Isaiah 42:8

8 "I am the Lord. That is my name. I will not give my glory to another; I will not let idols take the praise that should be mine.

Isaiah 42:8 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 42:8

I am the Lord, that is my name
Jehovah, a name expressive of his self-existence, eternity, and immutability; a name by which be made himself known to Israel of old, and which is peculiar to him, and does not belong to another, and so distinguishes him from all false gods; see ( Exodus 3:14 ) ( 6:3 ) ( Psalms 83:18 ) or, "Hu [is] my name" F16; to which (autov) , "he himself the same", answers; see ( Psalms 102:27 ) , compared with ( Hebrews 13:8 ) and this is one of the names of God with the Jews F17; as Hou is with the Turks to this day; which, in Arabic, signifies "him": that is, God, as Monsieur Thevenot F18 observes; see ( Isaiah 48:12 ) : and my glory will I not give to another;
that is, to another god, to a strange god, to an idol; as that has not the nature, it ought not to have the name of deity, nor divine worship given to it: this the Lord will not admit of, but will punish those, be they Heathens, or are called Christians, that give the glory to idols that is due unto his name. This is not to be understood to the exclusion of the Son and Spirit, who are with the Father the one Jehovah, and share in the same glory; the Son is the brightness of his Father's glory, and the Spirit is the Spirit of glory, ( Hebrews 1:3 ) ( 1 Peter 4:14 ) nor will he suffer the glory of the justification, salvation, and conversion of men, to be given to their works, will, and power, which is entirely due to his own grace, to the blood and righteousness of his Son, and to the energy of the divine Spirit: neither my praise to graven images;
which serves to explain the former clause, what is meant by his "glory", and who by "another", to whom he will not give it. Papists should observe this, for it respects not merely or only the graven images of the Heathens, but chiefly those among them that bear the Christian name; for this relates to New Testament times. The Targum is,

``and my glory, in which I am revealed to you, I will not give to another people; nor my praise to worshippers of images.''

FOOTNOTES:

F16 (ymv awh)
F17 Seder Tephillot. fol. 1. 2. & 4, 1. Ed. Basil.
F18 Travels. part 1. B. 1. c. 31. p. 41.

Isaiah 42:8 In-Context

6 The Lord says, "I, the Lord, called you to do right, and I will hold your hand and protect you. You will be the sign of my agreement with the people, a light to shine for all people.
7 You will help the blind to see. You will free those who are in prison, and you will lead those who live in darkness out of their prison.
8 "I am the Lord. That is my name. I will not give my glory to another; I will not let idols take the praise that should be mine.
9 The things I said would happen have happened, and now I tell you about new things. Before those things happen, I tell you about them."
10 Sing a new song to the Lord; sing his praise everywhere on the earth. Praise him, you people who sail on the seas and you animals who live in them. Praise him, you people living in faraway places.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.