Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Isaiah
Chapter 45: There Is None Else
Chapter 45 is one of the great strongholds of the truth that there is one God. Again and again He says it: 'I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me.' He calls the pagan king Cyrus His 'anointed,' proving He rules all history, and He reveals Himself as 'a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour.' The chapter rises to the widest gospel invitation in the Old Testament, 'Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else,' and to the oath that Paul applies directly to Jesus: 'unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.'
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Isaiah chapter 45, part of the Book of Comfort (chapters 40-66). For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. This chapter is one of the Bible's clearest declarations of the one God, and it holds the great gospel call, "Look unto me, and be ye saved." Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
Cyrus, My Anointed
God calls Cyrus by name and holds his right hand, that all may know "I am the LORD, and there is none else."
Woe to the Clay That Strives
Woe to the pot that argues with the Potter; the Maker of heaven and earth answers to no one.
A God That Hidest Thyself
He is the hidden God and the Saviour, in whom Israel is saved with an everlasting salvation.
Look Unto Me and Be Saved
"Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth," for unto Him every knee shall bow.
I Am the LORD, and There Is None Else (Isaiah 45:1-8)
God addresses the pagan king Cyrus as His anointed, promising to go before him and give him victory, so that the whole world may know there is no God but the LORD, who forms light and darkness and rains down righteousness and salvation.
I Form the Light, and Create Darkness
"Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me. I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things. Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it."
Hebrew Study
"his anointed," meshicho (מְשִׁיחוֹ), from mashiach, "messiah." God calls the pagan Cyrus His "anointed", the very word for "messiah." Cyrus is not the Messiah, but a shadow: an anointed deliverer God raises up to free His people, pointing forward to the true Anointed, Jesus, who frees us from a greater bondage.
"create evil," bore ra (בּוֹרֵא רָע). The word ra here means calamity, disaster, adversity, not moral evil or sin. Set against "peace" (shalom), it means God is sovereign over both prosperity and disaster; nothing, including judgment, falls outside His hand. God is not the author of sin (James 1:13), but He rules over all things.
Explanation
God speaks "to his anointed, to Cyrus," the Persian king He will raise up to conquer Babylon and free the Jews, and He promises to hand him victory: "I will go before thee... I will break in pieces the gates of brass." All of it has a purpose beyond Cyrus: "that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel." Strikingly, God does this "though thou hast not known me", Cyrus did not worship the LORD, yet the LORD ruled his life and reign. And why? "For Jacob my servant's sake," for the good of God's people. The refrain rings out twice: "I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me... I am the LORD, and there is none else." God governs everything, "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil (calamity): I the LORD do all these things." And He calls the heavens to rain down His gift: "let the skies pour down righteousness... and let them bring forth salvation." Righteousness and salvation come down from God like rain.
Gospel Focus
Two truths anchor this passage. First, God rules over rulers who do not even know Him. He called Cyrus His "anointed" and directed his whole career "though thou hast not known me." No president, dictator, or power on earth is outside God's hand; "the king's heart is in the hand of the LORD... he turneth it whithersoever he will" (Proverbs 21:1). Even those who ignore or oppose God are unknowingly serving His purpose for His people. Take comfort: history is not out of control; it is in the hand of the God who has "none else" beside Him. Second, that God is sovereign over all things, light and darkness, peace and calamity, "I the LORD do all these things." This is not to say God authors sin, "God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man" (James 1:13). It means nothing happens outside His rule, so that even our dark and painful seasons are held within His purpose, "all things work together for good to them that love God" (Romans 8:28). And notice how the passage ends: with heaven raining "righteousness" and earth bringing forth "salvation." That is the gospel, righteousness and salvation are not achievements we climb up to but gifts God pours down, ultimately in Jesus Christ, "the LORD our righteousness" (Jeremiah 23:6).
Woe to Him That Strives With His Maker (Isaiah 45:9-13)
God rebukes those who would argue with His plan, as absurd as a clay pot criticizing the potter, and reaffirms that He, the Maker of heaven and earth, has raised up Cyrus in righteousness to free His captives without price.
Shall the Clay Say to Him That Fashioneth It?
"Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands? Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth? Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me. I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded. I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the LORD of hosts."
Hebrew Study
"striveth with his Maker," rav eth-yotsro (רָב אֶת־יֹצְרוֹ). To contend, quarrel, bring a lawsuit against. The word for "Maker" is the potter (yotser). For the clay to sue the potter is absurd; Paul uses the same image, "shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?" (Romans 9:20).
"not for price nor reward," lo bimchir velo veshochad (לֹא בִמְחִיר וְלֹא בְשֹׁחַד). Cyrus would free the captives freely, taking no ransom. It foreshadows the freedom Christ gives, "ye are bought with a price" that He paid, so that to us salvation is "without money and without price" (Isaiah 55:1).
