"Behold, my servant, whom I uphold" opens the first Servant Song (42:1-4): Spirit-endowed, he brings forth justice to the Gentiles without lifting his voice in the street, neither breaking a bruised reed nor quenching a dimly burning wick, the messianic passage Matthew 12:18-21 quotes of Jesus. Jehovah, creator of the heavens, gives this servant as a covenant of the people and a light of the Gentiles, to open blind eyes and free prisoners, and will not give his glory to graven images. A new song rises from the sea, the isles, Kedar, and Sela as Jehovah goes forth like a man of war, crying out like a travailing woman, leading the blind by paths they know not. Then the chapter turns: Israel is the blind servant and deaf messenger, a people robbed and plundered, given to spoilers by Jehovah himself for sin, set on fire yet laying it not to heart.

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. 1–9 Behold My Servant: a Bruised Reed He Will Not Break
B. 10–17 Sing a New Song; the LORD Goes Forth as a Warrior
C. 18–25 A Blind Servant and a Deaf Messenger

Top cross-references8 chapters ▾

Isaiah 433 verses
- Isaiah 43:8Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears.
- Isaiah 43:11I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour.
- Isaiah 43:19Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
- Read Isaiah 43 →
Matthew 122 verses
- Matthew 12:16And charged them that they should not make him known:
- Matthew 12:18Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.
- Read Matthew 12 →
Luke 32 verses
- Luke 3:5Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth;
- Luke 3:22And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
- Read Luke 3 →
Isaiah 352 verses
- Isaiah 35:5Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
- Isaiah 35:8And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.
- Read Isaiah 35 →

4 more chapters this one speaks with

Isaiah 521 verse
- Isaiah 52:13Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.
- Read Isaiah 52 →
2 Timothy 21 verse
- 2 Timothy 2:24And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
- Read 2 Timothy 2 →
Matthew 111 verse
- Matthew 11:29Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
- Read Matthew 11 →
Ezekiel 341 verse
- Ezekiel 34:16I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.
- Read Ezekiel 34 →

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