The Meaning of Isaiah 45:8 Explained

Isaiah 45:8

KJV: 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.

YLT: Drop, ye heavens, from above, And clouds do cause righteousness to flow, Earth openeth, and they are fruitful, Salvation and righteousness spring up together, I, Jehovah, have prepared it.

Darby: Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness; let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and with it let righteousness spring up. I, Jehovah, have created it.

ASV: Distil, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, that it may bring forth salvation, and let it cause righteousness to spring up together; I, Jehovah, have created it.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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. 

What does Isaiah 45:8 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Since God is who He Isaiah , the earth can anticipate salvation. God"s transcendence and uniqueness are not just abstract truths to be believed. They have practical and positive ramifications. Since God created the earth, He can pour out blessings on it: fertility and salvation. Even though God is ultimately responsible for everything that happens, His creation can rejoice because He will only and always do what is right.
". . . the saving of his people is the clearest expression of God"s essential character, to do right [1]." [2]
In view of the Exodus , this announcement of a second exodus from Babylon would have been good news to Isaiah"s audience. But that God would reveal Himself to a pagan and use him to lead them out, rather than another Moses, must have come as an almost unbelievable shock. Truly God would do a new thing (cf. Isaiah 43:19; Isaiah 48:6). Some of the Israelites would not believe that God would do such a thing. Thus the following section sought to convince them to believe God"s promises concerning Cyrus.

Context Summary

Isaiah 45:1-13 - Jehovah's Chosen Instrument
Cyrus is one of the noblest figures in ancient history. His character became a model for the Greek youth in strength, simplicity, humanity, purity, and self-restraint. We have seen that Jehovah had assured His people that Jerusalem would be restored, Isaiah 44:26. They probably expected a repetition of the Red Sea and the Exodus. But God does not repeat Himself; and their deliverance from captivity was to be achieved through the victories that made Cyrus master of Babylon. See Ezra 1:1-4.
God's plans are achieved through individuals, whom He equips and raises up for their specific work. There is much in all our lives that we cannot account for, and which is due to the girding of the Almighty. We do not always recognize the real sources of our lives. They are hidden in God. He girds us though we do not know Him. Let us not gird ourselves in our own strength, but stretch forth our hands unto Him, sure that He will neither fail nor forsake. See John 21:18. They who thus utterly yield to God are bidden in the exercise of a daring faith to command, that is, to claim, His saving power. [source]

Chapter Summary: Isaiah 45

1  God calls Cyrus for his church's sake
5  By his omnipotence he challenges obedience
20  He convinces the idols of vanity by his saving power

What do the individual words in Isaiah 45:8 mean?

Rain down you heavens from above and the skies let pour down righteousness let open the earth and let them bring forth salvation and righteousness let spring up together I Yahweh have created it -
הַרְעִ֤יפוּ שָׁמַ֙יִם֙ מִמַּ֔עַל וּשְׁחָקִ֖ים יִזְּלוּ־ צֶ֑דֶק תִּפְתַּח־ אֶ֣רֶץ וְיִפְרוּ־ יֶ֗שַׁע וּצְדָקָ֤ה תַצְמִ֙יחַ֙ יַ֔חַד אֲנִ֥י יְהוָ֖ה בְּרָאתִֽיו ס

הַרְעִ֤יפוּ  Rain  down 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: רָעַף  
Sense: to trickle, drip.
שָׁמַ֙יִם֙  you  heavens 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: שָׁמַיִם  
Sense: heaven, heavens, sky.
מִמַּ֔עַל  from  above 
Parse: Preposition-m, Adverb
Root: מַעַל 
Sense: higher part, upper part adv.
וּשְׁחָקִ֖ים  and  the  skies 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine plural
Root: שַׁחַק  
Sense: dust, cloud.
יִזְּלוּ־  let  pour  down 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: נָזַל 
Sense: to flow, distil, flow forth or down, trickle, drop.
צֶ֑דֶק  righteousness 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: צֶדֶק  
Sense: justice, rightness, righteousness.
תִּפְתַּח־  let  open 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person feminine singular
Root: פָּתַח 
Sense: to open.
אֶ֣רֶץ  the  earth 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.
וְיִפְרוּ־  and  let  them  bring  forth 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: פָּרָה 
Sense: to bear fruit, be fruitful, branch off.
יֶ֗שַׁע  salvation 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: יֵשַׁע  
Sense: deliverance, salvation, rescue, safety, welfare.
וּצְדָקָ֤ה  and  righteousness 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine singular
Root: צְדָקָה  
Sense: justice, righteousness.
תַצְמִ֙יחַ֙  let  spring  up 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect, third person feminine singular
Root: צָמַח  
Sense: to sprout, spring up, grow up.
יַ֔חַד  together 
Parse: Adverb
Root: יַחַד 
Sense: union, unitedness adv.
יְהוָ֖ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
בְּרָאתִֽיו  have  created  it 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular, third person masculine singular
Root: בָּרָא 
Sense: to create, shape, form.
ס  - 
Parse: Punctuation