Isaiah 48:7

7 now those be made of nought, and not from that time, and before the day, and thou heardest not (of) those things; lest peradventure thou say, Lo! I knew those things. (and those things be made out of nothing, and were not from that time, yea, before today thou heardest not of those things; lest thou now say, Lo! I knew all these things.)

Isaiah 48:7 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 48:7

They are created now, and not from the beginning
Not that they were now done or brought into being, for as yet Cyrus was not born; though the raising of him up, and holding his right hand, and his executing the counsel of God, are spoken of as if they were already done, because of the certainty of them, ( Isaiah 45:1 Isaiah 45:12 ) ( 46:11 ) . Aben Ezra interprets "created" by "decreed"; though these were not now decreed by God; for no new decrees are made by him; but those which were made by him of old were now revealed and made manifest by prophecy, which is the sense of the phrase; so Kimchi observes,

``the time when they went out of the mouth of God is the time of their creation.''
Thus in like manner the incarnation of Christ, his sufferings and death, and salvation by him, things decreed from eternity, are spoken of in this prophecy as if actually done, because of the clear manifestation and certainty of them: even before the day when thou heardest them not;
they were in the breast of God, kept and reserved in his mind, and therefore are before called hidden things, before the Israelites heard anything of them; as were the things respecting Christ, and salvation by him; which were not only in God, who created all things by Christ, but were revealed before the Israelites had any knowledge of them, even to Adam and Eve, immediately after their fall; and were spoken of by all the holy prophets from the beginning of the world: lest thou shouldest say, behold, I knew them;
lest they should ascribe their present knowledge of them to their own sagacity and penetration; as if they were not obliged to a divine revelation, but of themselves had got the secret, and became acquainted with these things.

Isaiah 48:7 In-Context

5 I before-said to thee from that time; before that those things came, I showed (them) to thee; lest peradventure thou wouldest say, Mine idols did these things, and my graven images, and my molten images, sent these things, (I told thee before the time; before that those things came, I showed them to thee; lest thou wouldest say, My idols did these things, yea, my carved idols, and my cast idols, have commanded these things to be.)
6 which thou heardest. See thou all things, but ye told not. I made heard new things to thee from that time, and things be kept which thou knowest not; (Thou hast heard, and seen, all these things, but ye have not told them out. I made known to thee new things from that time, and hidden things which thou knewest not before;)
7 now those be made of nought, and not from that time, and before the day, and thou heardest not (of) those things; lest peradventure thou say, Lo! I knew those things. (and those things be made out of nothing, and were not from that time, yea, before today thou heardest not of those things; lest thou now say, Lo! I knew all these things.)
8 Neither thou heardest, neither thou knewest, neither thine ear was opened from that time; for I know, that thou trespassing shalt trespass, and I called thee a trespasser from the womb.
9 For my name I shall make far my strong vengeance, and with my praising I shall refrain (for) thee, lest thou perish. (For the sake of my name I shall make my strong vengeance to go far away, and for the sake of my praises I shall refrain from hurting thee, lest thou perish.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.