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Selected Verse: Isaiah 54:16 - Strong Concordance
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Isa 54:16 |
Strong Concordance |
Behold, I have created [01254] the smith [02796] that bloweth [05301] the coals [06352] in the fire [0784], and that bringeth forth [03318] an instrument [03627] for his work [04639]; and I have created [01254] the waster [07843] to destroy [02254]. |
| |
King James |
Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. |
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] |
The workman that forms "weapons against thee" (Isa 54:17) is wholly in My power, therefore thou needest not fear, having Me on thy side.
for his work--rather, "by his labor [HORSLEY]. "According to the exigencies of his work" [MAURER].
waster to destroy-- (Isa 10:5-7; Isa 37:26-27; Isa 45:1-6). Desolating conquerors who use the "instruments" framed by "the smith." The repetition of the "I" implies, however, something in the latter half of the verse contrasted with the former understand it, therefore, thus: "I have in My power both him who frames arms and him who destroys them (arms)" [ROSENMULLER]. |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
Behold, I have created the smith - The sense of this verse is, 'Everything that can effect your welfare is under my control. The smith who manufactures the instruments of war or of torture is under me. His life, his strength, his skill, are all in my hands, and he can do nothing which I shall not deem it best to permit him to do. So with the enemy of the church himself - the waster who destroys. I bare made him, and he is wholly under my control and at my disposal.' The smith who bloweth the coals, denotes the man who is engaged in forging instruments for war, or for any other purpose. Here it refers to him who should be engaged in forging instruments of battle to attack the church; and why should it not refer also to him who should be engaged in making instruments of torture - such as are used in times of persecution?
That bringeth forth an instrument for his work - Lowth, 'According to his work.' Noyes, 'By his labor.' The idea is, that he produces an instrument as the result of his work.
I have created the waster to destroy - I have formed every man who is engaged in spreading desolation by wars, and I have every such man under my control (see the notes at Isa 10:5-7; Isa 37:26-27; Isa 46:1-6). The sense here is, that as God had all such conquerors under his control, they could accomplish no more than he permitted them to do. |
| Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
| Jerusalem will be thus invincible, because Jehovah, the Almighty One, is its protector. "Behold, I have created the smith who bloweth the coal-fire, and brings to the light a weapon according to his trade; and I have created the destroyer to destroy. Every weapon formed against thee has no success, and every tongue that cometh before the judgment with thee thou wilt condemn. This the inheritance of the servants of Jehovah; and their righteousness from me, saith Jehovah." If Jehovah has created the armourer, who forges a weapon למעסהוּ (i.e., according to his trade, or according to the thing he has to finish, whether an arrow, or a sword, or a spear; not "for his own use," as Kimchi supposes), to be used in the hostile army against Jerusalem, He has also created a destroyer (לחבּל) to destroy. The very same creative might, to which the origin of the weapon is to be traced as its primary cause, has opposed to it beforehand a defender of Jerusalem. And as every hostile weapon fails, Jerusalem, in the consciousness of its divine right, will convict every accusing tongue as guilty and deserving of utter condemnation (הרשׁיע as in Isa 50:9, cf., Sa1 14:47, where it denotes the punishment of the guilty). The epiphonem in Isa 54:17, with the retrospective זאת and the words "saith the Lord," which confirm the certainty of the fulfilment, forms an unmistakeable close to the prophecy. This is the position in which Jehovah has placed His servants as heirs of the future salvation; and this the righteousness which they have received as His gift, and which makes them strong within and victorious without. The individual idea of the church, which we find elsewhere personified as "the servant of Jehovah," equivalent to "the people in whose heart is my law" (Isa 51:7), or "my people that have sought me" (Isa 65:10), is here expanded into "the