Isaiah 51:15

15 And I am the LORD thy God that divides the sea and the waves roar; I am thy God; the LORD of the hosts 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 And thou hast already forgotten the LORD thy maker that has stretched forth the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth and hast feared continually every day the fury of the oppressor when he was ready to destroy. But, where is the fury of the oppressor?

14 The prisoner is anxious that he may be loosed and that he should not die in the pit nor that his bread should fail.

15 And I am the LORD thy God that divides the sea and the waves roar; I am thy God; the LORD of the hosts is his name.

16 That has placed my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee with the shadow of my hand, that thou may plant the heavens and lay the foundations of the earth and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.

17 Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling and wrung them out.