Isaiah 48:6

Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(6) Thou hast heard . . .—The appeal is to the conscience of the exiles. They had heard the prediction. They are bidden to consider it all. Should not they declare the impression it had made on them?

I have shewed thee.—Better, I shew thee, as a present incipient act.

New things.—The “new things” are those that lie in a more distant future than the conquests of Cyrus, which are referred to as “former things.”

Benson Commentary

Isaiah 48:6-8. Thou hast heard, see all this — As thou hast heard all these things, from time to time, seriously consider them. And will not ye declare it — I call you to witness: must you not be forced to acknowledge the truth of what I say? I have showed thee new things from this time — And I have now given thee new predictions of secret things, such as till this time were wholly unknown to thee, concerning thy deliverance out of Babylon by Cyrus. They are created now — Revealed to thee by me; brought to light, as things are by creation. The idea is elegant; for what is revealed exists by the word that proceeds from the mouth of God, which is the character of creation. And not from the beginning — Hebrew, ולא מאז, not from thence, not from these ancient times when other things were revealed to thee. Even before the day — Hebrew, and, or, or before this day. This day answers to now in the first clause, and seems to be added as an exposition of it; when thou heardest them not — Hebrew, And thou didst not hear them, namely, before this time in which God hath revealed them to thee by my ministry. Lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them — Either by thine own sagacity, or by the help of thine idols. Yea, thou knewest not — The same thing is repeated, because this was so illustrious a proof of the infinite power and providence of God, and so clear and full a discovery of the vanity of idols. Yea, from that time — Hebrew, from then, as in the foregoing verse; thine ear was not opened — That is, thou didst not hear; I did not reveal these things unto thee: for so this phrase of opening the ear is understood, 1 Samuel 9:15. For I knew that thou wouldest deal treacherously — I knew all these cautions were necessary to cure thine infidelity. And wast called — Namely, justly and truly; a transgressor from the womb — Thou wast indeed such from thy very origin as a people. The contents of this verse, therefore, are not only to be considered as a confirmation of what was said in the preceding verse, namely, that the Jews had no knowledge of these new things, (as they are called Isaiah 48:6,) before the revelation of them made by Isaiah; but as “containing a conviction of the inconsideration, incredulity, and prejudices of the Jewish people; who, notwithstanding the prophecies so clearly fulfilled among them, had neither duly attended to them, nor become obedient to God, which he observes was nothing strange, since, from the first time of their adoption as a people, from their deliverance out of Egypt, which was, as it were, their birth, they had been full of perfidy and transgression.” See Vitringa.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

48:1-8 The Jews valued themselves on descent from Jacob, and used the name of Jehovah as their God. They prided themselves respecting Jerusalem and the temple, yet there was no holiness in their lives. If we are not sincere in religion, we do but take the name of the Lord in vain. By prophecy they were shown how God would deal with them, long before it came to pass. God has said and done enough to prevent men's boasting of themselves, which makes the sin and ruin of the proud worse; sooner or later every mouth shall be stopped, and all become silent before Him. We are all born children of disobedience. Where original sin is, actual sin will follow. Does not the conscience of every man witness to the truth of Scripture? May the Lord prove us, and render us doers of the word.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Thou hast heard - You are witnesses that the prediction was uttered long before it was fulfilled.

See all this - Behold how it is all fulfilled. Bear witness that the event is as it was predicted.

And will ye not declare it? - Will you not bear witness to the entire fulfillment of the prophecy? God appeals to them as qualified to testify that what he had declared had come to pass, and calls on them to make this known as a demonstration that he alone was God (see the notes at Isaiah 44:8).

I have showed thee new things from this time - From this time I make known a thing which has not before occurred, that you may have a similar demonstration that Yahweh is God. The 'new thing' here referred to, is, doubtless, the prediction of the deliverance from the captivity at Babylon - a new thing, in contradistinction from those which had been before predicted, and which were already fulfilled (see the notes at Isaiah 42:9; Isaiah 43:19).

