Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the peoples be assembled. Who among them can declare this, and show us former things? Let them bring their witnesses, that they may be justified, or let them hear, and say, “That is true.”
Parallel Translations
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Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the peoples be assembled. Who among them can declare this, and show us former things? Let them bring their witnesses, that they may be justified, or let them hear, and say, “That is true.”
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Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, It is truth.
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All the nations are gathered together, and the peoples are assembled; who among them can declare this, and announce to us former things? Let them bring their witnesses, that they may be justified; and let them hear, and say: 'It is truth.'
Cross-references (14)
Passages linked to Isaiah 43:9 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 44:7-9 Who is like me? Who will call, and will declare it, and set it in order for me, since I established the ancient people? Let them declare the things that are coming, and that will happen. Don’t fear, neither be afraid. Haven’t I declared it to you long ago, and shown it? You are my witnesses. Is there a God besides me? Indeed, there is not. I don’t know any other Rock.” Everyone who makes a carved image is vain. The things that they delight in will not profit. Their own witnesses don’t see, nor know, that they may be disappointed.
- Isaiah 46:10 I declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done. I say: My counsel will stand, and I will do all that I please.
- Isaiah 41:21-26 Produce your cause,” says Yahweh. “Bring out your strong reasons!” says the King of Jacob. “Let them announce and declare to us what will happen! Declare the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or show us things to come. Declare the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods. Yes, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and see it together. Behold, you are nothing, and your work is nothing. He who chooses you is an abomination. “I have raised up one from the north, and he has come, from the rising of the sun, one who calls on my name, and he shall come on rulers as on mortar, and as the potter treads clay. Who has declared it from the beginning, that we may know? and before, that we may say, ‘He is right?’ Surely, there is no one who declares. Surely, there is no one who shows. Surely, there is no one who hears your words.
- Psalms 50:1 The Mighty One, God, Yahweh, speaks, and calls the earth from sunrise to sunset.
- Isaiah 41:1 “Keep silent before me, islands, and let the peoples renew their strength. Let them come near, then let them speak. Let’s meet together for judgment.
- Isaiah 43:26 Put me in remembrance. Let us plead together. Declare your case, that you may be justified.
- Joel 3:11 Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves together.” Cause your mighty ones to come down there, Yahweh.
- Joshua 24:15-24 If it seems evil to you to serve Yahweh, choose today whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh.” The people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake Yahweh, to serve other gods; for it is Yahweh our God who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way in which we went, and among all the peoples through the middle of whom we passed. Yahweh drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve Yahweh; for he is our God.” Joshua said to the people, “You can’t serve Yahweh, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your disobedience nor your sins. If you forsake Yahweh, and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you evil, and consume you, after he has done you good.” The people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve Yahweh.” Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen Yahweh yourselves, to serve him.” They said, “We are witnesses.” “Now therefore put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to Yahweh, the God of Israel.” The people said to Joshua, “We will serve Yahweh our God, and we will listen to his voice.”
- 1 Kings 18:21-24 Elijah came near to all the people, and said, “How long will you waver between the two sides? If Yahweh is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” The people didn’t say a word. Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left as a prophet of Yahweh; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred fifty men. Let them therefore give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under; and I will dress the other bull, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under it. You call on the name of your god, and I will call on Yahweh’s name. The God who answers by fire, let him be God.” All the people answered, “What you say is good.”
- 1 Kings 18:36-39 At the time of the evening offering, Elijah the prophet came near, and said, “Yahweh, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Hear me, Yahweh, hear me, that this people may know that you, Yahweh, are God, and that you have turned their heart back again.” Then Yahweh’s fire fell, and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces. They said, “Yahweh, he is God! Yahweh, he is God!”
- Psalms 49:1-2 Hear this, all you peoples. Listen, all you inhabitants of the world, both low and high, rich and poor together.
- Isaiah 45:20-21 “Assemble yourselves and come. Draw near together, you who have escaped from the nations. Those have no knowledge who carry the wood of their engraved image, and pray to a god that can’t save. Declare and present it. Yes, let them take counsel together. Who has shown this from ancient time? Who has declared it of old? Haven’t I, Yahweh? There is no other God besides me, a just God and a Savior. There is no one besides me.
- Isaiah 48:5-6 therefore I have declared it to you from of old; before it came to pass I showed it to you; lest you should say, ‘My idol has done them. My engraved image and my molten image has commanded them.’ You have heard it. Now see all this. And you, won’t you declare it? “I have shown you new things from this time, even hidden things, which you have not known.
