Who hath wrought and done these things, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, I am the first and the last.

“[Where] do you get those fortresses of yours, "ingenerate" and "unoriginate," from—or where the term "immortal"? Show us the express words, or we cross them out as unscriptural, and you will be dead as a result of your own principles, since the words, the wall of defense you trusted in, will have been destroyed. Is it not plain that these terms derived from passages that imply, without actually mentioning them? Which passages? What about "I am the first, and I am hereafter," and "Before me there is no other God and after me there shall be none," "for everything that exists" [God is saying] "is mine, without beginning or ending"? You have taken the truths that there is nothing before God and that he has no prior case, and you have given him the titles "unoriginate" and "ingenerate." The fact that there is no halt to his ongoing existence means he is "immortal" and "indestructible."”

“"I, the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he." There is no "God" "before" God, nor can we call "God" that which is "after" God. (For that which is after God is the creation, and that which is before God is nothing, and nothing is not God, or, one should rather say, that which is "before" God is God in his eternal blessedness, defined in contradistinction to nothing.) … For if it is the Father who speaks in this way, he bears witness to the Son that he is not "after" himself. For if the Son is God and whatever is "after" the Father is not God, it is clear that the saying bears witness to the truth that the Son is in the Father and not after the Father. If, [however,] one were to grant that this statement is of the Son, the phrase "no other has been before me" will be a clear allusion that he whom we contemplate "in the Beginning" is apprehended together with the eternity of the Beginning.”

“עשה Hath prepared. Comp. לעשות to dress (Gen. 18:7). Who has done this? God has done it, who is calling the generations from the beginning, before they come into existence; who knows all future generations, and cites each of them to appear in its right time. The first of all generations that have hitherto existed. And with the last, with the last generations.”

