The Meaning of Isaiah 50:7 Explained

Isaiah 50:7

KJV: For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.

YLT: And the Lord Jehovah giveth help to me, Therefore I have not been ashamed, Therefore I have set my face as a flint, And I know that I am not ashamed.

Darby: But the Lord Jehovah will help me: therefore shall I not be confounded; therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.

ASV: For the Lord Jehovah will help me; therefore have I not been confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

For the Lord  GOD  will help  me; therefore shall I not be confounded:  therefore have I set  my face  like a flint,  and I know  that I shall not be ashamed. 

What does Isaiah 50:7 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The Servant counted on the help of Almighty God and so refused to feel disgraced; He knew that God would vindicate Him for being faithful to His calling. He had not suffered because He was guilty, as submitting to public humiliation meekly might suggest to observers, but in spite of His innocence. Earlier in this book, Isaiah instructed the Israelites to trust God, rather than the nations, when faced with attack by a hostile enemy (chs7-39). The Servant modeled that trust for God"s servant Israel and for all God"s servants. The belief that God would not allow Him to be disgraced in the end, emboldened the Servant to remain committed to fulfilling the Lord"s will (cf. Luke 9:51). God would eventually show that the Servant had not taken a foolish course of action.

Context Summary

Isaiah 50:1-11 - Help For Those Who Trust In Him
It is impossible for God to put away the soul that clings to Him in penitence and faith. Heaven and earth may be searched, but no bill of divorce can be found. See Deuteronomy 24:1. And He sends His great servant, our Lord, of whom this chapter is full, to deliver and assure our trembling faith.
Notice the difference in Isaiah 50:4, between the Authorized Version and the Revised Version which reads, Jehovah hath given me the tongue of them that are taught, that I may know how to sustain with words him that is weary"¦. He wakeneth mine ear to hear as they that are taught. This quality of teachableness was primarily true of Jesus. It was the habit of His human life to listen to the secret teaching of the Father, breathed into His heart. See John 8:28; John 8:40. So also must we allow ourselves to be wakened by Him, each morning, that we also may know how to help men more efficiently and tenderly.
From the first, Jesus knew that He must die. See Mark 10:34. But He did not turn back. See Hebrews 10:5, etc. Was not His choice abundantly vindicated? The Father who justified Him was always near, John 8:29. See John 16:22. Let us who may be walking in darkness learn from our King to stay ourselves on God. [source]

Chapter Summary: Isaiah 50

1  Christ shows Israel's Sin is not to be imputed to him,
2  by his ability to save
5  By his obedience in that work
7  And by his confidence in that assistance
10  An exhortation to trust in God, and not in ourselves

What do the individual words in Isaiah 50:7 mean?

For the Lord GOD will help Me upon thus not I will be disgraced I have set My face like a flint and I know that I will be ashamed
וַאדֹנָ֤י יְהוִה֙ יַֽעֲזָר־ לִ֔י עַל־ כֵּ֖ן לֹ֣א נִכְלָ֑מְתִּי שַׂ֤מְתִּי פָנַי֙ כַּֽחַלָּמִ֔ישׁ וָאֵדַ֖ע כִּי־ אֵבֽוֹשׁ

וַאדֹנָ֤י  For  the  Lord 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: אֲדֹנָי  
Sense: my lord, lord.
יְהוִה֙  GOD 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: Jehovah—used primarily in the combination ‘Lord Jehovah’.
יַֽעֲזָר־  will  help 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: עָזַר  
Sense: to help, succour, support.
לִ֔י  Me 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular
עַל־  upon 
Parse: Preposition
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
כֵּ֖ן  thus 
Parse: Adverb
Root: כֵּן 
Sense: so, therefore, thus.
נִכְלָ֑מְתִּי  I  will  be  disgraced 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: כָּלַם  
Sense: to insult, shame, humiliate, blush, be ashamed, be put to shame, be reproached, be put to confusion, be humiliated.
שַׂ֤מְתִּי  I  have  set 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: שׂוּמָה 
Sense: to put, place, set, appoint, make.
פָנַי֙  My  face 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, first person common singular
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
כַּֽחַלָּמִ֔ישׁ  like  a  flint 
Parse: Preposition-k, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: חַלָּמִישׁ  
Sense: flint, rock.
וָאֵדַ֖ע  and  I  know 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, first person common singular
Root: דָּעָה 
Sense: to know.
כִּי־  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: כִּי 
Sense: that, for, because, when, as though, as, because that, but, then, certainly, except, surely, since.
אֵבֽוֹשׁ  I  will  be  ashamed 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common singular
Root: בֹּושׁ 
Sense: to put to shame, be ashamed, be disconcerted, be disappointed.