Isaiah 42

God presents His chosen Servant, gentle yet unfailing, who will bring justice and light to the nations. The chapter moves to a call for the whole earth to sing a new song, then to the Lord marching out like a warrior to free the blind. It ends by turning on Israel, God’s servant who is deaf and blind to His discipline.

Isaiah 42:1

God introduces His Servant, the One He holds firmly and delights in. He gives Him His Spirit for a mission that reaches beyond Israel to the nations. Christians have seen Jesus here, as Matthew does, at His baptism and in His ministry.

BSA: uphold (“grasp, hold”): God does not just approve of His Servant; He keeps a firm grip on Him. Chosen One (“elect, select”): The Servant is God’s own pick for the task, not a self-appointed leader.

Hebrew: מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat, H4941) — “justice, right judgment.” It means more than court verdicts. It is God’s right order set up in the world, with the weak protected and wrongs set straight.

See also: Matthew 12:17-21; Matthew 3:16-17.

Isaiah 42:2-3

The Servant does not win by shouting or force. He is gentle with those who are nearly finished: a crushed reed, a flickering wick. He does not snuff out the weak, and yet He still brings true justice. The bruised and barely hopeful can come to Him.

BSA: bruised (“crushed, damaged”): The reed is already damaged, so this is tenderness toward the already wounded. faithfully (“with truth, in truth”): His gentleness is no weakness; His justice is real and dependable.

See also: Matthew 11:28-29.

Isaiah 42:4

The Servant will not fade or be crushed until justice is set on the earth. The same word for dim is used of the smoldering wick, so what He protects in others He will not suffer Himself. Distant coastlands, far from Israel, wait for His teaching.

BSA: islands (“coastlands, sea-lands”): These are the far-off lands beyond Israel, pointing to Gentile nations hungry for God’s teaching. law (“instruction, teaching, torah”): The word means God’s guiding instruction, not just rules.

Isaiah 42:5

Before giving the Servant His task, God reminds us who is speaking. He made the heavens and the earth and gives breath to every person. The One who commissions the Servant is the Creator who holds every life in His hand.

BSA: stretched them out (“expanding, spreading them forth”): The picture is of the sky spread out like a tent canopy by God’s own hand.

See also: Genesis 2:7; Psalm 104:2.

Isaiah 42:6

God speaks to the Servant directly. He has called Him, holds His hand and guards Him. The Servant becomes a covenant for the people and a light to the nations. In Him God’s promises are kept and the Gentiles can see.

BSA: covenant (“a promise or agreement”): The Servant Himself becomes the living pledge of God’s promise to His people. light (“spiritual illumination, happiness”): His light gives understanding and joy to those in the dark.

See also: Isaiah 49:6; Luke 2:30-32.

Isaiah 42:7

The Servant’s work is rescue. He opens blind eyes and leads prisoners out of dark cells. Whether read as sin, ignorance or exile, the picture is of people freed from darkness. Jesus pointed to His own healings and preaching as this very work.

BSA: blind (“those unable to see spiritually”): The need is not only physical sight but the ability to see God and the truth. prisoners (“captives, those bound by sin”): The captives are held by bondage they cannot break themselves.

See also: Luke 4:18-19.

Isaiah 42:8

The LORD declares that His name is His own, and He will not hand His glory to anyone else, least of all lifeless idols. The Servant’s work does not rival God’s glory. It is God’s own work, and He alone deserves the praise.

BSA: glory (“great honor or splendor, often used to describe God’s majesty”): This is the weight and splendor that belong to God alone. idols (“carved images or false gods, objects of worship”): Carved things cannot be given the praise that belongs to the living God.

Hebrew: יְהוָה (YHWH, H3068) — “the LORD, God’s personal covenant name.” This is the name God gave to His people, tied to His being always present. It is why the LORD appears in capital letters in English.

See also: Exodus 3:15.

Isaiah 42:9

God has proved Himself by foretelling events that then came true. Now He announces new things before they happen. Only the true God can tell the future, and His word can be trusted for what is coming.

BSA: new things (“recent, fresh revelations”): God is about to act in a fresh way, and He tells His people ahead of time.

See also: Isaiah 46:9-10.

Isaiah 42:10

The coming of the Servant calls for a new song. The call goes out to everyone: sailors, sea creatures and distant coasts. Praise rises from the ends of the earth because God’s saving work is for all nations.

BSA: new (“recently created, fresh”): God’s fresh act of salvation deserves fresh praise, not just old songs.

See also: Psalm 96:1; Revelation 5:9.

