Isaiah 43:3

3 For I am the Lord your God, the holy God of Israel, who saves you. I will give up Egypt to set you free; I will give up Ethiopia and Seba.

Isaiah 43:3 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 43:3

For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour,
&c.] The Lord is the covenant God of his people, holy in himself, and the sanctifier of them, and their Saviour in time of trouble; and therefore need no doubt of his presence and support amidst all their afflictions; and besides they should call to mind past experiences of his goodness, to encourage their faith in him, as to present help and assistance: I gave Egypt for thy ransom;
he sacrificed the Egyptians instead of the Israelites; he destroyed the firstborn of Egypt, and saved Israel his firstborn; he drowned the Egyptians in the Red sea, when the Israelites passed safely through it; and the destruction of the former was to make way for the salvation of the latter, and so said to be a ransom for them; see ( Proverbs 11:8 ) ( 21:18 ) : Ethiopia and Seba for thee;
this refers either to the rumour brought to Sennacherib of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia coming against him to war, which diverted him from the siege of Jerusalem for a time, and caused him to turn his forces upon the Ethiopians and Sabeans, whereby the Jews had a respite, ( 2 Kings 19:9 ) or rather to the overthrow of the Ethiopians in the time of Asa, ( 2 Chronicles 14:9-13 ) or to the king of Assyria, perhaps Shalmaneser's being diverted from Palestine and Judea, and turning his forces upon Egypt and Ethiopia, as in ( Isaiah 20:1 ) and the Lord, by putting his people in mind of these instances, suggests hereby that he will sacrifice all their enemies, rather than they shall be destroyed, and therefore they need not fear.

Isaiah 43:3 In-Context

1 Israel, the Lord who created you says, "Do not be afraid - I will save you. I have called you by name - you are mine.

2 When you pass through deep waters, I will be with you; your troubles will not overwhelm you. When you pass through fire, you will not be burned; the hard trials that come will not hurt you.

3 For I am the Lord your God, the holy God of Israel, who saves you. I will give up Egypt to set you free; I will give up Ethiopia and Seba.

4 I will give up whole nations to save your life, because you are precious to me and because I love you and give you honor.

5 Do not be afraid - I am with you! "From the distant east and the farthest west I will bring your people home.

Footnotes

• [a]. [Hebrew] Cush: [Cush is the ancient name of the extensive territory south of the First Cataract of the Nile River. This region was called Ethiopia in Graeco-Roman times, and included within its borders most of modern Sudan and some of present-day Ethiopia (Abyssinia).]