Isaías 45

VBL · Chapter 45/66

1Esto es lo que dice el Señor a Ciro, el que ha ungido, a Ciro, cuya mano derecha he agarrado para dirigirlo a derrotar naciones y debilitar reyes, para abrir ante él puertas y portones que no se cerrarán.

2Iré delante de ti y arrasaré los montes. Derribaré las puertas de bronce y cortaré las barras de hierro.

3Te daré un tesoro oculto, un tesoro escondido en lugares secretos, para que sepas con certeza que yo soy el Señor, el Dios de Israel, el que te llama por tu nombre.

4Te llamo por tu nombre y te he dado un título de honor, por el bien de Jacob, mi siervo, y de Israel, el que elegí, aunque no me conozcas.

5Yo soy el Señor, no hay Dios fuera de mí. Aparte de mí no hay Dios. Te haré fuerte, aunque no me conozcas,

6para que todos, desde el este hasta el oeste, sepan que no hay Dios aparte de mí, que yo soy el Señor y no hay ninguno aparte de mí.

7Yo creo la luz y hago las tinieblas, traigo la paz y hago el desastre. Yo soy el Señor y hago todo esto.

8Que la lluvia caiga del cielo, que la bondad caiga de las nubes, que la tierra se abra para recibir la bondad y la salvación para que crezcan juntas. Yo, el Señor, los he creado.

9Qué problemas tiene la gente cuando se pelea con su Creador: ¡sólo son vasijas entre todas las demás vasijas de la tierra! ¿Acaso la arcilla le dice al alfarero que la está moldeando: “¿Qué estás haciendo?” o “¡Lo que estás haciendo es tan malo que parece que no tienes manos!”?.

10¡Qué malo sería que le dijeras a tu padre: “¿Por qué me has tenido?” o a tu madre: “¿Por qué he nacido?”

11Esto es lo que dice el Señor, el Santo de Israel, tu Creador: Puedes preguntarme sobre las cosas que vendrán. Pero, ¿vas a sermonearme sobre mis hijos y lo que hago?

12Yo soy el que hizo la tierra y creé a los seres humanos para que vivieran en ella. Fueron mis manos las que extendieron los cielos, y ordené que todas las estrellas llegaran a existir.

13Porque hago lo correcto, lo animaré y allanará todos los caminos que tome. Reconstruirá mi ciudad y liberará a mis exiliados sin que le paguen ni le sobornen para hacerlo, dice el Señor Todopoderoso.

14Esto es lo que dice el Señor: “Los egipcios productivos y los comerciantes etíopes, así como el pueblo alto de Sabe, se acercarán a ti y te pertenecerán. Caminarán detrás de ti encadenados y se inclinarán ante ti, suplicándote, diciendo: ‘Ciertamente Dios está contigo, y no hay otro Dios fuera de él’”.

15Pero tú eres un Dios que se esconde, Dios de Israel, Salvador.

16Todos los que fabrican ídolos se avergüenzan y se humillan, todos son deshonrados.

17Pero Israel será salvado por el Señor con una salvación que dura para siempre. No se avergonzará ni caerá en desgracia por toda la eternidad.

18Porque esto es lo que dice el Señor, el Dios que creó los cielos, que formó e hizo la tierra, él la fundó. No la hizo para dejarla vacía, sino que la formó para ser habitada. Él es quien dice: Yo soy el Señor, y no hay Dios fuera de mí.

19No he hablado en secreto en un lugar oscuro. No se lo he dicho a los descendientes de Jacob: Búscame en un lugar donde no se pueda encontrar a nadie. Yo, el Señor, digo la verdad: digo lo que es justo.

20Reúnanse y vengan, acérquense, refugiados de las naciones. ¿No son estúpidos estos pueblos que llevan sus ídolos de madera y que rezan a un dios que no puede salvarlos?

21Discutan esto juntos, y luego hablen, presenten su caso. ¿Quién predijo esto hace tiempo? ¿Quién dijo lo que pasaría en el futuro en el pasado? ¿No fui yo, el Señor? No hay otro Dios aparte de mí, no hay otro Dios que haga lo correcto y que salve. No hay otro Dios sino yo.

22Vengan a mí todos los que están en la tierra y sálvense, porque yo soy Dios y no hay Dios fuera de mí.

23He jurado por mí mismo, he dicho lo que es justo y no me retractaré jamás. Todos se inclinarán ante mí; todos me reconocerán.

24Dirán de mí: “La salvación y la fuerza sólo se encuentran en el Señor”. Todos los que han luchado contra él vendrán a él y se avergonzarán.

25Pero en el Señor todos los descendientes de Israel serán reconciliados, y se gloriarán en él.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

God calls Cyrus, the future Persian king, his 'anointed one,' even though Cyrus does not know him, and promises to use him to free his people. The chapter reaffirms that God is the only Creator, forming both light and darkness, and that every nation will one day bow before him.

Explanation

Calling a foreign pagan king 'anointed' (the same Hebrew word used for the kings and priests of Israel, 'messiah') is surprising, and it shows that God can use even leaders who do not know him to accomplish his redemptive purposes. The phrase 'I form the light and create darkness; I make peace and create calamity' does not mean God is the author of moral evil, but that he is sovereign over everything that happens, including both disasters and blessings — a Hebrew way of affirming total control over history. The promise that 'before me every knee shall bow' is quoted in the New Testament (Philippians 2:10-11, Romans 14:11) and applied to Jesus, showing the deep connection between these prophetic texts and later Christian theology. The practical application today is to trust that God can work through unexpected circumstances and people, even those who do not share our faith.

