1 Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;
2 I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:
3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.
4 For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.
5 I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else.
7 I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I, the Lord, do all these things.
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.
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?
10 Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth?
11 Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.
12 I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.
13 I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the Lord of hosts.
14 Thus saith the Lord, The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine: they shall come after thee; in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee; and there is none else, there is no God.
15 Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour.
16 They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols.
17 But Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.
18 For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else.
19 I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the Lord speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.
20 Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.
21 Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the Lord? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.
22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.
23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.
24 Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.
25 In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.
Did God create everything? Some Christians will say no, God did not create everything – he did not create ontological evil. This verse Isaiah 45:& will often be brought up in surprise by someone who hears the Christian state “God did not create evil” in this sense.
“I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I, the Lord, do all these things.”
Is there any merit to the Christian claim? The Christians will claim that the word translated as 'evil' in the KJV does not mean 'evil'. This is ironic since most Christians will follow the KJV. But we are not stickers on this, just be aware of future hypocrisy that may arise. In any case the C. will claim the word (7451.ra‘) does not mean 'evil', but 'calamity' – in the manner of the ESV translation. This will stun most uneducated people but it may interest you to know that this (the ESV) is a false translation. For the very word (7451.ra‘) is the exact same word used in passages like Genesis 6:5, 8:6, and many others? Let alone such stories as 1 Samuel 24 where God incites David to sin.
Based on the above, the word unquestionably means evil, even ontological evil (2:9). There are over 600 occurrences of this word in the bible. Here are a few more;
There is continuing and unrelenting support for this.
<html><b>to His anointed one</b> Every title of greatness is called anointing. Comp. (Num. 18:8) “To you I have given them for greatness (לְמָשְׁחָה).” Our Sages, however, said: To the King Messiah, the Holy One, blessed be He, says, “I complain to you about Cyrus,” as it is stated in Tractate Megillah 12a. <b>to flatten nations before him</b> Heb. לְרַד, to spread out and to flatten nations before him. לְרַד is equivalent to לְרַדֵּד, to spread out. <b>and the loins of kings I will loosen</b> This is an expression of weakness and breaking strength, for girding the loins constitutes arming with strength. Comp. (Job 38:3) “Gird up your loins like a mighty man”; (Jer. 1:17) “And you gird up your loins”; (Job 12:21) “And the belt of the mighty He loosens”; an expression of breaking strength. <b>to open…before him</b> the portals of the gates of Babylon. Gates are the space of the opening of the gate; portals are those with which they open and lock the gate.</html>
<html><b>and I will straighten out crooked paths</b> Heb. וַהֲדוּרִים אֲיַשֵּׁר. Jonathan renders: I will level the walls. Comp. (Shab. 77b) “the surrounding area (הדר הדרנא),” since the wall surrounds the city. The word may also be explained as: I will straighten out crooked paths before him.</html>
<html><b>Who calls [you] by your name</b> You are not yet born, and I call you by the name Cyrus.</html>
<html><b>For the sake of My servant Jacob</b> that you take him out of Babylonian exile. <b>yet you have not known Me</b> You did not do My will, for I said, (infra v. 13) “He shall build My city,” but he when he assumed the throne said, “Whoever among you is from all His people, may ascend.” He gave them permission to go, but he cast off all the trouble from upon his neck.</html>
<html><b>Who forms light</b> for the righteous. <b>and creates darkness</b> for Babylon, and the same applies to “Who makes peace and creates evil.”</html>
<html><b>Cause the heavens to drip</b> Righteousness, mentioned in the verse, is the object of the dripping and the pouring. Make the heavens drip righteousness and the skies shall pour righteousness, i.e., from Me shall come the righteousness to benefit them from the heavens. <b>created it</b> I created this thing.</html>
<html><b>Woe to him who contends with his Creator</b> Isaiah prophesied concerning Habakkuk, who was destined to stand and complain about the length of Nebuchadnezzar’s success (1:2): “How long, O Lord, have I entreated [You]?…” (v. 14) “And [why] have You made man like the fish of the sea?” And the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Isaiah, Why does this one come to contend with Me? Does he think that I do not give thought to save My people? When the time lapses, “that the land will appease its sabbaths” (Lev. 26:34). <b>has no place</b> [lit. has no hands,] has no place.</html>
