Isaiah 52:5
in Isaiah 52And now what have I here? declares the LORD. For My people have been taken without cause; those who rule them taunt, declares the LORD, and My name is blasphemed continually all day long.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now therefore, what do I here, saith Jehovah, seeing that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them do howl, saith Jehovah, and my name continually all the day is blasphemed.
KJV
Now therefore, what have I here, saith the Lord, that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them make them to howl, saith the Lord; and my name continually every day is blasphemed.
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This verse in Isaiah 52
Commentary
12 notes on this verse(Verse 4 and following) Because thus says the Lord God: My people went down into Egypt at the beginning, to dwell there as strangers: and Assur without any cause has oppressed them. And now what have I here, says the Lord? For my people have been taken away for nothing: their rulers have acted unjustly, says the Lord, and my name is constantly blasphemed all day long. Therefore, on that day my people shall know my name, because I myself am the one who spoke, behold, I am here.
This site's exposition
went down to Egypt to live
on Isaiah 52:4-6
Verse 4 recalls two oppressions, Egypt at first and Assyria after, both “without cause” on Israel's part. Verse 5 sets the present exile beside them. Verse 6 answers they “will know on that day that I am He who speaks”, the “I am He” of this half of the book.
This site's exposition
those who rule them taunt
Barnes takes here to mean Babylon, where the people taken without cause needed the LORD to act as in Egypt and against Assyria. Jerome's text has the rulers acting unjustly where the Berean has them taunt. The blasphemy falls on the LORD's own name.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
Furthermore, according to the anagogical sense, we can say that the people of God of this age willingly descend into Egypt when they are more lovers of pleasures than of God, and do not heed that prophetic message: Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help (Isaiah 31:1). When someone is stained with vices and dwells in a place of waters and rivers, not having the dryness of chastity, then they will be violently handed over to the Assyrians to be ruled by them, who will later accuse and convict them of sin.
For he said, "I found nothing here among them," as was made clear in the earlier passage, "Why did I come, and there was no one? Why did I call, and there was none to hear?" However, earlier they were violently led away as captives, first by the Egyptians and then by the Assyrians, and were given over on account of their sins. But now they have been taken away for nothing, "as a gazelle caught in a net," by hunters of souls who trap them with nets of wickedness.
There is indeed a blasphemy that we must avoid completely, namely, that any of us should give a pagan any cause for blasphemy by deceit or injury or insult or some other matter justifying complaint in which the Name is deservedly blamed, so that the Lord is deservedly angry. But if the words "because of you my name is blasphemed" cover every blasphemy, then we are all lost, since the whole culture assails the Name, for no fault of ours, with its wicked outcries.… Our name is blessed when we are cursed for keeping our discipline.
The name of God is in its nature holy, whether we say so or not; but since it is sometimes profaned among sinners, according to the words, "Through you my name is continually blasphemed among the Gentiles," we pray that in us God's name may be hallowed; not that it comes to be holy from our being holy but because it becomes holy in us, when we are made holy and do things worthy of holiness.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Second, he pronounces the sentence: for my people is taken away, from their own land; they that rule over them, who have usurped dominion to themselves, namely, the Chaldeans; and, because, my name is continually blasphemed, as though I could not free my people: I …
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Now therefore what have I here, saith the Lord, that my people is taken away for nought?.... Or what do I get by it, that my people should be taken and held in captivity without cause? I am no gainer, but a loser by it, as it afterwards appears; and therefore why should I sit still, and delay the deliverance of my people any longer? but as I have delivered Israel out of Egypt, and the Jews from Babylon, so will I deliver my people out of mystical Babylon, spiritually called Sodom and Egypt.
God is not worshipped as he used to be in Jerusalem, his altar there is gone and his temple in ruins; but if, in lieu of that, he were more and better worshipped in Babylon, either by the captives or by the natives, it were another matter--God might be looked upon as in some respects a gainer in his honour by it; but, alas! it is not so.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Now, therefore, what have I here? - In Babylon, referring to the captivity of the Jews there. The idea is, that a state of things existed there which demanded his interposition as really as it did when his people had been oppressed by the Egyptians, or by the Assyrian. His people had been taken away for nought; they were subject to cruel oppressions; and his own name was continually blasphemed.
