Isaiah 41:14 - Exposition

Thou worm Jacob . Though in thyself the weakest of the weak, grovelling in the dust, a mere worm ( Job 25:6 ; Psalms 22:6 ), yet thou hast no cause to fear, since God sustains thee. Ye men of Israel ; rather, ye handful , Israel (Delitzsch). The term used is one of disparagement, corresponding to the "worm" of the parallel clause. Few and weak though they be, God's people need not fear. Thy Redeemer . The word goel , here used for the first time by Isaiah, is frequent throughout the later chapters ( Isaiah 43:14 ; Isaiah 44:6 , Isaiah 44:24 ; Isaiah 47:4 ; Isaiah 48:17 ; Isaiah 49:7 , Isaiah 49:26 ; Isaiah 54:5 , Isaiah 54:8 ; Isaiah 59:20 ; Isaiah 60:16 ; Isaiah 63:16 ). It is used for the "nearest of kin," and "avenger of blood," in the Levitical Law, but has a sense similar to that of the present passage in Job 19:25 ; Psalms 19:14 : Psalms 78:35 : Psalms 103:4 ; Proverbs 23:11 ; and Jeremiah I. 34. The sense "redeem" belongs to the verb of which goal is the participle, in Exodus 6:6 ; Exodus 15:13 ; Le Exodus 25:25 , Exodus 25:33 , 48, 49; Exodus 27:13 , Exodus 27:19 , Exodus 27:21 , etc. The Holy One of Israel Isaiah's favourite designation of the Almighty in his covenant relationship to Israel, used eleven times in the earlier chapters ( Isaiah 1:1-31 :35.), once in the middle or historical portion, and thirteen times in the later chapters ( Isaiah 40:1-31 :66.); only used elsewhere in Psalms 71:22 ; Psalms 78:41 ; Psalms 89:18 ; Jeremiah 1:1-19 :29; and Jeremiah 51:5 .