<html><b>Woe to him who says to a father, “What do you beget?”</b> He thinks that he has more pity on the son than his father. Another explanation is: Woe is the son who says to his father, “Why have you begotten?” He is analogous to the one who contends with his Creator.</html>
<html><b>Ask Me about the signs etc.</b> Heb. הָאוֹתִיוֹת. The ‘heh’ is voweled with a ‘kamatz.’ This indicates that it is not the interrogative, but this is its explanation: If you have come to ask Me, you and the prophets, ask Me about the signs of the heavens and the wonders that you see coming about on the earth; about them you may ask Me, what they are, but about My children and about the work of My hands, Israel, for whose sake I formed everything, shall you come to command Me and to complain before Me? <b>do you command Me?</b> This is the interrogative. Must you command Me concerning My children? I have already created the salvation for them in the thought that has entered My mind [lit. has come before Me]. How so? I aroused him with righteousness. This is stated regarding Cyrus.</html>
<html><b>I made the earth</b> and gave it to whoever pleased Me [lit. was straight in My eyes].</html>
<html><b>The toil of Egypt etc.</b> I have informed how I will save My children from the hand of Babylon, for I have aroused Cyrus for that purpose with My righteousness. I further inform you of the salvation from Sennacherib that will take place in the days of Hezekiah. When he returns (supra 36:36) from marching upon Tirhaka, king of Cush, he will return to Jerusalem with all the valuable treasures of Cush, and Egypt, who will go to aid Cush, in his possession, and he will come with those spoils and fall in Jerusalem, and Hezekiah and his people will plunder everything. So is it delineated in Seder Olam (ch. 23) that it is stated concerning Sennacherib. <b>men of stature</b> Tall people. <b>over to you</b> Jerusalem. <b>they shall come over in chains</b> For Sennacherib brought them there, with neck-irons fastened to them, and after his defeat, Hezekiah stood and released all those captives, who became converted to Judaism and recognized the kingdom of Heaven. <b>Only in you is God</b> They will acknowledge that there is no God but the Lord alone. ([Mss. and K’li Paz read:] but to Israel.)</html>
<html><b>Indeed, You are a God Who conceals Himself</b> And so they shall say to the Holy One, blessed be He, “Indeed, You have given us to understand (we understand [Mss. and K’li Paz]) that to collect the debts of Your people, You conceal yourself from showing Your victory. So to speak, You have not the ability, and when Your mercy is aroused, You are the God of Israel, the Savior.” So it is explained in Mechilta (Ex. 14:4).</html>
<html><b>master painters</b> Heb. חָרָשֵׁי צִירִים, the master painters of the idols, from among the pagans.</html>
<html><b>He did not create it for a waste</b> but He formed it to be inhabited.</html>
<html><b>Not in secret did I speak</b> When I gave the Torah, and I did not say for naught and in vain to the seed of Jacob, Seek Me, but to receive great reward. <b>I am the Lord Who speaks righteousness</b> Since I commenced to speak to them concerning My righteousness, to inform them of the giving of their reward, afterwards I told them things that are right, My statutes and My laws, for before the giving of the Torah it was said to them, “And now, if you heed, etc., you shall be for Me a treasure…a kingdom of priests, etc.” (Ex. 19:5f.).</html>
<html><b>approach</b> Heb. הִתְנַגְּשׁוּ, an expression of approaching (הַגָּשָׁה) and the ‘nun’ is attached to it, as one says “they were struck (הִתְנַגְּפוּ)”; “they will be struck (יִתְנַגְּפוּ).” <b>you survivors of the nations</b> who survived the sword of Nebuchadnezzar. <b>who carry their graven wooden image…do not know</b> to understand knowledge.</html>
<html><b>who announced this from before</b> Who of your idols is it that announced from before that your God brought salvation, each one to its worshipers? <b>Is it not I, the Lord, and there are no other</b> For I announce what I am destined to do for My people, and I fulfill My words.</html>
<html><b>Turn to Me</b> and abandon your graven images, all the ends of the earth, and, thereby, you shall be saved.</html>
<html><b>By Myself I swore</b> and righteousness emanated from My mouth to accept all those who return to Me. I spoke a word, and it will not be retracted. What is the righteousness that emanated from My mouth? That to Me shall every knee kneel, and I will accept them, as the matter is stated (Zeph. 3: 9): “For then will I change for the people a pure language, to call all of them in the name of the Lord…”</html>
<html><b>But to me did He say by the Lord</b> Heb. אַךְ בַה' לִי אָמַר [lit. but by the Lord to me He said]. This verse is inverted, and thus is its interpretation: But to me did He say by the Lord righteousness and strength. Although all the nations shall prostrate themselves before Him [correct reading according to Warsaw edition, K’li Paz, and mss.], but to me alone, the congregation of Israel, has been promised by the Lord righteousness and strength, and other nations shall not be included in my glory. <b>to Him shall come and be ashamed etc.</b> All who were incensed against the Holy One, blessed be He, shall come to Him to regret what they did in their lifetimes and be ashamed. <b>all who are incensed</b> Heb. כֹּל הַנֶּחֱרִים בּוֹ, all who are incensed.</html>
<html><b>Through the Lord…find righteousness and boast</b> Through the promise of the support of His love they shall find righteousness and boast of His strength. <b>boast</b> Heb. וְיִתְהַלְלוּ, porvantir in O.F.</html>