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Selected Verse: Isaiah 45:18 - Basic English
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Isa 45:18 |
Basic English |
For this is the word of the Lord who made the heavens; he is God; the maker and designer of the earth; who made it not to be a waste, but as a living-place for man: I am the Lord, and there is no other. |
| |
King James |
For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
(See on Isa 45:12).
not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited--Therefore, Judah, lying waste during the Babylonish captivity, shall be peopled again by the exiles. The Jews, from this passage, infer that, after the resurrection, the earth shall be inhabited, for there can be no reason why the earth should then exist in vain any more than now (Pe2 3:13). |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
For thus saith the Lord - This verse is designed to induce them to put uuwavering confidence in the true God. For this purpose, the prophet enumerates the great things which God had done in proof that he alone was A mighty, and was worthy of trust.
He hath established it - That is, the earth. The language here is derived from the supposition that the earth is laid upon a foundation, and is made firm. The Septuagint renders this, 'God who displayed the earth to view, and who, having made it, divided it (διώρισεν αὐτὴν diōrisen autēn) that is, parcelled it out to be inhabited. This accords well with the scope of the passage.
He created it not in vain - He did not form it to remain a vast desert without inhabitants.
He formed it to be inhabited - By man, and the various tribes of animals. He makes it a convenient habitation for them; adapts its climates, its soil, and its productions, to their nature; and makes it yield abundance for their support. The main idea, I think, in the statement of this general truth, is, that God designed that the earth at large should be inhabited; and that, therefore, he intended that Judea - thru lying waste while the captives were in Babylon - should be re-populated, and again become the happy abode of the returning exiles. So Grotius interprets it. The Jews, from this passage, infer, that the earth shall be inhabited after the resurrection - an idea which has every probability, since there will not be fewer reasons why the earth shall be inhabited then than there are now; nor can there be any reasons why the earth should then exist in vain anymore than now.
And there is none else - (See the note at Isa 45:6). |
| Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
| The second and last strophe of this prophecy commences with Isa 45:18. By the fulfilment of the promise thus openly proclaimed, those of the heathen who have been saved from the judgment will recognise Jehovah as the only God; and the irresistible will of Jehovah, that all mankind should worship Him, be carried out. The promise cannot remain unfulfilled. "For thus saith Jehovah, the creator of the heavens (He is the Deity), the former of the earth, and its finisher; He has established it (He has not created it a desert, He has formed it to be inhabited): I am Jehovah, and there is none else. I have not spoken in secret, in a place of the land of darkness; I did not say to the seed of Jacob, Into the desert seek ye me! I Jehovah am speaking righteousness, proclaiming upright things." The athnach properly divides Isa 45:18 in half. Isa 45:18 describes the speaker, and what He says commences in Isa 45:18. The first parenthesis affirms that Jehovah is God in the fullest and most exclusive sense; the second that He has created the earth for man's sake, not "as a desert" (tōhū: the lxx, Targum, and Jerome render this with less accuracy, non in vanum), i.e., not to be and continue to be a desert, but to be inhabited. Even in Gen 1:2, chaos is not described as of God's creation, because (whatever may be men's opinions concerning it in other respects) the creative activity of God merely made use of this as a starting-point, and because, although it did not come into existence without God, it was at any rate not desired by God for its own sake. The words of Jehovah commence, then, with the assertion that Jehovah is the absolute One; and from this two thoughts branch off: (1.) The first is, that the prophecy which emanates from Him is an affair of light, no black art, but essentially different from heathen soothsaying. By "a dark place of the earth" we are to understand, according to Psa 139:15, the interior of the earth, and according to Job 10:21, Hades; the intention being to point out the contrast between the prophecies of Jehovah and the heathen cave-oracles and spirit-voices of the necromancists, which seemed to rise up from the interior of the earth (see Isa 65:4; Isa 8:19; Isa 29:4). (2.) The second thought is, that the very same love of Jehovah, which has already been displayed in the creation, attests itself in His relation to Israel, which He has not directed to Himself "into the desert" (tōhū), just as He did not create the earth a tōhū. Meier and Knobel suppose that baqshūnı̄, which is written here, according to a well-supported reading, with Koph raphatum (whereas in other cases the dagesh is generally retained, particularly in the imperative of biqqēsh), refers to seeking for disclosures as to the future; but the word דרשׁוּני would be used for this, as in Isa 8:19. He has not said, "Seek ye me (as in Zep 2:3) into the desert," i.e., without the prospect of meeting with any return for your pains. On the contrary, He has attached promises to the seeking of Himself, which cannot remain unfulfilled, for He is "one speaking righteousness, declaring things that are right;" i.e., when He promises, He follows out the rule of His purpose and of His plan of salvation, and the impulse of sincere desire for their good, and love which is ever true to itself. The present word of prophecy points to the fulfilment of these promises. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
| He formed it to be inhabited "For he formed it to be inhabited" - An ancient MS. has כי ki before לשבת lashebeth; and so the ancient Versions. |
13 But having faith in his word, we are looking for a new heaven and a new earth, which will be the resting-place of righteousness.
12 I have made the earth, forming man on it: by my hands the heavens have been stretched out, and all the stars put in their ordered places.
6 So that they may see from the east and from the west that there is no God but me: I am the Lord, and there is no other.
3 Make search for the Lord, all you quiet ones of the earth, who have done what is right in his eyes; make search for righteousness and a quiet heart: it may be that you will be safely covered in the day of the Lord's wrath.
19 And when they say to you, Make request for us to those who have control of spirits, and to those wise in secret arts, who make hollow bird-like sounds; is it not right for a people to make request to their gods, to make request for the living to the dead?
4 And you will be made low, and your voice will come out of the earth, and your words will be low out of the dust; and your voice will come out of the earth like that of a spirit, making bird-like noises out of the dust.
19 And when they say to you, Make request for us to those who have control of spirits, and to those wise in secret arts, who make hollow bird-like sounds; is it not right for a people to make request to their gods, to make request for the living to the dead?
4 Who are seated in the resting-places of the dead, and by night are in the secret places; who take pig's flesh for food, and have the liquid of disgusting things in their vessels.
21 Before I go to the place from which I will not come back, to the land where all is dark and black,
15 My frame was not unseen by you when I was made secretly, and strangely formed in the lowest parts of the earth.
2 And the earth was waste and without form; and it was dark on the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God was moving on the face of the waters.
18 For this is the word of the Lord who made the heavens; he is God; the maker and designer of the earth; who made it not to be a waste, but as a living-place for man: I am the Lord, and there is no other.
18 For this is the word of the Lord who made the heavens; he is God; the maker and designer of the earth; who made it not to be a waste, but as a living-place for man: I am the Lord, and there is no other.
18 For this is the word of the Lord who made the heavens; he is God; the maker and designer of the earth; who made it not to be a waste, but as a living-place for man: I am the Lord, and there is no other.
18 For this is the word of the Lord who made the heavens; he is God; the maker and designer of the earth; who made it not to be a waste, but as a living-place for man: I am the Lord, and there is no other.