Bible Strands
Isaiah 45:4
For the sake of Jacob My servant and Israel My chosen one, I call you by name; I have given you a title of honor, though you have not known Me.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Yahweh addresses a foreign ruler to elevate him for the sake of Jacob and Israel. The declaration occurs within a prophetic announcement of God's sovereign control over nations to fulfill His covenant purposes.
The words — לְמַ֙עַן (le.ma'an) means "for the sake of," framing the ruler's appointment as instrumental to God's covenant people. בִּ/שְׁמֶ֔/ךָ (bi/sh'me.kha) translates literally as "by name," indicating a personal summons rather than a generic designation.
The thread — God repeatedly pairs the titles "servant" and "chosen one" with Jacob and Israel in Isaiah 41:8 and 44:1. The motif of divine summons and honor parallels the covenant stipulations in Exodus 19:5 regarding obedience and treasured possession.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that God's authority extends beyond Israel to orchestrate historical events. It requires the reader to acknowledge that human honor and power operate under divine sovereignty regardless of personal faith.
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
For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 41:8 “But you, O Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, descendant of Abraham My friend—
- Exodus 19:5 Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.
- Isaiah 44:1 But now listen, O Jacob My servant, Israel, whom I have chosen.
- Acts 17:23 For as I walked around and examined your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore what you worship as something unknown, I now proclaim to you.
- Romans 11:7 What then? What Israel was seeking, it failed to obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened,
- Isaiah 43:14 Thus says the LORD your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake, I will send to Babylon and bring them all as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.
- 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.’”
- Jeremiah 50:17 Israel is a scattered flock, chased away by lions. The first to devour him was the king of Assyria; the last to crush his bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”
- Matthew 24:22 If those days had not been cut short, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.
- Mark 13:20 If the Lord had not cut short those days, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom He has chosen, He has cut them short.