Isaiah 46:9

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

Remember what I accomplished in antiquity! Truly I am God, I have no peer; I am God, and there is none like me,

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

זִכְר֥וּ רִאשֹׁנ֖וֹת מֵעוֹלָ֑ם כִּ֣י אָנֹכִ֥י אֵל֙ וְאֵ֣ין ע֔וֹד אֱלֹהִ֖ים וְאֶ֥פֶס כָּמֽוֹנִי׃

Transliteration

zikrû rīʾšōnôt from-ʿôlām, kî ʾānōkî ʾēl wə-ʾên ʿôd ʾĕlōhîm wə-ʾepes kāmônî.

Grammar Details

• *zikrû*: imperative, 2nd masculine plural - remember
• *rīʾšōnôt*: adjective, feminine, plural - former things
• *ʿôlām*: noun, masculine, singular - eternity/ancient time
• *kî*: conjunction - for/because/that
• *ʾānōkî*: personal pronoun, 1st singular - I
• *ʾēl*: noun, masculine, singular - God/deity
• *ʾên*: particle of negation - there is not
• *ʿôd*: adverb - still/yet/again/more
• *ʾĕlōhîm*: noun, masculine, plural - God/gods
• *ʾepes*: noun, masculine, singular - end/nothing/none
• *kāmônî*: preposition + 1st singular suffix - like me

Word Meanings

• *rīʾšōnôt*: former things/ancient things/things of old
• *ʿôlām*: eternity/ancient time/long duration/antiquity
• *ʾānōkî*: I/I myself (emphatic)
• *ʾēl*: God/deity/divine being
• *ʾĕlōhîm*: God/gods/divine beings
• *ʾepes*: end/nothing/none/ceasing

