Isaiah 43:9
in Isaiah 43All 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 hear and say, “It is true.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the peoples be assembled: who among them can declare this, and show us former things? let them bring their witnesses, that they may be justified; or let them hear, and say, It is truth.
KJV
Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, It is truth.
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This verse in Isaiah 43
Commentary
12 notes on this verseAll the nations. Here he excludes the sharing of divinity. And first, he shows the falsehood of other gods by the manner of a judgment, setting out the consensus of the nations in idolatry: assembled together, in one error: they are all gone aside (Ps …
This site's exposition
a people who have eyes but are blind
on Isaiah 43:8-9
The trial scene opens with Israel summoned as a witness, Bring out a people who have eyes but are blind. That blindness was first named in Isaiah's commission at 6:10, and verse 9 gathers the nations into a courtroom. They may present their witnesses, and the test is prediction itself.
This site's exposition
Let them present their witnesses
Barnes ties this hearing to the first one in 41:21 and 22, where the idols were summoned to declare the former things and none answered. Aquinas reads the assembled nations as agreed in one error, their idolatry. The scene is a judgment that exposes their gods as false.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
(Verses 8-9) Bring out the blind people who have eyes, and the deaf who have ears. Let all the nations gather together, and let the peoples be assembled. Who among you will declare this, and show us former things? Let them bring their witnesses to justify them, and let them hear and say, 'It is true.' LXX: Bring out the people who are blind, yet have eyes, who are deaf, yet have ears. All the nations gather together, and the peoples assemble. Who among them can declare this, and show us the former things?
If they seemed to have the eyes of the soul and a human mind, they were still nonetheless blind to the deceit of idolatry. But what then happened to them provides the basis for Isaiah's message. For the former blind and deaf were gathered together into the church of God even as the rulers of the nations opposed the people of God. The prophet is amazed and tries to make sense of the prophecy that he is speaking, and so he calls out, saying, "Who can announce these things?"
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Their gods have eyes and see not, ears and hear not, and those that make them and trust in them are like unto them; so David had said ( Ps. cxv. 8 ), to which the prophet seems here to refer when he calls idolaters blind people that have eyes, and deaf people that have ears.
He is the Lord their Redeemer, not only he will redeem them, but will take it upon him as his office and make it his business to do so. If he be their God, he will be all that to them which they need, and therefore, when they are in bondage, he will be their Redeemer. He is the Holy One of Israel (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Former things - Such things as shall happen long before the return from the captivity, which yet your blind idols cannot foresee. Witnesses - Who can testify the truth of any such predictions of theirs, that they may be owned for true gods; or if they can produce no evidence of any such thing, let them confess, that what I say is truth, that I only am the true God.
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Let all the nations be gathered together - Let them be assembled to give evidence, or to adduce proofs that their idols are worthy of confidence Isa 41:1. Who among them can declare this? - Who among them hath predicted this state of things? Who has foretold the events which are now occurring? It is implied here, that Yahweh had done this, but none of the pagan gods had done it (see the note at Isa 41:21). And show us former things - (see the note at Isa 41:22).
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Or, things that shall first come to pass (see on Isa 41:21, 22) [BARNES]. let them bring forth their witnesses--as I do mine (Isa 43:10). justified--declared veracious in their pretended prophecies. or--rather, "and"; let men hear their prediction and say, from the event, It is verified (see on Isa 41:26).
Who among them - Seven MSS., three ancient, and the first edition, 1486, with the Syriac and Vulgate, read בכם bechem, who among you, the present reading is preferable.
The words behind it
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כָּֽל־ | kal- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַגּוֹיִ֞ם | hagoyim | the nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| נִקְבְּצ֣וּ | nikbetzu | they have assembled | H6908 → | 127 times |
| יַחְדָּ֗ו | yachdav | together | H3162 → | 141 times |
| וְיֵאָֽסְפוּ֙ | veyeasefu | so they may gather | H622 → | 200 times |
| לְאֻמִּ֔ים | leumim | peoples | H3816 → | 31 times |
| מִ֤י | mi | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| בָהֶם֙ | vahem | among them | ||
| יַגִּ֣יד | yagid | will he declare | H5046 → | 370 times |
| זֹ֔את | zot | this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| וְרִֽאשֹׁנ֖וֹת | verishonot | and former [things] | H7223 → | 182 times |
| יַשְׁמִיעֻ֑נוּ | yashmiunu | will they proclaim to? us | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| יִתְּנ֤וּ | yitenu | let them appoint | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| עֵֽדֵיהֶם֙ | ʾedeihem | witnesses their | H5707 → | 70 times |
| וְיִצְדָּ֔קוּ | veyitzdaku | so they may be justified | H6663 → | 41 times |
| וְיִשְׁמְע֖וּ | veyishmeu | and they may hear | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| וְיֹאמְר֥וּ | veyomeru | and they may say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֱמֶֽת׃ | ʾemet | truth | H571 → | 127 times |
כָּֽל־all
kal-H3605 →5413 times
הַגּוֹיִ֞םthe nations
hagoyimH1471 →561 times
נִקְבְּצ֣וּthey have assembled
nikbetzuH6908 →127 times
יַחְדָּ֗וtogether
yachdavH3162 →141 times
וְיֵאָֽסְפוּ֙so they may gather
veyeasefuH622 →200 times
לְאֻמִּ֔יםpeoples
leumimH3816 →31 times
מִ֤יwho?
miH4310 →423 times
בָהֶם֙among them
vahem
יַגִּ֣ידwill he declare
yagidH5046 →370 times
זֹ֔אתthis
zotH2063 →603 times
וְרִֽאשֹׁנ֖וֹתand former [things]
verishonotH7223 →182 times
יַשְׁמִיעֻ֑נוּwill they proclaim to? us
yashmiunuH8085 →1159 times
יִתְּנ֤וּlet them appoint
yitenuH5414 →2011 times
עֵֽדֵיהֶם֙witnesses their
ʾedeihemH5707 →70 times
וְיִצְדָּ֔קוּso they may be justified
veyitzdakuH6663 →41 times
וְיִשְׁמְע֖וּand they may hear
veyishmeuH8085 →1159 times
וְיֹאמְר֥וּand they may say
veyomeruH559 →5305 times
אֱמֶֽת׃truth
ʾemetH571 →127 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 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?”
- Isaiah 45:21
Speak up and present your case—yes, let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago? Who announced it from ancient times? Was it not I, the LORD? There is no other God but…
- Proverbs 19:21
Through
Psalms 50:1The Mighty One, God the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from where the sun rises to where it sets.
it leads to
- Psalms 113:3
From where the sun rises to where it sets, the name of the LORD is praised.
- Matthew 25:32
All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
- Joshua 22:22
“The LORD, the Mighty One, is God! The LORD, the Mighty One, is God! He knows, and may Israel also know. If this was in rebellion or breach of faith against the LORD, do…
- Psalms 113:3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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On this verse
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, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Eusebius of Caesarea, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:24; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; 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 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.