Isaiah 41:20

Isa 41:20 That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.

Ver. 20. That they may see, and know, and consider.] Heb., Lay. Lay it upon their heart, which natural men are very hardly drawn to do. The best are so backward, that an Ezekiel may hear, "Son of man, behold with thine eye, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall show thee," &c., {Eze 40:4} and Haggai calleth upon the good people of his time to "consider" and better "consider." {Hag 1:5; Hag 1:7}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That is, hath appointed and determined that it shall come so to pass.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

consider--literally, "lay it (to hear)"; turn (their attention) to it. "They" refers to all lands (Isa 41:1; Psa 64:9; Psa 40:3). The effect on the Gentiles of God's open interposition hereafter in behalf of Israel shall be, they shall seek Israel's God (Isa 2:3; Zac 8:21-23).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 20. And consider] The verb ישימו yasimu, without לב leb added, cannot signify to apply the heart, or to attend to a thing, as Houbigant has observed; he therefore reads ישמו yashshemu, they shall wonder. The conjecture is ingenious; but it is much more probable that the word לב leb is lost out of the text; for all the ancient versions render the phrase to the same sense, as if it were fully expressed, ישימו לב yasimu leb; and the Chaldee renders it paraphrastically, yet still retaining the very words in his paraphrase, ושוון דחלתי על לבהון vishavvun dechalti al lebehon, "that they may put my fear in their heart." See also Isa 41:22, where the same phrase is used.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(20) That they may see.—The outward blessings, yet more the realities of which they are the symbols, are given to lead men to acknowledge Him who alone would be the giver.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20. The ultimate object of this miracle is the demonstration of the creative power of the true God; see ch. Isa_40:5, Isa_55:13. The verse seems to shew that the previous description is not merely figurative, but that an actual physical transformation of the desert is contemplated.

That they (men in general) may … consider] Lit. “lay (to heart),” a common ellipsis. together binds the four verbs of the sentence.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together,.... Not the nations of the world, as Kimchi; but rather, as Aben Ezra, the poor and needy; who in all this, by subduing kingdoms and states, their enemies, supplying their wants when in the greatest distress, and in a marvellous manner, and converting sinners, might easily perceive, and so frankly own and acknowledge, as well as lay it to heart, and lay it up in their minds, and get understanding from it:

that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it; for the things before said to be done carry in them plain marks of the hand of the Lord, and are as clear proofs of his almighty power, as what was done in the creation of all things; such as a worm to be made a threshing instrument, to beat down mountains and hills, kingdoms and states, and make them as chaff; rivers to be opened in high places, and all manner of excellent trees to be planted in a wilderness; and indeed the work of conversion is a creation work; men are by it made new creatures, and are manifestly the workmanship of the hand of God.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

That they - The Jews, the people who shall be rescued from their long captivity, and restored again to their own land. So rich and unexpected would be the blessings - as if in a pathless desert the most beautiful and refreshing trees and fountains should suddenly spring up - that they would have the fullest demonstration that they came from God.

Hath created it - That is, all this is to be traced to him. In the apocryphal book of Baruch there is an expression respecting the return from Babylon remarkably similar to that which is used here by Isaiah: ‘Even the woods and every sweet-smelling tree shall overshadow Israel by the commandment of God’ Isa 5:8.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

That they may see; or, that men may see; for it is an indefinite expression. The sense is, that all that see this wonderful change may consider it, and may know that this is the work of God alone.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

That they may see, etc. The change would be such that those who experienced it could not fail to recognize "Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel," as its Author.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

“That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of Jehovah hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.” The verbs in the first clause may refer to men in general, or to those immediately concerned as subjects or spectators of the change described. There is a climax in the last clause: He has not only done it but created it, (i.e., produced a new effect by the exertion of almighty power).

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That they may see, etc. That the poor may see with their own eyes, and take it to heart.

בראה According to my opinion, hath shaped it; according to others, hath created it, that is, has brought it from non-existence into existence, but not from one form of existence into another.

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.