Isaiah 49:1
in Isaiah 49Listen to Me, O islands; pay attention, O distant peoples: The LORD called Me from the womb; from the body of My mother He named Me.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye peoples, from far: Jehovah hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name:
KJV
Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.
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This verse in Isaiah 49
Commentary
15 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Listen - This is the exordium, or introduction. According to the interpretation which refers it to the Messiah, it is to be regarded as the voice of the Redeemer calling the distant parts of the earth to give a respectful attention to the statement of his qualifications for his work, and to the assurances that his salvation would be extended to them (compare Isa 41:1).
This site's exposition
The LORD called Me from the womb
on Isaiah 49:1-2
The second Servant Song opens to the “islands”. “The LORD called Me from the womb”, a calling like the one at Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you”. The LORD made his mouth “like a sharp sword”, then “hid Me in His quiver”.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
Instead of "after a long time," Symmachus has said, "Lend your ear, O Gentiles, [who come] from afar." The text therefore calls [those of] the islands, the continents and even those who inhabit the extremities [of the earth] to listen to the prophecy. But the …
He calls to "the islands," which we take to be the churches of Christ, just as they are lying in the sea or the waves of this present existence and surrounded by the insulting attacks of "the waves," or the persecutions and afflictions that the enemies of the truth inflict on the churches as they war against the divine call. Concerning these islands the divinely inspired Scripture often speaks. There the blessed David sang a psalm and said, "The Lord reigns, and let the earth be glad and many islands rejoice." So when Christ taking all things in his hands reigned over it from heaven and ejected the demons' tyranny, then did they rejoice, that is, the churches over all the earth were filled with happiness.… [Isaiah] promised that our Savior Jesus Christ would be revealed to everyone and that God as the Word would come on the earth among them in a form "after our likeness." … That this is so, the person of the Savior himself attests, "Out of my mother's womb he called my name." Mixed into these words is a deep and great mystery that requires mystical understanding from above.… For he was and is God the Word, equal and sharing the throne with God the Father, coexisting and coeternal.
Consider how he who was not yet born could have a people, unless he were in being before he was born. The prophet says this in his person, "From my mother's womb he gave me my name"; because the angel foretold that he would be called Jesus. Again, concerning the plots of Herod, he says, "He … concealed me in the shadow of his arm."
(Chapter 49—Verse 1 onwards) Listen, O islands, and pay attention, O peoples from afar: The Lord called me from the womb; from the body of my mother he remembered my name. He made my mouth like a sharpened sword; in the shadow of his hand he protected me. He made me like a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away. And he said to me: You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
The Medieval Church1 voice
896. Give ear, you islands. In this part, he describes more particularly the order of liberation. And concerning this, he does two things: first, the people confess the benefits they received; second, they receive the promise of future benefits, where it says, and I said: …
8 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening6 voices
Some read the words in two clauses: Thou art my servant (so Christ is, ch. xlii. 1 ); it is Israel in whom I will be glorified by thee; it is the spiritual Israel, the elect, in the salvation of whom by Jesus Christ God will be glorified, and his free grace for ever admired.
Christ was to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, that had treacherously departed from him. The seed of Jacob therefore, according to the flesh, must first be dealt with, and means used to bring them back. Christ, and the word of salvation by him, are sent to them first; nay, Christ comes in person to them only, to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
But this is directed to the isles (that is, the Gentiles, for they are called the isles of the Gentiles, Gen. x. 5 ) and to the people from far, that were strangers to the commonwealth of Israel, and afar off.
He is sent to the Gentiles with gracious promises, ver. 5-12. God's love to his church perpetual, ver. 13-17. The ample restoration of the church, and its enlargement, ver. 18-23.
quarantine:anchor (2026-07-29) — cites-ver-13/18-anchored-1-4
Listen - God turns his speech to the Gentiles, and invites them to hearken to those counsels and doctrines which the Jews would reject. Me - Unto Christ: Isaiah speaks these words in the name of Christ.
