Isaiah 46:12
in Isaiah 46Listen to Me, you stubborn people, far removed from righteousness:
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted, that are far from righteousness:
KJV
Hearken unto me, ye stouthearted, that are far from righteousness:
⋯
This verse in Isaiah 46
Commentary
12 notes on this verse(Verses 12, 13.) Hear me, you with hard hearts, who are far from justice. I have brought forth my justice: it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not delay. I will give salvation in Zion and my glory in Israel. LXX: Hear me, you who have lost heart, who are far from justice. I have brought forth my justice, and the salvation that is from me, I will not delay. I have given salvation in Zion and glory in Israel.
This site's exposition
Hearken unto me, ye stouthearted
on Isaiah 46:12-13
Hearken unto me, ye stouthearted, that are far from righteousness, addresses those who doubt the promise rather than those who worship idols, and the chapter turns from mockery to comfort in its last two verses. I bring near my righteousness, it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry answers that doubt with a promise already approaching. The final line, I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory, keeps Zion as the promise's own address, and the older writers read Israel my glory as the credit for a covenant kept rather than earned. Calvin and Henry both note the turn from the trial's evidence to its comfort, the pattern the whole section follows.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
See how he once again announces salvation to them and does not allow them to despair, lest they be overwhelmed by unrestrained sorrow and be moved too far away from the hope that they will be saved, if only they stop running. For having strayed, they were disconsolate. This described their situation accurately. For what else would they feel, they who worshiped the things they themselves had made, setting up trees and stones for worship and seeking salvation from them?
The inner person has a heart. "Hear me, you who have lost heart." They possessed a physical heart, that organ of the body. It was not that heart which they lost. But when a person neglects to cultivate his intellectual life, and in consequence of much idleness his thinking capacity has atrophied, he has lost his heart, and it is to such a person that the words are added, "Here me, you who have lost your heart."
For though you are unworthy of salvation, since you have distanced yourself from righteousness because of your iniquity, I will procure salvation [for you] and will inflict just chastisement on the Babylonians. "I have given salvation in Zion to Israel for my glory." For thanks …
Again we perceive the depth of God's loving kindness, in that God mixes with the evils also the wonders, so that they are not wiped out. For he has saved them from the hand of their enemies. When Israel fell into the marsh of judgment, God dragged them out.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Second, where it says, hear me, he promises the nearness of liberation, setting out first their unworthiness, lest it be ascribed to their merit: O you hardhearted, for acting rightly, who are far from justice, through the multitude of their sins: a hard heart shall …
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Hearken unto me, ye stout hearted,.... This is not an address to the Chaldeans, as Kimchi and others think, who were merciless and cruel to the Jews, and far from doing that which was right unto them, but oppressed them, and would not let them go; but to the Jews themselves, at least to the wicked and profligate among them, who were always a stouthearted, stiffnecked, and a rebellious people; and even those who made more presences to religion were only self-righteous, and were far from true righteousness.
This is applicable to the Jewish nation when they rejected the gospel of Christ; though they followed after the law of righteousness, they attained not to righteousness, because they sought it not by faith, Rom. ix. They perished far from righteousness; and it was because they were stout-hearted, Rom. x.
1 Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth, their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: your carriages were heavy loaden; they are a burden to the weary beast. 2 They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted - This is an address to the Babylonians, stubbornly bent on the practice of injustice towards the Israelites.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Hearken unto me - This is designed to call the attention of the skeptical and unbelieving Jews to the important truth which he was delivering. Many among them might be disposed to say that the fulfillment was delayed, and he therefore calls upon them to attend particularly to his solemn declarations. Ye stout-hearted - The phrase ‘stout-hearted’ would naturally, denote those who were bold and courageous. But here it evidently means those whose hearts were strong against God; who nerved themselves to resist and oppose his plans and government; who were stubborn and rebellious.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
stout-hearted You who have strengthened your heart among the heathens (the nations [Parshandatha, K’li Paz]) and have clung to Me.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
I have brought near My righteousness from now on, and it will not be far off.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שִׁמְע֥וּ | shimu | listen | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֵלַ֖י | ʾelai | to me | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אַבִּ֣ירֵי | ʾabirei | O [people] mighty of | H47 → | 17 times |
| לֵ֑ב | lev | heart | H3820 → | 595 times |
| הָרְחוֹקִ֖ים | harechokim | O [people] distant | H7350 → | 84 times |
| מִצְּדָקָֽה׃ | mitzedakah | from righteousness | H6666 → | 157 times |
שִׁמְע֥וּlisten
shimuH8085 →1159 times
אֵלַ֖יto me
ʾelaiH413 →5510 times
אַבִּ֣ירֵיO [people] mighty of
ʾabireiH47 →17 times
לֵ֑בheart
levH3820 →595 times
הָרְחוֹקִ֖יםO [people] distant
harechokimH7350 →84 times
מִצְּדָקָֽה׃from righteousness
mitzedakahH6666 →157 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
Ephesians 2:13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.
it leads to
- Acts 2:39
This promise belongs to you and your children and to all who are far off—to all whom the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
- Colossians 1:20–22
and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross.
- Colossians 1:13–14
He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son,
- Ephesians 2:19–22
Therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household,
- 1 Corinthians 6:11
And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
- Acts 2:39
Through
Isaiah 46:3“Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been sustained from the womb, carried along since birth.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 1:31
and in the wilderness, where the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way by which you traveled until you reached this place.”
- Isaiah 51:7
Listen to Me, you who know what is right, you people with My law in your hearts: Do not fear the scorn of men; do not be broken by their insults.
- Deuteronomy 1:31
Through
Jeremiah 2:5This is what the LORD says: “What fault did your fathers find in Me that they strayed so far from Me, and followed worthless idols, and became worthless themselves?
it leads to
- 2 Kings 17:15
They rejected His statutes and the covenant He had made with their fathers, as well as the decrees He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and themselves became worthless, going after the surrounding…
- 2 Kings 17:15
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); Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 4:3.46:12-13; Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 4:3.48:5-11; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, DIALOGUE WITH HERACLIDES; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 14:46.13 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.