Isaiah 48:5

5 I before-said to thee from that time; before that those things came, I showed (them) to thee; lest peradventure thou wouldest say, Mine idols did these things, and my graven images, and my molten images, sent these things, (I told thee before the time; before that those things came, I showed them to thee; lest thou wouldest say, My idols did these things, yea, my carved idols, and my cast idols, have commanded these things to be.)

Isaiah 48:5 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 48:5

I have even from the beginning declared it to thee
From the beginning of their being a people, even before they were formed into a body politic; yea, from the original of them, from the time of Abraham their ancestor, as before observed: before it came to pass I showed it thee;
some hundreds of years before; first to Abraham, then to Isaac, then to Jacob, then to Joseph, and then to Moses, and by him to the children of Israel: lest thou shouldest say, mine idol hath done them, and my graven image,
and my molten image, hath commanded them;
or my libation or fusion of wine, oil, or blood, by which, as by other things, they made conjectures of what was to come to pass; so Gussetius ^F2 interprets the last word; lest they should ascribe their deliverance out of Egypt to the idols they made and worshipped, being a people prone to idolatry; as they did when they made a golden calf, and danced about it, ( Exodus 32:4 ) . This the Lord knew before hand, and therefore to prevent this stupidity, or convince them of it, he foretold what should come to pass, which their idols were never able to do.

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 Ebr. Comment. p. 517.

Isaiah 48:5 In-Context

3 From that time I told (of) the former things, and those went out of my mouth; and I made them known; (then) suddenly I wrought (them), and those things came (to be).

4 For I knew that thou art hard, and thy noll is (like) a sinew of iron, and thy forehead is (like) of brass.

5 I before-said to thee from that time; before that those things came, I showed (them) to thee; lest peradventure thou wouldest say, Mine idols did these things, and my graven images, and my molten images, sent these things, (I told thee before the time; before that those things came, I showed them to thee; lest thou wouldest say, My idols did these things, yea, my carved idols, and my cast idols, have commanded these things to be.)

6 which thou heardest. See thou all things, but ye told not. I made heard new things to thee from that time, and things be kept which thou knowest not; (Thou hast heard, and seen, all these things, but ye have not told them out. I made known to thee new things from that time, and hidden things which thou knewest not before;)

7 now those be made of nought, and not from that time, and before the day, and thou heardest not (of) those things; lest peradventure thou say, Lo! I knew those things. (and those things be made out of nothing, and were not from that time, yea, before today thou heardest not of those things; lest thou now say, Lo! I knew all these things.)