BibleTools.info

Bible Verse Explanations and Resources


Loading...

Isaiah 56:5

Adam Clarke
Bible Commentary

I will give them an everlasting name - For לו lo, him, in the singular, it is evident that we ought to read למו lamo, them, in the plural: so read the Septuagint, Syriac, Chaldee, and Vulgate.

Albert Barnes
Notes on the Whole Bible

Will I give in mine house - That is, they shalt be admitted to all the privileges of entering my house of prayer, and of being regarded as my true worshippers, and this shall be to them a more invaluable privilege than would be any earthly advantages. The word ‹house‘ here refers undoubtedly to the temple, regarded as emblematic of the place of public worship in all ages.

And within my walls - The walls of the city where God dwelt, referring primarily to the walls of Jerusalem. They should be permitted to dwell with God, and be admitted to all the privileges of others. All, of all classes and conditions, under the reign of the Messiah, should be regarded as on a level, and entitled to equal advantages. There should be no religious disabilities arising from caste, age, country, color, or rank of life. Those who had any physical defect should not on that account be excluded from his favor, or be regarded as not entitled to his offers of mercy. The lame, therefore, the halt, the blind; the man of color, the african, the red man of the woods; the Hindu and the Islander; all are to be regarded as alike invited to participate in the favor of God, and none are to be excluded from the ‹house‘ erected to his praise, and from within the ‹walls‘ of the holy city where he dwells.

A place - Hebrew, יד yâd - ‹A hand.‘ The word is, however, used to denote ‹a place‘ Deuteronomy 23:13; Numbers 2:17; Joshua 8:10. It is sometimes used in the sense of ‹monument,‘ or ‹trophy‘ 1 Samuel 15:12; 2 Samuel 18:18, as if a monument were a handpointing out or showing anything. The word here denotes, however, a place, and means that the excluded foreigner and the eunuch should be admitted to a place in the temple of God; that is, should be admitted to the favor of God, and be permitted to dwell with him.

And a name - As it was regarded among the Hebrews as one of the highest honors to have a numerous posterity, the idea here is, that they should be admitted to the highest possible honor - the honor of being regarded as the children of God, and treated as his friends.

And I will give them an everlasting name - Their memory shall not perish. They shall be admitted to eternal and unchangeable honors - the everlasting honor of being treated as the friends of God.

Matthew Henry
Concise Bible Commentary
Unbelief often suggests things to discourage believers, against which God has expressly guarded. Spiritual blessings are unspeakably better than having sons and daughters; for children are a care, and may prove a grief and shame, but the blessings we partake of in God's house, are comforts which cannot be made bitter. Those who love the Lord truly, will serve him faithfully, and then his commandments are not grievous. Three things are promised. Assistance: I will not only bid them welcome, but incline them to come. Acceptance, and comfort: though they came mourning to the house of prayer, they shall go away rejoicing. They shall find ease by casting their cares and burdens upon God. Many a sorrowful spirit has been made joyful in the house of prayer. The Gentiles shall be one body with the Jews, that, as Christ says, Joh 10:16, there may be one fold and one Shepherd. Thanks be to God that none are separated from him except by wilful sin and unbelief; and if we come to him, we shall be accepted through the sacrifice of our great High Priest.
Ellen G. White
This Day With God, 325.4

To all who will do justice and judgment, keeping their hand from doing any evil, the promise is, “Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off” (Isaiah 56:5). TDG 325.4

Read in context »
Ellen G. White
SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 1 (EGW), 1103

Amalek had made derision of the fears of his people, and made sport of God's wonderful works for the deliverance of Israel performed by the hand of Moses before the Egyptians. They had boasted that their wise men and magicians could perform all those wonders. And if the children of Israel had been their captives, in their power as they were in Pharaoh's, that the God of Israel Himself would not have been able to deliver them out of their hands. They despised Israel, and vowed to plague them until there should not be one left (Spiritual Gifts 4a:72, 73). 1BC 1103.1

God did not wish His people to possess anything which belonged to the Amalekites, for His curse rested upon them and their possessions. He designed that they should have an end, and that His people should not preserve anything for themselves which He had cursed. He also wished the nations to see the end of that people who had defied Him, and to mark that they were destroyed by the very people they had despised. They were not to destroy them to add to their own possessions, or to get glory to themselves, but to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken in regard to Amalek (Spiritual Gifts 4a:75). 1BC 1103.2

Read in context »
Ellen G. White
This Day With God, 325.4

To all who will do justice and judgment, keeping their hand from doing any evil, the promise is, “Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off” (Isaiah 56:5). TDG 325.4

Read in context »
Ellen G. White
The Upward Look, 166.1

Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. Isaiah 56:5. UL 166.1

Read in context »