Isaiah 41:6 (DBY)

Passage

They helped every one his neighbour, and [each] said to his brother, Take courage.

Nearby Context

Isaiah 41:4 Who hath wrought and done [it], calling the generations from the beginning? I, Jehovah, the first; and with the last, I [am] HE.

Isaiah 41:5 The isles saw [it], and feared; the ends of the earth trembled: they drew near, and came.

Isaiah 41:6 They helped every one his neighbour, and [each] said to his brother, Take courage.

Isaiah 41:7 And the artizan encouraged the founder, he that smootheth [with] the hammer him that smiteth on the anvil, saying of the soldering, It is good; and he fasteneth it with nails, that it be not moved.

Isaiah 41:8 But thou, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, my friend

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "helped", "neighbour", "each", "said", "brother", "take", and "courage". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "helped" and "neighbour", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 5's "The isles saw it and feared the..." into verse 7's "And the artizan encouraged the founder he...", so "helped" and "neighbour" belong inside that flow. In Isaiah context, the local focus is the Holy One of Israel, judgment and restoration, the servant of the LORD, and Zion's hope.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "helped" and "neighbour" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.