“"Let them be silent before me," etc. Here he begins to strengthen them toward a firm expectation, from the love of the God who promises. And it is divided into three parts. In the first he shows divine love from the benefits which he showed to the fathers; in the second, from the son whom he promised them, chapter 42: "Behold my servant," etc.; in the third, through the consolations which he foretells amid various distresses, chapter 43: "And now thus says the Lord," etc. Now by the benefits previously bestowed he intends the strengthening of the Jews and the refutation of the idols, which did not show such things to their worshippers; and therefore the first part is divided into two. In the first he disputes against the worshippers of idols; in the second against the idols themselves, at "Come near," etc.; the first into two: for first, by the benefits bestowed on the Jews, he convicts the adversaries; second, by the same he strengthens the Jews, "And you, Israel, my servant," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he summons the nations to judgment, pursuing the order of judgment, that being silent they may hear, and thus respond. "Let them renew their strength," that is, let them strengthen themselves as if renewed in strength to dispute with me. Micah 6: "Let the mountains hear the judgment," etc. Second he recounts the benefit that was shown, "who called," where he recounts the multitude of benefits: as to the divine election, "from the east," namely Chaldea; "the just one," Abraham. Genesis 12, Job 23: "he has followed his steps," etc., Jeremiah 13: "as a girdle cleaves," etc., Hosea 9: "like the first fruits of the fig tree," etc.; as to the power granted, "he will give in his sight," namely when he freed Lot, fighting against four kings: Genesis 14. Psalm 1: "not so the wicked, not so," etc.; as to the ease of carrying it out, "he will pass in peace," that is, without labor; "the path," etc., as one who walks lightly, as it were leaving no trace of the way; or because the labor is in the feet, no sign of the way is left behind. Above, 40: "they shall run, and not labor," etc.; he seeks the author: "who has wrought this," and "who," calling, by eternal foreknowledge, below, 49: "the Lord from the womb," etc.; and he gives the response: "I the Lord," etc., Apocalypse 1: "I am Alpha," etc. Otherwise, according to the letter, it is expounded of Cyrus; mystically, of Christ. Third, he sets forth, as it were, the response of the Gentiles, in which they believed they could defend themselves by means of idols. And first he touches on their astonishment at the things alleged or the wonders seen, "the islands saw," etc., Psalm 76: "the waters saw you, O God," etc.; "they drew near," to resist. Second, he sets forth their mutual encouragement, "each one," etc., Job 40: "one shall cleave to another," etc. Third, he sets forth the fabrication of idols: "the one striking will strengthen," the iron with the hammer, he was forging, he was shaping the figure of the idol; saying of the glue, "it is good," for consolidating the idol: Wisdom 13: "setting it on the wall," etc. "And you, Israel," etc. In this part he strengthens the Jews from these same benefits: and first there is set forth the repetition of the past benefit in the election of the fathers Jacob and Abraham, by which they were universally distinguished from others: "Jacob whom," etc., Psalm 104: "the seed of Abraham his servant," etc., Romans 11: "but according to the election," etc. Second, there is set forth the promise of future things: and first as to immunity from evils, excluding fear: both on account of God's presence, "do not fear, because," etc., Jeremiah 1: "do not fear before the face," etc.; and on account of the justice of the fathers, "he has taken you up," as the promised seed, "of my just one," Abraham. Or "he has taken up," to defend, "the just one," Cyrus. Psalm 90: "in their hands they shall bear," etc.; setting forth also the removal of enemies as to their confusion, "behold they shall be confounded." Jeremiah 17: "let them be confounded who persecute me," etc.; as to destruction, "they shall be as if they were not." Above, 30: "to bring the nations to nothing," etc.; and the impossibility of restoration, "you shall seek them," etc., Psalm 36: "I saw the wicked, above," etc.; showing also the reason for the destruction, "because I the Lord," etc., Psalm 143: "send forth your hand," etc. Second, as to the abundance of goods: and first against servitude, setting forth the very yoke of servitude: "fear not, worm"; as one who is held vile and trodden upon like a worm, and reckoned as dead. Psalm 21: "I am a worm," etc.; setting forth also the divine help. Below, 41: "I have helped," etc.; setting forth also the benefit of exaltation, as to the subjugation of enemies, "I have set you," etc., above, 25: "and Moab shall be threshed," etc., which perhaps refers to the time of the Maccabees. And as to their exultation, "and you shall exult," etc., Canticle 1: "we shall rejoice and exult," etc. Second, against poverty, setting forth first the hardship of poverty, "the needy and the poor," etc., above, 5: "her nobles have perished," etc.; second, the divine purpose: "I the Lord," etc., Psalm: "he shall call upon me and I," etc.; third, he sets forth the benefit as to the abundance of waters in mountainous places: "I will open on the heights," etc., above, 30: "there shall be upon the mountain," etc.; and in desert places, "I will make a desert," that is, your land, previously deserted. Psalm 106: "he has turned the desert into pools," etc.; and as to the beauty of the trees, "I will give in the wilderness," etc., Ezekiel 30: "the plantations have multiplied," etc.; fourth, he sets forth the fruit of the benefit, "that they may see," etc., Ecclesiasticus 36: "let them know that there is no God," etc. "Come near," etc. Here he sets forth the dispute against the idols themselves: and first he sets forth the dispute; second, the determination of the sentence, "and I saw, and there was not," etc. Concerning the first, two things. First he disputes against the idols with universal arguments; second, by an argument taken from a certain particular deed, "I have raised up," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he summons them to judgment: "come near," that is, draw near to me, that we may be judged together — you idols, or idolaters; "bring forth," that is, allege, if you have anything, that you may prove yourselves gods; "if you have something to say," etc., Psalm 81: "God has stood in the assembly," etc. Second, he proposes a twofold argument. One taken from divine knowledge, which fully knows all things, past and future, which the idols do not have: "the former things, what they were," etc. Ecclesiasticus 23: "to the Lord God before they were created," etc.; the other is taken from divine power, which can punish and do good: "also do good," etc., Baruch, last chapter: "nor if they suffer any evil," etc. Third, he concludes their defect: as to the material cause, "behold you," idols, are from nothing, from created matter; as to the formal cause, "a work," that is, an artificial form, which fashions in you a divinity that is not; and as to the efficient cause, "an abomination," that is, abominable — or: "you," the craftsmen; "your work," namely the idols; "who chose," the worshippers. 1 Corinthians 8: "we know that an idol," etc., Jeremiah 10: "every craftsman is confounded," etc. "I have raised up." Here he takes up a certain special deed to argue against the idols, and first he foretells a certain future thing: "from the north," the Chaldean; "from the east," the Persian, who subjugated to themselves various lands and princes. "Plastes," that is, the potter; "plasma," the thing formed. Mystically: by him who is from the north, the Gentile; by him who is from the east, Christ. Psalm 17: "as the mire of the streets," etc. Second, from this, under a question, he proposes the argument: that he who can foretell this is justly to be called God; and he who cannot, is not. "Who has announced it?" Below, 48: "assemble yourselves and hear," etc. Third, he excludes from the idols any indication of divinity: "there is none announcing," any among you gods; nor, any of the worshippers, "hearing," etc., Psalm 113: "they have eyes, and shall not see," etc. Fourth, he shows in the true God the sign of divinity. "The first," that is, our singular God. "Behold I am present," in help, the Evangelists, announcing future things. Daniel 2: "truly your God is God," etc.; or "the first," the prophet of the Lord, in the person of God; or "the first": the firstborn Son of God. Ephesians 4: "and he gave some indeed," etc. "And I saw." Here, from the dispute set forth above, he concludes the determination of the sentence: and it is evident of itself. Jeremiah 10 and 11: "they are vain, and a work worthy of laughter," etc. (Collationes, chapter 41.) Christ passed over in the peace of flesh to spirit, which he had — Job 5: "you shall know that it has peace," etc.; of man to neighbor, which he taught — below, 52: "how beautiful upon the mountains," etc.; of the world to God, which he made — Ephesians 2: "he made peace," etc. There moves one to preach: the instinct of faith — Psalm: "I believed, therefore," etc., 2 Corinthians 4, Apocalypse, last chapter; the goad of zeal — Jeremiah 20: "and it became in my heart," etc.; the greatness of the reward — Matthew 5: "whoever shall do and teach," etc. Christ took us up as a victor a captive, to set free — Genesis, last chapter: "to the prey, my son," etc.; Psalm: "lead out of custody"; as a physician the sick, to heal — Psalm: "who is merciful to all," etc.; as an advocate the accused, to excuse — 1 John 1: "we have an advocate," etc.; as the strong the weak, to defend — below, 63: "I who speak justice," etc., Exodus: "the Lord will fight," etc.; as a bridegroom the bride, to rejoice together — Hosea 2: "I will espouse you to me," etc. Water: tears poured out — Jeremiah 9: "who will give to my head," etc.; the cleanness of baptism — John 3: "unless one be born again," etc.; spiritual grace — John 7: "he who believes in me, rivers," etc.; divine wisdom — Ecclesiasticus 24: "I, wisdom, have poured forth," etc.; inner joy — Proverbs 5: "drink water," etc.”

