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 512 verses
- Isaiah 51:3For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and melodious song.
- Isaiah 51:13But you have forgotten the LORD, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth. You live in terror all day long because of the fury of the oppressor who is bent on destruction. But where is the fury of the oppressor?
- Read Isaiah 51 →
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 92 verses
- Isaiah 9:4For as in the day of Midian You have shattered the yoke of their burden, the bar across their shoulders, and the rod of their oppressor.
- Isaiah 9:20They carve out what is on the right, but they are still hungry; they eat what is on the left, but they are still not satisfied. Each one devours the flesh of his own offspring.
- Read Isaiah 9 →

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