I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them.

ISAIAH 48:5KJV
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Isaiah 48:5 (KJV)

What does Isaiah 48:5 mean?

Isaiah 48:5 says that God announced events to Israel before they happened so that the people could not credit their idols with bringing those events about. The timing matters: the earlier announcement identifies God as the one claiming responsibility for what follows.

God is speaking to the people of Israel, whom the previous verse describes as stubborn. In the KJV, “shewed it thee” means that God made the events known to them beforehand. The verse pictures people assigning both the action and the command behind the events to images they worshiped.

The Hebrew behind Isaiah 48:5

  • “sheweden” — שָׁמַע (shamaʿ): This word has to do with hearing. In the form used here, it carries the sense of causing someone to hear or making something known. The KJV’s “shewed” can therefore refer to an announcement, not just something seen.
  • “idol” — עֹצֶב (ʿotsev): This word refers to an idol. It can carry the sense of something fashioned or shaped, fitting the verse’s mention of images made by human hands.

Why Isaiah 48:5 matters

  • The verse treats the images as rivals for credit, not merely as decorations. The imagined claim, “Mine idol hath done them,” shows the kind of explanation God is answering.
  • The two kinds of images point to different ways an idol could be made. A “graven image” is carved, while a “molten image” is made from material melted and poured into shape.
  • The announcement was meant to be remembered when the events arrived. In verse 6, God calls on the people to consider what they have heard and seen.

Where else these words appear

“idol” Hebrew H6090 · used in 4 verses

  • 1 Chronicles 4:9 And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow.
  • Psalms 139:24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
  • Isaiah 14:3 And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve,

“beginning” Hebrew H227 · used in 22 verses

  • Genesis 12:6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
  • 2 Samuel 15:34 But if thou return to the city, and say unto Absalom, I will be thy servant, O king; as I have been thy father's servant hitherto, so will I now also be thy servant: then mayest thou for me defeat the counsel of Ahithophel.
  • Psalms 93:2 Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting.

“image” Hebrew H6459 · used in 31 verses

  • Exodus 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
  • Judges 18:17 And the five men that went to spy out the land went up, and came in thither, and took the graven image, and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood in the entering of the gate with the six hundred men that were appointed with weapons of war.
  • Isaiah 42:17 They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods.

“image” Hebrew H5262 · used in 62 verses

  • Genesis 35:14 And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon.
  • Numbers 28:24 After this manner ye shall offer daily, throughout the seven days, the meat of the sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD: it shall be offered beside the continual burnt offering, and his drink offering.
  • 2 Kings 16:13 And he burnt his burnt offering and his meat offering, and poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings, upon the altar.