Verse Lens · Context pointer
Isaiah 54:16 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 16. 16Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
The prophetic poem or speech in Isaiah introduces or commands “Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an…” at Isaiah 54:16 as “Afflicted Zion Is Rebuilt, Taught, and Protected” develops.
Read It With
- Isaiah 54:11–17
Read Isaiah 54:16 with 54:11–17. By itself, “Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an…” can be detached from the speaker, addressee, historical horizon, poetic movement, or outcome that gives it force. The complete unit establishes: Gemstone architecture, divinely taught children, established righteousness, restrained terror, and the servants' vindication close the comfort corpus.
Why It Needs Context
Keep the line with Isaiah 54:11–17. The prophetic poem or speech in Isaiah introduces or commands “Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an…” at Isaiah 54:16 as “Afflicted Zion Is Rebuilt, Taught, and Protected” develops. The literary form and this limit govern it: Afflicted Zion Is Rebuilt, Taught, and Protected does not authorize turning Zion poetry into a modern land deed, nationalist immunity, supersessionism, or coercive control of women and communities.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Isaiah 54:11–17 — Afflicted Zion Is Rebuilt, Taught, and ProtectedSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Isaiah 54:11–17, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Isaiah
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology at the exact unit, without treating morphology as apparatus, lexicon, composition history, or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Isa.xml, OSIS 54:11–17 with Hebrew/KJV versification difference checked
Open the fixed Hebrew Isaiah file ↗