The Meaning of Isaiah 51:15 Explained

Isaiah 51:15

KJV: But I am the LORD thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The LORD of hosts is his name.

YLT: And I am Jehovah thy God, Quieting the sea, when its billows roar, Jehovah of Hosts is His name.

Darby: And I am Jehovah thy God, who raiseth the sea, so that its waves roar: Jehovah of hosts is his name.

ASV: For I am Jehovah thy God, who stirreth up the sea, so that the waves thereof roar: Jehovah of hosts is his name.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

But I [am] the LORD  thy God,  that divided  the sea,  whose waves  roared:  The LORD  of hosts  [is] his name. 

What does Isaiah 51:15 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The Israelites would not perish because of who their God was. He is Yahweh Almighty, who causes movements among nations just as surely as He causes the waves of the sea to move.

Context Summary

Isaiah 51:12-23 - "the Captive Exile Shall Be Loosed"
During the Sepoy mutiny in India, when a number of English men and women were shut up in a quarter of Cawnpore, expecting a terrible death by assault or slow starvation, a torn page of the Bible, containing this passage, was found on the street pavement and was of unspeakable comfort. Oh, the blessedness of appropriating Isaiah 51:16! See Isaiah 49:7.
We are too apt to forget that God pleads the cause of His people, even when they have sinned and have reduced themselves to sore straits, Isaiah 51:17 and Isaiah 51:22. We think more of the earth than of the over-arching skies; of the fading grass than of the tree of Life; of man than of God. The near obscures the distant, and the flaring earth lights, the shine of the stars! Root yourself in God! Think of Him who sits at the right hand of the throne, the seat of resistless, ceaseless energy! Believe that God has placed Himself between you and all enemies and circumstances which threaten. To fear all day is impossible in face of these paragraphs. [source]

Chapter Summary: Isaiah 51

1  An exhortation after the pattern of Abraham, to trust in Christ
3  By reason of his comfortable promises,
4  Of his righteous salvation
7  And man's mortality
9  Christ by his sanctified arm defends his from the fear of man
17  He bewails the afflictions of Jerusalem
21  And promises deliverance

What do the individual words in Isaiah 51:15 mean?

But I [am] Yahweh your God who divided the sea and roared whose waves of hosts [is] His name
וְאָֽנֹכִי֙ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ רֹגַ֣ע הַיָּ֔ם וַיֶּהֱמ֖וּ גַּלָּ֑יו צְבָא֖וֹת שְׁמֽוֹ

וְאָֽנֹכִי֙  But  I  [am] 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Pronoun, first person common singular
Root: אָנׄכִי  
Sense: I (first pers.
יְהוָ֣ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ  your  God 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, second person masculine singular
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
רֹגַ֣ע  who  divided 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: רָגַע 
Sense: to act in an instant, stir up, disturb.
הַיָּ֔ם  the  sea 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: יָם  
Sense: sea.
וַיֶּהֱמ֖וּ  and  roared 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: הָמָה  
Sense: to murmur, growl, roar, cry aloud, mourn, rage, sound, make noise, tumult, be clamorous, be disquieted, be loud, be moved, be troubled, be in an uproar.
גַּלָּ֑יו  whose  waves 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine singular
Root: גַּל 
Sense: heap, spring, wave, billow.
צְבָא֖וֹת  of  hosts 
Parse: Noun, common plural
Root: צָבָא 
Sense: that which goes forth, army, war, warfare, host.
שְׁמֽוֹ  [is]  His  name 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: שֵׁם  
Sense: name.