The Meaning of Isaiah 49:1 Explained

Isaiah 49:1

KJV: Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.

YLT: Hearken, O isles, unto me, And attend, O peoples, from afar, Jehovah from the womb hath called me, From the bowels of my mother He hath made mention of my name.

Darby: Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye peoples from afar. Jehovah hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.

ASV: Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye peoples, from far: Jehovah hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name:

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Listen,  O isles,  unto me; and hearken,  ye people,  from far;  The LORD  hath called  me from the womb;  from the bowels  of my mother  hath he made mention  of my name. 

What does Isaiah 49:1 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Using the same terminology with which the Lord had appealed to Israel to listen to Him (cf. Isaiah 41:1; Isaiah 46:3; Isaiah 46:12; Isaiah 48:1; Isaiah 48:12), someone called the world"s population to pay attention to what he had to say. He claimed a divine calling from his birth; God had commissioned him to announce what he would reveal (cf. Jeremiah 1:5; Matthew 1:21; Luke 1:31-33; Luke 1:41; Luke 2:21; Galatians 1:15). There was more to announce than just that Yahweh would redeem Israel from Babylonian captivity (cf. Isaiah 48:20). Who is the speaker? What follows, which this description of Him corroborates, is that the Servant Messiah is speaking, not Israel, [1] or the believing remnant in Israel, or Cyrus, or Isaiah. Several of the Messiah predictions, including this one, refer to His mother (cf. Isaiah 7:14; Genesis 3:15; Psalm 22:10-11; Micah 5:2).
"When Assyria was coming to prominence Isaiah predicted the coming of the King, the virgin"s Son [2]. Now that the world power is exercising its might and will take God"s people captive, Isaiah announces the Servant of the Lord as the true Deliverer. Thus the two epochs point us to the Messiah, first to His Person and then to His work." [3]

Context Summary

Isaiah 49:1-13 - "a Light To The Gentiles"
The first division of this second part of Isaiah closes at Isaiah 48:22, with the phrase there is no peace to the wicked. The second division of part 2 closes with a similar phrase, Isaiah 57:21. The first division here ends with the proclamation for Israel to leave Babylon. They need never have gone there. If only they have been obedient in every particular theirs would have been the happy lot of Isaiah 48:18, as contrasted with Isaiah 48:22. But even under such circumstances, in captivity and as slaves of the Chaldeans the redeeming grace of God would triumph, Isaiah 48:20; Isaiah 49:5.
The second great division of Part 2 opens with Isaiah 49:1. In their first and immediate reference, these verses evidently apply to our Lord. See Acts 13:47, etc. In the mission of Jesus, the ideal of the Hebrew race was realized. As the white flower on the stalk He revealed the essential beauty and glory of the root, Isaiah 49:6. See Hosea 11:1; Matthew 2:1-2; Matthew 2:14-15, etc.
There is a secondary sense, also, in which the Christian worker may appropriate many things in this glowing paragraph. Our mouth must be surrendered to God, that He may use it for His own high purposes. But do not dread the shadow of His hand. It is the quiver case in which He keeps His chosen arrows against the battle! [source]

Chapter Summary: Isaiah 49

1  Christ being sent to the Jews, complains of them
5  He is sent to the Gentiles with gracious promises
13  God's love is perpetual to his church
18  The ample restoration of the church
24  The powerful deliverance out of captivity

What do the individual words in Isaiah 49:1 mean?

Listen coastlands to Me and take heed you peoples from afar Yahweh from the womb has called Me from the matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name
שִׁמְע֤וּ אִיִּים֙ אֵלַ֔י וְהַקְשִׁ֥יבוּ לְאֻמִּ֖ים מֵרָח֑וֹק יְהוָה֙ מִבֶּ֣טֶן קְרָאָ֔נִי מִמְּעֵ֥י אִמִּ֖י הִזְכִּ֥יר שְׁמִֽי

שִׁמְע֤וּ  Listen 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: שָׁמַע 
Sense: to hear, listen to, obey.
אִיִּים֙  coastlands 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: אִי  
Sense: coast, island, shore, region.
אֵלַ֔י  to  Me 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular
Root: אֶל  
Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).
וְהַקְשִׁ֥יבוּ  and  take  heed 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: קָשַׁב  
Sense: to hear, be attentive, heed, incline (of ears), attend (of ears), hearken, pay attention, listen.
לְאֻמִּ֖ים  you  peoples 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: לְאֹם  
Sense: a people, nation.
מֵרָח֑וֹק  from  afar 
Parse: Preposition-m, Adjective, masculine singular
Root: רָחֹוק  
Sense: remote, far, distant, distant lands, distant ones.
יְהוָה֙  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
מִבֶּ֣טֶן  from  the  womb 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, feminine singular
Root: בֶּטֶן  
Sense: belly, womb, body.
קְרָאָ֔נִי  has  called  Me 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular, first person common singular
Root: קָרָא  
Sense: to call, call out, recite, read, cry out, proclaim.
מִמְּעֵ֥י  from  the  matrix 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: מֵעֶה  
Sense: internal organs, inward parts, bowels, intestines, belly.
אִמִּ֖י  of  My  mother 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: אֵם  
Sense: mother.
הִזְכִּ֥יר  He  has  made  mention 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: זָכַר 
Sense: to remember, recall, call to mind.
שְׁמִֽי  of  My  name 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: שֵׁם  
Sense: name.