They that rule over them “They that are lords over them” - For משלו moshelo, singular, in the text, more than a hundred and twenty MSS. (De Rossi says, codices innumeri, “numberless copies”) have משליו moshelaiv plural, according to the Masoretical correction in the margin; which shows that the Masoretes often superstitiously retained apparent mistakes in the text, even when they had sufficient evidence to authorize the introduction of the true reading. Make them to howl “Make their boast of it” - For יהילילו yeheililu, “make them to howl,” five MSS., (two ancient), have יהללו yehalelu, “make their boast;” which is confirmed by the Chaldee paraphrast, who renders it משתבחין mishtabbechin. Ulaloo is not only the cry itself, but also the name of the funeral song of the Irish. The Arabs have a cry very much resembling this.
The words behind it
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְעַתָּ֤ה | veatah | and therefore | H6258 → | 433 times |
| מַה־ | mi- | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| לִּי | li- | [belongs] to me | ||
| פֹה֙ | foh | here | H6311 → | 82 times |
| נְאֻם־ | neum- | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לֻקַּ֥ח | lukach | it was taken | H3947 → | 966 times |
| עַמִּ֖י | ʾami | people my | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| חִנָּ֑ם | chinam | for nothing | H2600 → | |
| מֹשְׁלָ֤יו | moshelov | rulers its | H4910 → | 81 times |
| יְהֵילִ֙ילוּ֙ | yeheililu | they wail | H3213 → | 30 times |
| נְאֻם־ | neum- | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וְתָמִ֥יד | vetamid | and continually | H8548 → | 104 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַיּ֖וֹם | haiyom | the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| שְׁמִ֥י | shemi | name my | H8034 → | 864 times |
| מִנֹּאָֽץ׃ | minoatz | [is] reviled | H5006 → | 25 times |
וְעַתָּ֤הand therefore
veatahH6258 →433 times
מַה־what?
mi-H4100 →752 times
לִּי[belongs] to me
li-
פֹה֙here
fohH6311 →82 times
נְאֻם־[the] utterance of
neum-H5002 →376 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
כִּֽי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
לֻקַּ֥חit was taken
lukachH3947 →966 times
עַמִּ֖יpeople my
ʾamiH5971 →1873 times
חִנָּ֑םfor nothing
chinamH2600 →
מֹשְׁלָ֤יוrulers its
moshelovH4910 →81 times
יְהֵילִ֙ילוּ֙they wail
yeheililuH3213 →30 times
נְאֻם־[the] utterance of
neum-H5002 →376 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וְתָמִ֥ידand continually
vetamidH8548 →104 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הַיּ֖וֹםthe day
haiyomH3117 →2304 times
שְׁמִ֥יname my
shemiH8034 →864 times
מִנֹּאָֽץ׃[is] reviled
minoatzH5006 →25 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
Romans 2:24As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
it leads to
- Ezekiel 36:20–23
And wherever they went among the nations, they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD, yet they had to leave His land.’
- 2 Peter 2:2
Many will follow in their depravity, and because of them the way of truth will be defamed.
- Ezekiel 36:20–23
Through
Isaiah 47:6I was angry with My people; I profaned My heritage, and I placed them under your control. You showed them no mercy; even on the elderly you laid a most heavy yoke.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 28:9
But a prophet of the LORD named Oded was there, and he went out to meet the army that returned to Samaria. “Look,” he said to them, “because of His wrath against Judah, the…
- Zechariah 1:15
but I am fiercely angry with the nations that are at ease. For I was a little angry, but they have added to the calamity.’
- Deuteronomy 28:50
a ruthless nation with no respect for the old and no pity for the young.
- Obadiah 1:10
Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame and cut off forever.
- James 2:13
For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
- 2 Chronicles 28:9
Through
Lamentations 1:21People have heard my groaning, but there is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that You have caused it. May You bring the day…
it leads to
- Lamentations 1:8
Jerusalem has sinned greatly; therefore she has become an object of scorn. All who honored her now despise her, for they have seen her nakedness; she herself groans and turns away.
- Lamentations 1:8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Isaiah
This page draws on 11 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); Cyril of Jerusalem, MYSTAGOGICAL LECTURES 5:12; Eusebius of Caesarea, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:40; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; 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; Tertullian, ON IDOLATRY 7:14 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.