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Isaiah 48 Bible study: Listen to me, O Jacob
Isaiah has the Hebrew verb for profit eight times. Six of the other seven have a word for not with it (30:5-6, 44:9-10, 57:12), and one is only "as if you might profit" (47:12). Only 48:17 has neither: the LORD "teaches you to profit" (48:17).
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“The LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, says: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way that you should go.”
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“In Isaiah 48:10 the LORD says he has refined his people, but not as silver.”
Is that in Isaiah 48, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
Called by the name
The chapter opens with a summons: "Hear this, house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, and have come out of the waters of Judah. You swear by the LORD’s name, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness" (48:1) (tap Hear). Then: "for they call themselves citizens of the holy city, and rely on the God of Israel; the LORD of Armies is his name" (48:2). The two verses say name three times. Here is what almost everyone misses: the Hebrew verb qara, call, comes six times in the chapter (tap called). Twice it is what the house of Jacob is called, or calls itself (48:1, 48:2). Once it is a harder name: "called a transgressor from the womb" (48:8). The other three are the LORD's: "Israel my called" (48:12); "when I call to them, they stand up together" (48:13), just after the earth and the heavens; and "Yes, I have called him" (48:15).
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Isaiah 48
That was a taste
The rest of Isaiah 48 is waiting in Favor
- Lest you should say
- "For my own sake"
- "Oh that you had listened"
- "I am he. I am the first. I am also the last"
- Water from the rock, in the psalms' words
- 12 questions as you read
- 13 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Isaiah 48 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
שָׁמַעshamasay sha-MA
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "hear". Strong's: "to hear intelligently", and "causatively, to tell". The chapter has it eleven times. It opens the chapter, "Hear this, house of Jacob" (48:1), and comes back at each turn: "Listen to me, O Jacob" (48:12), "Assemble yourselves, all of you, and hear!" (48:14), and "Come near to me and hear this" (48:16). Where the LORD makes them hear, the WEB gives it as revealed (48:3), showed (48:5) and shown (48:6). Twice it is what they did not do: "Before today, you didn’t hear them" (48:7), and "Yes, you didn’t hear" (48:8). Chapter 46 has a call in almost the words of 48:12: "Listen to me, house of Jacob" (Isaiah 46:3). The listened of "Oh that you had listened to my commandments!" (48:18) is another verb, qashav.
For your group
Isaiah 48 Bible study questions
- 1The LORD declared the former things from of old, lest his people say an idol had done them (48:5), and the new things only now, lest they say, "Behold, I knew them" (48:7). What do you think the difference is between those two things he didn't want his people to say?
- 2The LORD holds back his anger "For my name’s sake" and "for my praise" (48:9), right after he says Israel "dealt very treacherously" (48:8). What difference does it make to you that the reasons he gives are his own name and praise?
- 3"Oh that you had listened to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river" (48:18). What do you think listening to the LORD looks like in an ordinary week?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Isaiah 48 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Can I read Isaiah 48 straight away?
Favor takes the Bible as one story, in order, so you'll reach Isaiah 48 with everything that leads up to it in view. Start from Genesis, or meet Jesus first in the Gospels. You can read the text of any chapter in Favor's Look up whenever you like.
Do I need a group?
No. Many people read on their own. If you'd like to read with others, start a Bible study and share one link. Everyone's answers stay private until you meet.
I've never really read the Bible. Is this for me?
Yes. Favor starts where you are and explains as it goes. The questions along the way aren't marked right or wrong: you answer, then see what the text shows.
Which Bible does Favor use?
The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.
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No. Favor is non-denominational. Where Christians read a passage differently, it shows the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home