Explanation
Some among God's people might question His strange plan to save them through a foreign king, so God rebukes the arguing heart: "Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker!" It is as absurd as a broken piece of pottery quarreling with the potter, or clay demanding of the one shaping it, "What makest thou?" Who are we to tell God how to run His world? He is "the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker," the one who "made the earth, and created man upon it," who "stretched out the heavens." Rather than command God, we are invited to trust Him: "Ask me of things to come concerning my sons." And God restates His purpose in Cyrus: "I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward." God's chosen instrument will free the captives freely and rebuild Jerusalem, exactly as He planned.
Gospel Focus
"Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker!" It is one of the most humbling verses in the Bible, because we all do it. When God's plan for our lives does not match ours, when the path is hard or strange, the flesh rises up to argue with the Potter, "Why hast thou made me thus?" (Romans 9:20). But the clay has no standing to sue the one who shaped it. This is not a call to a grim resignation, but to a trusting surrender to a good and wise Maker, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Genesis 18:25). The same God who worked out His purpose through the unlikely instrument of Cyrus is working out His purpose in your life through means you may not understand. Instead of striving, we are invited to "ask" Him, to bring our questions in trust rather than in rebellion. And notice the beautiful phrase, "he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward." Cyrus freed the exiles without ransom, a shadow of the greater liberation Jesus gives us, freedom that costs us nothing because He paid everything. Stop striving with your Maker; trust the good Potter, and receive the freedom He gives without price.
A God That Hidest Thyself (Isaiah 45:14-19)
The nations come to acknowledge that God is with His people, confessing "there is none else"; and Isaiah marvels at the God who hides Himself yet is the Saviour, in whom Israel is saved with an everlasting salvation.
Saved With an Everlasting Salvation
"Thus saith the LORD, The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine: they shall come after thee; in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee; and there is none else, there is no God. Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour. They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols. But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end. For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else. I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right."
Hebrew Study
"a God that hidest thyself," El mistatter (אֵל מִסְתַּתֵּר). A God who conceals Himself, working unseen behind history and hidden from the proud. Yet this hidden God is "the Saviour." It anticipates the deepest hiddenness of all, God veiled in human flesh in Jesus, "God was manifest in the flesh" (1 Timothy 3:16), hidden in plain sight.
"everlasting salvation," teshuath olamim (תְּשׁוּעַת עוֹלָמִים). Salvation of the ages, unending, "world without end." Israel's rescue from Babylon was temporary; this salvation is eternal, pointing beyond any earthly deliverance to the everlasting salvation secured in Christ, "eternal redemption for us" (Hebrews 9:12).
Explanation
God foretells that the nations, Egypt, Ethiopia, the Sabeans, will one day come and acknowledge the God of Israel, confessing, "Surely God is in thee; and there is none else, there is no God." Then Isaiah breaks out in wonder: "Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour." God often works unseen, hidden from the proud and the idolaters, who "shall be ashamed... that are makers of idols." But His own people have a different destiny: "Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end." The God who "created the heavens... formed the earth" made it "not in vain" but "to be inhabited", His creation and His salvation both have purpose. And though He hides Himself, He does not hide His word: "I have not spoken in secret... I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right." The hidden God speaks plain truth to those who seek Him.
Gospel Focus
"Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour." This is one of the most profound phrases in Isaiah, and it reaches its deepest meaning in the gospel. God is often hidden, working unseen behind the events of history and the trials of our lives, and He is hidden from the proud who will not seek Him. But the supreme hiding of God was the incarnation: the almighty God veiled Himself in a human body, "God was manifest in the flesh" (1 Timothy 3:16), so hidden that many looked on Jesus and saw only a carpenter. The hidden God is the Saviour, and He hid Himself in flesh precisely to save us. And notice the security of the salvation He gives: "Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end." This is not a temporary rescue but eternal salvation, "world without end", the very "eternal redemption" Christ obtained for us (Hebrews 9:12). Those who trust idols will be ashamed, but those saved in the LORD will never be put to shame, not now, not ever. If you feel God is hidden in your circumstances, remember: He is the hidden God who is the Saviour, and the salvation He gives in Christ has no end.
Look Unto Me, and Be Ye Saved (Isaiah 45:20-25)
God issues the widest gospel invitation in the Old Testament, calling all the ends of the earth to look to Him and be saved, and swears the oath that every knee will bow to Him, an oath the New Testament applies directly to Jesus.
Unto Me Every Knee Shall Bow
"Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory."
Hebrew Study
"a just God and a Saviour," El tsaddiq u-moshia (אֵל צַדִּיק וּמוֹשִׁיעַ). God is both perfectly just and the Saviour, a combination only the gospel resolves, for at the cross God is "just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus" (Romans 3:26). He saves without ceasing to be just, because His Son bore the penalty.
"unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear." God's own oath that all creation will finally submit to Him. Paul quotes this of Jesus, "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow... every tongue should confess" (Philippians 2:10-11), and of God, "every knee shall bow to me" (Romans 14:11), proving Jesus is the one LORD who speaks here.
