Isaiah 42:4

Isaiah 42:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.
• New International Version (NIV)he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his teaching the islands will put their hope.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law.
• New King James Version (NKJV)He will not fail nor be discouraged, Till He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands shall wait for His law.”

Context of Isaiah 42:4

2He will not cry out. He will not shout. He will not speak loudly in the streets. 3He will not hurt weak people, like someone who breaks a weak reed. He will not destroy helpless people, like someone who puts out a weak flame. He will be kind to people, and he will judge them in a fair way. He will remain strong and brave, until he brings justice to the whole world. People who are in lands far away will wait for him to teach them.’ 5The Lord is God. He is the God who created the sky. He hung it up like a curtain. He created the earth and everything that lives on it. He gives life and breath to all the people who live on it. The Lord says to his servant: 6‘I have chosen you to bring righteousness. I will take hold of your hand, and I will keep you safe. Through you, I will make a covenant with my people, and you will bring light to the other nations.

Isaiah 42:4 word by word

לֹ֤א יִכְהֶה֙ וְלֹ֣א יָר֔וּץ עַד־יָשִׂ֥ים בָּאָ֖רֶץ מִשְׁפָּ֑ט וּלְתוֹרָת֖וֹ אִיִּ֥ים יְיַחֵֽילוּ׃ פRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• He shall not failכָּהָהkâhâh · to grow dimH3543
• nor be discouragedרָצַץrâtsats · to crushH7533
• till he have setשׂוּםώûm ώîym · to set: makeH7760
• judgmentמִשְׁפָּטmishpâţ · justiceH4941
• in the earthאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
• and the islesאִי'îy · coastlandH339
• shall waitיָחַלyâchal · to wait: hopeH3176
• for his lawתּוֹרָהtôrâh tôrâh · instructionH8451

Cross-references for Isaiah 42:4

• Isaiah 9:7His authority to rule will be very great. The peace that he brings will never have an end. He will rule as king over David's kingdom. He will make it strong and safe, because he will do what is right and fair. He will rule like that now and for ever. The Lord Almighty will make those things happen, because he loves his people.
• Isaiah 49:5The Lord chose me to be his servant, even before I was born. He chose me to bring Jacob's descendants back to himself. He chose me to bring Israel's people together to serve him. As a result, the Lord will honour me. He is the one who makes me strong. The Lord, my God, says,
• Isaiah 52:13Look! My servant will do well. He will move up to a high place where people will honour him as great.
• Isaiah 53:2God's servant grew up in front of him, like a young, green plant, with its roots in dry ground. He was not handsome. He did not seem like a great king. We did not see him as a special person. There was nothing to see that would make us want to be with him.
• John 17:4I have shown people here on the earth how great you are. In that way, I have finished the work that you gave to me to do.
• Hebrews 12:2As we run, we must always look towards Jesus. He is the one who trusted God completely. Our faith starts with him, and he will help us to trust God all the way to the end. Jesus accepted punishment on the cross. He chose to receive much pain. He did not think about being ashamed to die like that. He knew that God had prepared something very good for him that would make him happy. Now he has sat down at the right side of God to rule with him in heaven.
• 1 Peter 2:22The Bible says this: ‘He never did anything that was wrong. He never said anything that was not true.’
• Isaiah 42:12They should all honour the Lord as he deserves. Those who live in lands far away should praise him for what he has done.
• Isaiah 2:2This is what will happen in the last days. The mountain where the Lord's temple is will continue to be there. It will be the most important mountain of all. It will be higher than all the hills around it. People from every nation will go there all the time.
• Isaiah 11:9Nothing will hurt or destroy anything else anywhere on my holy mountain. Instead, people will know the Lord all over the earth, as water fills the whole sea.
• Isaiah 24:15So people who live in the east should praise the Lord too. People who live on the coast of the sea will also praise the name of the Lord, Israel's God.
• Isaiah 41:5The people on the islands see what I am doing, and they are afraid. People all over the world shake with fear. They join together and they come near.
• Isaiah 55:5Now you will call other nations to come to you. They will be nations that you did not know before. Nations that did not know you before will now run quickly to you. They will come to you, because they see that you are great. The Lord your God, Israel's Holy God, will make people honour you.’
• Isaiah 60:9People from lands across the seas are coming to find me. Their big ships are leading them. They are bringing your children from far away, as well as silver and gold. They come to give honour to the name of the Lord your God. He is Israel's Holy God. They come here because he has shown that you are great.
• Isaiah 66:19I will do a great thing among them, to show them my power. I will send some of the people who are still alive to other nations. They will go to: Tarshish, Libya, Lydia (where their soldiers shoot arrows very well), Tubal, Greece, and lands far away, where people have never heard about me and they do not know how great I am. Those people will tell other nations about my great glory.’
• Genesis 49:10Judah's descendants will always rule as king. They will continue to hold the stick and the sceptre that show the king's authority. They will do that until the man comes who truly has that authority. People from all nations will obey that king.

Commentaries on Isaiah 42:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4He shall not fail nor be discouraged "His force shall not be abated nor broken" - Rabbi Meir ita citat locum istum, ut post ירוץ yaruts, addat כוחו cocho, robur ejus, quod hodie Ilon comparet in textu Hebraeo, sed addendum videtur, ut sensus fiat planior. "Rabbi Meir cites this passage so as to add after ירוץ yarats כוחו cocho, his force, which word is not found in the present Hebrew text, but seems necessary to be added to make the sense more distinct."…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4He shall not fail - He shall not be weak, feeble, or disheartened. However much there may be that shall tend to discourage, yet his purpose is fixed, and he will pursue it with steadiness and ardor until the great work shall be fully accomplished. There may be an allusion in the Hebrew word here (יכהה yı̂kheh ) to that which is applied to the flax (כהה kēhâh ); and the idea may be that he shall not become in his purposes like the smoking, flickering…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4the islands: The nations want justice and guidance on how to achieve it. The servant is like Moses, who received the law. However, the servant is greater because he brings justice to all nations, not just Israel.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. fail--faint; man in religion may become as the almost expiring flax-wick (Is 42:3), but not so He in His purposes of grace. discouraged--literally, "broken," that is, checked in zeal by discouragements (compare Is 49:4, 5). Rosenmuller not so well translates, "He shall not be too slow on the one hand, nor run too hastily on the other." judgment--His true religion, the canon of His judgments and righteous reign. isles ... wait, &c.--The distant lands…Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 42:4

• Church
• Gentiles
• Jesus Continued
• Jesus, the Christ
• Meekness
• Prophecy
• Quotations and Allusions
• Waiting

In the dictionaries

• Ashamed
• Covenant
• Elect
• Island
• Isle
• Prison
• Servant
• Travailing
• Trust
• Christ, Offices of

Commentaries on Isaiah 42

• 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