I have declared, and have saved. I have made it heard, and there was no strange one among you. You are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and I am God.
אָנֹכִ֞י הִגַּ֤דְתִּי וְהוֹשַׁ֙עְתִּי֙ וְהִשְׁמַ֔עְתִּי וְאֵ֥ין בָּכֶ֖ם זָ֑ר וְאַתֶּ֥ם עֵדַ֛י נְאֻם־יְהוָ֖ה וַֽאֲנִי־אֵֽל׃
3 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Where are the deities that you have slain and to whom you have made offerings? Do not claim that the idols lack the ability to predict events independently; God declares they were unable to warn you at all. However, I, He states, despite the Assyrian's reproach, revealed My might in an instant.
Be witnesses, He proclaims, for I am the sole God of all creation, without a predecessor and with no successor; I am the only Savior. This I have foretold from the very beginning, fulfilling what I declared through my salvation in Christ. I have admonished you, and within you there is no outsider. The Israelites, at times, neglected the sacred commandments that I entrusted to the wise Moses, favoring indulgences over devotion to Me; thus, due to their negligence, they faced peril when enemies besieged them. Yet in their distress, they cried out for the aid of the One who always rescues. For this reason, I rebuked them through the prophet Jeremiah, stating, “And in their time of trouble they will say, ‘Arise, and save us.’ And where are your gods that you have made for yourself?
Let them arise and save you in your time of affliction” (Jeremiah 2:27, 28). Thus, I have rebuked you, O descendants of Israel, repeatedly, and you have come to realize by experience that no foreign god was present among you; none could save you. Hence, the only Savior is I alone. Therefore, you are to be witnesses, and I too will testify of Myself, declares the Lord God, or as Christ stated: “Whoever acknowledges Me before others, I will also acknowledge before My Father in heaven” (Matthew 10:32). Bear testimony that I am He who has been from the beginning, the one who speaks of the future and graciously saves those eager for fellowship with Me. My saving is such that no one can take from My grasp what I have chosen, for there is none, He asserts, who can snatch them from My hand: “I will create; who can oppose that?” He has fulfilled, as it is said, the calling of the nations, rescuing those who stray; who can alter this or prevent it? And from the hand of God, none who are saved by Him will be taken away, as the Savior Himself assures, saying, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand” (John 10:27-29). Clearly, this aligns with the truth expressed: "No one shall be taken from My hand."
I have announced and delivered, I have corrected, and there was no other (deity) (Is 43:12). Three interpreters take 'corrected' to mean 'I caused them to hear' rather than 'I bore witness.' However, 'corrected' can also imply that those who persist in sin were admonished. This concept is echoed in the idea that a foreign deity was absent when the Law was given. 'You are My witnesses, and I am the Lord God.' In essence, it should be clear that it is only you who will be summoned, and it is solely through My Divine Providence that you have been blessed.
Passages read together with this verse.
THEOSIS