Isaiah 41 Study Notes

41:1 The coasts and islands refer to far-off lands and thus represent all the nations of the world. The prophets often used the language of the courtroom. Here God will try the nations and their idols. The nations were to be quiet as God presented evidence in support of his case.

41:2 The one from the east who subdues kings is a reference to Cyrus, king of Persia (45:1), whom God used to defeat Babylon in 539 BC. This brought the exile of Judah to an end.

41:3 The conquests of Cyrus were quick, and he remained safe until he had extended Babylon’s boundaries.

41:4 Though Cyrus was the human agent behind these predicted events, God took credit because Cyrus succeeded under his sovereign control.

41:5-7 On coasts and islands, see note at v. 1. The craftsman and the metalworker were those who created the idols in whom the nations trusted.

41:8 While the nations felt the wrath of God at the hands of his agent Cyrus, God again would make Israel his friend. By calling Israel the descendant of Abraham, God called to mind the promise to the patriarch that his descendants would be a “great nation” (Gn 12:2). On the basis of this ancient covenantal promise, God acted to restore his people Israel.

41:9 God’s punishment of Judah led to exile in 586 BC when many of its leading citizens were taken to Babylon and from there scattered throughout the empire. Restoration involved bringing them back from the ends of the earth.

41:10 God’s statement I am with you is a concise way of describing the covenant relationship between him and his people. God’s right hand is often associated with his military might, thus his ability to protect his people.

41:11-12 God assured his people that their enemies would not have the ability or the power to harm them.

41:13-14 The inability of the nations to contend with Israel was because of divine protection and intimacy (I am the Lord your God who holds your right hand). Israel did not have the strength or ability to protect itself, but God would sustain them.

41:15 The threshing board was a heavy wooden sledge with many stone or iron teeth on its underside. It was dragged across sheaves to separate the grain from the chaff in the winnowing process. The metaphor emphasizes how thoroughly and violently Israel would defeat the nations.

41:16 Winnowing involved throwing grain in the air so the wind caught the chaff, or waste matter, and blew it away.

41:17-18 The phrase the poor and the needy here refers to God’s own down-and-out people whom he has punished. But God will restore them, turning their dry land into a watery paradise.

41:19-20 The wilderness has become an orchard, an act that only God could perform—the word translated created (Hb bara’ ) is the same as in Gn 1:1.

41:21 Again (see note at v. 1) God used legal language as he challenged the nations and their idols. Jacob’s King is none other than God himself.

41:22-24 The idols were ignorant of the future, demonstrating that they were not gods. Indeed, they were nothing.

41:25 King Cyrus of Persia is in mind here. He is said to be from the east (see note at v. 2) because his homeland was geographically east of Israel. On the other hand, he could at the same time be from the north because that was the direction from which he attacked Babylon.

41:26-27 While the idols were ignorant because they did not really exist, God knew the future. Indeed he knew about this from the beginning. The coming of Cyrus was good news to Jerusalem because his defeat of Babylon would mean that the exiles could come home.

41:28-29 The false gods of the nations were nonexistent; thus, they could not give advice.