Discovery BoxIsaiah 45:5-7 
Context45:5 I am the Lord, I have no peer, 1
there is no God but me.
I arm you for battle, 2 even though you do not recognize 3 me.
45:6 I do this 4 so people 5 will recognize from east to west
that there is no God but me;
I am the Lord, I have no peer.
45:7 I am 6 the one who forms light
and creates darkness; 7
the one who brings about peace
and creates calamity. 8
I am the Lord, who accomplishes all these things.
1 tn Heb “and there is none besides.” On the use of עוֹד (’od) here, see BDB 729 s.v. 1.c.
2 tn Heb “gird you” (so NASB) or “strengthen you” (so NIV).
3 tn Or “know” (NAB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT); NIV “have not acknowledged.”
4 tn The words “I do this” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
5 tn Heb “they” (so KJV, ASV); TEV, CEV “everyone”; NLT “all the world.”
6 tn The words “I am” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the participle at the beginning of v. 7 stands in apposition to “the Lord” in v. 6.
7 tn On the surface v. 7a appears to describe God’s sovereign control over the cycle of day and night, but the following statement suggests that “light” and “darkness” symbolize “deliverance” and “judgment.”
8 sn This verses affirms that God is ultimately sovereign over his world, including mankind and nations. In accordance with his sovereign will, he can cause wars to cease and peace to predominate (as he was about to do for his exiled people through Cyrus), or he can bring disaster and judgment on nations (as he was about to do to Babylon through Cyrus).
