Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Are you not it that has cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?
awake
Isaiah 51:17 Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out.
Isaiah 27:1 In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.
Psalm 7:6 Arise, O LORD, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded.
put
Isaiah 52:1 Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.
Isaiah 59:17 For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke.
Psalm 21:13 Be thou exalted, LORD, in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy power.
o arm
Isaiah 51:5 My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust.
Isaiah 53:1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
Isaiah 59:16 And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.
as in
Judges 6:13 And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.
Nehemiah 9:7-15 Thou art the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham; …
Psalm 44:1 To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, Maschil. We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old.
art thou
Job 26:12 He divideth the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud.
Psalm 87:4 I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me: behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there.
Psalm 89:10 Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm.
Wake up as in days past, as in generations of old.
Here, the speaker is urging God to act as He did in previous generations, recalling the mighty acts of deliverance and salvation. This reflects a common biblical theme of remembering God's past faithfulness as a basis for hope in present circumstances (Psalm 77:11-12). The reference to "days past" and "generations of old" suggests a longing for the miraculous interventions seen in the history of Israel, such as the deliverance from Egypt and the conquest of Canaan.
Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced through the dragon?
"Rahab" in this context is a symbolic name for Egypt, representing chaos and opposition to God's people (Psalm 87:4, Isaiah 30:7). The imagery of cutting Rahab to pieces and piercing the dragon evokes God's victory over chaotic forces, reminiscent of the Exodus narrative where God defeated Pharaoh's army. The "dragon" is often associated with evil and chaos in biblical literature (Job 26:12-13, Revelation 12:9). This phrase underscores God's sovereignty and power over all adversarial forces, reinforcing the hope that He will again deliver His people.
“Awake, awake” (Isaiah 51:9) is a heartfelt cry from God’s people, urging Him to act decisively once more.
• It reflects the longing voiced in Psalm 44:23 – “Wake up, O Lord! Why do You sleep?”
• It reminds us that although the LORD never slumbers (Psalm 121:4), He sometimes withholds visible intervention so that we will seek Him earnestly (Isaiah 64:7).
• In Romans 13:11 believers are likewise exhorted to “wake up” spiritually. The plea in Isaiah 51 points both Godward and manward: God, reveal Your power again; people, ready your hearts in expectancy.
The “arm of the LORD” is Scripture’s picture of His mighty, saving power (Exodus 6:6; Isaiah 52:10).
• “Put on strength” echoes the imagery of a warrior donning armor (Isaiah 59:17).
• It anticipates the ultimate revelation of God’s arm in Christ’s redemptive work (John 12:38 cites Isaiah 53:1).
• For the faithful remnant in Isaiah’s day, this phrase anchored hope: the same Lord who shattered Pharaoh’s grip (Exodus 15:6) still has unspent strength.
Israel looks back to formative acts of deliverance as proof that God can do it again.
• “Generations of old” recalls the Exodus, the conquest, and every historic rescue (Deuteronomy 32:7).
• Psalm 77:11-15 sets the pattern: remember, recount, and rely on former wonders.
• Hebrews 13:8 seals the confidence—“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
“Rahab” here is the poetic name for Egypt, the oppressive power God crushed at the Red Sea (Psalm 87:4; Psalm 89:10).
• Exodus 14:27-31 records the event: walls of water collapsed, armies drowned, God’s people walked free.
• Job 26:12 praises the LORD who “shattered Rahab” as proof of His supremacy over proud nations and chaos alike.
• Remembering this feat fuels present faith: if God once “cut” mighty Egypt down, no foe today is too formidable.
The “dragon” (tannin) evokes the primordial sea monster, a symbol of untamed evil and hostile empires (Ezekiel 29:3; Revelation 12:9).
• God “pierced” the monster at creation, establishing order (Psalm 74:13-14).
• At the Exodus He struck Egypt, “the great dragon lying in the midst of his rivers” (Ezekiel 29:3), demonstrating dominion over cosmic and political chaos.
• Isaiah’s question is rhetorical: of course it was the LORD! His past victories guarantee future triumphs—ultimately fulfilled when Christ defeats the dragon once for all (Revelation 20:2, 10).
Isaiah 51:9 is a prayerful summons: “Lord, do again what You have always done.” By recalling God’s historic interventions—creation order, the Red Sea crossing, the crushing of proud Egypt—faith is stirred to expect fresh deliverance. The arm that once shattered Rahab and pierced the dragon still bears unbreakable strength; therefore, God’s people can face present threats with confident hope.
(9) Awake, awake.--Who is the speaker that thus bursts into this grand apostrophe? (1) The redeemed and ideal Israel, or (2) the Servant of the Lord, or (3) the prophet, or (4) Jehovah, as in self-communing, after the manner of men, like that of Deborah in Judges 5:12. On the whole the first seems the preferable view; but the loftiness of poetry, perhaps, transcends all such distinctions. The appeal is, in any case, to the great deeds of God in the past, as the pledge and earnest of yet greater in the future. "Rahab," as in Isaiah 30:7, Psalm 89:10, is Egypt; and the "dragon," like "leviathan" in Psalm 74:13, stands for Pharaoh. (Comp. Ezekiel 29:3.) Cheyne quotes from Bunsen's "Egypt," vol. vi., an invocation to the god Ra, from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, "Hail, thou who hast cut in pieces the scorner and strangled the Apophis (sc. the evil serpent)," as a striking parallel.Verses 9-11. - AN APPEAL OF THE PROPHET TO GOD TO AROUSE HIMSELF, WITH A PROMISE OF ISRAEL'S RESTORATION. There has been much doubt as to the utterer of this "splendid apostrophe." Zion, the prophet, the angels, Jehovah, and God the Son pleading with God the Father, have been suggested. To us it seems simplest and best to assign the passage to the prophet. Verse 9. - Awake, awake (comp. Psalm 7:6; Psalm 35:23; Psalm 44:23; Psalm 78:65). When God neglects the prayers and supplications of his people, he is spoken of as "asleep," and needing to be awoke by a loud cry. The anthropomorphism is obvious, and of course not to be taken literally (see 1 Kings 18:27, ad fin.). Put on strength. Gird the strength to thee (Psalm 93:1) which thou hadst laid aside while thou wept asleep. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab? rather, was it not thou that didst cleave Rahab in pieces? Here, as in Psalm 87:4 and Psalm 89:10, "Rahab" would seem to be a symbolical expression for Egypt. "Rahab" is literally "pride," or "the proud one." The event alluded to, both here and in Psalm 89:10, is the destruction of Pharaoh's host in the Red Sea (see ver. 10). And wounded the dragon. "The dragon" is another symbol of the Egyptian power (comp. Ezekiel 29:3, "Pharaoh, King of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers"). Originally designating God's great enemy, Satan (Genesis 3:14; Revelation 12:7-9; Revelation 20:2), it is a term which comes to be applied to the adversaries of the Almighty generally.