Commentaries:
Barnes' Notes
I am sought of them that asked not for me - That is, by the Gentiles. So Paul applies it in Romans 10:20. Lowth translates the word which is rendered, ' I am sought,' by ' I am made known.' Noyes, ' I have heard.' The Septuagint renders it, ̓̀ ̓́ Emphanēs egenēthēn - ' I became manifest.' Jerome, ' They sought me who had not before inquired for me.' The Chaldee, ' I am sought in my word by those who had not asked me before my face.' The Hebrew word ׁ dârash means properly "to frequent a place, to search or seek" ; and in the Niphal - the form used here - "to be sought unto, to grant access to anyone; hence, to hear and answer prayer" Ezekiel 14:3; 20:3-31. Here there is not only the idea that he was sought, but that they obtained access to him, for he listened to their supplications. The phrase, ' That asked not for me,' means that they had not been accustomed to worship the true God. The idea is, that those had obtained mercy who had not been accustomed to call upon him.
I am found of them - Paul has rendered this Romans 10:20, ̓̀ ̓́ Emphanēs egenomēn - ' I was made manifest.' The idea is, that they obtained his favor.
I said, Behold me, behold me - I offered them my favor, and invited them to partake of salvation. Paul has omitted this in his quotation.
Unto a nation - This does not refer to any particular nation, but to people who had never been admitted to favor with God.
That was not called by my name - (See the notes at Isaiah 63:19).
Other Barnes' Notes entries containing Isaiah 65:1:
Genesis 4:25-26
Isaiah 11:10
Romans 10:20
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