Isaiah 48:15
in Isaiah 48I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called him. I have brought him, and he will succeed in his mission.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him; I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.
KJV
I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.
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This verse in Isaiah 48
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThird, he assigns the reason for his prosperity from divine help: I, even I; his way is made right, not absolutely, but so that he might destroy Babylon; otherwise, it cannot be explained of Cyrus, but only of Christ, as Jerome says, for Cyrus was …
This site's exposition
All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear
on Isaiah 48:14-16
All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear, renews the trial's summons with the same question the earlier trials asked, which among them hath declared these things, and the answer names the instrument this time, the Lord hath loved him, he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans, the traditional reading pointing to Cyrus, named openly at 44:28 and 45:1. Verse 15 repeats the claim in the Lord's own first person, I, even I, have spoken, yea, I have called him, I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous, the same certainty the whole trial section leans on. Verse 16 shifts voice in a way the bench discusses at length, come ye near unto me, hear ye this, I have not spoken in secret from the beginning, closing with a speaker who says the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me, a sentence some read as the prophet's own and others as a fuller voice, named without a verdict. Delitzsch and Calvin both weigh the shift in speaker as among the chapter's harder questions, the positions stated rather than settled.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 12, 13 and following) Hear me, Jacob and Israel, whom I call. I am the first and the last. My hand also laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand measures the heavens: I have called them, and they will stand together. Gather yourselves and listen: who among them has declared these things? The Lord loved him: he will fulfill his will in Babylon and his arm in the Chaldeans. I, I have spoken and called him: I have brought him, and his way is made straight.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
He shows them that, as it was by their own sin that they brought themselves into captivity, so it would be only by the grace of God that they would obtain the necessary preparatives for their enlargement,
): I, even I, have spoken; and he would not have spoken it if he could not have made it good: none could out-see him, and therefore we may be sure that none could outdo him. The person is pitched upon who is to be employed in this service, and the measures are concerted in the divine counsels, which are unalterable.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
I, even I, have spoken,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
I, even I, have spoken - The word ‘I’ is repeated to give emphasis, and to furnish the utmost security that it should be certainly accomplished. It means, that Yahweh, and he alone, had declared this, and that it was entirely by his power that Cyrus had been raised up, and had been made prosperous. Yea, I have called him - (See the note at Isa 41:2). I have brought him - I have led him on his way in his conquests.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
The Lord loves him He who will perform the will of the Holy One, blessed be He, upon Babylon.
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. 4 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
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֲנִ֥י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| אֲנִ֛י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| דִּבַּ֖רְתִּי | dibarti | I have spoken | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| אַף־ | ʾaf- | also | H637 → | 134 times |
| קְרָאתִ֑יו | kerativ | I have summoned him | H7121 → | 733 times |
| הֲבִיאֹתִ֖יו | haviotiv | I have brought him | H935 → | 2568 times |
| וְהִצְלִ֥יחַ | vehitzliach | and he will make successful | H6743 → | 65 times |
| דַּרְכּֽוֹ׃ | darko | way his | H1870 → | 707 times |
אֲנִ֥יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
אֲנִ֛יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
דִּבַּ֖רְתִּיI have spoken
dibartiH1696 →1141 times
אַף־also
ʾaf-H637 →134 times
קְרָאתִ֑יוI have summoned him
kerativH7121 →733 times
הֲבִיאֹתִ֖יוI have brought him
haviotivH935 →2568 times
וְהִצְלִ֥יחַand he will make successful
vehitzliachH6743 →65 times
דַּרְכּֽוֹ׃way his
darkoH1870 →707 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
Joshua 1:8This Book of the Law must not depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. For then you will prosper…
it leads to
- Psalms 119:15
I will meditate on Your precepts and regard Your ways.
- Psalms 19:14
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
- Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to…
- Proverbs 3:1
My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments;
- Deuteronomy 29:9
So keep and follow the words of this covenant, that you may prosper in all you do.
- Psalms 119:15
Through
Psalms 45:4In your splendor ride forth in victory on behalf of truth and humility and justice; may your right hand show your awesome deeds.
it leads to
- Psalms 65:5
With awesome deeds of righteousness You answer us, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas.
- Revelation 19:11
Then I saw heaven standing open, and there before me was a white horse. And its rider is called Faithful and True. With righteousness He judges and wages war.
- Psalms 65:5
Through
Ezekiel 1:2On the fifth day of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin—
it leads to
- 2 Kings 24:12–15
Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials all surrendered to the king of Babylon. So in the eighth year of his reign, the king of Babylon took him…
- 2 Kings 24:12–15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Isaiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; 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 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.