Isaiah 48:5

5 That is why I told you what would happen; I told you beforehand what I was going to do. Then you could never say, ‘My idols did it. My wooden image and metal god commanded it to happen!’

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 Long ago I told you what was going to happen. Then suddenly I took action, and all my predictions came true.

4 For I know how stubborn and obstinate you are. Your necks are as unbending as iron. Your heads are as hard as bronze.

5 That is why I told you what would happen; I told you beforehand what I was going to do. Then you could never say, ‘My idols did it. My wooden image and metal god commanded it to happen!’

6 You have heard my predictions and seen them fulfilled, but you refuse to admit it. Now I will tell you new things, secrets you have not yet heard.

7 They are brand new, not things from the past. So you cannot say, ‘We knew that all the time!’