The Servant himself speaks in the opening song (vv. 1-13), addressing the isles and far peoples: Jehovah calls him from the womb, makes his mouth like a sharp sword, and names him "my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified." Though he protests that he has labored in vain, Jehovah enlarges the commission, beyond restoring Jacob, the Servant is given "for a light to the Gentiles," salvation to the end of the earth, the verse Paul and Barnabas cite in Acts 13:47. Kings and princes will arise and worship. Zion then complains that Jehovah has forsaken her, and the answer piles image on image: a nursing mother who cannot forget, Zion graven on Jehovah's palms, children crowding a land too narrow, kings as nursing fathers, prey wrested from the terrible, until all flesh knows Jehovah as Savior and Redeemer.

Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary, John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and John Calvin, Commentaries.

Context

Prophecy · Isaiah — Isaiah overview

A. 1–7 A Light to the Gentiles: My Mouth Like a Sharp Sword
B. 8–13 Say to the Prisoners, Go Forth; Sing, O Heavens
C. 14–21 Graven Upon the Palms of My Hands
D. 22–26 Kings Shall Be Thy Nursing Fathers

Top cross-references8 chapters ▾

Isaiah 424 verses
- Isaiah 42:1“Here is My Servant, whom I uphold, My Chosen One, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will bring justice to the nations.
- Isaiah 42:6“I, the LORD, have called you for a righteous purpose, and I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and appoint you to be a covenant for the people and a light to the nations,
- Isaiah 42:7to open the eyes of the blind, to bring prisoners out of the dungeon and those sitting in darkness out from the prison house.
- Isaiah 42:16I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on unfamiliar paths. I will turn darkness into light before them and rough places into level ground. These things I will do for them, and I will not forsake them.
- Read Isaiah 42 →
Isaiah 604 verses
- Isaiah 60:3Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
- Isaiah 60:14The sons of your oppressors will come and bow down to you; all who reviled you will fall facedown at your feet and call you the City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
- Isaiah 60:16You will drink the milk of nations and nurse at the breasts of royalty; you will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
- Isaiah 60:18No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders. But you will name your walls Salvation and your gates Praise.
- Read Isaiah 60 →
Isaiah 443 verses
- Isaiah 44:2This is the word of the LORD, your Maker, who formed you from the womb and who will help you: “Do not be afraid, O Jacob My servant, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
- Isaiah 44:21Remember these things, O Jacob, for you are My servant, O Israel. I have made you, and you are My servant; O Israel, I will never forget you.
- Isaiah 44:23Sing for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done this; shout aloud, O depths of the earth. Break forth in song, O mountains, you forests and all your trees. For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and revealed His glory in Israel.
- Read Isaiah 44 →
1 Peter 22 verses
- 1 Peter 2:4As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight,
- 1 Peter 2:9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
- Read 1 Peter 2 →

4 more chapters this one speaks with

Isaiah 542 verses
- Isaiah 54:1“Shout for joy, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth in song and cry aloud, you who have never travailed; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the LORD.
- Isaiah 54:15If anyone attacks you, it is not from Me; whoever assails you will fall before you.
- Read Isaiah 54 →
Isaiah 412 verses
- Isaiah 41:11Behold, all who rage against you will be ashamed and disgraced; those who contend with you will be reduced to nothing and will perish.
- Isaiah 41:14Do not fear, O worm of Jacob, O few men of Israel. I will help you,” declares the LORD. “Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
- Read Isaiah 41 →
Isaiah 351 verse
- Isaiah 35:4Say to those with anxious hearts: “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance. With divine retribution He will come to save you.”
- Read Isaiah 35 →
Jeremiah 11 verse
- Jeremiah 1:5“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
- Read Jeremiah 1 →

Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.