Isaiah 43:10

10 Verily ye be my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant(s), whom I chose; that ye know, and believe to me, and understand, for I myself am; before me is no God former, and after me shall none be. (Truly ye be my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servants, whom I chose; so that ye would know me, and believe me, and understand, that I am he; before me no God was formed, and there shall be no one after me.)

Isaiah 43:10 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 43:10

Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord
The people of Israel, who could testify that the Lord had foretold their affliction in Egypt, their coming from thence, and settling in the land of Canaan, many hundreds of years before they came to pass, and which were exactly fulfilled; and so the apostles of Christ, and ministers of the word, and all Christian people in all nations, are witnesses of the prophecies concerning Christ, his birth, miracles, obedience, sufferings, death, resurrection, ascension to heaven, and session at the right hand of God, all which are exactly accomplished, ( Acts 1:8 ) : and my servant whom I have chosen;
meaning either the Prophet Isaiah, or the prophets in general; or rather the Messiah. So the Targum,

``and my servant the Messiah, in whom I am well pleased;''
and who is called the faithful witness, ( Revelation 1:5 ) ( 3:14 ) , and to whom the characters of a servant, and the Lord's chosen, well agree, ( Isaiah 42:1 ) : that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he;
by which testimonies and evident proofs of deity, from the prediction of future events, and the accomplishment of them, you may have a competent knowledge, a firm persuasion, and a clear perception of this important truth, that the God of Israel, and of all true Christians, is the one only Lord God: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me;
intimating that idols were formed by the hands of men, and yet none of these were formed before him, and therefore could make no pretensions to deity, or to an equality with him; nor should any be formed afterwards, that could be put in competition with him. In short, the sense is, there is no other god beside him; as the Targum, Septuagint, and Arabic versions render it.

Isaiah 43:10 In-Context

8 Lead thou forth the blind people, and having eyes; the deaf people, and ears be to it. (Lead thou forth the people who have eyes, but be blind; the people who have ears, but be deaf.)
9 All heathen men be gathered together, and lineages be gathered together. Who among you, who shall tell this, and shall make you to hear those things, that be the first? give they [the] witnesses of them, and be they justified, and hear they, and say, (That is the truth). (All the heathen be gathered together, and the tribes be gathered together. Who among you, who shall tell out this, and shall help us to understand the former things? bring they in their witnesses, and be they justified, or proven right, and listen they, and say, That is the truth.)
10 Verily ye be my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant(s), whom I chose; that ye know, and believe to me, and understand, for I myself am; before me is no God former, and after me shall none be. (Truly ye be my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servants, whom I chose; so that ye would know me, and believe me, and understand, that I am he; before me no God was formed, and there shall be no one after me.)
11 I am, I am the Lord, and without me is no saviour. (I am, yea, I am the Lord, and there is no other saviour besides me.)
12 I told, and saved; I made hearing, and none alien God was among you (I have told it out, and I have saved; I have made it heard, when there was no foreign, or strange, god among you). Ye be my witnesses, saith the Lord; and I am God,
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.