Isaiah 45:5
in Isaiah 45I am the LORD, and there is no other; there is no God but Me. I will equip you for battle, though you have not known Me,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I am Jehovah, and there is none else; besides me there is no God. I will gird thee, though thou hast not known me;
KJV
I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
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This verse in Isaiah 45
Commentary
10 notes on this verse(Verse 5) I am the Lord, and there is no other: besides me there is no God: I have girded you, and you have not known me. I have equipped you with strength; I have made you conquer many nations, and you did not know your helper. In this respect, I cannot help but be amazed at the foolishness of the readers; that they would refer these things to Christ, through whom the world is reconciled to God. I, says the Lord, and there is no one besides me.
This site's exposition
I will equip you for battle
on Isaiah 45:5-6
Verse 5 restates the trial’s verdict, “I am the LORD, and there is no other”. It repeats the point of verse 4, that Cyrus serves a God he does not know. Verse 6 names the inhabited world as the audience, “from where the sun rises to where it sets”.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
(Chapter 45, Verses 1-7) Thus says the Lord to Cyrus, his anointed one, whom he has taken by the right hand to subdue nations before him and strip the loins of kings, to force gateways before him that their gates be closed no more: I will go before you, and level the mountains; I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron.
[Cyrus] also was a slave to the error of idolatry. Even though he had received kingship from the God of the universe and obtained such great assistance from him, he had not known the dispenser of these benefits. God had nevertheless deemed him worthy, despite …
The Medieval Church2 voices
"I have called you by name, I have surnamed you, though you do not know me." God addresses these words to Cyrus, so as to say, I have honored you to such an extent that, even before you were born, I had made your name …
I girded you, with strength: I called, and you refused (Prov 1:24).
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
No, it was I that girded thee, I whom thou didst not know, nor seek to." By this it appears that the God of Israel is the only true God, that he manages and makes what use he pleases even of those that are strangers to him and pay their homage to other gods.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
I am the Lord, and there is none else,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
46:9). girded thee--whereas "I will loose (the girdle off) the loins of kings" (Isa 45:1), strengthening thee, but enfeebling them before thee. though . . . not known me-- (Isa 45:4). God knows His elect before they are made to know Him (Ga 4:9;
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
I am the Lord ... - (see the notes at Isa 42:8; Isa 43:2; Isa 44:8; Isa 45:14, Isa 45:18, Isa 45:22). I girded thee ... - (see the note at Isa 45:1). The sense is, I girded thee with the girdle - the military belt; I prepared thee, and strengthened thee for war and conquest. Even people who are strangers to the true God are sustained by him, and are unable to accomplish anything without his providential aid.
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֲנִ֤י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | [am] Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וְאֵ֣ין | veein | and there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| ע֔וֹד | od | [is] yet | H5750 → | 490 times |
| זוּלָתִ֖י | zulati | besides me | H2108 → | 16 times |
| אֵ֣ין | ʾein | there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| אֱלֹהִ֑ים | ʾelohim | [is] a god | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אֲאַזֶּרְךָ֖ | ʾaazerkha | I will gird you | H247 → | 16 times |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יְדַעְתָּֽנִי׃ | yeda'tani | you know me | H3045 → | 945 times |
אֲנִ֤יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
יְהוָה֙[am] Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וְאֵ֣יןand there not
veeinH369 →789 times
ע֔וֹד[is] yet
odH5750 →490 times
זוּלָתִ֖יbesides me
zulatiH2108 →16 times
אֵ֣יןthere not
ʾeinH369 →789 times
אֱלֹהִ֑ים[is] a god
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
אֲאַזֶּרְךָ֖I will gird you
ʾaazerkhaH247 →16 times
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
יְדַעְתָּֽנִי׃you know me
yeda'taniH3045 →945 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 44:6Thus says the LORD, the King and Redeemer of Israel, the LORD of Hosts: “I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God but Me.
it leads to
- Isaiah 41:4
Who has performed this and carried it out, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD—the first and the last—I am He.”
- Isaiah 43:10–11
“You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may consider and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me no god was formed,…
- Revelation 1:8
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and was and is to come—the Almighty.
- Revelation 22:13
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
- Isaiah 44:8
Do not tremble or fear. Have I not told you and declared it long ago? You are My witnesses! Is there any God but Me? There is no other Rock; I know not one.”
- Isaiah 41:4
Through
Isaiah 44:8Do not tremble or fear. Have I not told you and declared it long ago? You are My witnesses! Is there any God but Me? There is no other Rock; I know not one.”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 4:35
You were shown these things so that you would know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides Him.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 43:10
“You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may consider and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me no god was formed,…
- Deuteronomy 4:35
Through
Joel 2:27Then you will know that I am present in Israel and that I am the LORD your God, and there is no other. My people will never again be put to shame.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 37:26–28
And I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary among them forever.
- Ezekiel 37:26–28
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ishodad of Merv, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 45:4-6; 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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 14:45.5 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.