Isaiah 41:25
in Isaiah 41I have raised up one from the north, and he has come—one from the east who calls on My name. He will march over rulers as if they were mortar, like a potter who treads the clay.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I have raised up one from the north, and he is come; from the rising of the sun one that calleth upon my name: and he shall come upon rulers as upon mortar, and as the potter treadeth clay.
KJV
I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon princes as upon morter, and as the potter treadeth clay.
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This verse in Isaiah 41
Commentary
13 notes on this verse(Verse 25) He stirred up from the north, and he will come from the rising sun: he will call my name, and he will bring magistrates like clay: and like a potter treading the earth. LXX: But I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come from the rising of the sun; they shall call upon my name. Let the princes come and be like the potter's vessel, and let the potter tread down the clay. Yet he speaks against the idols, and those who did not want to abandon them after the coming of Christ.
This site's exposition
you are nothing
on Isaiah 41:24-25
The verdict on the idols comes in the middle of the trial, you are nothing. The next exhibit follows, I have raised up one from the north, one from the east. The figure matches Cyrus, named at 44:28, and the book's two datings differ over this prediction.
This site's exposition
raised up one from the north
He comes from both the north and the east. Wesley explains the north by the Median mother of Cyrus and the Median troops he led. Matthew Henry reads the verse of Christ, raised up in Nazareth in the north and coming from the east as the angel of the covenant.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
He threatens the idols with destruction. He calls "the one who comes from the east" the righteousness that has awakened, concerning which he had earlier said, "Who has roused righteousness from the east?" And he calls the one from the north the church drawn from …
Yet he speaks against the idols, and those who did not want to abandon them after the coming of Christ. He says that he himself, having arisen from the North, has raised up the people of the nations.… And this will be the answer of all, that they all follow vanity and winds, and adore the works of their own hands. Whatever we have said about idols and nations, let us attribute it to the doctrines of wickedness; and to their leaders, heresiarchs, who, when the Church announces peace in Christ and shows them the way of truth, themselves follow error and are compared to wind and whirlwind.
The Medieval Church1 voice
811. I have raised up. Here he takes up a certain particular fact to argue against idols. And first, he foretells something to come: from the north, Chaldea; from the rising of the sun, Persia, which subjugated to itself various lands and princes, potter (plastes)—plasma, …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Raised - Cyrus, might be said to come from the north, because he was a Mede by his mother, as he was a Persian by his father; or because a great part of his army was gathered out of Media, which was northward, in reference to Judea, and because Darius the Mede was joined with him in this expedition.
(2.) All opposition shall fall before him: He shall come upon the princes of Babylon, and all others that stood in his way, as mortar, and trample upon them as the potter treads clay, to serve his own purposes with it. Christ, as man, was raised up from the north, for Nazareth lay in the northern parts of Canaan; as the angel of the covenant, he ascends from the east.
