Isaiah 45:2

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

"I will go before you and level the mountains; I will break down the gates of bronze and cut through the bars of iron.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“I will go before youand level the uneven places;I will shatter the bronze doorsand cut the iron bars in two.

Hebrew Names Version
I will go before you, and make the rough places smooth; I will break in pieces the doors of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron;

King James Version
I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:

English Standard Version
"I will go before you and level the exalted places, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron,

New American Standard Bible
"I will go before you and make the rough places smooth; I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron bars.

New Century Version
I will go before you and make the mountains flat. I will break down the bronze gates of the cities and cut through their iron bars.

Amplified Bible
"I will go before you and level the mountains; I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron.

World English Bible
I will go before you, and make the rough places smooth; I will break in pieces the doors of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron;

Geneva Bible (1587)
I will goe before thee and make the crooked streight: I will breake the brasen doores, and burst the yron barres.

Legacy Standard Bible
"I will go before you and make the rough places smooth;I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron bars.

Contemporary English Version
As I lead you, I will level mountains and break the iron bars on bronze gates of cities.

Complete Jewish Bible
"I will go ahead of you, levelling the hills, shattering the bronze gates, smashing the iron bars.

Darby Translation
I will go before thee, and make the elevated places plain; I will break in pieces the brazen doors, and cut asunder the bars of iron;

Easy-to-Read Version
I will go in front of you and make the mountains flat. I will break the city gates of bronze and cut the iron bars on the gates.

George Lamsa Translation
I will go before you, and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of brass and cut asunder the bars of iron;

Good News Translation
"I myself will prepare your way, leveling mountains and hills. I will break down bronze gates and smash their iron bars.

Lexham English Bible
"I myself will go before you, and I will level the mountains. I will break the doors of bronze and cut throughthe bars of iron.

Literal Translation
I will go before you and make hills level; I will tear apart the bronze doors, and cut the iron bars in two.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
I wil go before the, and make the croked straight. I shal breake the brasen dores, & burst the yron barres.

American Standard Version
I will go before thee, and make the rough places smooth; I will break in pieces the doors of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron;

Bible in Basic English
I will go before you, and make the rough places level: the doors of brass will be broken, and the iron rods cut in two:

JPS Old Testament (1917)
I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the doors of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron;

King James Version (1611)
I will goe before thee, and make the crooked places straight, I wil break in pieces the gates of brasse, and cut in sunder the barres of yron.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
I wyll go before thee, and make the crooked straigth: I shall breake the brasen doores, and burst the iron barres.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
I will go before thee, and will level mountains: I will break to pieces brazen doors, and burst iron bars.

English Revised Version
I will go before thee, and make the rugged places plain: I will break in pieces the doors of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Y schal go bifore thee, and Y schal make lowe the gloriouse men of erthe; Y schal al to-breke brasun yatis, and Y schal breke togidere irun barris.

Update Bible Version
I will go before you, and make the rough places smooth; I will break in pieces the doors of bronze, and cut in sunder the bars of iron;

Webster's Bible Translation
I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut asunder the bars of iron:

New English Translation
"I will go before you and level mountains. Bronze doors I will shatter and iron bars I will hack through.

New King James Version
'I will go before youAnd make the crooked places [fn] straight;I will break in pieces the gates of bronzeAnd cut the bars of iron.

New Living Translation
This is what the Lord says: "I will go before you, Cyrus, and level the mountains. I will smash down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron.

New Life Bible
I will go before you and make the hard places smooth. I will break the brass doors to pieces, and cut through their iron gates.

New Revised Standard
I will go before you and level the mountains, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron,

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
I, before thee, will go, And the hills, will I level - The doors of bronze, will I break in pieces, e And the bars of iron, will I cut asunder;

Douay-Rheims Bible
I will go before thee, and will humble the great ones of the earth: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and will burst the bars of iron.

Revised Standard Version
"I will go before you and level the mountains, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut asunder the bars of iron,

Young's Literal Translation
`I go before thee, and crooked places make straight, Two-leaved doors of brass I shiver, And bars of iron I cut asunder,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"I will go before you and make the rough places smooth; I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron bars.

Contextual Overview

¹This is what the LORD says to Cyrus His anointed, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him, to disarm kings, to open the doors before him, so that the gates will not be shut: ²"I will go before you and level the mountains; I will break down the gates of bronze and cut through the bars of iron.³I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hidden riches of secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by name. ⁴For the sake of Jacob My servant and Israel My chosen one, I call you by name; I have given you a title of honor, though you have not known Me.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

go before: Isaiah 13:4-17

make: Isaiah 40:4, Isaiah 42:16, Acts 1:15, Luke 3:5

break: Psalms 107:16

Reciprocal: 1 Samuel 10:7 - God 1 Chronicles 14:15 - for God Nehemiah 7:67 - their manservants Job 28:11 - and the thing Isaiah 14:4 - golden city Isaiah 43:14 - nobles Isaiah 45:13 - direct Isaiah 52:12 - for Jeremiah 51:30 - her bars Jeremiah 51:58 - high gates Daniel 5:28 - Thy Micah 2:13 - breaker Nahum 2:6 - gates Nahum 3:13 - the gates Acts 12:10 - which

Cross-References

Genesis 46:29
Joseph prepared his chariot and went there to meet his father Israel. Joseph presented himself to him, embraced him, and wept profusely.

