Isaiah 48:5

5 I declared them to you from of old, before they came to pass I announced them to you, lest you should say, 'My idol did them, my graven image and my molten image commanded them.'

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 "The former things I declared of old, they went forth from my mouth and I made them known; then suddenly I did them and they came to pass.

4 Because I know that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead brass,

5 I declared them to you from of old, before they came to pass I announced them to you, lest you should say, 'My idol did them, my graven image and my molten image commanded them.'

6 "You have heard; now see all this; and will you not declare it? From this time forth I make you hear new things, hidden things which you have not known.

7 They are created now, not long ago; before today you have never heard of them, lest you should say, 'Behold, I knew them.'