Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?
Don't you know? Haven't you heard? Hasn't this been told to you from the very beginning? Haven't you understood this since the world was first created?
The writer is asking why people don't recognize God's eternal power and existence, which has been evident since the world began.
📚 Historical Context
In the historical context, Isaiah 40 was written during the Babylonian exile of the Israelites in the 6th century BC, a time when the nation was suffering under foreign oppression and needed reassurance of God's power. The prophet uses rhetorical questions to remind the people of the eternal truths about God's sovereignty that had been passed down since the foundations of the earth, drawing from the creation narrative to contrast God's majesty with human forgetfulness. This passage served to comfort and rally the exiles, pointing them toward hope in God's impending deliverance.
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