Isaiah 41:4
in Isaiah 41Who has performed this and carried it out, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD—the first and the last—I am He.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I, Jehovah, the first, and with the last, I am he.
KJV
Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he.
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This verse in Isaiah 41
Commentary
15 notes on this verseWho hath wrought and done it “Who hath performed and made these things” - A word is here lost out of the text. It is sups plied by an ancient MS., אלה elleh, “these things; “and by the Septuagint, ταυτα; and by the Vulgate, haec; and by the Chaldee, אלן elin; all of the same meaning.
This site's exposition
He pursues them, going on safely
on Isaiah 41:3-4
The conqueror pursues without loss, hardly touching the path with his feet. The question turns to his sender, Who has performed this, calling forth the generations from the beginning? The answer is the LORD naming Himself the first and the last, a claim the book repeats at 44:6 and 48:12.
This site's exposition
calling forth the generations from the beginning
Wesley reads the calling of the generations as the LORD summoning each age of mankind into being and ordering it as He sees fit. A conqueror's rise is one such summons. Clarke notes that an ancient manuscript, with the Septuagint, Vulgate and Chaldee, supplies the words these things.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
The great Isaiah thus speaks of the Divine nature with reference to these doctrines, in his exalted utterance,—who speaks in the person of the Deity, "I am the first, and hereafter am I, and no God was before Me, and no God shall be after Me." … Since, then, neither is that God which was before God, nor is that God which is after God, (for that which is after God is the creation, and that which is anterior to God is nothing, and Nothing is not God;—or one should rather say, that which is anterior to God is God in His eternal blessedness, defined in contradistinction to Nothing;)—since, I say, this inspired utterance was spoken by the mouth of the prophet, we learn by his means the doctrine that the Divine Nature is one, continuous with Itself and indiscerptible, not admitting in Itself priority and posteriority, though it be declared in Trinity. Since, then, the saying is the saying of God, whether you grant that the words are the words of the Father or of the Son, the orthodox doctrine is equally upheld by either. For if it is the Father that speaks thus, He bears witness to the Son that He is not "after" Himself: for if the Son is God, and whatever is "after" the Father is not God, it is clear that the saying bears witness to the truth that the Son is in the Father, and not after the Father. If, on the other hand, one were to grant that this utterance is of the Son, the phrase, "None hath been before Me," will be a clear intimation that He Whom we contemplate "in the Beginning" is apprehended together with the eternity of the Beginning.
From the beginning, [Isaiah] says, God has made announcements concerning righteousness. He made the covenant with Abraham in these terms: "All the nations of the earth shall be blessed in your seed," and he [renewed] the covenant with Isaac, Jacob, Moses and David. This is …
(Chapter 41, verses 1 and following.) Let the islands be silent before me, and let the nations change their strength: let them come near, and then let them speak: let us come together to judgment. Who raised up the Just One from the East, and called him to follow him? He will give nations before him, and he will rule over kings: he will make them like the dust with his sword, and like stubble driven by the wind to his bow. He will pursue them, and he will pass in peace, a path will not appear under his feet.
A commentator
Gregory of NazianzusON THE HOLY SPIRIT, THEOLOGICAL ORATION 5(31).23 · Written before 390.
proposed
[Where] do you get those fortresses of yours, "ingenerate" and "unoriginate," from—or where the term "immortal"? Show us the express words, or we cross them out as unscriptural, and you will be dead as a result of your own principles, since the words, the wall of defense you trusted in, will have been destroyed. Is it not plain that these terms derived from passages that imply, without actually mentioning them? Which passages?
The Medieval Church1 voice
He seeks the author: who has wrought and done these things, and who was calling the generations from the beginning, in eternal foreknowledge, below: the Lord has called me from the womb (Isa 49:1); and he sets out the response: I the Lord: I am …
7 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening5 voices
Calling - Them out of nothing, giving them breath and being: disposing and employing them as he sees fit. From the beginning - All persons and generations of mankind from the beginning of the world. I - Who was before all things even from eternity, and shall be unto eternity.
Now observe what is here said concerning him. [1.] That he was a righteous man, or righteousness, a man of righteousness, that believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness; and so he became the father of all those who by faith in Christ are made the righteousness of God through him, Rom. iv.
), that he is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, that he governed the world from the beginning, and will to the end of time. He has reigned of old, and will reign for ever; the counsels of his kingdom were from eternity, and the continuance of it will be to eternity. (2.) That Israel is his servant (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
Who hath wrought and done it,....