- Isaiah 48:14 “Assemble yourselves, all of you, and hear! Who among them has declared these things? He whom Yahweh loves will do what he likes to Babylon, and his arm will be against the Chaldeans.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Showing, that the malice of the wicked hindereth them…
Showing, that the malice of the wicked hindereth them in the knowledge of the truth, because they will not hear when God speaketh by his word.
Signifying, that no power can resist him in doing this miraculous work, nor all their idols are able to do the like, as Isa. 41:22.
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To prove that the things which are spoken of them, are true.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 43:9 Let all the nations be gathered together,…
Isa 43:9 Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, [It is] truth.
Ver. 9. Let all the nations.] See Isa 41:1.
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And shew us former things.] Much less can they show us things future. Varro calleth all the time before the flood αδηλον, obscure, because the heathens had no certain relation of anything then done. And Diod. Siculus acknowledgeth that all that was written among them before the Theban and Trojan wars was little better than fabulous. The gods of the Gentiles had not so much as any solid knowledge of things past, neither could they orderly and perfectly set them forth by their secretaries.
It is truth,] scil., That there is but one true God. Phocylides did say so, εις μονος εστι Yεος, &c. Socrates suffered for holding this truth at Athens. Plato held the same, but dared not speak out. These are his words: It is neither easy to find out the maker of all things, nor safe to communicate to the common people what we have found out of him. Here, for fear of the people, he detained the truth in unrighteousness. And the like did Seneca, whom Augustine accuseth, quod colebat quod reprehendebat; agebat quod arguebat; quod culpabat, adorabat {a} that he worshipped those gods whom he disliked and decried.
{a} De Civit. Dei, lib. vi. cap. 10.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Let the people be assembled, to plead the cause…
Let the people be assembled, to plead the cause of their idols with me.
Who among them can declare this? this wonderful work of mine in bringing my people out of captivity, which I have already foretold, and shall further declare; and that so exactly, that I shall name the person by whom this work shall be begun, even Cyrus, who is yet unborn, and shall be so for above two hundred years: let any of your heathen gods do the like.
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Former things, not things already past, but such things as shall happen long before the return from the captivity, which yet your blind idols cannot foresee. See Poole "Isa 41:22". Their witnesses, who can testify the truth and certainty of any such predictions of theirs.
That they may be justified; that they may be owned for true gods, which in that case I allow them to expect. But of this argument see on Isa 41:22,23. Or let them hear and say, It is truth; or if they can produce no evidence of any such thing, as I am well assured that they cannot, let them be silent, and hear me and my witnesses, as it follows in the next verse; and let them confess that what I say is truth, that I only am the true God, and that they are but vanity and falsehood.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord,.... The people…
Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord,.... The people of Israel, who could testify that the Lord had foretold their affliction in Egypt, their coming from thence, and settling in the land of Canaan, many hundreds of years before they came to pass, and which were exactly fulfilled; and so the apostles of Christ, and ministers of the word, and all Christian people in all nations, are witnesses of the prophecies concerning Christ, his birth, miracles, obedience, sufferings, death, resurrection, ascension to heaven, and session at the right hand of God, all which are exactly accomplished, Act 1:8,
and my servant whom I have chosen; meaning either the Prophet Isaiah, or the prophets in general; or rather the Messiah. So the Targum,
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"and my servant the Messiah, in whom I am well pleased;''
and who is called the faithful witness, Rev 1:5, and to whom the characters of a servant, and the Lord's chosen, well agree, Isa 42:1,
that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he; by which testimonies and evident proofs of deity, from the prediction of future events, and the accomplishment of them, you may have a competent knowledge, a firm persuasion, and a clear perception of this important truth, that the God of Israel, and of all true Christians, is the one only Lord God:
before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me; intimating that idols were formed by the hands of men, and yet none of these were formed before him, and therefore could make no pretensions to deity, or to an equality with him; nor should any be formed afterwards, that could be put in competition with him. In short, the sense is, there is no other god beside him; as the Targum, Septuagint, and Arabic versions render it.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Assembled - To plead the cause of their idols…
Assembled - To plead the cause of their idols with me. This - This wonderful work of mine in bringing my people out of captivity. Former things - Such things as shall happen long before the return from the captivity, which yet your blind idols cannot foresee. Witnesses - Who can testify the truth of any such predictions of theirs, that they may be owned for true gods; or if they can produce no evidence of any such thing, let them confess, that what I say is truth, that I only am the true God.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 9. Who among them] Seven MSS., three ancient,…
Verse 9. Who among them] Seven MSS., three ancient, and the first edition, 1486, with the Syriac and Vulgate, read בכם bechem, who among you; the present reading is preferable.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Let all the nations be gathered together - Let…
Let all the nations be gathered together - Let them be assembled to give evidence, or to adduce proofs that their idols are worthy of confidence Isa 41:1.
