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Isaiah 48 · a question people ask

Who is "He whom the LORD loves" (48:14)?

In the text

The chapter doesn't name him. It says, "Who among them has declared these things? He whom the LORD loves will do what he likes to Babylon, and his arm will be against the Chaldeans" (48:14), and "I, even I, have spoken. Yes, I have called him. I have brought him and he shall make his way prosperous" (48:15) (tap called). The verses' own question is who declared these things: "Who among them has declared these things?" (48:14), and the answer they give is "I, even I, have spoken" (48:15). These notes don't name him, and they don't set other passages beside these verses to do so. They read Babylon and the Chaldeans as the chapter names them, and apply them to no people or nation today.

The verses

““Assemble yourselves, all of you, and hear! Who among them has declared these things? He whom the LORD loves will do what he likes to Babylon, and his arm will be against the Chaldeans. I, even I, have spoken. Yes, I have called him. I have brought him and he shall make his way prosperous.”
Isaiah 48:14-15 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Isaiah 48

Isaiah 48: 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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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions