Isaiah 51:2

Isaiah 51:2 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.
• New International Version (NIV)look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth. When I called him he was only one man, and I blessed him and made him many.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I called him, that I might bless him and multiply him.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Look to Abraham your father, And to Sarah who bore you; For I called him alone, And blessed him and increased him.”

Context of Isaiah 51:2

1‘Listen to me, you people who want to do what is right. You people who want to serve the Lord, listen to me! Think about the rock that you are a part of. Think about the ground that they dug you out from. You all started from your ancestor Abraham, and his wife Sarah. When I first spoke to Abraham, he had no children. But I blessed him, so that he had many descendants.’ 3Surely, the Lord will comfort Zion's people. He will take care of the buildings that enemies have destroyed. Zion's land that is now a wilderness will become like the beautiful Garden of Eden. It will be the Lord's own garden! People will be happy again in Zion. They will sing with joy to thank God. 4‘Listen to me, my people. Listen carefully, my nation. I will tell all people about my laws. I will cause my justice to be like a light to all nations.

Isaiah 51:2 word by word

הַבִּ֙יטוּ֙ אֶל־אַבְרָהָ֣ם אֲבִיכֶ֔ם וְאֶל־שָׂרָ֖ה תְּחוֹלֶלְכֶ֑ם כִּי־אֶחָ֣ד קְרָאתִ֔יו וַאֲבָרְכֵ֖הוּ וְאַרְבֵּֽהוּ׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Lookנָבַטnâbaţ · to lookH5027
• unto Abrahamאַבְרָהָם'abrâhâm · AbrahamH85
• your fatherאָב'âb · fatherH1
• and unto Sarahשָׂרָהώârâh · SarahH8283
• bareחוּלchûl chîyl · to twist: give birthH2342
• you: for I calledקָרָאqârâ' · to call: call toH7121
• him aloneאֶחָד'echâd · oneH259
• and blessedבָּרַךְbârak · to blessH1288
• him, and increasedרָבָהrâbâh · to multiplyH7235

Cross-references for Isaiah 51:2

• Genesis 15:1After this, the Lord spoke to Abram in a dream. God said, ‘Do not be afraid Abram. I will keep you safe. I myself will give you many good gifts.’
• Genesis 18:11Abraham and Sarah were now very old. Sarah was past the age when she could give birth to a child.
• Joshua 24:3But I took Abraham, your ancestor, away from that land beyond the Euphrates river. I brought him here and I led him through all the land of Canaan. I gave him many descendants. I gave him a son, Isaac.
• Romans 4:1Abraham was the ancestor of all of us who are Jews. Think about what he discovered.
• Genesis 12:1The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Leave your country and the people of your father's family. Go to the land that I will show you.
• Genesis 13:14After Lot had gone away, the Lord said to Abram, ‘Stand where you are and look all around! Look to the north, the south, the east and the west.
• Genesis 15:4The Lord gave Abram this message: ‘No! Eliezer will not be the one who receives your things. You will have your own son. He will be the one who receives everything that you have.’
• Genesis 22:17Because you have done this, I will bless you. I will make your descendants become so many that people cannot count them. They will be as many as the stars that are in the sky. They will be as many as the pieces of sand on the shore by the sea. Your descendants will win against their enemies and their enemies' cities.
• Genesis 24:1Abraham was now a very old man. The Lord had blessed him in every way.
• Nehemiah 9:7You are the Lord God who chose Abram. You brought him out of Ur, in Babylonia. You changed his name to be Abraham.
• Ezekiel 33:24‘Son of man, there are people who continue to live in the places in Israel that have become heaps of stones. Those Israelites are saying, “Abraham was only one man, but God gave him the whole land of Israel. We are many people. So we can be sure that the land now belongs to us.”
• Galatians 3:9So then, God did not bless only Abraham when he trusted God. God also blesses all people who trust him like Abraham did.
• Hebrews 11:8Abraham also believed God. When God told him to leave his home, he obeyed God. He left his home to go to another country, but he did not know where he was going. It was the place that God had promised to give to Abraham.

Commentaries on Isaiah 51:2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2I called him alone - As I have made out of one a great nation; so, although ye are brought low and minished, yet I can restore you to happiness, and greatly multiply your number.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2Look unto Abraham - What was figuratively expressed in the former verse is here expressed literally. They were directed to remember that God had taken Abraham and Sarah from a distant land, and that from so humble a beginning he had increased them to a great nation. The argument is, that he was able to bless and increase the exile Jews, though comparatively feeble and few. For I called him alone - Hebrew, For one I called him;‘ that is, he was alone…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2Abraham … I blessed him and multiplied him: The exiled community had decreased in number. They needed to have faith that God could restore them again to a healthy and thriving population.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. alone--translate, "I called him when he was but one" (Eze 33:24). The argument is: the same God who had so blessed "one" individual, as to become a mighty nation (Ge 12:1; 22:7), can also increase and bless the small remnant of Israel, both that left in the Babylonish captivity, and that left in the present and latter days (Zec 14:2); "the residue" (Is 13:8, 9).Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 51:2

• Abraham
• Blessing
• Call

In the dictionaries

• Abraham
• Sarah
• Sarah; Sarai
• Abraham, Abram
• Approach
• Loose
• Plead
• Rest
• Sword
• Adam in the Old Testament

Commentaries on Isaiah 51

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• 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