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EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

Isaiah 49:1

Many *Israelites lived abroad. But here the reference is to foreign nations, rather than to *Israelites. Isaiah repeats the command to listen. This is to emphasise that the message is for foreigners.

• To ‘call’ does not mean to shout to gain attention. In the Bible, ‘call’ is a technical word. It means to appoint to a task. Isaiah’s ‘call’ came before he was even born. (See Jeremiah 1:4-5 for a similar thought).

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See also Isaiah 49:1 in other biblical comments:

  • Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

    CHAPTER XLIX _In this chapter the Messiah is introduced, declaring the full_ _extent of his commission, which is not only to be Saviour to_ _the Jews, but also to the Gentiles. The power and effica...

  • Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary

    LISTEN - This is the exordium, or introduction. According to the interpretation which refers it to the Messiah, it is to be regarded as the voice of the Redeemer calling the distant parts of the earth...

  • Annotated Bible by A.C. Gaebelein

    2. THE SERVANT OF JEHOVAH, HIS SUFFERING AND HIS GLORY (49-57) CHAPTER 49 The Servant of Jehovah and His Mission 1. _The servant speaks of himself (Isaiah 49:1)_ 2. _He complains of failure (Isaiah...

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    THE PREPARATION OF YAHWEH'S SERVANT, AND ITS PURPOSE (the second Servant Song). The Servant of Yahweh speaks, bidding the far lands hearken; for them he has a glorious message, which is, however, not...

  • Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

    ISLES. maritime countries. PEOPLE. peoples. HATH CALLED. Fulfilled in Matthew 1:18; Luke 1:28. ME. The Messiah prophesied of in Isaiah 7:14. Neither Isaiah, nor Israel, nor the Church....

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    The call and equipment of the Servant by Jehovah. The nations of the world are addressed, because the great announcement that the speaker has to make (Isaiah 49:6) concerns them. Although Jeremiah had...

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    The Servant's address to the nations. The passage forms the natural sequel to ch. Isaiah 42:1-4, and adds some fresh features to the portrait there presented. (1) The Servant, speaking now in his own...

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    Isaiah 49:1-13. The Servant of Jehovah: His Fidelity amidst Discouragements, and the ultimate Success of His Mission The beginning of ch. 49 seems to mark a distinct advance in the development of the...

  • Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

    LISTEN, O ISLES— In these verses we have first the exordium to the _isles, and far distant people,_ that is to say, the Gentiles, who are frequently addressed by the appellation of _isles,_ as we have...

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    C. PROGRAM OF THE LORD'S SERVANT, Chapter S 49 - 53 1. RESCUE, CHAPTER 49 a. DESPISED SERVANT TEXT: Isaiah 49:1-6 1 Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye peoples, from far: Jehovah hath call...

  • Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

    Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. Messiah, as the ideal Israel (), sta...

  • Darby's translation notes (1890)

    49:1 peoples (c-9) _ Leummim_ . see Psalms 2:1 ....

  • Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

    XLIX. (1) LISTEN, O ISLES... — The argument against idolatry has been brought to its close, and a new section opens, and with it there is a new speaker, the mysterious “Servant of the Lord,” (Isaiah 4...

  • ETCBC data on Hebrew bible

    שִׁמְע֤וּ אִיִּים֙ אֵלַ֔י וְ הַקְשִׁ֥יבוּ לְאֻמִּ֖ים...

  • Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

    CHAPTER XVI THE SERVANT OF THE LORD Isaiah 41:8; Isaiah 42:1; Isaiah 42:18; Isaiah 43:5;...

  • Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

    CHAPTER XXI DOUBTS IN THE WAY Isaiah 49:1 - Isaiah 52:12 Chapter S 49-53 are, as we have seen, a series of more or less closely joined passages, in which the prophet, having already made the politic...

  • Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

    CHAPTER XIX PROPHET AND MARTYR Isaiah 49:1; Isaiah 50:4 THE second great passage upon the Servant of the Lord is Isaiah 49:1, and the third is...

  • Frederick Brotherton Meyer's Commentary

    “A LIGHT TO THE GENTILES” Isaiah 48:17-22; Isaiah 49:1-13 The first division of this second part of Isaiah closes at Isaiah 48:22, with the phrase _there is no peace to the wicked_. The second divisi...

  • G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

    We now commence the section in which the Prince of Peace is most clearly seen. He is revealed first as sustained through suffering (Chapter s 49-53), and then as singing in triumph (Chapter s 54-57)....

  • Geneva Study Bible Commentary

    Listen, to me O isles; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called (a) me from (b) the womb; from the body of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (a) This is spoken in the person of...

  • George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

    _Give. This fresh discourse continues to chap. lvi. 9., relating to the Messias, who is introduced speaking to all the world, Acts xiii. 47., and 2 Corinthians vi. 2. Some apply a part to Cyrus, Isaia...