Numbers 14:1
Then the whole congregation lifted up their voices and cried out, and that night the people wept.

Ruth 1:9
May the LORD enable each of you to find security in the home of your new husband." And she kissed them as they wept aloud

2 Kings 20:3
"Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what is good in Your sight." And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

Acts 20:37
They all wept openly as they embraced Paul and kissed him.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight,.... Or, "level the hilly places" c; as pioneers do. The sense is, that he would remove all impediments and obstructions out of his way, and cause him to surmount all difficulties:

I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron; with which the brasen gates were barred: in the wall that surrounded Babylon there were a hundred gates, all made of solid brass, twenty five on each side of the square; which, no doubt, are here referred to; which could not hinder the entrance of Cyrus into the city, and the taking of it; though they were not then destroyed by him, but by Darius afterwards d these gates of brass are mentioned by Abydenus e, as made by Nebuchadnezzar, and as continuing till the empire of the Macedonians.

c The Septuagint render the word by ορη, mountains; Gussetius by eminences, high places, such as stood in the way of passage into countries. The Vulgate Latin interprets it of glorious persons; and Abendana says it is right to understand it in this way; and applies it to Zerubbabel, and those that went up with him to Jerusalem, with the leave of Cyrus, who were good men, and honourable in their works, whom the Lord directed in their way right, and prospered them in the building of the temple, d Herodot. l. 1. c. 179. l. 3. c. 159. e Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 41. p. 457.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

I will go before thee - To prepare the way for conquest, a proof that it is by the providence of God that the proud conquerors of the earth are enabled to triumph. The idea is, I will take away everything that would retard or oppose your victorious march.

And make the crooked paths straight - (See the note at Isaiah 40:4). The Chaldee renders this, ‘My word shall go before thee, and I will prostrate the walls.’ Lowth renders it, ‘Make the mountains plain.’ Noyes, ‘Make the high places plain.’ The Septuagint renders it, Ὄρη ὁμαλιῶ Orē homaliō - ‘Level mountains.’ Vulgate, Gloriosos terroe humiliabo - ‘The high places of the earth I will bring down.’ The word הדוּרים hădûrı̂ym is from הדר hâdar, to be large, ample, swollen, tumid; and probably means the swollen tumid places, that is, the hills or elevated places; and the idea is, that God would make them level, or would remove all obstructions out of his way.

I will break in pieces the gates of brass - Ancient cities were surrounded by walls, and secured by strong gates, which were not unfrequently made of brass. To Babylon there were one hundred gates, twenty-five on each side of the city, which, with their posts, were made of brass. ‘In the circumference of the walls,’ says Herodotus (i. 179), ‘at different distances, were a hundred massy gates of brass, whose hinges and frames were of the same metal.’ It was to this, doubtless, that the passage before us refers.

The bars of iron - With which the gates of the city were fastened. ‘One method of securing the gates of fortified places among the ancients, was to cover them with thick plates of iron - a custom which is still used in the East, and seems to be of great antiquity. We learn from Pitts, that Algiers has five gates, and some of these have two, some three other gates within them, and some of them plated all over with iron. Pococke, speaking of a bridge near Antioch, called the iron bridge, says, that there are two towers belonging to it, the gates of which are covered with iron plates. Some of these gates are plated over with brass; such are the enormous gates of the principal mosque at Damascus, formerly the church of John the Baptist’ (Paxton). The general idea in these passages is, that Cyrus would owe his success to divine interposition; and that that interposition would be so striking that it would be manifest that he owed his success to the favor of heaven. This was so clear in the history of Cyrus, that it is recognized by himself, and was also recognized even by the pagan who witnessed the success of his arms. Thus Cyrus says Ezra 1:2, ‘Jehovah, God of heaven, hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth.’ Thus Herodotus (i. 124) records the fact that Harpagus said in a letter to Cyrus, ‘Son of Cambyses, heaven evidently favors you, or you could never have thus risen superior to fortune.’ So Herodotus (i. 205) says that Cyrus regarded himself as endowed with powers more than human:, ‘When he considered the special circumstances of his birth, he believed himself more than human. He reflected also on the prosperity of his arms, and that wherever he had extended his excursions, he had been followed by success and victory.’

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 45:2. The crooked places - "The mountains"] For הדורים hodurim, crooked places, a word not easily accounted for in this place, the Septuagint read הררים hararim, ταορη, the mountains. Two MSS. have הדרים hadarim, without the ו vau, which is hardly distinguishable from the reading of the Septuagint. The Divine protection that attended Cyrus, and rendered his expedition against Babylon easy and prosperous is finely expressed by God's going before him, and making the mountains level. The image is highly poetical: -

At vos, qua veniet, tumidi subsidite montes,

Et faciles curvis vallibus este viae.

OVID, Amor. ii. 16.

"Let the lofty mountains fall down, and make level paths in the crooked valleys."

The gates of brass - "The valves of brass"] Abydenus, apud, Euseb. Praep. Evang. ix. 41, says, that the wall of Babylon had brazen gates. And Herodotus, i., 179. more particularly: "In the wall all round there are a hundred gates, all of brass; and so in like manner are the sides and the lintels." The gates likewise within the city, opening to the river from the several streets, were of brass; as were those also of the temple of Belus. - Herod. i., 180, 181.