Fun facts

  • The phrase 'before me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear allegiance' is quoted by Paul in Philippians 2:10-11 and Romans 14:11, applying it directly to Jesus Christ, one of the most theologically significant connections between Isaiah and the New Testament.
  • Historians confirm that Cyrus the Great truly did allow exiled peoples (including the Jews) to return to their native lands and rebuild their temples, a policy recorded both in the Bible and in Persian and Babylonian sources.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Isaías 45:1Calling Cyrus “anointed” is surprising: that title was normally reserved for kings and priests of Israel, chosen by God from within the people itself. Cyrus was a Persian king, foreign and pagan, and yet the text treats him as an instrument chosen by God to free the exiles, decades before he even existed.
  2. Isaías 45:2Gates of brass and bars of iron describe city defenses that were practically unbreakable for the time. Promising to break them before Cyrus is saying that no fortification will stop his conquest of Babylon.
  3. Isaías 45:3“The treasures of darkness” describes riches hidden or kept in secret places, the kind of spoil a victorious conqueror like Cyrus would expect to find on taking a rich city like Babylon.
  4. Isaías 45:4Repeating that Cyrus was “called thee by thy name” even without knowing this God reinforces just how surprising this choice is: a foreign, pagan king used for Israel’s purposes without ever having asked for it.
  5. Isaías 45:5“I girded thee” describes the gesture of equipping someone with a belt of war or authority, an image of God preparing Cyrus for the role of conqueror even without his knowing the source of that strength.
  6. Isaías 45:6From the rising of the sun to the west is a way of saying from east to west, the entire known world of the time. Cyrus’s victory was meant to serve as public, universal proof that only one true God exists.
  7. Isaías 45:7God saying that He creates light and darkness, peace and evil, isn’t speaking of moral wickedness: the original word carries the sense of disaster, calamity, misfortune. The idea is that God is in control of both good times and bad, including the exile itself.
  8. Isaías 45:8Heavens pouring down righteousness like rain and earth producing salvation like a crop are agricultural images applied to something abstract, suggesting that salvation springs up as naturally as a harvest after rain.
  9. Isaías 45:9The image of clay complaining about the one who shaped it is an argument from authority: it makes no sense for the creature to question the creator. Here it serves to silence anyone doubting that God could use a foreign king like Cyrus for His plans.
  10. Isaías 45:10The question “What begettest thou?” addressed to the father, and “What hast thou brought forth?” to the mother, shows the absurdity of questioning whoever gives rise to something. It’s the same argument about the clay and the potter, applied to the relationship between parents and children.
  11. Isaías 45:11Inviting the people to ask about “the work of my hands” is an unusual opening: instead of silencing any questioning, God allows people to ask about His own plans, including the use of Cyrus.
  12. Isaías 45:12Listing the creation of the earth, of man, and of the heavens before returning to speak of Cyrus reinforces the chapter’s logic: whoever has that kind of creative power can also freely choose whom to use as a political instrument.
  13. Isaías 45:13“Not for price nor reward” highlights that Cyrus will free the exiles without charging ransom, unlike the normal custom of war, in which prisoners were released only for payment.
  14. Isaías 45:14Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Sabeans, peoples known for their stature and commercial wealth, appear bowing down to Israel, a scene of complete reversal for a people then living as exiles with no power at all.
  15. Isaías 45:15“A God that hidest thyself” acknowledges that God’s way of acting is often neither obvious nor immediate, something relevant to a people who spent decades in exile without seeing any clear sign of intervention.
  16. Isaías 45:16The shame promised to the makers of images closes out the chapter’s contrast: while Cyrus acts as a recognized instrument of God, the idolaters end up humiliated for trusting in something with no real power.
  17. Isaías 45:17Contrasting with the shame of the previous verse, Israel’s salvation is described as everlasting, a guarantee that, unlike the idols, this relationship will not end in humiliation.
  18. Isaías 45:18“He created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited” sums up the purpose of creation: the earth wasn’t made to sit empty like a desert, but to have people living on it, an argument later used to justify the repopulation of Judah.
  19. Isaías 45:19Saying that God did not speak “in secret” nor “in a dark place” contrasts with the divination practices of the time, often carried out secretly or in dark caves. God’s revelation is presented as public and clear.
  20. Isaías 45:20Summoning the survivors of the nations to witness the ignorance of those who carry idols in procession repeats the mockery of earlier chapters: praying to a god that cannot save is itself the argument against idolatry.
  21. Isaías 45:21The invitation to take counsel together and announce who foretold this from ancient times repeats the challenge already made to the nations and idols, reinforcing that only this specific God has a track record of fulfilled prophecy.
  22. Isaías 45:22“All the ends of the earth” widens the invitation to salvation beyond Israel, including any nation willing to turn to this God, one of the most universal verses in the chapter.
  23. Isaías 45:23The knee that bows before God uses a formula of total submission, the kind practiced before kings in antiquity. Here it is applied to God’s authority over all nations, not just over Israel.
  24. Isaías 45:24Crediting God with “righteousness and strength” and promising shame to whoever rages against Him sums up the central argument: resisting this God is the stance that ends in humiliation, not faith in Him.
  25. Isaías 45:25“Be justified” and “shall glory” close the chapter with the same promise repeated throughout it: Israel’s seed finds its honor and justification specifically in the Lord, not in any other source.

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