Referenced Verses

• Deut 32:7 : 7 Remember the ancient days; bear in mind the years of past generations. Ask your father and he will inform you, your elders, and they will tell you.
• Deut 33:26 : 26 General Praise and Blessing There is no one like God, O Jeshurun, who rides through the sky to help you, on the clouds in majesty.
• Ps 78:1-9 : 1 A well-written song by Asaph. Pay attention, my people, to my instruction! Listen to the words I speak! 2 I will sing a song that imparts wisdom; I will make insightful observations about the past. 3 What we have heard and learned– that which our ancestors have told us– 4 we will not hide from their descendants. We will tell the next generation about the LORD’s praiseworthy acts, about his strength and the amazing things he has done. 5 He established a rule in Jacob; he set up a law in Israel. He commanded our ancestors to make his deeds known to their descendants, 6 so that the next generation, children yet to be born, might know about them. They will grow up and tell their descendants about them. 7 Then they will place their confidence in God. They will not forget the works of God, and they will obey his commands. 8 Then they will not be like their ancestors, who were a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that was not committed and faithful to God. 9 The Ephraimites were armed with bows, but they retreated in the day of battle. 10 They did not keep their covenant with God, and they refused to obey his law. 11 They forgot what he had done, the amazing things he had shown them. 12 He did amazing things in the sight of their ancestors, in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan. 13 He divided the sea and led them across it; he made the water stand in a heap. 14 He led them with a cloud by day, and with the light of a fire all night long. 15 He broke open rocks in the wilderness, and gave them enough water to fill the depths of the sea. 16 He caused streams to flow from the rock, and made the water flow like rivers. 17 Yet they continued to sin against him, and rebelled against the Most High in the desert. 18 They willfully challenged God by asking for food to satisfy their appetite. 19 They insulted God, saying,“Is God really able to give us food in the wilderness? 20 Yes, he struck a rock and water flowed out, streams gushed forth. But can he also give us food? Will he provide meat for his people?” 21 When the LORD heard this, he was furious. A fire broke out against Jacob, and his anger flared up against Israel, 22 because they did not have faith in God, and did not trust his ability to deliver them. 23 He gave a command to the clouds above, and opened the doors in the sky. 24 He rained down manna for them to eat; he gave them the grain of heaven. 25 Man ate the food of the mighty ones. He sent them more than enough to eat. 26 He brought the east wind through the sky, and by his strength led forth the south wind. 27 He rained down meat on them like dust, birds as numerous as the sand on the seashores. 28 He caused them to fall right in the middle of their camp, all around their homes. 29 They ate until they were beyond full; he gave them what they desired. 30 They were not yet filled up, their food was still in their mouths, 31 when the anger of God flared up against them. He killed some of the strongest of them; he brought the young men of Israel to their knees. 32 Despite all this, they continued to sin, and did not trust him to do amazing things. 33 So he caused them to die unsatisfied and filled with terror. 34 When he struck them down, they sought his favor; they turned back and longed for God. 35 They remembered that God was their protector, and that God Most High was their deliverer. 36 But they deceived him with their words, and lied to him. 37 They were not really committed to him, and they were unfaithful to his covenant. 38 Yet he is compassionate. He forgives sin and does not destroy. He often holds back his anger, and does not stir up his fury. 39 He remembered that they were made of flesh, and were like a wind that blows past and does not return. 40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness, and insulted him in the wastelands! 41 They again challenged God, and offended the Holy One of Israel. 42 They did not remember what he had done, how he delivered them from the enemy, 43 when he performed his awesome deeds in Egypt, and his acts of judgment in the region of Zoan. 44 He turned their rivers into blood, and they could not drink from their streams. 45 He sent swarms of biting insects against them, as well as frogs that overran their land. 46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper, the fruit of their labor to the locust. 47 He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycamore-fig trees with driving rain. 48 He rained hail down on their cattle, and hurled lightning bolts down on their livestock. 49 His raging anger lashed out against them, He sent fury, rage, and trouble as messengers who bring disaster. 50 He sent his anger in full force; he did not spare them from death; he handed their lives over to destruction. 51 He struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, the firstfruits of their reproductive power in the tents of Ham. 52 Yet he brought out his people like sheep; he led them through the wilderness like a flock. 53 He guided them safely along, and they were not afraid; but the sea covered their enemies. 54 He brought them to the border of his holy land, to this mountainous land which his right hand acquired. 55 He drove the nations out from before them; he assigned them their tribal allotments and allowed the tribes of Israel to settle down. 56 Yet they challenged and defied God Most High, and did not obey his commands. 57 They were unfaithful and acted as treacherously as their ancestors; they were as unreliable as a malfunctioning bow. 58 They made him angry with their pagan shrines, and made him jealous with their idols. 59 God heard and was angry; he completely rejected Israel. 60 He abandoned the sanctuary at Shiloh, the tent where he lived among men. 61 He allowed the symbol of his strong presence to be captured; he gave the symbol of his splendor into the hand of the enemy. 62 He delivered his people over to the sword, and was angry with his chosen nation. 63 Fire consumed their young men, and their virgins remained unmarried. 64 Their priests fell by the sword, but their widows did not weep. 65 But then the Lord awoke from his sleep; he was like a warrior in a drunken rage. 66 He drove his enemies back; he made them a permanent target for insults. 67 He rejected the tent of Joseph; he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim. 68 He chose the tribe of Judah, and Mount Zion, which he loves. 69 He made his sanctuary as enduring as the heavens above; as secure as the earth, which he established permanently. 70 He chose David, his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds. 71 He took him away from following the mother sheep, and made him the shepherd of Jacob, his people, and of Israel, his chosen nation. 72 David cared for them with pure motives; he led them with skill.
