Yesaya 45:5-10

45:5 I am the Lord, I have no peer, ¹ 

there is no God but me.

I arm you for battle, ²  even though you do not recognize ³  me.

45:6 I do this ⁴  so people ⁵  will recognize from east to west

that there is no God but me;

I am the Lord, I have no peer.

45:7 I am ⁶  the one who forms light

and creates darkness; ⁷ 

the one who brings about peace

and creates calamity. ⁸ 

I am the Lord, who accomplishes all these things.

45:8 O sky, rain down from above!

Let the clouds send down showers ⁹  of deliverance!

Let the earth absorb it ¹⁰  so salvation may grow, ¹¹ 

and deliverance may sprout up ¹²  along with it.

I, the Lord, create it. ¹³ 

The Lord Gives a Warning

45:9 One who argues with his creator is in grave danger, ¹⁴ 

one who is like a mere ¹⁵  shard among the other shards on the ground!

The clay should not say to the potter, ¹⁶ 

“What in the world ¹⁷  are you doing?

Your work lacks skill!” ¹⁸ 

45:10 Danger awaits one who says ¹⁹  to his father,

“What in the world ²⁰  are you fathering?”

and to his mother,

“What in the world are you bringing forth?” ²¹ 

[45:5]  ¹ tn Heb “and there is none besides.” On the use of עוֹד (’od) here, see BDB 729 s.v. 1.c.

[45:5]  ² tn Heb “gird you” (so NASB) or “strengthen you” (so NIV).

[45:5]  ³ tn Or “know” (NAB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT); NIV “have not acknowledged.”

[45:6]  ⁴ tn The words “I do this” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[45:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “they” (so KJV, ASV); TEV, CEV “everyone”; NLT “all the world.”

[45:7]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “let the clouds drip with”; KJV “let the skies pour down.”

[45:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “open up” (so NASB); NIV, NLT “open wide.”

[45:8]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn The masculine singular pronominal suffix probably refers back to יָשַׁע (yasha’, “salvation”).

[45:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who argues with the one who formed him.”

[45:9]  ¹⁵ tn The words “one who is like a mere” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and clarification.

[45:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Should the clay say to the one who forms it?” The rhetorical question anticipates a reply, “Of course not!”

[45:9]  ¹⁷ tn The words “in the world” are supplied in the translation to approximate in English idiom the force of the sarcastic question.

[45:9]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Woe [to] one who says” (NASB and NIV both similar); NCV “How terrible it will be.”

[45:10]  ²⁰ tn See the note at v. 9. This phrase occurs a second time later in this verse.

[45:10]  ²¹ sn Verses 9-10 may allude to the exiles’ criticism that the Lord does not appear to know what he is doing.