous soothsayers? When this prophecy shall be fulfilled, all shall see that God foretold as to Cyrus, which none of the soothsayers have.

beforetime--before the event occurred.

He is righteous--rather, "It is true"; it was a true prophecy, as the event shows. "He is righteous," in English Version, must be interpreted, The fulfilment of the idol's words proves that he is faithful.

showeth, &c.--rather, "there was none (of the soothsayers) that showed . . . declared--no one has heard your words" foretelling the event.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
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' (צדיק tsaddı̂yq), 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.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
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. מראשׁ 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. צדּיק 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. אין receives a retrospective character from the connection; and bearing this in mind, the participles may be also resolved into imperfects. The repeated אף, 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 אמרתּי, "I said," in Isa 41:27 (compare Isa 8:19; Isa 14:16; Isa 27:2), not אמר, 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 mebhassēr, 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 mebhassēr or evangelist of the future מבשׂרים. 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 (וארא, 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.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

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. מראשׁ 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. צדּיק 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. אין receives a retrospective character from the connection; and bearing this in mind, the participles may be also resolved into imperfects. The repeated אף, 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 אמרתּי, "I said," in Isa 41:27 (compare Isa 8:19; Isa 14:16; Isa 27:2), not אמר, 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 mebhassēr, 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 mebhassēr or evangelist of the future מבשׂרים. 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 (וארא, 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.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Who - Which of your idols could foretel such things as these from the beginning of the world unto this day? Before - time - Before the things come to pass. Righteous - His cause is good: he is a God indeed. Heareth - Because you are dumb and cannot speak.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
Your word - אמרתיכם imrntheychem; but, instead of this, one of my most ancient MSS. has דבריכם dibreychem. The meaning is nearly the same: but in this reading this His. is singular.

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¹⁴ And now, behold, I go [01980] unto my people [05971]: come [03212] therefore, and I will advertise [03289] thee what this people [05971] shall do [06213] to thy people [05971] in the latter [0319] days [03117].

²⁸ For I beheld [07200], and there was no man [0376]; even among them, and there was no counsellor [03289], that, when I asked [07592] of them, could answer [07725] a word [01697].

²⁷ The first [07223] shall say to Zion [06726], Behold [02009], behold [02009] them: and I will give [05414] to Jerusalem [03389] one that bringeth good tidings [01319].

⁷ How beautiful [04998] upon the mountains [02022] are the feet [07272] of him that bringeth good tidings [01319], that publisheth [08085] peace [07965]; that bringeth good tidings [01319] of good [02896], that publisheth [08085] salvation [03444]; that saith [0559] unto Zion [06726], Thy God [0430] reigneth [04427] !
⁸ Thy watchmen [06822] shall lift up [05375] the voice [06963]; with the voice [06963] together [03162] shall they sing [07442]: for they shall see [07200] eye [05869] to eye [05869], when the LORD [03068] shall bring again [07725] Zion [06726].

¹ Comfort [05162] ye, comfort [05162] ye my people [05971], saith [0559] your God [0430].

¹⁷ Behold, for peace [07965] I had great bitterness [04751] [04843]: but thou hast in love [02836] to my soul [05315] delivered it from the pit [07845] of corruption [01097]: for thou hast cast [07993] all my sins [02399] behind [0310] thy back [01460].

¹ The burden [04853] of the desert [04057] of the sea [03220]. As whirlwinds [05492] in the south [05045] pass [02498] through; so it cometh [0935] from the desert [04057], from a terrible [03372] land [0776].
² A grievous [07186] vision [02380] is declared [05046] unto me; the treacherous dealer [0898] dealeth treacherously [0898], and the spoiler [07703] spoileth [07703]. Go up [05927], O Elam [05867]: besiege [06696], O Media [04074]; all the sighing [0585] thereof have I made to cease [07673].
³ Therefore are my loins [04975] filled [04390] with pain [02479]: pangs [06735] have taken hold [0270] upon me, as the pangs [06735] of a woman that travaileth [03205]: I was bowed down [05753] at the hearing [08085] of it; I was dismayed [0926] at the seeing [07200] of it.
⁴ My heart [03824] panted [08582], fearfulness [06427] affrighted [01204] me: the night [05399] of my pleasure [02837] hath he turned [07760] into fear [02731] unto me.
⁵ Prepare [06186] the table [07979], watch [06822] in the watchtower [06844], eat [0398], drink [08354]: arise [06965], ye princes [08269], and anoint [04886] the shield [04043].
⁶ For thus hath the Lord [0136] said [0559] unto me, Go [03212], set [05975] a watchman [06822], let him declare [05046] what he seeth [07200].
⁷ And he saw [07200] a chariot [07393] with a couple [06776] of horsemen [06571], a chariot [07393] of asses [02543], and a chariot [07393] of camels [01581]; and he hearkened [07181] diligently [07182] with much [07227] heed [07182]:
⁸ And he cried [07121], A lion [0738]: My lord [0136], I stand [05975] continually [08548] upon the watchtower [04707] in the daytime [03119], and I am set [05324] in my ward [04931] whole nights [03915]:
⁹ And, behold, here cometh [0935] a chariot [07393] of men [0376], with a couple [06776] of horsemen [06571]. And he answered [06030] and said [0559], Babylon [0894] is fallen [05307], is fallen [05307]; and all the graven images [06456] of her gods [0430] he hath broken [07665] unto the ground [0776].
¹⁰ O my threshing [04098], and the corn [01121] of my floor [01637]: that which I have heard [08085] of the LORD [03068] of hosts [06635], the God [0430] of Israel [03478], have I declared [05046] unto you.

