Isaiah 45 · Verse 8

Isaiah 45:8

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.
Isaiah 45:8, King James Version

Isaiah 45:8 in other translations

BSBDrip down, O heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open up that salvation may sprout and righteousness spring up with it; I, the LORD, have created it.
WEBRain, you heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open, that it may produce salvation, and let it cause righteousness to spring up with it. I, the LORD, have created it.
ASVDistil, 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.
YLTDrop, 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.
DARBYDrop 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.
BBELet righteousness come down, O heavens, from on high, and let the sky send it down like rain: let the earth be open to give the fruit of salvation, causing righteousness to come up with it; I the Lord have made it come about.
WebsterDrop 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?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
8. Drop--namely, the fertilizing rain (Psa 65:12). skies--clouds; lower than the "heavens." righteousness--that is, the dews of the Holy Spirit, whereby "righteousness" shall "spring up." (See latter end of the verse). earth--figuratively for the hearts of men on it, opened for receiving the truth by the Holy Ghost (Ac 16:14). them--the earth and the heavens. Horsley prefers: "Let the earth open, and let salvation and justice grow forth; let it bring them forth together; I the Lord have created him" (Is 45:13). Maurer translates, "Let all kinds of salvation (prosperity) be fruitful" (Psa 72:3, 6, 7). The revival of religion after the return from Babylon suggests to the prophet the diffusion of Messiah's Gospel, especially in days still future; hence the elevation of the language to a pitch above what is applicable to the state of religion after the return.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 8 Drop down, ye heavens - The eighty-fifth psalm is a very elegant ode on the same subject with this part of Isaiah's prophecies, the restoration of Judah from captivity; and is, in the most beautiful part of it, a manifest imitation of this passage of the prophet: - "Verily his salvation is nigh unto them that fear him, That glory may dwell in our land. Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring from the earth, And righteousness shall look down from heaven. Even Jehovah: will give that which is good, And our land shall yield her produce. Righteousness shall go before him, And shall direct his footsteps in the way." Psalm 85:10-14. See the notes on these verses. These images of the dew and the rain descending from heaven and making the earth fruitful, employed by the prophet, and some of those nearly of the same kind which are used by the psalmist, may perhaps be primarily understood as designed to set forth in a splendid manner the happy state of God's people restored to their country, and flourishing in peace and plenty, in piety and virtue; but justice and salvation, mercy and truth, righteousness and peace, and glory dwelling in the land, cannot with any sort of propriety, in the one or the other, be interpreted as the consequences of that event; they must mean the blessings of the great redemption by Messiah. Let the earth open, etc. - Jonathan, in his Targum, refers this to the resurrection of the dead; the earth shall be opened, ויחון מיתיא veyechon meiteiya, and the dead shall revive. A plain proof that the ancient Jews believed in a future state, and acknowledged the resurrection of the dead. Let them bring forth salvation "Let salvation produce her fruit" - For ויפרו vaiyiphru, the Septuagint, Vulgate, and Syriac read ויפרה vaiyiphrah; and one MS. has a rasure close after the latter ו vau, which probably was ה he at first.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 45:5-10

There is no God beside Jehovah. There is nothing done without him. He makes peace, put here for all good; and creates evil, not the evil of sin, but the evil of punishment. He is the Author of all that is true, holy, good, or happy; and evil, error, and misery, came into the world by his permission, through the wilful apostacy of his creatures, but are restrained and overruled to his righteous purpose. This doctrine…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 45:5-10 →

Isaiah 45:8 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.

הַרְעִ֤יפוּhar.'I.fudrip downH7491
שָׁמַ֙יִם֙sha.Ma.yimO heavenH8064
מִמַּ֔עַלmi.Ma.'al<from> aboveH4605
וּשְׁחָקִ֖יםu.she.cha.Kimand cloudsH7834
יִזְּלוּ\־yi.ze.lu-let them flowH5140
צֶ֑דֶקTze.dekrighteousnessH6664
תִּפְתַּח\־tif.tach-let it open upH6605
אֶ֣רֶץ'E.retz[the] earthH776
וְיִפְרוּ\־ve.yif.ru-so they may bear fruitH6509
יֶ֗שַׁעYe.sha'salvationH3468
וּצְדָקָ֤הu.tze.da.Kahand righteousnessH6666
תַצְמִ֙יחַ֙tatz.Mi.achlet it cause to sproutH6779
יַ֔חַדYa.chadtogetherH3162
אֲנִ֥י'a.NiIH589
יְהוָ֖הYah.wehYahwehH3068
בְּרָאתִֽיו\׃\ \סbe.ra.TivI have created itH1254

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

Cross references for Isaiah 45:8

  • Hosea 10:12

    Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

  • Isaiah 61:11

    For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

  • Psalms 72:6

    He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.

  • 1 Corinthians 3:6-9

    I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.

  • Isaiah 44:3

    For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:

  • Titus 3:3-6

    For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;

  • Joel 3:18

    And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim.

  • Isaiah 4:2

    In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.

  • Psalms 85:9-12

    Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land. Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven. Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase.

  • Isaiah 11:1

    And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:

  • Isaiah 32:15

    Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.

  • Isaiah 60:21

    Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Drop down.
32:15; 44:3; Ps 72:3,6; 85:9-12; Eze 34:26; Ho 10:12; 14:5-8
Joe 2:28,29; 3:18; Ac 2:33; Tit 3:3-6
let the earth.
4:2; 11:1; 53:2; 61:3,11; 1Co 3:6-9
I the Lord.
65:17,18; 66:22; Jer 31:22; Eph 2:10; 4:24

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

Context

  • Isaiah 45:7

    I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.

  • Isaiah 45:8

    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.

  • Isaiah 45:9

    Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?

Read all of Isaiah 45

Isaiah 45:8 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Rociad, cielos, de arriba, y las nubes destilen la justicia; ábrase la tierra, y prodúzcanse la salud y la justicia; háganse brotar juntamente. Yo Jehová lo crié.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Cieux, distillez d’en haut, et que les nuages fassent ruisseler la justice; que la terre s’ouvre, et que, à la fois, le salut se produise et la justice germe! Moi, l’ Éternel, je l’ai créé.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Träufelt, ihr Himmel droben, und Gerechtigkeit mögen rieseln die Wolken! Die Erde tue sich auf, und es sprosse Heil, und sie lasse Gerechtigkeit hervorwachsen zugleich! Ich, Jehova, habe es geschaffen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Rorate, cæli, desuper, et nubes pluant justum; aperiatur terra, et germinet Salvatorem, et justitia oriatur simul: ego Dominus creavi eum.