I Have Called You by Your Name
1 But now Yahweh who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel, says: “Don’t be afraid, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, and flame will not scorch you. 3 For I am Yahweh your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I have given Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place. 4 Since you have been precious and honored in my sight, and I have loved you, therefore I will give people in your place, and nations instead of your life. 5 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. I will bring your offspring from the east, and gather you from the west. 6 I will tell the north, ‘Give them up!’ and tell the south, ‘Don’t hold them back! Bring my sons from far away, and my daughters from the ends of the earth— 7 everyone who is called by my name, and whom I have created for my glory, whom I have formed, yes, whom I have made.’” 8 Bring out the blind people who have eyes, and the deaf who have ears. 9 Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the peoples be assembled. Who among them can declare this, and show us former things? Let them bring their witnesses, that they may be justified, or let them hear, and say, “That is true.” 10 “You are my witnesses,” says Yahweh, “With my servant whom I have chosen; that you may know and believe me, and understand that I am he. Before me there was no God formed, neither will there be after me. 11 I myself am Yahweh. Besides me, there is no savior. 12 I have declared, I have saved, and I have shown, and there was no strange god among you. Therefore you are my witnesses”, says Yahweh, “and I am God. 13 Yes, since the day was, I am he. There is no one who can deliver out of my hand. I will work, and who can hinder it?”
Four verbs of belonging, a promise about going through rather than around, and a nation put on the stand as witnesses.
But now Yahweh who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel, says: “Don’t be afraid, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are mine.
Three clauses and each is a completed act. Redeemed is the family word — what a relative does to buy back a member sold into debt.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, and flame will not scorch you.
The preposition is the promise. Not from the waters or around the fire — through both, and the assurance is company rather than exemption. Nothing here says the river will not be crossed or the fire entered.
Since you have been precious and honored in my sight, and I have loved you, therefore I will give people in your place, and nations instead of your life.
The reason given, and it is affection rather than usefulness.
5 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. I will bring your offspring from the east, and gather you from the west. 6 I will tell the north, ‘Give them up!’ and tell the south, ‘Don’t hold them back! Bring my sons from far away, and my daughters from the ends of the earth—
The four directions are addressed as jailers, and the two commands are what a creditor is told when a debt has been settled.
Bring out the blind people who have eyes, and the deaf who have ears.
The trial resumes, and the witnesses for the prosecution are the blind servant of the previous chapter. It is the most unpromising legal team imaginable.
Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the peoples be assembled. Who among them can declare this, and show us former things? Let them bring their witnesses, that they may be justified, or let them hear, and say, “That is true.”
The nations are asked to produce evidence, and the test is again prediction.
“You are my witnesses,” says Yahweh, “With my servant whom I have chosen; that you may know and believe me, and understand that I am he. Before me there was no God formed, neither will there be after me.
The verse the chapter turns on. God's case in court rests on the testimony of a people who have just been described as unable to see or hear — and the purpose clause runs the other way from what a court expects. They are witnesses that you may know: the act of testifying is what will teach them.
“You are my witnesses,” says Yahweh, “With my servant whom I have chosen; that you may know and believe me, and understand that I am he. Before me there was no God formed, neither will there be after me.
The wording is aimed at the workshop of the previous chapters. Gods are things that get formed, and this one was not.
I myself am Yahweh. Besides me, there is no savior.
I have declared, I have saved, and I have shown, and there was no strange god among you. Therefore you are my witnesses”, says Yahweh, “and I am God.
Three verbs offered as the evidence, and the sequence is announcement, act, and demonstration — a prediction, its fulfillment, and the explanation. That is the whole of what the witnesses have to say.
Yes, since the day was, I am he. There is no one who can deliver out of my hand. I will work, and who can hinder it?”
settled What this mark means