Isaiah 42:9

42:9 Look, my earlier predictive oracles have come to pass; ¹ 

now I announce new events.

Before they begin to occur,

I reveal them to you.” ² 

Isaiah 44:7-8

44:7 Who is like me? Let him make his claim! ³ 

Let him announce it and explain it to me –

since I established an ancient people – ⁴ 

let them announce future events! ⁵ 

44:8 Don’t panic! Don’t be afraid! ⁶ 

Did I not tell you beforehand and decree it?

You are my witnesses! Is there any God but me?

There is no other sheltering rock; ⁷  I know of none.

Isaiah 45:8

45:8 O sky, rain down from above!

Let the clouds send down showers ⁸  of deliverance!

Let the earth absorb it ⁹  so salvation may grow, ¹⁰ 

and deliverance may sprout up ¹¹  along with it.

I, the Lord, create it. ¹² 

Isaiah 46:9-10

46:9 Remember what I accomplished in antiquity! ¹³ 

Truly I am God, I have no peer; ¹⁴ 

I am God, and there is none like me,

46:10 who announces the end from the beginning

and reveals beforehand ¹⁵  what has not yet occurred,

who says, ‘My plan will be realized,

I will accomplish what I desire,’

John 13:19

13:19 I am telling you this now, ¹⁶  before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe ¹⁷  that I am he. ¹⁸ 

Acts 15:18

15:18 known ¹⁹  from long ago. ²⁰ 

[42:9]  ¹ tn Heb “the former things, look, they have come.”

[42:9]  ² tn Heb “before they sprout up, I cause you to hear.” The pronoun “you” is plural, referring to the people of Israel. In this verse “the former things” are the Lord’s earlier predictive oracles which have come to pass, while “the new things” are predicted events that have not yet begun to take place. “The former things” are earlier events in Israel’s history which God announced beforehand, such as the Exodus (see 43:16-18). “The new things” are the predictions about the servant (42:1-7). and may also include Cyrus’ conquests (41:25-27).

[44:7]  ³ tn Heb “let him call” or “let him proclaim” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “Let him stand up and speak.”

[44:7]  ⁴ tc The Hebrew text reads, “from (the time) I established an ancient people, and the coming things.” Various emendations have been proposed. One of the options assumes the reading מַשְׁמִיעִים מֵעוֹלָם אוֹתִיּוֹת (mashmi’im me’olam ’otiyyot); This literally reads “the ones causing to hear from antiquity coming things,” but more idiomatically would read “as for those who predict from antiquity what will happen” (cf. NAB, NEB, REB). The emendation directs the attention of the reader to those who claim to be able to predict the future, challenging them to actually do what they claim they can do. The MT presents Yahweh as an example to whom these alleged “predictors of the future” can compare themselves. Since the ancient versions are unanimous in their support of the MT, the emendations should be set aside.

[44:7]  ⁵ tn Heb and those things which are coming let them declare for themselves.”

[44:8]  ⁶ tn BDB 923 s.v. רָהָה derives this verb from an otherwise unattested root, while HALOT 403 s.v. יָרָה defines it as “be stupefied” on the basis of an Arabic cognate. The form is likely a corruption of תיראו, the reading attested in the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a.

[44:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “rock” or “rocky cliff,” a title that depicts God as a protective refuge in his role as sovereign king; thus the translation “sheltering rock.”

[45:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “let the clouds drip with”; KJV “let the skies pour down.”

[45:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “open up” (so NASB); NIV, NLT “open wide.”

[45:8]  ¹⁰ tc The plural verb should be emended to a singular form. The vav (ו) ending is probably virtually dittographic (note the yod at the beginning of the following word).

[45:8]  ¹¹ tc The Hiphil verb form (תַצְמִיחַ, tatsmiakh) should probably be emended to a Qal (תִצְמַח, titsmakh). The יח sequence at the end of the form is probably due to dittography (note the following יַחַד, yakhad).

[45:8]  ¹² tn The masculine singular pronominal suffix probably refers back to יָשַׁע (yasha’, “salvation”).

[46:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “remember the former things, from antiquity”; KJV, ASV “the former things of old.”

[46:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and there is no other” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[46:10]  ¹⁵ tn Or “from long ago”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “from ancient times.”

[13:19]  ¹⁶ tn Or (perhaps) “I am certainly telling you this.” According to BDF §12.3 ἀπ᾿ ἄρτι (ap’ arti) should be read as ἀπαρτί (aparti), meaning “exactly, certainly.”

[13:19]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “so that you may believe.”

[13:19]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “that I am.” R. E. Brown (John [AB], 2:555) argues for a nonpredicated ἐγώ εἰμι (egw eimi) here, but this is far from certain.

[15:18]  ¹⁹ sn Who makes these things known. The remark emphasizes how God’s design of these things reaches back to the time he declared them.

[15:18]  ²⁰ sn An allusion to Isa 45:21.