Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.

ISAIAH 51:2KJV
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Isaiah 51:2 (KJV)

What does Isaiah 51:2 mean?

Isaiah 51:2 points its hearers back to the beginnings of their people. God tells them to consider Abraham and Sarah: their family grew from a small beginning because God called Abraham, blessed him, and made his descendants numerous.

After the image of a quarry in verse 1, Abraham and Sarah are presented as the ancestors from whom the people came. God is speaking through Isaiah to people who are seeking him and looking for what is right.

The Hebrew behind Isaiah 51:2

  • “bare” — חוּל (ḥul): This word can describe the pain of childbirth. It gives the reference to Sarah a physical sense: she is the mother who gave birth to their ancestor.
  • “alone” — אֶחָד (ʾeḥad): This word often means “one.” Here it emphasizes Abraham as a single person when God called him, before his family became numerous.
  • “increased” — רָבָה (ravah): This word carries the sense of becoming many. In this setting, it points to the growth of Abraham’s family into a large people.

Why Isaiah 51:2 matters

  • Sarah has a named place in the account of the people’s beginning. The words “Sarah that bare you” place her alongside “Abraham your father.”
  • The movement from one person to many prepares for the promise that follows. Verse 3 speaks of comfort for Zion and describes its ruined places becoming like a garden.

Where else these words appear

“Sarah” Hebrew H8283 · used in 32 verses

  • Genesis 17:15 And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.
  • Genesis 18:14 Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
  • Genesis 21:7 And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have born him a son in his old age.

“bare” Hebrew H2342 · used in 58 verses

  • Genesis 8:10 And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;
  • Psalms 29:8 The voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness; the LORD shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.
  • Isaiah 45:10 Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth?

“Look” Hebrew H5027 · used in 67 verses

  • Genesis 15:5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
  • Psalms 13:3 Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;
  • Isaiah 22:11 Ye made also a ditch between the two walls for the water of the old pool: but ye have not looked unto the maker thereof, neither had respect unto him that fashioned it long ago.