He encourages his faithful ones to trust in him, with an assurance that he would take their part against their enemies, make them victorious over them, and bring about a happy change of their affairs,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Who--else but God? calling . . . generations from . . . beginning--The origin and position of all nations are from God (De 32:8; Ac 17:26); what is true of Cyrus and his conquests is true of all the movements of history from the first; all are from God. with the last--that is, the last (Isa 44:6;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Who hath wrought and done it? - By whom has all this been accomplished? Has it been by the arm of Cyrus? Has it been by human skill and powers. The design of this question is obvious. It is to direct attention to the fact that all this had been done by God, and that he who had raised up such a man, and had accomplished all this by means of him, had power to deliver his people. Calling the generations from the beginning - The idea here seems to be, that all the nations that dwell on the earth in every place owed their origin to God (compare Act 17:26). The word ‘calling’ here, seems to be used in the sense of commanding, directing, or ordering them; and the truth taught is, that all the nations were under his control, and had been from the beginning. It was not only true of Cyrus, and of those who were subdued before him, but it was true of all nations and generations. The object seems to be, to lift up the thoughts from the conquests of Cyrus to God’s universal dominion over all kingdoms from the beginning of the world. I the Lord, the first - Before any creature was made; existing before any other being. The description that God here gives of himself as ‘the first and the last,’ is one that is often applied to him in the Scriptures, and is one that properly expresses eternity (see Isa 44:6; Isa 48:12). It is remarkable also that this expression, which so obviously implies proper eternity, is applied to the Lord Jesus in Rev 1:17; Rev 22:13. And with the last - The usual form in which this is expressed is simply ‘the last’ Isa 44:6; Isa 48:12. The idea here seems to be, ‘and with the last, I am the same;’ that is, I am unchanging and eternal. None will subsist after me; since with the last of all created objects I shall be the same that I was in the beginning. Nothing would survive God; or in other words, he would exist forever and ever. […]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִֽי־ | mi- | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| פָעַ֣ל | faal | has he done [it] | H6466 → | 57 times |
| וְעָשָׂ֔ה | veasah | and has he accomplished [it]? | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| קֹרֵ֥א | kore' | calling forth | H7121 → | 733 times |
| הַדֹּר֖וֹת | hadorot | the generations | H1755 → | 167 times |
| מֵרֹ֑אשׁ | merosh | from [the] beginning | H7218 → | 599 times |
| אֲנִ֤י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| רִאשׁ֔וֹן | rishon | [am] first | H7223 → | 182 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and with | H854 → | 929 times |
| אַחֲרֹנִ֖ים | ʾacharonim | [the] last | H314 → | 51 times |
| אֲנִי־ | ʾani- | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| הֽוּא׃ | hu' | [am] he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
מִֽי־who?
mi-H4310 →423 times
פָעַ֣לhas he done [it]
faalH6466 →57 times
וְעָשָׂ֔הand has he accomplished [it]?
veasahH6213 →2628 times
קֹרֵ֥אcalling forth
kore'H7121 →733 times
הַדֹּר֖וֹתthe generations
hadorotH1755 →167 times
מֵרֹ֑אשׁfrom [the] beginning
meroshH7218 →599 times
אֲנִ֤יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
רִאשׁ֔וֹן[am] first
rishonH7223 →182 times
וְאֶת־and with
veetH854 →929 times
אַחֲרֹנִ֖ים[the] last
ʾacharonimH314 →51 times
אֲנִי־I
ʾani-H589 →874 times
הֽוּא׃[am] he
hu'H1931 →1879 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
Revelation 22:13I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 44:6
Thus says the LORD, the King and Redeemer of Israel, the LORD of Hosts: “I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God but Me.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 1:8
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and was and is to come—the Almighty.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 48:12
Listen to Me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I have called: I am He; I am the first, and I am the last.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 44:6
Through
Isaiah 46:10I declare the end from the beginning, and ancient times from what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’
it leads to
- Proverbs 19:21
Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the purpose of the LORD will prevail.
- Psalms 33:11
The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the purposes of His heart to all generations.
- Ephesians 1:9–11
And He has made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ
- Isaiah 43:13
Even from eternity I am He, and none can deliver out of My hand. When I act, who can reverse it?”
- Proverbs 19:21
Through
Revelation 1:17When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. But He placed His right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last,
it leads to
- Revelation 22:13
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 22:13
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
This page draws on 12 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; Gregory of Nazianzus, ON THE HOLY SPIRIT, THEOLOGICAL ORATION 5(31).23; Gregory of Nyssa, AGAINST EUNOMIUS 5:1; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; 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 12:41.4 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.