Isaiah 41:1

In a surprising turn, both the oppressors and deliverance come to Israel from the north and east. The beginning of the chapter (41:1-7) presents a series of rhetorical questions (5-7 provides some answers) followed by comfort for Israel in verse 8-20.

הַחֲרִישׁוּ אֵלַי אִיִּים וּלְאֻמִּים יַחֲלִיפוּ כֹחַ יִגְּשׁוּ אָז יְדַבֵּרוּ יַחְדָּו לַמִּשְׁפָּט נִקְרָבָה׃

41 Be silent before me, O islands, let the people renew their strength. Let them approach and then let them say: "Let us meet together for the judgment."

הַחֲרִישׁוּ אֵלַי אִיִּים  Be silent before me, O islands,  הַחֲרִישׁוּ is a hifil imperative (the imperfect retains the hatef-segol: הֶחֱרִישׁוּ). The root חרש sometimes means "cut, engrave" but here is obviously the "be silent" meaning. אִיִּים "islands" or "Westerners" is a fairy common term in Isaiah. He usually means "people of the coastal regions around the Mediterranean." In context, God is summoning his court against everyone: The people of the world have nothing to say in the face of God's accusations. They--we--are called to account and we are also summoned to witness God's judgment. THis is just as it will happen on the Last Day.

וּלְאֻמִּים יַחֲלִיפוּ כֹחַ  let the people renew their strength.  יַחֲלִיפוּ is a hifil jussive (3rd plural) from חָלַף "newly gain, replace." In the other stems this is a word that often means "change," but here the hifil has an idea of getting something to replace something else. The strength is not something the people are going to have to do for themselves, though. The strength the Lord commands is also the strength that the Lord offers in the gospel. Although there is condemnation for sin, God also presents the solution for that sin in his Son, the suffering Servant Jesus Christ. As we were told in the final verse of chapter 40, "Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength."

יִגְּשׁוּ אָז יְדַבֵּרוּ יַחְדָּו לַמִּשְׁפָּט נִקְרָבָה  Let them approach and then let them say: "Let us meet together for the judgment." יִגְּשׁוּ is a qal imperfect from נָגַשׁ, "draw near, approach" (the dagesh forte in the gimel compensates for the nun of the root word). יַחְדָּו is an adverb; this form occurs about twice as often (26 times in Isaiah) as the dictionary form, יַחַד which occurs just 7 times in Isaiah. An Mp note tells us that לַמִּשְׁפָּט occurs 15 times (I won't reproduce the Mm list here). Note that the Masoretic abbreviation for the numeral 15 is always spelled הֹיֹ ("five plus ten") and never the other way around (yod followed by heh) since that approaches the Hebrew spelling of the Divine Name.

God has convened a court, and after silencing the room (“you islands!” is Isaiah’s was of describing the farthest reaches of the earth), he summons the nations to speak their case against him. This is also the plea of the believer (“silence my enemies... for I am your servant,” Psalm 143:12), because no accusation matters if it isn’t leveled by God himself. Neither a devil nor an unbeliever can harm us with any word they speak against us. Nothing stands up in God's court except the word of God himself. And that’s because God also speaks the other side of the case, too. “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Luke 5:21).