Even hidden things - Events which are so concealed that they could not be conjectured by any political sagacity, or by any contemplation of mere natural causes. They are, as it were, laid up in dark treasurehouses (compare Isaiah 45:3), and they can be known only by him to whom 'the darkness shineth as the day,' and to whom the night and the day are both alike Psalm 139:12.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

6. Thou, &c.—So "ye are my witnesses" (Isa 43:10). Thou canst testify the prediction was uttered long before the fulfilment: "see all this," namely, that the event answers to the prophecy.

declare—make the fact known as a proof that Jehovah alone is God (Isa 44:8).

new things—namely, the deliverance from Babylon by Cyrus, new in contradistinction from former predictions that had been fulfilled (Isa 42:9; 43:19). Antitypically, the prophecy has in view the "new things" of the gospel treasury (So 7:13; Mt 13:52; 2Co 5:17; Re 21:5). From this point forward, the prophecies as to Messiah's first and second advents and the restoration of Israel, have a new circumstantial distinctness, such as did not characterize the previous ones, even of Isaiah. Babylon, in this view, answers to the mystical Babylon of Revelation.

hidden—which could not have been guessed by political sagacity (Da 2:22, 29; 1Co 2:9, 10).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Thou hast heard, see all this; as thou hast heard all these things from my mouth, from time to time, so now I advise thee to see, i.e. seriously to consider them, and to lay them to heart.

Will not ye declare it? I call you to witness; must you not be forced to acknowledge the truth of what I say? Deny it if you can. Or,

have ye not declared it unto all people, as occasion required it? Have you not boasted unto the Gentiles of this as your honour and privilege? I have showed thee new things from this time; and I have now given thee new predictions of secret things, and such as till this time were wholly unknown to thee, as it follows, concerning thy deliverance out of Babylon by Cyrus.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Thou hast heard, see all this: and will ye not declare it?.... You have heard of all these things, how they were foretold before they were; how they came to pass exactly as they were predicted; now look over these prophecies, and compare them with the events; see the exact completion of them; and when you have so done, can you be so stouthearted and impudent as to deny them, or not own and confess them?

I have showed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them; meaning the destruction of the Babylonish empire, and the deliverance of the Jews by Cyrus, prophesied just now in the preceding chapters; things not yet come to pass, newly revealed, which were hidden in the breast of God, and unknown to them until prophesied of; and which were typical of redemption by the incarnate Son of God, whose incarnation, and salvation by him, were new, unheard of, and wonderful things; and of the new state of things under the Gospel dispensation, when all things shall become new; the doctrines and ordinances of which are new; the whole Gospel is a hidden mystery, and unknown to men till revealed and made known by the Spirit of God.

Geneva Study Bible

Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye {g} declare it? I have showed ye new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them.

(g) Will you not acknowledge my blessing, and declare it to others?

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

6. see all this] see it all (sc. fulfilled).

and will not ye declare it?] Better (with the change of a consonant) and you, will ye not bear witness? (Duhm). Cf. ch. Isaiah 43:12.

6 b–8. Jehovah has proved His power to foretell by the fulfilment of past predictions (vv.3–6 a); now He announces new things.

I have shewed thee] Rather: I shew thee (in the act of speaking).

new things] viz. those specified in Isaiah 48:14,—the conquest of Babylon and all that results from it, the deliverance of Israel, the overthrow of heathenism and the manifestation of the glory of Jehovah.

hidden things] Lit. “things kept” (in reserve). and thou didst not know them] which thou hast not known (R.V.). With the exception of one letter the clause coincides with one in Jeremiah 33:3 (“difficult things which thou knowest not”).

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 6. - Thou hast heard, see all this; rather, thou didst hear, (now) see it all, i.e. see all the prophecies now fulfilled, which thou heardest in days gone by. Will ye not declare it? Will ye not for very shame make known generally the accordance between the prophecies and the events, which you cannot fail to see? Will ye not become "my witnesses" (Isaiah 43:10), and turn away from your idols? I have showed thee; rather, I show thee; i.e. "I am about to show thee from this time new things, even hidden things, which thou knowest not" - things belonging to the new cycle of prophecy, not previously announced, but reserved for the present crisis (see the comment on ver. 3). On the whole, the language used seems most consonant with the view of Dr. Kay, that the "new things" are those about to be revealed in the next section of the prophecy (Isaiah 49-53), things belonging to the coming of Christ, and the "new creation" which it will be the great object of his coming to bring about. Isaiah 48:6

