Isaiah 41:27

27 I was the first to tell Zion. I said, 'Look! The people of Israel are coming back!' I sent a prophet to Jerusalem with the good news.

Isaiah 41:27 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 41:27

The first shall say to Zion, behold, behold them
Or, "I the first say to Zion"; I who am the first and the last, ( Isaiah 41:4 ) which some ancient Jewish writers ^F4 observe is the name of the Messiah, and apply the passage to him; or, I am the "first" that say these things to Zion ^F5, behold, behold them;
behold such and such things shall come to pass, and accordingly they have come to pass; or, "behold", the promised Messiah, whom I have long spoken of, behold, he is come; see ( Isaiah 42:1 ) , and behold them, his apostles and ministers, publishing the good tidings of salvation, as follows. The Targum is,

``the words of consolation which the prophets prophesied from the beginning concerning Sion, behold they come;''

they come to pass; which is such a proof of deity the idols and their worshippers cannot give: and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings;
which some interpret of Isaiah; others of Cyrus; others of Christ; and others of John the Baptist. I suppose the singular put for the plural, "one that bringeth good tidings", or, "an evangelist for evangelists"; and may be understood of Gospel teachers, whom the Lord gave to his church and people, and by means of whom he spread his Gospel, not only in Judea, but in the Gentile world, to the overthrow of Paganism.

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 T. Bab. Pesach. fol. 5. 1. Bereshit Rabba, sect. 63. fol. 55. 3. and Vajikra Rabba, sect. 30. fol. 171. 2.
F5 (Nwyul Nwvar) "ego primus sum qui dico haec Sioni", Tigurine version.

Isaiah 41:27 In-Context

25 "I have stirred up a king who will come from the north. He lives in the east. He will bring honor to me. He walks all over rulers as if they were mud. He steps on them just as a potter stomps on clay.

26 Which one of you gods said those things would happen before they did? Who told us about them so we could know them? Who told us ahead of time? Who told us so we could say, 'You are right'? None of you told us about them. None of you told us ahead of time. In fact, no one heard you say anything at all.

27 I was the first to tell Zion. I said, 'Look! The people of Israel are coming back!' I sent a prophet to Jerusalem with the good news.

28 I look, but there is no one among the gods that can give me advice. None of them can answer when I ask them the simplest question.

29 So they are not really gods at all. What they do does not amount to anything. They are as useless as wind.