Listen, O isles, unto me,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
O isles--Messiah is here regarded as having been rejected by the Jews (Isa 49:4, 5), and as now turning to the Gentiles, to whom the Father hath given Him "for a light and salvation." "Isles" mean all regions beyond sea. from the womb-- (Isa 44:2;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Listen, O isles, unto me “Hearken unto me, O ye distant lands” - Hitherto the subject of the prophecy has been chiefly confined to the redemption from the captivity of Babylon; with strong intimations of a more important deliverance sometimes thrown in, to the refutation of idolatry, and the demonstration of the infinite power, wisdom, and foreknowledge of God. The character and office of the Messiah was exhibited in general terms at the beginning of chap. 42.; but here he is introduced in person, declaring the full extent of his commission, which is not only to restore the Israelites, and reconcile them to their Lord and Father, from whom they had so often revolted, but to be a light to lighten the Gentiles, to call them to the knowledge and obedience of the true God, and to bring them to be one Church together with the Israelites, and to partake with them of the same common salvation procured for all by the great Redeemer and Reconciler of man to God.
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שִׁמְע֤וּ | shimu | listen | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אִיִּים֙ | ʾiyim | O islands | H339 → | 36 times |
| אֵלַ֔י | ʾelai | to me | H413 → | 5510 times |
| וְהַקְשִׁ֥יבוּ | vehakshivu | and pay attention | H7181 → | 46 times |
| לְאֻמִּ֖ים | leumim | O peoples | H3816 → | 31 times |
| מֵרָח֑וֹק | merachok | from a distance | H7350 → | 84 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| מִבֶּ֣טֶן | mibeten | from [the] womb | H990 → | 72 times |
| קְרָאָ֔נִי | keraani | he called me | H7121 → | 733 times |
| מִמְּעֵ֥י | mimeei | from [the] inward parts of | H4578 → | 32 times |
| אִמִּ֖י | ʾimi | mother my | H517 → | 220 times |
| הִזְכִּ֥יר | hizkir | he has brought to remembrance | H2142 → | 230 times |
| שְׁמִֽי׃ | shemi | name my | H8034 → | 864 times |
שִׁמְע֤וּlisten
shimuH8085 →1159 times
אִיִּים֙O islands
ʾiyimH339 →36 times
אֵלַ֔יto me
ʾelaiH413 →5510 times
וְהַקְשִׁ֥יבוּand pay attention
vehakshivuH7181 →46 times
לְאֻמִּ֖יםO peoples
leumimH3816 →31 times
מֵרָח֑וֹקfrom a distance
merachokH7350 →84 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
מִבֶּ֣טֶןfrom [the] womb
mibetenH990 →72 times
קְרָאָ֔נִיhe called me
keraaniH7121 →733 times
מִמְּעֵ֥יfrom [the] inward parts of
mimeeiH4578 →32 times
אִמִּ֖יmother my
ʾimiH517 →220 times
הִזְכִּ֥ירhe has brought to remembrance
hizkirH2142 →230 times
שְׁמִֽי׃name my
shemiH8034 →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 44:2This is the word of the LORD, your Maker, who formed you from the womb and who will help you: “Do not be afraid, O Jacob My servant, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 1:5
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 43:1
Now this is what the LORD says— He who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your…
- Isaiah 46:3–4
“Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been sustained from the womb, carried along since birth.
- 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,
- Isaiah 43:7
everyone called by My name and created for My glory, whom I have indeed formed and made.”
- Jeremiah 1:5
Through
Jeremiah 1:5“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
it leads to
- Psalms 139:16
Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be.
- Isaiah 49:5
And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, that Israel might be gathered to Him—for I am honored in the sight…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Galatians 1:15–16
But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace, was pleased
- Psalms 139:16
Where this verse is studied
About Isaiah
This page draws on 13 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); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 4:4.49:1-3; Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 10:12; 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; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 15:49.1 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.