Isaiah 42:11-12

Even the harsh wilderness is called to sing. Kedar’s desert tribes and the people of Sela, the rock-city, shout from the mountaintops. Places that seem far from God are summoned to give Him glory and spread His praise.

BSA: Sela (“inhabitants of the rock, Petra”): A rocky stronghold region, showing that even rugged outsiders are invited to worship. declare (“tell, proclaim openly”): Praise is meant to be spoken publicly, not just felt privately.

Isaiah 42:13

The gentle Servant is not the whole picture. The LORD also marches out like a champion and shouts against His enemies. His patience is not weakness. He will deal with evil, and His zeal is aimed at setting things right.

BSA: zeal (“jealousy, strong feelings of passion”): God’s burning passion for what is right and for His people moves Him to act.

See also: Exodus 15:3.

Isaiah 42:14

God admits He has been silent for a long time, holding Himself back. Now He cries out like a woman in labor. A new work is about to be born, and His restraint is over.

BSA: labor (“travailing, giving birth”): The picture is of intense effort and pain that ends in new life.

Isaiah 42:15

God’s power shows in the land itself. Mountains are laid waste, rivers dry up and marshes are drained. When He moves to rescue His people, nothing in nature stands in His way.

BSA: lay waste (“destroy, make desolate”): The force of God’s action is shown by what seems the strongest parts of nature.

Isaiah 42:16

A tender promise sits among the thunder. God leads the blind along paths they never knew, turns darkness to light and makes rough ground smooth. He ends with a promise: He will not forsake them.

BSA: forsake (“abandon or relinquish”): God commits never to leave those He has taken by the hand. light (“understanding, spiritual illumination”): The darkness lifted is both the road ahead and the mind that cannot yet see.

See also: Hebrews 13:5.

Isaiah 42:17

The opposite fate awaits those who trust idols. They talk to metal statues as if they were gods, and they will be turned back in shame. What cannot save will let them down at the end.

BSA: shame (“humiliation, guilt”): Those who staked everything on false gods will be exposed as having trusted in nothing.

See also: Psalm 115:4-8.

Isaiah 42:18-20

God now turns to His own people. They have eyes and ears but do not truly see or hear. The servant Israel, meant to carry God’s light, is itself blind and deaf. The contrast with the perfect Servant is sharp, and so is the warning against hearing without listening.

BSA: deaf ones (“those who are spiritually unresponsive, unable to hear God’s voice”): The problem is not the ear but a heart that will not respond. covenant partner (“one in a special relationship with God”): Israel’s closeness to God makes its blindness all the more serious.

Hebrew: שָׁמַע (shama, H8085) — “to hear and obey.” The Hebrew word for hearing includes doing. To hear without obeying is, in this word’s sense, not to have heard at all.

See also: Isaiah 6:9-10.

Isaiah 42:21

Out of His own righteous character, the LORD chose to make His law great and glorious. His instruction is no burden. It is a gift that shows His character, and He wanted it honored by His people.

BSA: law (“instruction, Torah”): God’s teaching shows His own nature and guides His people into life. righteousness (“justice, moral integrity”): His law flows from who He is, so it is as good and faithful as He is.

See also: Psalm 19:7-8.

Isaiah 42:22

Yet the people He taught are now plundered and trapped, hidden in caves and prisons with no one to speak up for them. The picture is of Israel in exile, helpless and abandoned by every human helper.

BSA: plundered (“robbed and spoiled, plundered and pillaged”): They were treated as goods to be taken, with no one to claim them back. rescue (“deliver and save”): No human rescuer comes, which leaves only God able to save them.

Isaiah 42:23

Isaiah asks who among the people will take this to heart. God’s discipline is meant to teach, and the question invites a response now and for the future. The way to profit from hard times is to listen.

BSA: listen (“hearken, obey”): Real listening leads to obedience, not just awareness of the message.

Isaiah 42:24

The answer is plain: it was the LORD Himself who gave Jacob up, because the people sinned. They would not walk in His ways or obey His law. The exile was no accident of history. It was the consequence of refusing Him.

BSA: sinned (“missed the mark, gone wrong”): Sin is falling short of the target God set, not a small slip.

See also: Deuteronomy 28:15.

Isaiah 42:25

God’s anger came like fire and war, yet the people did not understand or take it to heart. The saddest part is the failure to see what was happening. The chapter leaves the reader needing the Servant who can truly open blind eyes.

BSA: take it to heart (“consider, lay to heart, be mindful”): They felt the fire but never stopped to ask what God was saying through it.

See also: Isaiah 1:5.