Isaiah 51:2 · Bible study
Isaiah 51:2 Commentary: God’s Call to the One Makes Many
Hebrew · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Why does Isaiah point to Abraham’s being ‘one’ as confidence for the exiled remnant? A study in God’s power to multiply from a single start.
Research Summary
- Meaning: God’s call to Abraham when he was only one shows His power to create a great nation, encouraging the small remnant.
- Key words: echad (one, solitary, alone), qara (called), barak (blessed), ravah (multiplied).
- Main debate: Whether “one” emphasizes the numerical singularity or the isolation of Abraham; both readings support the same hope.
- Theological theme: Divine election and multiplication; God’s covenant faithfulness to bring life from barrenness.
- Best use: Encouragement for communities or individuals who feel too small or too few to make a difference.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave you birth. When I called him, he was but one; then I blessed him and multiplied him.
WEB World English Bible 2000
Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you; for when he was but one I called him, I blessed him, and made him many.
KJV King James Version 1769
Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you; for when he was but one I called him, and I blessed him, and made him many.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
Look attentively unto Abraham your father, And unto Sarah--she bringeth you forth, For--one--I have called him, And I bless him, and multiply him.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bore you; for I called him when he was alone, and blessed him, and multiplied him.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
Look unto Abraham your father, and to Sara that bore you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and multiplied him.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Mirad á Abraham vuestro padre, y á Sara que os parió; porque solo lo llamé, y bendíjelo, y multipliquélo.
Olhai para Abraão vosso pai, e para Sara que vos gerou; porque, sendo ele sozinho eu o chamei, o abençoei e o multipliquei.
Portez les regards sur Abraham votre père,
Schauet Abraham an, euren Vater, und Sara, von welcher ihr geboren seid. Denn ich rief ihn, da er noch einzeln war, und segnete ihn und mehrte ihn.
Aanschouwt Abraham, ulieder vader, en Sara, die ulieden gebaard heeft; want Ik riep hem, toen hij nog alleen was, en Ik zegende hem, en Ik vermenigvuldigde hem.
Considerate Abrahamo vostro padre, e Sara che vi partorì; poiché io lo chiamai quand’egli era solo, lo benedissi e lo moltiplicai.
Spojrzyjcie na Abrahama, ojca waszego, i na Sarę, która was porodziła, żem go jednego wezwał, i pobłogosławiłem mu, a rozmnożyłem go.
Посмотрите на Авраама, отца вашего, и на Сарру, родившую вас: ибо Я призвал его одного и благословил его, и размножил его.
要追想 你們的祖宗 亞伯拉罕 和 生養你們 的撒拉；因為 亞伯拉罕獨自一人的時候，我選召他，賜福與他，使他人數增多。
Let your thoughts be turned to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth: for when he was but one, my voice came to him, and I gave him my blessing, and made him a great people.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Isaiah 51:2
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree that this verse uses Abraham’s solitary beginning as a basis for encouraging the exilic remnant. Barnes notes that God called Abraham when he was “alone” and, from that single start, “caused him to increase until a mighty nation had sprung from him.” Gill echoes this: Abraham “was without issue when he was called… and the Lord blessed him… and so increased him.” The Cambridge Bible links the verse to the wider passage of Isa. 51:1, 8, which urges believing exiles to trust God despite their small number. Matthew Henry draws from it the lesson of remembering one’s low origin as a ground for humility and hope. The shared point is that God’s power to create a great people from one barren couple is the same power that can restore the few exiles in Babylon. The verbs, called, blessed, multiplied, form a chain of divine initiative, all resting on God’s freedom to act.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: God called Abraham when he was an individual without offspring, blessed him, and multiplied him into a great nation, demonstrating His power to restore and expand even the smallest community.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning of 'one' (echad) in the clause 'for when he was but one' | All commentators agree that Abraham was solitary at the time of God's call, without progeny and largely alone in his faith. | Some, like Barnes and the Cambridge Bible, emphasize the numerical 'one' as a starting point for multiplication; others, like Gill and the Targum, focus on his aloneness (separated from family) as the context for the call. |
