Isaiah 51:15

15 I am the LORD your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the LORD of heavenly forces is his name.

Isaiah 51:15 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 51:15

But I am the Lord thy God that divided the sea, whose waves
roared
Referring to the dividing of the Red sea by a violent wind, at which time the waves of it doubtless roared till they were made to stand quietly, as a wall on the right and left, for the Israelites to pass through, as in ( Isaiah 51:10 ) . Or this is to be understood of the power of God at any time in stilling and quieting the sea when it rages; which signification the word ^F19 here used has, as Aben Ezra observes; which power is expressed by a rebuke or reproof of it. And so the Targum,

``I am the Lord thy God, that rebuketh the sea:''

and in like manner the Syriac version; see ( Psalms 106:9 ) ( Isaiah 50:2 ) with which compare ( Matthew 8:26 ) . Now he that can do, and oftentimes has done this, can rebuke, restrain, and still the fury of the oppressors, the rage of the persecutors, Rome Pagan or Papal, and deliver out of their hands, ( Psalms 65:7 ) : the Lord of hosts is his name:
the Lord of armies in heaven and earth, and therefore is able to do these things in a natural, civil, and religious sense.

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FOOTNOTES:

F19 (egr) "qui tranquillat" Gakater; "faciens quiescere", so some in Vitringa; and the word has the signification of rest and quietness in ver 4.

Isaiah 51:15 In-Context

13 You forgot the LORD your maker, the one who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth. You were continually afraid, all day long, on account of the oppressor's wrath— a fear by which they intend to destroy you. Where now is the oppressor's wrath?

14 The imprisoned ones will soon be released; they won't die in the pit or even lack bread.

15 I am the LORD your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the LORD of heavenly forces is his name.

16 I put my words in your mouth and hid you in the shadow of my hand, stretching out the heavens, founding the earth, and saying to Zion, "You are my people."

17 Wake yourself, wake yourself! Rise up, Jerusalem, who drank the cup of wrath from the LORD's hand. You drank; you drained the goblet of reeling.