Isaiah 43:1-13

The Restorer of Israel

1 But now thus says Yahweh, he who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel: "You must not fear, for I have redeemed you. I have called [you] by your name; {you are mine}.

2 When you pass through the waters, I [will be] with you, and through the rivers, they shall not flow over you. When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned, and [the] flame shall not scorch you.

3 For I [am] Yahweh, your God, the holy one of Israel, your savior. I give you Egypt [as] ransom, Cush and Seba in place of you.

4 Because you are precious in my eyes, you are honored, and I myself love you, and I give people in place of you, and nations in place of your life.

5 You must not fear, for I [am] with you. I will bring your {offspring} from [the] east, and I will gather you from [the] west.

6 I will say to the north, 'Give!' and to [the] south, 'You must not withhold!' Bring my sons from far away, and my daughters from the end of the earth--

7 everyone who is called by my name, and whom I created for my glory, whom I formed, indeed whom I made."

8 Bring out [the] people blind yet with eyes, and deaf, though they have ears.

9 Let all the nations gather together, and let [the] peoples assemble. Who among them has declared this, and {declared} [the] former things to us? Let them bring their witnesses, that they may be in the right, and let them hear and say, "[It is] true!"

10 "You [are] my witnesses," {declares} Yahweh, "and my servant whom I have chosen so that you may know and believe {in} me and understand that I [am] he. No god was formed before {me}, and none shall be after me.

11 I myself [am] Yahweh, and there is no savior besides me!

12 I myself declared and saved, and I {proclaimed}. And there was no {strange god} among you. And you [are] my witnesses," {declares} Yahweh, "and I [am] God.

13 Indeed, from [this] day I [am] the one, and no one can deliver from my hand. I perform, and who can {cancel it}?"

Isaiah 43:1-13 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 43

Is this chapter the Lord comforts his own people, under their afflictions, with many precious promises; asserts his deity against the idols of the nations; promises deliverance from Babylon, and a greater redemption than that; one branch of which is forgiveness of sin; and closes the chapter with a prediction of the destruction of the Jews by the Romans, for their iniquities. The Lord claims his interest in his people, not only on the foot of creation, but of redemption and calling, and promises them his presence in the midst of afflictions, Isa 43:1,2, puts them in mind of what he had done for them; and assures them of future layouts, as the effect of his unchangeable love to them, Isa 43:3,4 and promises the conversion of their seed and offspring in the several parts of the world, Isa 43:5-7 then challenges the Heathen nations to give such proofs of the deity of their idols as he was capable of giving of his, as his people were witnesses, taken from his eternity and immutability, as the alone Jehovah, and from his omniscience and omnipotence, Isa 43:8-13, after which the destruction of Babylon is prophesied of, and the redemption of his people out of it; which they are encouraged to believe from his being Jehovah, their Sanctifier, Creator, and King; and from what he had done formerly for them, when he brought them out of Egypt, Isa 43:14-17, and which yet was not to be mentioned or remembered, in comparison of what he would do in the world, a new thing, redemption by the Messiah, and the conversion of the Gentiles to the glory of his grace, Isa 43:18-21, the sins of omission and commission the people of God had been guilty of are mentioned, which are freely pardoned for Christ's sake, Isa 43:22-25 when the body and bulk of the Jewish nation were given up to destruction, because of their sins, Isa 43:26-28.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "burn"
• [b]. Literally "seed"
• [c]. Or "and"
• [d]. Or "and"
• [e]. Literally "caused to hear"
• [f]. Or "give"
• [g]. Or "and"
• [h]. Literally "declaration of"
• [i]. Literally "to"
• [j]. Literally "my face"
• [k]. Literally "caused to hear"
• [l]. Literally "stranger"
• [m]. Literally "declaration of"
• [n]. Or "make"
• [o]. Literally "bring it back"