The Meaning of Isaiah 45:12 Explained

Isaiah 45:12

KJV: 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.

YLT: I made earth, and man on it prepared, I -- My hands stretched out the heavens, And all their host I have commanded.

Darby: It is I that have made the earth, and created man upon it; it is I, my hands, that have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.

ASV: 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.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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. 

What does Isaiah 45:12 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Again, God has the right to do with His creation what He chooses. If God created the universe, He certainly has the right to shape human history as He will.

Context Summary

Isaiah 45:1-13 - Jehovah's Chosen Instrument
Cyrus is one of the noblest figures in ancient history. His character became a model for the Greek youth in strength, simplicity, humanity, purity, and self-restraint. We have seen that Jehovah had assured His people that Jerusalem would be restored, Isaiah 44:26. They probably expected a repetition of the Red Sea and the Exodus. But God does not repeat Himself; and their deliverance from captivity was to be achieved through the victories that made Cyrus master of Babylon. See Ezra 1:1-4.
God's plans are achieved through individuals, whom He equips and raises up for their specific work. There is much in all our lives that we cannot account for, and which is due to the girding of the Almighty. We do not always recognize the real sources of our lives. They are hidden in God. He girds us though we do not know Him. Let us not gird ourselves in our own strength, but stretch forth our hands unto Him, sure that He will neither fail nor forsake. See John 21:18. They who thus utterly yield to God are bidden in the exercise of a daring faith to command, that is, to claim, His saving power. [source]

Chapter Summary: Isaiah 45

1  God calls Cyrus for his church's sake
5  By his omnipotence he challenges obedience
20  He convinces the idols of vanity by his saving power

What do the individual words in Isaiah 45:12 mean?

I have made the earth and man on it created I My hands stretched out the heavens and all their host I have commanded
אָֽנֹכִי֙ עָשִׂ֣יתִי אֶ֔רֶץ וְאָדָ֖ם עָלֶ֣יהָ בָרָ֑אתִי אֲנִ֗י יָדַי֙ נָט֣וּ שָׁמַ֔יִם וְכָל־ צְבָאָ֖ם צִוֵּֽיתִי

עָשִׂ֣יתִי  have  made 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: עָשָׂה 
Sense: to do, fashion, accomplish, make.
אֶ֔רֶץ  the  earth 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.
וְאָדָ֖ם  and  man 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular
Root: אָדָם 
Sense: man, mankind.
עָלֶ֣יהָ  on  it 
Parse: Preposition, third person feminine singular
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
בָרָ֑אתִי  created 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: בָּרָא 
Sense: to create, shape, form.
יָדַי֙  My  hands 
Parse: Noun, fdc, first person common singular
Root: יָד  
Sense: hand.
נָט֣וּ  stretched  out 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: נָטָה 
Sense: to stretch out, extend, spread out, pitch, turn, pervert, incline, bend, bow.
שָׁמַ֔יִם  the  heavens 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: שָׁמַיִם  
Sense: heaven, heavens, sky.
וְכָל־  and  all 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
צְבָאָ֖ם  their  host 
Parse: Noun, common singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: צָבָא 
Sense: that which goes forth, army, war, warfare, host.
צִוֵּֽיתִי  I  have  commanded 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: צָוָה  
Sense: to command, charge, give orders, lay charge, give charge to, order.