Bible Strands
Isaiah 48:11
For My own sake, My very own sake, I will act; for how can I let Myself be defamed? I will not yield My glory to another.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God addresses Israel (Jacob) directly, speaking from the middle of a passage that moves from refining in the furnace (v. 10) to the declaration "I am the first, and I am the last" (v. 12).
The words — יֵחָל (ye.Chal, H2490) means "will it be profaned, held in contempt"; it is the hinge of the rhetorical question that drives the verse.
The thread — Isaiah 42:8 repeats the refusal to yield glory to another; Ezekiel 20:9 and 20:14 use the same root חָל to say God acted so His name would not be profaned before the nations.
Why it lands — The verse grounds God's action in His own name and glory, not in Israel's merit or obedience; the reader is left to reckon with a God whose motives are self-referential and whose identity is at stake in every act of redemption.
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 mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 42:8 I am the LORD; that is My name! I will not yield My glory to another or My praise to idols.
- Ezekiel 20:9 But I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the eyes of the nations among whom they were living, in whose sight I had revealed Myself to Israel by bringing them out of the land of Egypt.
- Ezekiel 20:14 But I acted for the sake of My name, so that it would not be profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.
- Isaiah 37:35 ‘I will defend this city and save it for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David.’”
- 1 Samuel 12:22 Indeed, for the sake of His great name, the LORD will not abandon His people, because He was pleased to make you His own.
- Isaiah 43:25 I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.
- Ezekiel 20:22 But I withheld My hand and acted for the sake of My name, so that it would not be profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.
- Jeremiah 14:7 Although our iniquities testify against us, O LORD, act for the sake of Your name. Indeed, our rebellions are many; we have sinned against You.
- Numbers 14:15 If You kill this people as one man, the nations who have heard of Your fame will say,
- Ezekiel 20:44 Then you will know, O house of Israel, that I am the LORD, when I have dealt with you for the sake of My name and not according to your wicked ways and corrupt acts, declares the Lord GOD.”