Isaiah 41:2

Isaiah 41:2 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? he gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow.
• New International Version (NIV)“Who has stirred up one from the east, calling him in righteousness to his service? He hands nations over to him and subdues kings before him. He turns them to dust with his sword, to windblown chaff with his bow.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Who stirred up one from the east whom victory meets at every step? He gives up nations before him, so that he tramples kings underfoot; he makes them like dust with his sword, like driven stubble with his bow.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“Who raised up one from the east? Who in righteousness called him to His feet? Who gave the nations before him, And made him rule over kings? Who gave them as the dust to his sword, As driven stubble to his bow?

Context of Isaiah 41:2

1“Be silent before me, coasts and islands! And let peoples renew their strength. Let them approach; let them testify; let’s come together for the trial. Who has stirred up someone from the east? In righteousness he calls him to serve. The Lord hands nations over to him, and he subdues kings. He makes them like dust with his sword, like wind-driven stubble with his bow. 3He pursues them, going on safely, hardly touching the path with his feet. 4Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I am the Lord, the first and with the last — I am he.”

Isaiah 41:2 word by word

מִ֤י הֵעִיר֙ מִמִּזְרָ֔ח צֶ֖דֶק יִקְרָאֵ֣הוּ לְרַגְל֑וֹ יִתֵּ֨ן לְפָנָ֤יו גּוֹיִם֙ וּמְלָכִ֣ים יַ֔רְדְּ יִתֵּ֤ן כֶּֽעָפָר֙ חַרְבּ֔וֹ כְּקַ֥שׁ נִדָּ֖ף קַשְׁתּֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Who raised upעוּר‛ûr · to rouseH5782
• the righteousצֶ֫דֶקtsedeq · righteousnessH6664
• from the eastמִזְרָחmizrâch · eastH4217
• calledקָרָאqârâ' · to call: call toH7121
• him to his footרֶ֫גֶלregel · footH7272
• gaveנָתַןnâthan · to give: giveH5414
• the nationsגּוֹיgôy gôy · nationH1471
• beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
• ruleרָדָהrâdâh · to ruleH7287
• over kingsמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
• he gaveנָתַןnâthan · to give: doH5414
• as the dustעָפָר‛âphâr · dustH6083
• to his swordחֶ֫רֶבchereb · swordH2719
• as drivenנָדַףnâdaph · to driveH5086
• stubbleקַשׁqash · stubbleH7179
• to his bowקֶ֫שֶׁתqesheth · bowH7198

Cross-references for Isaiah 41:2

• Isaiah 41:25“I have stirred up one from the north, and he has come, one from the east who invokes my name. He will march over rulers as if they were mud, like a potter who treads the clay.
• Isaiah 45:13I have stirred him up in righteousness, and will level all roads for him. He will rebuild my city, and set my exiles free, not for a price or a bribe,” says the Lord of Armies.
• Isaiah 46:11I call a bird of prey from the east, a man for my purpose from a far country. Yes, I have spoken; so I will also bring it about. I have planned it; I will also do it.
• Genesis 11:31Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran’s son), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they set out together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there.
• Genesis 12:1The Lord said to Abram: Go from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
• Genesis 17:1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him, saying, “I am God Almighty. Live in my presence and be blameless.
• Hebrews 11:8By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and set out for a place that he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out, even though he did not know where he was going.
• Isaiah 45:1The Lord says this to Cyrus, his anointed, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him and disarm kings, to open doors before him, and even city gates will not be shut:
• Genesis 14:14When Abram heard that his relative had been taken prisoner, he assembled his 318 trained men, born in his household, and they went in pursuit as far as Dan.
• Ezra 1:2This is what King Cyrus of Persia says: “The Lord, the God of the heavens, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has appointed me to build him a house at Jerusalem in Judah.
• Hebrews 7:1For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of God Most High, met Abraham and blessed him as he returned from defeating the kings,
• Isaiah 41:15See, I will make you into a sharp threshing board, new, with many teeth. You will thresh mountains and pulverize them and make hills into chaff.
• 2 Samuel 22:43I pulverize them like dust of the earth; I crush them and trample them like mud in the streets.
• 2 Kings 13:7Jehoahaz did not have an army left, except for fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers, because the king of Aram had destroyed them, making them like dust at threshing.
• Isaiah 40:24They are barely planted, barely sown, their stem hardly takes root in the ground when he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind carries them away like stubble.

Commentaries on Isaiah 41:2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2The righteous man - The Chaldee and Vulgate seem to have read צדיק tsaddik . But Jerome, though his translation has justum, appears to have read צדק tsedek ; for in his comment he expresses it by justum, sive justitiam. However, I think all interpreters understand it of a person. So the Septuagint in MS. Pachom. , "he hath called him;" but the other copies have , her. They are divided in ascertaining this person; some explain it of Abraham, others of…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2Who raised up - This word (העיר hē‛yr ) is usually applied to the act of arousing one from sleep Zechariah 4:1; then to awake, arouse, or stir up to any enterprise. Here it means, that God had caused the man here referred to, to arouse for the overthrow of their enemies; it was by his agency that he had been led to form the plans which should result in their deliverance. This is the first argument which God urges to induce his people to put confidence in…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2The king from the east was Cyrus, the Persian king who conquered Babylon in 539 BC. He allowed the Jews to return to their land and rebuild Jerusalem in 538 BC (Ezra 1:1–4). Isaiah’s prophecies about Cyrus (Isaiah 44:28–45:13; 48:14–15) encouraged Israel to see the Lord as the ruler over all human history, including the actions of great kings. He hands nations over to him: As victorious as the conquering Cyrus was, he was still subject to the Lord.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. Who--else but God? The fact that God "raiseth up" Cyrus and qualifies him for becoming the conqueror of the nations and deliverer of God's people, is a strong argument why they should trust in Him. The future is here prophetically represented as present or past. the righteous man--Cyrus; as Is 44:28; 45:1-4, 13; 46:11, "from the East," prove. Called "righteous," not so much on account of his own equity [Herodotus, 3.89], as because he fulfilled God's…Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 41:2

• Cyrus
• Persia
• Stubble

In the dictionaries

• Predestination
• Produce
• Apocalyptic Literature
• Gods
• Isaiah
• Philosophy
• Raise
• Isaiah, Book of

Commentaries on Isaiah 41

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings