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Isaiah 42:5

in Isaiah 42

This is what God the LORD says—He who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its offspring, who gives breath to the people on it and life to those who walk in it:

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Thus saith God Jehovah, he that created the heavens, and stretched them forth; he that spread abroad the earth and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:

KJV

Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:

This verse in Isaiah 42

Commentary

13 notes on this verse

A commentator

Irenaeus

AGAINST HERESIES 5:12.2 · Written before 202.

For the breath of life, which also rendered man an animated being, is one thing, and the vivifying Spirit another, which also caused him to become spiritual. And for this reason Isaiah said, "Thus saith the Lord, who made heaven and established it, who founded the earth and the things therein, and gave breath to the people upon it, and Spirit to those walking upon it;" thus telling us that breath is indeed given in common to all people upon earth, but that the Spirit is theirs alone who tread down earthly desires.

This site's exposition

He who created the heavens

on Isaiah 42:5-7

The second movement names the speaker as God the LORD, who created the heavens. The servant is called for a righteous purpose and made a light to the nations, a light Simeon sees in Jesus at Luke 2:32. His work is to open the eyes of the blind.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers5 voices

A commentator

Origen of Alexandria

ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 1:3.4 · Written before 253.

proposed

It says, "He who gives spirit to the people who are on the earth, and spirit to them who walk on it." For undoubtedly every one who walks on the earth, that is, every earthly and corporeal being, is a partaker of the Holy Spirit that he receives from God.

A commentator

Eusebius of Caesarea

COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:22 · Written before 339.

proposed

The name by which he will be praised as the Lord and God of all, [Isaiah] says, "I will give to no other" but to you alone, whom I shall grant to be light to the nations. Hence, in the promise the Christ of God is called Lord and God by all the nations, the Father having granted him alone that glory. Next comes "nor will I give my powers to the carved images," or, according to Aquila, "my worship to carved images," or, with Symmachus, "my praise to carved images." … According to this, Christ alone is called God since to him alone and to no other has God, who is above all things, given his glory and power.

A commentator

Tertullian

ON THE SOUL 11:3-4 · Written before 220.

proposed

And again, "who gave breath to the people on the earth and spirit to those walking on it." For at first the soul, that is, "breath," was given to the people who go around on the earth, that is, to those acting in flesh in a fleshly manner; then later the Spirit was given to those who walk on the earth, that is, those who subdue the works of the flesh, as the apostle affirms, "Not that which is spiritual first, but that which is animal and then that which is spiritual." For although Adam from the beginning prophesied that great mystery in Christ and the church, "this is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh, on which account a man will leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife and they two will become one flesh," he was subject to a falling of the spirit.

A commentator

Cosmas Indicopleustes

The Christian Topography, Book 4 · Written before 550.

proposed

Isaiah again says: Thus saith the Lord, he that made the heaven and pitched it; and the Apostle in like manner says: Of the true Tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man. They both speak of the heaven as standing on and fixed on …

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Isaiah · Written before 420.

proposed

(Verse 5) Thus says the Lord God: He who creates the heavens and stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it. It was uncertain who has said before: Behold my servant, I will take him: my chosen, my soul has pleased him. I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. After the condemnation of idols, a sudden speech had burst forth. Behold my servant, and the rest, which we have interpreted from the Father's perspective on Christ. Therefore, to not leave it ambiguous who said the previous things, he adds and says: Thus says the Lord God, creating the heavens and stretching them out. Or as the Septuagint translated: He made the heaven and fixed it. Therefore, the Creator and Lord of the universe himself promised the coming of his Christ, who not only stretched out and fixed the heavens, but also established the earth with its lofty mass, and everything that springs forth from it, so that the invisible things of him may be understood and seen from the things that are made (Rom. I); as well as his everlasting power and divinity. He who gave breath to all who dwell on earth, the first law of mortals. For God breathed into the face of Adam the breath of life, and he became a living soul (Gen. II). But the Spirit properly belongs to those who tread upon the earth; and the wisdom of the flesh subjects itself to its own power.
6 more voices on this verse

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Ambrose of Milan

On the Holy Spirit 3.2.10 · Written before 397.

proposed

The Son is both sent and given, and the Spirit also is both sent and given; they have assuredly a oneness of Godhead who have a oneness of action.

