Isaiah 44:8

Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(8) Yea, there is no God . . .—Literally, no Rock. That word, as expressing eternal strength, being used, as in Deuteronomy 32:4; 2Samuel 22:3; 2Samuel 23:3, as a Divine name.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

44:1-8 Israel is here called Jeshurun, which means the upright one. Such only are Israelites indeed, in whom is no guile. Those that serve God he will own. He will help them over difficulties, and in their services. Water is the emblem of the Holy Spirit; as water refreshes, cleanses, and makes the earth fruitful, so do his influences the soul. This gift of the Holy Ghost is the great blessing, the plentiful pouring out of which God kept for the latter days. Where God gives his Spirit, he will give all other blessings. Hereby shall be a great increase of the church; thus it shall be spread to distant places. Was there any other Rock, or Protector, that could defend them? None besides could foretell these things to come, of which God by his prophets gave notice. All was set in order in the Divine predictions, as well as in the Divine purposes. Could any other have done so? Who can compare with Israel's Redeemer and King?

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Fear ye not, neither be afraid - (see the notes at Isaiah 41:10). The word rendered here 'be afraid,' occurs nowhere else in the Bible. There can be no doubt, however, in regard to its meaning. The Septuagint renders it, Μηδέ πλανᾶσθε Mēde planasthe - 'Neither be deceived.' All the other ancient versions express the sense to fear, to be afraid (Gesenius' Lexicon on the word ירה yârahh).

Have not I told thee from that time - Have I not fully declared from the very commencement of your history as a people, in the main what shall occur?

Ye are even my witnesses - (See the notes at Isaiah 43:12).

Is there a God besides me? - This is a strong mode of affirming that there is no God besides Yahweh (see the note at Isaiah 44:6).

Yea, there is no God - Margin, 'Rock' (צור tsûr). The word rock is often applied to God (see the note at Isaiah 30:29; compare Deuteronomy 32:4, Deuteronomy 32:30-31; Psalm 19:14; Psalm 31:2-3; Psalm 42:9; et soepe al. The idea is taken from the fact that a lofty rock or fastness was inaccessible by an enemy, and that those who fled there were safe.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

8. be afraid—literally, "be astounded," or "distracted with fear."

from that time—namely, from the time that "I appointed the ancient people" (Isa 44:7). From the time of Abraham's call, his family were the depositories of the predictions of the Redeemer, whereas the promise of Cyrus was not heard of till Isaiah's time; therefore, the event to the prediction and accomplishment of which God appeals in proof of His sole Godhead, is the redemption of man by a descendant of Abraham, in whose person "the ancient people" was first formally "appointed." The deliverance of the Jews, by Cyrus, is mentioned afterwards only as an earnest of that greater mercy [Horsley].

no God—Hebrew, tsur, "rock" (De 32:4); that is, a stronghold to take refuge in, and a solid foundation to build on.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Have not I told thee? thee, O Israel, whom he bids not to fear. The sense is, I call you Israelites to bear me witness, whether I have not, from time to time, acquainted you with things to come, such as your sojourning in a strange land for four hundred years, and your deliverance and happiness after that time, Genesis 15:13,14, and many things of the like nature?

From that time; from the time when I appointed the ancient people, as I now said, Isaiah 44:7. These were pregnant instances of God’s prediction of things to come, not only from the beginning of the Jewish commonwealth, but even from the first ages of the world, as unto Enoch, Jude 14, and unto Noah, Ge 6 13, to say nothing of what other authors relate concerning Adam and Seth.

Have declared it; have published it to the world in my sacred records.

My witnesses, both of my predictions, and of the exact agreeableness of events to them.

Is there a God besides me? judge by this character whether I be not the only true God.

Yea, there is no God; I know not any; if any of you be wiser than I am, I am willing to be informed. It is a sarcastical speech. But this clause may be, and is by others, taken interrogatively, do not I know it? Is it not a certain and undeniable truth, that there is no other God?

