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 Living Translation (NLT)Yes, think about Abraham, your ancestor, and Sarah, who gave birth to your nation. Abraham was only one man when I called him. But when I blessed him, he became a great nation.”

Context of Isaiah 51:2

1“Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness, You who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were hewn, And to the hole of the pit from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father, And to Sarah who bore you; For I called him alone, And blessed him and increased him.” 3For the Lord will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places; He will make her wilderness like Eden, And her desert like the garden of the Lord; Joy and gladness will be found in it, Thanksgiving and the voice of melody. 4“Listen to Me, My people; And give ear to Me, O My nation: For law will proceed from Me, And I will make My justice rest As a light of the peoples.

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 these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”
• Genesis 18:11Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.
• Joshua 24:3Then I took your father Abraham from the other side of the River, led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants and gave him Isaac.
• Romans 4:1What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh?
• Genesis 12:1Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you.
• Genesis 13:14And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward;
• Genesis 15:4And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.”
• Genesis 22:17blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.
• Genesis 24:1Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.
• Nehemiah 9:7“You are the Lord God, Who chose Abram, And brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans, And gave him the name Abraham;
• Ezekiel 33:24“Son of man, they who inhabit those ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one, and he inherited the land. But we are many; the land has been given to us as a possession.’
• Galatians 3:9So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.
• Hebrews 11:8By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.

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
• Approach
• Loose
• Plead
• Rest
• Sword
• Adam in the Old Testament
• Isaiah
• Mark, the Gospel According to

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