| Application to the exilic remnant | The verse directly encourages the returned exiles that God can increase their small numbers as He did with Abraham. | Protestant interpreters often see this as a type of the church under all ages, while Jewish readings (e.g., the Targum) apply it more specifically to the restoration of ethnic Israel. |
| Role of Sarah in the verse | Sarah is acknowledged as the mother of the nation, alongside Abraham as father. | Some commentators, like Matthew Henry, use her to illustrate the barrenness before the blessing; others, like Keil & Delitzsch, treat her literally as the quarry from which Israel was dug. |
| Nature of the blessing | God blessed Abraham with both material wealth and numerous descendants. | Wesley focuses on the miraculous multiplication despite 'condition was desperate in the eye of reason,' while Gill includes both physical and spiritual aspects (flocks, gold, son, faith). |
Historical & Cultural Context
Isaiah 51 belongs to a section of consolation (Isa. 51:1, 52:12) addressed to the Judean exiles in Babylon. The thrice-repeated “Hearken to me” (vv.1,4,7) divides the passage into strophes, each calling the faithful to trust in God’s coming salvation. Verse 1 uses a quarry metaphor: “the rock you were cut from” is Abraham, “the quarry you were dug from” is Sarah. The command to “look” (Hebrew habitu, a Hiphil imperative meaning to pay close attention) insists that the exiles consider their patriarchal origins. Abraham was called when he was echad, one person, solitary and without child (Gen. 12:1; 15:2, 5). Sarah was barren. Yet God’s call, blessing and multiplication turned the impossible into a nation. The argument is deliberate: if God could create a great people from one individual and one barren womb, He can certainly transform the small, discouraged remnant in Babylon into a thriving community. The same covenantal faithfulness that made Abraham “as the stars of the sky in multitude” (Gen. 15:5; Heb. 11:12) will comfort Zion and make her desert like Eden (v.3). Historical background reinforces the point: the exile community was tiny, fragile, and tempted to despair. Isaiah redirects their gaze from their present numbers to the sheer power of God’s call.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note a few textual variants. Gill observes that the Septuagint and Arabic versions insert the phrase “and I loved him” between “blessed” and “increased.” The Targum paraphrases: “one was Abraham, alone in the world, and I brought him to my service, and I blessed him, and multiplied him.” These additions reflect interpretive expansions rather than manuscript variants. The Hebrew text is stable, and no significant textual issues affect the meaning.
Reception History
This verse has been a steady source of hope for small and discouraged faith communities. Early Christian writers saw Abraham as the father of believers and used this verse to encourage Gentile converts that God could build a worldwide church from one faithful man. Reformed commentators like Calvin and (later) Matthew Henry drew from it the lesson of God’s sovereign initiative: He starts with nothing to show His power. In the modern era, the verse is often cited in sermons on revival and church planting, reminding congregations that big movements begin with a single obedient person. Its reception across traditions shows remarkable consistency in reading it as an invitation to trust God’s ability to multiply the smallest beginning.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- Look back to the beginning. God invites the remnant to remember Abraham and Sarah, not their greatness, but their humble start. The same God who begins with one can build a nation.
- Trust the sequence of grace. The verbs move from calling to blessing to multiplying. None of these steps depend on human effort; all flow from God’s initiative.
- Apply the pattern to your situation. Whether a small church, a struggling ministry, or a lonely believer, God’s power is not limited by the size of the starting point. He who multiplied the one can multiply the few.
Five-point outline
- Remembering the rock: Abraham as father of the nation
- Remembering the quarry: Sarah as mother through barrenness
- “For I called him alone”: the solitude of the first call
- The threefold divine action: call, bless, multiply
- From then to now: the same God acts for the remnant
Illustration hooks
- A single acorn can grow into an oak forest. The small beginning matters less than the life within.
- A startup begins with one idea and one person, but with the right backing it can grow into something that serves many.
- A piece of music starts with one note; a symphony is the expansion of that beginning.
