Bible Strands
Isaiah 51:13
But you have forgotten the LORD, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth. You live in terror all day long because of the fury of the oppressor who is bent on destruction. But where is the fury of the oppressor?
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God speaks through the prophet to the fearful remnant in exile, positioned between the promise of comfort (v. 12) and the promise of release (v. 14).
The words — שׁכַח (shakach, "to forget") is the charge: not ignorance but deliberate turning-away. פָּחַד (pachad, "to dread") names the emotional state that follows from that forgetting.
The thread — The "stretched out the heavens" language recurs in Isaiah 40:22 and Psalms 104:2; the "forgotten God" motif appears in Isaiah 17:10.
Why it lands — The verse asks the reader to name the source of their fear and test it against the one who made the heavens. The closing rhetorical question is not a comfort but a demand: look for the oppressor's fury and find it absent.
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
And forgettest the Lord thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?
Cross-references
- Psalms 104:2 He wraps Himself in light as with a garment; He stretches out the heavens like a tent,
- Isaiah 17:10 For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and failed to remember the Rock of your refuge. Therefore, though you cultivate delightful plots and set out cuttings from exotic vines—
- Isaiah 40:22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth; its dwellers are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
- Isaiah 45:12 It is I who made the earth and created man upon it. It was My hands that stretched out the heavens, and I ordained all their host.
- Job 9:8 He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.
- Isaiah 44:24 Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer who formed you from the womb: “I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who by Myself spread out the earth,
- Isaiah 48:13 Surely My own hand founded the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens; when I summon them, they stand up together.
- Daniel 3:19 At this, Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He gave orders to heat the furnace seven times hotter than usual,
- 1 Corinthians 1:20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
- Isaiah 14:16 Those who see you will stare; they will ponder your fate: “Is this the man who shook the earth and made the kingdoms tremble,