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on Isaiah · Written before 1274.

proposed

821. Thus says the Lord God. Here he foretells the sending. And first, he sets out the power of the one who sends as to the creation of heavenly things: that created the heavens; as to the disposition of earthly things: that established the earth; …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

Thus saith God the Lord,.... The God of the world, as the Targum.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Now this is prefixed to God's covenant with the Messiah, and the commission given him, not only to show that he has authority to make such a covenant and give such a commission, and had power sufficient to bear him out, but that the design of the work of redemption was to maintain the honour of the Creator, and to restore man to the allegiance he owes to God as his Maker.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Thus saith God the Lord - This verse commences a new form of discourse. It is still Yahweh who speaks; but in the previous verses he had spoken of the Messiah in the third person; here he is introduced as speaking to him directly. He introduces the discourse by showing that he is the Creator and Lord of all things.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

Previously God had spoken of Messiah; now (Isa 42:5-7) He speaks to Him. To show to all that He is able to sustain the Messiah in His appointed work, and that all might accept Messiah as commissioned by such a mighty God, He commences by announcing Himself as the Almighty Creator and Preserver of all things. spread . . . earth-- (Ps 136:6).

The words behind it

17 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • כֹּֽה־thus

    koh-H3541 →577 times

  • אָמַ֞רhe says

    ʾamarH559 →5305 times

  • הָאֵ֣ל׀<the> God

    haelH410 →241 times

  • יְהוָ֗הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • בּוֹרֵ֤א[who] created

    bore'H1254 →55 times

  • הַשָּׁמַ֙יִם֙the heavens

    hashamayimH8064 →421 times

  • וְנ֣וֹטֵיהֶ֔םand [who] stretched out them

    venoteihemH5186 →214 times

  • רֹקַ֥ע[who] spread out

    roka'H7554 →11 times

  • הָאָ֖רֶץthe earth

    haaretzH776 →2504 times

  • וְצֶאֱצָאֶ֑יהָand produce<s> its

    vetzeetzaeihaH6631 →11 times

  • נֹתֵ֤ן[who] gives

    notenH5414 →2011 times

  • נְשָׁמָה֙breath

    neshamahH5397 →24 times

  • לָעָ֣םto the people

    laamH5971 →1873 times

  • עָלֶ֔יהָon it

    ʾaleihaH5921 →5755 times

  • וְר֖וּחַand spirit

    veruachH7307 →378 times

  • לַהֹלְכִ֥יםto <the> [those who] walk

    laholekhimH1980 →1546 times

  • בָּֽהּ׃on it

    bah

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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 48:13

    Surely My own hand founded the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens; when I summon them, they stand up together.

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 45:18

      For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens—He is God; He formed the earth and fashioned it; He established it; He did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Hebrews 1:10–12

      And: “In the beginning, O Lord, You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.

    • Psalms 102:25

      In the beginning You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.

    • Exodus 20:11

      For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, but on the seventh day He rested. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath…

    • Isaiah 40:26

      Lift up your eyes on high: Who created all these? He leads forth the starry host by number; He calls each one by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one…

  • Through

    Isaiah 45:12

    It is I who made the earth and created man upon it. It was My hands that stretched out the heavens, and I ordained all their host.

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 44:24

      Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer who formed you from the womb: “I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who by Myself spread out the earth,

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    Isaiah 40:22

    He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth; its dwellers are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

    it leads to

    • Proverbs 8:27

      I was there when He established the heavens, when He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep,

  • Through

    Jeremiah 10:12

    The LORD made the earth by His power; He established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding.

    it leads to

    • Job 9:8

      He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.

Where this verse is studied

About Isaiah

The Prophet Isaiah, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Prophet Isaiah, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
This page draws on 14 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, On the Holy Spirit 3.2.10; Cosmas Indicopleustes, The Christian Topography, Book 4; Eusebius of Caesarea, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:22; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Irenaeus, AGAINST HERESIES 5:12.2; 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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 1:3.4; Tertullian, ON THE SOUL 11:3-4 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.