Isaiah 41:3 (GNV)

Passage

He pursued them, and passed safely by the way that he had not gone with his feete.

Nearby Context

Isaiah 41:1 Keep silence before mee, O ylands, and let the people renue their strength: let the come neere, and let them speake: let vs come together into iudgement.

Isaiah 41:2 Who raised vp iustice from the East, and called him to his foote? and gaue the nations before him, and subdued the Kings? he gaue them as dust to his sword, and as scattered stubble vnto his bowe.

Isaiah 41:3 He pursued them, and passed safely by the way that he had not gone with his feete.

Isaiah 41:4 Who hath wrought and done it? he that calleth the generations from the beginning. I the Lord am the first, and with the last I am ye same.

Isaiah 41:5 The yles sawe it, and did feare, and the ends of the earth were abashed, drew neere, and came.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "pursued", "passed", "safely", "gone", and "feete". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "pursued" and "passed", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "Who raised vp iustice from the East..." into verse 4's "Who hath wrought and done it he...", so "pursued" and "passed" 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 "pursued" and "passed" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.