Isaiah 48:2
in Isaiah 48who indeed call yourselves after the holy city and lean on the God of Israel; the LORD of Hosts is His name.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
(for they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; Jehovah of hosts is his name):
KJV
For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The Lord of hosts is his name.
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This verse in Isaiah 48
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
For they call themselves of the holy city - Of Jerusalem (see Isa 52:1; Neh 11:1; Mat 4:5; Mat 27:53; Rev. 21:2-27). The word rendered ‘for’ here, (כי kı̂y) means, as it often does, “although”; and the sense is, although they call themselves of the holy city, they do not worship God in sincerity and truth. Jerusalem was called ‘the holy city,’ because the temple, the ark, and the symbol of the divine presence were there, and it was the place where God was worshipped.
This site's exposition
Listen to this, O house of Jacob
on Isaiah 48:1-2
“Listen to this, O house of Jacob” turns the trial on the people. They “swear by the name of the LORD” as they “invoke the God of Israel”, and the charge follows, “but not in truth or righteousness”. The oath and the confession stand while truth and righteousness are absent.
This site's exposition
call yourselves after the holy city
Barnes takes the opening word in the sense of although, so the verse extends the charge of verse 1. The holy city was Jerusalem, called holy for the temple, the ark and the presence of God there. Their claim leaned on that presence.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter 48, Verses 1 and following) Listen to this, house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and come from the waters of Judah: who swear in the name of the Lord, and remember the God of Israel, not in truth or justice. For they are called from the holy city: and they are established upon the Lord, the name of the God of Israel. These things I foretold to the Chaldeans and the Babylonians, and it is necessary for what I have spoken through my prophets to be fulfilled.
The Medieval Church1 voice
884. Hear these things, O house of Jacob. Here he promises the liberation of the people. And this is divided into two parts: in the first, he promises liberation; in the second, he describes the order of liberation, below: give ear, you islands (Isa 49:1). …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Though - They glory that they are citizens of Jerusalem, a city sanctified by God, to be the place of his true worship, and gracious presence. And stay - Not by a true faith, but a vain confidence.
For they call themselves of the holy city,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Hearken to this The two tribes destined to go in exile to 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
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| מֵעִ֤יר | meir | from [the] city of | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| הַקֹּ֙דֶשׁ֙ | hakodesh | <the> holiness | H6944 → | 469 times |
| נִקְרָ֔אוּ | nikrau | they have called themselves | H7121 → | 733 times |
| וְעַל־ | veal- | and on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֥י | ʾelohei | [the] God of | H430 → | 2601 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| נִסְמָ֑כוּ | nismakhu | they have supported themselves | H5564 → | 48 times |
| יְהוָ֥ה | yahweh | [is] Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| צְבָא֖וֹת | tzevaot | of hosts | H6635 → | 485 times |
| שְׁמֽוֹ׃ ס | shemo | name his | H8034 → | 864 times |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
מֵעִ֤ירfrom [the] city of
meirH5892 →1090 times
הַקֹּ֙דֶשׁ֙<the> holiness
hakodeshH6944 →469 times
נִקְרָ֔אוּthey have called themselves
nikrauH7121 →733 times
וְעַל־and on
veal-H5921 →5755 times
אֱלֹהֵ֥י[the] God of
ʾeloheiH430 →2601 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
נִסְמָ֑כוּthey have supported themselves
nismakhuH5564 →48 times
יְהוָ֥ה[is] Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
צְבָא֖וֹתof hosts
tzevaotH6635 →485 times
שְׁמֽוֹ׃ סname his
shemoH8034 →864 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 52:1Awake, awake, clothe yourself with strength, O Zion! Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, holy city! For the uncircumcised and unclean will no longer enter you.
it leads to
- Revelation 21:27
But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who practices an abomination or a lie, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
- Isaiah 51:17
Awake, awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of His fury; you who have drained the goblet to the dregs—the cup that makes men…
- Zechariah 3:4
So the angel said to those standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes!” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have removed your iniquity, and I will clothe you with splendid robes.”
- Revelation 21:2
I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
- Isaiah 51:9
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD. Wake up as in days past, as in generations of old. Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced through the…
- Revelation 21:27
Through
Micah 3:11Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 6:13
“For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all practice deceit.
- Isaiah 1:23
Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love bribes and chasing after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, and the plea of the widow never comes before them.
- Micah 3:5
This is what the LORD says: “As for the prophets who lead My people astray, who proclaim peace while they chew with their teeth, but declare war against one who puts nothing in their…
- Jeremiah 6:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Isaiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; 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.