Isaiah 50:8
in Isaiah 50The One who vindicates Me is near. Who will dare to contend with Me? Let us confront each other! Who has a case against Me? Let him approach Me!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand up together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me.
KJV
He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me.
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This verse in Isaiah 50
Commentary
11 notes on this verseWho will contend with me - The Bodleian MS. and another add the word הוא hu; מי הוא יריב mi hu yarib, as in the like phrase in the next verse; and in the very same phrase Job 13:19, and so likewise in many other places, Job 17:3; Job 41:1. Sometimes on the like occasions it is מי זה mi zeh, and מי הוא זה mi hu zeh, “Who is this one?” The word has probably been lost out of the present text; and the reading of the MSS. above mentioned seems to be genuine.
This site's exposition
The One who vindicates Me is near
on Isaiah 50:8-9
The servant speaks as a defendant sure of the verdict. Paul draws on this language at Romans 8:33, “Who will bring any charge against God’s elect”, though he does not formally cite the verse. The accusers wear out like a garment, for “the moths will devour them.”
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 8, 9.) He is near who justifies me: who will contradict me? Let us stand together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord God is my helper: who is he that will condemn me? Behold, all of them shall wear out like a garment, the moth shall eat them up. LXX: He is near who justifies me: who is he that will judge me, stand up against me together? And who is he that will enter into judgment with me? Let him come near to me.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Third, he assigns the reason for this security from the power of the one who helps him: he is near that justifies me, namely, God. Who will contend with me, with words; let us stand together: set me beside you, O Lord, and let any …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Justifieth - God will clear up my righteousness, and shew by many and mighty signs and wonders, that I lived and died his faithful servant. Let him come - l am conscious of mine own innocency, and I know that God will give sentence for me.
6 ), at furthest in the great day, when there will be a resurrection of names as well as bodies, and the righteous shall shine forth as the morning sun. And so it was verified in Christ; by his resurrection he was proved to be not the man that he was represented, not a blasphemer, not a deceiver, not an enemy to Cæsar.
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The Redeemer is as famous for his boldness as for his humility and patience, and, though he yields, yet he is more than a conqueror. The dependence he has upon God. What was the prophet Isaiah's support was the support of Christ himself (
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4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
He is near that justifieth me,....
The message that is sent is life and death, good and evil, the blessing and the curse, comfort to desponding saints and terror to presuming sinners,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The believer, by virtue of his oneness with Christ, uses the same language (Ps 138:8; But "justify" in His case, is God's judicial acceptance and vindication of Him on the ground of His own righteousness (Lu 23:44-47;
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A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
He is near that justifieth me - That is, God, who will vindicate my character, and who approves what I do, does not leave nor forsake me, and I can with confidence commit myself and my cause to him (see the note at Isa 49:4). The word justify here is not used in the sense in which it is often in the Scriptures, to denote the act by which a sinner is justified before God, but in the proper, judicial sense, that he would declare him to be righteous; he would vindicate his character, and show him to be innocent. This was done by all the testimonies of God in his favor - by the voice which spake from heaven at his baptism - by the miracles which he performed, showing that he was commissioned and approved by God - by the fact that even Pilate was constrained to declare him innocent - by the wonders that attended his crucifixion, showing that ‘he was a righteous man,’ even in the view of the Roman centurion Luk 23:47, and by the fact that he was raised from the dead, and was taken to heaven, and placed at the right hand of the Father - thus showing that his whole work was approved by God, and furnishing the most ample vindication of his character from all the accusations of his foes. Who will contend with me? - This question indicates confidence in God, and in the integrity of his own character. The language is taken from transactions in the courts of justice; and it is a solemn call, on any who would dare to oppose him, to enter into a trial, and allege the accusations against him before the tribunal of a holy God. Let us stand together - Before the seat of judgment as in a court (compare the note at Isa 41:1). Who is mine adversary? - Margin, ‘Who is the master of my cause?’ The Hebrew is ‘Lord (בעל ba‛al) of judgment.’ The expression means not merely one who has a lawsuit, or a cause, but one who is ‘lord of the judgment,’ i. […]
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| קָרוֹב֙ | karov | [is] near | H7138 → | 77 times |
| מַצְדִּיקִ֔י | matzdiki | [the one who] justifies me | H6663 → | 41 times |
| מִֽי־ | mi- | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| יָרִ֥יב | yariv | will he contend | H7378 → | 67 times |
| אִתִּ֖י | ʾiti | with me | H854 → | 929 times |
| נַ֣עַמְדָה | naamdah | let us stand | H5975 → | 521 times |
| יָּ֑חַד | yachad | together | H3162 → | 141 times |
| מִֽי־ | mi- | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| בַ֥עַל | vaal | [is] [the] master of | H1167 → | 84 times |
| מִשְׁפָּטִ֖י | mishpati | case my | H4941 → | 422 times |
| יִגַּ֥שׁ | yigash | let him draw near | H5066 → | 125 times |
| אֵלָֽי׃ | ʾelai | to me | H413 → | 5510 times |
קָרוֹב֙[is] near
karovH7138 →77 times
מַצְדִּיקִ֔י[the one who] justifies me
matzdikiH6663 →41 times
מִֽי־who?
mi-H4310 →423 times
יָרִ֥יבwill he contend
yarivH7378 →67 times
אִתִּ֖יwith me
ʾitiH854 →929 times
נַ֣עַמְדָהlet us stand
naamdahH5975 →521 times
יָּ֑חַדtogether
yachadH3162 →141 times
מִֽי־who?
mi-H4310 →423 times
בַ֥עַל[is] [the] master of
vaalH1167 →84 times
מִשְׁפָּטִ֖יcase my
mishpatiH4941 →422 times
יִגַּ֥שׁlet him draw near
yigashH5066 →125 times
אֵלָֽי׃to me
ʾelaiH413 →5510 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 43:26Remind Me, let us argue the matter together. State your case, so that you may be vindicated.
it leads to
- Isaiah 1:18
“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 43:9
All the nations gather together and the peoples assemble. Who among them can declare this, and proclaim to us the former things? Let them present their witnesses to vindicate them, so that others may…
- Romans 8:33
Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
- Isaiah 1:18
Through
Revelation 12:10And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our…
it leads to
- Zechariah 3:1–2
Then the angel showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, with Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.
- Luke 22:31
Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat.
- Revelation 11:15
Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices called out in heaven: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign…
- Daniel 2:44
In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will shatter all these kingdoms…
- Zechariah 3:1–2
Through
Isaiah 41:1“Be silent before Me, O islands, and let the peoples renew their strength. Let them come forward and testify; let us together draw near for judgment.
it leads to
- Habakkuk 2:20
But the LORD is in His holy temple; let all the earth be silent before Him.
- Habakkuk 2:20
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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 Calvin, Commentary on the Book of the Prophet 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 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.