Isaiah 45:3

3 And have given to thee treasures of darkness, Even treasures of secret places, So that thou knowest that I, Jehovah, Who am calling on thy name -- [am] the God of Israel.

Isaiah 45:3 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 45:3

And I will give thee treasures of darkness, and hidden riches
of secret places
What had been laid up in private places, and had not seen the light for many years. The Jewish Rabbins say ^F6, that Nebuchadnezzar having amassed together all the riches of the world, when he drew near his end, considered with himself to whom he should leave it; and being unwilling to leave it to Evilmerodach, he ordered ships of brass to be built, and filled them with it, and dug a place in Euphrates, and hid them in it, and turned the river upon them; and that day that Cyrus ordered the temple to be built, the Lord revealed them to him: the riches of Croesus king of Lydia, taken by Cyrus, are meant; especially what he found in Babylon, which abounded in riches, ( Jeremiah 51:13 ) . Pliny ^F7 says, when he conquered Asia, he brought away thirty four thousand pounds of gold, besides golden vessels, and five hundred thousand talents of silver, and the cup of Semiramis, which weighed fifteen talents. Xenophon ^F8 makes mention of great riches and treasures which Cyrus received from Armenius, Gobryas, and Croesus: that thou mayest know that I the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am
the God of Israel;
to call him by name two hundred years, or near it, before he was born, was a proof that he was God omniscient, and knew things before they were, and could call things that were not, as though they were; and this Cyrus was made acquainted with; for, as Josephus

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FOOTNOTES:

F9 says, he read this prophecy in Isaiah concerning him; and all this being exactly fulfilled in him, obliged him to acknowledge him the Lord, to be the Lord God of heaven, and the Lord God of Israel, ( Ezra 1:2 Ezra 1:3 ) .
F6 Vide Abendana in Miclol Yophi in Ioc.
F7 Nat. Hist. l. 33. c. 3.
F8 Cyropaedia, l. 3. c. 3. l. 5. c. 4. l. 7. c. 14.
F9 Antiqu. l. 11. c. 1. sect. 2.

Isaiah 45:3 In-Context

1 Thus said Jehovah, To His anointed, to Cyrus, Whose right hand I have laid hold on, To subdue nations before him, Yea, loins of kings I loose, To open before him two-leaved doors, Yea, gates are not shut:

2 `I go before thee, and crooked places make straight, Two-leaved doors of brass I shiver, And bars of iron I cut asunder,

3 And have given to thee treasures of darkness, Even treasures of secret places, So that thou knowest that I, Jehovah, Who am calling on thy name -- [am] the God of Israel.

4 For the sake of my servant Jacob, And of Israel My chosen, I call also thee by thy name, I surname thee, And thou hast not known Me.

5 I [am] Jehovah, and there is none else, Except Me there is no God, I gird thee, and thou hast not known Me.