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Fear ye not, neither be afraid,.... Of the accomplishment of prophecies and promises, and of professing the true God, and of adhering to Jesus Christ, the only Redeemer and Saviour; or of the gods of the Heathens, and of persecuting tyrants, and what they can do against you, and in favour of their idolatrous religion:

have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? what should come to pass, before it did, even everything that has since the appointment of the ancient people; and particularly what troubles and persecutions the apostles, ministers of the word, the first Christians should meet with among the Heathens, for professing and propagating the Gospel, and what success they should meet with, which came to pass accordingly:

ye are even my witnesses; as especially the apostles were, who had it from Christ's own mouth, that they should be hated and persecuted for the sake of the Gospel, and should be successful wherever they came; as they also were his witnesses in Jerusalem, and Judea, and Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth, of his person, doctrine, miracles, death, resurrection, and ascension to heaven, Acts 1:8,

is there a God besides me? that is a true God; for there were many fictitious and false deities, but none omniscient and omnipotent, that could foretell future events, and accomplish them as he did; there is no god but the one God, Father, Son, and Spirit; for this an appeal is made to the witnesses:

yea, there is no God, I know not any; or, there is "no rock" (a); or, is there any? a word used for God, Deuteronomy 32:4, there is no rock to build upon for salvation, no rock for shelter and safety, but Christ the rock of ages, on which the church is built, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it, Matthew 16:18, and if God, who is omniscient, knows none else, there can be no other.

(a) "nulls rupes", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "non est petra", Montanus, Cocceius; "estne rupes?" Vitringa.

Geneva Study Bible

Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? {l} ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God besides me? verily, there is no God; I know not any.

(l) Read Isa 43:10.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

8. Fear ye not] in the coming convulsions; the ground of confidence is that Jehovah has proved His control over these events by foretelling them. The verb for be afraid does not occur elsewhere.

from that time] Rather beforehand, or, from of old; as ch. Isaiah 45:21, Isaiah 48:3; Isaiah 48:5; Isaiah 48:7.

and ye are my witnesses (R.V.)] Cf. ch. Isaiah 43:10; Isaiah 43:12.

no God] no Rock, as R.V. Cf. Deuteronomy 32:4, etc.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 8. - Fear ye not (comp. Isaiah 41:10, 13; Isaiah 43:5; ver. 2). Israel need not fear that they will be forgotten or forsaken. God has told them from that time, or, from the beginning (Isaiah 48:3, 7), and declared to them, what he is about to do - viz, destroy Babylon, and give them deliverance. He will assuredly do as he has said. Ye are even my witnesses (comp. Isaiah 43:10, 12). There is no God; literally, there is no Rock; i.e. no sure ground of trust or confidence (comp. Isaiah 17:10; Isaiah 26:4; Isaiah 30:29; and see the comment on Isaiah 17:10). Isaiah 44:8

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Of course, none of the heathen gods could in any way answer to the challenge. So much the more confident might Israel be, seeing that it had quite another God. "Despair ye not, neither tremble: have not I told thee long ago, and made known, and ye are my witnesses: is there a God beside me? And nowhere a rock; I know of none." The Jewish lexicographers derive תּרהוּ (with the first syllable closed) from רהה (רה); whereas modern lexicographers prefer some of them to read תּרהוּ, tı̄rehū, from ירהּ (Ges., Knobel), and others תּיראוּ (Ewald). But the possibility of there being a verb רהה, to tremble or fear, cannot for a moment be doubted when we think of such words as ירא, ירע, compare also Arab. r'h (applied to water moving to and fro). It was not of the heathen deities that they were directed not to be afraid, as in Jeremiah 10:5, but rather the great catastrophe coming upon the nations, of which Cyrus was the instrument. In the midst of this, when one nation after another would be overthrown, and its tutelar gods would prove to be worthless, Israel would have nothing to fear, since its God, who was no dumb idol, had foretold all this, and that indeed long ago (מאז, cf., מראשׁ, Isaiah 41:26), as they themselves must bear witness. Prophecies before the captivity had foretold the conquest of Babylon by Medes and Elamites, and the deliverance of Israel from the Babylonian bondage; and even these prophecies themselves were like a spirit's voice from the far distant past, consoling the people of the captivity beforehand, and serving to support their faith. On the ground of such well-known self-manifestations, Jehovah could well ask, "Is there a God beside me?" - a virtual denial in the form of an interrogation, to which the categorical denial, "There is no rock (i.e., no ground of trust, Isaiah 26:4; Isaiah 17:10), I know of none (beside me)," is attached.