Isaiah 42:5

5 Thus says God, ADONAI, who created the heavens and spread them out, who stretched out the earth and all that grows from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk on it:

Isaiah 42:5 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 42:5

Thus saith God the Lord
The God of the world, as the Targum. This, with what follows, is a preface to the call of Christ, to the great work of redemption; setting forth the greatness of God as a Creator, that calls him to it, and thereby encouraging him as man and Mediator in it, as well as the faith of his people to regard him as their Saviour and Redeemer, and believe that this work he was called unto should be performed by him; for what is it that God, the Creator of all things, cannot do? he that created the heavens, and stretched them out:
he first made them out of nothing, and stretched out the firmament of them as a curtain and canopy over the earth, and them as a tent for himself to dwell in, ( Isaiah 40:22 ) : he that spread forth the earth;
into the length and breadth it has, for man and beast to dwell on it: and that which cometh out of it;
grass, herbs, and trees, which he has spread all over it: he that giveth breath unto the people upon it;
as he did to man at first, he breathed into him the breath of life, and as he gives to all since, ( Genesis 2:7 ) ( Acts 17:25 ) : and spirit to them that walk therein;
not only breath in common with the beasts of the field, and other creatures, but a rational spirit, or a reasonable soul, an intellective faculty, a capacity of understanding things, as brutes have not. Jarchi interprets this of the Holy Spirit, which God gives to them that walk before him.

Isaiah 42:5 In-Context

3 He will not snap off a broken reed or snuff out a smoldering wick. He will bring forth justice according to truth;

4 he will not weaken or be crushed until he has established justice on the earth, and the coastlands wait for his Torah."

5 Thus says God, ADONAI, who created the heavens and spread them out, who stretched out the earth and all that grows from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk on it:

6 "I, ADONAI, called you righteously, I took hold of you by the hand, I shaped you and made you a covenant for the people, to be a light for the Goyim,

7 so that you can open blind eyes, free the prisoners from confinement, those living in darkness from the dungeon.