that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying,
Parallel translations
- KJV That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
- BSB This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
- ESV This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
- NKJV that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:
- NASB This happened so that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled:
- NLT This fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah concerning him:
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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
Matthew explains that Jesus' quiet ministry fulfills Isaiah's prophecy of the Servant.
Overview
This formula citation introduces the longest Old Testament quotation in Matthew, drawn from Isaiah 42. It interprets Jesus' avoidance of fanfare as the deliberate fulfillment of Scripture. Jesus is the promised Servant of the Lord, not merely a wonder-worker.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Isa 42:1–4“Behold, my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen, in whom my soul delights — I have put my Spirit on him. He will bring justice to the nations.
- Isa 42:9Behold, the former things have happened, and I declare new things. I tell you about them before they come up.”
- Isa 44:26who confirms the word of his servant, and performs the counsel of his messengers; who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be inhabited;’ and of the cities of Judah, ‘They will be built,’ and ‘I will raise up its waste places;’
- Isa 41:22–23“Let them announce, and declare to us what shall happen. Declare the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or show us things to come.
- Matt 21:4All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying,
- John 12:38that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke, “Lord, who has believed our report? To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
- Matt 13:35that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.”
- Luke 24:44He said to them, “This is what I told you, while I was still with you, that all things which are written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me must be fulfilled.”
- John 10:35If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture can’t be broken),
- Matt 8:17that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, “He took our infirmities, and bore our diseases.”
- Luke 21:22For these are days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
- John 19:28After this, Jesus, seeing that all things were now finished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I am thirsty.”
- Acts 13:27For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they didn’t know him, nor the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 12:17 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 Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.