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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
I have raised up one from the north,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
I have raised up one - In the previous verses God had shown that the idols had no power of predicting future events. He stakes, so to speak, the question of his divinity on that point, and the whole controversy between him and them is to be decided by the inquiry whether they had the power of foretelling what would come to pass. He here urges his claims to divinity on this ground, that he had power to foretell future events.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
raised up--in purpose: not fulfilled till a hundred fifty years afterwards. north--In Isa 41:2, "from the East"; both are true: see the note there. call . . . my name--acknowledge Me as God, and attribute his success to Me; this he did in the proclamation (Ezr 1:2).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
I have raised up one from the north - “That is, “says Kimchi, “the Messiah. The king of Assyria placed the ten tribes in Chalach and Chabar by the river Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, 2Ki 17:6, which lands lie northerly and easterly.” He shall come upon princes “He shall trample on princes” - For יבא yabo, Le Clerc reads יבס yebes, from the Chaldee, who seems to read both words. “Forte legend. ויבס vaiyebes vel וירמס vaiyirmos: sequitur ס.” “This should perhaps be read ויבס vaiyebes, or וירמס vaiyirmos: a ס samech follows.” - Secker. See Nah 3:14.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַעִיר֤וֹתִי | hairoti | I have stirred up | H5782 → | 80 times |
| מִצָּפוֹן֙ | mitzafon | from [the] north | H6828 → | 153 times |
| וַיַּ֔את | vaiyat | and he has come | H857 → | 21 times |
| מִמִּזְרַח־ | mimizrach- | from [the] rising of | H4217 → | 74 times |
| שֶׁ֖מֶשׁ | shemesh | [the] sun | H8121 → | 134 times |
| יִקְרָ֣א | yikra' | he will call | H7121 → | 733 times |
| בִשְׁמִ֑י | vishmi | on name my | H8034 → | 864 times |
| וְיָבֹ֤א | veyavo' | so he may come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| סְגָנִים֙ | seganim | officials | H5461 → | |
| כְּמוֹ־ | kemov- | like | H3644 → | 143 times |
| חֹ֔מֶר | chomer | mud | H2563 → | 31 times |
| וּכְמ֥וֹ | ukhemo | and like | H3644 → | 143 times |
| יוֹצֵ֖ר | yotzer | a potter | H3335 → | 62 times |
| יִרְמָס־ | yirmos- | [who] he tramples | H7429 → | 19 times |
| טִֽיט׃ | tit | clay | H2916 → |
הַעִיר֤וֹתִיI have stirred up
hairotiH5782 →80 times
מִצָּפוֹן֙from [the] north
mitzafonH6828 →153 times
וַיַּ֔אתand he has come
vaiyatH857 →21 times
מִמִּזְרַח־from [the] rising of
mimizrach-H4217 →74 times
שֶׁ֖מֶשׁ[the] sun
shemeshH8121 →134 times
יִקְרָ֣אhe will call
yikra'H7121 →733 times
בִשְׁמִ֑יon name my
vishmiH8034 →864 times
וְיָבֹ֤אso he may come
veyavo'H935 →2568 times
סְגָנִים֙officials
seganimH5461 →
כְּמוֹ־like
kemov-H3644 →143 times
חֹ֔מֶרmud
chomerH2563 →31 times
וּכְמ֥וֹand like
ukhemoH3644 →143 times
יוֹצֵ֖רa potter
yotzerH3335 →62 times
יִרְמָס־[who] he tramples
yirmos-H7429 →19 times
טִֽיט׃clay
titH2916 →
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
Micah 7:10Then my enemy will see and will be covered with shame—she who said to me, “Where is the LORD your God?” My eyes will see her; at that time she will be trampled like…
it leads to
- Zechariah 10:5
They will be like mighty men in battle, trampling the enemy in the mire of the streets. They will fight because the LORD is with them, and they will put the horsemen to shame.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 42:10
Like the crushing of my bones, my enemies taunt me, while they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
- Jeremiah 50:33–34
This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “The sons of Israel are oppressed, and the sons of Judah as well. All their captors hold them fast, refusing to release them.
- Psalms 35:26
May those who gloat in my distress be ashamed and confounded; may those who exalt themselves over me be clothed in shame and reproach.
- Psalms 18:42
I ground them as dust in the face of the wind; I trampled them like mud in the streets.
- Zechariah 10:5
Through
Isaiah 41:2Who has aroused one from the east and called him to his feet in righteousness? He hands nations over to him and subdues kings before him. He turns them to dust with his sword,…
it leads to
- Isaiah 45:1
This is what the LORD says to Cyrus His anointed, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him, to disarm kings, to open the doors before him, so that the gates…
- 2 Samuel 22:43
I ground them as the dust of the earth; I crushed and trampled them like mud in the streets.
- Isaiah 45:1
Through
2 Samuel 22:43I ground them as the dust of the earth; I crushed and trampled them like mud in the streets.
it leads to
- Micah 7:10
Then my enemy will see and will be covered with shame—she who said to me, “Where is the LORD your God?” My eyes will see her; at that time she will be trampled like…
- Micah 7:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Isaiah
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; 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; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 12:41.25 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.