• Ps 111:4 : 4 He does amazing things that will be remembered; the LORD is merciful and compassionate.
• Isa 42:9 : 9 Look, my earlier predictive oracles have come to pass; now I announce new events. Before they begin to occur, I reveal them to you.”
• Isa 65:17 : 17 For look, I am ready to create new heavens and a new earth! The former ones will not be remembered; no one will think about them anymore.
• Jer 23:7-8 : 7 “So I, the LORD, say:‘A new time will certainly come. People now affirm their oaths with“I swear as surely as the LORD lives who delivered the people of Israel out of Egypt.” 8 But at that time they will affirm them with“I swear as surely as the LORD lives who delivered the descendants of the former nation of Israel from the land of the north and from all the other lands where he had banished them.” At that time they will live in their own land.’”
• Dan 9:6-9 : 6 We have not paid attention to your servants the prophets, who spoke by your authority to our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors, and to all the inhabitants of the land as well. 7 “You are righteous, O Lord, but we are humiliated this day– the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far away in all the countries in which you have scattered them, because they have behaved unfaithfully toward you. 8 O LORD, we have been humiliated– our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors– because we have sinned against you. 9 Yet the Lord our God is compassionate and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him. 10 We have not obeyed the LORD our God by living according to his laws that he set before us through his servants the prophets. 11 “All Israel has broken your law and turned away by not obeying you. Therefore you have poured out on us the judgment solemnly threatened in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against you. 12 He has carried out his threats against us and our rulers who were over us by bringing great calamity on us– what has happened to Jerusalem has never been equaled under all heaven! 13 Just as it is written in the law of Moses, so all this calamity has come on us. Still we have not tried to pacify the LORD our God by turning back from our sin and by seeking wisdom from your reliable moral standards. 14 The LORD was mindful of the calamity, and he brought it on us. For the LORD our God is just in all he has done, and we have not obeyed him. 15 “Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with great power and made a name for yourself that is remembered to this day– we have sinned and behaved wickedly.
• Isa 45:5-6 : 5 I am the LORD, I have no peer, there is no God but me. I arm you for battle, even though you do not recognize me. 6 I do this so people will recognize from east to west that there is no God but me; I am the LORD, I have no peer.
• Isa 45:14 : 14 The Lord is the Nations’ Only Hope This is what the LORD says:“The profit of Egypt and the revenue of Ethiopia, along with the Sabeans, those tall men, will be brought to you and become yours. They will walk behind you, coming along in chains. They will bow down to you and pray to you:‘Truly God is with you; he has no peer; there is no other God!’”
• Isa 45:18 : 18 For this is what the LORD says, the one who created the sky– he is the true God, the one who formed the earth and made it; he established it, he did not create it without order, he formed it to be inhabited–“I am the LORD, I have no peer.
• Isa 45:21-22 : 21 Tell me! Present the evidence! Let them consult with one another! Who predicted this in the past? Who announced it beforehand? Was it not I, the LORD? I have no peer, there is no God but me, a God who vindicates and delivers; there is none but me. 22 Turn to me so you can be delivered, all you who live in the earth’s remote regions! For I am God, and I have no peer.
• Isa 46:5 : 5 To whom can you compare and liken me? Tell me whom you think I resemble, so we can be compared!
• Ps 105:1-9 : 1 Give thanks to the LORD! Call on his name! Make known his accomplishments among the nations! 2 Sing to him! Make music to him! Tell about all his miraculous deeds! 3 Boast about his holy name! Let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice! 4 Seek the LORD and the strength he gives! Seek his presence continually! 5 Recall the miraculous deeds he performed, his mighty acts and the judgments he decreed, 6 O children of Abraham, God’s servant, you descendants of Jacob, God’s chosen ones! 7 He is the LORD our God; he carries out judgment throughout the earth. 8 He always remembers his covenantal decree, the promise he made to a thousand generations– 9 the promise he made to Abraham, the promise he made by oath to Isaac! 10 He gave it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as a lasting promise, 11 saying,“To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion of your inheritance.” 12 When they were few in number, just a very few, and resident foreigners within it, 13 they wandered from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another. 14 He let no one oppress them; he disciplined kings for their sake, 15 saying,“Don’t touch my chosen ones! Don’t harm my prophets!” 16 He called down a famine upon the earth; he cut off all the food supply. 17 He sent a man ahead of them– Joseph was sold as a servant. 18 The shackles hurt his feet; his neck was placed in an iron collar, 19 until the time when his prediction came true. The LORD’s word proved him right. 20 The king authorized his release; the ruler of nations set him free. 21 He put him in charge of his palace, and made him manager of all his property, 22 giving him authority to imprison his officials and to teach his advisers. 23 Israel moved to Egypt; Jacob lived for a time in the land of Ham. 24 The LORD made his people very fruitful, and made them more numerous than their enemies. 25 He caused them to hate his people, and to mistreat his servants. 26 He sent his servant Moses, and Aaron, whom he had chosen. 27 They executed his miraculous signs among them, and his amazing deeds in the land of Ham. 28 He made it dark; they did not disobey his orders. 29 He turned their water into blood, and killed their fish. 30 Their land was overrun by frogs, which even got into the rooms of their kings. 31 He ordered flies to come; gnats invaded their whole territory. 32 He sent hail along with the rain; there was lightning in their land. 33 He destroyed their vines and fig trees, and broke the trees throughout their territory. 34 He ordered locusts to come, innumerable grasshoppers. 35 They ate all the vegetation in their land, and devoured the crops of their fields. 36 He struck down all the firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of their reproductive power. 37 He brought his people out enriched with silver and gold; none of his tribes stumbled. 38 Egypt was happy when they left, for they were afraid of them. 39 He spread out a cloud for a cover, and provided a fire to light up the night. 40 They asked for food, and he sent quails; he satisfied them with food from the sky. 41 He opened up a rock and water flowed out; a river ran through dry regions. 42 Yes, he remembered the sacred promise he made to Abraham his servant. 43 When he led his people out, they rejoiced; his chosen ones shouted with joy. 44 He handed the territory of nations over to them, and they took possession of what other peoples had produced, 45 so that they might keep his commands and obey his laws. Praise the LORD!
