For the sake of Jacob My servant and Israel My chosen one, I call you by name; I have given you a title of honor, though you have not known Me.
Parallel translations
- WEB For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel my chosen, I have called you by your name. I have given you a title, though you have not known me.
- KJV For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.
- NKJV For Jacob My servant’s sake, And Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known Me.
- NASB “For the sake of Jacob My servant, And Israel My chosen one, I have also called you by your name; I have given you a title of honor Though you have not known Me.
- NLT “And why have I called you for this work? Why did I call you by name when you did not know me? It is for the sake of Jacob my servant, Israel my chosen one.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God names and equips Cyrus the Persian king for Israel's sake, even though Cyrus does not know him. God works through unbelievers to keep his covenant promises.
Overview
Continuing the Cyrus oracle, Yahweh declares he has summoned this pagan king by name long before his rise, purely for the sake of Jacob/Israel, his chosen servant. The point is that history serves God's redemptive purposes for his people, not the merits of the instruments he uses. It anticipates the gospel pattern in which God sovereignly orchestrates world events to deliver his elect, supremely in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Isa 41:8–9“But you, O Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, descendant of Abraham My friend—
- Exod 19:5–6Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.
- Isa 44:1But now listen, O Jacob My servant, Israel, whom I have chosen.
- Rom 11:7What then? What Israel was seeking, it failed to obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened,
- Acts 17:23For as I walked around and examined your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore what you worship as something unknown, I now proclaim to you.
- Isa 43:14Thus says the LORD your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake, I will send to Babylon and bring them all as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.
- Gal 4:8–9Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.
- Mark 13:20If the Lord had not cut short those days, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom He has chosen, He has cut them short.
- Matt 24:22If those days had not been cut short, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.
- Jer 50:17–20Israel is a scattered flock, chased away by lions. The first to devour him was the king of Assyria; the last to crush his bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”
- Isa 44:28who says of Cyrus, ‘My shepherd will fulfill all that I desire,’ who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be rebuilt,’ and of the temple, ‘Let its foundation be laid.’”
- Rom 9:6It is not as though God’s word has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.
- Isa 43:3–4For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place.
- Eph 2:12remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.
- 1 Th 4:5not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 45:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.