¹⁰ Be in pain [02342], and labour to bring forth [01518], O daughter [01323] of Zion [06726], like a woman in travail [03205]: for now shalt thou go forth [03318] out of the city [07151], and thou shalt dwell [07931] in the field [07704], and thou shalt go [0935] even to Babylon [0894]; there shalt thou be delivered [05337]; there the LORD [03068] shall redeem [01350] thee from the hand [03709] of thine enemies [0341].

¹¹ And it shall come to pass in that day [03117], that the Lord [0136] shall set [03254] his hand [03027] again [03254] the second time [08145] to recover [07069] the remnant [07605] of his people [05971], which shall be left [07604], from Assyria [0804], and from Egypt [04714], and from Pathros [06624], and from Cush [03568], and from Elam [05867], and from Shinar [08152], and from Hamath [02574], and from the islands [0339] of the sea [03220].

⁸ Drop down [07491], ye heavens [08064], from above [04605], and let the skies [07834] pour down [05140] righteousness [06664]: let the earth [0776] open [06605], and let them bring forth [06509] salvation [03468], and let righteousness [06666] spring up [06779] together [03162]; I the LORD [03068] have created [01254] it.

¹⁶ O Lord [0136], by these things men live [02421], and in all these things is the life [02416] of my spirit [07307]: so wilt thou recover [02492] me, and make me to live [02421].

³ I have declared [05046] the former things [07223] from the beginning [0227]; and they went forth [03318] out of my mouth [06310], and I shewed [08085] them; I did [06213] them suddenly [06597], and they came to pass [0935].

² In that day [03117] sing [06031] ye unto her, A vineyard [03754] of red wine [02561] [02531].

¹⁶ They that see [07200] thee shall narrowly look [07688] upon thee, and consider [0995] thee, saying, Is this the man [0376] that made the earth [0776] to tremble [07264], that did shake [07493] kingdoms [04467];

¹⁹ And when they shall say [0559] unto you, Seek [01875] unto them that have familiar spirits [0178], and unto wizards [03049] that peep [06850], and that mutter [01897]: should not a people [05971] seek [01875] unto their God [0430]? for the living [02416] to the dead [04191]?

²⁷ The first [07223] shall say to Zion [06726], Behold [02009], behold [02009] them: and I will give [05414] to Jerusalem [03389] one that bringeth good tidings [01319].

²¹ Have ye not known [03045]? have ye not heard [08085]? hath it not been told [05046] you from the beginning [07218]? have ye not understood [0995] from the foundations [04146] of the earth [0776]?

⁴ Who hath wrought [06466] and done [06213] it, calling [07121] the generations [01755] from the beginning [07218]? I the LORD [03068], the first [07223], and with the last [0314]; I am he.

¹⁶ Come [07126] ye near [07126] unto me, hear [08085] ye this; I have not spoken [01696] in secret [05643] from the beginning [07218]; from the time [06256] that it was, there am I: and now the Lord [0136] GOD [03069], and his Spirit [07307], hath sent [07971] me.

²⁶ Who hath declared [05046] from the beginning [07218], that we may know [03045]? and beforetime [06440], that we may say [0559], He is righteous [06662]? yea, there is none that sheweth [05046], yea, there is none that declareth [08085], yea, there is none that heareth [08085] your words [0561].
²⁷ The first [07223] shall say to Zion [06726], Behold [02009], behold [02009] them: and I will give [05414] to Jerusalem [03389] one that bringeth good tidings [01319].
²⁸ For I beheld [07200], and there was no man [0376]; even among them, and there was no counsellor [03289], that, when I asked [07592] of them, could answer [07725] a word [01697].

² Who raised up [05782] the righteous [06664] man from the east [04217], called [07121] him to his foot [07272], gave [05414] the nations [01471] before [06440] him, and made him rule [07287] over kings [04428]? he gave [05414] them as the dust [06083] to his sword [02719], and as driven [05086] stubble [07179] to his bow [07198].
³ He pursued [07291] them, and passed [05674] safely [07965]; even by the way [0734] that he had not gone [0935] with his feet [07272].
⁴ Who hath wrought [06466] and done [06213] it, calling [07121] the generations [01755] from the beginning [07218]? I the LORD [03068], the first [07223], and with the last [0314]; I am he.
⁵ The isles [0339] saw [07200] it, and feared [03372]; the ends [07098] of the earth [0776] were afraid [02729], drew near [07126], and came [0857].
⁶ They helped [05826] every one [0376] his neighbour [07453]; and every one said [0559] to his brother [0251], Be of good courage [02388].
⁷ So the carpenter [02796] encouraged [02388] the goldsmith [06884], and he that smootheth [02505] with the hammer [06360] him that smote [01986] the anvil [06471], saying [0559], It is ready [02896] for the sodering [01694]: and he fastened [02388] it with nails [04548], that it should not be moved [04131].

²⁵ I have raised up [05782] one from the north [06828], and he shall come [0857]: from the rising [04217] of the sun [08121] shall he call [07121] upon my name [08034]: and he shall come [0935] upon princes [05461] as upon morter [02563], and as the potter [03335] treadeth [07429] clay [02916].