Explanation
God calls the survivors of the nations to reason with Him. The idol-worshipers "pray unto a god that cannot save," but who alone foretold all this? "have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me." Then comes the great invitation, flung wide to the whole world: "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else." Salvation is as simple and as universal as a look to the one true God. And God seals it with an oath sworn by Himself, the highest possible guarantee: "I have sworn by myself... That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear." One day all creation will bow to Him. Those who come to Him confess, "in the LORD have I righteousness and strength," while His enemies "shall be ashamed." And the chapter ends in justification: "In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory."
Gospel Focus
These verses are among the most gospel-saturated in the Old Testament. "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else." Here is salvation offered freely to the whole world, and offered by a mere look, not a climb, not a work, just a turning of the eyes to God. It is the same salvation Jesus described: "as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish" (John 3:14-15). The dying Israelites had only to look at the bronze serpent and live; sinners have only to look to Christ and be saved. And notice that God is "a just God and a Saviour", both at once, the very thing the cross accomplishes, where God is "just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus" (Romans 3:26). But the crown of the chapter is verse 23. God swears, "unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear." And Paul takes this oath, spoken by the LORD about Himself, and applies it to Jesus: "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow... and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord" (Philippians 2:10-11). If every knee bows to the LORD, and every knee bows to Jesus, then Jesus is that one LORD, the one God and Saviour of Isaiah 45. There are not two before whom we bow; there is one God, and He came to us in Jesus Christ. Look to Him now and be saved, "for I am God, and there is none else."
Chapter 45 in Review
Isaiah 45 is one of the mightiest declarations of the one God in all Scripture, hammering home the refrain "I am the LORD, and there is none else." It opens with God calling the pagan Cyrus His "anointed," proving He rules even kings who do not know Him, all "for Jacob my servant's sake." It affirms His total sovereignty, "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil (calamity): I the LORD do all these things," and rains down righteousness and salvation from heaven. It silences the arguing heart, "Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker!", and marvels at "a God that hidest thyself... the Saviour," in whom "Israel shall be saved... with an everlasting salvation." And it rises to the widest gospel call in the Old Testament, "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth," sealed by the oath, "unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear."
For the Apostolic reader this chapter is a treasure of the one God and His Christ. The repeated "there is none else" is the bedrock of our faith. Cyrus the "anointed" who frees the captives without price is a shadow of the true Anointed, Jesus, who sets us free. The "God that hidest thyself" points to God manifest in the flesh, hidden in a human body to save us. "A just God and a Saviour" is the very glory of the cross, where God justifies sinners without ceasing to be just. And the crown of the chapter is the oath of verse 23, which Paul lifts and lays on Jesus, "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow", proving that Jesus is the one LORD who speaks here. There is one God, one Saviour, and He came to us in Christ. So do not strive with your Maker; look to Him and be saved, for "I am God, and there is none else," and one day every knee will bow to the name of Jesus.
- "I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me", the repeated bedrock of the one God (45:5-6, 18, 22).
- God rules even kings who do not know Him, calling Cyrus His "anointed" for His people's sake (45:1, 4; Proverbs 21:1).
- God is sovereign over all, light and darkness, peace and calamity, though He is not the author of sin (45:7; James 1:13; Romans 8:28).
- "A God that hidest thyself... the Saviour" points to God manifest in the flesh in Christ (45:15; 1 Timothy 3:16).
- "Look unto me, and be ye saved" and "every knee shall bow", the gospel call and the oath Paul applies to Jesus (45:22-23; John 3:14-15; Philippians 2:10-11).
Questions for Reflection
- How does "I am the LORD, and there is none else" shape the way you think about Jesus as the one God our Saviour?
- Are you striving with your Maker over some part of His plan for your life, arguing like clay with the Potter?
- God says "Look unto me, and be ye saved." Have you truly looked to Him alone, or are you trusting something you built?
- Since "every knee shall bow" to Jesus, are you bowing to Him now willingly, in worship and trust?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Hebrew terms are standard and can be checked in any Hebrew lexicon. Cyrus is called God's "anointed" (mashiach) in verse 1, a title elsewhere reserved for kings, priests, and the Messiah; he is a type, not the Messiah Himself. "Create evil" (verse 7) uses ra in the sense of calamity or adversity (contrasted with shalom, peace), not moral evil; God is not the author of sin (James 1:13). The potter-and-clay image of verse 9 is taken up in Romans 9:20. The oath of verse 23, "unto me every knee shall bow," is applied to Jesus in Philippians 2:10-11 and to God in Romans 14:11. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- Cyrus the anointed; there is none else; sovereign over all: Isaiah 45:1-8; Proverbs 21:1; James 1:13; Romans 8:28.
- Woe to the clay that strives with the Potter: Isaiah 45:9-13; Romans 9:20; Genesis 18:25.
- The hidden God who is the Saviour; everlasting salvation: Isaiah 45:14-19; 1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 9:12.
- "Look unto me, and be ye saved"; every knee shall bow: Isaiah 45:20-25; John 3:14-15; Romans 3:26; Philippians 2:10-11.