The Meaning of Isaiah 41:23 Explained

Isaiah 41:23

KJV: Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.

YLT: Declare the things that are coming hereafter, And we know that ye are gods, Yea, ye may do good or do evil, And we look around and see it together.

Darby: declare the things that are to happen hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods; yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be astonished, and behold it together.

ASV: Declare the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Shew  the things that are to come  hereafter,  that we may know  that ye [are] gods:  yea, do good,  or do evil,  that we may be dismayed,  and behold  [it] together. 

What does Isaiah 41:23 Mean?

Context Summary

Isaiah 41:17-29 - What The Lord's Hand Does For The Needy
Life is not easy for any of us, if we regard external conditions only; but directly we learn the divine secret, rivers flow from bare heights, fountains arise in sterile valleys, and the desert blooms like the forest-glade. To the ordinary eye there might appear no outward change in the forbidding circumstance; but faith's eye always beholds a very paradise of beauty where other eyes see only straitened circumstances and a trying lot.
Once again our minds are brought back to the great convocation announced in the opening verses of the chapter. The idols are asked to say or do something to prove that they are divine. See Isaiah 41:21-23. There is no response; with the result that a crushing verdict is passed on them as recorded in Isaiah 41:24. On the other hand, the prophet of the Lord is prepared with His predictions of Cyrus "the one from the East," (see Isaiah 41:2 and Isaiah 44:28) which would be fulfilled before that generation had passed away. Let us give heed to the sure word of prophecy, "as unto a light that shineth in a dark place," 2 Peter 1:19. [source]

Chapter Summary: Isaiah 41

1  God expostulates with his people, about his mercies to the church
10  About his promises
21  And about the vanity of idols

What do the individual words in Isaiah 41:23 mean?

Show the things that are to come hereafter that we may know that gods you [are] Yes do good or do evil that we may be dismayed - and see [it] together
הַגִּ֙ידוּ֙ הָאֹתִיּ֣וֹת לְאָח֔וֹר וְנֵ֣דְעָ֔ה כִּ֥י אֱלֹהִ֖ים אַתֶּ֑ם אַף־ תֵּיטִ֣יבוּ וְתָרֵ֔עוּ וְנִשְׁתָּ֖עָה [ונרא] (וְנִרְאֶ֥ה) יַחְדָּֽו

הַגִּ֙ידוּ֙  Show 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: נָגַד  
Sense: to be conspicuous, tell, make known.
הָאֹתִיּ֣וֹת  the  things  that  are  to  come 
Parse: Article, Verb, Qal, Participle, feminine plural
Root: אָתָה  
Sense: to come, arrive.
לְאָח֔וֹר  hereafter 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular
Root: אָחֹור  
Sense: the back side, the rear.
וְנֵ֣דְעָ֔ה  that  we  may  know 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative, first person common plural
Root: דָּעָה 
Sense: to know.
כִּ֥י  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: כִּי 
Sense: that, for, because, when, as though, as, because that, but, then, certainly, except, surely, since.
אֱלֹהִ֖ים  gods 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
אַתֶּ֑ם  you  [are] 
Parse: Pronoun, second person masculine plural
Root: אַתְּ 
Sense: you (second pers.
אַף־  Yes 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: אַף  
Sense: also, yea, though, so much the more adv.
תֵּיטִ֣יבוּ  do  good 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect, second person masculine plural
Root: יָטַב  
Sense: to be good, be pleasing, be well, be glad.
וְתָרֵ֔עוּ  or  do  evil 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Conjunctive imperfect, second person masculine plural
Root: מֵרֵעַ 
Sense: to be bad, be evil.
וְנִשְׁתָּ֖עָה  that  we  may  be  dismayed 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative, first person common plural
Root: שָׁעָה  
Sense: to look at or to, regard, gaze at or about.
[ונרא]  - 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect.jus, first person common plural
(וְנִרְאֶ֥ה)  and  see  [it] 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative if contextual, first person common plural
Root: רָאָה 
Sense: to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider.
יַחְדָּֽו  together 
Parse: Adverb
Root: יַחַד 
Sense: union, unitedness adv.