Isaiah 52:6

Isa 52:6 Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore [they shall know] in that day that I [am] he that doth speak: behold, [it is] I.

Ver. 6. Therefore my people shall know my name,] sc., That I am Jehovah; {as Exo 6:3} the God of Amen, {Isa 65:16} who "will not suffer my faithfulness to fail, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my mouth." {Psa 89:33-34} And it shall therefore be so because my name - that nomen maiestativum - hath been blasphemed and vilified. God’s people fare the better for their enemies’ insolencies.

That I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I.] Or, That it is I that do speak, saying, Lo, here I am. This some understand to be the second person in the Trinity, the eternal Son of the eternal Father, called "the Word," {Joh 1:1} and there are those who give us this rule - Where the Old Testament bringeth in God appearing and speaking, we are to understand it always to be the second person. See Joh 12:37-42.

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.

52:6 Just as God did to Moses before the Exodus (Exod 3:15), he will reveal himself in the coming rescue from exile.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

shall know in that day--when Christ shall reveal Himself to Israel sensibly; the only means whereby their obstinate unbelief shall be overcome (Psa 102:16; Zac 12:10; Zac 14:5).

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 6. Therefore my people shall know] The word לכן lachen, occurring the second time in this verse, seems to be repeated by mistake. It has no force nor emphasis as a repetition; it only embarrasses the construction and the sense. It was not in the copies from which the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate were translated; it was not in the copy of the Septuagint from which the Arabic was translated; but in the Aldine and Complutensian editions διατουτο is repeated; probably so corrected, in order to make it conformable with the Hebrew text.

I am he that doth speak - "I am he, JEHOVAH, that promised"] For הוא hu, the Bodleian MS. and another have יהוה, Jehovah; "For I am JEHOVAH that promised;" and another ancient MS. adds יהוה Jehovah after הוא hu. The addition of JEHOVAH seems to be right in consequence of what was said in the preceding line, "My people shall know my name."

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

6. The contempt thus brought on His name is the crowning motive of Jehovah’s interposition,—another point of affinity with Ezekiel (see Eze_36:21).

my people shall know my name] i.e. shall know by experience what My name imports; comp. “shall know that I am Jehovah,” in Ezekiel (Eze_20:42; Eze_20:44 and often). The second therefore, followed by no new verb, is both superfluous and difficult and should probably be omitted, with LXX.

that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I] The last words “behold me” are hardly to be taken as obj. of the verb “speak”; they simply repeat the sense of the preceding clause: “They shall know that it is I who speak; here am I” (cf. Eze_5:13).

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.

Therefore my people shall know my name,.... His nature and perfections; his faithfulness in fulfilling his promises to them; his power in delivering them out of their bondage; and his justice in punishing their enemies.

Therefore they shall know on that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I; they shall then see, when the people of God are delivered from the antichristian slavery and bondage, and when Babylon is fallen, that all the promises God has spoken are yea and amen; that Jesus Christ is the true and faithful witness; and that these are his true and faithful sayings, which he has spoken.

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

Therefore my people shall know my name - The idea in this verse is, that his people should have such exhibitions of his power as to furnish to them demonstration that he was God.

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

Here. Jesus Christ appears, the Redeemer foretold so long before.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

My people shall know my name; they shall have sensible experience of my infinite power and goodness in fighting for them and against you; whereby they shall be able to put your blasphemous tongues to silence.

They shall know; which word is understood from the foregoing clause, as is very frequent in Scripture.

In that day; when I shall redeem my people: which work was begun by the return of the Jews from Babylon, and afterwards carried on, and at last perfected, by the coming of the Messiah.

That I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I: that all these promises are not the words of a weak, or fickle, or deceitful man, but of him who is the omnipotent, and unchangeable, and covenant-keeping God. Or thus, That I who have formerly spoken to you by my servants the prophets, (for it was the Spirit of Christ which was and spake in them, 1Pe 1:11) do now speak to you in my own person, being clothed with flesh; which agrees well, as with the analogy of faith, and with divers other scriptures, so particularly with the next verse, and with divers following passages, which so evidently speak of the person and kingdom of Christ, that they cannot without great force be understood of any other.

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

Therefore. Because of the "howling" and the "blasphemy." My people shall know my Name; i.e. "my people shall know by practical experience that I am all that my name of El or Elohim Strong," "the Powerful implies." They shall know in that day. The "day" when God would come to their help and deliver them from their oppressors when they would call upon him, and he would manifest himself, (Isa_58:9) responding to their appeal as distinctly as though he said, "Here I am.

Knowing God"s Name.

By that is meant finding out for ourselves all that is involved in his Name; proving for ourselves what he can and will do, even for us. The prophet has recalled to mind the deliverance from Egypt, and is full of the revelation which was then made, to Moses, of God"s Name. Elsewhere it has been shown that God"s Name is twofold.

1. An incommunicable name a bare assertion of existence, "Jehovah, I am.

2. A relational name, that sets us upon observing what God has done and does. "The God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob." Now we gain illustration from another incident in the Mosaic history. Moses, in one of the sternest experiences of his life, asked for the infinite comforting of being shown the Lord"s glory; and this was the Divine response, "I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the Name of the Lord before thee." Evidently the adequate impression of God"s goodness is "knowing God"s Name." And the special point of goodness dwelt on in our text is the goodness that restores us from the consequences of our own follies and sins.

I THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD"S NAME THAT COMES BY REVELATION. This is mainly a head knowledge, and does not, of necessity, influence the spirit or the conduct.

II THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD"S NAME THAT COMES THROUGH THE EXPERIENCES OF OTHERS.

1. As recorded in the Word.

2. As met with in life.

This is helpful, but it is secondary knowledge. And the response we make to it is goodness upon other people"s persuasion, and is only likely to last so long as the persuasion lasts. Like the parasite, we are,good just as long as we have somebody else"s life to drink of.

III THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD"S NAME THAT COMES THROUGH OUR OWN EXPERIENCES. We never really know God until we know him for ourselves, by our own soul-sight and soul-touch. This is well expressed by the saint of old, "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." In the text God assures his people that his restoring mercies shall be a personal revelation of himself to them; and, knowing him, they shall know the full joy of full trust. R.T.

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

Shall know - They shall experience my power and goodness in fighting for them. In that day - When I shall redeem my people: which work was begun by the return of the Jews from Babylon, and perfected by the coming of the Messiah. Behold - That all these promises are the words of the omnipotent, unchangeable God.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

“Therefore (because my name is thus blasphemed) my people shall know my name; therefore in that day (shall they know) that I am He that said, Behold me!” The exact sense of the last words according to this construction is, ‘I am He that spake (or promised) a Behold me?’ To know the name of God, is to know His nature so far as it has been revealed; and in this case more specifically, it is to know that the name blasphemed among the wicked was deserving of the highest honor. The second ‘therefore’ is to be regarded pregnant and emphatic.

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

My people shall know When I redeem them, they will recognize that My name is master, monarch, and ruler, as is its apparent meaning.

therefore, on that day The day of their redemption, they will understand that I am He Who speaks, and behold, I have fulfilled the prophecy.

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.

Therefore my people shall know my name when I shall proclaim, Behold, it is I.

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.