The isles saw it, and feared... — The words paint the terror caused by the rapid conquests of Cyrus, but the terror led, as the following verses show, to something very different from the acknowledgment of the Eternal. As the sailors in the ship of Tarshish called each man on his God (Jonah 1:5), so each nation turned to its oracles and its shrines. The gods had to be propitiated by new statues, and a fresh impetus was given to the manufacture of idols, probably for the purpose of being carried forth to battle as a protection. (Comp. 1 Samuel 4:5-7; Herod. i. 26.)
Related Commentaries of Isaiah 41:5
Isaiah 41:5
5 The isles saw it, and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came.