servants of Jehovah" (as in Isa 65:8-9; compare Isa 59:21 with Isa 51:16). But totally different colours are employed in Isa 52:13 to Isa 53:1-12 to depict the exaltation of the one "Servant of Jehovah," from those used here to paint the glory of the church of the "servants of Jehovah," a proof that the ideas do not cover one another. That which is the reward of suffering in the case of the former, is the experience of divine mercy in that of the latter: it becomes a partaker of the salvation purchased by the other. The one "Servant of Jehovah" is the heart of the church, in which the crisis which bursts forth into life is passing; the righteousness of the "servants of Jehovah" is the fruit of the sufferings of this one "Servant of Jehovah," who is Himself צדיק and מצידק. He is the Mediator of all the salvation of the church. He is not only its "head," but its "fulness" (πλήρωμα) also. |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| The smith - Both the smith that makes warlike instruments, and the soldier that uses them, are my creatures, and totally at my command, and therefore they cannot hurt you without my leave. The waster - To destroy only whom and when I please. |
1 Thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068] to his anointed [04899], to Cyrus [03566], whose right hand [03225] I have holden [02388], to subdue [07286] nations [01471] before [06440] him; and I will loose [06605] the loins [04975] of kings [04428], to open [06605] before [06440] him the two leaved gates [01817]; and the gates [08179] shall not be shut [05462];
2 I will go [03212] before [06440] thee, and make [03474] the crooked places [01921] straight [03474] [03474]: I will break in pieces [07665] the gates [01817] of brass [05154], and cut in sunder [01438] the bars [01280] of iron [01270]:
3 And I will give [05414] thee the treasures [0214] of darkness [02822], and hidden riches [04301] of secret places [04565], that thou mayest know [03045] that I, the LORD [03068], which call [07121] thee by thy name [08034], am the God [0430] of Israel [03478].
4 For Jacob [03290] my servant's [05650] sake, and Israel [03478] mine elect [0972], I have even called [07121] thee by thy name [08034]: I have surnamed [03655] thee, though thou hast not known [03045] me.
5 I am the LORD [03068], and there is none else, there is no God [0430] beside [02108] me: I girded [0247] thee, though thou hast not known [03045] me:
6 That they may know [03045] from the rising [04217] of the sun [08121], and from the west [04628], that there is none [0657] beside [01107] me. I am the LORD [03068], and there is none else.
26 Hast thou not heard [08085] long ago [07350], how I have done [06213] it; and of ancient [06924] times [03117], that I have formed [03335] it? now have I brought [0935] it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste [07582] defenced [01219] cities [05892] into ruinous [05327] heaps [01530].
27 Therefore their inhabitants [03427] were of small [07116] power [03027], they were dismayed [02865] and confounded [0954]: they were as the grass [06212] of the field [07704], and as the green [03419] herb [01877], as the grass [02682] on the housetops [01406], and as corn blasted [07709] before [06440] it be grown up [07054].
5 O [01945] Assyrian [0804], the rod [07626] of mine anger [0639], and the staff [04294] in their hand [03027] is mine indignation [02195].
6 I will send [07971] him against an hypocritical [02611] nation [01471], and against the people [05971] of my wrath [05678] will I give him a charge [06680], to take [07997] the spoil [07998], and to take [0962] the prey [0957], and to tread them down [07760] [04823] like the mire [02563] of the streets [02351].
7 Howbeit he meaneth [01819] not so, neither doth his heart [03824] think [02803] so; but it is in his heart [03824] to destroy [08045] and cut off [03772] nations [01471] not a few [04592].
17 No weapon [03627] that is formed [03335] against thee shall prosper [06743]; and every tongue [03956] that shall rise [06965] against thee in judgment [04941] thou shalt condemn [07561]. This is the heritage [05159] of the servants [05650] of the LORD [03068], and their righteousness [06666] is of me, saith [05002] the LORD [03068].
1 Bel [01078] boweth down [03766], Nebo [05015] stoopeth [07164], their idols [06091] were upon the beasts [02416], and upon the cattle [0929]: your carriages [05385] were heavy loaden [06006]; they are a burden [04853] to the weary [05889] beast.
