Isaiah 45:4

4 for my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, and I called thee by thy name; I likened thee, and thou knewest not me. (for the sake of my servant Jacob, and my chosen Israel, I called thee by thy name, and I honoured thee, though thou knewest me not.)

Isaiah 45:4 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 45:4

For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even
called thee by thy name
Not so much for the sake of Cyrus, and to do honour to him, was it that he so long before he was born called him by his name; but to assure the people of the Jews, the Lord's chosen people, and who were his servants, of the certainty of their deliverance, their deliverer being mentioned by name; and it was for their sakes, and not his, that he called him, and raised him up to do such great things as he did, that he might deliver them from their captivity: and it is for the sake of God's elect, whom he has chosen to holiness and happiness, to serve him, and be with him for ever, that he has called Christ, of whom Cyrus was a type, and sent him into the world, to be the Saviour and Redeemer of them: I have surnamed thee;
not only called him by his name, Cyrus, but surnamed him his "shepherd", and "his anointed", ( Isaiah 44:28 ) ( 45:1 ) : though thou hast not known me;
as yet not being born; and when he was, and was grown up, he was ignorant of the true God; and though, upon sight of the above prophecy, and under an immediate influence and impression, he acknowledged the God of Israel to be the God of heaven yet it does not appear that he left the Pagan idolatry; for Xenophon

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FOOTNOTES:

F11 relates, that when he found his end was near, he took sacrifices, and offered them to Jupiter, and the sun, and the rest of the gods; and gave them thanks for the care they had taken of him; and prayed them to grant happiness to his wife, children, friends, and country.
F11 Cyropaedia, l. 8. c. 45.

Isaiah 45:4 In-Context

2 I shall go before thee, and I shall make low the glorious men of earth; I shall all-break [the] brazen gates, and I shall break together [the] iron bars. (I shall go before thee, and I shall bring low the glorious of the earth; I shall all-break the bronze gates, and I shall altogether break the iron bars, or break open the locks.)

3 And I shall give hid treasures to thee, and the privy things of privates, that thou know, that I am the Lord, that call thy name, (I am the) God of Israel, (And I shall give hidden treasures to thee from dark and private, or secret, places, so that thou know, that I am the Lord, who call thy name, yea, I am the God of Israel;)

4 for my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, and I called thee by thy name; I likened thee, and thou knewest not me. (for the sake of my servant Jacob, and my chosen Israel, I called thee by thy name, and I honoured thee, though thou knewest me not.)

5 I am the Lord, and there is no more; without me is no God. I have girded thee, and thou knewest not me. (I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God besides me. I have girded thee, though thou knewest me not.)

6 That they that be at the rising of the sun, and they that be at the west, know, that without me is no God. I am the Lord, and none other God is; (So that they who be at the rising of the sun, and they who be at the west, know, that there is no God besides me. I am the Lord, and there is no other God;)