Bible Strands
Isaiah 41:26
Who has declared this from the beginning, so that we may know, and from times past, so that we may say: ‘He was right’? No one announced it, no one foretold it, no one heard your words.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God addresses idolaters and false prophets, challenging their inability to predict events compared to His sovereign foreknowledge. He places this declaration between announcing a conqueror from the north and east and promising to send a herald to Zion.
The words — מִֽי (mi) means "who?" and הִגִּיד (hi.gid) means "did he tell [it]". מֵרֹאשׁ (me.rosh) translates literally as "from the beginning."
The thread — This challenge runs through Isaiah 41:22, Isaiah 44:7, and Isaiah 45:21, where God questions idols about their capacity to foretell future events. The repeated motif contrasts silent false gods with the one who declares outcomes before they occur.
Why it lands — The text demands readers verify claims of divine origin against established prophecy. It asks whether a speaker’s words align with what God has already declared, leaving the evaluation to observable fulfillment.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that we may say, He is righteous? yea, there is none that sheweth, yea, there is none that declareth, yea, there is none that heareth your words.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 41:22 “Let them come and tell us what will happen. Tell the former things, so that we may reflect on them and know the outcome. Or announce to us what is coming.
- Isaiah 44:7 Who then is like Me? Let him say so! Let him declare his case before Me, since I established an ancient people. Let him foretell the things to come, and what is to take place.
- Isaiah 45:21 Speak up and present your case—yes, let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago? Who announced it from ancient times? Was it not I, the LORD? There is no other God but Me, a righteous God and Savior; there is none but Me.
- Isaiah 43:9 All the nations gather together and the peoples assemble. Who among them can declare this, and proclaim to us the former things? Let them present their witnesses to vindicate them, so that others may hear and say, “It is true.”
- Habakkuk 2:18 What use is an idol, that a craftsman should carve it—or an image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.