The Meaning of Isaiah 49:4 Explained

Isaiah 49:4

KJV: Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God.

YLT: And I said, 'For a vain thing I laboured, For emptiness and vanity my power I consumed, But my judgment is with Jehovah, And my wage with my God.

Darby: And I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought and in vain; nevertheless my judgment is with Jehovah, and my work with my God.

ASV: But I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nought and vanity; yet surely the justice due to me is with Jehovah, and my recompense with my God.

Discover Isaiah 49:4

CONTEXT: What is the Context of Isaiah 49:4?

MEANING: What does Isaiah 49:4 Mean?

WORDS: What do the individual words in Isaiah 49:4 mean?

RELATIONS: What do the major concepts mean in Isaiah 49:4?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Then I said,  I have laboured  in vain,  I have spent  my strength  for nought,  and in vain:  [yet] surely  my judgment  [is] with the LORD,  and my work  with my God. 

What does Isaiah 49:4 Mean?

Verse Meaning

In spite of the Servant"s calling it would appear, even to Himself, that He was less than successful (cf. John 1:10-11). If the previous verse describes a more than human Servant, this one presents a fully human Servant. When Jesus Christ died it appeared that He had accomplished very little. Most people regarded His life as a waste. He even prayed on the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" ( Matthew 27:46).
"God does not approach the arrogance and oppression of the world with greater arrogance and greater oppression. Rather, he comes with the humility, the vulnerability, and the powerlessness of a child." [1]
Nevertheless, the Servant"s work would please God, if not men. Man"s justice gave Messiah the Cross, but God"s justice gave Him the crown. The Servant would commit His work to God and would trust Him for a just reckoning.
This verse clarifies that feelings of futility and faith in God need not be mutually exclusive. The Servant trusted God for the final outcome of His ministry, though as He was carrying it out, it appeared to be ineffective. The Apostle Paul took the same view of his ministry (cf. Romans 8:31-39; 1 Corinthians 4:1-5).
". . . despondency arises through listening to ourselves and our self-assessment etc., instead of looking to God, recalling his purposes, living according to our dignity in him and rediscovering in him our source of power." [2]

Context Summary

Isaiah 49:1-13 - "a Light To The Gentiles"
The first division of this second part of Isaiah closes at Isaiah 48:22, with the phrase there is no peace to the wicked. The second division of part 2 closes with a similar phrase, Isaiah 57:21. The first division here ends with the proclamation for Israel to leave Babylon. They need never have gone there. If only they have been obedient in every particular theirs would have been the happy lot of Isaiah 48:18, as contrasted with Isaiah 48:22. But even under such circumstances, in captivity and as slaves of the Chaldeans the redeeming grace of God would triumph, Isaiah 48:20; Isaiah 49:5.
The second great division of Part 2 opens with Isaiah 49:1. In their first and immediate reference, these verses evidently apply to our Lord. See Acts 13:47, etc. In the mission of Jesus, the ideal of the Hebrew race was realized. As the white flower on the stalk He revealed the essential beauty and glory of the root, Isaiah 49:6. See Hosea 11:1; Matthew 2:1-2; Matthew 2:14-15, etc.
There is a secondary sense, also, in which the Christian worker may appropriate many things in this glowing paragraph. Our mouth must be surrendered to God, that He may use it for His own high purposes. But do not dread the shadow of His hand. It is the quiver case in which He keeps His chosen arrows against the battle! [source]

Chapter Summary: Isaiah 49

1  Christ being sent to the Jews, complains of them
5  He is sent to the Gentiles with gracious promises
13  God's love is perpetual to his church
18  The ample restoration of the church
24  The powerful deliverance out of captivity

What do the individual words in Isaiah 49:4 mean?

And I said in vain I have labored for nothing and in vain my strength I have spent yet surely my just reward [is] with Yahweh and my work my God
וַאֲנִ֤י אָמַ֙רְתִּי֙ לְרִ֣יק יָגַ֔עְתִּי לְתֹ֥הוּ וְהֶ֖בֶל כֹּחִ֣י כִלֵּ֑יתִי אָכֵן֙ מִשְׁפָּטִ֣י אֶת־ יְהוָ֔ה וּפְעֻלָּתִ֖י אֱלֹהָֽי

וַאֲנִ֤י  And  I 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Pronoun, first person common singular
Root: אֲנִי  
Sense: I (first pers.
אָמַ֙רְתִּי֙  said 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
לְרִ֣יק  in  vain 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular
Root: רִיק  
Sense: emptiness, vanity, empty, idle, vain.
יָגַ֔עְתִּי  I  have  labored 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: יָגַע  
Sense: to toil, labour, grow weary, be weary.
לְתֹ֥הוּ  for  nothing 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular
Root: תֹּהוּ  
Sense: formlessness, confusion, unreality, emptiness.
וְהֶ֖בֶל  and  in  vain 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular
Root: הֶבֶל  
Sense: vapour, breath.
כֹּחִ֣י  my  strength 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: כֹּחַ 
Sense: strength, power, might.
כִלֵּ֑יתִי  I  have  spent 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: כָּלָה  
Sense: to accomplish, cease, consume, determine, end, fail, finish, be complete, be accomplished, be ended, be at an end, be finished, be spent.
אָכֵן֙  yet  surely 
Parse: Adverb
Root: אָכֵן 
Sense: surely, truly, indeed.
מִשְׁפָּטִ֣י  my  just  reward  [is] 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: מִשְׁפָּט  
Sense: judgment, justice, ordinance.
יְהוָ֔ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
וּפְעֻלָּתִ֖י  and  my  work 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: פְּעֻלָּה  
Sense: work, recompense, reward.
אֱלֹהָֽי  my  God 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, first person common singular
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).

What are the major concepts related to Isaiah 49:4?

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