2 They stoop [07164], they bow down [03766] together [03162]; they could [03201] not deliver [04422] the burden [04853], but themselves [05315] are gone [01980] into captivity [07628].
3 Hearken [08085] unto me, O house [01004] of Jacob [03290], and all the remnant [07611] of the house [01004] of Israel [03478], which are borne [06006] by me from the belly [0990], which are carried [05375] from the womb [07356]:
4 And even to your old age [02209] I am he; and even to hoar hairs [07872] will I carry [05445] you: I have made [06213], and I will bear [05375]; even I will carry [05445], and will deliver [04422] you.
5 To whom will ye liken [01819] me, and make me equal [07737], and compare [04911] me, that we may be like [01819]?
6 They lavish [02107] gold [02091] out of the bag [03599], and weigh [08254] silver [03701] in the balance [07070], and hire [07936] a goldsmith [06884]; and he maketh [06213] it a god [0410]: they fall down [05456], yea, they worship [07812].
26 Hast thou not heard [08085] long ago [07350], how I have done [06213] it; and of ancient [06924] times [03117], that I have formed [03335] it? now have I brought [0935] it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste [07582] defenced [01219] cities [05892] into ruinous [05327] heaps [01530].
27 Therefore their inhabitants [03427] were of small [07116] power [03027], they were dismayed [02865] and confounded [0954]: they were as the grass [06212] of the field [07704], and as the green [03419] herb [01877], as the grass [02682] on the housetops [01406], and as corn blasted [07709] before [06440] it be grown up [07054].
5 O [01945] Assyrian [0804], the rod [07626] of mine anger [0639], and the staff [04294] in their hand [03027] is mine indignation [02195].
6 I will send [07971] him against an hypocritical [02611] nation [01471], and against the people [05971] of my wrath [05678] will I give him a charge [06680], to take [07997] the spoil [07998], and to take [0962] the prey [0957], and to tread them down [07760] [04823] like the mire [02563] of the streets [02351].
7 Howbeit he meaneth [01819] not so, neither doth his heart [03824] think [02803] so; but it is in his heart [03824] to destroy [08045] and cut off [03772] nations [01471] not a few [04592].
1 Who hath believed [0539] our report [08052]? and to whom is the arm [02220] of the LORD [03068] revealed [01540]?
2 For he shall grow up [05927] before [06440] him as a tender plant [03126], and as a root [08328] out of a dry [06723] ground [0776]: he hath no form [08389] nor comeliness [01926]; and when we shall see [07200] him, there is no beauty [04758] that we should desire [02530] him.
3 He is despised [0959] and rejected [02310] of men [0376]; a man [0376] of sorrows [04341], and acquainted [03045] with grief [02483]: and we hid as it were [04564] our faces [06440] from him; he was despised [0959], and we esteemed [02803] him not.
4 Surely [0403] he hath borne [05375] our griefs [02483], and carried [05445] our sorrows [04341]: yet we did esteem [02803] him stricken [05060], smitten [05221] of God [0430], and afflicted [06031].
5 But he was wounded [02490] for our transgressions [06588], he was bruised [01792] for our iniquities [05771]: the chastisement [04148] of our peace [07965] was upon him; and with his stripes [02250] we are healed [07495].
6 All we like sheep [06629] have gone astray [08582]; we have turned [06437] every one [0376] to his own way [01870]; and the LORD [03068] hath laid [06293] on him the iniquity [05771] of us all.
7 He was oppressed [05065], and he was afflicted [06031], yet he opened [06605] not his mouth [06310]: he is brought [02986] as a lamb [07716] to the slaughter [02874], and as a sheep [07353] before [06440] her shearers [01494] is dumb [0481], so he openeth [06605] not his mouth [06310].
8 He was taken [03947] from prison [06115] and from judgment [04941]: and who shall declare [07878] his generation [01755]? for he was cut off [01504] out of the land [0776] of the living [02416]: for the transgression [06588] of my people [05971] was he stricken [05061].
