Isaiah 41:26

26 Who declared [it] from [the] {beginning} {so that} we might know, and {beforehand} {so that} we might say, "[He is] {right}!" Indeed, there was no one who declared [it]; Indeed, there was no one who proclaimed [it]. Indeed there was no one who heard your words.

Isaiah 41:26 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 41:26

Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know?
&c.] 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.

Isaiah 41:26 In-Context

24 Look! you [are] nothing, and your work [is] something worthless; whoever chooses you [is] an abomination.
25 I stirred up [one] from [the] north, and he has come from [the] rising of the sun. He shall call on my name, and he shall come [on] officials as [on] mortar, and as [the] {potter} treads clay.
26 Who declared [it] from [the] {beginning} {so that} we might know, and {beforehand} {so that} we might say, "[He is] {right}!" Indeed, there was no one who declared [it]; Indeed, there was no one who proclaimed [it]. Indeed there was no one who heard your words.
27 First to Zion, look! Look at them! And I give a herald of good tidings to Jerusalem.
28 But I look and there is no man, and [I look] among these and there is no counselor, that I might ask them and they might answer a word.

Footnotes 5

Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.