• Neh 9:7-9 : 7 “You are the LORD God who chose Abram and brought him forth from Ur of the Chaldeans. You changed his name to Abraham. 8 When you perceived that his heart was faithful toward you, you established a covenant with him to give his descendants the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, and the Girgashites. You have fulfilled your promise, for you are righteous. 9 “You saw the affliction of our ancestors in Egypt, and you heard their cry at the Red Sea. 10 You performed awesome signs against Pharaoh, against his servants, and against all the people of his land, for you knew that the Egyptians had acted presumptuously against them. You made for yourself a name that is celebrated to this day. 11 You split the sea before them, and they crossed through the sea on dry ground! But you threw their pursuers into the depths, like a stone into surging waters. 12 You guided them with a pillar of cloud by day and with a pillar of fire by night to illumine for them the path they were to travel. 13 “You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven. You provided them with just judgments, true laws, and good statutes and commandments. 14 You made known to them your holy Sabbath; you issued commandments, statutes, and law to them through Moses your servant. 15 You provided bread from heaven for them in their time of hunger, and you brought forth water from the rock for them in their time of thirst. You told them to enter in order to possess the land that you had sworn to give them. 16 “But they– our ancestors– behaved presumptuously; they rebelled and did not obey your commandments. 17 They refused to obey and did not recall your miracles that you had performed among them. Instead, they rebelled and appointed a leader to return to their bondage in Egypt. But you are a God of forgiveness, merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and unfailing in your loyal love. You did not abandon them, 18 even when they made a cast image of a calf for themselves and said,‘This is your God who brought you up from Egypt,’ or when they committed atrocious blasphemies. 19 “Due to your great compassion you did not abandon them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud did not stop guiding them in the path by day, nor did the pillar of fire stop illuminating for them by night the path on which they should travel. 20 You imparted your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths; you provided water for their thirst. 21 For forty years you sustained them. Even in the wilderness they never lacked anything. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell. 22 “You gave them kingdoms and peoples, and you allocated them to every corner of the land. They inherited the land of King Sihon of Heshbon and the land of King Og of Bashan. 23 You multiplied their descendants like the stars of the sky. You brought them to the land you had told their ancestors to enter in order to possess. 24 Their descendants entered and possessed the land. You subdued before them the Canaanites who were the inhabitants of the land. You delivered them into their hand, together with their kings and the peoples of the land, to deal with as they pleased. 25 They captured fortified cities and fertile land. They took possession of houses full of all sorts of good things– wells previously dug, vineyards, olive trees, and fruit trees in abundance. They ate until they were full and grew fat. They enjoyed to the full your great goodness. 26 “Nonetheless they grew disobedient and rebelled against you; they disregarded your law. They killed your prophets who had solemnly admonished them in order to cause them to return to you. They committed atrocious blasphemies. 27 Therefore you delivered them into the hand of their adversaries, who oppressed them. But in the time of their distress they called to you, and you heard from heaven. In your abundant compassion you provided them with deliverers to rescue them from their adversaries. 28 “Then, when they were at rest again, they went back to doing evil before you. Then you abandoned them to their enemies, and they gained dominion over them. When they again cried out to you, in your compassion you heard from heaven and rescued them time and again. 29 And you solemnly admonished them in order to return them to your law, but they behaved presumptuously and did not obey your commandments. They sinned against your ordinances– those by which an individual, if he obeys them, will live. They boldly turned from you; they rebelled and did not obey. 30 You prolonged your kindness with them for many years, and you solemnly admonished them by your Spirit through your prophets. Still they paid no attention, so you delivered them into the hands of the neighboring peoples. 31 However, due to your abundant mercy you did not do away with them altogether; you did not abandon them. For you are a merciful and compassionate God. 32 “So now, our God– the great, powerful, and awesome God, who keeps covenant fidelity– do not regard as inconsequential all the hardship that has befallen us– our kings, our leaders, our priests, our prophets, our ancestors, and all your people– from the days of the kings of Assyria until this very day! 33 You are righteous with regard to all that has happened to us, for you have acted faithfully. It is we who have been in the wrong! 34 Our kings, our leaders, our priests, and our ancestors have not kept your law. They have not paid attention to your commandments or your testimonies by which you have solemnly admonished them. 35 Even when they were in their kingdom and benefiting from your incredible goodness that you had lavished on them in the spacious and fertile land you had set before them, they did not serve you, nor did they turn from their evil practices. 36 “So today we are slaves! In the very land you gave to our ancestors to eat its fruit and to enjoy its good things– we are slaves! 37 Its abundant produce goes to the kings you have placed over us due to our sins. They rule over our bodies and our livestock as they see fit, and we are in great distress!