9 And he made [05414] his grave [06913] with the wicked [07563], and with the rich [06223] in his death [04194]; because he had done [06213] no violence [02555], neither was any deceit [04820] in his mouth [06310].
10 Yet it pleased [02654] the LORD [03068] to bruise [01792] him; he hath put him to grief [02470]: when thou shalt make [07760] his soul [05315] an offering for sin [0817], he shall see [07200] his seed [02233], he shall prolong [0748] his days [03117], and the pleasure [02656] of the LORD [03068] shall prosper [06743] in his hand [03027].
11 He shall see [07200] of the travail [05999] of his soul [05315], and shall be satisfied [07646]: by his knowledge [01847] shall my righteous [06662] servant [05650] justify [06663] many [07227]; for he shall bear [05445] their iniquities [05771].
12 Therefore will I divide [02505] him a portion with the great [07227], and he shall divide [02505] the spoil [07998] with the strong [06099]; because he hath poured out [06168] his soul [05315] unto death [04194]: and he was numbered [04487] with the transgressors [06586]; and he bare [05375] the sin [02399] of many [07227], and made intercession [06293] for the transgressors [06586].
13 Behold, my servant [05650] shall deal prudently [07919], he shall be exalted [07311] and extolled [05375], and be very [03966] high [01361].
16 And I have put [07760] my words [01697] in thy mouth [06310], and I have covered [03680] thee in the shadow [06738] of mine hand [03027], that I may plant [05193] the heavens [08064], and lay the foundations [03245] of the earth [0776], and say [0559] unto Zion [06726], Thou art my people [05971].
21 As for me, this is my covenant [01285] with them, saith [0559] the LORD [03068]; My spirit [07307] that is upon thee, and my words [01697] which I have put [07760] in thy mouth [06310], shall not depart [04185] out of thy mouth [06310], nor out of the mouth [06310] of thy seed [02233], nor out of the mouth [06310] of thy seed's [02233] seed [02233], saith [0559] the LORD [03068], from henceforth and for [05704] ever [05769].
8 Thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068], As the new wine [08492] is found [04672] in the cluster [0811], and one saith [0559], Destroy [07843] it not; for a blessing [01293] is in it: so will I do [06213] for my servants [05650]' sakes, that I may not destroy [07843] them all.
9 And I will bring forth [03318] a seed [02233] out of Jacob [03290], and out of Judah [03063] an inheritor [03423] of my mountains [02022]: and mine elect [0972] shall inherit [03423] it, and my servants [05650] shall dwell [07931] there.
10 And Sharon [08289] shall be a fold [05116] of flocks [06629], and the valley [06010] of Achor [05911] a place for the herds [01241] to lie down in [07258], for my people [05971] that have sought [01875] me.
7 Hearken [08085] unto me, ye that know [03045] righteousness [06664], the people [05971] in whose heart [03820] is my law [08451]; fear [03372] ye not the reproach [02781] of men [0582], neither be ye afraid [02865] of their revilings [01421].
17 No weapon [03627] that is formed [03335] against thee shall prosper [06743]; and every tongue [03956] that shall rise [06965] against thee in judgment [04941] thou shalt condemn [07561]. This is the heritage [05159] of the servants [05650] of the LORD [03068], and their righteousness [06666] is of me, saith [05002] the LORD [03068].
47 So Saul [07586] took [03920] the kingdom [04410] over Israel [03478], and fought [03898] against all his enemies [0341] on every side [05439], against Moab [04124], and against the children [01121] of Ammon [05983], and against Edom [0123], and against the kings [04428] of Zobah [06678], and against the Philistines [06430]: and whithersoever he turned [06437] himself, he vexed [07561] them.
9 Behold, the Lord [0136] GOD [03069] will help [05826] me; who is he that shall condemn [07561] me? lo, they all shall wax old [01086] as a garment [0899]; the moth [06211] shall eat them up [0398].