Isaiah 41:23
in Isaiah 41Tell us the things that are to come, so that we may know that you are gods. Yes, do something good or evil, that we may look on together in dismay.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Declare the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.
KJV
Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.
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This verse in Isaiah 41
Commentary
11 notes on this verse(Verse 23) Announce what will happen in the future, and we will know that you are gods. Do good or do evil, if you can, and let us talk and see together. LXX: Also, tell us what is to come, and announce to us what will happen in the end: and we will know that you are gods. Do good and evil, and we will admire: and we will see at the same time where you are, and where your work is. Another indication is that idols are not gods, because they can neither do good nor do evil.
This site's exposition
Present your case
on Isaiah 41:21-23
The trial reaches its center with a challenge to the idols, Present your case, says the King of Jacob. The test set is prophecy, a demand for knowledge of time the idols cannot meet. The standard for deity is stated outright, so that we may know that you are gods.
This site's exposition
do something good or evil
Wesley gives the dare a sharp edge. The gods are challenged to protect worshippers the LORD means to destroy, or ruin the people He means to save. Jerome draws the inference that a god unable to do good or evil is no god, the point Jeremiah 10:5 makes of idols.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
The other is taken from divine power, which can punish and impart benefits: do also good or evil, if you can: and whether it be evil that one doth unto them, or good, they are not able to recompense it (Bar 6:33).
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Do good - Protect your worshippers whom I intend to destroy, and destroy my people whom I intend to save. That - That I and my people may be astonished, and forced to acknowledge your godhead.
Let them do some great thing, and we shall be amazed when we see it, and frightened into a veneration of them, as many have been into a veneration of the true God." That which is charged upon these idols, and let them disprove it if they can, is that they are of nothing,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
1 Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment. 2 Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? he gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
Show the things that are to come hereafter,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
do good . . . evil--give any proof at all of your power, either to reward your friends or punish your enemies (Ps 115:2-8). that we may be dismayed, and behold it together--MAURER translates, "That we (Jehovah and the idols) may look one another in the face (that is, encounter one another, 2Ki 14:8, 11), and see" our respective powers by a trial.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
That we may be dismayed, and behold it together “Then shall we be struck at once with admiration and terror” - The word ונרא venere is written imperfectly in the Hebrew text; the Masoretes supply ה he at the end; and so it is read in twenty-two MSS. and four editions; that is, ונראה venireh, and we shall see. But the true reading seems to be ונירא venira, and we shall fear, with י yod supplied, from ירא yara.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
That we may know that ye are gods - The prediction of future events is the highest evidence of omniscience, and of course of divinity. In this passage it is admitted that if they could do it, it would prove that they were worthy of adoration; and it is demanded, that if they were gods they should be able to make such a prediction as would demonstrate that they were invested with a divine nature.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַגִּ֙ידוּ֙ | hagidu | tell | H5046 → | 370 times |
| הָאֹתִיּ֣וֹת | haotiyot | the [things] coming | H857 → | 21 times |
| לְאָח֔וֹר | leachor | to afterwards | H268 → | 41 times |
| וְנֵ֣דְעָ֔ה | venedeah | so let us know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֱלֹהִ֖ים | ʾelohim | [are] gods | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אַתֶּ֑ם | ʾatem | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| אַף־ | ʾaf- | also | H637 → | 134 times |
| תֵּיטִ֣יבוּ | teitivu | you will do good | H3190 → | 117 times |
| וְתָרֵ֔עוּ | vetareu | and you may do harm | H7489 → | 107 times |
| וְנִשְׁתָּ֖עָה | venishtaah | and let us fear | H8159 → | 15 times |
| וְנִרְאֶ֥ה | venere | so let us see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| יַחְדָּֽו׃ | yachdav | altogether | H3162 → | 141 times |
הַגִּ֙ידוּ֙tell
hagiduH5046 →370 times
הָאֹתִיּ֣וֹתthe [things] coming
haotiyotH857 →21 times
לְאָח֔וֹרto afterwards
leachorH268 →41 times
וְנֵ֣דְעָ֔הso let us know
venedeahH3045 →945 times
כִּ֥יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
אֱלֹהִ֖ים[are] gods
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
אַתֶּ֑םyou
ʾatemH859 →1094 times
אַף־also
ʾaf-H637 →134 times
תֵּיטִ֣יבוּyou will do good
teitivuH3190 →117 times
וְתָרֵ֔עוּand you may do harm
vetareuH7489 →107 times
וְנִשְׁתָּ֖עָהand let us fear
venishtaahH8159 →15 times
וְנִרְאֶ֥הso let us see
venereH7200 →1300 times
יַחְדָּֽו׃altogether
yachdavH3162 →141 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 42:9Behold, the former things have happened, and now I declare new things. Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 43:19
Behold, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
- Isaiah 46:9–10
Remember what happened long ago, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me.
- John 13:19
I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it comes to pass, you will believe that I am He.
- 2 Peter 1:19–21
We also have the word of the prophets as confirmed beyond doubt. And you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day…
- Isaiah 44:7–8
Who then is like Me? Let him say so! Let him declare his case before Me, since I established an ancient people. Let him foretell the things to come, and what is to take…
- Isaiah 43:19
Through
Jeremiah 10:5Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them, for they can do no harm, and neither can they do any…
it leads to
- Isaiah 46:7
They lift it to their shoulder and carry it along; they set it in its place, and there it stands, not budging from that spot. They cry out to it, but it does not…
- 1 Corinthians 12:2
You know that when you were pagans, you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.
- Isaiah 46:7
Through
John 13:19I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it comes to pass, you will believe that I am He.
it leads to
- Isaiah 43:10
“You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may consider and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me no god was formed,…
- Isaiah 43:10
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.