Questions your congregation is asking
- “If I’m the only one in my family or church who seems to care, does God see that as enough?”
- “How can I be sure that God’s promises for the future will come true when the present looks so small?”
- “What does it mean for us as a community to be like Abraham, to trust God before we see results?”
Leading a Discussion
This verse invites small groups to think about the power of God’s call, especially when a situation seems unpromising. Abraham was just one person, with no child and an infertile wife. Yet God called him, blessed him, and multiplied him into a great nation. The same God addresses the exiles in Babylon, and the same God addresses your group today.
Discussion questions
- Read Isaiah 51:1, 2. What do you think it means to “look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you”? What are we supposed to see?
- Abraham is called “one” when God called him. What does that detail suggest about the way God works? Why is it encouraging?
- The verse lists three things God did: called, blessed, multiplied. Which of these most stands out to you, and why?
- How does the example of Abraham and Sarah speak to feelings of insignificance or hopelessness in your own life?
- In what ways does the church today need to remember its roots in Abraham? What can we learn from his trust in God’s promise?
- Share a time when God seemed to start with something small and later blessed it beyond expectation. What did that teach you?
- How can this passage guide our prayers for our church or community when we feel small or weak?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Genesis 12:1 | Now Yahweh said to Abram, “Leave your country, and your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you. |
| Genesis 12:3 | I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who treats you with contempt. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.” |
| Genesis 13:14 | Yahweh said to Abram, after Lot was separated from him, “Now, lift up your eyes, and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, |
| Genesis 13:17 | Arise, walk through the land in its length and in its width; for I will give it to you.” |
| Genesis 15:1 | After these things Yahweh’s word came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Don’t be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” |
| Genesis 15:2 | Abram said, “Lord Yahweh, what will you give me, since I go childless, and he who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” |
| Genesis 15:4 | Behold, Yahweh’s word came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir, but he who will come out of your own body will be your heir.” |
| Genesis 15:5 | Yahweh brought him outside, and said, “Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” He said to Abram, “So your offspring will be.” |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
9 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke draws a parallel between God's past work with Abraham and His present power for Israel. Just as God made a great nation from one man, He can restore and multiply a people who have been brought low. The same creative ability remains available.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes focuses on the literal force of God calling Abraham alone, one single individual, and then multiplying him into a great nation. The point is that the same God who started with one person can rescue and increase the small, weak remnant of exiles in Babylon.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva note stresses that God called Abraham alone, with no human partner or prior advantage, yet chose to bless and multiply him. This highlights divine sovereignty: God does not need existing resources or numbers to build his people, but works from one solitary individual.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill identifies Abraham and Sarah as the "rock" and "pit" from the previous verse, pointing to their humble and unpromising beginnings. He emphasizes that God called Abraham when he was alone and childless, yet blessed and multiplied him greatly. This pattern is meant to encourage the church in distress that God can bring fruitfulness from barren circumstances.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB draws attention to the translation of "alone" as "when he was but one," linking Abraham's solitary start to the small remnant of Israel. The argument is that the same God who blessed one individual into a mighty nation can also increase and bless the remaining few.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch contrasts the despisers of the word with those who long for salvation by pursuing righteousness. They are to look to Abraham and Sarah as types: Abraham was one when called, yet through divine blessing became the root of a nation. The miracle of Israel’s birth from barrenness prefigures Zion’s restoration, which faith already sees as fulfilled.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange reads this passage as a dramatic dialogue with four speakers. The veiled Servant of Jehovah, a distinct person yet one with God, addresses Israel directly, calling them to look back to Abraham and Sarah. He presents faith like theirs as the condition for redemption.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Matthew Henry directs believers to look back at their lowly origin—the rock and pit of a sinful, helpless nature, like Abraham called from idolatry and slavery. This backward glance is meant to humble us and magnify the grace that made us God’s people.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley observes that God called one man alone, leaving every relative behind, and multiplied him into a vast nation when reason saw no hope. He applies this pattern to the church: God can raise it from any forlorn condition just as easily.