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.
• 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?
• New Living Translation (NLT)“Who has stirred up this king from the east, rightly calling him to God’s service? Who gives this man victory over many nations and permits him to trample their kings underfoot? With his sword, he reduces armies to dust. With his bow, he scatters them like chaff before the wind.

Context of Isaiah 41:2

1“Be silent before me, you islands! Let the nations renew their strength! Let them come forward and speak; let us meet together at the place of judgment. “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. 3He pursues them and moves on unscathed, by a path his feet have not traveled before. 4Who has done this and carried it through, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord—with the first of them 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 comes— one from the rising sun who calls on my name. He treads on rulers as if they were mortar, as if he were a potter treading the clay.
• Isaiah 45:13I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says the Lord Almighty.”
• Isaiah 46:11From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do.
• Genesis 11:31Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Harran, they settled there.
• Genesis 12:1The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
• Genesis 17:1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless.
• Hebrews 11:8By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.
• Isaiah 45:1“This is what the Lord says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, 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 called out the 318 trained men born in his household 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 build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah.
• Hebrews 7:1This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him,
• Isaiah 41:15“See, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff.
• 2 Samuel 22:43I beat them as fine as the dust of the earth; I pounded and trampled them like mud in the streets.
• 2 Kings 13:7Nothing had been left of the army of Jehoahaz except fifty horsemen, ten chariots and ten thousand foot soldiers, for the king of Aram had destroyed the rest and made them like the dust at threshing time.
• Isaiah 40:24No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

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