ris3n's Apologetics Codex
Isaiah 45.22
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Passage

Isaiah 45.22

Book: Isaiah · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

20. Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that carry the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. 21. Declare ye, and bring it forth; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath showed this from ancient time? who hath declared it of old? have not I, Jehovah? and there is no God else besides me, a just God and a Saviour; there is none besides me.

22. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else.

  1. By myself have I sworn, the word is gone forth from my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. 24. Only in Jehovah, it is said of me, is righteousness and strength; even to him shall men come; and all they that were incensed against him shall be put to shame. (Isaiah 45:20-24, ASV)
WEB

20. “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. 21. 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.

22. “Look to me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.

  1. I have sworn by myself. The word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and will not be revoked, that to me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath. 24. They will say of me, ‘There is righteousness and strength only in Yahweh.’” Even to him shall men come; and all those who raged against him shall be disappointed. (Isaiah 45:20-24, WEB)
KJV

20. Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. 21. Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.

22. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.

  1. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. 24. Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. Surely: or, Surely he shall say of me, In the LORD is all righteousness and strength righteousness: Heb. righteousnesses (Isaiah 45:20-24, KJV)
YLT

20. Be gathered, and come in, Come nigh together, ye escaped of the nations, They have not known, Who are lifting up the wood of their graven image, And praying unto a god [that] saveth not. 21. Declare ye, and bring near, Yea, they take counsel together, Who hath proclaimed this from of old? From that time hath declared it? Is it not I, Jehovah? And there is no other god besides Me, A God righteous and saving, there is none save Me.

22. Turn to Me, and be saved, all ends of the earth, For I [am] God, and there is none else.

  1. By Myself I have sworn, Gone out from my mouth in righteousness hath a word, And it turneth not back, That to Me, bow doth every knee, every tongue swear. 24. Only in Jehovah, said hath one, Have I righteousness and strength, Unto Him he cometh in, And ashamed are all those displeased with Him. (Isaiah 45:20-24, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: YHWH, speaking through the prophet
  • Audience: "All the ends of the earth," the nations, addressed as "ye that are escaped of the nations" in 45:20
  • Location: Judah on the traditional view; Babylon among the exiles on the common critical view of chapters 40-55
  • Time period: Traditionally the eighth-century prophet Isaiah son of Amoz, speaking ahead to the exile; many critical scholars date chapters 40-55 to the late exile, c. 550-539 BC, in the time of Cyrus (45:1)

Theological reading

"Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else." The invitation comes at the end of another courtroom scene. God summons the survivors of the nations, who "pray unto a god that cannot save" (45:20), and asks who foretold events "from ancient time" (45:21). His answer: "there is no God else besides me, a just God and a Saviour; there is none besides me."

One God, so one Saviour. The logic runs from 45:21 into this verse. If there is only one God, there is only one who can save, so the whole world is invited to turn to him. "Look" (Strong's H6437, panah) means to turn and face, the body language of conversion. "Be ye saved" (H3467, yasha) is the verb behind the name Joshua and the Greek Jesus. The reason given is the confession of the chapter: "I am God (H410), and there is none else."

Narrow and wide at once. The verse is exclusive in its object and universal in its welcome. There is only one God to look to, and "all the ends (H657) of the earth (H776)" may look. New Age Spirituality vs the Christian God uses it to make exactly this point: the way is narrow in whom it trusts and wide in whom it invites. See Salvation Exclusivity.

Every knee. The next verse continues, "unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear" (45:23). Paul applies those words to God's judgment seat (Romans 14:11) and to Jesus, at whose name "every knee should bow ... and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord" (Philippians 2:10-11). The New Testament places Jesus inside the oath the one God makes by himself. The verse also has a place in church history: Charles Spurgeon traced his conversion in 1850 to a sermon on this text in a small Methodist chapel in Colchester.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Lexicon:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.