Isaiah 42 · Verse 4

Isaiah 42:4

He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.
Isaiah 42:4, King James Version

Isaiah 42:4 in other translations

BSBHe will not grow weak or discouraged before He has established justice on the earth. In His law the islands will put their hope.”
WEBHe will not fail nor be discouraged, until he has set justice on the earth, and the islands wait for his law.”
ASVHe will not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set justice in the earth; and the isles shall wait for his law.
YLTHe doth not become weak nor bruised, Till he setteth judgment in the earth, And for his law isles wait with hope.
DARBYHe shall not faint nor be in haste, till he have set justice in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.
BBEHis light will not be put out, and he will not be crushed, till he has given the knowledge of the true God to the earth, and the sea-lands will be waiting for his teaching.
WebsterHe shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he hath set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.

What does Isaiah 42:4 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
4. fail--faint; man in religion may become as the almost expiring flax-wick (Is 42:3), but not so He in His purposes of grace. discouraged--literally, "broken," that is, checked in zeal by discouragements (compare Is 49:4, 5). Rosenmuller not so well translates, "He shall not be too slow on the one hand, nor run too hastily on the other." judgment--His true religion, the canon of His judgments and righteous reign. isles ... wait, &c.--The distant lands beyond sea shall put their trust in His gospel way of salvation. Mt 12:21 virtually gives the sense, with the inspired addition of another aspect of the same thing, "In his name shall the Gentiles trust" (as "wait for" here means, Is 30:18). "His law" is not something distinct from Himself, but is indeed Himself, the manifestation of God's character ("name") in Christ, who is the embodiment of the law (Is 42:21; Jr 23:6; Ro 10:4). "Isles" here, and in Is 42:12, may refer to the fact that the populations of which the Church was primarily formed were Gentiles of the countries bordering on the Mediterranean.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 4 He shall not fail nor be discouraged "His force shall not be abated nor broken" - Rabbi Meir ita citat locum istum, ut post ירוץ yaruts, addat כוחו cocho, robur ejus, quod hodie Ilon comparet in textu Hebraeo, sed addendum videtur, ut sensus fiat planior. "Rabbi Meir cites this passage so as to add after ירוץ yarats כוחו cocho, his force, which word is not found in the present Hebrew text, but seems necessary to be added to make the sense more distinct." Capell. Crit. Sac. p. 382. For which reason I had added it in the translation, before I observed this remark of Capellus. - L.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 42:1-4

The character and coming of Christ. (Is. 42:1-4) The blessings of his kingdom. (Is. 42:5-12) The prevalence of true religion. (Is. 42:13-17) Unbelief and blindness reproved. (Is. 42:18-25) Verses 1-4 This prophecy was fulfilled in Christ, Matt. 12:17. Let our souls rely on him, and rejoice in him; then, for his sake, the Father will be well-pleased with us. The Holy Spirit not only came, but rested upon him, and…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 42:1-4 →

Isaiah 42:4 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

לֹ֤אlo'notH3808
יִכְהֶה֙yikh.Hehhe will grow dimH3543
וְלֹ֣אve.Lo'and notH3808
יָר֔וּץya.Rutzhe will be crushedH7533
עַד\־'ad-untilH5704
יָשִׂ֥יםya.Simhe will establishH7760
בָּאָ֖רֶץba.'A.retzon the earthH776
מִשְׁפָּ֑טmish.PatjusticeH4941
וּלְתוֹרָת֖וֹu.le.to.ra.Toand for instruction hisH8451
אִיִּ֥ים'i.YimislandsH339
יְיַחֵֽילוּ\׃\ \פye.ya.Chei.luthey will waitH3176

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Isaiah 42:4

  • Isaiah 53:2-12

    For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. …

  • Isaiah 55:5

    Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the Lord thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.

  • Genesis 49:10

    The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

  • Psalms 22:27

    All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.

  • Isaiah 52:13-15

    Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.

  • Matthew 12:21

    And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.

  • Isaiah 9:7

    Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

  • Isaiah 60:9

    Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the Lord thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee.

  • Isaiah 24:15-16

    Wherefore glorify ye the Lord in the fires, even the name of the Lord God of Israel in the isles of the sea. From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.

  • Isaiah 11:9-12

    They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

  • Isaiah 66:19

    And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles.

  • Micah 4:1-3

    But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
shall not.
9:7; 49:5-10; 52:13-15; 53:2-12; Joh 17:4,5; Heb 12:2-4
1Pe 2:22-24
discouraged. Heb. broken. and the isles.
12; 2:2-4; 11:9-12; 24:15,16; 41:5; 55:5; 60:9; 66:19; Ge 49:10
Ps 22:27; 72:8-11; 98:2,3; Mic 4:1-3; Zec 2:11; Ro 16:26; 1Co 9:21

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Isaiah 42:3

    A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.

  • Isaiah 42:4

    He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.

  • Isaiah 42:5

    Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:

Read all of Isaiah 42

Isaiah 42:4 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
No se cansará, ni desmayará, hasta que ponga en la tierra juicio; y las islas esperarán su ley.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Il ne se lassera pas, et il ne se hâtera pas, jusqu’à ce qu’il ait établi le juste jugement sur la terre; et les îles s’attendront à sa loi.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Er wird nicht ermatten noch niedersinken, bis er das Recht auf Erden gegründet hat; und die Inseln werden auf seine Lehre harren. -
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Non erit tristis, neque turbulentus, donec ponat in terra judicium; et legem ejus insulæ exspectabunt.