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

But in order to determine exactly what "the former things" were, which Jehovah had foretold in order that Israel might not ascribe them to this idol or the other, we must add Isaiah 48:6-8 : "Thou hast heard it, look then at it all; and ye, must ye not confess it? I give thee new things to hear from this time forth, and hidden things, and what thou didst not know. It is created now, and not long ago; and thou hast not heard it before, that thou mightest not say, Behold, I knew it. Thou hast neither heard it, nor known it, nor did thine ear open itself to it long ago: for I knew thou art altogether faithless, and thou art called rebellious from the womb." The meaning of the question in Isaiah 48:6 is very obvious: they must acknowledge and attest, even thou against their will (Isaiah 43:10; Isaiah 44:8), that Jehovah has foretold all that is now confirmed by the evident fulfilment. Consequently the "former things" are the events experienced by the people from the very earliest times (Isaiah 46:9) down to the present times of Cyrus, and more especially the first half or epoch of this period itself, which expired at the time that formed the prophet's standpoint. And as the object of the prediction was to guard Israel against ascribing to its idols that which had taken place (which can only be understood of events that had occurred in favour of Israel), the "former things" must include the preparation for the redemption of Israel from the Babylonian captivity through the revolution brought to pass by Cyrus. Hence the "new things" will embrace the redemption of Israel with its attendant circumstances, and that not merely on its outward side, but on its spiritual side as well; also the glorification of the redeemed people in the midst of a world of nations converted to the God of Israel, and the creation of a new heaven and a new earth; in short, the New Testament aeon (compare עם לברית, lxx εἰς διαθήκην γένους, Isaiah 42:6), with the facts which contribute to its ultimate completion (f. Isaiah 42:9). The announcement and realization of these absolutely new and hitherto secret things (cf., Romans 16:25) take place from this time forward; Israel has not heard of them "before today" (compare מיּום, "from this day forward," Isaiah 43:13), that it may not lay claim to the knowledge conveyed to it by prophecy, as something drawn from itself. This thought is carried to a climax in Isaiah 48:8 in three correlated sentences commencing with "yea" (gam). פּתח signifies patescere here, as in Isaiah 60:11 (Ewald, 120, a). Jehovah had said nothing to them of this before, because it was to be feared that, with their faithlessness and tendency to idolatry, which had run through their entire history, they would only abuse it. This is strange! On the one hand, the rise of Cyrus is spoken of here as predicted from of old, because it belonged to the "former things," and as knowable through prophecy - a statement which favours the opinion that these addresses were written before the captivity; and, on the other hand, a distinction is drawn between these "former things" and certain "new things" that were intentionally not predicted before the expiration of these "former things," which certainly seems to preclude the possibility of their having been composed before the captivity; since, as Ruetschi observes, if "the older Isaiah had predicted this, he would have acted in direct opposition to Jehovah's design." But in actual fact, the dilemma in which the opponents of the authenticity of these prophecies find themselves, is comparatively worse than this. For the principal objection - namely, that a prophet before the captivity could not possibly have known or predicted anything concerning Cyrus - cannot be satisfactorily removed by attributing these prophecies to a prophet of the time of the captivity, since they expressly and repeatedly affirm that the rise of Cyrus was an event foreknown and predicted by the God of prophecy. Now, if it is Isaiah who thus takes his stand directly in the midst of the captivity, we can understand both of these: viz., the retrospective glance at previous prophecies, which issued in the rise of Cyrus that prepared the way for the redemption from Babylon, since, so far as the prophet was concerned, such prophecies as Isaiah 13-14:23; Isaiah 21:1-10, and also Isaiah 11:10-12 (Micah 4:10), are fused into one with his present predictions; and also the prospective glance at prophecies which are now first to be uttered, and events which are now fore the first time about to be accomplished; inasmuch as the revelations contained in these prophecies concerning Israel's pathway through suffering to glory, more especially so far as they grew out of the idea of the "servant of Jehovah," might really be set down as absolutely new to the prophet himself, and never heard of before. Meanwhile our exposition is not affected by the critical question; for even we most firmly maintain, that the prophet who is speaking here has his standpoint in the midst of the captivity, on the boundary line of the condition of suffering and punishment and its approaching termination.