Isaiah 45:5Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God beside Me. I have positioned Myself as an adversary to your foes and a companion to your allies: to those who opposed your return, I revealed Myself as an enemy, whereas to Cyrus, who heeded My commands, I extended My friendship. I am the Lord, and there is none like Me; there is no God besides Me. In order to prevent His opponents from believing that He is merely one of many deities, He proclaims that they may recognize from the east to the west that there is none other than He; I am the Lord, and there is no other. Observe, He also looks after other nations, bestowing upon them great blessings, so that when they abandon falsehood and turn back to His sanctuary, guided by truth, they may enter the kingdom of heaven.

See Isaiah 45:3 You have not recognized Me, for I am the Lord, and there is no god besides Me, and you have not known Me. It is as if He is clearly stating, ‘You have not received this honor from Me as a reward for outstanding acts of devotion; I have adorned you, even though you have not acknowledged My divinity and greatness, nor have you been among those who worship Me. Yet let both those from the rising sun and those from the setting know that there is no other besides Me. For if I have chosen, He says, to save My people, I will accomplish this through those who do not recognize My glory, so that all who inhabit the earth may understand that there is no god but Me. I am the Lord of Hosts, and sovereign over every nation and people; wherever I choose, I guide the hearts of the inhabitants of the earth, so that even those who are not My own fulfill My will.

Cyrus as God's Instrument Cyrus was ensnared by idolatrous folly, and despite being granted the entire kingdom by God and receiving such immense support, he failed to recognize the Source of these blessings. Nevertheless, God bestowed all these honors upon him, even as he was misguided in his role in the downfall of Babylon and in facilitating the liberation of Israel. Occasionally, I come across passages that present an alternate perspective, stating, "But thou, O Israel, hast recognized Me." However, I have not encountered the term 'Israel' in the Hebrew scriptures, in the writings of other commentators, or in the translations of the seventy scholars compiled in the Origen Hexaplae. This omission is indeed warranted, for it is not Israel that is admonished for lack of understanding in this context, but Cyrus. God later clarifies the rationale behind the salvation of the Jewish people.