Bible Strands
Isaiah 41:4
Who has performed this and carried it out, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD—the first and the last—I am He.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh speaks following the description of a foreign king's advance, claiming authorship of the historical movements just outlined. The declaration positions God as the sovereign agent behind the rise and fall of nations.
The words — The Hebrew קֹרֵא (ko.Re') means "calling forth," and דֹּרוֹת (do.Rot) translates to "generations," describing the divine act of summoning history from its origin.
The thread — This declaration echoes in Isaiah 48:12 and is applied to the divine figure in Revelation 22:13 and Revelation 1:17.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that historical sequences originate and terminate under divine authority rather than human agency.
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 wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 48:12 Listen to Me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I have called: I am He; I am the first, and I am the last.
- Revelation 22:13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
- Revelation 1:17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. But He placed His right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last,
- Isaiah 44:6 Thus says the LORD, the King and Redeemer of Israel, the LORD of Hosts: “I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God but Me.
- Isaiah 46:10 I declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’
- 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.
- Isaiah 43:10 “You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may consider and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me no god was formed, and after Me none will come.
- Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and was and is to come—the Almighty.
- Deuteronomy 32:7 Remember the days of old; consider the years long past. Ask your father, and he will tell you, your elders, and they will inform you.
- Acts 17:26 From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands.