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“Listen to Me in silence, you coastlands, And let the peoples gain new strength; Let them come forward, then let them speak; Let’s come together for judgment. Who has stirred one from the east Whom He calls in righteousness to His feet? He turns nations over to him And subdues kings. He makes them like dust with his sword, Like the wind-driven chaff with his bow. 3He pursues them, passing on in safety, By a way he had not been traversing with his feet. 4Who has performed and accomplished it, Summoning the generations from the beginning? ‘I, the Lord, am 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

• Whoמִיmîy · who?H4310
• has stirredעוּר‛ûr · to rouseH5782
• one from the eastמִזְרָחmizrâch · eastH4217
• callsקָרָאqârâ' · to call: call toH7121
• in righteousnessצֶ֫דֶקtsedeq · righteousnessH6664
• feetרֶ֫גֶלregel · footH7272
• turnsנָתַןnâthan · to give: giveH5414
• nationsגּוֹיgôy gôy · nationH1471
• overפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
• And subduesרָדָהrâdâh · to ruleH7287
• kingsמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
• dustעָפָר‛âphâr · dustH6083
• with his swordחֶ֫רֶבchereb · swordH2719
• chaffקַשׁqash · stubbleH7179
• with his bowקֶ֫שֶׁתqesheth · bowH7198

Cross-references for Isaiah 41:2

• Isaiah 41:25“I have put one from the north into motion, and he has come; From the rising of the sun he will call on My name; And he will come upon rulers as upon mortar, As the potter treads on clay.”
• Isaiah 45:13I have stirred him in righteousness, And I will make all his ways smooth. He will build My city and let My exiles go free, Without any payment or reward,” says the Lord of armies.
• Isaiah 46:11Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man of My purpose from a distant country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, I will certainly do it.
• Genesis 11:31Now Terah took his son Abram, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they departed together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran and settled there.
• Genesis 12:1Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you;
• Genesis 17:1Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless.
• Hebrews 11:8By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he left, not knowing where he was going.
• Isaiah 45:1This is what the Lord says to Cyrus His anointed, Whom I have taken by the right hand, To subdue nations before him And to undo the weapons belt on the waist of kings; To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:
• Genesis 14:14When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he led out his trained men, born in his house, numbering 318, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.
• Ezra 1:2“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to rebuild for Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
• Hebrews 7:1For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,
• Isaiah 41:15Behold, I turned you into a new, sharp threshing sledge with double edges; You will thresh the mountains and pulverize them, And make the hills like chaff.
• 2 Samuel 22:43Then I pulverized them as the dust of the earth; I crushed and trampled them like the mud of the streets.
• 2 Kings 13:7For he left to Jehoahaz no more of the army than fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand infantry, because the king of Aram had eliminated them and made them like the dust at threshing.
• Isaiah 40:24Scarcely have they been planted, Scarcely have they been sown, Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, But He merely blows on them, and they wither, And the storm 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