Isaiah 45:12

Isa 45:12 I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, [even] my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.

Ver. 12. I have made the earth,] q.d., I am the mighty maker and monarch of the world; therefore pray on, and patiently wait for a gracious answer, "he that believeth maketh not haste."

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.

Isa_45:12

I have made the earth

Nature and Scripture

(with Isa_45:22):--The study of Nature reveals a Creator.

This is the order: God, creation, fishes, animals, men, women, the human race, the culture of the soil, the building of cities, the navigation of the sea, and, in course of ages, the formation of society as we know it. But man as a moral agent required moral laws; having also a capacity for religion, he needed spiritual light. This made revelation from above necessary. Mankind have had both vocal and written messages from God.

Creation tells of His power, and the Scripture tells of His salvation--the two books together revealing His perfect glory.

I. A careful study of nature and man will bring vividly before you THE LAW OF DEPENDENCE. The man who would attempt to be independent of Nature would soon die of hunger and thirst, and the soul that is arrogant enough to deem itself independent of Christ will soon find that saying true, He that hath not the Son of God, hath not life.

II. In nature you see also THE LAW OF CULTIVATION. Every living thing needs cultivation, and is improved, beautified, and perpetuated by it. Man, the living soul, is under the same law. In a higher sense the soul of man is subject to this law of cultivation. The fruits and flowers found in a cultivated soul are faith, prayer, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity.

III. Nature conspicuously displays and relentlessly enforces THE LAW OF DEPRIVATION. In the great eaves of Kentucky there are dark waters where the light never comes. Eyeless fishes swim there. Their ancestors had eyes that could see; but their descendants, choosing to dwell in lightless waters, have only rims and specks in their heads v, here eyes might have been. Use well a sense, a faculty, a power, and you increase it; neglect it, and it will die. That is the law of Nature. Scripture teaches you the same lesson as to the spiritual world.

IV. Nature does also undoubtedly embrace THE LAW OF TERMINATION. The grass withereth and the flower fadeth. The bones of leviathan whiten the deep places of the sea. And what of man? To him also the law of termination applies. Shall nature, man, life as we know it, continue as they are for ever? No, for both Nature and Scripture proclaim the law of termination (2Pe_3:10).

V. But both Scripture and Nature point us to another law--THAT OF CONTINUITY. And this eternal law of continuity will be in existence after the present world is left behind. Consider, then, these natural and spiritual truths. Let Nature teach you how great the Creator is: let Scripture teach you that His salvation and love and righteousness are for ever and ever. (G. W.MCree.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That is, the stars.

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

The same argument for prayer, drawn from God's omnipotence and consequent power, to grant any request, occurs in Isa 40:26-31.

I, even my hands--so Hebrew (Psa 41:2), "Thou . . . thy hand" (both nominatives, in apposition).

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

(12) I have made . . .—The Creator is also the Ruler, supreme in history as in nature.

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

12. Is introductory to Isa_45:13; it is the Creator of all things who has destined Cyrus to be the emancipator of Israel.

I, even my hands] The “I” merely lends emphasis to the possessive: “my hands, and not another’s.”

all their host (the stars, not the angels, Isa_40:26) have I commanded] or, “ordained.”

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.

I have made the earth,.... The Targum adds, "by my Word"; the essential Word, the Lord Jesus Christ; see Heb 11:3, this, with what follows, is said to show that the Lord was able to bring to pass things to come, concerning his children, and the works of his hands, which he allowed his people to inquire of him concerning, and to insist upon the performance of them; since he was the Creator of all things, and had made the earth out of nothing, in the beginning of time, by the word of his power:

and created man upon it; the last and chief of the creation, for the sake of whom the earth was made; and man was made to dwell upon it, manure, and cultivate it:

I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens; as a canopy over the earth, as a curtain and tent to dwell in; a phrase often used to express the greatness and majesty of God; see Isa 40:22,

and all their host have I commanded; into being, and to perform their offices regularly and constantly, the sun, moon, and stars, as well as the heavenly host of angels; see Psa 33:9, what is it that such a God cannot do? he is able to do more than his people can ask of him, or think to receive from him, Eph 3:20.

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

I have made the earth - God here asserts that he had made all things, doubtless with a view to show that he was able to hear their cry, and to grant an answer to their requests. His agency was visible everywhere, alike in forming and sustaining all things, and in raising up for them a deliverer. They might, therefore, go before him with confidence, and spread out all their needs.

Have stretched out the heavens - (See the notes at Isa 40:26).

And all their host - The stars (see the notes at Isa 40:26).

Have I commanded - All are under my direction and control. What more can be needed by his people than the friendship and protection of him who made the heavens and the earth, and who leads on the stars!

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

I have made the earth, and created man upon it; they are wholly and solely my creatures, and therefore absolutely at my disposal.

All their host have I commanded; I have commanded them to be, or made them by my command, or the word of my power: compare Psa 148:5.

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

I, even my hands; literally, I, my hands; i.e. "my hands, and my hands alone." All their host. The "host of heaven" is sometimes put for the stars, and may be so understood here; but "commands" are laid on intelligent rather than on unintelligent beings. (The object of the verb tsavah in Hebrew is almost always personal.)

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

“I made the earth, and man upon it I created; I, my hands, spread the heavens, and all their host commanded.” This is a justification of the claim in the last clause of the foregoing verse, or a statement of the reason why He could be trusted to protect His people, namely, because He was almighty, and had proved Himself to be so in creation. The personal pronoun is emphatic in both clauses, as if he had said, it is I who made, or, I (and no other) made etc. The construction of the second of these pronouns with my hands has been variously explained. Some regard the latter as equivalent to an ablative of instrument in Latin: I with my hands have spread etc. Others consider it an instance of the idiom which adds the personal pronoun to the suffix for the sake of emphasis: I; my hands, spread, (i.e., my own hands spread). In such constructions the personal pronoun commonly stands last. A third supposition is that the pronoun is in apposition with the noun itself, and not so much emphatic as explanatory. I (that is to say, my hands) have spread. (Compare Psa 3:5; Psa 17:13-14; Psa 44:3; Psa 60:7). The last words of the verse admit of two explanations. We may understand the figure as a military one, and give the verb the military sense of commanding. Or we may take host as a common expression for contents or inhabitants, and understand the verb as meaning called into existence. (Compare Psa 33:9). In itself, the former explanation seems entitled to the preference; but it requires the verb to be construed as an indefinite preterit or a present, whereas all the other verbs, though similar in form, relate to a determinate past time, viz. the time of the creation.

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

General Information:

Yahweh continues speaking.

It was my hands that

Here the word "hands" represents Yahweh. AT: "It was I who" (See: Synecdoche)

stretched out the heavens

Yahweh speaks of creating the heavens as if they were fabric that he stretched out. See how you translated a similar phrase in Isaiah 42:5.

translationWords

earth

hand

heaven

command

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

I made the earth and gave it to whoever pleased Me [lit. was straight in My eyes].

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

I have made the earth, etc. How will you command me concerning my children, when the whole universe belongs to me? I have created earth and man upon it; my hands have stretched out the heavens, and all their hosts have I commanded, and consequently they were created. I commanded is poetically said for I spoke as in the verse He commanded and they were created (Ps. 148:5)

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.