Isaiah 48: Go Ye Forth of Babylon
A stubborn people, new things, the furnace of affliction, and the call to leave
"Hear ye this, O house of Jacob… which swear by the name of the Lord… but not in truth, nor in righteousness… Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; I have even from the beginning declared it to thee… lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them" (48:1–5).
"Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it… and I will not give my glory unto another" (vv. 10–11).
"Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me" (v. 16). "O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river" (v. 18).
"Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing… say ye, The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob. And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them… There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked" (vv. 20–22).
| Verses | What it says | What to notice |
|---|---|---|
| 48:1–2 | House of Jacob, sworn by the LORD's name but not in truth; claiming the holy city | A sharper tone than 40–47. |
| 48:3–5 | I announced the former things long ago and did them suddenly, because you were stubborn, neck of iron, brow of bronze, lest you credit your idol | Prophecy as proof against idolatry. |
| 48:6–8 | New things, hidden things, created now, not of old, so you cannot say "I knew"; a rebel from birth | "New things": the deliverance through Cyrus. |
| 48:9–11 | For my name I hold back anger; refined, not like silver; chosen in the furnace of affliction; my glory I give to no other | Furnace: Egypt as an "iron furnace" (Deuteronomy 4:20). |
| 48:12–15 | I am he, first and last; my hand founded the earth; the one the LORD loves will do his will on Babylon | Cyrus again, unnamed. |
| 48:16 | Draw near: I have not spoken in secret; and now the Lord GOD has sent me, and his Spirit | A sudden "me": the prophet (or the servant). |
| 48:17–19 | Your Redeemer who teaches you: if only you had listened, peace like a river, righteousness like waves, offspring like sand | A lament for what might have been. |
| 48:20–22 | Go out from Babylon, flee the Chaldeans singing: the LORD redeemed Jacob; water from the rock in the desert; no peace for the wicked | Repeated with "my God" at 57:21. |
Leaving Babylon
Ezra 1–2 says that Cyrus permitted the return and lists 42,360 returnees (with servants and singers), and that temple vessels went back with Sheshbazzar. How many actually went, and when, is debated; many Judeans remained in Babylonia, where the Al-Yahudu tablets show them farming and paying taxes. Isaiah's "Go ye forth" is a summons, not a census. See the Ezra investigation "Who Returned?"
"The Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me" (48:16)
Who speaks? The verse suddenly shifts from God's speech to an "I" whom God and his Spirit have sent: most likely the prophet, as in 61:1 ("the Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me"), or the servant of 49:1. The Hebrew can also mean "the Lord GOD has sent me and his Spirit" (both sent). Early Christian writers (Origen, among others; reported) read the verse as the Son speaking, sent by the Father and the Spirit, an early Trinitarian reading. The text itself is ambiguous about both the speaker and the syntax.
Rev 18:4: come out of her
Revelation 18:4 ("Come out of her, my people") draws on 48:20 and 52:11 and Jeremiah 51:45, applying the summons to leave Babylon to Christians in the Roman world. Isaiah's command concerned Judeans in 6th-century Babylonia.
A refrain and a structure
"There is no peace… unto the wicked" (48:22) recurs at 57:21, and the book ends with the fate of the rebels (66:24). Many interpreters (following F. Delitzsch, 19th century) divide chapters 40–66 into three parts of nine chapters (40–48, 49–57, 58–66), each closing with this note. The division is a reader's observation, not a heading in the text.
What the evidence shows
- Isaiah 48:22 and 57:21 share a refrain.
- The speaker of 48:16 is the prophet. Also read of the servant or, in early Christian reading, the Son.
- Isaiah 40–66 is arranged in three groups of nine chapters. A proposed structure.
- Ezra 2 lists 42,360 returnees.
Continue the journey
Journey of a PassageIsaiah 48:16: "The Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me""And now the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me." A sudden first-person speaker: the prophet, the servant, or (in early Christian reading) the Son.More from this lesson
Why this matters to the rest of Scripture
- Revelation 18:4; Jeremiah 51:45Come out of Babylon.
- Exodus 17:6; Psalm 78:15–16Water from the rock.
- The iron furnace of Egypt.
- The return.