Who among them can declare this? - Who among them hath predicted this state of things? Who has foretold the events which are now occurring? It is implied here, that Yahweh had done this, but none of the pagan gods had done it (see the note at Isa 41:21).
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And show us former things - (see the note at Isa 41:22). The order of events, the manner in which one event shall succeed another. Not merely, who can declare one single event, but who can declare the succession, the order in which many events shall follow each other - a far more difficult thing than to declare one single future event. Neither had been done by the pagan; both had been done by God.
That they may be justified - That it may be demonstrated that they are what they pretend to be, and that they are worthy of the confidence of people. The word ‘justified’ here, is used in the sense of being right, or true; - let them in this manner show that their claims are just, and well founded.
Or let them hear, and say, It is truth - (See the note at Isa 41:26).
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Former. The pagans were little acquainted with antiquity. Such…
Former. The pagans were little acquainted with antiquity. Such researches lead to the knowledge of the true religion. (Haydock) --- Truth, if they can produce any true prophecy.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain who . . . can declare this--who among the…
who . . . can declare this--who among the idolatrous soothsayers hath predicted this; that is, as to Cyrus being the deliverer of Israel?
former--predictions, as in Isa 42:9 [MAURER]. Or, things that shall first come to pass (see on Isa 41:21-22) [BARNES].
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let them bring forth their witnesses--as I do mine (Isa 43:10).
justified--declared veracious in their pretended prophecies.
or--rather, "and"; let men hear their prediction and say, from the event, It is verified (see on Isa 41:26).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 9. Let all the nations be gathered together] The…
9. Let all the nations be gathered together] The form of the verb in Heb. presents difficulty. By some it is treated as a rare form of imperat., on the ground of two doubtful analogies (so R.V. marg., “Gather yourselves together &c.”). Others take it as a precative perf. (A.V. and R.V.) the existence of which in Heb. is also disputed (see Driver, Tenses, § 20). There seems, however, no reason why it should not be understood as a perf. in the ordinary sense: All the nations are gathered together. The assembling of the parties in the process naturally precedes the calling of witnesses; and this clause is descriptive of the scene presupposed by Isa_43:8. The following verb should then be pointed as a consecutive impf.: and the peoples are assembled.
who among them (the heathen gods, represented by their worshippers) can declare this] i.e. the contents of the prophecy, Isa_43:1-7.
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former things] predictions of the events that have already taken place. If they profess to do this, then let them bring forth their witnesses, in support of their contention.
or let them hear, and say] The subject is the witnesses, who are supposed to hear the allegations of the false deities, and corroborate them.
be justified … It is truth] see on ch. Isa_41:26.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (9) Who among them . . .—The challenge of…
(9) Who among them . . .—The challenge of Isa_41:22-23 is repeated. Who among their gods has foretold the “former things”? has predicted events that were then in the future, and have now come to pass?
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain All the nations; rather, all ye nations. Israel is…
All the nations; rather, all ye nations. Israel is a witness on the one hand, a multitude of nations on the other, recalling the contention of Elijah with the four hundred priests of Baal. (1Ki_18:22) The people; rather, the Peoples. who among them can declare this? i.e. which of them can show any prediction made by their gods comparable to the one contained in vers. 1-77 And show us former things. "Exhibit the past history of the world in well-attested documents" (Kay); "Make mention of past events which they have correctly foretold" (Cheyne, Delitzsch). According to the former rendering, the contrast is between the solemn, serious history of early times in Genesis, and the grotesque and extravagant myths, in which the nations generally embodied their views of the primitive ages. (For a specimen of the contrast, see "Aids to Faith," Essay 6. pp. 275, 276.) Let them bring forth their witnesses. Witnesses that the prophecies were really delivered before the events happened, or that the accounts of past times are such as have really come down to them from their ancestors. Or let them hear and say, It is truth . It is uncertain whether we ought to translate the initial vau here by "and" or by "or." If the former, the sense is, "And then let them (i.e. the witnesses) give ear to the assertions made, and declare them true;" if the latter, we may render, with Dr. Kay, "Or, if they have no witnesses, let them listen to the sacred records, and confess them to be the truth. "
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.