Yesaya 45:7-11

45:7 I am ¹  the one who forms light

and creates darkness; ² 

the one who brings about peace

and creates calamity. ³ 

I am the Lord, who accomplishes all these things.

45:8 O sky, rain down from above!

Let the clouds send down showers ⁴  of deliverance!

Let the earth absorb it ⁵  so salvation may grow, ⁶ 

and deliverance may sprout up ⁷  along with it.

I, the Lord, create it. ⁸ 

The Lord Gives a Warning

45:9 One who argues with his creator is in grave danger, ⁹ 

one who is like a mere ¹⁰  shard among the other shards on the ground!

The clay should not say to the potter, ¹¹ 

“What in the world ¹²  are you doing?

Your work lacks skill!” ¹³ 

45:10 Danger awaits one who says ¹⁴  to his father,

“What in the world ¹⁵  are you fathering?”

and to his mother,

“What in the world are you bringing forth?” ¹⁶ 

45:11 This is what the Lord says,

the Holy One of Israel, ¹⁷  the one who formed him,

concerning things to come: ¹⁸ 

“How dare you question me ¹⁹  about my children!

How dare you tell me what to do with ²⁰  the work of my own hands!

[45:7]  ¹ tn The words “I am” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the participle at the beginning of v. 7 stands in apposition to “the Lord” in v. 6.

[45:7]  ² tn On the surface v. 7a appears to describe God’s sovereign control over the cycle of day and night, but the following statement suggests that “light” and “darkness” symbolize “deliverance” and “judgment.”

[45:7]  ³ sn This verses affirms that God is ultimately sovereign over his world, including mankind and nations. In accordance with his sovereign will, he can cause wars to cease and peace to predominate (as he was about to do for his exiled people through Cyrus), or he can bring disaster and judgment on nations (as he was about to do to Babylon through Cyrus).

[45:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “let the clouds drip with”; KJV “let the skies pour down.”

[45:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “open up” (so NASB); NIV, NLT “open wide.”

[45:8]  ⁶ tc The plural verb should be emended to a singular form. The vav (ו) ending is probably virtually dittographic (note the yod at the beginning of the following word).

[45:8]  ⁷ tc The Hiphil verb form (תַצְמִיחַ, tatsmiakh) should probably be emended to a Qal (תִצְמַח, titsmakh). The יח sequence at the end of the form is probably due to dittography (note the following יַחַד, yakhad).

[45:8]  ⁸ tn The masculine singular pronominal suffix probably refers back to יָשַׁע (yasha’, “salvation”).

[45:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who argues with the one who formed him.”

[45:9]  ¹⁰ tn The words “one who is like a mere” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and clarification.

[45:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Should the clay say to the one who forms it?” The rhetorical question anticipates a reply, “Of course not!”

[45:9]  ¹² tn The words “in the world” are supplied in the translation to approximate in English idiom the force of the sarcastic question.

[45:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “your work, there are no hands for it,” i.e., “your work looks like something made by a person who has no hands.”

[45:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Woe [to] one who says” (NASB and NIV both similar); NCV “How terrible it will be.”

[45:10]  ¹⁵ tn See the note at v. 9. This phrase occurs a second time later in this verse.

[45:10]  ¹⁶ sn Verses 9-10 may allude to the exiles’ criticism that the Lord does not appear to know what he is doing.

[45:11]  ¹⁷ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[45:11]  ¹⁸ tc The Hebrew text reads “the one who formed him, the coming things.” Among various suggestions, some have proposed an emendation of יֹצְרוֹ (yotsÿro, “the one who formed him”) to יֹצֵר (yotser, “the one who forms”; the suffixed form in the Hebrew text may be influenced by vv. 9-10, where the same form appears twice) and takes “coming things” as the object of the participle (either objective genitive or accusative): “the one who brings the future into being.”

[45:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Ask me” The rhetorical command sarcastically expresses the Lord’s disgust with those who question his ways.

[45:11]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Do you command me about…?” The rhetorical question sarcastically expresses the Lord’s disgust with those who question his ways.