Isaiah 41:27 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 41:21-29

The Lord, by the prophet, here repeats the challenge to idolaters to make out the pretentions of their idols: ?Produce your cause (Isa. 41:21) and make your best of it; bring forth the strongest reasons you have to prove that your idols are gods, and worthy of your adoration.? Note, There needs no more to show the absurdity of sin than to produce the reasons that are given in defence of it, for they carry with them their own confutation. I. The idols are here challenged to bring proofs of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 41:27

The first shall say to Zion, behold, behold them ,.... Or, "I the first say to Zion"; I who am the first and the last, Isaiah 41:4 which some ancient Jewish writers F4 T. Bab. Pesach. fol. 5. 1. Bereshit Rabba, sect. 63. fol. 55. 3. and Vajikra Rabba, sect. 30. fol. 171. 2. observe is the name of the Messiah, and apply the passage to him; or, I am the "first" that say these things to Zion F5 ראשון לציון "ego primus sum qui dico haec Sioni", Tigurine version. , behold,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 41:27

The first shall say to Zion, Behold, behold them "I first to Zion gave the word, Behold they are here" - This verse is somewhat obscure by the transposition of the parts of the sentence, and the peculiar manner in which it is divided into two parallel lines. The verb at the end of the sentence belongs to both parts; and the phrase, Behold, they are here! is parallel to the messenger of glad tidings; and stands like it, as the accusative case to the verb. The following paraphrase will explain... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 41:17-29

The claims of Jehovah. The thought seems to resume the thread broken off at the beginning of the chapter. Jehovah appeals to what he has done and to what he is. I. HIS MERCIFUL DEALINGS WITH HIS PEOPLE . The scene and state of exile is brought before us. They are dwelling in the "tents of Kedar." They are in the midst of a flourishing commercial empire; yet it is to them as a desert where no water is (cf. Psalms 63:1 ). The true desert is the soul without the sense of God's... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 41:21-29

JEHOVAH 'S CONTROVERSY WITH THE NATIONS AND THEIR IDOL - GODS . The argument is now taken up from Isaiah 41:1-4 . Jehovah and his worshippers are on the one side; the idol-gods and their votaries on the other. The direct challenge, however, is given by Jehovah himself to the idols: 1 . What predictions of their own can they bring forward as proofs of supernatural knowledge? 2 . What indications can they give of power either to do good or to do evil ( Isaiah 41:22 ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 41:21-29

The futility and absurdity of false systems do not prevent them from keeping their hold on men. At the present day, men are apt to find it strange that the prophets should spend so much time, employ so many words, in confuting idolatry and showing it to be utter and absolute folly. To us of the present age the absurdity seems palpable and gross—therefore not worth arguing against. But systems of religion or of irreligion, whenever they have become established and have got possession of men's... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 41:21-29

A true test of Divinity. When these words were written the question to be solved was—Which god, of all the rival deities, is worthy of human trust and worship? The question now is—What is the authority to which we shall submit our judgment and in which we shall rest?—is it human nature, or is it the forces of the material world, or is it the Lord God? The verses before us suggest to us that one criterion in this state of inquiry is to be found in the consideration that we cannot find rest in... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 41:27

The first shall say to Zion, Behold, behold them ; rather, the first has said. By "the first" must certainly be meant Jehovah—" the First , and with the last" of Isaiah 41:4 . He has already announced to Zion her deliverance (see Isaiah 40:9-11 ; Isaiah 41:2 , etc.). I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings . Perhaps Isaiah himself (Grotius, Stier, Delitzsch). Perhaps some prophet of the Captivity, as Daniel, who "knew by books" when the Captivity was drawing to... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 41:27

The first shall say to Zion - This translation is unhappy. It does not convey any clear meaning, nor is it possible from the translation to conjecture what the word ‘first’ refers to. The correct rendering undoubtedly is, ‘I first said to Zion;’ and the sense is, ‘I, Yahweh, first gave to Zion the announcement of these things. I predicted the restoration of the Jews to their own land, and the raising up of the man who should deliver them; and I only have uttered the prophecies respecting the... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Isaiah 41:27

Isaiah 41:27. The first shall say, &c. Hebrew, ראשׁון לציון , literally, first, or the first to Zion; which words some interpret thus: I, who am the first, (Isaiah 41:4,) do and will foretel to my people things to come. Behold, behold them I represent things future (namely, the rise of Cyrus, and the deliverance of my people from Babylon by him) as if they were present, and to be beheld with men’s bodily eyes. Behold the wonderful works which God hath wrought for you: or, Behold... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Isaiah 41:21-29

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Isaiah 41:27

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 41:27

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 41:17-29

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 41:21-29

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 41:21-29

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 41:21-29

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 41:27

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Isaiah 41:27

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Isaiah 41:27

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