Isaiah 51:9
in Isaiah 51Awake, 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 dragon?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of Jehovah; awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Is it not thou that didst cut Rahab in pieces, that didst pierce the monster?
KJV
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?
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This verse in Isaiah 51
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Awake, awake - This verse commences a new subject (see the analysis of the chapter). It is the solemn and impassioned entreaty of those who were in exile that God would interpose in their behalf, as he did in behalf of his people when they were suffering in cruel bondage in Egypt. The word ‘awake’ here, which is addressed to the arm of Jehovah, is a petition that it might be roused from its apparent stupor and inactivity, and its power exerted in their behalf.
This site's exposition
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD
on Isaiah 51:9-10
The prayer calls the arm of the LORD to wake, naming the one “who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced through the dragon”. Verse 10 tells the deed plainly, the sea dried up. Isaiah 30:7 uses Rahab as a name for Egypt, so the exodus is told twice.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
According to the Hebrew, it is not Jerusalem but the arm of the Lord that has to put on strength. This relates to what we spoke about above [v. 5], about the nations hoping in "my arm." For we have said that the divinity of the Word is signified here, since he urges the people not to fear the rebuke of human beings or to be affected by their filth, and in the same way here it is right to see in the person of the people a prayer being sent to the "arm of the Lord" to rouse himself and overcome the enemies of his people. For we confess we are nothing unless you rise up and overcome on our behalf.
He addresses these words as if [Jerusalem] had fallen and were prone on the ground, and he invites it to take up again its power of other times. "Awake as in the early time, as the ancient generation." Renew yourself, he says, and become again …
(Vers. 9 seqq.) Arise, arise; put on the strength of the arm of the Lord. Arise as in the days of old, in the generations of ages. Have you not struck down the proud, wounded the dragon? Have you not dried up the sea, the water of the great abyss, who made the depths of the sea a path, so that the redeemed might pass over?
The Medieval Church1 voice
929. Arise. Here the discussion of the prophet with God is set out, as if to say: I have not contended that the enemies of the people are confounded or consumed otherwise than by divine strength. Thus, first, the petition of the prophet is set …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The arm of the Lord is Christ, or it is put for God himself, as Ps. xliv. Awake! why sleepest thou? He that keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps; but, when we pray that he would awake, we mean that he would make it to appear that he watches over his people and is always awake to do them good.
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Impassioned prayer of the exiled Jews. ancient days-- (Ps 44:1). Rahab--poetical name for Egypt (see on Isa 30:7). dragon--Hebrew, tannin. The crocodile, an emblem of Egypt, as represented on coins struck after the conquest of Egypt by Augustus; or rather here, "its king," Pharaoh (see on Isa 27:1;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Was it not for thy sake, O congregation of Israel, that I dried up the sea, the water of the great deep, I made the depth of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?
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. 3 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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עוּרִ֨י | ʾuri | awake | H5782 → | 80 times |
| עוּרִ֤י | ʾuri | awake | H5782 → | 80 times |
| לִבְשִׁי־ | livshi- | put on | H3847 → | 110 times |
| עֹז֙ | ʾoz | strength | H5797 → | 92 times |
| זְר֣וֹעַ | zeroa' | O arm of | H2220 → | 91 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| ע֚וּרִי | ʾuri | awake | H5782 → | 80 times |
| כִּ֣ימֵי | kimei | like days of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| קֶ֔דֶם | kedem | antiquity | H6924 → | 87 times |
| דֹּר֖וֹת | dorot | generations of | H1755 → | 167 times |
| עוֹלָמִ֑ים | olamim | antiquiti<es> | H5769 → | 438 times |
| הֲל֥וֹא | halo' | ¿ not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אַתְּ־ | ʾat- | [are] you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| הִ֛יא | hi' | she | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| הַמַּחְצֶ֥בֶת | hamachtzevet | who cut in pieces | H2672 → | 25 times |
| רַ֖הַב | rahav | Rahab | H7294 → | |
| מְחוֹלֶ֥לֶת | mecholelet | [who] pierced | H2490 → | 143 times |
| תַּנִּֽין׃ | tanin | [the] sea monster | H8577 → | 28 times |
עוּרִ֨יawake
ʾuriH5782 →80 times
עוּרִ֤יawake
ʾuriH5782 →80 times
לִבְשִׁי־put on
livshi-H3847 →110 times
עֹז֙strength
ʾozH5797 →92 times
זְר֣וֹעַO arm of
zeroa'H2220 →91 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
ע֚וּרִיawake
ʾuriH5782 →80 times
כִּ֣ימֵיlike days of
kimeiH3117 →2304 times
קֶ֔דֶםantiquity
kedemH6924 →87 times
דֹּר֖וֹתgenerations of
dorotH1755 →167 times
עוֹלָמִ֑יםantiquiti<es>
olamimH5769 →438 times
הֲל֥וֹא¿ not
halo'H3808 →5168 times
אַתְּ־[are] you
ʾat-H859 →1094 times
הִ֛יאshe
hi'H1931 →1879 times
הַמַּחְצֶ֥בֶתwho cut in pieces
hamachtzevetH2672 →25 times
רַ֖הַבRahab
rahavH7294 →
מְחוֹלֶ֥לֶת[who] pierced
mecholeletH2490 →143 times
תַּנִּֽין׃[the] sea monster
taninH8577 →28 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.
- Revelation 21:27
Through
Isaiah 27:1In that day the LORD will take His sharp, great, and mighty sword, and bring judgment on Leviathan the fleeing serpent—Leviathan the coiling serpent—and He will slay the dragon of the sea.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 29:3
Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies among his rivers, who says,…
- Isaiah 66:16
For by fire and by His sword, the LORD will execute judgment on all flesh, and many will be slain by the LORD.
- Revelation 12:3
Then another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon with seven heads, ten horns, and seven royal crowns on his heads.
- Job 26:13
By His breath the skies were cleared; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent.
- Ezekiel 29:3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this verse
About Isaiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
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); Eusebius of Caesarea, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:39; 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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 16:51.9 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.