“Who hath wrought and done it,.... Contrived and effected it, formed the scheme, and brought it to pass; namely, raising up the righteous man from the east, and succeeding him in the manner described: calling the generations from the beginning? or rather here begins the answer to the above question, which may be rendered, he that calleth the generations from the beginning (k); he has wrought and done this; and to this agree the Syriac and Arabic versions; even he that knew them from all eternity, before they were, and all the men that would be in them, and could call them by their names; and who calls things that are not, as though they were; and who calls them into being at the appointed time, and continues a succession of them, one after another; who calls by his grace all that are called in successive generations, and rules over them by his power, providence, and grace: I the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he; the immutable Jehovah, the everlasting I AM, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the ending, the first and the last; all which is said of Christ, and is the person here speaking, Rev 1:8, phrases expressive of his eternity and deity; he is the first and the last in God's thoughts, purposes, and decrees; in the covenant of grace; in the creation of all things; in the salvation, justification, sanctification, adoption, and glorification of his people; and in the church, above and below: and with the last, may be understood either of the last generations God is with, and calls as well as the first, as De Dieu; or of all believers, with whom he shall be and they with him to all eternity, so Gussetius (l). Now the conversion of the Apostle Paul, his commission to preach the Gospel, the extraordinary qualifications he was endowed with, the wonderful things done by him, in the conversion of sinners, and planting of churches in the Gentile world, and towards the abolition of Paganism in it, are incontestable proofs of the deity of Christ; no mere creature could ever have raised up, such a man, and accomplished him in such a manner, or wrought such things by him. (k) "ille qui vocat vel vocavit generationes ab inito", Munster, Tigurine version. So some in Vatablus. (l) Comment. Ebr. p. 29.”

“The great fact of the present time, which not one of the gods of the heathen can boast of having brought to pass, is now explained. Jehovah is its author. "Who hath wrought and executed it? He who calleth the generations of men from the beginning, I Jehovah am first, and with the last am I He." The synonyms פּעל and עשׂה are distinguished from each other in the same way as "to work" (or bring about) and "to realize" (or carry out). Hence the meaning is, Who is the author to whom both the origin and progress of such an occurrence are to be referred? It is He who "from the beginning," i.e., ever since there has been a human history, has called into existence the generations of men through His authoritative command. And this is no other than Jehovah, who can declare of Himself, in contrast with the heathen and their gods, who are of yesterday, and tomorrow will not be: I am Jehovah, the very first, whose being precedes all history; and with the men of the latest generations yet to come "I am it." הוּא is not introduced here to strengthen the subject, ego ille "I and no other," as in Isa 37:16, which see); but, as in Isa 43:10, Isa 43:13; Isa 56:4; Isa 48:12, it is a predicate of the substantive clause, ego sum is (ille), viz., 'Elōhı̄m; or even as in Psa 102:28 (cf., Job 3:19 and Heb 13:8), ego sum idem (Hitzig). They are both included, without any distinction in the assertion. He is this, viz., God throughout all ages, and is through all ages He, i.e., the Being who is ever the same in this His deity. It is the full meaning of the name Jehovah which is unfolded here; for God is called Jehovah as the absolute I, the absolutely free Being, pervading all history, and yet above all history, as He who is Lord of His own absolute being, in revealing which He is purely self-determined; in a word, as the unconditionally free and unchangeably eternal personality.”