Isaiah 50:5
in Isaiah 50The Lord GOD has opened My ears, and I have not been rebellious, nor have I turned back.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The Lord Jehovah hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away backward.
KJV
The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.
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This verse in Isaiah 50
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThe Lord God has opened my ear, to understand: I will hear what the Lord God will speak in me (Ps 84:9[85:8]); one is your master, Christ (Matt 23:10). Second, he gives himself as an example as to obedience, setting out his perfect obedience: and …
This site's exposition
The Lord GOD has opened My ears
“The Lord GOD has opened My ears, and I have not been rebellious”. The servant’s obedience answers the daily waking of verse 4. John Gill sets beside it the servant of Exodus 21:6, whose master would “pierce his ear with an awl” for service “for life”.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter 50—Verse 4 and following) The Lord has given me a learned tongue, so that I may sustain with words the weary. He awakens me morning by morning, awakens my ear as a master. The Lord God has opened my ear; I do not resist, I do not turn back. I offered my body to the ones striking me, and my cheeks to those plucking my beard. I did not turn my face away from those reproaching and spitting.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The Lord God hath opened mine ear,.... To hear most freely, and receive most fully, what is said by him, and to observe and do it: the allusion seems to be to the servant that had his ears bored, being willing to serve his master for ever, Exo 21:5 which phrase of boring or opening the ear is used of Christ, Psa 40:6. It is expressive of his voluntary obedience, as Mediator, to his divine Father, engaging in, and performing with the greatest readiness and cheerfulness, the great work of man's redemption and salvation.
We have no reason to question but that the prophet Isaiah went on resolutely in the work to which God had called him, though we read not of his undergoing any such hardships as are here supposed; but we are sure that the prediction was abundantly verified in Jesus Christ: and here we have, 1.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The Lord God hath opened mine ear - This is another expression denoting that he was attentive to the import of the divine commission (see Psa 40:6). And I was not rebellious - I willingly undertook the task of communicating the divine will to mankind. The statement here is in accordance with all that is said of the Messiah, that he was willing to come and do the will of God, and that whatever trials the work involved he was prepared to meet them (see Psa 40:6-8; compare Heb 10:4-10).
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Isa 48:8); that is, hath made me obediently attentive (but MAURER, "hath informed me of my duty"), as a servant to his master (compare Ps 40:6-8, with Php 2:7; Lu 22:27). not rebellious--but, on the contrary, most willing to do the Father's will in proclaiming and procuring salvation for man, at the cost of His own sufferings (Heb 10:5-10).
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3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2827: “The Redeemer Described by Himself” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
WE spent this morning at the foot of the Cross. [Sermon #1362, Volume 23—MOURNING FOR CHRIST] I hope that some of us, at least, were helped by the Spirit of Grace and of Supplication to look unto Him whom we have pierced by our sins, and to "mourn for Him, as one mourns for his only son."
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2827: “The Redeemer Described by Himself” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
WE spent this morning at the foot of the Cross. [Sermon #1362, Volume 23—MOURNING FOR CHRIST] I hope that some of us, at least, were helped by the Spirit of Grace and of Supplication to look unto Him whom we have pierced by our sins, and to "mourn for Him, as one mourns for his only son." I thought that as we then found it so good to be there, we would go there, again, the more especially as we are afterwards to gather around the Communion Table where we shall again be reminded of the sacrificial death which the sacred Supper so clearly symbolizes. Let us come, then, under the guidance of God's Holy Spirit, very near to our Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that the Spirit of Christ may aid our meditations while I try, once more, to speak about His glorious and matchless Person, and the wondrous condescension which made Him undertake such gracious offices on our behalf and bear for us such awful and shameful griefs. I shall need no further preface to my discourse except to say that in my opinion these verses run on without any break, so that you are not to separate them and ascribe one to the Prophet, another to the Messiah, and another to Jehovah, Himself, but you must take the whole as the utterance of one Divine Person. That Jehovah-Jesus is the One who is speaking here is very clear from the last verse of the previous chapter—"I the Lord" ("I, Jehovah," it is,) "am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob." It is Jehovah, as the Savior and Redeemer of His people, who is here manifesting Himself to us—and we must take the whole chapter as being uttered by Him. I.
Neither turned away back “Neither did I withdraw myself backward” - Eleven MSS. and the oldest edition prefix the conjunction ו vau; and so also the Septuagint and Syriac.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
gave me a tongue for teaching Isaiah was saying, The Lord sent me and gave me a tongue fit to teach, in order to know to establish a time for the faint and thirsty to hear the words of the Holy One, blessed be He.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֲדֹנָ֤י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| יְהוִה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3069 → | 306 times |
| פָּתַֽח־ | patach- | he has opened | H6605 → | 144 times |
| לִ֣י | li | of me | ||
| אֹ֔זֶן | ʾozen | ear | H241 → | 187 times |
| וְאָנֹכִ֖י | veanokhi | and I | H595 → | 359 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| מָרִ֑יתִי | mariti | I have been rebellious | H4784 → | 45 times |
| אָח֖וֹר | ʾachor | backwards | H268 → | 41 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| נְסוּגֹֽתִי׃ | nesugoti | I have turned back | H5472 → |
אֲדֹנָ֤י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
יְהוִה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3069 →306 times
פָּתַֽח־he has opened
patach-H6605 →144 times
לִ֣יof me
li
אֹ֔זֶןear
ʾozenH241 →187 times
וְאָנֹכִ֖יand I
veanokhiH595 →359 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
מָרִ֑יתִיI have been rebellious
maritiH4784 →45 times
אָח֖וֹרbackwards
ʾachorH268 →41 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
נְסוּגֹֽתִי׃I have turned back
nesugotiH5472 →
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 35:5Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
it leads to
- Isaiah 42:6–7
“I, the LORD, have called you for a righteous purpose, and I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and appoint you to be a covenant for the people and a…
- Luke 7:20–23
When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to ask, ‘Are You the One who was to come, or should we look for someone else?’”
- Isaiah 29:18
On that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of the deep darkness the eyes of the blind will see.
- Matthew 11:3–5
to ask Him, “Are You the One who was to come, or should we look for someone else?”
- Isaiah 32:3–4
Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen.
- Isaiah 42:6–7
Through
Philippians 2:8And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.
it leads to
- John 10:18
No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This charge I have received…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- John 10:18
Through
Hebrews 5:8Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from what He suffered.
it leads to
- Philippians 2:8
And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- John 4:34
Jesus explained, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Philippians 2:8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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 on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2827: “The Redeemer Described by Himself” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); 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 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.