Bible Strands
Isaiah 45:1
This is what the LORD says to Cyrus His anointed, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him, to disarm kings, to open the doors before him, so that the gates will not be shut:
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh speaks directly, addressing Cyrus by name and title: "His anointed." The moment is a declaration of divine appointment, not a prophecy about a future event but a present-tense report of what God has already done.
The words — מְשִׁיחֹו (mashiachow, H4899) = "His anointed," the same word that later denotes the Messiah; applied here to a Persian king, it is the verse's sharpest claim.
The thread — Isaiah 42:6 uses the identical verb "take hold of your hand" (H2388) in a promise to a servant figure, and Isaiah 44:28 calls Cyrus "My shepherd." Jeremiah 51:20 frames a nation as God's "war club," a parallel instrument-of-God image.
Why it lands — The text does not soften the identification; it calls a foreign conqueror "anointed" and says God personally grasped his hand. A reader must either accept that Yahweh's sovereignty operates through means outside Israel's category of "anointed," or explain why the text makes that claim.
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
Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 51:20 “You are My war club, My weapon for battle. With you I shatter nations; with you I bring kingdoms to ruin.
- Isaiah 42:6 “I, the LORD, have called you for a righteous purpose, and I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and appoint you to be a covenant for the people and a light to the nations,
- Isaiah 44:28 who 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.’”
- Psalms 73:23 Yet I am always with You; You hold my right hand.
- Isaiah 41:13 For I am the LORD your God, who takes hold of your right hand and tells you: Do not fear, I will help you.
- Ezra 1:1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to send a proclamation throughout his kingdom and to put it in writing as follows:
- Isaiah 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is no other; there is no God but Me. I will equip you for battle, though you have not known Me,
- Jeremiah 50:35 A sword is against the Chaldeans, declares the LORD, against those who live in Babylon, and against her officials and wise men.
- Jeremiah 51:11 Sharpen the arrows! Fill the quivers! The LORD has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes, because His plan is aimed at Babylon to destroy her, for it is the vengeance of the LORD—vengeance for His temple.
- Job 12:21 He pours out contempt on nobles and disarms the mighty.