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Identify the explicit claims before importing later doctrine or assumptions.
ISAIAH • CHAPTER 42
Isaiah 42
Judgment, holiness, Jerusalem, Assyria, exile, restoration, the servant songs, hope, nations, and new creation.
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Isaiah 42
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1
“Behold, my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights:
I have put my Spirit on him.
He will bring justice to the nations.
my chosen, in whom my soul delights:
I have put my Spirit on him.
He will bring justice to the nations.
2
He will not shout,
nor raise his voice,
nor cause it to be heard in the street.
nor raise his voice,
nor cause it to be heard in the street.
3
He won’t break a bruised reed.
He won’t quench a dimly burning wick.
He will faithfully bring justice.
He won’t quench a dimly burning wick.
He will faithfully bring justice.
4
He will not fail nor be discouraged,
until he has set justice in the earth,
and the islands wait for his law.”
until he has set justice in the earth,
and the islands wait for his law.”
5
God Yahweh,
he who created the heavens and stretched them out,
he who spread out the earth and that which comes out of it,
he who gives breath to its people and spirit to those who walk in it, says:
he who created the heavens and stretched them out,
he who spread out the earth and that which comes out of it,
he who gives breath to its people and spirit to those who walk in it, says:
6
“I, Yahweh, have called you in righteousness.
I will hold your hand.
I will keep you,
and make you a covenant for the people,
as a light for the nations,
I will hold your hand.
I will keep you,
and make you a covenant for the people,
as a light for the nations,
7
to open the blind eyes,
to bring the prisoners out of the dungeon,
and those who sit in darkness out of the prison.
to bring the prisoners out of the dungeon,
and those who sit in darkness out of the prison.
8
“I am Yahweh.
That is my name.
I will not give my glory to another,
nor my praise to engraved images.
That is my name.
I will not give my glory to another,
nor my praise to engraved images.
9
Behold, the former things have happened
and I declare new things.
I tell you about them before they come up.”
and I declare new things.
I tell you about them before they come up.”
10
Sing to Yahweh a new song,
and his praise from the end of the earth,
you who go down to the sea,
and all that is therein,
the islands and their inhabitants.
and his praise from the end of the earth,
you who go down to the sea,
and all that is therein,
the islands and their inhabitants.
11
Let the wilderness and its cities raise their voices,
with the villages that Kedar inhabits.
Let the inhabitants of Sela sing.
Let them shout from the top of the mountains!
with the villages that Kedar inhabits.
Let the inhabitants of Sela sing.
Let them shout from the top of the mountains!
12
Let them give glory to Yahweh,
and declare his praise in the islands.
and declare his praise in the islands.
13
Yahweh will go out like a mighty man.
He will stir up zeal like a man of war.
He will raise a war cry.
Yes, he will shout aloud.
He will triumph over his enemies.
He will stir up zeal like a man of war.
He will raise a war cry.
Yes, he will shout aloud.
He will triumph over his enemies.
14
“I have been silent a long time.
I have been quiet and restrained myself.
Now I will cry out like a travailing woman. I will both gasp and pant.
I have been quiet and restrained myself.
Now I will cry out like a travailing woman. I will both gasp and pant.
15
I will destroy mountains and hills,
and dry up all their herbs.
I will make the rivers islands,
and will dry up the pools.
and dry up all their herbs.
I will make the rivers islands,
and will dry up the pools.
16
I will bring the blind by a way that they don’t know.
I will lead them in paths that they don’t know.
I will make darkness light before them,
and crooked places straight.
I will do these things,
and I will not forsake them.
I will lead them in paths that they don’t know.
I will make darkness light before them,
and crooked places straight.
I will do these things,
and I will not forsake them.
17
“Those who trust in engraved images,
who tell molten images,
‘You are our gods,’
will be turned back.
They will be utterly disappointed.
who tell molten images,
‘You are our gods,’
will be turned back.
They will be utterly disappointed.
18
“Hear, you deaf,
and look, you blind,
that you may see.
and look, you blind,
that you may see.
19
Who is blind, but my servant?
Or who is as deaf as my messenger whom I send?
Who is as blind as he who is at peace,
and as blind as Yahweh’s servant?
Or who is as deaf as my messenger whom I send?
Who is as blind as he who is at peace,
and as blind as Yahweh’s servant?
20
You see many things, but don’t observe.
His ears are open, but he doesn’t listen.
His ears are open, but he doesn’t listen.
21
It pleased Yahweh, for his righteousness’ sake, to magnify the law
and make it honorable.
and make it honorable.
22
But this is a robbed and plundered people.
All of them are snared in holes,
and they are hidden in prisons.
They have become captives, and no one delivers,
and a plunder, and no one says, ‘Restore them!’
All of them are snared in holes,
and they are hidden in prisons.
They have become captives, and no one delivers,
and a plunder, and no one says, ‘Restore them!’
23
Who is there among you who will give ear to this?
Who will listen and hear for the time to come?
Who will listen and hear for the time to come?
24
Who gave Jacob as plunder,
and Israel to the robbers?
Didn’t Yahweh, he against whom we have sinned?
For they would not walk in his ways,
and they disobeyed his law.
and Israel to the robbers?
Didn’t Yahweh, he against whom we have sinned?
For they would not walk in his ways,
and they disobeyed his law.
25
Therefore he poured the fierceness of his anger on him,
and the strength of battle.
It set him on fire all around, but he didn’t know.
It burned him, but he didn’t take it to heart.”
and the strength of battle.
It set him on fire all around, but he didn’t know.
It burned him, but he didn’t take it to heart.”
PROPHETIC
Where this chapter fits
Isaiah uses prophetic or apocalyptic language shaped by political crisis, judgment, hope, symbolic imagery, and expectations about God's action in history.
Chapter numbers were added long after the biblical books were written.
Read this chapter together with what comes immediately before and after it.
ANCIENT TEXT, MODERN QUESTIONS
Historical claims should be compared with historical evidence.
Scientific claims should be compared with science.
Moral claims should be examined morally.
Theological claims require theological and philosophical argument.
QUESTIONS WORTH ASKING
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What kind of literature is this?
Narrative, poetry, prophecy, law, letters, wisdom, and apocalypse communicate differently.
What historical evidence matters?
Ask whether names, places, institutions, events, customs, and chronology can be independently investigated.
What are the strongest competing interpretations?
Compare serious Jewish, Christian, academic, and skeptical readings rather than caricatures.
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