  • Hawker's Poor man's commentary

    CONTENTS This most interesting Chapter contains the outlines of the covenant of redemption, in the solemn transactions between God the Father and God the Son, concerning salvation. This subject is ca...

  • Hawker's Poor man's commentary

    We find here some glorious speaker, calling upon the nations of the isles to attend to him, and declaring both the authority upon which he spoke, and the subject of his discourse. And if we make appli...

  • John Calvin's Bible Commentary

    1._Hear me, O islands! _After having treated of the future deliverance of the people, he comes down to Christ, under whose guidance the people were brought out of Babylon, as they had formerly been br...

  • John Darby's Synopsis

    The Messiah is brought in, for it is He who delivers. But it is a question apart, so to say. The subject of Christ, and of the people's guilt with respect to Him, begins with chapter 49, which, with t...

  • John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

    LISTEN, O ISLES, UNTO ME,.... These are not the words of Cyrus, as Lyra mentions; nor of the Prophet Isaiah, as Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and other Jewish writers think; but of Christ, calling upon the inhab...

  • John Trapp Complete Commentary

    Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. Ver. 1. _Listen, O isles, unto me,_] _...

  • Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    _Listen, O isles_, &c. “Hitherto the subject of the prophecy has been chiefly confined to the redemption from the captivity of Babylon, with strong intimations of a more important deliverance sometime...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    Listen, O isles, unto Me, and hearken, ye people, from far, the entire heathen world being called upon to give attention to the proclamation here being made: THE LORD HATH CALLED ME FROM THE WOMB, des...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    THE TESTIMONY OF JEHOVAH'S SERVANT...

  • Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible

    1-6 The great Author of redemption shows the authority for his work. The sword of his word slays the lusts of his people, and all at enmity with them. His sharp arrows wound the conscience; but all t...

  • Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary On The Bible

    ISAIAH CHAPTER 49 Christ, being sent to the Jews, complaineth of them, ISAIAH 49:1. He is sent to the Gentiles with.gracious promises, ISAIAH 49:5. God's love to his church perpetual, ISAIAH 49:13. Th...

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    Isaiah 49:1 Listen H8085 (H8798) coastlands H339 heed H7181 (H8685) peoples H3816 afar H7350 LORD H3068 called...

  • Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

    THE WORDS OF THE SERVANT (ISAIAH 49:1). Isaiah 49:1 ‘Listen to me, O coastlands/isles, And hear you peoples from afar, Yahweh has called me from the womb, From the inner parts of my mother he has...

  • Spurgeon's Bible Commentary

    Isaiah 49:1. _Listen, O isles, unto me, and hearken, ye people from, far; The LORD hath called me from the womb, from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. And he hath made my mouth...

  • Spurgeon's Bible Commentary

    Isaiah 49:1. _Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; the Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. And he hath made my mouth...

  • Spurgeon's Bible Commentary

    In this chapter, we have not merely Isaiah speaking concerning the Christ of God; but it is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, who here speaks concerning himself. Isaiah 49:1. _Listen, O isles, unto...

  • Summarized Bible Commentary

    CONTENTS: Israel's coming Redeemer. Preservation and restoration of Israel and judgment on oppressors. CHARACTERS: God, Christ. CONCLUSION: God, of old, promised a Redeemer to His people who would al...

  • Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    Isaiah 49:1. _Listen, oh isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people from far._ The Hebrews reckoned among the isles, not only those of Greece, but the gentile nations generally, who are represented as wai...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _Listen, O isles, unto Me_ A FORECAST OF THE UNIVERSAL RELIGION In the previous Chapter s we find very glorious things spoken of the deliverance of the Jews from Babylon. But in this chapter we seem...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    ISAIAH—NOTE ON ISAIAH 49:1 The trusting servant of the Lord will save his despairing people with a salvation available for the whole world. ⇐...

  • The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

    OUR SAVIOUR AND THE WORK OF OUR SALVATION Isaiah 49:1. _Listen, O isles, unto me, &c._ It is to the Gentiles, to _us_, that Christ here speaks concerning Himself and the work of salvation (Isaiah 49...

  • The Pulpit Commentaries

    SECTION III. THE MISSION OF THE SERVANT OF THE LORD (CH. 49-53). EXPOSITION The connection of the present section is especially with Isaiah 42:1, where the mission of the Servant of Jehovah was f

  • Through The Bible C2000 Serie by Chuck Smith

    Now in chapter 49, we have a fabulous prophecy of Jesus Christ in the first seven verses as God speaks of the Redeemer that He is sending. Listen, O coasts, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far;...

  • Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

    1 Peter 1:20; Ephesians 2:17; Galatians 1:15; Hebrews 12:25; Isaiah

  • Wesley's Explanatory Notes

    Listen — God turns his speech to the Gentiles, and invites them to hearken to those counsels and doctrines which the Jews would reject. Me — Unto Christ: Isaiah speaks these words in the name of Chris...

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