Isaiah 51:2

2 Take ye heed to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, that childed you (who gave birth to you); for I called him, (when he was but) one, (or without an heir,) and I blessed him, and I multiplied him.

Isaiah 51:2 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 51:2

Look unto Abraham your father
Not only the father of the Jewish nation, but of all them that believe: this explains what is meant by the rock, in the former verse, who is to be looked unto for imitation in the exercise of faith, and performance of duty, and for encouragement in distressed times and circumstances: and unto Sarah that bare you;
signified by the pit or cistern; who was not only the mother of the Jewish nation; but such also are her daughters who do well, and tread in her steps: now the very unpromising circumstances these two persons were in, are proposed to be considered by the church in her present ones, for the encouragement of her faith; that as a numerous issue proceeded from them, so also should she become fruitful and multiply: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him;
he was without issue when he was "called" out of Chaldea into another country, and also the only one of the family; and the Lord "blessed" him not only with flocks and herds, and gold and silver, but with a son in his old age; and so "increased" him, that there sprung from him as many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand by the sea shore innumerable, ( Hebrews 11:12 ) . The Septuagint and Arabic versions, between "blessed" and "increased", insert these words, "and I loved him", which are not in the Hebrew text. The Targum is,

``and one was Abraham, alone in the world, and I brought him to my service, and I blessed him, and multiplied him.''

Isaiah 51:2 In-Context

1 Hear ye me, that follow that that is just, and seek the Lord (Listen ye to me, ye who follow what is right, and seek the Lord). Take ye heed to the stone, from whence ye be hewn down, and to the cave of the pit, from which ye be cut down.
2 Take ye heed to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, that childed you (who gave birth to you); for I called him, (when he was but) one, (or without an heir,) and I blessed him, and I multiplied him.
3 Therefore the Lord shall comfort Zion, and he shall comfort all the fallings thereof; and he shall set the desert thereof in delights, and the wilderness thereof as a garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, the doing of thankings and the voice of praising. (And so the Lord shall comfort Zion, and he shall comfort all who live in its fallings, or in its ruins; and he shall turn its desert into an Eden, and its wilderness into a garden of the Lord; joy and happiness shall be found there, and thanksgiving and praising.)
4 My people, take ye heed to me, and, my lineage, hear ye me; for why a law shall go out from me, and my doom shall rest into the light of peoples. (My people, take ye heed to me, and, my tribe, listen ye to me; for the Law shall go out from me, and my judgement shall be a light for the peoples, or for the nations.)
5 My just man is nigh, my saviour is gone out, and mine arms shall deem peoples; isles shall abide me, and shall suffer mine arm. (My justice is near, my salvation hath gone out, and my arm shall rule the peoples; the islands shall wait for me, and shall have trust in my arm.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.